Last year there were 58 traffic fatalities in Vermont and 129 COVID-related deaths. For the latter, we shut the state down and blew through way over a billion dollars in government aid to prop up shuttered businesses, schools, cities and towns. Vermont roads were also significantly less traveled (we know from gas receipts) but there were 11 more fatal crashes in 2020 than the previous year. One crash stands out in our memory because it was caused by a 16-year-old â Isabel Jennifer Seward â who was fined $220 for killing an elderly couple in September. Seward comes from a prominent family. She gave at least three different stories about her cell phone use, including one on the scene to Charlotte Rescue personnel that she was texting before the crash. Her mom paid the small fine for the offense of âdriving on roadways laned for traffic.â