In the last few years since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, crashes involving bicyclists and motorcyclists have seen a massive uptick in Fairfax County alone. Since 2020, the crash rates have gone up from 144 in 2021 to 191 in 2022 to 233 in 2023. NOVA Safe Streets reports ten pedestrian fatalities in 2023 with 233 crashes involving pedestrians and nearly 20 pedestrian fatalities in 2022.
The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) Public Affairs Bureau posted online on March 12, 2024, “Pedestrian fatalities saw a significant decline in 2023.” FCPD reported nine pedestrian fatalities in 2023, compared to 24 in 2022, based on “data collected by the crash reconstruction unit.” The department recently issued its Year End 2023 Crime Report that covers Jan. 1- Dec. 31, 2023. Insights include those findings in its “key highlights for traffic safety initiatives and fatal crashes.”
Specific to Fairfax County, the 2023 Safe Streets Report reports that total crashes involving pedestrians have been increasing over the last three years, up from 144 in 2021 to 191 in 2022 to 233 in 2023. Additionally, according to TREDS data in 2023, Fairfax County experienced an increase in serious pedestrian injuries — 57 serious pedestrian injuries in 2023 compared to 53 in 2022. FCPD did not draw attention to these statistics in its 2023 Crime Report and insights for traffic safety initiatives and fatal crashes.
FCPD also did not provide in its posted 2023 Crime Report and Insights elements of crash data relative to “key highlights for traffic safety initiatives and fatal collisions,” such as whether the collision killed a pedestrian or bicyclist, whether speeding was involved, whether the driver or the person killed by the driver was impaired by alcohol or drugs, or whether the driver was distraction-free. FCPD’s Fatal Crashes Table compares only two elements of crash data: the type of participants and the years 2022 and 2023.
In May 2023, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Fairfax County reduced the speed limit along the crash-prone 7-mile stretch of Richmond Highway between Mount Vernon and the Capital Beltway to “optimize safety and operations for pedestrians, bicyclists, drivers, and transit users.”
Nonetheless, a hit-and-run crash claimed the life of Eder Machado Aleman, 36, of Fairfax, who was attempting to cross Richmond Highway “outside of the crosswalk,” the Fairfax County Police Department posted on Oct. 7, 2023.
In the past, Fairfax County’s pedestrian and bicyclist safety initiatives focused on altering road users’ behavior and encouraging responsible parties.
In 2023, for the first time since the City of Alexandria’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating roadway deaths and severe injuries was adopted in 2017, the city ended the year with zero fatalities.
