ARLINGTON, VA – This past Sunday, November 19, 2023, North Virginia Families for Safe Streets commemorated the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims at Wakefield High School. We honored the pedestrians killed by drivers in Fairfax County, Arlington County, and the City of Alexandria counties in 2023.
A row of 19 empty chairs with a single candle placed on each represented the victims who ranged from 23-86 years old. “Every one of these folks was a mother, a father, a son, or a daughter,” said Arlington Chief of Police Andy Penn. Following the event, participants walked two blocks to the site on Rt 7 and to place a wreath where Suzi Hamlin, a 70 year old grandmother visiting from Aptos, CA, was struck and killed by a drunk driver in May.
Local and state officials, representatives from county law enforcement, school board and the health departments, as well of families of pedestrian crash victims were in attendance, including Fairfax County Deputy Executive Rachel Flynn, Arlington Chief of Police Andy Penn, Arlington County Public Schools Chief of Staff Stephen Linkous, Alexandria Chief of Police Don Hayes, City of Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, and Virginia State Delegate Kathy Tran.
Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets described three high level call to action tasks for government and law enforcement:
- Broaden implementation of automated speed enforcement (ASE)
- Implement “quick build” traffic calming projects
- Improve vulnerable road user crash reporting
Here are a few additional take-aways from the event:
Expansion of ASE: NoVA FSS’s call for expansion of automated speed enforcement is bolstered by the recent success of the Fairfax County speed camera pilot program, which saw an average 25% reduction in driver speeds through active school zones included in the pilot program.
Pedestrian Safety is a Public Health Concern. Of note – The Fairfax County Health Department officially recognized pedestrian safety as a public health concern on Monday and released an initial study illustrating the impacts on communities and in comparison to gun violence and the opioid crisis.
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If you want another recap of the event, please check out this article in Annandale Today.
Interested in more data? Here’s a summary of pedestrian and bicyclist crash and serious injury data, compiled from 2015 through November 10, 2023.