The Pedestrians Who Never Saw Their Tomorrows
2025-11-24
Alexandria Gazette Packet, November 20, 2025 By Mercia Hobson…
NoVA FSS Hosts 2025 World Day of Remembrance Event
2025-11-05
When: 10am Sunday, November 16thWhere: Gateway Park in Arlington NoVA FSS is hosting a Northern Virginia World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) for Road Traffic Victims event on Sunday November 16th to… NoVA FSS members, which include family members who have lost a loved one, crash survivors and many concerned citizens, will be joined by, among others, policy makers such as Arlington Board Chair Takis Karantonis, Delegate Partick Hope, Alexandria Police Chief Tarrick McGuire, a senior VDOT representative, and a severely injured crash survivor. We invite the community to help us: The event at Gateway Park will conclude early enough so that those interested can meet…
Crash survivor advocates for safer streets in Northern Virginia
2025-10-08
By Zoe Ligairi September 30, 2025 GGWash worked with Youthcast Media Group to publish this story. Zoe Ligairi is a senior at Annandale High School, one of Youthcast’s journalism class partners. Mike Doyle was halfway across the street at the four-way intersection when he heard someone shout, “Look out!” Seconds later, he was sprawled on the ground, bloody and unable to see. He’d been hit by the driver of a black SUV on his way home from his office in Old Town Alexandria. The force was so great, his forehead dented the front of the car. The crash that almost killed him, in December 2012,…
Safety report highlights dangerous Fairfax intersections and hundreds of near-miss incidents
2025-09-23
By Vernon Miles, FFXNow Published September 18, 2025 A new survey outlines areas where Fairfax pedestrians say they’ve had dangerously close encounters with cars. The Near Miss and Dangerous Locations Survey is developed by Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets based on survey data collected between January 2024 and July 2025. NoVa FSS has released similar surveys for other areas like Alexandria in an effort to raise awareness of streets where pedestrians face challenges. This is the second year NoVa FSS has made a report for Fairfax. … Read Full Article…
Why a Memorial for Victims of Traffic Violence Matters (Op-Ed)
2025-02-02
By Peter Norton Op-ed: The Vietnam wall changed the way Americans think about war. For traffic violence, the transformative power of a well-conceived national memorial is still untapped. READ THE FULL ARTICLE…
A Virginia law to protect pedestrians has almost never been used (WaPo)
2025-02-02
By Rachel Weiner, Washington Post January 15, 2025: “In 2020, Virginia passed a law intended to make it easier to prosecute driverswho hit pedestrians or cyclists. But prosecutors across the state have brought charges under the law 32 times in the last four years. In only eight of those cases was someone convicted of the charge. It’s a national problem with what are known as “vulnerable road user” laws, which generally penalize “careless or distracted” driving that results in a serious injury or death for someone outside a car. The laws are meant to punish drivers in those scenarios who, because they weren’t speeding, drunk or…
Fairfax FSS Submits Comments Supporting Pedestrian Safety, Active Transportation, and Public Transportation in AT&T Site Development Plans
2025-01-12
Published January 12, 2025 The advisory board of Fairfax Families for Safe Streets submitted comments to Fairfax County leaders asking them to commit to improving pedestrian safety, active transportation infrastructure, and public transportation with approved site plans, should they decide to move forward with the developer’s proposed project at 3033 Chain Bridge Road, commonly know as the AT&T site. Our comments are available here: AT&T Development Pedestrian Safety Comments…
PRESS RELEASE: NORTHERN VIRGINIA’S MOST FATAL ROADS FOR PEDESTRIANS
2024-12-14
NoVA FSS RELEASES INAUGURAL STUDY ON VDOT’S TREDS DATA OF PEDESTRIAN / BIKE CRASHES IN ALEXANDRIA, ARLINGTON & FAIRFAX For Immediate Release: December 10, 2024 Alexandria, VA: Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS), the leading pedestrian safety advocacy organization in Northern Virginia and with affiliated FSS chapters in Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax (collectively NoVA FSS) has released its inaugural study on VDOT’s TREDS ped / bike crash data for: Each NoVA FSS chapter’s report of the TREDS data brings awareness to the long-standing and increasing risks of street safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users in the communities of Northern Virginia.…
NBC4 Washington covers Fairfax County’s 20th ped/bike fatality in 2024
2024-12-07
By Julie Carey, NBC Washington Published December 6, 2024 The teen’s death becomes the 20th pedestrian or cyclist fatality in Fairfax County so far this year, double the number killed last year. “The numbers are going in the wrong direction,” said Chris French from Fairfax Families for Safe Streets. Pedestrian- and bicyclist-involved crashes steadily increased in the county each year from 2020, French said. There have been 211 pedestrian-involved crashes leading to injury in Fairfax County this year, French said. That’s down from last year’s count of 237 and up from 134 in 2020. Watch the full story: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/girl-14-struck-and-killed-by-car-in-fairfax-county/3786120…
NBC News Story Referenced Our Near Miss Dashboard!
2024-11-01
NoVA FSS participated in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ recent Street Smart pedestrian’s street safety promotional campaign where the utility of our Near Miss crowd sourced dashboard was referenced in the NBC news story. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/transit-safety-campaign-implements-new-immersive-way-to-gauge-drivers-attention/3753593…