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by Lianna Golden FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (7News) — New concerns are being raised about safety along Richmond Highway in Fairfax County, where advocates say the busy corridor is becoming increasingly deadly and needs immediate action from local and state leaders. “We call these crashes. We don’t call them accidents because accidents infer it was unavoidable,” Mike Doyle, Executive Director of Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets, said. “Now, every one of these could have been avoided.” RELATED | FCPS declines to release full external investigation report on high school groping case Doyle, who founded the pedestrian safety group, is referring to the number of crashes from…

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By Angela WoolseyPublished May 28, 2026 at 3:05PM More than 60 pedestrians and cyclists have been killed or seriously injured in crashes on Richmond Highway over the past decade — and conditions appear to be worsening instead of improving, a new analysis says. Skimpy lighting and crossings, along with alcohol intoxication, appear to be driving factors behind the frequent serious crashes that occur in the approximately 14-mile corridor from the Alexandria border down to the Occoquan River south of Lorton, according to Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS). “The Richmond Highway corridor is a concentrated and consistent pedestrian safety crisis,” the volunteer-led advocacy group said. “These crashes…

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By Rossy Soto, Jasmin Dinh and Jeff Plungis In 2022, Justice High School junior Lesly Diaz-Bonilla was struck and killed as she was leaving the Barcroft View Apartments, on her way to school. Just four years earlier, in the same Fairfax County location, a mother and daughter were injured by a hit-and-run driver. Diaz-Bonilla’s death drew attention to a safety problem that continues to plague a 4-mile stretch of Columbia Pike between Bailey’s Crossroads and Annandale, where poor design and inattentive drivers often put pedestrians at risk. There are proven, low-cost countermeasures that could improve safety, but they haven’t been implemented, despite growing pressure from neighbors who live around…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…