In this public engagement, we want to know what else we need to do as a community to eliminate severe and fatal crashes on our transportation network by 2030. We'll share information we've gathered over the last 5 years, and ask you a few questions to gather your input. We'll use your responses along with our data to make our next action plan to reach zero by 2030.

Crashes in Arlington County

Each year, an average of 39 people are severely injured and 3 people are killed in traffic crashes here in Arlington. Our task is to make that number ZERO by 2030.

In 2025, we studied all 6,600+ traffic crashes reported in Arlington County in the last 5 years and found:

a white car travelling at a high rate of speed on US Route 50 in Arlington.

 

Speeding increases the likelihood of a fatal or severe crash: Most crashes that resulted in a fatal or severe injury occurred on a roadway where the average speed was higher than the posted speed limit. 

A coaster on a bar in Arlington, reading "The leading cause of traffic deaths in Arlington is drunk driving"

 

Drinking and driving is the number one factor in fatal crashes over the past five years: 77% of alcohol-related fatal and severe injury crashes happened at night and at intersections.

An elevated image of eastbound Langston boulevard at Fort Myer Drive, showing multiple left turn lanes at the approach to N. Lynn Street

 

Intersections with traffic signals along major roadways have higher fatal and severe crash rates: 58% of fatal or severe injury intersection crashes were at a traffic signal or within a crosswalk, and 40% involved a person walking.

A mid-2010s Toyota Highlander making a left turn onto eastbound 2nd Street S from S. George Mason Drive southbound, in the intersection and preparing to cross the crosswalk during daylight hours. 

 

Severe intersection crashes often involve left turns: 65% of critical crashes that involved improper yielding at an intersection were left turn crashes.

People crossing with the signal across N. Quincy Street at Wilson Boulevard in Ballston, looking north.

 

People outside of vehicles are more vulnerable to serious injury: People walking, biking, or riding a motorcycle were 8x more likely to sustain severe or fatal injuries when involved in a crash, and most of these crashes occurred at intersections. 3 out of 4 pedestrian crashes are caused by improper driver actions. 

A Toyota RAV4 traveling north on N. Lynn Street in Rosslyn waits to turn left onto westbound Wilson Blvd while seven people cross in the crosswalk with the signal.

 

Left turn crashes at intersections can be critical for pedestrians: 4 out of 5 pedestrian crashes happen at intersections, most commonly involving left turning vehicles. 

a person riding a bike eastbound on Wilson Boulevard crossing N. Veitch Street in Court House, passing through the green lane and protected intersection elements on the SE corner.

 

Bike crashes are most likely to occur at intersections: 2 of 3 bike crashes are angle crashes, most commonly with right turning vehicles. 

Youth at a pop-up engagement event for Vision Zero's annual safety feedback outreach.

 

Young drivers may be more likely to speed and less likely to wear a seat belt: Speeding and not wearing a seatbelt were the top two factors in crashes where the driver was younger, and a person was fatally or severely injured. 

Vision Zero engagement event with older adults during annual safety feedback engagement

 

Older drivers may have a harder time driving near people walking: Of all pedestrian crashes that involved an older adult, 96% of the time the older adult was the driver. 

For more information and a complete picture of Arlington's crash data analysis, please visit the Vision Zero Metrics webpage.

Question title

Now it's your turn: What have you experienced in Arlington that isn't showing up in the crash data?

Closed to responses