Car Involved In Deadly Fairfax Station Crash Was Going 100 MPH: Police

FAIRFAX STATION, VA — A 2019 Lexus sedan that crashed in Fairfax Station earlier this month, killing two teenage girls, was traveling more than 100 mph when it ran off Lee Chapel Road, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

The crash occurred on Jan. 10 around 9:30 p.m. in the 7400 block of Lee Chapel Road in Fairfax Station. At Tuesday's meeting of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, supervisors unanimously approved Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity's motion to look at ways to increase safety along the stretch of Lee Chapel Road.

A third teenage girl who was injured in the crash remains hospitalized, police said Tuesday. She had to be extricated from the car by Fairfax County Fire and Rescue personnel.

The driver of the car and the rear passenger were declared dead at the scene. The passenger in the backseat was not wearing a seatbelt, according to police.

Family and friends have identified the two teenage girls killed in the Jan. 10 crash as Ariana Haftsavar, 16, and Ashlyn Brotemarkle, 16. Police have not identified who was driving the Lexus. Both girls were students at South County High School.

After reviewing the evidence from the crash and the vehicle’s airbag control module, detectives determined the Lexus IS350 was traveling 100.7 mph before the crash, police said. Detectives from the scene also determined the car was airborne for about 130 feet when it crashed.

READ ALSO: Families, Friends Mourn 2 Teen Girls Killed In Fairfax Station Crash

Fairfax County Police said Tuesday that its detectives are continuing to investigate the crash.

Residents who live along Lee Chapel Road say that cars often drive dangerously fast on the stretch of road. Along the same stretch in 2015, a teenage girl lost control of her car and died in a three-car crash. One resident who lives nearby told WUSA9 that the hilly road is in poor condition.

Herrity's motion, presented jointly with Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, directs the Fairfax County Department of Transportation to look at "eliminating the hills" on a half-mile stretch of Lee Chapel Road where the fatal crash occurred on Jan. 10.

The motion also asks the county's public works department to look at the feasibility of streetlights and the Fairfax County Park Authority to look at clearing the shoulder areas on parkland adjacent to Lee Chapel Road.

"This half-mile stretch of Lee Chapel Road has seen significant accidents as well as injuries over the past several years," Herrity said in the board matter. "After a previous fatal crash occurred on this road in 2015, I recommended a project that would fix the hills, curves, and alignment be added to our district’s priority list of unfunded transportation projects. I attempted to have it moved forward during the 2017 Transportation Priority Plan process, but funding was not sufficient at that time, and it remains on our unfunded priority list."

The Virginia Department of Transportation has already installed optical speed bars on the roadway as a first step, Herrity said. The Fairfax County Department of Transportation has also asked Fairfax County Public Works to look at the feasibility of and costs associated with installation of streetlights in the vicinity of the hills.

"While we continue to address short-term solutions, I move that FCDOT be directed to research and provide a preliminary cost estimate for a project to eliminate the hills on Lee Chapel Road between Ox Road and the Fairfax County Parkway and provide the Board with potential sources of funding for the solution," Herrity's motion reads.