Fairfax County Leads In 'Startling Increase' In NoVA Pedestrian Deaths: DMV

VIRGINIA — Northern Virginia reported a “startling increase” in the number of pedestrian fatalities in 2022, according to preliminary statistics released Thursday by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

In 2022, 56 pedestrians were killed as a result of crashes in the Fairfax region, compared to 37 in 2021, the DMV said.

"We hope drivers will be motivated to make a change and put a stop to the behaviors that we know contribute to these devastating crashes," Acting DMV Commissioner Linda Ford said in a statement Thursday.

“We all have the power to make a difference by watching vigilantly for pedestrians, buckling up, slowing down and never driving distracted or impaired,” she added.

READ ALSO: Pedestrian Deaths In Fairfax County Surge To Decade High In 2022

The Virginia DMV's Fairfax region includes the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas and Manassas Park, and the counties of Arlington, Caroline, Essex, Fairfax, King and Queen, King George, King William, Lancaster, Loudoun, Middlesex, New Kent, Northumberland, Prince William, Richmond, Spotsylvania, Stafford and Westmoreland.

In the region, Fairfax County led the way by a wide margin, with 32 pedestrian deaths. Those pedestrian fatalities in Fairfax County were up from 14 deaths in 2021. Fairfax County also saw 218 pedestrian injuries from vehicle crashes in 2022. The number of pedestrian injuries in the county was 181 in 2021.

Prince William County was next in the region with 11 pedestrian deaths in 2022, up from seven in 2021. Arlington County reported two pedestrian deaths in 2022, followed by one pedestrian each in Loudoun County, Alexandria and Fairfax City.

The cities of Falls Church, Manassas and Fredericksburg did not report a pedestrian death in 2022, according to Virginia’s Traffic Records Electronic Data System.

For the entire state, there were 171 pedestrian fatalities in 2022, up from 130 in 2021, according to the DMV.

Among the six DMV regions in Virginia, the Fairfax region's 56 pedestrian deaths were the most of any region in 2022. The Portsmouth region reported 39 pedestrian deaths, followed by the Richmond region with 34, the Roanoke region with 21, the Staunton region with 12 and the Bristol region with eight.

In the Fairfax region, there were 203 traffic-related deaths in 2022, a 3-percent increase compared to 2021. That total includes people driving or riding inside vehicles as well as pedestrians and bicyclists, the DMV said.

For the entire state of Virginia, 1,003 people died in crashes in 2022, a 4-percent increase compared to 2021.

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