News

This Pentagon City intersection has seen 43 crashes since 2021

By Daniel Egitto
Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street (via Google Maps)

A single Pentagon City intersection has been the site of dozens of crashes in recent years.

Videos of vehicles colliding at the intersection of Army Navy Drive and S. Hayes Street proliferate on the social media account of local public safety watcher Dave Statter. In several, drivers exiting I-395 can be seen hurtling into slower-moving vehicles on Hayes.

Data from the Arlington County Police Department confirms what Statter and other drivers familiar with the intersection already know. Since 2021, 43 collisions have been reported there — far more than the number at neighboring junctions.

Army Navy Drive crash statistics (courtesy of the Arlington County Police Department)

Going back further, a county audit of the crossing reported 96 crashes between 2018 and 2023. Over the years, ARLnow has reported on collisions that overturned a car, toppled a street light and caused a traffic signal to go dark.

Arlington’s Vision Zero program lists Army Navy Drive and Hayes as one of many crash hotspots in an equity emphasis area. Common culprits, Vision Zero Program Manager Christine Baker confirmed, are drivers coming off the interstate.

“Around 80% of crashes identified at Army Navy Drive and South Hayes Street are angle crashes, typically involving a southbound left-turning vehicle,” she told ARLnow. “More than a third of angle crashes involved a speeding vehicle.”

Plans to improve the intersection are in the works. Based on observations made after the planning phase of the Army Navy Drive Complete Street project, the county wants “to modify the southbound left turn to increase safety,” Baker said.

Because the site involves an interstate ramp, however, the process for this is extensive. The Virginia Department of Transportation must analyze and approve any desired changes.

Baker did not speculate on how long that will take.

“Modifications to the southbound left-turn may be implemented either in conjunction with the ongoing capital project [at Army Navy Drive] or as a separate effort, depending on the outcome and timing of the VDOT review process,” she said.

Photo via Google Maps