Fatal crashes on Arlington roads dropped to a six-year low in 2024 as the Vision Zero team says its efforts have begun yielding tangible results.
Only one person died in an Arlington vehicle crash last year, the lowest number the county has seen since 2018, according to a Vision Zero annual report published last week. Between 2019 and 2023, the number of fatal collisions varied between three and five.
The number of crashes resulting in “severe” injuries also dropped from 55 in 2023 to 38 in 2024.
This is below the 10-year average of 46.9 severe crashes. However, the number has tended to vary from year to year, from a high of 51 in 2019 to a low of 33 in the pandemic year of 2020.
The Vision Zero project seeks to eliminate all vehicle crashes resulting in fatalities and severe injuries by 2030. Reported data now excludes crashes that took place on interstates, which are outside of Arlington County’s jurisdiction.
Vision Zero Program Manager Christine Baker cautioned against reading too much into data for any single year.
“If you look at crashes across the last decade, you’ll see crash rates were high one year and then low the next,” she told ARLnow. “It’s difficult to pinpoint exact causes or any one factor.”
Still, she said before and after studies have shown some signs of progress since Arlington County adopted its Vision Zero Action Plan in 2021.
For instance, “quick build” projects, which add materials like flex posts, pavement markings and beacons to high-crash areas, have resulted in “about a 34% reduction in locations with a reported injury crash,” Baker said. Likewise, improvement projects at crash “hot spots” have resulted in a 42% drop.
New tactical speed humps in school zones have also resulted in up to a 36% drop in some vehicles’ speeds, according to a report released last month.
The total number of crashes in Arlington has held steady for the past few years: 1,996 in 2024, 2,015 in 2023 and 1,998 in 2022, according to data on the Vision Zero crash dashboard.
In 2020, when fewer drivers were on the roads, the number dropped sharply to 1,460. Total crashes in Arlington have yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, when the county averaged around 2,500 crashes per year.
The Vision Zero team is scheduled to review its five-year action plan at the end of this year.
While a similar decade-long project in D.C. failed to bring down traffic fatalities, which actually rose to a 16-year high in 2023, the Arlington team has said that it remains “optimistic” about the county’s chances of reaching its goal.
Vision Zero infrastructure improvements last year included adding 4,238 feet of separated bike lanes, six new speed humps in school zones, 35 curb extensions, and rectangular rapid flashing beacons at seven locations.
Other notable efforts included launching a new speeding camera program, adding more red light cameras, installing 53 “no right turn on red” signs and reducing speed limits on five roads.
