Driver kills pedestrian on Arlington Blvd.
A pedestrian was struck and killed while attempting to cross Arlington Boulevard in the Falls Church area of Mason District shortly before 6 a.m. on Dec. 18, the Fairfax County Police Department reports.
According to detectives, Tomas Escudero Machado, 76, of Falls Church, was attempting to cross the eastbound lanes of Arlington Boulevard from the north side of the road, when he was hit by a 2003 Honda Accord traveling eastbound on Arlington Boulevard.
Machado was pronounced dead at the scene. There is no crosswalk at that intersection.
After striking Machado, the driver continued on, traveling over two medians and striking multiple street signs and a pole before stopping. The driver was taken to the hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.
“Preliminary, alcohol does not appear to be a factor for the driver in the crash,” the FCPD states. “The driver’s speed remains under investigation.”
Witnesses are encouraged to call the Crash Reconstruction Unit at 703-280-0543.
This is the 22nd fatal crash involving pedestrians in Fairfax County this year.
What a tragedy. Lesson: don’t jaywalk across a highway in pitch black dark at 5 something in the morning while 76 years old.
“the driver continued on, traveling over two medians and striking multiple street signs and a pole before stopping”
that doesn’t sound to me like the pedestrian was at fault here…
If jaywalking on that road, it is a major contributing factor. Especially if it was dark. Diver also has responsibility. It is sad all around.
That’s a bit rough but accurate.
What a terrible tragedy that could have been avoided. It’s very difficult to control stupid; not even VDOT, Virginia Dept of Terror doing their best could have helped here.
Sad, but like I said before. – traffic laws do apply to both drivers and pedestrians. Which is contrary to how (if not what) most people around here act.
Slow down drivers. Pedestrians, use crosswalks and if at night put on brighter colored cloths. I often see some pedestrians with reflective clothing at night and I appreciate that. It helps all of us.
dawg this never gon end 💀
Thank you for using the proper subject here; driver did the killing, instead of describing it as the vehicle striking the pedestrian.
Like how guns don’t kill people. People kill people.
I am so very sorry Mr. Machado lost his life, and in such a terrible way.
I see there is a bus stop at eastbound route 50 at that intersection. Whether or not Mr. Machado was traveling to that bus stop, we could use this catastrophe to think about bus transit on our major roads.
Safe, comfortable bus travel with short wait times feeds every environment and quality-of-life goal. It has to be safe and efficient to travel to and from the bus stop. How can we make it safe to get to and from each bus stop, across a road designed for cars traveling at more than 20-25 mph?
If we don’t tackle that, might as well rip out all bus stops save those at crosswalks with traffic signals or pedestrian flasher lights.
It’s great that young people are being encouraged to use our buses with free ride passes.Let’s put new effort into safe travel to bus stops as part of this better transportation initiative.
Again, so very sorry about this death, and for his family.
I second that. We have developed into a dense urban area, and as such we need safe transportation alternatives, definitely including quality bus service. And safer places to walk.
To me, this cries out as a case study for better traffic enforcement, particularly through increased use of speed cameras. Based on the description in the article, the driver’s pleasure car must have been travelling significantly faster than he or she could react. Despite the limited visibility before 6 am, probably the speed was also well above the 40mph limit, based on the reported “traveling over two medians and striking multiple street signs and a pole.” Sunrise is after 7 am.
If we developed a network of speed cameras to punish those who decide to drive dangerously, the number of speeders would distinctly diminish, and our police would have other issues to work. Don’t like fines from cameras? Don’t speed. Don’t run red lights.
A 2003 Honda Accord doesn’t sound like a pleasure vehicle, and I’m not sure how you know the vehicle was traveling significant faster than the speed limit. Perhaps your belief system is affecting how you perceive the facts.