Eileen Garnett dies from injuries in crash
Eileen Garnett, one of the four pedestrians struck by a car in Annandale May 20, died from her injuries on May 25.
Garnett, 83, was a longtime advocate for revitalizing Annandale. On the day of the crash, she was with a group of county and state officials on an inspection tour of Annandale hosted by the Annandale Central Business District Planning Committee.
As she has done annually for years, Garnett was pointing out things that need fixing, such as streetlights, paving, and landscaping.
The driver of a 2008 Nissan Sentra dropped food in her car, tried to pick it up, and lost control, hitting the four pedestrians in a parking lot at 7263 Maple Place. The driver then crashed into a metal fence.
Laura Baker of the Community Revitalization Section of the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development was part of the group and was seriously injured during the crash. She remains hospitalized at Inova Fairfax Hospital with several broken bones, says colleague and friend JoAnne Fiebe.
Baker is a revitalization program manager focusing on Annandale and Bailey’s Crossroads. One of her current projects is the development of the Annandale Civic Space on Columbia Pike.
She has a baby less than a year old and faces a long recovery. Fiebe set up a GoFundMe campaign to help with the medical expenses while she remains out of work.
A GoFundMe site has also been set up for P.J. Tierno, another crash victim. Tierno handles maintenance projects in Fairfax County revitalization areas for the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services. He has already been released from the hospital.
Related story: Pedestrian seriously injured in crash is longtime Annandale advocate
The fourth crash victim is a contractor with the BrightView Landscape Co. Two VDOT employees were also with the group but were not hit.
Garnett was well-known in her Broyhill Crest neighborhood and was also an active volunteer with the Annandale Christian Community for Action.
“It’s hard to think of Annandale without thinking of Eileen Garnett,” says Mason Supervisor Penny Gross. “She was the heart and soul of Annandale revitalization, starting with the beautification committee that she founded in the mid-80s.”
“On Friday, May 20, Eileen was doing the same thing she had done for nearly 40 years, working with county and VDOT staff to make downtown Annandale, her home for decades, more attractive,” Gross says. “The streetscape plantings, lighting, signage, street furniture – all are part of Eileen’s legacy as a premier volunteer on behalf of all Annandale residents.”
“Her death as a result of a tragic, preventable accident is hard to understand, but her long service to Annandale, Mason District, and Fairfax County must never be forgotten,” Gross continues. “Her loss is greatest for her family – husband Stan, sons Brian and Matthew, and daughter Megan – but in a way, we all are Eileen’s family and we all grieve her tragic loss.”
Garnett was named Lady Fairfax in 1986 by former Mason Supervisor Tom Davis and was named Community Champion for Volunteer Fairfax by Gross in 2007.
This was such a tragic, preventable loss. Our community is so much poorer for Eileen’s passing, but she has left a strong legacy. I presume that many don’t know how much she has done over the years, but so much of what is good arose from her efforts. I also note that Laura Baker’s work has been in strong advocacy for making Annandale all the better, and I remain very concerned for her situation. She is so determined to be both a great staff person and a mom – I hope very much for her swift recovery.
Almost 43,000 Americans died in vehicle accidents (and intentional murders like Waukesha) last year. We need to reimagine transportation, and think bigger than just a transition to electric vehicles, which our grid can’t support. One’s privilege to convenient transportation doesn’t supersede another’s right to live.
This is horrible but not surprising as Annandale is a place built for cars: wide roads that VDOT has engineered for maximum vehicle throughput, tiny sidewalks along pollution-choked roads, and because of county parking minimums, most of the land area is covered in parking for those cars. My wife and I regularly walk and bike for errands in Annandale and I am constantly fearing for our lives as the massive numbers of fast vehicles whiz by, their drivers more concerned with what is on their phone, the food they are eating, or how fast they can complete their errand.
I absolutely agree with Howard Stanley’s comment above that we need to re-imagine Annandale as a place where people can safely exist, walk and bike for both practical purposes and recreation. By some estimates, the majority of car trips are less than three miles. E-bikes are getting more and more popular as car replacements. A lot of people would bike or walk if they felt safe doing so, but it’s stories like this, and the hot and treeless landscape of Annandale that make them get in their car.
The county needs to have serious conversations among themselves and with VDOT about their obsession with moving cars quickly (even going so far as to prevent tree planting along roads so that drivers have visibility to go faster), as well as throwing out destructive parking minimum laws that mandate asphalt for cars instead of better uses of valuable land.
Cars, their drivers, and the generous width and amount of lanes in and around a central business district pose a threat to public health and we need to admit that, instead of constantly tailoring to the needs of automobiles while complaining about the traffic that we ourselves create.
Thank you, Mr. Wagoner, for your comments, and thank you Ellie for your always valuable reporting. This crash is indeed a very sad inditement of our infrastructure and drivers.
I completely agree that Annandale needs major Fairfax County attention to improve pedestrian and bicycle connections. It is remarkable to see newer suburb areas outside the beltway, like along Braddock Road, receive nice bicycle- and pedestrian-friendly sidepaths, and then to see only a few painted bicycle lanes on a few roads in Annandale. If you look at Strava heatmaps of where bicyclists ride, Annandale is like a black hole. As bikeshare is coming to Annandale in the next few years, ready or not, now is the time to really fund and improve bicycle and pedestrian connections.
I didn’t know Eileen Garnett but it is obvious by the outpouring of support that the Annandale community must come together and decide to take several actions.
Those actions include continuing her life’s work and memorializing her contributions, to ensure Eileen Garnett’s legacy is remembered, honored, and lives on.
Does anyone know whether the driver was charged and if so the charges? Also, her name. Hopefully more than just not paying full time and attention.