Report highlights pedestrian safety hotspots
The latest “near miss” report by Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS) identifies Gallows Road at Woodburn Elementary School as one of the county’s most dangerous spots for pedestrians.
The report is based on data submitted by the public highlighting places where pedestrians and cyclists just missed being struck by a vehicle. NoVA FSS encourages people to submit incident reports on its data dashboard here.
A dangerous crossing
According to NoVA FSS, the most dangerous roads in Fairfax County where near misses affected children are Gallows Road, Telegraph Road, and the Fairfax County Parkway.
The report cites a comment from a resident calling the crosswalk on Gallows Road at Woodburn Elementary School “a death trap.”
“Cars do not stop for pedestrians, even when flashing. I will not let my children walk home alone, even though it would be convenient,” the commenter states. “It is not safe.”
Related story: Gallows Road study advances
“Cars went straight through the crosswalk without slowing down at all,” someone else commented. “It is insanely dangerous every single day I cross with my children to go to their elementary school.”
To improve safety at that location, NoVA FSS recommends flashing signals be added to the crosswalk at Woodburn Elementary to encourage drivers to yield to pedestrians.
Crowd-sourced data
Among the supervisory districts, Mason had 24 near-miss reports during the period January 2024-July 2025. Hunter Mill had the most, with 51, and Sully had the least, with just five.
The fact that Mason ends up in the middle of the pack doesn’t mean there aren’t more near misses; the data just reflects the number of incidents that were reported to NoVaFSS. The organization acknowledges it needs to do more to raise awareness of its Near Miss survey app.
Near miss data for Mason District includes the following:
- Just over 34 percent of the near-miss reports involving driver factors were due to a failure to yield. Nearly 42 percent involved speeding, and 25 percent involved distracted drivers.
- Unsafe road conditions were caused by poor visibility (just over 33 percent), no stop sign or signal (nearly 21 percent), no crosswalk (nearly 17 percent), no sidewalk (12.5 percent), and not enough time to cross (12.5 percent). Just over 29 percent were due to “other factors.”
- Fifty percent of near misses involved children. Most reports involving children were on roads with a 25 mph speed limit.
- Near misses in Mason District were most likely to occur in the 3-6 p.m. and 9 a.m.-noon time frames.
- Among those involved in near misses, 75 percent were pedestrians, 25 percent were cyclists, and 25 percent were drivers. About 8 percent involved a person with a disability, and just over 4 percent involved someone riding a scooter.
Unsafe roads
According to NoVA FSS, there were 10 pedestrian/cyclist fatalities in Northern Virginia this year, including six in Fairfax County.
Within Fairfax County as a whole, the most frequently cited behaviors that pose risks to pedestrians are failure to yield (59 percent), speeding (41 percent), and distracted driving (26 percent).
The most high-risk environmental and infrastructure factors are poor visibility and inadequate traffic controls.
A majority (86 percent) of near-miss reports are characterized as recurring incidents. Near miss reports peak during prime commuting hours in the morning and evening.
A review of respondents’ comments to the NoVA FSS data dashboard indicated that many drivers are either unaware of Virginia’s traffic laws requiring drivers to stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk or are ignoring them.
“Each pedestrian fatality and serious injury is preventable,” states NoVA FSS. “Our local and state elected leaders, along with transportation and enforcement officials, need to demonstrate a greater level of commitment and urgency in implementing comprehensive and effective solutions. Making a greater investment today will save lives tomorrow.”
My daughter attends Woodburn and we drive along Gallows and it is so upsetting to see how many people drive through the flashing lights. I’m confused by the suggestion of flashing crosswalk lights because there is a crosswalk with flashing lights already. There have been police present a lot lately, but we should have a crossing guard.
Big speed humps and flashing lights will help. However the best is a cop car there for enforcement during school commute times would solve this. Consequences matter most to individuals (aka getting a ticket/fine). Do it every day for a month and it will start to change drivers behavior. Then randomly go next month but goal is 1/2 the month. Again, this will change drivers behavior and calculations on speed. All much better than a “road diet” that will become more like a downhill bobsled speed track. Without enforcement and consequences then nothing substantial will change.
The govt creates the problem and lacks the common sense to fix it.
The school shouldn’t be there. It’s a stone’s throw from major beltway on- and off-ramps. Drivers race to get up to highway speeds, or they are slingshot off the freeway and headed toward the crosswalk. Move the school, or remove the crosswalk and add a pedestrian bridge. At least trim the trees that cast shadows that obscure driver vision. We pay enough taxes.
Your “common sense” solution is to move an entire school building instead of installing more safety measures, hiring a crossing guard, etc. That’s seriously your “common sense” solution? Rather than drivers actually following the law and yielding to pedestrians, you think it’s “common sense” to just move the whole entire school to a new site, costing millions and millions of dollars? Do I have that right?
lol drivers don’t follow the law and cops don’t give tickets any more.
My daughter’s friend was almost killed in that crosswalk. He’s right there should not be a school there.
Hmm. If we already “pay enough taxes”, moving the school would be hugely cost prohibitive. And your alternative – adding a pedestrian bridge – isn’t going to be low-cost either. Either way, prepare to open up your wallet.
Also, drivers aren’t “racing to get up to highway speeds” anymore than they’re “slingshot(ting) off the freeway”. It’s Gallows Rd., not Daytona Intl Speedway.
But I do like your idea of trimming all trees/vegetation that otherwise impairs a driver’s visibility.
I can 100% confirm that that Gallows cross walk is a dangerous one. I walk my children to school there every day and at LEAST once a week there are cars that speed through either in their own lane or while cutting around other cars that have stopped. It’s a miracle no one has been hit yet. There are flashing lights there as well as school zone signs, but most commuters seem as if they couldn’t be bothered to notice them. For those drivers who do make the effort to slow and stop as needed, thank you!!
Put in more speed cameras, those work. Give out substantial tickets to offset the cost of administering those. The flashing lights at crossworks have some impact but I can tell you that when biking and need to cross I press the button for the lights to blink, many idiot drivers ignore the flashing lights. Put a camera at every crosswalk with flashing lights and a warning sign and you will see better safety. The only thing bad drivers understand is paying high priced tickets or going to jail. FCPD do your job instead of having coffee and donuts at SHRAH and Mason District Park!
perhaps one thing that they could do at the Gallows Road crosswalk is to trim the trees and have not installed the one sign behind a telephone pole. It isn’t easy to see the flashing lights until right up near it. Yes, I have seen people drive right through the crosswalk when people are walking. it is dangerous to be sure.
You can’t put a camera Anywhere in FFC unless the General Assembly authorizes them. Thank the Dillon rule which basically reads that all
Powers are reserved to the state unless specifically granted to a jurisdiction. And as other jurisdictions around SIGNIFICANTLY increase fines for red light running, etc. we’re still stuck at $45.00