During our 2022 Critical Crash Mitigation Campaign, we shared an important safety message each month, focusing on one of the five behaviors identified in our crash data shown in the graphic above. From May through December, we posted graphics throughout the community and online including:

• Large posters at 56 Capital Bikeshare stations.
• Full-page ads in the Arlington Sun Gazette.
• ARLnow website advertisements and monthly email blasts.
• Monthly outreach to the Vision Zero and other County transportation listservs.
• Sharing on the County’s social media channels.
• Facebook ads, which led to hundreds of visits to the website.

Collectively, these efforts had an estimated reach of anywhere from 100,000 to 150,000 views per month. The Vision Zero will relaunch the Critical Crash Mitigation Campaign later in 2023 and update/share these graphics to encourage safer choices for all road users. Learn more about Arlington’s Vision Zero Critical Crash Campaign here.  

Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFBs) are a tool to enhance traffic safety by increasing the visibility of pedestrians at crosswalks.

RRFBs are a set of yellow high-intensity pedestrian crossing signs paired with flashing LED lights. A pedestrian or bicyclist activates the beacon while waiting to cross. Once the lights flash and oncoming vehicles yield, the pedestrian or bicyclist may proceed across the intersection with the added visibility of the flashing lights. Once the person crosses, the vehicles may proceed. 

The Federal Highway Administration estimates that RRFBs can reduce pedestrian crashes by up to 47% and increase motorist yield rates up to 98%.

You may have noticed RRFBs installed across Arlington County and you can look forward to more installations this year (see the quick-build safety projects list for information on upcoming RRFBs)! The County first installed RRFBs over a decade ago and there are now 35+ RRFBs in Arlington.

Read more about RRFBs in Arlington on page 34 of the Multimodal Safety Engineering Toolbox and visit the County website for more information about RRFBs locations in Arlington.

See below for a helpful graphic developed by the City of Arvada, CO, which explains how pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists should use and respond to the RRFB.

In the first 10 months of 2022, 28% of all Arlington crashes and 40% of serious or fatal crashes involved speeding. These statistics reiterate the importance of reducing vehicle speeds and enforcing safe driving behaviors throughout the County.

The Vision Zero Action Plan called for a review of speeds and posted speed limits of non-interstate roadways in the County with speed limits of 30MPH and above within the first 4 years of the program. The intent of these studies is to review each roadway and its adjacent land use characteristics and deploy safety measures based what we learn.

Since 2021, we’ve studied speeds on 19 corridors, which resulted in lower posted speed limits in 13 locations, and seven additional $200 fine regulations installed. There are another 17 corridors with 30MPH+ posted speed limits currently under evaluation. We anticipate making recommendations for action on these corridors in winter/spring 2023. Recommendations may include speed limit reductions, alternative speed mitigation measures, and in some cases, if there are no speeding issues and the speed limit is deemed appropriate based on the corridor’s context, no additional action.

In fall 2018, the County conducted a corridor safety audit on the section of VA-237 including Fairfax Dr from N Glebe Rd to 10th St N and 10th St N from Fairfax Dr that was acquired from VDOT in summer 2018. Because this segment is on the Vision Zero High-Injury Network, we conducted a review/follow up evaluation of the 2018 audit to determine how County ownership and the subsequent safety improvements have affected this corridor.

While there is still more work to be done, including installing an RRFB at the intersection of Fairfax Dr & N Utah St, the average number of collisions on this segment of VA-237 has dropped from 66 crashes per year in 2014-2018 (2 severe) to 44 crashes per year in 2019-2022 (<1 severe). Check out this info sheet to see a detailed summary of this progress and next steps.