A Fairfax County, Virginia, high school student was struck and killed Wednesday morning as she tried to cross Columbia Pike in the Bailey’s Crossroads area, police said.
The teen was in a crosswalk at Barcroft View Terrace and Tyler Street, attempting to cross Columbia Pike from east to west, just before 9 a.m. when she was struck by a vehicle traveling south on Columbia, said Fairfax County Police Lt. Dan Spital in a media briefing.
Bystanders attempted to provide life-saving measures before emergency crews arrived. She was rushed to the hospital, where she died.
Police are not yet releasing the name of the school she attended, other than to say she was a 17-year-old Fairfax County Public School student.
This is the Bailey’s Crossroads crosswalk where a teenage girl was struck and killed this morning crossing Columbia pike at Tyler Street in Fairfax County @wtop pic.twitter.com/Jy0gmf7dXI
— Dick Uliano (@DickUliano) November 16, 2022
“Any loss of a staff member, student, or their loved one, deeply impacts our entire FCPS family,” a school system spokesperson said in a statement. “We will always offer counseling and support to our community during these difficult times. Above all else, we respect the privacy of those who are grieving.”
The driver stayed on the scene, Spital said. He said it’s too soon to discuss any possible charges, saying investigators are trying to determine all the circumstances that led to the crash.
Spital called it a “heartbreaking case that is honestly difficult to talk about.”
He called the stretch of roadway where the crash happened a “dangerous intersection.” The speed limit there is 35 mph He asked drivers to maintain that speed or even lower and to be vigilant at crosswalks. There is no stoplight or flashing lights at the crosswalk where the teen was struck.
He said police planned to have more traffic enforcement at that intersection.
The incident is the third pedestrian crash at that intersection and the first death in five years, Fairfax County police said. There have been 19 pedestrian fatalities so far this year.
