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FCPD: Driver dies after crashing into Fairfax County Parkway traffic signal

Southbound Fairfax County Parkway approaching the Burke Lake Road intersection (via Google Maps)

An 82-year-old driver died on Halloween following a three-vehicle crash in Burke that started when he collided with a traffic signal pole on Fairfax County Parkway, police say.

Daniel Locke Jr., an 82-year-old Fairfax Station resident, was driving south on the parkway in a 2014 Infiniti Q-70 Saturday afternoon (Oct. 31) when he “made several lane changes before veering onto the right shoulder, striking a traffic signal pole” at the Burke Lake Road intersection, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

“The Infiniti then struck a 2007 Lexus RX 350 stopped at a red light on Burke Lake Road, causing the Lexus to strike a 2024 Mazda MX-5,” the FCPD said yesterday (Sunday) in a press release.

Officers were dispatched to the crash at around 5:43 p.m. According to scanner traffic, Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department units also responded and transported Locke to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he was declared dead.

The Lexus and Mazda drivers didn’t experience any injuries.

“Preliminarily, detectives believe speed was a factor in the crash,” the FCPD said. “Alcohol does not appear to be a factor.”

The crash remains under investigation by the FCPD’s Crash Reconstruction Unit detectives.

Locke was the second person killed in a crash at the Fairfax County Parkway and Burke Lake Road intersection last month. A 93-year-old man from Springfield also died a day after the sedan he was riding in as a passenger collided with a 2017 Toyota 4Runner there on Oct. 4.

According to preliminary state data, there have been at least 43 crash-related fatalities on Fairfax County roads so far in 2026. However, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles database currently only lists two deaths in October; by FFXnow’s count, Locke was the fifth person to be killed in a crash that month, which would bring the total death toll up to 46 people.

Screenshot via Google Maps

About the Author

  • Angela Woolsey

    Angela Woolsey is the site editor for FFXnow. A graduate of George Mason University, she worked as a general assignment reporter for the Fairfax County Times before joining Local News Now as the Tysons Reporter editor in 2020.