A drizzly, foggy evening served as the setting of another crash on Maple Avenue in Vienna that left a pedestrian critically injured.
The crash occurred around 8:10 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 10) when a driver heading toward Tysons on Maple Avenue East struck the pedestrian near the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Trail crossing, according to the Town of Vienna Police Department.
The pedestrian — a 51-year man — was transported to a hospital “in critical condition,” Vienna police said.
“The driver contacted police, remained on scene, and cooperated fully with the investigation,” the VPD said, noting that the Fairfax County Police Department’s Crash Reconstruction Unit provided assistance.
Though police didn’t identify the vehicle involved in the crash, it appeared to have been a white sedan. The vehicle was stopped inside a roadblock set up by police on Maple Avenue, and it had damage on its left side toward the front.
A Fairfax Connector bus was also spotted within the blocked-off section of the road, but an officer confirmed to FFXnow that it wasn’t involved in the crash.
The VPD says anyone who witnessed or has video footage of the crash can contact one of its detectives at steve.simon@viennava.gov.
As noted by the police department, the Saturday crash was the second on Maple Avenue in two days where a driver hit a pedestrian, who was then hospitalized.
A 44-year-old man was seriously injured Friday morning (Jan. 9) when a driver heading north toward Tysons struck him at the Maple and Nutley Street intersection. The driver also stopped, called 911 and cooperated with the investigation in that case, police said.
As of 1 p.m. yesterday (Sunday), the pedestrians in both crashes remained alive, according to VPD spokesperson Juan Vasquez.
“According to the lead detective on the case, the pedestrian involved in the Friday morning accident is now breathing on his own and is alert,” Vasquez told FFXnow. “The pedestrian involved in [Saturday] night’s incident remains in critical condition.”
While investigations into both crashes are still underway, the VPD urged both drivers and pedestrians to adhere to “safe roadway habits”
Vienna is a vibrant, walkable community with much to offer its residents and visitors. Drivers must remain alert and undistracted, always scanning their surroundings as they traverse the roadways. Pedestrians need to use the provided crosswalks and ensure that there are no vehicles approaching before stepping into the roadway. Keeping everyone safe on the roads is a cooperative effort and we urge everyone to use these incidents as a reminder of how vital that effort is.
According to state data, there have been 24 crashes involving pedestrians on Maple Avenue since 2011, all of them resulting in at least one injury, but no fatalities. Vienna has been upgrading the crosswalks and traffic signals along Maple for years, though the improvements have been mostly aimed at addressing accessibility and traffic flow rather than pedestrian safety.
A crash at Church Street and East Street NE that left a pedestrian seriously injured in April 2024 led town officials to consider installing a roundabout at the intersection, but they nixed that idea after the addition of stop signs apparently sufficiently reduced safety concerns.
