reckless driving

ACPD: Teen arrested after fleeing traffic stop for reckless driving

By ARLnow.com
Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

(Updated at 2 p.m.) An Arlington teen of the same name as an 18-year-old convicted in a recent high-profile case has been arrested after allegedly fleeing from police.

Arlington County police say Kenan Owens, 18, was arrested Wednesday in Chesterfield County — near Richmond — on warrants for reckless driving and eluding.

The charges stem from an incident early Tuesday morning in which, according to police, an officer tried to pull over a vehicle seen driving well over the speed limit near the Columbia Pike and Washington Blvd ramps.

The driver allegedly fled the traffic stop and abandoned the car a few blocks away, in the Arlington View neighborhood.

More from ACPD:

RECKLESS DRIVING, 2023-09190035, Washington Boulevard at Columbia Pike. At approximately 6:10 a.m. on September 19, an officer initiated a traffic stop for reckless driving after observing the vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed over the posted speed limit. The driver disregarded the officer’s emergency equipment and fled the area. The officer last observed the vehicle turning from Columbia Pike and subsequently located the abandoned vehicle in the 1400 block of S. Rolfe Street. After further investigation, officers determined the identity of the driver and obtained warrants for Kenan Owens, 18, of Arlington, VA for Reckless Driving and Eluding. He was located and taken into custody in Chesterfield County, VA on September 20.

Earlier this year, an 18-year-old Arlington resident named Kenan Owens was arrested by a SWAT team after triggering a lockdown at Wakefield High School. Police said at the time that he “was known to carry a firearm” and “had an ongoing dispute with” a student at the school.

Owens was charged with trespassing, stalking, having a loaded gun around children, altering a gun’s serial number and conspiring to distribute marijuana.

All but the trespassing and one of four gun charges was dropped. In June he was found guilty and sentenced to 12 months on both charges, with the entire sentence suspended on the gun charge and all but two months suspended on the trespassing charge, according to court records.

Arlington County police spokeswoman Ashley Savage was unable to confirm to ARLnow whether the 18-year-old Kenan Owens arrested this week was the same Kenan Owens — who will turn 19 in December — charged in the high-profile Wakefield incident. State law prevents the department from revealing details of a suspect’s prior criminal history in that manner, Savage said.

The charges from this week are not yet visible in the state court records system and Owens is not expected to be booked into Arlington’s jail, Savage said, after being released on a court summons in Chesterfield County.

Video shows drivers reversing on I-395 to access Express Lanes and avoid minor backups

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Reckless drivers are regularly backing up on I-395 to get to the Express Lanes, despite bollards placed to prevent it.

Video has captured a number of drivers getting onto northbound I-395 from the Route 110 ramp, near the Pentagon, then driving in reverse to get around bollards that block access to the high-occupancy toll lanes. In return for driving the wrong way on a major highway, the drivers get to save a couple of minutes by avoiding minor traffic backups in the main lanes of the 14th Street Bridge.

Footage of the wrong-way drivers has been published by public safety watchdog Dave Statter over the past two years. The most recent jaw-dropping video — showing multiple drivers drive in reverse in traffic lanes — was posted last week.

It appears the scofflaws have upped their antics in response to the addition of the bollards near where the main lanes and the Express Lanes split, before the bridges.

“Last year, in close coordination with [the Virginia Department of Transportation] and external engineering firms, we worked together to determine that adding bollards at that location was and continues to be the best solution,” said Pam Davila of the Australian company Transurban, which operates the 495/95/395 HOT lanes. “We’re confident that the bollards continue to serve their purpose and cannot stress enough that drivers should be mindful to practice safe driving at all times, on and off the Express Lanes.”

She said Transurban and VDOT discussed “other mitigation options” and talked extensively about issues such as the optimum length for the bollards.

After they went up, Statter observed an improvement, but 15 months later, people are out-maneuvering them.

Virginia State Police is “very aware of” this problem, spokeswoman Corinne Geller says, and is working with VDOT and Transurban to tackle it from both enforcement and engineering perspectives.

“As a preventative measure, state police has stepped up its enforcement and presence in that particular area,” she said. “But our troopers simply cannot be everywhere all the time, nor would permanently stationing a trooper at that one location be efficient or fair use of our limited resources across the Northern Virginia region. Our troopers are committed to doing everything we can to prevent such reckless behavior from occurring.”

Statter’s videos show what people did pre-bollards. Originally, defiant drivers crossed the highway at a nearly perpendicular angle to make the lane.

Orange barrels and cones didn’t deter some drivers. With surprising courtesy, one driver used the turn signal to cross three traffic lanes — blocking oncoming cars — and squeeze through an opening.

More barrels went up in shorter intervals, which did not stop this intrepid driver from creating an opening.

https://twitter.com/VaDOTNOVA/status/1283172582213197825

Instead of making these dangerous moves, the Transurban spokeswoman says drivers can access the Express Lanes at a different juncture.

“There is an option for drivers coming from the Pentagon City to safely get on the Express Lanes by taking the Pentagon/Eads Street ramp, and we encourage drivers to use that route, especially during rush hour when there is heavy traffic on the general-purpose lanes,” she said.

While enforcement plays a role in stopping the antics, Geller reminded drivers it is their job to follow the basic rules of the road.

“There is still a responsibility on the driver to make safe, legal and logical decisions when behind the wheel,” she said. “Backing up and/or driving the wrong way on an interstate ramp and/or in a travel lane put that driver and countless other motorists at risk of a crash and serious injury. The safety of our highways is a collaborative responsibility and one we hope the motoring public will help us improve, especially at this particular location.”

AAA Warns Of Daylight Saving Time Related Drowsy Driving

By Bridget Reed Morawski

AAA Mid-Atlantic is warning drivers to be extra mindful on Monday after Daylight Saving Time kicks in.

The annual scheduled clock hopping is happening on Sunday (March 11), “springing forward” an hour starting at 2 a.m.

Only 31.9 percent of Washingtonians get seven hours of sleep per night, according to AAA, and it can take two weeks for the body to adjust to the time turning.

Even losing one hour’s sleep can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythm enough to cause damage. Health risks include strokes, heart attacks, obesity, diabetes, and workplace- or traffic-related accidents.

Drowsy driving in particular is a concern in AAA’s eyes citing the “major threat on area roadways Monday” morning and calling it “one of the most underreported traffic safety issues.”

The automotive organization’s warning points to its own drowsy driving research.

Remarkably, the percentage of crashes involving drowsiness is nearly eight times higher than federal estimates indicate, according to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety. The difficulty in detecting drowsiness following a crash makes drowsy driving one of the most underreported traffic safety issues. The new research provides an unprecedented analysis of in-vehicle dashcam video from more than 700 crashes, confirming that the danger of drowsy driving soars above official estimates. This weekend, millions of drivers will have difficulty springing forward. Come Monday, the prevalence of short sleep will loom large.

In the study, researchers examined video of drivers’ faces in the three minutes leading up to a crash.
Using a scientific measure linking the percentage of time a person’s eyes are closed to their level of drowsiness, the researchers determined that 9.5 percent of all crashes and 10.8 percent of crashes resulting in significant property damage involved drowsiness. Federal estimates indicate drowsiness is a factor in only one to two percent of crashes.

Even so, 35 percent of drivers in the United States sleep less than the recommended minimum of seven hours daily, notes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In a recent related AAA Foundation survey, nearly all drivers (96 percent) say they view drowsy driving as a serious threat to their safety and a completely unacceptable behavior. However, 29 percent admitted to driving when they were so tired they had a hard time keeping their eyes open at some point in the past month.

Drowsy driving warning signs include struggling to keep your eyes open, lane drifting, and not remembering the last few miles driven.

To avoid drowsy driving, AAA recommends drivers travel when they normally would travel, avoid heavy foods and other sleep-inducing medications, and, for longer trips, schedule breaks every two hours for every 100 miles driven with an alert passenger who can take turns driving.

Photo via Flickr/David Giambarresi

Sister of Drowsy Driving Victim Hides Smiley Faces Around D.C. Area to Raise Awareness

By Kalina Newman
1/3

A Fairlington woman is honoring the anniversary of her sister’s passing in a unique way.

Jennifer Pearce lost her sister Nicole seven years ago in a car crash caused by drowsy driving. The driver of the car Nicole was in fell asleep and ran off the side of the road in West Virginia. Nicole, who was wearing her seat belt, died in the hospital.

To honor her memory, Pearce — along with family and friends — hid over a hundred smiley-face painted rocks around Fairlington last night, and hundreds more around the D.C. area and beyond.

Pearce says raising awareness about drowsy driving has become a life mission.

“We have been very proactive about trying to get awareness awareness, my family will go to 95 and different rest stops and hand out coffee,” said Pearce. “I started doing this because the days just suck. My sister was such a bright and shiny happy person and it was so counter intuitive to try and live that way when your heart was broken.”

According to a study by the Governors Highway Safety Association, there are an estimated 6,400 deaths per year from people nodding off while driving, with more than 50 percent of drowsy driving crashes involving drivers who are 25 years old or younger.

For the past four years, Jennifer has given away small tokens on her sister’s birthday.

“We started with filling up mylar balloons and we would just hand them out to strangers. Smiley faces were her thing and it’s become sort of a holiday that’s brought back her spirit.”

She gave away smiley face balloons because smiley faces were Nicole’s favorite. This year she’s doing something different and has painted about 700 smiley face rocks that have been hidden all over the D.C. area — “and way beyond including Paris, South America and many other states and cities,” she said in a Facebook post.

Many were placed throughout north and south Fairlington, where Pearce lives.

“I hid a hundred rocks in Fairlington, I tried to hide some that were a little easier for kids, there were some I randomly put on car door handles, I hid some in the crevices of tree bases and near the pools, the tennis courts, the dog park, they’re kind of everywhere,” said Pearce.

“My staff is out at the zoo today and we’re going to Georgetown for lunch so they’ll be there. Whoever finds them, what they do with them or why they might need them that day is totally between them and the universe.”

If you happen to come across one of the smiley face rocks, comment on Nicole’s Facebook post with a picture of it.

More information about Nicole and the impact of drowsy driving can be found on a website created in her memory.

Teen Sentenced in Friend’s Skateboarding Death

By ARLnow.com

Fatal skateboarding accident in Arlington Heights (photo from 6/4/13)A 17-year-old Washington-Lee High School student has been sentenced in connection with the death of his friend, fellow W-L student John Malvar.

Malvar died in a skateboarding accident in June. Police say the 18-year-old was hanging on to the driver’s side window frame of his friend’s pickup truck when he lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the pavement. Malvar succumbed to his injuries a few hours later. Students held a candlelight vigil in his memory.

The driver was later charged with reckless driving and pleaded guilty earlier this fall. At a juvenile court sentencing yesterday afternoon, a judge sentenced the teen to serve a weekend in juvenile detention. He was also placed on probation; ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and attend a victim awareness program; and had his drivers license revoked for 6 months and a $500 fine imposed.

EXCLUSIVE: GPS Sends Florida Driver Down W&OD Trail

By ARLnow.com

W&OD trail at Columbia Pike (photo via Google Maps)A Florida man has been charged with reckless driving after driving nearly a mile on the W&OD trail in Arlington yesterday (Wednesday) evening.

The man was in a rental car with his wife and kids when he drove northbound onto the trail at Columbia Pike, according to Arlington police spokesman Lt. Mike Watson. After receiving numerous calls from trail users, a police officer on a motorcycle caught up with the vehicle, a Chrysler 300 sedan, in Glencarlyn Park.

According to Watson, the man claimed that a GPS navigation system on his phone directed him to use the trail. The Florida resident was issued a court summons for reckless driving and was escorted off the trail and back onto local roads, Watson told ARLnow.com.

While trying to catch up with the errant driver, police officers marveled at the fact that he didn’t realize he was driving on a bike trail.

“He must think it’s the world’s smallest two-lane highway,” one said on a police radio channel. No one was hurt during the incident.

Last month, a McLean woman was arrested after allegedly driving five miles while drunk on the W&OD trail in Fairfax County, striking and seriously injuring a 65-year-old bicyclist in the process.

Also last month, gates were installed on the Capital Crescent Trail in Northwest D.C. to prevent drivers from mistaking it for a road. No such gate was in place where the man entered the W&OD trail yesterday.

Photo via Google Maps

Teen Charged in Skateboarding Accident Death

By Katie Pyzyk

Fatal skateboarding accident in Arlington Heights(Updated at 2:30 p.m.) Police have charged a teen involved in a skateboarding accident leading to the death of 18-year-old Washington-Lee High School student John Malvar earlier this month.

Police did not release the name of the 17-year-old Washington-Lee High School student, but said he was charged with reckless driving. Police say he was driving a truck while Malvar rode his skateboard and held on to the driver’s side window frame.

The accident happened on the 300 block of S. Highland Street. Malvar died from injuries he sustained after he lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on the pavement.

Today the 17-year-old appeared before a judge in Arlington County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where the charges were formally brought against him. He was released into the custody of a parent and will go to trial on August 8.

Morning Poll: Cell Phone Ban

By ARLnow.com

On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board called for a nationwide ban on the use of all cell phones and text messaging devices while driving. The proposed ban would even apply to hands-free devices, like talking on a cell phone via a Bluetooth headset.

Using a hand-held cell phone while driving is perfectly legal in Virginia. That’s in contrast with D.C., which requires that drivers use a hands-free device. Virginia does ban texting while driving, but it’s considered a secondary offense, meaning that you must be violating another traffic law in order for the police to pull you over and give you a citation.

The only exception to those rules is for school bus drivers, for whom it is a primary offense to use a cell phone, and for drivers younger than 18, for whom all cell phone use is banned.

Would you support a more comprehensive cell phone ban in Virginia?

Teen Pleads to Reckless Driving in Fatal Crash

By ARLnow.com

An 18-year-old Arlington man has pleaded guilty to reckless driving after a crash that killed a 28-year-old woman and her dog near Washington-Lee High School.

Joseph DiFilippo pleaded guilty in Arlington General District Court on Aug. 25, prosecutors say. He was sentenced to 12 months in jail, but the entirety of the jail term was suspended on the condition of good behavior and the completion of 200 hours of community service. DiFilippo is also required to speak about his actions before monthly driver’s license presentation ceremonies held at the Arlington County courthouse. Additionally, his driver’s license was suspended six months, the maximum allowed by state law.

“Pursuant to a plea agreement, three other traffic infractions were dismissed,” said Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Jennifer Clarke. She noted that DiFilippo had a valid driver’s license at the time of the accident, despite an initial charge of driving without a license.

Members of the victim’s family were present at the sentencing hearing, and testified about how the accident impacted their lives, Clarke said.

The accident occurred around 7:30 a.m. on Monday, April 11, as 28-year-old Arlington resident Alison Drucker was walking her dog across the Quincy Street Bridge. A statement of facts was not entered as part of the plea, but after the accident police said that a pickup truck driven by DiFilippo struck Drucker and her dog, Buckley, as the truck was traveling northbound on Quincy Street. The dog died at the scene and Drucker suffered a serious head injury. She died in the hospital two weeks later.

Prosecutors say the plea deal’s lack of jail time was a reflection of the evidence in the case.

“The charge brought against the defendant and the plea agreement which was reached was based upon extensive consideration of the evidence. Some cases are stronger than others and we are limited by the unique facts and evidence of each case,” Clarke said. “After consideration of the facts of this case, the case law which has interpreted and applied the Virginia reckless driving statute, and our burden of proof, we concluded that the plea agreement was appropriate.”

“As prosecutors, our decisions must be based upon the law and the evidence,” Clarke added. “However, as people, our hearts go out to the Alison Drucker’s family. The plea agreement should in no way be seen as a reflection of the great sympathy we have for the Drucker family and the loss which they have suffered.”