One killed, three injured in GW Parkway wreck
One person was killed and three people suffered life-threatening injuries in a head-on collision Monday afternoon on the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The crash happened around 4:30 p.m. on a stretch of the Parkway between Tulane Drive and Morningside Lane. The U.S. Park Police said that the Volkswagen Beetle driving southbound crossed the double yellow line and hit a Red Top Cab driving northbound.
The driver of the taxi died on the scene. Two passengers in the vehicle were airlifted to local hospitals, while the driver of the Volkswagen was transported via ambulance. The Park Police withheld the identity of the 55-year-old taxi driver at the family’s request. He was a resident of Springfield, Va.
The Parkway remained closed in both directions until around 7:45 p.m. as police investigated the crash. The Park Police are asking anyone who may have information about the crash to contact them at 202-610-8737 or at USPP_tipline@nps.gov.
Monday’s crash was the first fatal wreck on the GW Parkway between Old Town Alexandria and Mount Vernon since a June 2016 collision between a shuttle bus carrying Chinese tourists and a Mini Cooper. One of the passengers on the bus was killed, while 13 other passengers in the bus and two people in the car were injured.
No charges were filed in that crash.
A number of other major crashes have happened along the stretch between Old Town and Mount Vernon, and in late 2017 Rep. Don Beyer’s office announced that the National Park Service would be conducting a traffic study of the road in order to improve safety. That study was originally supposed to be completed in late 2018 or early 2019, but there have been no updates on its status.
This story was updated Tuesday morning with more information from the Park Police.
Interested to hear what happened. I used to take the Parkway everyday between Mt. Vernon and 495, but discontinued the practice after numerous close calls at Morningside, Tulane, Belle View and Belle Haven. A huge problem (but probably not in this instance) are vehicles making left turns into the northbound lanes. Unfortunately, you can’t put stoplights on the parkway without backing traffic up through Old Towne. Pray for patience and hope for the best.
Why worry about slowing down traffic in Old Town because it’s already slow because there are too many cars and too many lights. It’s slow to begin with. Overexpansion and housing development has ruined Northern Virginia to include Alexandria.
Always travel in the right lane on a non median road so that the car crossing the highway has to least go 2 lanes before colliding with you.
Yes, I would like to know why the crash occurred? When will that information become available to the public?
That entire GWMP is turning into a complete mess. Has anyone noticed the condition of the road? Potholes galore, large seams, big cracks – it’s terrible. What is being done to bring this road into the modern age? I understand the problems with our weather here and how the swings in temp cause havoc with hard surfaces but come on!