Washington's local TV market doesn't stop at the District line. It stretches from the National Mall through Maryland's D.C. suburbs and Northern Virginia's exurbs, out past Hagerstown, and into West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Each jurisdiction inside it keeps its own crash data and names its own worst intersections, so "most dangerous" looks different depending on which side of the Potomac, or the Mason-Dixon Line, you're standing on.
DC's most notorious circle just got rebuilt
For more than a decade, the tangle where Florida Avenue, New York Avenue, and First Street meet in Northeast DC ranked among the District's ten most hazardous intersections, according to the District Department of Transportation.1 Drivers nicknamed it Dave Thomas Circle, after the Wendy's that sat in its center. In the first five months of 2019 alone, it logged 86 crashes.1
DDOT tore the whole thing out and rebuilt it as a conventional signalized intersection, renaming the plaza after Negro Leagues and Olympic softball player Mamie "Peanut" Johnson. The new configuration opened in June 2025.1 The early numbers look real: 52 crashes through May 2025, 40% below the 2019 count, and just four crashes in July 2025 against a 16-year July average of nearly 11.1
That local fix lines up with a citywide drop. DC recorded 25 traffic deaths in 2025, down from 52 the year before.23 DDOT Director Sharon Kershbaum points to "big investments" paying off, though she's careful to add the city has "a long way to go."2 Part of the credit goes to the STEER Act, the Strengthening Traffic Enforcement, Education, and Responsibility Act of 2024, which built a point system onto the District's automated cameras: two points for going 11 to 15 mph over the limit, up to ten points for aggravated reckless driving, plus new authority for the Attorney General to sue drivers who rack up unpaid fines even after they've left the District.45
Montgomery County's high-injury corridors
Cross into Maryland and Montgomery County runs its own Vision Zero tally. The county logged 45 fatal crashes in 2023 and was already at 41 partway through 2024, a pace that alarmed even the program's own staff. "Being above 40 is very concerning for us," said Wade Holland, the county's Vision Zero coordinator, who noted the office can only rework so many roads and intersections in a given year.6 The county's own list of dangerous corridors includes US 29 at University Boulevard in Silver Spring, Georgia Avenue at University Boulevard, Georgia Avenue between Bel Pre and Randolph Roads, Veirs Mill Road, and Rockville Pike (MD 355), where the county is now adding sidewalks with the help of $520,000 in federal Safe Streets and Roads for All money.6 A crash-data review of Montgomery County by thatcarhitme.com counted 898 crashes in May 2025 alone.7
Prince George's County leads the state, and not by a little
Next door, Prince George's County has topped Maryland in traffic deaths for roughly a decade running. In 2024 it recorded 91 traffic deaths, more than any other Maryland jurisdiction despite not being the state's largest or densest county.8 "This is not a new phenomenon in Prince George's County," said John Seng, chair of the advocacy group SafeRoadsMD. "It's always been the poster child of this ignominious leadership in road crashes for the past 10 years."8 County police and safety researchers point to a recurring cluster of roads: Indian Head Highway (Route 210), Route 202, Route 214, Annapolis Road, Laurel-Bowie Road, Pennsylvania Avenue, and St. Barnabas Road.8
Statewide, the trend is at least pointed the right way. Maryland recorded 213 traffic deaths through July 20, 2026, down from 252 over the same stretch in 2025, a roughly 15.5% drop that officials credit partly to speed cameras and feedback signs in work zones.9 Tim Kearns, director of the Maryland Highway Safety Office, attributes Prince George's persistent lead to sheer traffic volume passing through the county.9 Excessive speed factors into close to a third of Maryland's deadly crashes, and unbelted occupants make up roughly half of all vehicle-occupant fatalities statewide.9
Richmond Highway, Fairfax County's deadliest stretch
South of the District, Fairfax County recorded 12,538 crashes in 2023, including 5,773 injuries and 42 deaths, according to the Virginia DMV's annual crash facts report.10 A May 2026 analysis by Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets zeroed in on Richmond Highway, the roughly 14-mile stretch of US Route 1 running from the Alexandria border down to the Occoquan River south of Lorton.1112 Over nine years, from 2017 through 2025, 62 pedestrians and cyclists were killed or seriously hurt on that corridor, 22 of them fatally.13 The single most dangerous piece of it, a 6.6-mile segment between Belvoir Road and South Kings Highway, accounts for 58% of all the corridor's crashes.11
The report names specific trouble spots: Richmond Highway at Huntington Avenue, where alcohol was a factor in roughly four of every five serious crashes, plus the intersections at Pohick/Backlick Road, Lockheed Boulevard, and Beacon Hill Road.12 Across the corridor, 77% of serious crashes and 95% of the fatalities happened after dark, and 65% of serious crashes and 82% of fatalities happened outside a marked crosswalk.1113 Of 21 gaps between crosswalks along the highway, 19 exceed the recommended 600-foot spacing, with the longest stretching 2,600 feet between North Kings Highway and Southgate Drive.12 Crashes involving a death or serious injury nearly quadrupled on Richmond Highway, from three in 2018 to eleven in 2024.13 "The Richmond Highway corridor is a concentrated and consistent pedestrian safety crisis," the group's analysis concludes.12
Hagerstown, at the market's western edge
Hagerstown itself, the "H" in this media market's name, identified its two worst intersections through its own police crash data years ago: Potomac Street at Wilson Boulevard, and Virginia Avenue at Burhans Boulevard. Red light cameras have watched both since February 1, 2018.14 More recently, in May 2026, the Washington County Sheriff's Office ran a month-long anti-crash enforcement push at four locations chosen from 2025 and early-2026 crash statistics: Halfway Boulevard at Massey Boulevard and Underpass Way, Virginia Avenue at Halfway Boulevard, Pennsylvania Avenue at Longmeadow Road, and East Potomac Street at North Conococheague Street.15
What this means if you're hurt at one of these
Fault at a bad intersection often turns on things that have nothing to do with who had the green light: signal timing, a missing crosswalk, a sightline blocked by a sign or a parked truck, a streetlight that's technically on but doesn't do the job. DDOT, MDOT SHA, and VDOT each keep separate crash records and separate rules for pulling them. A local attorney who already knows a given corridor's history, and how each agency handles public records requests, can move faster than one starting from scratch. You can find one through the legal directory.
This article provides general information, not legal advice.
Sources
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WUSA9, "Construction on Dave Thomas Circle intersection complete, Mayor Bowser unveils": https://www.wusa9.com/article/traffic/construction-completed-dave-thomas-circle-mamie-peanut-johnson-plaza-new-york-florida-avenue-first-street-northeast-dc/65-8774de01-3c10-491c-9332-11f368a31085
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The Washington Informer, "Traffic Deaths Fall in D.C. in 2025, but Pedestrian Risk Remains High": https://www.washingtoninformer.com/dc-pedestrian-traffic-deaths-2025/
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DC News Now, "Traffic fatalities in DC drop more than 50% in 2025, Attorney General says": https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/washington-dc/traffic-fatalities-in-dc-drop-more-than-50-in-2025-attorney-general-says/
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WTOP News, "New law cracks down on dangerous driving in DC": https://wtop.com/local/2024/10/steer-act-cracks-down-on-dangerous-driving-in-dc/
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Councilmember Charles Allen, Ward 6, "STEER Act Update": https://www.charlesallenward6.com/steer_act_update
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WJLA, "Deaths on Montgomery County roads continue to climb. Is Vision Zero working?": https://wjla.com/news/local/vision-zero-montgomery-county-country-roads-fatal-crash-serious-serious-injuries-dangerous-intersections-us-route-29-university-blvd-silver-spring-georgia-avenue-bel-pre-and-randolph-roads
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thatcarhitme.com, "Montgomery County, MD Crash Report, May 2025": https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/maryland/montgomery-county/may-2025-report
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Capital News Service (CNS Maryland), "Prince George's far outstrips other Maryland jurisdictions in highway deaths": https://cnsmaryland.org/2025/05/16/prince-georges-far-outstrips-other-maryland-jurisdictions-in-highway-deaths/
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WTOP News, "Road deaths down in Maryland in 2026, officials hope trend continues": https://wtop.com/maryland/2026/07/road-deaths-down-in-maryland-in-2026-officials-hope-trend-continues/
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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, "2023 Virginia Traffic Crash Facts": https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/VA-traffic-crash-2023.pdf
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WTOP News, "Route 1 in Fairfax County sees spike in pedestrian, cyclist crashes, safety group says": https://wtop.com/local/2026/05/route-1-in-fairfax-county-sees-spike-in-pedestrian-cyclist-crashes-safety-group-says/
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FFXnow, "Range of factors driving Richmond Highway pedestrian safety 'crisis,' analysis finds": https://www.ffxnow.com/2026/05/28/range-of-factors-driving-richmond-highway-pedestrian-safety-crisis-analysis-finds/
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Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets, "KSI Analysis on Richmond Highway (Route 1), Fairfax, VA," May 2026: https://novasafestreets.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Richomnd-Hwy_KSI-Analysis_NoVA-FSS_May-2026.pdf
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City of Hagerstown, Maryland, "Red Light Cameras": https://www.hagerstownmd.org/1310/Red-Light-Cameras
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Franklin County Free Press, "Washington County Sheriff's Office Announces Anti-Crash Enforcement Initiative": https://fcfreepresspa.com/washington-county-sheriffs-office-announces-anti-crash-enforcement-initiative/