NEW: A driver running a red signal appeared to have caused a crash yesterday at the newly revamped intersection of Army Navy Drive & S. Hayes Street in Pentagon City. And they did it right in front of an Arlington County police officer. While I’m not making an excuse for the driver of the white car in Video 1 for not obeying a traffic signal, there’s an intersection design that may cause confusion for drivers not paying close attention (of course, that's so many drivers). The driver who ran the light really didn’t have a red signal over their lane. The signal over their lane was green. It’s a green arrow meant for the far-right lane, yet hangs mostly over the right thru lane. In Video 2, I visited the intersection last night to see the changes up close. In the view from my driver’s seat, you can see how that right turn signal lines up with my car. I was in the same lane as the driver in the video. The right turn lane is to my right. Also, the signal is immediately to the right of the dotted line that guides drivers through the intersection. It would be a good idea to shift that signal further to the right and also move the signal meant for that lane to the right. As for the right turn lane, it’s now right turn only on a green arrow. It’s set this way to protect the not-yet-opened new bike lane on Army Navy from Joyce to 12th. The bike lane has its own special little traffic signals. Another key change, which will likely help prevent the kind of crash we’ve seen most often at this intersection, is on the exit ramp from I-395N. The left turn from that ramp is now only legal with the green arrow. This should prevent many of the conflicts with drivers on northbound Hayes. It also legitimizes what drivers were already doing, creating two left-turn lanes. If they fix the traffic signal alignment, there’s a good chance this will finally be a much safer intersection. Now, they need to straighten out Washington Boulevard and S. Walter Reed Drive, Arlington County’s most dangerous merge. @ARLnowDOTcom @matthewyoung31 @CordellTraffic @ArlingtonDES @ArlingtonVaPD @VaDOTNOVA @rachelweinerwp @AdamTuss @tomroussey7news #traffic #crash #safety #arlington #pentagoncity