2026 MoCo Traffic Deaths Already Top 2025 Total

News
Written By Glenn Fellman

Photo: 2026 Google Map data ©

Montgomery County reached a grim milestone Wednesday, September 30, when a 62-year-old woman was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Aspen Hill. Her death brought the county’s 2026 traffic fatality total to 40. There were 39 traffic fatalities recorded in all of 2025, according to the Montgomery County Police Department’s 2025 Annual Report on Crime and Safety.

The conclusion that 2026 has already seen 40 fatalities stems from a new Montgomery Fix investigation of the Serious and Fatal Pedestrian and Cyclist Collisions map and the Police Dispatched Incidents database on dataMontgomery, which revealed two previously unreported fatalities.

On July 22 at approximately 4:51 a.m., an adult male was struck by a vehicle at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and Powder Mill Road in Hillandale. As reported by The MoCo Show shortly after the incident, the critically injured pedestrian was transported to a hospital. There has been no follow-up reporting on the man’s death until now. On August 21 at approximately 2:19 a.m., an adult male was struck near the intersection of Georgia Avenue and Seminary Road in Wheaton. Few other details are available, and the incident appears to have gone unreported.

Despite appearing in two separate areas of dataMontgomery, neither the July 22 nor the August 21 incident has been reported as a subsequent fatality by MCPD. Those two fatalities, together with the September 30 Aspen Hill incident, bring the 2026 traffic-related fatality total to 40, according to the latest Montgomery Fix tally (see list below).

The September 30 Aspen Hill crash marked the county’s sixteenth pedestrian fatality this year, exceeding the 2025 total of 14 reported by MCPD and matching the 10-year Vision Zero-era high. It was the sixth fatal hit-and-run involving a pedestrian in 2026, also matching the Vision Zero-era record for such incidents in a single year. Vision Zero was adopted in Montgomery County in 2016 with the stated goal of eliminating traffic-related fatalities by 2030.

In addition to the 16 pedestrians, traffic-related fatalities in Montgomery County this year include 13 vehicle drivers, 6 vehicle passengers, 4 motorcyclists, and 1 bicyclist. October is historically the deadliest month on Montgomery County roads. Given the present pace of road deaths, it seems certain that the county will exceed the Vision Zero-era fatality high of 45 deaths set in 2022.

2026 Montgomery County Traffic Fatalities Through Sept. 30

January
1. Jan. 12 — Florence L. Chumbow, 73 — Columbia Pike/Fairland Road; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.
2. Jan. 14 — Tayeba Rezaie, 15 — Lockwood Drive/Northwest Drive; passenger killed in crash.
3. Jan. 14 — Michael Patrick Fitzgerald, 28 — Bethesda Church Road; driver killed in single-vehicle crash.

February
4. Feb. 11 — Roland Singleton, 80 — East-West Highway/Washington Avenue; pedestrian struck and later died from his injuries on Feb. 21.

March
5. Mar. 1 — Harry George Kazanjian, 69 — Norbeck Road/Avery Road; pedestrian killed in collision.
6. Mar. 2 — River Jordan Washington, 19 — Ridge Road north of Sweepstakes Road; driver killed in crash.
7. Mar. 15 — Jorge Estuardo Moran Hernandez, 39 — Woodfield Road/Glendalough Road; driver killed in crash.
8. Mar. 15 — Raphaela Weinsweig, 26 — Woodfield Road/Glendalough Road; driver who later died from her injuries.
9. Mar. 22 — Michael Richard Bower, 32 — Dickerson Road/Mouth of Monocacy Road; motorcyclist killed in crash.
10. Mar. 22 — Abraham Huracaya Del Aguila, 24 — Norbeck Road/East Gude Drive; passenger killed in crash.
11. Mar. 22 — Alexander Medrano Cangalaya, 24 — Norbeck Road/East Gude Drive; passenger killed in crash.

April
12. Apr. 5 — Sukhbir Singh, 52 — Crabbs Branch Way/Moccasin Lane; driver killed in crash.
13. Apr. 7 — Daniel Arthur Leone IV, 29 — Connecticut Avenue/Manor Road; motorcyclist killed in crash.
14. Apr. 12 — Cristhian Francisco Trejo Portillo, 33 — Georgia Avenue/Randolph Road; driver killed in single-vehicle incident.
15. Apr. 16 — Thuong Luu Thai, 83 — North Horners Lane/Southlawn Lane; pedestrian killed in collision.

May
16. May 1 — Alexander Junior Norris, 59 — Midcounty Highway/Woodfield Road; driver killed in crash.
17. May 7 — Unidentified male, age unknown — I-495 near Connecticut Avenue; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.
18. May 9 — Khanh Truong Nguyen, 68 — Glenbrook Road/Audubon Road; driver killed in single-vehicle crash.
19. May 16 — Roger Gustavo Pineda Cardona, 25 — West Diamond Avenue/I-270 southbound ramp; motorcyclist killed in collision.
20. May 22 — Daniel Edward Gannon, 60 — I-270/Shady Grove Road; driver killed after striking disabled truck.

June
21. June 8 — Irrael Lopez Garcia, 39 — Veirs Mill Road/Gail Street; pedestrian killed in collision.
22. June 16 — Minh Q. Vu, 45 — Columbia Pike/New Hampshire Avenue; bicyclist struck by a vehicle and killed.
23. June 17 — Brian Roy Longaberger, 56 — Muddy Branch Road/West Diamond Avenue; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.
24. June 19 — Hanna Wegayehou, 61 — Crestmoor Drive/Colesville Road; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.
25. June 21 — Jacob James Hale, 20 — Norbeck Road/Hannans Way; motorcyclist killed in two-motorcycle crash.
26. June 22 — Marjorie Rothschild, 76 — Woodglen Drive/Marketplace Lane; driver killed in single-vehicle crash.

July
27. July 22 — Unidentified pedestrian — New Hampshire Avenue/Powder Mill Road; pedestrian struck by vehicle and later died from his injuries.
28. July 24 — Tesfaye Fugago Liranso, 67 — West Deer Park Road/Hermosa Place; pedestrian struck by a vehicle and later died from his injuries.
29. July 25 — John William Stacey, 28 — 11800 block of New Hampshire Avenue; driver killed in single-vehicle crash.
30. July 30 — Moussa Diarra, 35 — University Boulevard/Colesville Road; driver killed in collision.

August
31. Aug. 4 — William “Vance” Payne II, 58 — Great Seneca Highway/Clopper Road; driver killed after being struck by a stolen Kia.
32. Aug. 8 — Harold Christopher Christner, 67 — 24000 block of Ridge Road; passenger killed in crash.
33. Aug. 17 — Raoudha Khelifi, 44 — Chapman Avenue/Twinbrook Parkway; pedestrian killed in collision.
34. Aug. 20 — Unidentified pedestrian — Georgia Avenue/Seminary Road; pedestrian struck by vehicle and later died.
35. Aug. 28 — Craig Anthony Budd, 61 — North Frederick Avenue/Professional Drive; pedestrian killed in collision.
36. Aug. 29 — Musammat Shamima Begum, 46 — I-270/Democracy Boulevard; passenger killed in collision.
37. Aug. 29 — Areebah Jahin, 23 — I-270/Democracy Boulevard; passenger killed in collision.

September
38. Sept. 17 — Jow Dodou, 34 — Route 355/Christopher Avenue; pedestrian killed in collision.
39. Sept. 20 — Dakota Joseph Grimsby, 27 — Fisher Avenue/Milford Mill Road; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.
40. Sept. 30 — Saijuan Chen, 62 — Bel Pre Road/Arctic Avenue; pedestrian killed in hit-and-run.

Whether each death listed here meets the official fatality definition for Vision Zero reporting will be determined by authorities well after the year ends. It is possible that some incidents on this list will not appear in the official final tally. With the exception of the two previously unreported incidents for which details are lacking, however, the circumstances and reporting of the listed fatalities appear to fit the official definition. This list also excludes incidents that authorities may ultimately deem otherwise, including an August 18 incident in which a school bus driver suffered a medical emergency and crashed into a tree, and a case in which a driver exited his vehicle to flee police and died after jumping from an I-495 overpass.

Sources

Glenn Fellman

Glenn Fellman is the creator and publisher of The Montgomery Fix and its sister site, The Montgomery Leek.

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