An 83-year-old Rockville attorney has died after a pickup truck struck him in a gas station parking lot less than half a mile from his own law office, adding to Montgomery County's pedestrian toll this year. Charles S. Lazar was walking north through the lot of the FreeState gas station toward his parked car on the morning of Friday, October 9, when a white 2016 Chevrolet Silverado pulled away from a fuel pump and struck him.
Rockville City Police and Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel responded to the 500 block of Hungerford Road around 8:36 a.m. that Friday, according to WJLA. Lazar was taken to a hospital following the collision, and his condition worsened overnight before he died Saturday from his injuries, Montgomery County police said, per the same report. The driver of the Silverado remained at the scene and showed no signs of impairment, police told the station.
Lazar's death carries a layer of local poignancy: he operated the Law Office of Charles S. Lazar at 932 Hungerford Drive, just steps from where he was struck, according to Martindale.com. He had practiced law for decades, admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1972 and the DC Bar in 1978 after earning his law degree from Washington College of Law, the legal directory notes.
A Record Year for Pedestrian Deaths
Lazar's death came after Montgomery County had already recorded 16 pedestrian fatalities in 2026, matching the highest annual total of the Vision Zero era, according to The MoCo Show's October 5 report. That total already surpasses the 14 pedestrian fatalities recorded during all of 2025, the outlet reports. Countywide, 40 total traffic fatalities had been recorded through early October, eclipsing the 39 traffic deaths logged across all of 2025 — a toll that includes 16 pedestrians, 13 drivers, six passengers, four motorcyclists, and one bicyclist, per the same analysis.
The trend extends beyond county lines. Preliminary Maryland Department of Transportation data shows 39 people died in motor vehicle collisions statewide in September alone, including 13 pedestrians, even as statewide traffic fatalities overall dropped compared to September 2025 while Montgomery County's local numbers spiked, the MoCo Show's analysis found.
Vision Zero's Unmet Goal
Montgomery County made history in February 2016 as the first county in the country to adopt a Vision Zero policy, setting an official goal of eliminating all traffic-related fatalities and severe injuries on local roads and commercial corridors by 2030. The initiative has directed safety investments toward what planners call the High Injury Network of corridors and commercial zones, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of a Kensington e-scooter crash earlier this month. Lazar's death is the latest in a string of fatal and severe pedestrian incidents this year, including a June hit-and-run that killed a Silver Spring woman on Colesville Road and a September crash that left a pedestrian unresponsive on New Hampshire Avenue.
Hungerford Drive, designated Maryland Route 355, is a high-volume commercial arterial through Rockville that is currently undergoing infrastructure evaluation as part of the MD 355 Bus Rapid Transit project, according to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. The corridor carries heavy commuter traffic and serves major retail centers, placing gas stations and commercial driveways directly in the path of both vehicles and pedestrians throughout the day.
What Maryland Law Requires of Drivers
Under Maryland Transportation Code § 21-705, drivers emerging from a driveway, alley, or commercial lot are legally required to yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian and stop before crossing a sidewalk or pulling onto a public roadway, according to Justia Law. A separate statute, Maryland Transportation Code § 21-504, requires drivers to exercise due care to avoid striking pedestrians in all settings, including sounding a horn when necessary, particularly near elderly or impaired individuals, per The Herbst Firm. Maryland also maintains a strict contributory negligence standard in civil injury cases, the firm notes, meaning a pedestrian found even partly at fault can be barred from recovering damages.
The Montgomery County Police Department's Collision Reconstruction Unit is investigating the crash. Anyone with information has been asked to call 240-773-6620.
