Details are scarce about how Constance Holden died Monday when her bicycle collided with a military vehicle in downtown D.C. What we know is tragic and disquieting.
Holden left her office at 1200 New York Ave. around 6 p.m. She was a journalist with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She often biked around town.
The 5.5-ton truck was part of the convoy protecting dignitaries attending the nuclear summit at the convention center. It was pulling into the intersection at 12th and New York Avenue to block traffic for a motorcade. The truck belongs to the D.C. National Guard. Every time a big truck moves into an intersection, a “ground guide” is supposed to monitor the traffic.
Somehow, Holden’s bike came in contact with the tan-colored truck. It struck her; or she must have hit the ground or the vehicle. Cops were viewing video to sort out the details.
Holden was well-loved by her colleagues at the science association. A talented writer and artist, she lived near the National Zoo with her husband, John Butters. What a loss.
After the investigation and the mourning, we will be left with the stark reality that bikes are fragile and cyclists are vulnerable. In a collision with a car or truck, the cycle loses. Being a biker of many decades, I have learned that lesson the hard way. Very hard.
What’s to be done? Mayor Adrian Fenty and his transportation chief envision a city remade to welcome bicycles. They are busy dedicating bike lanes on major downtown streets. Fenty bikes around with a police escort for his triathlon training rides. For us mere mortals, how do we stay safe? How do we preserve life and limb on streets dominated by cars?
Two words: enforcement and education. Both bikers and drivers have to pay the price for violating the rules.
For bikers: No riding on sidewalks, no biking through red lights, no zipping up one-way streets.
For drivers: No cutting off cyclists, no turning in front of bikes, look before you open your car door.
“Enforcement is one of the best means of education,” says Jim Sebastian.
For the last nine years, Sebastian has been in charge of D.C.’s biking and pedestrian division of the transportation department. “We are paying police overtime to ticket traffic violators — both drivers and cyclists.”
Sebastian rides herd over the $500 million “Street Smart” campaign to educate drivers and bikers. It funds advertisements on buses, radio spots and brochures. D.C. funds bike safety classes in schools and teaches adults how to ride safely in three-hour classes.
“We could always do more,” he says, “but we are already doing a lot.”
D.C. is actually a safe city for cyclists. There were no deaths last year, but there were 300 crashes reported.
“One death,” says Sebastian, “is too many.”
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
