A 22-year-old bicyclist was killed near Dupont Circle when she was struck by a garbage truck early Tuesday.
Alice Swanson was riding her red bike to work on R Street at 7:37 a.m. near the busy intersection at Connecticut Avenue, according to D.C. police.
Swanson and the garbage truck were both traveling west when the vehicle made a right turn onto 20th Street, police said. The truck crushed Swanson and her bike.
A uniformed Secret Service police officer tried to save Swanson by performing CPR, but the young woman died instantly, officials said.
Friends and colleagues at the International Research and Exchanges Board were in shock after learning of Swanson’s death Tuesday afternoon.
Swanson was vivacious and professional, and she always made sure that other co-workers who biked to work wore their helmets, co-worker Daria Gelman said.
“It’s just a terrible loss,” Gelman said. “She was a smiley girl that everybody adored.”
Swanson, a 2007 graduate of Amherst College in Massachusetts, became a program associate at IREX in January. She worked on teacher and student exchange programs.
The driver of the truck was identified as Marco Rosendo Flores-Fuentes, 46, of Falls Church. The truck was owned by KMG Hauling, a contractor that collects trash from area businesses and residences. No charges have been filed, police said.
Eric Gilliland of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association said the crash site is not known as a dangerous intersection for bikers, but that the incident highlights the need for cyclists and motorists to remain vigilant on the roads.
Bicyclists are considering placing a ghost bike — a bicycle painted white and used as a memorial — at the scene of the accident.
Swanson was the first bicyclist death of 2008. Last year there were two, and in 2006 there was none.
This is the District’s 20th traffic fatality this year compared with 27 at the same time last year.
