actually the article was linked elsewhere, but there are things called search engines, they allow you to find all kinds of things
Sunday, April 18, 2004; Page B08
The phrase "It could have been me" never meant so much before. On March 26, while riding to work on his bicycle, David K. van Keuren was killed in a hit-and-run on South Capitol Street. The driver who hit him has been found but not charged.
The tragedy has been on my mind ever since. That's because I'm a bike commuter too, and I wonder what would have happened if I had been the one who was hit and killed. Would I have had the proper ID? Would I have been carrying contact information for a loved one?
I'm involved in promoting bicycles as an alternative means of commuting. My message always has been to ride a bike to work for the exercise, for your health, for your sanity, for the guaranteed free parking and for the opportunity to reduce air pollution. But with van Keuren's death, I have had to confront the fact that commuting by bike can be a fatal choice.
Van Keuren's death was particularly disturbing because the District has been planning for a long time to upgrade its bicycle route network. The safest bike routes around town have been identified and labeled, but the site where he was killed has been recognized as an area that needs improvements.
A new master plan for bike routes will make improvements to the South Capitol street corridor. As with many District projects, though, the funding is uncertain. A more seamless network of bike routes could save the lives of other cyclists, so the plan should be fully funded and implemented.
Meanwhile, the mayor and the D.C. Council should look at simple, inexpensive measures to improve bicycle safety. Just enforcing traffic laws -- including speed limits -- would go a long way toward making the city's streets safer for bicyclists. Including bicycle education in driver education manuals, improving signs on bicycle routes and installing traffic-calming devices are also short-term and relatively inexpensive ways to improve safety.
Drivers need to do their part too. By slowing down around cyclists and passing them with the recommended four-foot clearance, drivers can encourage commuting by bicycle.
Right now, more than 10,000 commuters in this area leave their cars home each day to ride bicycles to work. At this time of year, as spring beckons, more commuters are tempted to abandon their cars in favor of bicycles. Biking is a great way to get to work. It doesn't have to be -- and it shouldn't be -- dangerous.
