On Monday, people who care about people who walk and  bike in our communities came together on River Road in Bethesda for a “bicyclist and pedestrian safety walk” 

It was not a proactive walk. The walk with elected officials and state highway planners and a crowd of people carrying degrees of broken hearts were there because of a tragedy that happened eight months ago.

4:03 pm on Thursday, Aug 25, 2022, Sarah Langenkamp was killed on River Road by a driver of a truck and by bad design. She and her bike were crushed.

Sarah and her husband had just been evacuated from Ukraine and moved to Bethesda. She was biking home from her son’s new elementary school when she died.

Her husband, Dan Langenkamp wrote of the catastrophe in his GoFundMe appeal:

“Sarah was the mother of our two young sons and a U.S. Diplomat with the State Department for 17 years. We had just moved to Bethesda after our evacuation from Ukraine. There, she had been in charge of programs to help the country's anti-corruption institutions and shepherd millions of dollars in U.S. assistance to police, border guards, and other non-military security institutions.

There was a large turnout for the Safety Walk on River Road in Bethesda on Monday, April 24 

 

“Her ride that day, planned on her cell phone, took her on designated bike routes through residential neighborhoods and the Washington-Bethesda Capital Crescent trail. For a few hundred yards, it took her along River Road -- a busy commercial route where a bike lane competes with cars and industrial traffic for space as the road becomes State Highway 190.

“Sarah and I have been lifelong and committed cyclists and regularly commuted to work all over the world, including in Ukraine, Côte d'Ivoire and Washington, D.C. During this period, we have seen how cities all over America, and the world, increasingly boast of making their cities "walkable and bikeable." At the same time, we are seeing how the statistics show that cyclist and pedestrian deaths are climbing all over the country.”

The GoFundMe appeal has raised more than $300,000 plus much more in matching funds. Dan Langenkamp wants to make the world safer for bicyclists, and he presses forward to raise money so he can make a difference, funding advocacy and safety measures. Late last year, he transferred $75,000 of the donated funds to the Washington Area Bicyclist Foundation so that the Washington Area Bicyclist Association could hire a full time Maryland advocate, Seth Myers.

Again, in Dan Langenkamp’s words: “This fundraising effort aims to work with local and national cycling safety organizations to advocate for safer bike routes, including this particular stretch of road. If cities truly wish to make themselves walkable and bikeable to attract workers and talent, they need to do more than paint lines and bike symbols on roads. Without strong laws and law enforcement, proper bike lane protection, truck/auto driver education, and safer trucking regulations -- such lanes are only death traps, luring innocent victims like Sarah toward them. They result in tragic deaths that leave children without parents and the world without its most talented and committed individuals. Cities should not boast of having "bike lanes" when bikers are needlessly and repeatedly killed on them, as they have been this year.”

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Sarah Debbink Langenkamp was tragically killed on Thursday, August 25, while riding home from our sons' new elementary school in Bethesda, Maryland. Make no mistake--there is a driver and a company that is primarily responsible for Sarah's death, and our search for accountability is important. It is not enough to prevent future deaths, however.

This fundraising effort aims to work with local and national cycling safety organizations to advocate for safer bike routes, including this particular stretch of road. If cities truly wish to make themselves walkable and bikeable to attract workers and talent, they need to do more than paint lines and bike symbols on roads. Without strong laws and law enforcement, proper bike lane protection, truck/auto driver education, and safer trucking regulations -- such lanes are only death traps, luring innocent victims like Sarah toward them. They result in tragic deaths that leave children without parents and the world without its most talented and committed individuals. Cities should not boast of having "bike lanes" when bikers are needlessly and repeatedly killed on them, as they have been this year.

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WABA BOARD MEMBER; WABA HIRES MARYLAND ADVOCATE (WITH YOUR FUNDS): I officially became a board member of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, the DC area’s largest cyclist advocacy organization, in March. I hope I can help the group become even more impactful. WABA hired a full time Maryland advocate with your $75,000. (It also raised nearly as much in matching funds over the holidays.) The advocate is Seth Myers, a seasoned advocacy hand who knows everyone in the Maryland transportation space. I know he’ll make a big impact. Welcome, Seth!

At the same time, I hope our many friends, family, and others who care about community safety will commit today in Sarah's name. Ultimately, we can ensure that Sarah Langenkamp's tragic and utterly needless death will not have been in vain.