one down - Falls Church, VA
 

Woke up this morning to the sound of helicopters overhead. Police and news. Usually means an accident on one of the three major highways nearby. Then we heard on the news that a man on a bicycle was struck and killed by a SUV driven by an off-duty police officer. Intersection of route 50 and Annandale Rd. Highway closed for accident reconstruction.

Big, nasty intersection that I try to avoid biking thru. Will post more details as I find out what happened.

- definitely a dangerous area... can you imagine someone trying to ride King St./Rt. 7 from Alexandria to Falls Church?

I try to ride on 7 as little as possible. Lots of options to ride parallel to it, but you have to know the area pretty well.

I hated that area in a car. And, that was 30 years ago!

http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/H...Y&pageId=1.1.1

there's the news report.

:(

Maybe an advertisement for car insurance with a spokesman screaming the slogan "kiss my bumper" isn't the most appropriate to play right before that story......

And yet....there it is.....

Cyclist Fatally Struck on Arlington Boulevard

By Daniela Deane
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 2, 2006; 3:26 PM

A 50-year-old bicyclist was killed in pre-dawn darkness Monday morning after being struck by an SUV driven by an off-duty police officer, police said.

The fatal accident occurred on westbound Arlington Boulevard at the intersection of Annandale Road at around 5:15 a.m., according to a release issued by the Fairfax County Police Department.

"The bicyclist was on the median attempting to cross the westbound lanes of Arlington Boulevard when for unknown reasons he entered the vehicle's pathway and was struck," the release said. The victim was identified as Jose Maria Carranza Claros of 6822 Barrett Road in the Falls Church area of the county.

After being struck by the 2004 Toyota Highlander SUV, the cyclist was transported to Fairfax Inova Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the release said.

"The 36-year-old officer is a 12-year veteran of the force currently assigned to the Criminal Justice Academy," the release said. It did not identify the officer by name. It said alcohol did not appear to be a factor in the crash.

© 2006 The Washington Post Company


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...100200390.html

"The bicyclist was on the median attempting to cross the westbound lanes of Arlington Boulevard when for unknown reasons he entered the vehicle's pathway and was struck," the release said. The victim was identified as Jose Maria Carranza Claros of 6822 Barrett Road in the Falls Church area of the county."

It is not clear to me whether he was even cycling at the time. He may have been trying to run across the street from the median with his bike. I'd be inclined to consider this one a pedestrian accident even if he were riding though. Whatever the merits of vehicular and pedestrian cycling, this might be pedestrian cycling gone badly.

One of the big problems here are high density, high speed multilane arterials with lights far apart. They are not really a problem for cyclists, because the outside lanes are usually wide. However they are barriers to pedestrians. You can live 100 feet from a store across the street, but have to ride or drive for miles to safely get to it. The temptation to take a short cut must be immense. When cycling or driving along Route 50, I often see shadowy figures running for their lives across the road.

Paul

Yes, this sounds like pedestrian accident.

Thanks for posting the info, HH.

Sad. Almost within sight of his own home.

Arlington Blvd and Graham Rd was a big problem area, with people crossing from the apartments to the shopping center. After several pedestrian deaths the county put up high fences along the highway, leaving one opening with a crosswalk and demand light. Cut the accidents way down.