Whilst en route to work this morning, I heard on WTOP that a portion of Route 50 was closed down due to a pedestrian fatality. I recall thinking that this was probably the third time within a week Lisa Baden had reported road closures due to pedestrian fatalities. What I didn’t need to be told, as I embarked on my noon ride was that the fatality (as reported by WTOP) was a cyclist, knocked down and killed by an off-duty police officer in an SUV.

Deeply sadden by this news, I started down Thomas Jefferson Street, turning to cross TJ onto K Street in order to hit the Capital Crescent Trail, and was almost knocked down my a taxi cab. The ignorant fool neglected to stop at his stop sign as he exited the harbor, nor yield to traffic already in the intersection. Instead, he sped across K. Street, almost hitting my back tire as I picked up speed to move out of his way.

I’ll admit that I’m not a serious road biker in the slighest. I’m an injured mountain biker who loves to bike. Unfortunately, my knee won’t thank me if I continue mountain biking, and to be honest, the thought of falling down another ravine whilst clipped in scares the guinness and cider clear out of my system. I know the rules of the road, I’m usually a cautious rider, but there’s no excuse that I, nor my coworker can think of as to why the cab driver wasn’t paying attention. The intersection wasn’t busy in the slighest, and how could he miss any cyclist sporting garish coloured clothes?

Are cyclists not paying enough attention to vehicular mayhem, or are motorists neglecting to pay attention to others who share the roads?