District Bicyclist Killed in Weekend Hit-and-Run

As you may have heard over the weekend, local resident Tonya Reeves was killed in a hit-and-run crash while bicycling near 8th and S Streets, Northwest.  This is the first time a bicyclist has been killed by a driver in the District since May of 2013. Police are investigating. We don’t know what happened yet and will allow the police to continue their work without jumping to conclusions about unknown events. But regardless of the details of this tragedy, two things are known to be true:

1. Whatever events took place, being involved in a crash that takes someone’s life and simply driving away shows a disregard for human life, rule of law, and public safety that is beyond the pale. Hit-and-run is unacceptable.
2. This saddening end to a life is a stark reminder that we must recommit to a true, regional Vision Zero policy and program that brings traffic engineering and law enforcement together with tools and training to respond swiftly and appropriately to a tragic incident like this one, as part of an ongoing effort to learn difficult lessons necessary to bring accountability and improve our public safety.

While we have not yet been contacted by friends or family of the deceased, we hold them in our thoughts and offer what support we can as part of the larger community. And we welcome them to be in touch if we can assist more directly.