I need to share a sobering story from bike to work day. My wife and I were heading out for dinner in Fairfax around 7pm last night, when we witnessed a truck literally run over a cyclist. The cyclist was going west on Rte 236, and the truck pulled out from a side street near Burke Station Rd without seeing him, possibly because he was on his phone. We were first on the scene before the ambulance arrived and it was terrible. The young man in his 20’s was screaming in pain from the tire tracks on his back, and we tried to keep him still. There were bits of his purple bike to work shirt rubbed into the pavement. We are hopeful that he will recover, since he could move his legs and remained conscious. However it was beyond sobering, as we have contemplated biking to work many times. As a civil engineer, I am going to renew my efforts to create safe bike lanes, and hopefully can still find the courage to get out there on my bike. Drivers please wake up and realize the life and death responsibility here.
