Bikers flooded bike lanes and sidewalks in the D.C. area Sunday morning to to ride and rally for safer roads.
Two years ago, 42-year-old Sarah Langenkamp was killed after being hit by a truck while riding her bike in Bethesda, Maryland. To commemorate Sarah, her husband Dan Langenkamp founded the Ride For Your Life event — a bike ride combined with a rally to advocate for safer streets.
The third-ever annual ride and rally was be held on Nov. 17, which is World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims. Ahead of the event, organizers said around 1,000 bikers were expected to participate.
The seven organizations who are sponsoring the ride have written a letter to the incoming Trump administration, putting an emphasis on roadway safety and encouraging action from legislators, Langenkamp added.
On World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, we remember all who we lost & re-commit ourselves to building roads that are safe for all. Joined the Ride for Your Life kick off, hosted by @WABADC & The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Fund. #visionzero #completestreets pic.twitter.com/cF9RNPu2OB
— Lorig Charkoudian (@LCharkoudian) November 17, 2024
According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, more than 8,400 pedestrians and bikers were killed by drivers nationwide in 2023.
“We are near 40-year highs of the deaths of people biking and people walking in America. And I think everybody can agree that that’s just too much. The trends are going in the wrong direction. We need to turn it around. Actions like this do help, because they get people in the Department of Transportation and in Congress to pay attention to this issue,” Langenkamp said.
Many Maryland officials are expected to be in attendance, Langenkamp added. “We’re going to have Congressman Raskin and we’ll also have Congressman Thompson, who is the head of the bike caucus in the U.S. Congress,” he said.
Ride For Your Life’s goal is to urge lawmakers to pass legislation that would make it easier to use federal funding to build safer infrastructure for pedestrians, bikers and even drivers.
“We have a real national roadway crisis, with more than 40,000 people dying every year on the roads. That is almost as many people who die in gun violence. It’s one of the leading causes of preventable death in America,” Langenkamp said.
After Sarah passed, Langenkamp made a vow to really prioritize their children. Focusing on his kids and planning the ride, all while mourning the death of his wife, really took a lot out of him.
“I think about Sarah, like, every five minutes. So I’m not afraid or upset about talking about her, remembering her at all,” he said.
He added: “Grief does play tricks with your mind. It takes up a lot of your brain space, and so I do struggle with that. I struggle with the distraction and the lack of memory that comes with grief. You find yourself not quite as sharp and focused as you used to be, so it is sometimes hard. You find yourself a little bit depleted, and that is hard, but this is so important, I just can’t not do it. So I go forward.”
The bikers began their ride at Wood Acres Elementary School in Bethesda.
“We are going to retrace Sarah’s route the day she died. Then we’re going to go all the way to the Lincoln Memorial, about eight miles away, and hold the rally right there on the Lincoln Memorial steps,” Langenkamp said.
Those participants without a pair of wheels also embarked on Ride For Your Life’s one-mile walk, which will start at Freedom Plaza and continue all the way to the Lincoln Memorial.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
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