Actually, according to the story on the Post, which is much better than the linked to AP story, it was a private hauler who struck the cyclist. Whether or not they were working for the city at the time is unclear (according to the paper).

How awful! Vaughan, I think it's a bit early to say the city will be on the hook. The garbage truck though could've been hired to pick up from dumpsters at condos and such.

There's a bike lane there on R street at Connecticut ave - likely where this occurred. This is what happens in a city where there's little-to-no enforcement of traffic laws. The trash truck that killed her was operated by kmG Hauling out of VA - probably a private hauler for one of the restaurants in the area there.

oh no! so sad!

The Post story provides actual details. Sounds like she wasn't just struck, she was plain run over. WTF.

This is simply awful.

Once again, our traffic management systems are in conflict with good practices nationwide in terms of managing our resources to the benefit of cyclists and pedestrians.

Once again, we ask, when will the City wake up and get it together?

The Master Bicycle and Pedestrian Plans are good starts but are a mere drop in the bucket where good policy is concerned.

I am sure the politicians will use this opportunity to lament the situation, but until our leadership starts to put its foot down and draw the line on best practices, crap like this will continue.

These are tragedies which can be avoided, or at least mitigated.

I wonder if it was a metro bus driver moonlighting as a trash hauler....

Only 22 years old =(

I've just begun using my bike as my primary means of transportation in DC, and as more people make the same decision I do we as a city need to work on ensuring safety on the road for all pedestrians and cyclists.

I walked past the scene this morning and was incredibly saddened. This is a tragedy.

That being said, without knowing the facts, we cannot assume that the driver was at fault or that the intersection is poorly designed or maintained.

As a pedestrian, and non-car owner, in the Dupont area, I have seen nearly daily occurences of outrageous, illegal and dangerous riding by cyclists. I've nearly been run over more than a few times by cyclists. And I've seen law abiding drivers cut off and accidents nearly occur because of cyclists who believe laws and common sense do not apply to them.

While it is key that the city take responsibility for pedestrian, cyclist and auto safety in the district, it also key that cyclists also take responsibility for their own safety. Stop running red lights, stop swerving through intersections, stop cutting cars off, stop riding at breakneck speeds down sidewalks.

Before we know the facts of this accident, let's just remark that is a tragedy without assigning blame.

@McGillicuddy: Your statement completely moronic and, in regards to this tragedy, entirely speculative. Use your brain for once before making a comment; maybe then will you learn not to piss people off.

I have had trash trucks nearly back into my car in that area more times than I can count. A large part of their perceived carelessness is the fact that once their route is completed, they're done for the day--so there is an incentive to work as fast as possible. Not saying that this was the case here, b/c the facts simply aren't available...but I have seen reckless disregard for traffic laws by both cyclists and trash truck drivers. This is all very, very sad...

did the truck signal its turn? could the girl have seen it? regardless, it's a damned shame... and why does it seem that garbage trucks are involved in a disproportionate percentage of pedestrian accidents?

My general feeling of that intersection is you can't see if cars are signaling from Connecticut Ave because of that street's angle and the slight straightaway that occurs on 20th before actually getting to R Street, and cars parked along the street there.

I just read the comments on WP and the one (by the lady who claims that everything I do to be safe and increase my visibility is actually just unsafe and me trying to enrage her into an accident) gets me to wondering:
Do VA, DC, and MD require ANY knowledge of Bike laws in order to get a driver's license? I am becoming a huge proponent of retesting - universal retesting, for you and me and everyone, not just for the aged. Which, even that last was shot down here in DC, so there are no mandatory retesting laws to keep driving. IF THERE WERE, we'd have a tool for perhaps increasing driver (and cyclist) understanding of the real laws of the street. As it is, most drivers and cyclists alike drive in a sort of limbo, public trust sort of way, hoping we agree enough on the rules not to kill anyone.
I'm already a paranoid cyclist (because I carry a toddler on my bike with me), but reading that entitlement rant scared me just that much more.

all of us are trying to get everywhere as quickly as we can. i move fast when i'm on a bike, and i know cars move as quickly as they can without turning the street into a formula one race. we all just need to slow down.

maybe what the city needs is for everyone to just get high and relax, eh?

Sophiagrrl, I think there may be one question on the written test. But, of course so many people in DC waive in from out of state...I think retesting is a great idea (at my job I have to retest every year on how not to give away my password or sexually harass my co-workers - clearly they have not seen my co-workers) and I think cyclist/motorist insurance with lower rates for those who take a 'confident cyclist' course is a great idea too.

Not placing blame here but I must say that I'm frequently amazed at the behavior of some cyclists. There have been a few occassions when I am proceeding to make a right turn, checked the mirrors, used turn signal etc. and out of nowhere a cyclist tries to squeeze between my car and the curb just as I'm making the turn. Not very smart.

@monkeyerotica...the problem is, the city can write all the master plans and flush whatever millions of dollars down the commode it wants. The irony is that DDOT has had a pilot pedestrian signal in upper northwest for the past 18 months or so.

There has not been one accident at the intersection, nor any pedestrian incidents in that time. Yet, what does the city do? It announces that the signal will become a traditional signal because of near misses viewed in 96 hours of video collected in October 2007 and because drivers get frustrated and drive through a red light.

You would think with the number of pedestrian fatalities and injuries and tragedies like this morning (not to mention the deliberate attempts to curtail commuting single occupancy vehicles, as noted by Eric Weiss in the Post) that the city would be lauding this advancement.

To eliminate the signal simply demonstrates the lack of commitment by DDOT to these progressive policy initiatives in favor of, yes, drivers, who are generally the same ones who comment that the pedestrians and bicyclists should get out of their damned way.

demonfafa says...

But instead of bitching about it here, how many of us are going to write a council member or the mayor demanding REAL action?

So how's a "master plan" supposed to fix this? We've got a plan now. It's called "look both ways." Doesn't seem like anybody, walking/biking/driving, pays attention to that.

Why doesn't the city restrict trash pickup to the early morning hours to prevent these behemoths from tooling around the city during rush hour?

Because most people I know don't want to be woken up by the sound of trash trucks loading at 3am.