Photo by dtrap
People in the District have a lot of good memories to take away from 2009: an end to a long-simmering pants feud, Jim Graham’s challenge to pizza by the slice, equal marriage rights, Mayor Fenty’s Greek Week bash. Naturally, a good number of the major stories from this year were sad, even tragic. Unusually, a high proportion of those sad stories of 2009 took place on public transportation.
No one needs to revisit the June 23 collision near the Takoma Park station, the deadliest in Metro history — a dreadful incident that led the Red Line to trudge through a months-long recovery. By October, Metro had registered eight suicides, more than in previous years. The same week that story ran, two people were struck by trains. And this is to say nothing of accidents involving Metrobus. Or fires.
The Washington Post follows up on the Rockville man who was struck by a train at the Gallery Place-Chinatown station on Sunday. Though Metro Transit Police have not yet had a chance to speak with the man, who remains in critical condition, they believe that the 48-year-old rider — who is blind — lost his footing. A fall is a less glaring problem than the rash of suicides that has plagued the system, yet more tragic. Was 2009 the Year You Wish You’d Walked to Work?
Arlington Investigates Suspicious Death: Arlington County Police say they are investigating the death of a man whose body was found around 3 a.m. near 13th and North Jackson Streets. He was apparently not struck by a car, according to ABC7.
Update on Pedestrians Struck in Rockville: The Washington Post reports that two women struck by a car near Twinbrook Metro Station are both expected to survive. One is hospitalized in critical condition, while the other is in critical but stable condition.
Briefly Noted: Woodbridge woman wanted by police for child neglect . . . Fall in Virginia manufacturing jobs . . . Fourth suspect arrested in December shooting of Maryland man . . . A large tree fell at Ontario Road at Euclid Street NW and crushed three cars and WUSA9 was there to hear it.
This Day in DCist: The Redskins were a terrible football team, but so were all of the District’s sports teams.
