NORTH BETHESDA, Md. — Safe crossing -- that’s what people who use the Trolley Tail in North Bethesda want. After 74-year-old Eric Grosse died after being hit by a car on the trail, neighbors are speaking out.
The popular intersection along Tuckerman Lane and Kings Riding Way is a place runners, walkers, and cyclists frequent. But it’s also the second time in three years that someone has died in the intersection.
“I think human nature is impatient, and everyone thinks it won't be them," Amy Ginsburg, the Executive of Friends of White Flint, said. "Everyone thinks they've got this magic power where they're not going to be the ones that get hurt."
Back in 2019, the group pushed for this intersection to have a stoplight, in hopes that no one else would get hit by a car.
“We want MCDOT to look at ways that we can make this intersection safe," Ginsburg said. "So many people use the trolley trail and they're crossing Tuckerman on a daily basis; kids, elderly, people on bikes, walkers."
But not all pedestrians, joggers and cyclists are using this button to get safely to the other side, and neighbors who use the trail often say speeding drivers pose a threat to safety.
"Speed cameras are definitely one tool in the toolbelt," Ginsburg said.
Don Weinstein has lived in North Bethesda the last six years. He’s around the same age as Grosse was and said he uses this trail to stay active and physically fit. To decrease the chances of a driver not seeing him, he said he’s always dressed in bright colors.
“He was active, I'm active," Weinstein said. "I've been running and walking for a good part of my life and you have to be careful out there,” Weinstein said.
It’s still unclear what led up to the crash that ultimately killed Eric Grosse, and it remains under investigation by Montgomery County’s Collision Reconstruction Unit.
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