Friends of one of DC's most vocal biking safety advocates say another wound has been opened, after a multi-car crash destroyed the ghost bike they had put in place in honor of their friend David Salovesh.
Salovesh died in April, when police say a man driving a stolen minivan hit him while he was on his bike on Florida Avenue in Northeast, DC.
"Dave's not the only one. 9 other people have died because of streets designed around moving cars and not people," said Rudy Riet. Riet is Salovesh's best friend and a cyclist.
All around the area where Salovesh lost his life are signs criticizing the Mayor's Vision Zero Initiative. The initiative is to end all traffic related fatalities by 2024.
"All of the low hanging fruit projects have been done, and the seemingly the administration is considering this a victory, it's not," said Riet.
So far, the DC Department of Transportation says they are working to make 500 intersections safer, including some of DC's most notoriously dangerous. They will also be working with MPD to stiffen penalties for traffic violations, along with adding concrete barriers to protect cyclists.
Cities across the US, like New York City, who have implemented similar Vision Zero programs have seen fatalities go down, while the district's numbers have gone up.
We posed the question to DDOT's Director Jeff Marootian.
"We've followed the trends, what tactics we can put in place to make the city safety, and that includes testing new materials and a focus on priority projects."
Marootian says his crews are working daily to ensure the streets are safer.
WUSA9 contacted the mayor's office for comment on this story but have not yet heard back.