More than two years after a Bethesda woman was struck and killed while riding her bike, more than 600 local cyclists are planning to ride Sunday from Bethesda to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., to demand lawmakers do more to prevent pedestrian and cyclist deaths on roadways.
Sarah Langenkamp, a diplomat and mother of two young boys, was struck and killed in August 2022 by a flatbed truck on River Road in Bethesda while she was cycling home from a back-to-school event at her children’s elementary school.
In October 2023, Santos Reyes Martinez, the driver of the truck that killed Sarah Langenkamp, pleaded guilty to a traffic offense for causing serious injury or death to a vulnerable individual while operating a motor vehicle. He was fined $2,000 and sentenced to 150 hours of community service.
Since Langenkamp’s death, her husband, Daniel, has been seeking justice by advocating for harsher punishments for drivers who hit cyclists and safer streets locally and nationwide.
“For far too long, we’ve sacrificed American lives on this altar of speed, and it is time to change that,” Daniel Langenkamp told MoCo360 in an interview Thursday. “We need to redesign roads. We need to make our cars safer. We need to change the culture that says that the only way to get around is in a car.”
Fourteen pedestrians have been killed in vehicle crashes in Montgomery County so far in 2024, according to state data. In 2023, 15 pedestrians and one bicyclist were killed in vehicle crashes on county roads.
Sunday’s “Ride For Your Life” is an 8-mile bike ride that will start at Wood Acres Elementary School in Bethesda, following part of the path Sarah took when she was killed, and continue along local streets to the Lincoln Memorial, where the riders will rally and deliver a letter to elected officials advocating for more safe streets legislation. This is the third time Langenkamp has hosted the event.
Speakers at the rally are expected to include U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md. Dist. 8), U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif. Dist. 4), acting Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration Kristin White, National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Jennifer Homendy, and other national, state and local officials.
Cyclists can register for the event here, and registration also will be available on-site. There is also an option to participate in a 1-mile walking version of the event that departs from Freedom Plaza in the District. Between cyclists and walkers, Langenkamp is anticipating more than 1,000 participants.
“It’s a really great response to this issue,” he said. “I’m pleased that so many people care about street safety and want to make their voices heard. … We want as many people as possible to show up so that we can make as strong a statement as possible.”
The main goal of the ride and rally is to advocate for a proposed national bill, The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act, which would aim to free up federal funds for local communities to build or redesign infrastructure.
The legislation is sponsored by Raskin and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-Dist. 3) in the U.S. House and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) in the U.S. Senate. Langenkamp said he is proud that the legislation has received bipartisan interest and support from other lawmakers.
“We’re also going to be suggesting a number of specific things at the national level, and all state and local officials,” Langenkamp said. “These are recommendations that we think, you know, any community can look at that don’t cost money, and that can be very effective in saving lives.”
The recommendations include usage of technologies in vehicles that can reduce deaths and redesigning infrastructure.
Langenkamp’s advocacy has seen success thus far. In May, The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act was signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D). It imposed the same penalties for hitting a cyclist in a bike lane as for hitting a pedestrian or cyclist in a crosswalk – up to two months in jail, and a fine of up to $2,000. The new law amended an existing state law 21-209 that requires drivers to leave a “three-foot buffer” between a cyclist or pedestrian but did not require drivers to fully yield. The goal is that drivers would be more careful when operating a motor vehicle next to bike lanes. The Maryland General Assembly passed the legislation unanimously.
The legislation was sponsored by Del. Sara Love (D-Dist. 16) and Sen. Ariana Kelly (D-Dist. 16), who both represent the Bethesda area where the Langenkamp family lives.
Across the county, sentiment for safer street laws is on the rise. The Montgomery County Council passed the Pedestrian Master Plan in October 2023, a first-of-its-kind document that provides the county government with policy recommendations for safer streets.
The council also passed the Safe Streets Act in September 2023, which made infrastructure and policy changes to county roads, including eliminating right turns on red at specific intersections designated by the county’s Department of Transportation, as well as adding new traffic control devices to downtown intersections and town center areas.
Langenkamp said he continues to push for safer streets so his wife’s death won’t be in vain.
“You never recover from something like this. The impact is too deep, our lives are just completely different now,” Langenkamp said. “It is devastating for families. … That’s why we’re doing this.”
