A congressional bill that aims to free up some federal funds to help communities pay for road safety improvements is named in memory of a Bethesda mom who was struck and killed in 2022 while cycling in Montgomery County.
The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act would allow states and localities to use up to 10% of federal funding received from the Highway Safety Infrastructure Program to build bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure to make communities safer.
The legislation is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Dist. 8) of Takoma Park in the U.S. House and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) in the U.S. Senate, with bipartisan co-sponsoring support. It was introduced March 12.
Sarah Langenkamp, a diplomat and mother of two boys, was struck and killed by a flatbed truck in August 2022 on River Road in Bethesda while she was cycling home from a back-to-school event at her children’s elementary school. Her family had recently been evacuated from Ukraine due to the war with Russia.
In October 2023, Santos Reyes Martinez, the driver of the truck that struck 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.
“Sarah was a dedicated, passionate public servant and I’m honored to introduce this legislation in her memory to help state and local governments invest in effective road safety efforts and save lives,” Raskin wrote in a March 12 press release about the bill. “May Sarah’s memory continue to be a blessing to her family and to our community.”
Since Langenkamp’s death, her husband, Daniel, has advocated for harsher punishments for drivers who hit cyclists and for safer streets locally and nationwide.
“Despite all of the discord in the U.S. Congress, here is a bill that is bipartisan, that has people that are never on the same bill together, arguing in favor of the same thing,” Daniel Langenkamp told Bethesda Today on Wednesday. “It’s indicative of how this particular bill meets the needs of people all over the country.”
Langenkamp’s advocacy has been successful on the county and state level. The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act was signed into law by Gov. Wes Moore (D) last May. 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 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 in the Maryland General Assembly 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.
Sentiment in favor of safer street laws is also growing in Montgomery County. The 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.
A month earlier, the council passed the Safe Streets Act, 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.
Montgomery County is part of Vision Zero, a global road safety initiative aiming to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries by the end of 2030. The county adopted the initiative in 2016 but has not seen a significant decline in pedestrian fatalities despite efforts to improve road safety, according to traffic data.
This is the second attempt by Raskin and Van Hollen to gain passage of the bill. Last year, the bill didn’t make it onto committee agendas for a vote. With bipartisan support, Langenkamp said he hopes the legislation is approved by Congress this year.
“It appeals to a lot of Republicans who represent rural districts … if you want to make a small town feel more traditional, where people can walk to church or ride a bike to school, then this bill will help that community do that,” Langenkamp said. “It will allow them to build the infrastructure that will keep kids safe on the roads, keep families safe on the streets.”
The congressional bill would take this advocacy to the next level to benefit communities across the country by helping with funding for safety improvements, Daniel Langenkamp said.
“It’s a high bar for a small community that wants to build a sidewalk when they have such budgetary pressure,” Langenkamp said. “Small communities are deciding between building a library or funding police and doing all kinds of things. And sometimes these projects, which are important for safety, don’t [get funded].”
The federal Transportation Alternatives Program funds projects such as pedestrian and bicycle facilities and other road safety efforts. However, localities often face difficulty meeting the program’s 20% local matching fund requirement, which is what inspired the legislation, according to the Langenkamp bill sponsors.
According to state crash data, 16 pedestrian fatalities occurred as a result of crashes in Montgomery County in 2024, out of a total of 47 crash deaths. So far in 2025, six fatalities have resulted from crashes in Montgomery County, but none have involved pedestrians or cyclists.
Van Hollen said the legislation would help the country prevent tragic deaths like that of Sarah Langenkamp by freeing up funds. It also would not require congressional appropriation of new funding.
“Too many Americans know the pain that the Langenkamp family carries: that of a loved one taken tragically by a cycling or pedestrian road crash. The truth is that many of our roads still aren’t built to protect those on bike or on foot,” Van Hollen said in the March 12 press release. “In honor of Sarah, who was a committed public servant, we’re working to expand our federal investments in making our roads safer and more accessible for everyone.”
