Road safety bill named for Bethesda diplomat Sarah Langenkamp signed into law by Moore

Drivers will face up to two months in jail for hitting a cyclist in a protected bike lane

May 10, 2024 9:19 p.m.

More than a year and a half after his wife was hit and killed by a truck while riding her bicycle, Bethesda resident Daniel Langenkamp stood next to Gov. Wes Moore (D) in Annapolis on Thursday, wearing a bright orange bicycle pin, as Moore signed a General Assembly bill named for Lankenkamp’s wife into law.

The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Memorial Act will impose 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 legislation amends existing state law 21-209 that requires drivers to leave a “three-foot buffer” between a cyclist or pedestrian but does 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 legislation was sponsored by Del. Sara Love (D-Dist. 16)  and Sen. Ariana Kelly (D-Dist. 16), who both represent the Bethesda area.

“The day after Sarah died, friends and family came over to our house and we were all grieving. and it was then that I said, ‘We have to do something about this problem, you know, these roads should not be this unsafe. It should not be a life-or-death decision,’ ” Langenkamp told MoCo360 in an interview Friday. “This is, to me, the most important step that we’ve made since then.”

- Advertisement -

Sarah Langenkamp, a diplomat and mother of two young boys, was struck and killed by a flatbed truck on River Road in Bethesda while cycling home from a back-to-school event at her children’s elementary school in August 2022.

Langenkamp said the unanimous passage of the bill indicates to him that there is an appetite for more safe street legislation.

“Everybody realizes that people like Sarah, who are mothers and wives and diplomats, should be able to ride their bikes on the roads safely,” Langenkamp said. “We have this problem in America where roads were designed without thinking about safety measures. River Road is a classic example, made to funnel as many people through there as possible, not really realizing that there are huge safety implications when you do that.”

However, Langenkamp emphasized that no law will bring Sarah back.

“The other night, my younger son just broke down. He saw a picture of his mom and he was just weeping, unconsolable,” Langenkamp said. “[The kids are] absolutely normal. They’re doing great. They’re making good grades, playing soccer, they’ve made lots of friends. But this is a shadow that hangs over our household.”

Sponsored
Face of the Week

In October 2023, the driver of the truck, Santos Reyes Martinez, 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.

“On top of losing a wife, a mother, a diplomat, an already devastated family had to sit and watch as the driver of that trunk received a $2,000 fine and 150 hours of service,” Love said during a hearing on the bill in February. “[The legislation] will send a message to other motorists that we care about cyclists like Sarah.”

Across the county, sentiment for safer street laws is on the rise. According to state data, 15 pedestrians and one bicyclist were killed in Montgomery County in vehicle crashes in 2023. 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.


For Daniel Langenkamp, the work is just starting. Despite having a full-time job and raising two children as a single parent, he tries to do as much advocacy work as possible to ensure that no other family has to go through what his family went through.

- Advertisement -

“I don’t think drivers are evil. This is not a war on cars at all. It’s about making our roads safe for everybody, including our kids,” Langenkamp said.

This summer, Langenkamp is helping with the organization of the “Ride for Magnus: Ride for Your Life” memorial bike ride in Boulder, Colorado, on Aug. 11. The event is named in honor of Magnus White, a teenage competitive cyclist who was struck and killed by a car in July 2023 while training for the World Mountain Bike Championships. The event aims to draw attention to legislative efforts for safer roads across the country.

Closer to home, Langenkamp said he’ll continue to lobby state officials for improvements to River Road, where his wife was killed.
“We all want to have cities that are sort of like the cities where many of us grew up, where you can ride your bike to school, or you can walk to church or you can push a stroller to the grocery store,” Langenkamp said. “Those are nice places to live. And I think we can all get around the idea that we need to create a space for everyone to use the road

Digital Partners

Enter our essay contest