Motorcyclist Who Died In Crash Is Identified

"There was bad traffic, but we have to balance public safety with traffic congestion," LaChance said. "The last thing we want is another serious crash."

Steven Townsend said his son, who was married to his high school sweetheart from Tennessee, had been in a serious motorcycle crash last year in Annandale.

Townsend said his son rear-ended a van that had pulled out in front of him, breaking a leg and an ankle and fracturing several vertebrae in the lower back. He was admitted to Fairfax Inova Hospital and spent time in rehabilitation at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

His father said Nathan Townsend joined the military after graduating from high school and was a member of the Old Guard 289th Military Police Company, which performs a variety of high-profile duties, including escorting the president and guarding the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery.

Steven Townsend said his only son liked "hunting, fishing, riding horses, shoeing horses. He was a good ol' country boy."

He said that after last year's crash, his son decided not to buy another motorcycle.

"Those sports bikes are just too powerful," Steven Townsend said. "They're too much for anybody to be on the road on. They should only be for racetracks."

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.