A person was injured on 11th and U streets NW Tuesday morning, police said.
WAMU said the bicyclist collided with a tractor tailor. The radio station also posted a photo of the scene on its site, which shows a mangled red bicycle in the middle of the street and reported that the cyclist was in serious condition. A spokesman for the District Department of Transportation confirmed Tuesday that the rider was using a Capital Bikeshare bike.
According to police, the following streets were closed just after 10 a.m. Tuesday:
• 1000 and 1100 blocks of U Street closed in both directions.
• 1900 and 2000 blocks of V Street closed in both directions.
(Update: All roads were open at 10:52 a.m., according to police.)
An increase in bicyclists, many of whom are daily commuters on District roads, has resulted in a 28 percent increase in cyclist injuries and fatalities from 2009 to 2010. (Here’s a map of such incidents.) But in the ongoing debate over how to make sure cyclists and motorists can safely coexist, blame has been cast in all directions.
Frustrated with a lack of safe bike lanes and conflicts with motorists, cyclists took to the District’s Police Complaints Board in September 2011 to ask for officers to be better versed in bicycle laws. On the other hand, a Post editorial posted months before the meeting urged that bicyclists pay better attention to the laws themselves.
