Today on the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and R Street NW there was a memorial and press conference held by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association. It was to remember a bicyclist that was killed just yesterday. Her name was Alice Swanson and she was just twenty two years old. Ms. Swanson was killed while riding her bicycle. She was struck by a garbage truck on that same intersection. Like many people who move to the district, myself included, Alice came here to jumpstart her career. After all, this is the nation's capitol and if you have a passion for any public policy, political or advocacy type of work this is where you want to be. Alice was probably extremely happy to be here. She probably had all sorts of hopes and dreams. I remember how excited I was to move to the DC metro area a year ago and I don't think I ever want to leave. The best part was that the work she was passionate about would've made the world better in some way. It's what all of us Washingtonians aspire to do: make the world better somehow.

From the Boston Globe:

She founded a chapter of the Progressive Student Alliance at Amherst in 2003. In 2005 she taught English to African refugees in Cairo.

Swanson served as an intern for Representative James P. McGovern in 2006, and won a competitive internship with the Council of Elders of Monimbó in Nicaragua last summer before arriving in Washington later that year.

Even though I never met her and only know of her organization because a friend of mine does print work for them; I can't help but feel anger that someone with such potential lost their life. It's also because I work in the Dupont Cirlce area that I was more aware of this tragedy.

She was riding westbound on R Street NW when the truck, traveling in the same direction, took a right turn and apparently did not see the cyclist, Aldiva said.

At the press conference WABA executive director Eric Gilliland talked about how Swanson's death was a major blow to the cyclist's community. I'll admit it I'm not part of the cyclist community. I can recall making fun of my coworkers for suiting up with all their bike gear. I always felt removed from the cyclists I saw throughout the district. I don't drive or even know how to, but I always felt that a bicycle wasn't for me. Now with that said, the loss of Ms. Swanson isn't just a blow to one community it is a major loss to the entire world.

It's not that I don't respect what the cyclist represents. On the contrary they represent what is right. I also believe that public transportation like the Metro system deserves as much support as we can give it. In a world of traffic congestion, carbon emissions and high gasoline prices—how can you not look for something better? Yet in the world we live in it is not only the cyclist but even the pedestrian who is not respected. There have been way too many pedestrian fatalities in this area. The fact that the driver did not even see Swanson can tell you something. Cyclists are often not acknowledged as even existing on the same roads as vehicles. That's something that has to change. At the same time we also have to recognize that there are cyclists who are reckless when riding their bikes and that has to change as well.

In the end I think what Mr. Gilliland says on WABA's website must become a reality.

This tragedy has hit the cycling community in the DC area hard, and serves as a reminder that much more work remains to be done to make the Washington area a place where anyone who wants to ride can do so safely.

DC isn't just for cars. There have been way too many people who have lost their lives for us not to do something. Alice Swanson's life meant something, as does everyone's life, and we have to ensure that something positive comes out of this horrible loss.

— J.G.