Early Saturday morning, around 2:30am, Tonya Reaves was riding her bike on 8th Street NW near S Street when she was struck by a "light colored SUV". The SUV's driver then fled the scene south in the direction of Rhode Island Avenue
Emergency responders took Reaves to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead. D.C. police are searching for the driver Police said the SUV may have damage to its right front bumper.
The story was reported by most of the local media, but the reports don't vary much from that. With all the cameras in this town, I'd be surprised if some footage doesn't exist.
It's the first death of a cyclist in the WAMPA area since the June 14, 2013 death of 9-year old Jahbari Jawon Howe which, sadly, is an impressive streak and the longest since I started keeping record.
Perhaps this would be the first opporunity to install a ghost rack instead of a ghost bike.
So sad. Always seems like the drivers run away, even though they are rarely prosecuted in any serious way.
I like the idea of a ghost rack, which I had never heard of before.
Posted by: DE | September 22, 2014 at 08:30 AM
According to WTOP there was also a bike crash in Montgomery Village this morning.
Posted by: Jack | September 22, 2014 at 09:34 AM
It appears she was hit in the middle of a 4 way stop. Either really bad luck with the angle of a fall or the vehicle never tried to stop. I'm betting the latter.
Posted by: T | September 22, 2014 at 09:51 AM
It's a pretty safe bet that the driver failed to stop.
Posted by: Crickey7 | September 22, 2014 at 10:16 AM
Also good bet driver was drunk.
Posted by: Michael Roy | September 22, 2014 at 10:43 AM
What a tragedy!! My condolences go out to her family and friends. And theres a reasonably fair likelihood the driver was at fault here, more than anything else...
Posted by: Evan G | September 23, 2014 at 09:01 AM