Mount Vernon Police District – On Sunday April 21, around 10:21 in the morning, an officer from the Mount Vernon District Station was involved in a crash with a cyclist at the intersection of Fordson Road and Richmond Highway in the Hybla Valley area.

As you can see in this video, the officer was stopped at a traffic light waiting to make a right turn onto southbound Richmond Highway from the Mount Vernon Plaza shopping center. The cyclist was riding northbound on the sidewalk of the southbound side of Richmond Highway. He entered Fordson Road from the sidewalk without stopping and disregarded the pedestrian signal. Our investigation shows the officer had the right of way and determined it was safe to enter the intersection when the cyclist came off the sidewalk and hit the cruiser. The officer immediately rendered aid and called an ambulance which took the man to a local hospital with minor injuries. Thomas Cawley, 55, of Alexandria, was charged with Fail to Pay Full Time and Attention. In accordance with policy, an administrative investigation is also being conducted into the crash.

This is an issue Chief Roessler discussed yesterday at the kickoff event for the spring campaign of the Street Smart initiative which focuses on reducing pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths. Pedestrian and cyclist deaths account for more than 33 percent of all traffic fatalities in the region, mirroring national trends, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. For more information on the Street Smart initiative and what you can do to help reduce fatalities in our area:

https://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2019/04/23/street-smart-initiative-aims-to-reduce-rising-number-of-pedestrian-fatalities/