Dave Salovesh, an outspoken cycling advocate in Washington, D.C., was killed in a car-bike crash last week.

A driver in a stolen minivan had been fleeing police when he ran a red light, crashed into another vehicle, and then struck Salovesh, who died at the scene.

Salovesh had long called for protected bike lanes and other ways to make D.C.’s streets safer.

The Washington, D.C., cycling community lost one of its most vocal leaders in a violent car-bike crash last week.



Dave Salovesh started his Friday like any other. The 54-year-old father and IT professional had been riding his bike on Florida Avenue, a busy thoroughfare northeast of downtown D.C., around 10 a.m. Unbeknown to him, police at the time had discovered a stolen Dodge Caravan, allegedly driven by Robert Earl Little, Jr., only a few blocks away.

Officers said when they attempted to pull him over, Little, 25, sped off on Florida Avenue. During the high-speed chase that followed, Little ran a red light, colliding with a blue Hyundai at about 70 mph. The crash knocked the minivan into opposing traffic lanes, where Salovesh had been stopped on his bike.



Little then struck Salovesh, who suffered “severe crushing trauma” from the impact, according to a police affidavit. Salovesh was pronounced dead at the scene moments later. The Hyundai driver was unharmed.

Little was treated at a local hospital for minor injuries, then charged with second-degree murder and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. If convicted of both counts, he faces a minimum of 32 years in prison.

Salovesh taking an on-bike selfie in 2015. Dave Salovesh Flickr

As word of Salovesh’s death spread, friends and acquaintances flooded social media with memories of a man they described as “an outspoken advocate,” a “dedicated father,” and someone who “would raise hell” fighting for safer streets.

Salovesh had become widely known in the District for his advocacy work. He lobbied city council members, was a frequent presence at community meetings, wrote opinion pieces for local urban planning websites , and sounded off regularly on Twitter—all to hold officials accountable for making D.C. a safer place to bike and walk.

One of Salovesh’s many tweets to D.C. officials demanding better streets:

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Tactical urbanism at Tyler School. There are flexpost bulbouts at two corners, but they're so limited the school puts out cones. This is a quiet residential intersection! I want to know why @DDOTDC can't use strong diverters at all four corners - and whatever that is it's wrong. pic.twitter.com/PvRX4jJsRo — DaveS (@darsal) April 9, 2019

“Dave was genuine. He was excitable. But most of all, he was immensely empathetic,” said Brian McEntee, a friend of Salovesh’s who writes a bicycle column for Washington City Paper, a local weekly. (Full disclosure: McEntee has also written for Bicycling.)

“I think it was this quality that drove so much of his advocacy,” McEntee said. “He understood the ways we’ve set up our roads were unfair and unsympathetic, especially to vulnerable users. I think he was also animated by a belief that things could be better—and made better soon—and shouldn’t be compromised due to political expediency. Dave didn’t like half-measures because half-measures still left people half-unhelped.”

Coming of age in Chicago, Salovesh loved riding his bike. He didn’t become an advocate, however, until he began searching for ways his daughter could safely ride to grade school. (She’s now in high school.) He soon realized everyone who walks and rides bikes would benefit from safer streets but, according to longtime friend Rudi Riet, he felt local political leaders weren’t doing enough to make that happen.

Salovesh “accepted that he could easily be the next statistic, but he refused to let that deter him from riding every day he could,” said Riet, an IT and transportation analyst based in D.C. “His advocacy stemmed from the fact that too many good people, some he knew well, were dying because our streets are embarrassingly designed to move cars and heavy vehicles at a high rate of speed at the expense of all others.”

Dave Salovesh, left, with his friend Rudi Riet. Rudi Riet

D.C. advocates characterized Florida Avenue, the road where Salovesh was killed, as notoriously unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians. Despite a posted speed limit of 25 mph, drivers routinely go at least twice that fast, Riet said. The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) floated the idea of adding bike lanes and widening sidewalks on the avenue several years ago, but has yet to move forward with the project.

“Florida Avenue NE is a six-lane road with very narrow, non-ADA-compliant sidewalks,” McEntee said. “It’s just a block away from where there was another pedestrian fatality a few years ago. It’s a known problem, and DDOT has long had plans to redesign it, but there’s been a lack of immediacy in actually doing so.”



“Dave was genuine. He was excitable. But most of all, he was immensely empathetic.”

DDOT was supposed to unveil a full redesign by early 2018, but a year after that deadline less than a third of the project had been completed . The department now anticipates completion in December 2020. Requests for comment to DDOT were not immediately returned.

Although it’s hard to say whether better street design would have saved Salovesh’s life in such an egregious case of law-breaking on the District’s roads, it’s possible his death may spur officials to take action.

D.C. Council member Mary Cheh said she plans to introduce a bill, named in Salovesh’s honor, to hasten construction of new bike infrastructure. Another council member, Charles Allen, proposed restricting DDOT funds until the department completes its Florida Avenue redesign. The D.C. Bicycle Advisory Council, which advises Mayor Muriel Bowser on cycling issues, plans to meet next week to discuss policy recommendations.

Salovesh riding in D.C. Dave Salovesh Flickr

Salovesh’s friends and fellow advocates said the time for accepting the status quo is over. Riet encouraged local cyclists to “get out there, call and write their leaders, get face time with their neighbors and the media, and ride their bikes as much as possible.

“And then,” Riet continued, “when policies that promote bicycle and pedestrian safety are proposed, ask themselves, ‘What would Dave do?’ If these policies aren’t reaching farther, higher, or faster in implementation, demand more. Dave hated incremental, watered-down changes, and [we] should be of similar mindset.”



A tweet Salovesh sent the day before he died:



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#BikeSchool A3: My kid says she loves biking but she only feels safe when she doesn't have to jockey for position among cars. As much as DC says we can value cycling, there are only a dozen miles of protected bike lane in total. (Some okay off-road trails help a little.) https://t.co/ai72GBbtDf — DaveS (@darsal) April 19, 2019

On Twitter this week, dozens of cyclist, advocates, and friends of Salovesh shared emails they had sent to Mayor Bowser, D.C. Council members, and other officials pleading for changes to the District’s streets—changes that Salovesh had spent years calling for, and which could prevent further deaths in the future.

While the cycling community mourns a respected advocate, Riet said he’ll also miss a tremendous friend.

“Dave was a renaissance man,” Riet said. “He loved to bake bread. He loved music. He had a thirst for knowledge… On rides, we would talk about everything and anything. We’d talk about our home life. We’d plan adventures... He was a genuine friend.”

Robert Annis After spending nearly a decade as a reporter for The Indianapolis Star, Robert Annis finally broke free of the shackles of gainful employment and now freelances full time, specializing in cycling and outdoor-travel journalism. Over the years, Robert's byline has appeared in numerous publications and websites, including Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, Bicycling, Men's Journal, Popular Mechanics, Lonely Planet, the Chicago Tribune, and Adventure.com

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