A man riding a bike in a downtown D.C. bike lane died a day after a crash involving a truck, officials say.
Jeffrey Hammond Long was killed after he collided with a delivery truck Saturday afternoon on M Street NW, D.C. police said. He was 36.
"Words cannot express what a wonderful man Jeff was. He was selfless and loved his family, friends, community and life very much," Long's family said in a statement.
Police say Long was riding a bike west in a designated bike lane less than a half-mile southwest of Dupont Circle at about 2:15 p.m. when a large truck traveling in the same direction tried to make a right turn onto New Hampshire NW.
The truck crashed into Long, causing him to fall beneath it. Medics took him to a hospital.
Long was pronounced dead the next day.
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A resident of Northwest D.C., Long worked for a social media research company in Virginia and spent several years as an aide to Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
Greg Billing, executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, faulted the truck driver for turning into a designated bike lane.
"It's a devastating injury that sadly we could have prevented," he said.
It was not immediately clear if the driver would be charged.
Cyclists familiar with the intersection say it's known to be unsafe.
"It's pretty dangerous because all the cars are coming from all different angles," a resident who has been hit twice said. "Sometimes people are going the wrong way down M Street in the bike lanes, so then you have to get into the regular car lane, too."
A 19-year-old man was killed in a bike crash in D.C. just two weeks earlier. Malik Habib died after a crash June 23 in the 300 block of H Street NE. According to the preliminary investigation, his tire got caught in the D.C. Streetcar rail.
