Members of the D.C. cycling community came together Wednesday to honor a graduate student killed in a crash in October.
Nijad Huseynov, a student at George Washington University, was hit by a car in the northbound lane of Connecticut Avenue at L Street NW early Oct. 17. He died at the hospital four days later.
On Wednesday, members of the cycling community came together to pay their respects and lock a ghost bike in place in the intersection where he was struck, while calling on local leaders to add more protected bike lanes to city streets.
“It just easily could have been me, you know? I’m out here every day riding to class, riding to work,” GW student Sam Nubile said.
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Volunteers blocked traffic and held a moment of silence for four minutes, one for each day the 24-year-old spent in the hospital before he died.
“It’s just difficult to see this happen over and over and over again,” volunteer Christy Kwan said.
Advocates said Huseynov’s death is a painful reminder about the dangers cyclists face every day. They added that he was the 41st traffic fatality in D.C. this year.
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According to the Metropolitan Police Department, traffic fatalities are up more than 50% compared to this time last year.
In their push to make streets safer, advocates are calling on local leaders to upgrade existing bike lanes and bring more protected bike lanes to the District.
“We need a better transportation system where people can get around safely. Traffic crashes are preventable. They’re not accidents, and they are conditions of how we have designed our streets,” Kwan said.
D.C. police said the driver in the crash stayed on the scene.
