A State Department employee who had recently evacuated from Ukraine and played a critical role in the fight against the Russian invasion was struck and killed last week while she rode her bicycle in Bethesda, Maryland.
Sarah Langenkamp was a diplomat for 17 years, serving her country in some of the most dangerous places.
“Four days after the war [in Ukraine] started, Sarah had body armor and helmets on a plane to Ukraine. Some of the first assistance that we got in after the war was stuff that Sarah was able to bring in,” her husband, Dan Langenkamp, said.
The couple had recently settled into Bethesda with their two young sons. Sarah was riding her bike home in a designated bike lane after an open house at their school when she was hit.
We've got the news you need to know to start your day. Sign up for the First & 4Most morning newsletter — delivered to your inbox daily. >Sign up here.
The driver of a flatbed truck struck her as the vehicle turned into a parking lot in the 5200 block of River Road near Little Falls Parkway on Aug. 25, Montgomery County police said.
Sarah Langenkamp was 42 and died at the scene.
“She never got here because she hit this treacherous piece of bike route, where not five minutes after we spoke, she was basically just mowed down by a truck,” Dan Langenkamp said.
Biking was a huge part of their lives, committed as they were to being healthy and green.
Dan is heartbroken - and angry. He said painting lines on the road and calling them bike lanes doesn’t make them safe. In fact, he adds that they can be death traps.
“If you throw those down and you don’t think about the public safety implications and the kind of infrastructure or the kind of rules that need to exist to protect them, then you’re just killing people,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it is dangerous.”
Dan Langenkamp said there need to be investments to make the lanes safer with, for instance, apps that warn cyclists about dangerous routes and sensors that warn drivers that there is a bike close by.
He set up a donation campaign to raise $50,000 for bike safety. He has already raised more than triple that amount.
The money will go to bike safety groups that work to make bike lanes, like where Sarah was killed, safer.
“There are worse penalties for illegal parking than there are for killing bicyclists,” her husband said.
A memorial ride is planned for Monday, and a ghost bike will be placed where she was killed.
“I have to ride a bike. I mean, just like, as a tribute to Sarah, I think. We cannot give up on this,” an emotional Dan Langekamp said.
Police are still investigating the crash. No charges have been filed.
Sarah Langenkamp is the second State Department employee to be killed in a bicycle crash involving a truck this summer. Shawn O’Donnell was killed on July 20 in Foggy Bottom.
