Can peace exist between cars, cyclists and pedestrians on the streets of Washington?
For more than a month, safety advocates and representatives from 14 agencies and organizations have been working on calling a truce between everyone who uses D.C. streets. Councilmember Mary Cheh convened the Bicycle and Pedestrian Working Group to help improve safety.
In a breakthrough, Cheh has the bicycle lobby and automobile lobby talking to each other, John Townsend of the auto group AAA said.
"This is the most amazing thing, and it's never happened before in the District," he said. "We've talked past each other, we've talked about each other, but not together."
About 20 pedestrians and cyclists die in traffic-related crashes in the District every year, and about 1,600 of the crashes occur.
The Washington Area Bicycle Association co-chairs the task force.
"It's not just about pedestrians and bicyclists. It's about drivers, too," Greg Billing, the advocacy coordinator for the group, said. "Everybody wants to be able to get where they are going safe."
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About 15 percent of D.C. residents bike to work and 40 percent don't own cars.
"There's so much tension I think in the District between pedestrians, cyclists and automobiles, and it need not be this way," Cheh said.
The working group is expected to make recommendations later this summer.
