Virginia

Alexandria Families for Safe Streets Promotes Protection of Pedestrians, Bicyclists

A group in Alexandria, Virginia, is promoting safer streets to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.

There were almost 60 accidents in Alexandria last year. Two of those were fatal.

Alexandria Families for Safe Streets gathered at Hammond Middle School Thursday to raise awareness. They’ve lost loved ones and have been seriously hurt themselves.

“A lot of people are concerned,” Norm Lisy said.

He was hit at the intersection of Alfred Street and Princes Street in Old Town while riding his bike in 2006. He said he broke his right leg, left wrist, left arm and cracked a vertebrae in his neck.

“My first reaction was denial, that I was just going to get up, brush myself off and get back on my bike and go get my coffee,” he said.

That didn’t happen, and he still can’t turn over his left wrist, which is his dominant hand.

Lisy isn’t the only one in his family to have been hit by a car. Both his wife and daughter were hit while walking in Alexandria. Luckily, they only had minor injuries.

Alexandria has adopted a Vision Zero plan, which aims to eliminate all pedestrian and bicycle fatalities and serious injuries. Chris Ziemann of the city’s transportation planning department said while the initiative is just starting, the conversation in the city is changing and the streets are getting safer.

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