Sarah Langenkamp Was Tragically Killed Riding Her Bike Home From Her Son’s Elementary School on August 25th; Her Husband Has Raised Over $220K for Safer Streets Since Her Death

Sarah Langenkamp was a U.S. Diplomat with the State Department for 17 years. Langenkamp was the mother of two young children and had recently relocated to Bethesda with her husband, Dan Langenkamp, and their two sons. In an interview with The Washington Post, Dan Langenkamp stated, “We returned to the United States for our safety. She was supposed to be safe, and to me, it is absolutely unconscionable that she would be safer in Ukraine than she would be on streets in the Washington metro area.”

On Thursday, August 25th, Sarah Joan Langenkamp was killed when she was struck by a flatbed truck at approximately 4:05 p.m. on River Road in Bethesda as she was riding home form her son’s elementary school. A preliminary investigation by detectives with the Collision Reconstruction Unit (CRU) revealed that both the driver of a red 2014 Volvo D13 flatbed truck and the bicyclist were traveling east on River Rd. 42-year-old Sarah Joan Langenkamp was in the bicycle lane when the Volvo turned right into the parking lot of 5244 River Rd. and struck Langenkamp, who was run over by the truck. Langenkamp was pronounced dead on scene.

Last week, Dan Langenkampstarted a GoFundMe campaign that aims to work with local and national cycling safety organizations to advocate for safer bike routes, including the particular stretch of road that claimed the life of his wife, Sarah. “If cities truly wish to make themselves walkable and bikeable to attract workers and talent, they need to do more than paint lines and bike symbols on roads. Such bike lanes — lacking proper barriers, truck/auto driver education, laws, and law enforcement — are only death traps, luring innocent victims like Sarah toward them. They result in tragic deaths that leave children without parents and the world without its most talented and committed individuals. Cities should not boast of having “bike lanes” when bikers are needlessly and repeatedly killed on them, as they have been this year.” The GoFundMe, seen below, has already raised over $220K in a week.