“Dear PoPville,
Me and my dog were hit by a car while running in a marked crosswalk on upper Ct Ave this morning (Tuesday). We are both okay, $300 in vet checkups later, but the guy who hit us had out of state plates and the DC police told me it wasn’t worth pursuing the matter. This in spite of the fact that we were already in the crosswalk when the car began moving towards us, and in spite of the fact that it accelerated towards us while I screamed so loudly that my Apple Watch registered a noise level alert.
Last year, a close friend of mine was hit by a car, also in a marked DC crosswalk, after she recalls “making eye contact” with a driver who then proceeded to hit her anyway. In October, another close friend was hospitalized and left with permanent nerve damage and vision loss when a young woman plowed into her and her dog in a marked crosswalk with a walk signal on Bradley Boulevard. And not even a month ago, my best friend rushed her dog to the ER after she was hit by a car in Takoma Park.
Why aren’t we holding drivers accountable for these incidents?!
I was hysterical at the scene and only focused on getting my dog checked out, and the woman who took my 911 call didn’t do anything wrong exactly, but I’m injured, if only superficially, and I’m traumatized, and there’s absolutely zero accountability. That man who hit us just gets to carry on like he never did anything wrong. This isn’t counted in the statistics that go to the mayor’s office, so Bowser can pretend like “Vision Zero” isn’t a joke. Why isn’t there ANY safety on DC streets for even the most streetwise among us?! I was sober, extremely aware of my surroundings, and doing everything right. Someone accelerated into me and my dog across three lanes of traffic and Just. Walked. Away. My dog got the worst of it and was hit squarely by the car’s front grill at speed. And I’m left replaying it and thinking of what could have happened. That shit isn’t right.”