[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 51 (Tuesday, March 21, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF THE SARAH DEBBINK LANGENKAMP ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION 
                               SAFETY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EARL BLUMENAUER

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 21, 2023

  Mr. BLUMENAUER. Mr. Speaker, more than 40,000 people were killed last 
year on America's roads. This tragic toll is unacceptable, even more so 
because every single one of these deaths is preventable.
  Today, I am introducing legislation named for Sarah Debbink 
Langenkamp, who was killed while bicycling here in the Nation's 
capital.
  Sarah was a U.S. diplomat whose family had just been evacuated from 
Kyiv. She was bicycling home from her children's new school in Bethesda 
on August 25, 2022, when she was struck and crushed by a flatbed truck.
  She was riding in an unprotected bike lane on the shoulder of a five-
lane urban highway, a route she was forced to take because it was the 
only connection between the low-traffic neighborhood street of the 
elementary school and the multi-use path to her home. While drivers are 
responsible for operating safely around cyclists and pedestrians, 
fixing gaps in infrastructure presents opportunities to build safe 
systems that could have protected Sarah.
  Disconnected and incomplete networks are unfortunately common 
features of bicyclist and pedestrian infrastructure in the United 
States.
  These gaps in infrastructure present serious dangers. Deaths and 
injuries of pedestrians and bicyclists have grown dramatically in 
recent years, rising to the highest levels in decades, and now make up 
20 percent of traffic deaths. This legislation encourages the 
construction of complete active transportation networks, separated from 
vehicle roadways, which will contribute to safer trips and fewer deaths 
on our roads.
  I look forward to working my colleagues in the House and Senate to 
pass this legislation in memory of Sarah and every other person killed 
on our Nation's roads.

                          ____________________