The picture shows Allie Hart mugging a wide toothy grin, in a striped dress, holding a cup of ice cream, her blond hair blowing in the breeze.
The words, “My best girl. Miss you forever & ever. Mommy” are penned in black marker on a pink heart glued to the photograph, alongside other purple and pink hearts. “I miss you so much. Love, Daddy.”
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Allie was 5 when she was fatally struck on a hot evening in September as she rode her bike in her Northeast Washington neighborhood. Now she is one of several faces joining dozens of names written on chalkboards at an interactive memorial at Union Station.
Volunteers and residents from the District put up the “Remembrance Wall” in the heart of the nation’s capital amid an escalation in the number of people killed in crashes on the city’s streets. Among those killed so far this year were two young children crossing streets. The latest victim: 24-year-old Nina Larson, a recent American University graduate, died Saturday while crossing at Columbia Road and Biltmore Street NW near the Adams Morgan restaurant where she worked.
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With her death, the District recorded as many traffic fatalities by mid-November — 37 — as occurred in all of 2020. That year ended with a 12-year high. Thousands more have been injured — nearly 3,800 this year, according to city data.
“It’s absolutely tragic,” said Christy Kwan, founder of D.C. Families for Safe Streets, which put up the interactive memorial to give people space to grieve and honor loved ones lost in traffic crashes. “It makes me angry and really sad to just know there’s so many people who are affected by traffic violence.”
Children should be able to walk and bike to school safely. But, in D.C., four have been hit in crosswalks in less than four weeks.
Kwan added a photo of her cousin, Jamie, who was killed in a crash 20 years ago.
“Some days it feels like yesterday. Miss you cuz,” she wrote under the photograph of a smiling young Jamie. After two decades, Kwan said she’s still grieving her death.
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Road fatalities, which advocates and transportation officials say are largely preventable, increased nationally and in the Washington region in the past two years despite a significant drop in travel during the coronavirus pandemic. Speed and reckless driving have been a factor in many incidents.
Crash deaths are on the rise across the nation. The infrastructure bill opens the door to a safety overhaul.
About 20,160 people died in crashes nationally in the first half of this year, up 18 percent from the same period of time in 2020, according to estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The soaring number of deaths in the first six months of the year represent the largest surge in fatalities in more than four decades, according to a federal report.
Amid what federal officials have called a crisis, the White House is promising a multibillion-dollar initiative to tackle the rise in deaths. The infrastructure package that President Biden signed Monday includes $5 billion for a new Safe Streets and Roads for All program.
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In Washington, officials are urging that the city double down on efforts to raise awareness and tackle reckless road behaviors. On Tuesday, D.C. Council member Brianne K. Nadeau (D-Ward 1) said she plans to introduce legislation “that will make D.C. a national leader in raised crosswalks, continuous sidewalks, and raised intersections.” Other council members this week discussed improving enforcement and towing of vehicles with histories of traffic infractions.
Even so, crash survivors and those who have lost loved ones say help can’t come soon enough. Others say the city should do more.
“Better policy & enforcement can save lives. We MUST act quicker,” one message on the Remembrance board read. “Stay Alert! Stay Alive!” read another.
D.C. pledged to cut traffic fatalities by 2024. Deaths are up, and now the program is under audit.
The boards and the screens showing videos of survivors and the relatives of people killed in the Washington area captivated the attention of passersby Friday at the region’s busiest transit hub. Some grabbed chalk to write their own mementos.
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“Please. For the love of God. Slow down,” a young man on the way to board an Amtrak train wrote, underlining “Slow down.”
Others paused to take in the messages left for mothers, daughters, friends and children killed on D.C. roads.
“Mommy we miss you”
“The SUV that struck my brother didn’t kill him, but he’s never been the same ever since”
Sabrina Sussman, a crash survivor, stopped to read names printed on paper — about 300 of them — of people killed in the Washington area since last year. She also read those added to the chalkboard by passersby.
Daniel, 50.
Jose, 18.
Mark, 66.
Rachel, 31.
Noumkouba, 23.
“I got very lucky,” Sussman said as she stood in front of the chalkboards Friday. The pain never really goes away, she said, recalling that crisp spring morning in 2014 when she went for a run and, half a block later on her quiet D.C. residential street, was struck by a driver who sped over a speed bump.
Sussman was tossed onto the top of the vehicle, then rolled down the windshield and across the hood before being thrown onto the street, left unconscious and bleeding. She suffered a severe concussion and multiple fractures to her body and face. She was in a wheelchair, in rehab for two years and underwent multiple surgeries.
“But I was alive,” she recalled, glancing at the names in front of her.
She grabbed the red chalk stick. Paused, and wrote, “our streets should be safe for all.”
The Remembrance Wall exhibit is a partnership of D.C. Families for Safe Streets and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Street Smart Program. It will continue this weekend, leading up to World Day of Remembrance on Sunday.