最新蜜桃影像

鈥淭he manholes have never looked so pretty,鈥� Rachel Maisler told a young girl using chalk to draw on the intersection of 14th and Irving Streets Northeast Sunday. Children ran across the intersection carefree, occasionally stopping to decorate the streets with chalk as their parents watched and discussed street safety.聽

Maisler, along with , organized a shutdown of the intersection to advocate for safer streets in memory of Allie Hart, a five-year-old who lived in the neighborhood before being on her bicycle by a driver in September.聽

鈥淲e were trying to think of a way to memorialize what happened here while also celebrating her life,鈥� Maisler said in an interview. 鈥淎s a 5-year-old, she loved hearts and flowers, and we鈥檙e just here drawing on the sidewalk and filling it with what Allie loved.鈥澛�

Police blocked the four entrances of the intersection after hearing about the protest. Maisler said she did not acquire a permit for the event because she believed the community鈥檚 right to gather in protest is guaranteed by the First Amendment.聽

Maisler plans memorials for all city cyclists struck and killed by cars. Allie鈥檚 story, she said, is heartbreaking but not out of the ordinary. A , 9, last week.聽

According to , 39 people have been killed in vehicular incidents this year. Vision Zero, which Maisler labeled as a good but severely underfunded program, is the city鈥檚 initiative to end traffic fatalities by 2024. 最新蜜桃影像 reported on the unlikely ability to accomplish the program’s goals earlier this year.聽

Keeping up with all the accidents is proving to be more and more difficult, Maisler said.

鈥淢y God, I mean every time this happens, it鈥檚 a preventable crash, and the community is aching and looking for ways to call on the mayor, call on the district,鈥� Maisler said.聽聽

City Council-at-Large member Christine Henderson attended Sunday鈥檚 event with her daughter. Henderson sits on the Committee on Transportation and the Environment and felt 鈥減leasantly surprised鈥� the police blocked off the intersection for community members.聽

Henderson said community members gathering to advocate for safety and taking up the street 鈥渄idn鈥檛 hurt anybody鈥� and were 鈥渘ot a huge inconvenience.鈥� It did, however, allow them an opportunity to gather together and show support for the families impacted by traffic violence.聽

Henderson said she is working toward legislation specifically promoting infrastructure around schools to help keep children safe, especially as students return to in-person classes.聽

鈥淔or kids just coming back in person, we can鈥檛 say to families 鈥榶es, your kids will be safe walking in crosswalks to and from school,鈥� so we need to do more to get cars to slow down,鈥� Henderson said in an interview.聽

Allie鈥檚 teacher, Wendy Aleman, attended the event and said Allie鈥檚 death 鈥渢raumatized鈥� her. Even when taking children to the park to play a couple of blocks from their school, Aleman said she is flooded with memories of Allie as she tries to keep the students safe.聽

鈥淣ow is better than before,鈥� Aleman said. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 stop thinking about [Allie] and crying.鈥�

Aleman鈥檚 daughter was in Allie鈥檚 class, along with Thor and Leah Cheston鈥檚 daughter. One of the hardest parts, the parents agreed, was figuring out how to tell their children.聽

Leah Cheston found out about Allie鈥檚 death through a parents鈥� group message. She and the other mothers then called one another as they 鈥淕oogled how to tell your 4-year-old that her friend died.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard. It鈥檚 really hard to tell your four-year-old that her friend isn鈥檛 coming back,鈥� Leah Cheston said.聽

Leah and Thor Cheston said they have considered moving out of D.C. because of the traffic violence. Drivers, Thor Cheston said, are 鈥渟elfish鈥� and do not care about pedestrians.聽

Thor Cheston hoped the protest would make a change because people were not safe as long as the government did nothing to help.

鈥淪omebody needs to be pulling these people over and holding them accountable, and it鈥檚 not happening, it鈥檚 not,鈥� Thor Cheston said.聽

Community members have done their part, Henderson said. Now, she believed the government had to act.聽

鈥淲e need our agencies to react and respond to the advocacy we have seen thus far,鈥� Henderson said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to tell people 鈥榊ou have to march 10 times鈥� or 鈥榊ou have to do these types of events at every school in order to get someone to notice.鈥� It shouldn鈥檛 take this.鈥�