I have often commented on the virtues and all around goodness of the drivers on my bike rides from Arlington to Reston. However, today my faith in the apparently fragile coexistence of bike and car commuters was shattered. Just outside of Vienna, on the Arlington side, this morning I came across a very troubling scene. At an intersection, that up until now I thought was relatively safe, there were a couple of cars pulled over and several people standing around. It wasn't until I got closer that I saw the biker lying on the grass with his fellow biker kneeling beside him, holding his hand. Also standing by was a man in a suit and a little girl probably about 8 or so, and a woman on a cell phone. I stopped at the road and asked if everything was ok, the kneeling biker, looking very upset and concerned, told me that an ambulance was on it's way, and that everything would be ok. I got the distinct impression that he was trying to convince himself more than me. The injured man lay very quietly and he had some sort of cloth tied around his knee. I couldn't see his face to tell exactly how much pain he was in or even if he was conscious. I rode on, not wanting to interfere since I was pretty sure there's not much else I could do besides get in the way.

I don't know what happened, I don't know if it was the biker's or the driver's fault, I assume it was probably a combination of both. I think that maybe the man in the suit was the driver and that the woman on the cell was a witness. The little girl obviously belonged with the man in the suit and looked quite shaken up by the whole thing. It was quite a shock for me to see so early in the morning and I really hope the man is ok. Needless to say I'm going to be a bit more careful when I cross intersections on the way to work.