Author Rachel Sadon
A longtime D.C. bike advocate was struck and killed by the driver of a stolen van in Trinidad on Friday morning.
Dave Salovesh, a 54-year-old information technology professional, was extremely active in D.C.’s cycling community. He penned pieces about the need for protected bike lanes, and routinely called for better enforcement and investments in cycling infrastructure.
“I never knew him as anything but a bicycle advocate,” says Rudi Riet, who befriended Salovesh a decade ago at a weekly bicycling coffee club. “He lived and breathed making the streets safe.”
Riet, who does advocacy for Jump bikes, says that Salovesh wanted his teenage daughter “to have the freedom to ride to school safely. He wanted everybody to have their safe way to get from point A to point B in something other than a car. He was really trying to make the street safe for everyone.”
In addition to his bike advocacy work, Riet say that his friend “loved good music, he loved good jokes, he loved a good beer. He was a guy who has a wicked sense of humor and the most caring hug.”
The crash happened around 10 a.m. at 12th Street and Florida Avenue NE.