Bike Crash Reenactment
Channel: Richard Bullington-McGuire
Date: 24/06/2012

See here for still photos related to the incident: http://bit.ly/MulchCrash

On Tuesday, 6/19/2012 at approximately 11:30 PM I was biking in Arlington, Virginia, riding southbound on North Lincoln Street, a marked bike route. I had activated both front and rear bicycle lights and a helmet light as nighttime safety precautions. I was traveling about 6 feet away from the curb. Suddenly I saw a mulch pile blocking the road, but I was too close to it to avoid it. The mulch pile was a dark brown mass in the darkest stretch of that street without any flags, cones, or other reflective markers. I crashed into the mulch pile while riding the bicycle, throwing me over the handlebars and onto the street beyond. I was in great pain after crashing and my cries of distress attracted a bystander who helped me collect my bike and waited until help arrived.

I suffered two broken fingers and contusions of the ribs and shoulder, and I will need surgery to fix one finger. I will miss at least 4 days of work because of this incident.

If you have mulch or dirt delivered to your house, and it gets dumped on the street, please mark it with reflective flags, cones, tape, or other materials. I learned that Arlington County delivered this mulch at the request of a homeowner and deposited it on the street on 6/19/2012, but neither the county nor the homeowners marked it with safety reflectors.

Two days later the pile was still there, still without any reflectors. I measured that it extended 8 feet 11 inches from the curb. In Arlington, you are supposed to move it out of the street within 24 hours. These piles are hazards to both bicyclists and motorists, please don't let them linger in the roadway.

This video shows a daytime reenactment of the crash.