Ice Cream Truck Runs Over Cyclist on Bike to Work Day

Editor's Note: The police report the victim was riding on the sidewalk. Yet Dan Stone, who said he was riding with the victim, insists they were both riding on the street. This story was originally reported on Fairfax City Patch and has been updated to include the victim's name.

---------------------------

An ice cream truck pulling out onto Main Street ran over and dragged a Burke bicyclist, Brendan Markham, 24, on , which was Wednesday, May 18th.

Markham was riding down the sidewalk westbound on Main Street when he was hit by an ice cream truck attempting to turn out of the Fairfax Square Apartment complex shortly after 7 p.m. on Friday. The truck ran him over and dragged him for a brief time.

His injuries were non-life threatening, said Sgt. Daniel Grimm of the Fairfax City Police Department.

Impha Gassama, 52, from New Carrollton, Md. was charged with failing to yield the right of way from a private drive.

A Washington Area Bicyclist Association forum users posted the following account of the incident:

"We were first on the scene before the ambulance arrived and it was terrible. The young man in his 20's was screaming in pain from the tire tracks on his back, and we tried to keep him still. There were bits of his purple bike to work shirt rubbed into the pavement. We are hopeful that he will recover, since he could move his legs and remained conscious. However it was beyond sobering, as we have contemplated biking to work many times."

Another forum user, this time in the Fairfax Underground discussion group, told a similar story:

"I was on my way home, driving with my windows down and heard screaming. Upon driving closer (shell station across from old Carlos O Kellys) I saw an ice cream truck driving in the opposite direction halfway up on the median with a bike underneath mangled, and then I noticed the biker on the median, there were tons of cars pulled over, and I did call 911."

Fairfax Advocates for Better Bicycling urge drivers to be alert for bikers on and off the street.

"Drivers are responsible to look both ways when entering the street from a side street or a driveway entrance. They need to come to a complete stop at stop sign and lights and look for the presence of other road users. Pedestrians and cyclists may be coming from their right or left and drivers need to look."

Read the entire statement .