Friends and Family Hold Vigil for Cyclist Killed on Rt 202

Update:


If you haven't seen Natasha Pettigrew's campaign website, take a look. Not for the political content, but for how it gives a flavor of who the woman behind the headlines was. 


Here's what Natasha Pettigrew wrote on the "Personal" section of her site:


"During my free time I enjoy swimming, biking, and running.  I was never happier than when I found out about triathlon, which puts all three sports together at once as a sporting event.  When I am not training for a triathlon, I enjoy knitting and crocheting blankets to give to those who need them, and I enjoy reading.  When our schedules allow, I spend as much time as I can with my friends.  However, law school sometimes makes that difficult.  My greatest joy is spending time with Bill.  No matter how stressful a day gets, his wagging tail and pure joy about everything in life make me smile."


Bill wasn't your average, ordinary hound. According to her site, Bill was the family's 11-year old, 3-legged Chocolate Lab. 


Dozens turned out to honor the memory of Natasha Pettigrew. I was still finishing work on a variety of assignments and weekenders for WTOP, so was unable to get out and cover it. But you can see info on the WTOP website. 

Family friend John Clendenin tells WTOP that the vigil will be held off Rt 202 in Largo, not far from the crash scene, but I'm working to pin down a bit more in the way of precise location/ direction. The vigil will start at 6pm.


Reporting on this now for WTOP, will file more here later. The vigil for Natasha Pettigrew, the cyclist and Green Party candidate for US Senate, will be ON the property of the Prince George's County Community College, not far from the crash scene were 30 year-old Natasha Pettigrew was killed. Details to follow.

One Year Later: Remembering Natasha Pettigrew

Natasha Pettigrew's mom, Kenniss Henry, who was among those who fought for a change to Maryland's vehicular manslaughter law in Annapolis during the Maryland Legislative session, held a special gathering to remember her late daughter on Sunday night.

Friends, family, and people who were inspired by Pettigrew --she was running for Maryland Senate as a member of the Green Party when she was killed in 2010--gathered to share memories of the 30 year old.

Natasha Pettigrew was training for a triathlon when she was struck and killed in September of last year while riding her bike along Maryland Rt 202.

Prosecutors can't comment on the case, but it's believed that charges will be filed in the hit and run. There were reportedly no eyewitnesses to the crash--the woman who identified herself as the driver of the SUV that struck Pettigrew said she thought she hit a deer. When she got to her home in Upper Marlboro and found a bike lodged beneath the undercarriage of her car, that's when she reportedly called police.

Without an eyewitness to the crash, it's not clear that a charge of manslaughter by motor vehicle could be filed--there are laws against leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failing to render aid in an accident resulting in death.

The vehicular manslaughter bill that Henry lobbied for allows for jail time in cases of crashes resulting in death. Previously, deadly crashes in Maryland resulted in fines for drivers.

ICYMI: WTOP's Coverage of the Case of Natasha Pettigrew's Death

Guilty.

That was the verdict of a jury in the case of Christine Littleford, the woman who prosecutors said was behind the wheel of the SUV that killed 30 year old Natasha Pettigrew, the Green Party candidate for Congress in Maryland in 2010.

Pettigrew was out riding on Rt 202 in Prince George's County in September of 2010 when she was hit by the driver of the SUV who continued to drive for 4 miles with Pettigrew's bike still lodged beneath the car.

Natasha's mother, Kennis Henry, had been determined to see the case through from the very first investigation of the crash to the jury's eventual verdict. Henry joined other families whose loved ones had been killed by drivers on Maryland roadways to change Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws--laws one legislator called so lax as to be "cosmically absurd".

Littleford will be sentenced in August of this year.

Update on Hit and Run Case

The trial for Christy Littleford, the woman charged in the death of 29 year old Natasha Pettigrew, a Green Party candidate and avid cyclist is scheduled for 9 a.m. March 20 in Prince George's County Circuit Court. Pettigrew was killed while cycling in September of 2010.

Charges against Littleford are outlined here. Her defense attorney is named as Joseph Vallario who happens to be the Chair of the Maryland General Assembly's House Judiciary Committee . Kennis Henry, Natasha Pettigrew's mother, has testified before Vallario's committee to toughen the state's vehicular manslaughter laws. The bill was successful.

Bikes and Cars: We May Struggle to Share the Road...

But after talking with Shane Farthing of WABA and John Townsend of AAA Mid-Atlantic, I learn that both agree: Maryland's vehicular manslaughter laws are in need of an overhaul.

Natasha Pettigrew's death is still under investigation: as is the death of cyclist Stanton Miller of Montgomery County. But the cases have both Farthing and Townsend talking about the need to focus on the obligation that drivers have on the roadways. AAA Mid-Atlantic was right there with Prince George's County State's Attorney Glen Ivey in Annapolis back in March: fighting to change the laws that allow drivers to --in the words of Ivey--"walk, even drive away" from a fatal crash with nothing more than a traffic ticket.

You can hear the pieces on WTOP at 103.5 fm.

And I'm just thinking:

Who hasn't heard from police that 'Driving is not a right, it's a privilege."? Yet don't we all act as though it's our right? I mean after all, a car is the thing that can empower us to travel as far as we want whenever we want. I know as a young reporter working at suburban  and rural stations my reality was: no car--no job. It was a lifeline to my livelihood. A car allowed me to work crazy shifts and head to out of the way destinations at a moment's notice.   For many people, including former teaching colleagues in Montgomery County, the car was the only way home: to affordable housing in Frederick or Washington Counties. Or even to homes in Pennsylvania.

Every driver I know will cite the examples they see of cyclists who zip between cars, blow through stop lights, or stop signs, or generally treat traffic laws as things that apply only when convenient. I've been frustrated myself when a pedestrian darts out into traffic outside of a crosswalk, or a cyclist who decicdes to thread the needle in gridlocked traffic. But what of  the drivers who drink and drive, who text and drive, who speed, who travel in the shoulder or  make the decision that make their attitudes clear: the laws apply--but not to me, not at this moment?

So I ask: how willing are we to admit our own transportation transgressions? And how willing are we, as a friend of Natasha Pettigrew's family says "to treat life as though it really is precious"?  At what point do we look at that motorist next to us, that cyclist in the bike lane, that pedestrian approaching the crosswalk, as someone's child, wife, husband, parent? Can we give each other a break?

I'm a reporter. I don't have the answers.  I'm just asking.

Update: Natasha Pettigrew

This week, as I covered a news conference in Prince George's County regarding the police response to a spate of murders, I had a chance to talk with newly-elected State's Attorney for Prince George's, Angela Alsobrooks.

I asked her whether there will be charges filed in the September death of cyclist and Green Party candidate Natasha Pettigrew. Alsobrooks explained to me that the the investigation is not yet complete. I asked if the investigation is taking an unusually long amount of time, and was told no, it's not uncommon for the crash reconstruction unit investigations to take 6 months or more.

When there's a new development, be sure to check with WTOP 103.5 fm and WTOP.COM and on this blog.