When first-year graduate student Dana Andersen left his Graduate Hills apartment last Saturday around noon, he was riding his bike to pick up medical records, not looking to add to his own.

He was headed toward the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Hyattsville on a silver and yellow road bike to gain records needed for school research.

As Andersen coasted down Toledo Road toward the CDC at about 15 mph, he noticed he was riding alongside a “black, sedan-like car.”

What the driver of the car did not notice was Andersen riding along his right-hand side.

“There was a road – more like a driveway, and he turned right somewhat abruptly and hit me. I flew off my bicycle and tumbled,” said Andersen, who was not wearing a helmet.

Though Andersen was “hurting pretty bad” and left short of breath, he had no serious injuries, just a bruised shoulder and scraped hands.

“He was really lucky,” said Dorcas Adkins, safety education program director at Washington Area Bicyclist Association. “He was riding too far to the right, didn’t look, and boy, he sure should have had a helmet on.”

Bike accidents like Andersen’s can result in serious injuries or fatalities. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 52,000 cyclists have died in traffic crashes since 1932. In just 2007, the NHTSA reported 698 cyclist deaths and 43,000 injuries from motor vehicle collisions.

Adkins suggested accidents resulting from a vehicle turning right, or “a right hook,” can be prevented by the cyclist riding in front of the vehicle.

“Most cyclists make the mistake of riding too far to the right; the law says to ride as close to the right as is safe. Sometimes that means being more in the road,” Atkins said. “The cars have to see you, and there is the door zone to think about.”

With the large number of student cyclists, issues surrounding bike theft and bike safety have gained attention.

In Prince George’s County, plans for bicycle paths and positions to advocate for cyclist issues have been discussed, but implementation of these plans have yet to be seen.

WABA’s website lists “a bike coordinator for Prince George’s County” as one of their current priorities, but Executive Director Eric Gilliland said “not too much” is being done right now to create this position.

“Over the last year we have tried to increase the budget to get funding in order to afford such a position,” Gilliland said.

According to Fred Shaffer, chairman of the Prince George’s County Bicycle and Trails Advisory Group, designs and plans for the extension of the Anacostia trail, which runs through the campus, are in process.

“We have been working with Hyattsville and Riverdale Park, and we will be done with designing and feasibility within the next several weeks. Then it will be up to the municipalities to apply for federal funding,” Shaffer said.

As for Andersen, who was negotiated into an ambulance after refusing to leave his bike, these plans are not likely to affect his route.

Anand Murugesan, a graduate student studying economics, picked Andersen up from Washington Adventist Hospital, and the two left before Andersen was checked by a doctor.

“They didn’t have any first aid in the ambulance; they didn’t even wash his hands. So the first thing he wanted to do was go to Target and get some antiseptic,” Murugesan said.

Andersen plans to purchase a helmet in the near future – “maybe for Christmas,” he said.

“I bought a steel frame bike because I figured it’s only time before a car will hit me, and the steel frames are quite strong,” Andersen said. “But yet, I didn’t think about getting a helmet. That’s a strange inconsistency.”