DC Bicyclist Killed in Crash Just Hours After Tweeting About Dangers of Biking

By Tom Lynch and NBC Washington Staff • •

NBC Universal, Inc. Jim Pagels’ family remember him as a renaissance man who loved D.C. and cared deeply about bike safety. News4’s Paul Wagner reports.

A bicyclist killed Friday night in a crash that involved five other cars had tweeted just hours before his death about the dangers of biking in D.C.

Jim Pagels, 29, was the victim in a chain-reaction crash that also injured two other drivers in Northwest D.C., his sister and multiple friends confirmed to News4. 

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D.C. Police said a bicyclist and a Kia Sorrento were both headed westbound when they were struck simultaneously by a 2020 Honda Civic that was also headed west around 7:30 p.m. at 2nd Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

The Kia then struck a Ford Van in the intersection and the Honda hit a Dodge Durango, police said. Pagels was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 

Earlier in the day, Pagels had gone to get a COVID-19 vaccine and had to bike through the New York Avenue/Montana Avenue traffic circle. His last tweet was about this danger.

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His sister, Laura, said he had a large group of friends in the District, loved playing board games and was an avid proponent of bike safety in the area.

The officer was on his way to arrest a murder suspect when the crash happened on the D.C./Maryland line. Cory Smith reports.

Pagels was born and raised in Dallas and moved to D.C. in his early 20’s to work at the Federal Reserve after graduating from Columbia University. He was working toward a Ph.D. in economics at the University of Michigan and returned to D.C. in January as his classes and teaching assistant job were conducted online.

He leaves behind a devastated family. The initial cause of the crash is still under investigation.

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