A Florida man has been charged with reckless driving after driving nearly a mile on the W&OD trail in Arlington yesterday (Wednesday) evening.
The man was in a rental car with his wife and kids when he drove northbound onto the trail at Columbia Pike, according to Arlington police spokesman Lt. Mike Watson. After receiving numerous calls from trail users, a police officer on a motorcycle caught up with the vehicle, a Chrysler 300 sedan, in Glencarlyn Park.
According to Watson, the man claimed that a GPS navigation system on his phone directed him to use the trail. The Florida resident was issued a court summons for reckless driving and was escorted off the trail and back onto local roads, Watson told ARLnow.com.
While trying to catch up with the errant driver, police officers marveled at the fact that he didn’t realize he was driving on a bike trail.
“He must think it’s the world’s smallest two-lane highway,” one said on a police radio channel. No one was hurt during the incident.
Last month, a McLean woman was arrested after allegedly driving five miles while drunk on the W&OD trail in Fairfax County, striking and seriously injuring a 65-year-old bicyclist in the process.
Also last month, gates were installed on the Capital Crescent Trail in Northwest D.C. to prevent drivers from mistaking it for a road. No such gate was in place where the man entered the W&OD trail yesterday.
Photo via Google Maps