Ride Of Silence Honors Fallen Bicyclists

COLUMBUS, Ohio—Hundreds of bicyclists will descend on downtown Columbus tonight for the sixth annual Ride of Silence. They will ride from the Statehouse to the OSU campus and back in honor of cyclists who have been killed on the roads.

Jeff Stephens will be riding in remembrance of more than half a dozen friends from Central Ohio and around the country. He rides a tandem bike without a second rider, symbolizing the missing cyclists.  A sign hanging from the center support post reads, “Honor Killed Cyclists.“

“This is a respectful way to make a statement and share a message,“ he says. “We don’t want to be confrontational. This is supposed to be respectful.“

Stephens says the ride resembles a funeral procession and many of the riders will be honoring fallen comrades.

Tonight, Stephens will ride in honor of two local men who were killed in the past year.  70-year-old David Hines was killed February 1, 2009, when he was hit from behind while riding an adult tricycle on Karl Road, on his way to a fast-food restaurant to have coffee with friends.  And 46-year-old Tracey Corbin who was killed August 21, 2008, on Alum Creek Drive while riding his bike to work.

RELATED ARTICLES:
Vehicle Strikes, Kills Cyclist: http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/-CMH_2008_08_21_0002/7620/
2 Pedestrians Struck, Killed Sunday: http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/frank_road_collision_fatal_to_pedestrian/12387/

The Ohio Department of Public Safety says there were 933 bicycle-related crashes between 2005 and 2007.  Of those, 750 included injuries and three were fatal.

According to a Regional Bicycle Transportation Facilities Plan created by the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission in 2006, 43% of all bicycle-motor vehicle crashes were caused by failures to yield the right of way. 

Between 2000 and 2004, High Street between downtown Columbus and Morse Road was one of the most dangerous places for bicyclists.  There were 105 crashes in a seven-mile stretch.

The report says, “High Street has seven cluster areas that have a concentrated number of bicycle crashes: Graceland Area, North Broadway Area, North Campus Area, OSU Area, Short North Area, Nationwide Arena Area and the Franklin County Courthouse Area.“

The next most-dangerous area was an eight-miles strech of Broad Street from I-270 on the west side to Ohio Avenue.  In the study’s four-year timeframe, there were 67 crashes.

FULL REPORT: click here

As the Executive Director of “Consider Biking,“ a group that promotes biking safety, Stephens hopes that more education for cyclists and motorists alike will help reduce the number of accidents.  He says many are not aware of the laws and many motorists are not accepting of bikes on the roads.

“There are many people that are not experienced cyclists that find our streets pretty mean,“ Stephens says.  He says education and exposure make the roads safer for everyone.  Having more bikes on the roads creates a kind of ‘safety in numbers’ and helps motorists become accustomed to seeing cyclists in the area.

“A bicycle is a vehicle and is entitled to all the exact same privileges on the road as a car,“ he says.

Still, he welcomes the expansion of bike-friendly accommodations in Central Ohio.  The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission says Franklin County has 278 miles of bike baths, 24 miles of bike routes, 9.5 miles of bike-friendly road lanes and 47 miles of paved shoulders.

“Our constituency of cyclists is pretty big,“ he says. He points out that cyclists cross a wide range of social, ethnic, racial, religious and professional groups. Stephens expects to see riders from across the state including a large contingent from Cleveland. He says the Columbus Ride of Silence is one of the largest in the nation.

The Ride of Silence is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Cyclists will gather at 6:30 p.m. on the south lawn of the Statehouse, near the Ohio Theatre.  The mayor is scheduled to make remarks and start the ride.

MORPC Regional Bikeway Planning Info:
http://www.morpc.org/transportation/bicycle_pedestrian/bikeway_planning.asp

Columbus Bikeway Master Plan:
http://www.altaprojects.net/columbus/

Ride of Silence:
http://www.rideofsilence.org

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