KCStar columnist responds to recent bicycle deaths in KC

A 9-year-old boy, Luke Cunningham, and a 46-year-old woman, Toni Sena, have recently been killed while bicycling in the Kansas City area. Kansas City Star columnist Barbara Shelly responded to these incidents in an article today, which included these comments:

More than 100 bicyclists met for a group ride on a very hot evening Thursday. They were there to honor Sena, and also, I think, to announce that they would not live in a padded room. . . .

There is a freedom that comes from being on a bike, in motion, with a breeze on your face, that can't be replicated in any other activity. I know this from experience, and I know that taking away that sense of independence would kill something inside.

Incidentally, statistics show that the accident risk of on-street bicycling is about the same as for driving an automobile. But the health benefits of bicycling outweigh risks by a factor of 20-to-1.