Ride of Silence press release

When: Wednesday, May 19, 2004 at 7:00 p.m.
Who: Bicyclists
What: Nationwide "Ride of Silence"
Where:

Kansas City, 63rd and Brookside
Springfield, from the parking lot on the northeast corner of Olive and Boonville
St. Louis, the front of the History Museum, Lindell and DeBaliviere Roads

Why: Missouri cyclists will join a nationwide effort in honor of those who have been injured or killed while cycling on America's public roadways and to raise awareness that cyclists, pedestrians, and motorists share the road, as the law states.

"Bicycling and walking are very safe activities," says Brent Hugh, Raytown resident and chair of the Missouri Bicycle Federation. "Riding your bike or walking to store or park is just about as safe as driving there and also has a health benefit that driving doesn't."

"But bicycling and walking should be far safer still. In Missouri we have a too-long of a list of cyclists and pedestrians who have been injured or killed by careless drivers. The driver most often receives a small traffic fine and most often continues to drive with little or no consequences."

On May 19, the Ride of Silence will roll across the country at 7 PM, beginning in the Eastern Time Zone and concluding in the Pacific Time Zone. In more than 35 cities in the U.S. and Canada, cyclists will take to the roads in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves.

"One of the best things we can do to make the streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists is to educate all road users use a little common sense, drive safely, and follow the law," says Hugh. "Police and prosecutors need to realize the seriousness of injuring or killing someone through careless driving. In most areas of the country this is considered a serious crime. In Missouri it is treated more like a minor traffic infraction."

Legislation to create tougher penalties for reckless drivers who injure or kill others (SB710) passed the Missouri Senate this year but got nowhere in the House.

"Streets that are safer for walking and bicycling are safer for driving, too," says Hugh.

For more information on the Ride of Silence check the website: http://www.rideofsilence.org

For more about the proposed highway safety legislation, see http://www.MoBikeFed.org

[Details and statistics follow]

Just a few of the recent bicyclists and pedestrians killed in the Kansas City area:
- 12-year-old Eric Mitchell, killed by a hit-and-run driver last week
- Pei Chen, killed in a school zone crosswalk by a speeding driver who was convicted of a misdemeanor with a fine of a few hundred dollars
- Toni Sena, bicyclist killed by a driver trying to escape police pursuit
- Rita Hahn, bicyclist killed in the early morning by a delivery truck approaching from behind
- 12-year-old bicyclist Anthony Lee Pulliam of Kansas City, Kansas
- 9-year-old bicyclist Luke Cunningham, killed by a hit-and-run driver
- Kau Chiu, bicyclist
- Steven Miles, killed by a hit-and-run driver
- Lester A. Daniels, pedestrian
- Numerous pedestrians killed crossing Hwy 71, where inadequate and very widely-spaced pedestrian crossing facilities have been provided in a neighborhood with heavy pedestrian traffic.

More on the pedestrian safety problem at

https://www.ewg.org/reports/meanstreets/states/MO.html

The report estimates 93 pedestrians killed every year in Missouri and about 1800 injured.

About 5000 pedestrians are killed each year in the United States, and 100,000 seriously injured. See

http://www.marc.org/section2.pdf

3000 deaths in the World Trade Center puts the entire nation on war footing. Yet 5000 pedestrian deaths PER YEAR brings almost no response at all. "[I]n Missouri, people are more likely to get killed by a car while walking than they are to be shot and killed by a stranger with a gun. . . . Pedestrians accounted for 9 percent of all motor vehicle-related deaths in Missouri from 1986-1995, yet no federal highway safety funds were spent on pedestrian safety in the state during that time." See

https://www.ewg.org/reports/meanstreets/states/MO.pdf

Missouri is now doing better than we were in 1986-95: We are spending 0.3% of our highway safety funds on bicycle/pedestrian safety. (Of course, this is still FAR short of being in proportion to the percentage of bicycling/walking deaths in the state?) See

http://www.americabikes.org/images/resource/bicyclefriendly/completestreetsdata.pdf

MoDOT administers the highway safety funds and it seems that the refusal to spend a reasonable amount on bicycle and pedestrian safety flies in the face of their official stated goal, "We will create a safe environment for both the traveling public and our employees." See

http://www.modot.state.mo.us/about/general_info/strategicplan.htm

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