A few weeks ago I titled an article, Can Cyclists Survive in Traffic identifying some of the potential problems of cyclists and motor vehicles sharing the road. In nearby Boise it took an unfortunate crash to bring about change when a five year old boy named Maximo was hit and then dragged by a minivan back in September. Thankfully Max is on a slow road to recovery after being rushed to a Salt Lake City Hospital with a collapsed lung, several broken bones, and surgery to remove his spleen. A crash such as this shakes up our mindset and causes us to re-examine bicycle safety and yet it still isn’t enough. On May 18th our local cycling community was dealt a staggering blow as word spread that a cyclist was hit by car on one of our rural roads. Even more staggering was to learn that the accident had resulted in a fatality of a local fireman and member of the CT Velo cycling team. Ryan Franklin was only thirty-four, a father of four, and it was unbelievable to his friends that he was now gone. He was a serious cyclist, not one to take safety lightly and certainly careful around vehicles. The driver claimed she fell asleep while driving and woke up when her vehicle hit something.
Wake Up Call
Many of us ride the same road that Ryan was riding when struck and couldn’t help but to think that it could have been any of us. Bikes just don’t have a chance with vehicles. These accidents are a wake-up call for everyone to be aware, but the reality is the road is full of distracted drivers. Sure the tragedy that happened to Max did bring about some new discussions and a decision by the Idaho Department of Transportation to add more bicycle questions to the driver’s test. By clarifying laws and getting more motorists to be aware of the existence of the legal need to share the road with cyclists, we can only hope that the end result will be fewer accidents.
Community Response
Not just the cycling community, but the entire community came out to honor Ryan with a memorial ride on their regular Tuesday night Chain Gang ride. As I rolled up to the meetup place I was overwhelmed by the amount of people on every type of bicycle. It was hard to count, some say at least 250 and many say closer to 500 all there to honor Ryan in the best way they knew how. A police officer handed his microphone to a member of the CT Velo team who spoke about Ryan and explained how we would ride safely through town at a slow pace escorted by the Police and Fire Department.
It was powerful as vehicles parted and stopped, taking a break from driving to let these streets be strictly for the mass of cyclists riding in honor of a friend. We rode streets I would normally avoid because of traffic, but tonight these streets were cleared for cyclists and the privilege felt somewhat appropriate.
We passed two of the fire stations and I couldn’t help but to get choked up as the fireman all stood in formation, solemn with an unspoken display of gratitude for all of us who came out to honor a lost brother.
Ghost Bike
Our plant manager immediately went to work on creating a ghost bike and a plaque that would be welded to the frame.
I learned later there would be two, one at the site of the accident and one to travel around. Ghost bikes are a way to place a memorial at a site where a cyclist was fatally injured by a collision with a motor vehicle. It’s a powerful memorial and a present reminder for both cyclists and motorists to be aware and share the road in the interest of safety for all. This accident was a tragedy, hard to fathom, and could have been avoided. Many of us are wondering about our own safety and trying to convince our spouses that we will be safe out on the road. We really don’t know the outcome so we continue to look for opportunities to promote safe cycling, encourage others to learn the rules and laws and hope that we can create a safe place where cyclists and vehicles can share the road.
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