Philly Bike Action Calls on City Leaders after Bike Rider Killed On Spruce St.

PHILADELPHIA – On Wednesday evening, a person on a bicycle was hit and killed by the driver of a car speeding through the unprotected bike lane on Spruce St. On the same day, one pedestrian was killed by speeding drivers and another left in critical condition in separate incidents in Port Richmond and Germantown.

In 2009, when the bike lanes on Spruce and Pine Streets were installed, protective measures were proposed by bicycle safety advocates but rejected by decision makers who sought to allow drivers to misuse the bike lane. We are seeing the consequences of the City’s decision to leave these bike lanes unprotected and ignore the needs of vulnerable road users. Let's be clear: currently, there is nothing stopping anyone from driving on, parking on, or crashing their car and killing a person in these bike lanes. Only concrete curb separation, bollards, and traffic calming measures can protect vulnerable street users. Paint and flex posts are not infrastructure and only provide the illusion of safety. The Spruce and Pine St bike lanes must be immediately upgraded with concrete curb separation.

Focus on the actions of people on bikes ignores the risk of serious injury or death from speeding vehicles. Helmets and rider’s education can only go so far, and emphasis on this puts people in indefensible positions. Speed kills, and wearing a helmet cannot protect a person from getting run over by a fast-moving vehicle.

Instead, the City needs to design streets that make dangerous driving impossible. We are calling on City Council President Kenyatta Johnson, Councilmember Mark Squilla, Center City Residents Association President Leo Levinson, Washington Square West Civic Association President Tami Sortman, and other City decision-makers to prioritize the safety of vulnerable users on city streets. Residents are looking to these leaders for solutions.

Sadly, Philadelphians have too many examples of how the city’s failure to act has enabled dangerous driving habits. Complete Streets safety projects have been proven to massively reduce crashes by designing roads that prevent car traffic from moving at unsafe speeds and physically separating and protecting people who aren’t in cars. Despite their commitment to “Vision Zero,” which seeks zero traffic deaths in Philadelphia by 2050, the Mayor and City Council missed an opportunity to act when they reduced funding for the Vision Zero Complete Streets budget this year. That funding must be restored and increased in next year’s budget.

A Philadelphia free of traffic violence is a Philadelphia worth fighting for.