Philadelphia held a significant cycling event on Sunday to boost awareness of bike safety, with over 100 participants. The ride honored cyclists who have lost their lives in car accidents, including Sidney Ozer, whose 17-year-old son Samuel was killed in a car crash on Father’s Day 2020.
Samuel was struck and killed by a vehicle while riding his bike home from work on Henry Avenue, a high injury street. This year, there have been over 110 traffic fatalities in Philadelphia, including 10 cyclists. Laura Fredricks, co-founder of Families for Safe Streets of Greater Philadelphia, emphasized that the city is a Vision Zero city and called attention to the recent increase in traffic deaths. She urged government representatives in Harrisburg to listen to the need for safe street legislation.
Advocates are calling for more bike lanes with a row of parked cars to protect cyclists from traffic and want to extend the Speed Camera Pilot Program. Ozer believes that if these safety measures were already in place, his son may still be alive today. As Thanksgiving approaches this year without Samuel, Ozer is committed to remembering his son and campaigning for safer streets in his honor.
