Thursday, December 6, 2012

Today Was a Sad Day in My Neighborhood

As someone who is on my bicycle every day. As someone who believes that riding a bicycle is a step towards saving our planet from the number one issue of our day. As someone who shares my neighborhood with the students and staff of Boston University. Today was a very sad day.

A memorial to Christopher Weigl at the intersection of Comm. Ave. and Pleasant St.
Today a 23 year old graduate student from Boston University was killed by a turning tractor trailer just a few blocks from where I live. He was riding in the bicycle lane that I have ridden on many times. He was the fifth bicyclist killed by a motor vehicle in Boston this year. With more and more thousands of bicycles using the streets every day, it has never been more important to design our transportation network to account for those on bicycles.

As someone with a 22 year old son, my heart aches for the family of Christopher. I can't imagine the pain of losing a child. I also have compassion for the driver of the truck. Regardless of whether the driver was guilty of breaking any laws, or even showing poor judgement, I can think of no punishment worse than living with the knowledge that you have taken the life of an innocent fellow human being.

Tonight when I placed flowers at the intersection, I prayed for comfort for those involved directly. I also pray that this prompts action on how we can make our streets safer for all who use them.