Bike Cleveland invites area cyclists to participate in the 14th annual local Ride of Silence this Wednesday, May 15.
The slow-paced ride honors those who have been killed or injured on streets while cycling or walking, a problem which continues to plague Northeast Ohio.
Last year, at least 550 people were hit by cars while they were biking or walking, according to a report from Bike Cleveland. At least 10 of those accidents were fatal.
Despite Cleveland’s Vision Zero initiative, an attempt to eliminate “serious injuries and fatalities on our roadways” by 2032, the statistics of pedestrian fatalities and bike accidents have remained stagnant.
There will be two start locations to choose from:
The first will be the ride from Downtown Cleveland at Willard Park at the Free Stamp at 6:30. This will be a 5-mile group ride escorted by the Cleveland Police Bicycle Division to University Hospital. The second will be the ride from University Heights at the John Carroll parking lot off Carroll Boulevard led by the Heights Bicycle Coalition.
Both groups will meet at 6:30 p.m. Participants will ride no faster than 12 mph and must remain silent during the event. There is no cost to join.
“We all have a right to safe mobility, and we can prevent these tragic crashes. We know that the vast majority of crashes are related to factors that we can influence,” Jacob VanSickle, executive director of Bike Cleveland, told us at last year’s event. “We can design roads that discourage dangerous speeds, we can lower speeds by adding traffic calming. We can ensure vehicles are built for the safety of everyone including those outside of cars. These are policy and design choices that we can all demand.”
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