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Boulder, Colorado | August 11, 2024
The Ride for Magnus: Ride for Your Life events on August 11 will honor Magnus White and push for policy and legislative changes to prevent future deaths like his. The three demands reflected below result from discussions held by the event organizers, who include national, state, and local biking and safe streets advocates, and have been crafted with the “safe systems” approach in mind. Together, their passage and implementation would significantly impact street safety in Colorado and nationally.
The death of Magnus White was as preventable as it was tragic. It’s time to stand up and urge our leaders to take action to prevent cycling and pedestrian deaths on our roadways.
In 2022, drivers hit and killed 7,508 pedestrians and 1,084 bicyclists in the U.S.; pedestrian fatalities were the highest since 1981, and bicyclists fatalities marked an all-time high. In addition to these fatalities, in 2022, drivers hit and injured approximately 67,000 pedestrians and 46,195 bicyclists in the U.S. As reflected in the graph below, in 2023 in Colorado, drivers hit and killed 133 pedestrians (up from 62 in 2003) and 20 bicyclists (up from 3 in 2003).
Experience from cities worldwide and a growing body of research tells us there are proven solutions—collectively called the “safe systems” approach—to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The “safe systems” approach shaped the Ride for Magnus: Ride for Your Life legislative and policy demands.
In 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) failed to include bicyclist-sensitive technology when it issued a new rule requiring all new cars and light trucks (starting in 2029) to include automatic emergency braking technology (AEB). Instead, NHTSA only requires that new AEB systems stop and avoid contact with a vehicle or pedestrian in front of them – people on bikes and motorcycles are excluded. All AEB systems on all new cars and light trucks must detect and react to an imminent crash with a bicyclist or a motorcyclist in all lighting conditions and at all speeds. Additionally, AEB systems must also be able to detect and react to individuals with a specified range of skin colors representative of very dark to very light complexions.
Click here to learn more about the problem and the solution for automatic braking systems.
In Colorado, we are outraged by the lenient penalties that currently exist for drivers who hit and kill bicyclists and pedestrians. There is no reason for a person convicted of tampering with a water meter in Colorado to receive the same or lesser penalty as a driver who recklessly kills a human riding a bicycle or walking. Colorado’s legislators should pass legislation that increases these penalties.
Click here to learn more about the problem with driver penalties and the solution.
Finally, we are equally outraged by the time required to build traffic safety and active transportation infrastructure projects to protect bicyclists and other vulnerable road users in Colorado. Such delays cost Magnus White his life and will cost other lives if approaches to funding and managing these projects do not change. With a bias towards urgency and action and to establish a proof point that transformative active transportation projects can be built with speed, we are asking government officials to complete the construction of a multi-use bike path (The North Foothills Bikeway) connecting Boulder to Lyons by 2029.
Click here to learn more about the infrastructure problem and the solution.
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