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Only 0.7 percent of federal transportation funds are spent on improving pedestrian facilities.

Join us May 15 for the Chicago Ride of Silence as we mourn lives lost

May 10, 2024 | by Ted Villaire

On Wednesday, May 15, all are invited to join a worldwide annual bicycle ride to honor the people killed while biking on public roadways.

Rides will be held in Chicago, Downers Grove, Elgin, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Evanston/Skokie, and Villa Park. See the full list of Illinois rides and details about how to participate.

The event calls attention to the right of people to bike on the road and the urgent need for infrastructure that will make biking in Chicago safer and more welcoming for people of all ages and abilities.

“These tragic deaths are preventable, especially on our neighborhood streets,” said Chicago Ride of Silence organizer Elizabeth Adamczyk. “This ride offers us a chance to mourn those who have been killed while biking, visit their ghost bike memorials, and share a silent moment of respect and reflection.”

The Chicago ride will offer an unofficial departure from Queens Landing at 5:30 p.m. to ride north to the official ride starting point at Dickens Greenway Plaza for a 6:00 p.m. start.

From Dickens Greenway Plaza, bicyclists will ride in silent procession along an 11-mile route through the North and Northwest sides of the city, visiting the following crash sites along the route:

  • Ghost Bike of Tyler Fabeck. On April 20, 2008, twenty-two year old Fabeck was traveling on his bicycle when he was killed by a driver at the Logan and Western intersection.
  • Ghost Bike of Kevin Clark. On May 26, 2021, a driver struck and killed Chicago musician Kevin Clark, 32, who was killed as he rode his bike at Logan Boulevard and Western Avenue in Logan Square. Clark appeared as the young drummer in the 2003 film “School of Rock.”
  • Ghost Bike of Ron Mendoza. On June 7, 2023, bike rider Ron Mendoza, 43, died from injuries sustained in a July 5 crash with a driver at Wrightwood Avenue and Pulaski Road in Logan Square.
  • Ghost Bike of Josh Anleu. On October 4, 2023, a sedan driver fatally struck Joshua Anleu, 16, as he biked through the intersection of Waveland and Long avenues in the Portage Park community.
  • Crash site of Ernesto Vargas. On February 27, 2024, Ernesto Vargas was critically injured by a hit-and-run driver of a Jeep at 5:52 p.m. at the intersection of Long Avenue and Grace Street.
  • Ghost Bike of Carla Aiello. On November 6, 2019, a turning truck driver killed 37-year-old cyclist Carla Aiello riding in a bike lane at Milwaukee and Kilbourn avenues in the Irving Park community.
  • Ghost Bike of Nick Parlingayan. On May 4, 2022, a driver fatally struck Nick Parlingayan, 22, on his bike near the intersection of Milwaukee and Kilbourn avenues in the Irving Park neighborhood.
  • Post-Ride Gathering will honor George Christensen and other crash victims that the ride route does not cover this year: Sleeping Village at 3734 W. Belmont, just east of Milwaukee Ave.

The ride honors and remembers all the people who lost their lives while biking on Chicago streets.

An average of five to six bicyclists were killed every year 2012-2023 in Chicago. But nine Chicago bicyclists were killed in 2020, 10 in 2021, and in 2022, eight people biking were struck and killed by motorists. During 2023, 30 pedestrians were killed by motorists and another 7 have been killed already in 2024.

 

 

“The lack of safe infrastructure for all road users combined with drivers traveling at unsafe speeds resulted in the tragic loss of life in 2023,” said Amy Rynell, Executive Director of the Active Transportation Alliance, which is sponsoring the ride. “There is an urgent need for safety improvements on many of our streets. No more people should have to die while biking or walking on any of our roadways in order to achieve needed safety improvements.”

In the face of a staggering 40 percent increase in traffic fatalities in Illinois between 2012 and 2021, with pedestrians and cyclists accounting for a growing number of these tragic losses, more U.S. cities have taken the lifesaving step of lowering speed limits. Because of the frequent role speed plays in car crashes, lowering the speed limit even a small amount can have an outsized effect on road safety. 

In coming months, as Chicago City Council members consider reducing Chicago’s default urban speed from 30 to 25 mph, we urge Chicago residents to contact their alderpeople to let them know they support saving lives by lowering the speed limit.

Ride organizers request registering in advance on the Chicago Ride of Silence webpage.

This year Illinois has over 10 registered rides occurring in communities throughout the state. The Ride of Silence is held in many locations in the US, Canada, Australia, Europe, South and Central America and the rest of the world. This year there are nearly 300 locations registered throughout the world.

Chicago Ride of Silence
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
5:30 p.m. — Ride from Queen’s Landing to start at Dickens Greenway Plaza
6 p.m. — departure from official start: Dickens Plaza Greenway (Dickens and Lincoln Park West)
End — Sleeping Village (3734 W. Belmont); all are welcome (riders and non-riders)