FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 11/19/21
Contact: Randy LoBasso, randy@bicyclecoalition.org, (914) 439-5204
Contact day of event: Lor Song, (667) 577-0464
Philadelphia, Pa — Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia will convene at Cobbs Creek Parkway on Sunday, November 21st to demand an end to traffic violence.
The annual World Day of Remembrance, presented by Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia, will take place at Cobbs Creek Parkway at 11am. We will remember those victims of traffic violence Philadelphia has lost over the past year, and demand a change to the policies that put Philadelphia’s pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers, at risk.
“Our Families for Safe Streets Chapter joins with approximately 30 others FSS Chapters across the country in commemorating World Day of Remembrance. We join with other street safety organizations, including the Vision Zero Network, in remembering our loved ones, including my daughter, Emily Fredricks,” says Laura Fredricks, co-founder of Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia. “We miss our Emily every second of every day. On Sunday we will have the opportunity to be with our FSS family to Remember, Support and Act. Our goal is Zero Traffic Deaths; nothing else is acceptable.”
At least 106 Philadelphians have been killed in traffic in 2021, so far, which includes eight bicyclists and 35 pedestrians.
“With the exception of 2020, the number of people killed in traffic violence so far in 2021 in Philadelphia is likely to be the highest since 2007. The eight bicyclists killed so far is the highest number of lives lost while bicycling since 1997,” said Sarah Clark Stuart, Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. “The trend of people dying on Philadelphia’s streets keeps going up and more action needs to be taken by city and state leaders to reverse the deadly trend in order to save lives and achieve Vision Zero.”
This event will begin at the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center. This demonstration will start at 11:00 a.m. and will involve a half-mile walk, bike, and any other modes of active transportation down the trail to the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center. Once there, members of Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia will be joined by State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams, City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, City Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, and City of Philadelphia’s Deputy Managing Director for Transportation Michael Carroll to discuss Vision Zero initiatives.
Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia members, including Laura Fredricks, Channabel Morris, and Latanya Byrd, all of whom have lost family members in Philadelphia traffic violence, will join other family members who lost loved ones on 63rd Street also speak at the event.
World Day of Remembrance is an international event happening on the third Sunday of November, each year.
WHO: Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, State Senator Anthony Hardy Williams, Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, Deputy Managing Director Michael Carroll, Pastor Willie Singletary, Ayeisha Poole, Cravante Reynolds, Latanya Byrd, Channabel Morris
WHAT: World Day of Remembrance 2021
WHERE: Cobbs Creek Recreation Center (280 Cobbs Creek Parkway) to Cobbs Creek Environmental Center (700 Cobbs Creek Parkway)
WHEN:
11:00am, November 21 – walk from Cobbs Creek Recreation Center to Environmental Center
11:40am – Program will begin in front of the Cobbs Creek Environmental Center at 700 Cobbs Creek Parkway (63rd and Catherine). Podium with speakers and microphone will be at that location.