On Thursday, May 8th at 8:15am a Jeff Ishibashi, 50, was riding a bike on Baltimore Avenue going east into the 58th St. intersection. At that time the driver of a Mack truck was also traveling east and made a right turn hitting and killing the bicyclist. This crash happened as children were walking to a school, just one block away. Jeff was a beloved member of the University of Pennsylvania research community and continued mentor and guide his mentees even after they left the University. He will be sorely missed.
We can’t help but think of Emily Fredricks who was killed by the driver of a private sanitation truck in November 2017. Emily was also killed in a right hook turn when she was on her way to work. Since then, Emily’s family has made road safety a top priority by co-founding the Greater Philadelphia’s chapter of Families for Safe Streets and being active on Truck Safety Coalition and Institute for Safer Trucking. Both the Truck Safety Coalition and the League of American Bicyclists have advocated for mandatory underride guards and side guards, or Lateral Protective Devices (LPDs).The Advisory Committee on Underride Protection also recommended front override/underride guards.
“The Volpe Transportation Systems Center, a U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT) research center, found nearly one half of bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities in large truck crashes are caused by underride crashes.
These tragic fatalities are avoidable and can be dramatically reduced with a very simple installation on trucks: Lateral Protective Devices (LPDs) or Side Guards. Lateral Protective Devices (LPDs) are barriers retrofitted to the sides of the truck to physically close the dangerous gap between the front and rear tires and the road, protecting vulnerable road users.”- League of American Bicyclists
In 2018, we advocated for side guards on Philadelphia trash trucks and won but unfortunately, there’s a lot of private trucks that don’t have to abide by the law.
The city has been working on improvement plans for this intersection including red light and speed cameras, as part of Route 13, corner bumpouts, and the future Trolley Modernization project.
We will wait to learn more about the circumstances of the crash and update this blog. We know that fatal crashes like these are avoidable and that the USDOT has been aware of the fatal risk of underride and lateral crashes and yet have hardly taken action. We echo the work of the Truck Safety Coalition and the League of American Bicyclists and ask that Congress force NHTSA to re-issue rear underride guard standards AND require side and front guards on all large trucks.
Jeff is the second person killed while riding a bike in Philadelphia this year. Michael Buie was killed while crossing Broad St. in January. The 21st annual Ride of Silence is scheduled for Wednesday, May 21st. Please join us to remember all the people killed while riding bikes in the greater Philadelphia region in the last year.
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If anyone you know has been involved in a crash or lost someone in a crash and is looking for community, please reach out to Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia by emailing nicole@bicyclecoalition.org.
Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia (FSSGP) is comprised of victims of traffic violence and families whose loved ones have been killed or severely injured by aggressive, reckless, or careless driving, behaviors enabled by dangerous street design. FSSGP represents the full range of greater Philadelphia’s rich diversity and collectively demands an end to traffic violence.