A bicyclist collided with a private garbage truck in Center City on Nov. 28, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The bicyclist was taken to the nearby Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:50 a.m.
The truck driver and victim were on Spruce Street at about 7:25 a.m. when the driver made a right turn on 11th Street, Captain Sekou Kinebrew, a police spokesman, told the Inquirer. The victim was identified the next day as Emily Fredericks, a 24 year old who lived on the 700 block of South Street.
Fredericks' death was the third fatality in Center City this year that involved a bicyclist, according to The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. At least 26 bicyclists have died on Philadelphia streets since 2010, and seven of those deaths have involved trucks.
Sarah Clark Stewart, the coalition’s executive director, has since ordered the city to repaint bike lanes and install protective curbs for the safety of cyclists.
No charges have been filed against the driver, who has reportedly cooperated with the investigators thus far. Kinebrew said that the police officers were investigating whether the truck driver saw the bicyclist or failed to yield, and whether or not the driver or victim was distracted at the time of collision.
The day after the incident, about 100 protesters formed a human wall to create a safe bike lane.
“What we need is actual infrastructure and we wanted to put our bodies where we believe we need to have protection,” Leigh Goldenberg, an organizer of the protest, told the Inquirer. “[Car lanes and parking space] should not be priorities over someone’s life, and that’s what our elected officials are allowing to happen.”
A candlelight vigil was held at the intersection at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
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