Groups aim to make the road safer for cyclists after fatal hit-and-run

COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) – As a tragic hit-skip goes unsolved, many in the city are focusing on how to make Columbus roads safer for everyone.

NBC4 showed viewers John Decker’s story earlier this week. In early March, Decker was hit while riding his bike in north Columbus. The car did not stop and there are still no answers. Decker was taken off life support earlier this week.

This story is one that pulled on heartstrings for one Columbus bicyclist and is also shining a light on the work Vision Zero Columbus is doing to try and make the roads safer for everyone.

Jim Silcott lives in Columbus and heard about the hit-skip on the news. It hit close to home; he was badly injured in a hit-skip about four years ago.

“I suffered a shattered shoulder and four ribs,” Yay Bikes! Board member Jim Silcott said.

When he heard about Decker’s hit-skip, he wanted to see if he could help.

“Probably three days after the accident, I called Riverside, found out where he was and went to see him. He was, it turned out, one of the few days that he was actually conscious and speaking, though he was certainly not in great shape at that time,” Silcott said. “He kept saying, ‘it’s not fair.’”

Silcott is a part of Yay Bikes!, an advocacy and education group in the city. Columbus itself also has a branch that focuses on road safety.

“We want to see zero fatal or serious injury crashes by 2035,” Vision Zero Columbus Vision Zero Coordinator Katherine Swidarski said. “It’s data-informed. And we also want to be thinking of equity in every part of policy, process, and those data.”

For Swidarski the cause is also personal. She hasn’t owned a car in more than 10 years.

“There’s a lot of joy to experience being on a bicycle, and that is part of the objective of Vision Zero and a lot of the relationships that we’re building with different partners is it’s not to keep us always in the depths of despair, but to look at the possibility. Imagining Columbus in 2035, where no one is dying on our streets,” she said.

As the city works towards that goal, those like Silcott are trying to raise awareness and hopefully honor Decker in a ride of silence next month.

“There’s a poem that we read every year. I’d love to have one of his friends read the poem and certainly just show his friends who have rallied to him in these final days that we support him,” Silcott said. The Ride of Silence will take place on Wednesday, May 15, starting at Our Lady of Peace School,  40 E. Dominion Blvd. in Columbus. Riders will begin gathering at 5:30 p.m., there will be a ceremony honoring those who have lost their lives and then at 7 p.m. the 10 mile ride will begin.

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