2nd Ward Democrats Urge Philadelphia Bicycle Safety Reforms

The 2nd Ward Democrats are heartbroken and outraged about the death of Dr. Barbara Friedes. We recognize that Dr. Friedes directly lost her life because of a reckless drunk driver, but the city’s hesitance to adopt robust traffic safety measures is also to blame.

Friedes, a pediatric oncology resident at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was killed on July 17th while riding her bike in the Spruce Street bike lane near 18th Street, a thoroughfare used daily by many 2nd Ward residents. A driver illegally swerved into the bike lane to pass a car in front of them before colliding into Dr. Friedes from behind. She was launched 20 feet into the air, and was killed from the resulting head trauma.

Dr. Friedes’ death was entirely preventable. If the Spruce and Pine Street bike lanes had been protected with sturdy concrete curbs or parked cars, as advocates have been calling for over the last 15 years, a bright public servant and healer would still be with us here today.

This traffic violence has not been limited to just Rittenhouse Square. In the days following Dr. Friedes’ death, a man in his 50s was killed while waiting on a sidewalk in Kensington, a 26 year old woman was critically injured in Germantown, a woman succumbed to head injuries from an earlier crash in West Philly, and a man was killed in a hit and run on Aramingo Avenue.

Traffic violence affects everyone in our city. The city’s own data shows that since 2020, 50% of victims of traffic deaths in Philadelphia were Black, and 20% were hispanic. In 2020 the Office of Complete Streets found that fatal or serious injury crashes are 30% more likely to occur in areas of the city where most residents are people of color compared to areas where most residents are white.

We endorse the demands of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, 5th Square, Philly Bike Action and other organizations in calling on Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, Councilmember Mark Squilla, Mayor Cherelle Parker, the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, the Streets Department and other city leaders for the:

• Immediate installation of permanent concrete protection for bike lanes on Spruce, Pine Streets
• Withdrawal of the permits permitting religious organizations to park in the Spruce and Pine bike lanes on Sunday
• Change the signs on Spruce/Pine from “No Parking” to “No Stopping”
• Make physically protected pedestrian and bike infrastructure the default in our ward and the city as a whole

We eagerly look forward to a statement by Councilmember Squilla, outlining his plan and vision for concrete protection along the portions of Spruce and Pine that run within his district.

While we appreciate the statement made by Council President Johnson, we do not believe that it goes far enough. We fear that this effort will end similarly to the Washington Avenue streetscape project in President Johnson’s district, where parking protected bike lanes and narrower travel lanes (which prevent reckless driving) were deprioritized in favor of maintaining travel lanes for cars out of a fear of traffic congestion. Despite that fear, congestion east of Broad Street (where the design proceeded) has not meaningfully increased, and parking is used more efficiently.

We would like to see Councilmember Johnson make a firm commitment to prioritizing safety over the convenience of drivers. Specifically, we are fearful that the voices of a small number of residents who prioritize easy parking and loading/unloading will come to dominate the conversation, instead of those concerned about safety. We would also like to see the Council Member explicitly commit to a deadline for their implementation to avoid a protracted, drawn out engagement process (like what happened with Washington Avenue) that will lead to another death.

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The Second Ward Democrats (phila2ndward.org) is made up of progressive neighbors who became the majority of committee persons in this Ward 4 years ago in an effort to move our government at all levels to create a racially, socially and economically just society.