staff editorial solely represents the majority view of The Crimson Editorial Board. It is the product of discussions at regular Editorial Board meetings. In order to ensure the impartiality of our journalism, Crimson editors who choose to opine and vote at these meetings are not involved in the reporting of articles on similar topics.
September 30, 2024
There’s an epidemic of cycling fatalities in Cambridge taking away our neighbors, our friends, and members of our Harvard community.
Last Monday, John H. Corcoran ’84 was killed by an SUV while biking on Memorial Drive, following two fatal cycling collisions with cars over the summer in Cambridge.
These deaths are tragedies. We mourn these victims and send our condolences to their families.
What makes these losses even more tragic is that they were preventable. Better bike infrastructure could have made all the difference — which is why it’s so shameful that local government has spent years dragging its feet on addressing this crisis.
Transit activists have long highlighted the need for upgrades at the Boston University Bridge intersection, a hotspot for fatal accidents 500 feet from where Corcoran was hit.
The Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, which oversees the area, must heed those calls and expedite the construction of protected bike lanes. In the long run, implementing a “road diet” — a roadway with fewer car lanes separated from bikes by a barrier — would provide a durable solution to cycling fatalities.
Local government isn’t off the hook either. In 2020, the Cambridge City Council made plans to construct 25 miles of bike lanes by 2026 — an appropriately ambitious target. This past April, however, the Council pushed its construction deadline to November 2027, having constructed only 13 miles of bike lanes as of May.
This setback is unacceptable. Every year of delayed construction is another year of unsafe streets. A 2019 study assessing 13 years of data from 12 major U.S. cities found that installing protected bike lanes citywide could reduce cyclist fatalities by 44 percent.
Other regulation options are available too. Neither of the two trucks that killed cyclists in June were equipped with side guards — protective barriers intended to prevent cyclists from getting caught under vehicles during a collision.
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