The Vigil for Dr. Friedes

How Do We Prevent Violence?

The cinder blocks are talking. Listen to them.

"I think this is going to be a turning point," said Philadelphia City Council member Jamie Gauthier. I hope she's right. 

In Philadelphia, when it comes to reimagining our streets, my experience is that progress only comes after death. It doesn't have to be that way. It shouldn't be that way. But it is that way.

In a better world, our leaders might have what President George Bush the First used to call "the vision thing."

But in Philadelphia, we don't have vision. We have body bags.

I've spent quite a few years now studying how to improve our streets, and good solutions are available for many of our problems. During this process, I have watched our municipal government at work, and I have come to a conclusion: If you want to fix the streets, you need to fix City Hall.

About the Pictures

The vigil for Dr. Barbara Friedes was held on Sunday, July 21, 2024. She had been killed in front of the Beth Zion Beth Israel synagogue, known to locals as BZBI, on Spruce just west of 18th, and that was where the vigil was held.

On Saturday, the day before the vigil, I walked through this intersection several times. It's near my house, and the shortest way to many of my local destinations. As I was taking the picture below, I had a thought: I would actually prefer it if history did not happen on my doorstep.

In the photo you can see the memorial site that has been erected on the sidewalk. A little further on you can see a package delivery truck blocking the bike lane where Dr. Friedes was killed.

I'm tempted to say that the death of Dr. Friedes hasn't changed anything yet, but let's go back to the first photo, at the top of the story. Bicycling advocates have been putting out awareness cones to mark bike lanes for quite a few years, but I had never seen cinder blocks before. 

In case you're interested, this is dangerous. Don't do it. But it's also a message. I myself have been committed to non-violence for many years, and I have long believed that non-violence also lies at the heart of the bicycling movement. Now I'm not so sure. I don't think that anyone wants to find out what an actual War on Cars would look like, but if City Hall doesn't change its approach to bicycling, I now fear that we may find out.

The vigil on Sunday was very well attended by bicyclists and ordinary citizens who don't like the idea of people being killed in our streets. There was a media presence, and Council member Gauthier gave a nice speech. The site is not in her district. It is in the district of Kenyatta Johnson, who is also president of City Council. When Emily Fredricks was killed at 11th and Spruce in 2017, the local council member attended the vigil. His name is Mark Squilla.

Andrew Stober has an excellent opinion piece in the Inquirer. To see it, click here. For the Bicycle Coalition's call to action, click here.

See also Those Pesky Bike Lanes; Parking Minimums in Philly; On a Slow Boat to China; It's the Road Design, Stupid; Outflanking City Council; What Are We Doing to Our Truck Drivers?