World Remembrance Day This Sunday Nov 18th

Written by Boston Biker on Nov 15

From The BCU:

Sunday is World Day of Remembrance. Will you join the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition in honoring victims of traffic crashes?

World Day of Remembrance
Sunday, Nov. 18 // 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Learn more + RSVP

The day will begin with a ghost bike ceremony at 12:30 pm, followed by a vigil and silent march from the State House to City Hall to demand swifter action to prevent traffic deaths.

We know you are angry and sad about recent fatalities on our streets. So are we. These kinds of tragedies are avoidable with better, proactive planning and policy. Stand with us to show that life-saving infrastructure improvements cannot wait.

While Boston has made some progress toward reducing injurious crashes, change has not come quickly enough. In 2017, there were 1,162 cyclist and pedestrian incidents that prompted an EMS response — or more than 3 per day. Meanwhile, Boston’s bike fatality rate continues to be higher than the rates in comparable cities. (It’s one reason Boston fell this year to #20 in Bicycling Magazine’s ranking of the best bike cities in America.)

Friday’s fatal crash, in which a dump truck driver hit and killed BU graduate student Meng Jin as he biked near the Museum of Science, serves as another devastating reminder of the dangers posed by deadly street design. (A ghost bike ceremony will be held on Sunday before the rally and demonstration; for more information and to RSVP head here.)

Meng Jin Ghost Bike Ceremony
Sunday, Nov 18 // 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Intersection of Charles River Dam & Museum Way
Learn more + RSVP

On Sunday, members of the Coalition will be placing silhouettes at crash sites throughout the Boston area, as well as statewide, as part of the #CrashNotAccident awareness campaign. Crashes are not accidents — they’re the tragic, preventable results of inadequate planning and policy. People make mistakes; our streets must be designed so those mistakes are not fatal. Please join us to ensure that these lives are not forgotten and to demand safe streets for all in our communities.

Take part in the following memorial actions:

12:30 pm – Meng Jin Ghost Bike Ceremony at Charles River Dam & Museum Way
1:45 pm – Gather on the steps of Massachusetts State House for a Memorial Vigil
2:00 pm – Program for Memorial Vigil begins
2:45 pm – Silent Walk of Remembrance to Boston City Hall Plaza to demand safer roads
3:30 pm – Event ends

Please dress warmly and wear yellow in remembrance of those we’ve lost to traffic crashes.

We also encourage you to invite your elected state and local representatives. Show them the human toll of dangerous street design and urge them to support Vision Zero. You can find your city legislators here, and your state legislators here.

Help us spread the word via social media by using the following hashtags before and during the event: #WDoR2018 #CrashNotAccident #SafetyOverSpeed #VisionZero

The vast majority of these traffic crashes are preventable through engineering, education and enforcement. In numbers, we can recognize our loved ones, and also demand action from our elected officials.

We hope to see you there on Sunday, November 18th.

The post World Day of Remembrance, Sunday Nov. 18 appeared first on Boston Cyclists Union.

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