Hundreds of cyclists gathered on the steps of the Boston Common on Sunday for the annual Ride For Your Life.
Ride For Your Life is an advocacy movement promoting safer streets. Founder Daniel Langenkamp started the movement four years ago after his wife, Sarah, was killed while riding her bike home from her children's elementary school.
"We all need to take reasonable measures to make the roads safer. We need to support politicians who believe in bicycling and walking. We need to support things like speed cameras so we can be safer," Langenkamp said.
The group took part in a 10-kilometer ride past crash sites around the city, which was followed by a rally where participants laid flowers and read the names of people who have died in road collisions.
Eric Olson paid tribute to his 5-year-old daughter, Sidney, who died almost four years ago when she was hit by a commercial truck while on a crosswalk in Andover.
"People make mistakes and we have technology now that can prevent those mistakes from being deadly. And so we're here to say that you can't save Sidney, but we can save people exactly like her," Olson said.
Barbara Bower lost her husband John Corcoran when he was hit by an SUV while riding his bike along Memorial Drive in 2024.
"Cyclists deserve to be safe. John wasn't doing anything wrong. He was wearing a helmet, biking in a safe manner, on an elevated bike path, separate from the road," Bower said.
The cyclists joined the ride not only to honor the lives of pedestrians and cyclists who've lost their lives on the road, but to advocate for safer streets.
"We need to address the issues that we know kill people, so speeding, trucks, distracted driving. The causes are well known, and we have legislation and technology that can reduce them right now," Olson said.
