SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Cycling advocates like Will Rhatigan of the San Diego County Bike Coalition are calling for action.
"This is an issue that's always been around in San Diego," said Rhatigan, the group’s advocacy director.
This after there were four cycling-related deaths from Aug.7-Aug. 14.
"This was our worst week all year. We want to highlight just how bad that is and draw attention to the fact that people were killed and their lives mattered,” Rhatigan said.
The bike coalition and others are calling on local city governments and SANDAG in an open letter to find safety improvements that can be done at the different crash locations in that week-long period.
"Protected bike lanes, roundabouts, traffic calming; doing those three things in places where it makes sense to do them will save lives overnight,” Rhatigan said.
One of the latest to be hurt was a nine-year-old boy who San Diego Police say was seriously injured in a bike crash with a car on Sunday.
Just after 3 p.m. in Mountain View, police said the boy collided with a car after exiting an alley on Webster Avenue and suffered lacerations to his face, multiple fractures, and a concussion.
The hope is that this letter kick starts the conversation again following tragic situations where cyclists lost their lives.
"We hope that we can build off that attention now to say, 'Look, this has been going on for a long time. We need quick fixes, sure. But yes, we need to be looking at this systematically,” Rhatigan said. “Because based on the design of so many roads around San Diego, if nothing is changed, more people will be hurt."
