Local News
Hundreds of cyclists biked Memorial Drive on Friday, and John Corcoran’s family joined advocates to dedicate a ghost bike to his memory.
Several hundred local bicyclists pedaled out this weekend to honor the life of a Newton man who was struck and killed by an SUV in Cambridge last week, the third cyclist death in the city in recent months.
“We’re very upset that there was a move for change, and that it didn’t happen, especially because two other bikers died here in Cambridge,” said Jack Corcoran, according to Boston Globe reporter Shannon Larson. “We’re hoping that my dad … will be the last before the city can really start to make some beneficial change.”
John Corcoran, 62, died after he was struck by a SUV driven by a man in his 20s on Memorial Drive near the Boston University Boathouse last Monday, officials said.
While the initial investigation indicates the man lost control of his vehicle, no charges have been announced, police said.
Earlier this summer, two other bicyclists were killed after being struck by box trucks in the city. Kim Staley, a 55-year-old from Florida, and Minh-Thi Nguyen, a 24-year-old student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were both hit when trucks going the same way as the cyclists turned into their paths.
Critical Mass Boston, which hosts a monthly social bike ride, dedicated their regular ride to Corcoran and the other cyclists who have been killed on the road by cars on Friday night.
The group met at Copley Square and traveled through Back Bay before heading onto Memorial Drive near where Corcoran was killed. The cyclists blocked off the Boston University Bridge rotary and circled it for three minutes to honor Corcoran, Nguyen, and Staley.
Advocates speak at ghost bike memorial on Saturday
Peter Cheung, the advocate behind ghost bike memorials across the city, shared a video of hundreds of bicyclists on Memorial Drive and hosted a ceremony to dedicate the painted-white bicycle to him on Saturday afternoon.
Cheung told reporters at the memorial that ghost bikes “remind people to share the road for cyclists.” He told Larson that Corcoran’s bike was his 35th ghost bike ceremony honoring a cyclist killed on the road.
“There is time for advocacy. There is time for change, but what we have here is a time for a memorial,” said Galen Mook, executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition.
Barbara Bower, Corcoran’s widow, told WCVB News that Corcoran was an avid cyclist who believed Memorial Drive to be safe. Instead, “he was being careful, and someone else was being careless, and it cost him his life,” Bower said.
“He picked that route intentionally because of the bike paths, and he felt that kept him safe from the cars,” Bower said. “He was out there on a beautiful day, doing the activity that he loved. He died by the river in the city that he loved.”
Cyclists, elected leaders call for improvements to Memorial Drive
After Nguyen’s and Staley’s deaths, advocates continued to push for additional regulations that would require state-funded trucks to be retrofitted with safety features like additional mirrors.
Cambridge Vice Mayor Marc McGovern, who spoke out in favor of those regulations, said he was “devastated” to hear about Corcoran’s death in a statement on X.
He and other Cambridge councilors are supporting the Week Without Driving challenge from Sept. 30 to Oct. 6 and designating Oct. 3 when Cantabrigians are encouraged to use alternate transportation to cars.
“We must do everything we can to make our streets safer, without delay,” he wrote.
State Rep. Mike Connolly said on X last week that he reached out to State Police to ask about any charges against the driver and to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation, which operates Memorial Drive.
Connolly shared a letter dated 2023 from him and other local leaders including state Sen. William Brownsberger calling on DCR to improve the bike lanes where Corcoran was killed.
Advocates have long tried to address the stretch of Memorial Drive where Corcoran was struck. Last year, the BU Bridge Safety Alliance purposed changes to the pathway, and Critical Mass Boston also called on DCR to protect bicyclists on Friday.
“MassDCR has failed to protect cyclists on its roads,” they wrote on Instagram for Friday’s event. “We will not stop until riding a bike is no longer a political act. Ride as we remember those the car has killed.”
DCR did not respond to a request for comment Sunday night.
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