Amy Alexander Case of Killed Bicyclist and Other Tragedies Spark "Ride of Honor" for May 19

Recent tragedies involving Valley bicyclists hit by vehicles have spurred activists to bring awareness to the problem with a "Ride of Honor" on May 19.On April 11, an SUV driven by Amy Alexander of Scottsdale plowed into a another Scottsdale resident, 53-year-old Shawn McCarty, who'd been riding in a bike...

By Ray Stern

April 25, 2012

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Recent tragedies involving Valley bicyclists hit by vehicles have spurred activists to bring awareness to the problem with a "Ride of Honor" on May 19.

On April 11, an SUV driven by Amy Alexander of Scottsdale plowed into a another Scottsdale resident, 53-year-old Shawn McCarty, who'd been riding in a bike lane on Thompson Peak Parkway. McCarty was killed and Alexander, who police believe was inattentive while driving, was fined $420 for two civil violations.

A few days before, a woman who glanced down to look at her GPS while driving collided with three bicyclists in a bike lane, seriously injuring them.

Bicycle advocates Sterling Baer and Dara Schulenberg of the Not One More Cyclist Foundation are organizing the May 19 ride from Tempe Town Lake to the State Capitol, the Arizona Republic reports this morning.

At the ride's end, speakers at the Capitol will address the issue.

In the comments of the Repub article, it seems clear that some motorists believe bicyclists should simply stay off the road.

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Ray Stern is the former news editor of Phoenix New Times. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won numerous awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.