SAN DIEGO — Nearly 300 people were killed in traffic collisions in San Diego County last year. This number includes pedestrians and cyclists who were hit by cars.
Families for Safe Streets San Diego and the San Diego Bicycle Coalition are teaming up to have their voices heard and visibly show the impact of the loss they've experienced by placing 294 empty pairs of shoes in the courtyard of the Civic Center Plaza in Downtown San Diego.
The 294 pairs of shoes represent the number of lives lost in San Diego County from traffic crashes in 2021.
Laura Keenan is still adjusting to describing herself as a widow. Her husband Matt was bicycling when he was killed by a wrong-way driver in September 2021, leaving behind Laura and their young son Evan.
"Twenty minutes after he left our house the wrong way driver crossed into the bike lane and hit Matt's head going at least 35 miles per hour. She never saw him despite his blindingly bright lights, and he died on the scene," Laura said.
She says Matt rode his bike to the movie theater after they put their young son to sleep. She then fell asleep, waking up the next morning to realize her husband had never made it home. “I panicked,” Laura said. “Then I saw that I had a missed call and a voicemail from a San Diego number. It was the medical examiner. They told me over the phone that he had been hit and killed. I didn’t understand how to process that at the time. Then I went and got my 15-month-old out of his crib and just got through the day somehow."
Using pain for advocacy
Laura now uses her pain to advocate for bike lanes in San Diego with Families for Safe Streets San Diego.
"These (bike lanes) will save lives. If the road that Matt was on had a protected bike lane, he would be alive today," Laura said.
Laura was just one of the several family members represented at the gathering who mourned the loss of loved ones from traffic accidents in San Diego last year at the remembrance.
San Diego City Council President Sean Elo Rivera and Councilmembers Raul Campillo and Stephen Whitburn joined the gathering supporting pro-bike lane legislation. Mayor Todd Gloria expressed his support in a video address to the audience, citing an in-person obligation with Governor Newsom.
Laura told CBS 8, "We need to have a connected, protected network of bike lanes. We can't just have one-off ones here and there because we're trying to facilitate transportation, and it doesn't make sense if one lane has one and the next doesn't. We can build protected bike lanes using inexpensive equipment, which can happen in a few days, providing 90% of the protection as concrete ones."
Bike lanes have been a contentious issue for some San Diegans.
Several communities across the county have organized against the installation of bike lanes in their neighborhood, citing confusion, safety, and the effect on parking as concerns.
Laura says she understands the pushback regarding bike lanes, but it's time to come together to ensure no one else dies a preventable death.
Families for a Safe San Diego and the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition are asking city and county leaders for 3 requests:
- Updated bike master plan by 2023
- Double funding for protected bike lanes
- Lower speed limits across the area
"We're not trying to inconvenience anyone,” Laura said. “We are not trying to make their (critics of bike lanes) lives harder. We are trying to save lives and protect people from the pain that we live with for life. These will save lives. If the road that Matt was on had a protected bike lane, he would have been alive today."
WATCH RELATED: How many cyclists are using the 30th Street bike lanes? (Nov. 2022).