By John S. Allen, CRW Safety Coordinator
On the morning of July 10, 36-year-old bicyclist Louisa Gag died at the intersection of Tremont Street and Parker Street in Boston in a crash involving a semitrailer truck. The crash has drawn a very large amount of public attention, particularly because Gag served as an Active Transportation Planner for the City of Boston, and worked closely with Mayor Michelle Wu. Gag was dedicated to promoting bicycling and had many friends among bicyclists and advocates.
Much response to the crash has been from bicyclists calling for safer streets, by which they largely mean infrastructure projects to erect barriers between bicyclists and motor traffic; banning large trucks from downtown streets; reducing car traffic with congestion pricing and other disincentives; improvements to public transportation. On the other hand, there have been calls from other quarters that bicycling is too dangerous, some even suggesting banning it.
The Louisa Gag crash raises different issues for me. First, let’s look at the specifics.
Based on the limited evidence available as of this writing, it is most likely that Gag was on the right side of the truck approaching the intersection, and the truck swept over her while weaving past a vehicle waiting to turn left. How and why Gag got into trouble, and why she didn’t find a way to avoid or escape it, are still not publicly known. Perhaps surveillance video or eyewitness accounts, and eventually the crash report, will provide answers.
This street-safety advocate died in a bike lane, and that bears on the public discussion. Was this bike lane actually a safety improvement? Could any special infrastructure on this segment of Tremont Street affect one?
In theory, barrier separation with a separate traffic signal phase for bicyclists passing on the right would eliminate the right hook crash and the blind swerve which apparently led to Gag’s death – but signals can be ignored, or confusing. Two Cambridge fatalities in 2024 occurred in barrier-separated lanes, one likely resulting from confusion over signals.
Up the hill before the intersection on Tremont Street, the bike lane is in the door zone of parked cars. Doorings also have killed bicyclists. A dooring-safe buffered bike lane could not be installed without removing parking. That wouldn’t fly with residents, like it or not.
The overall situation is complicated and requires forward-looking thinking. Our motor-vehicle-dominated US society has marginalized bicycling (figuratively and literally), neglected it, and misunderstood it for nearly a century now. Major changes require cultural shifts, political support and funding, and take years, sometimes decades. Meanwhile, traffic of all kinds continues to increase. E-bikes and other electrically-powered micromobility devices place new demands on bike lanes. Delivery drivers on gasoline-powered mopeds and motorcycles ride in them too, to get past traffic queues; yes, that’s illegal but the temptation is strong.
I frankly don’t expect the situation to improve any time in the near future. I do hold out some hope that motor vehicles with automated crash avoidance will greatly reduce some types of crashes, though at the expense of increased delay,
In all of this turmoil, I have seen very little discussion about what we bicyclists can do for ourselves on a daily basis to improve our safety. A sense of helplessness prevails with many bicyclists -- so the world needs to change for our sake, and our mission is to campaign for that. Challenging that point of view with calls for better bicyclist skills and behavior brings on accusations of blaming the victim. Advocates fear that successful bicyclists destroy the incentive for infrastructure projects.
Is it a jungle out there? Not necessarily. Successful bicyclists know how make the most of any traffic situation and any infrastructure. An understanding of defensive driving techniques, hazards and common crash types can quickly reduce a bicyclist’s risk.
It isn’t rocket science, though it’s a hard sell for bicyclists stuck with the sense of helplessness and with habits acquired in childhood. But consider: any motorist who can go more than a mile in the city without a crash has learned by trial and error, if not through instruction, to avoid driving into blindspots -- just to give one example. That is to say, training for traffic safety will work for the typical urban young adult or older bicyclist.
As a CyclingSavvy graduate and instructor, I take this knowledge onto the street every time I ride, and it has kept me safe. Sorry, I’m not going to ride in the door zone just to avoid upsetting people (motorists included too, of course). Is that selfish? My safety is more important. And really, the more success bicyclists have, the better that works for all of us. Be safe out there!
