Three years ago, when I first moved to Memphis, I was alarmed by the lack of non-motorized transit options for residents in the city. Without having a car, I found it extremely difficult to take advantage of professional opportunities, access grocery stores, travel to work, or attend recreational events.

When nonprofit BLDG Memphis asked me to give a resident testimonial about my father's fatal bike crash and its effect on my family, I wondered how I would even begin to describe the tragedy that changed our lives in ways both predictable and unforeseen. 

Currently, Memphis is ranked the third deadliest city in the country for pedestrians. In 2020 alone, 66 pedestrians were struck and killed by vehicles – the highest number in at least five years. Shelby County leads the state with more traffic deaths than any other county in Tennessee. Despite the tendency to attribute traffic deaths to individual responsibility, these accidents are not random.