COLUMBIA, S.C. — Over 40 cyclists gathered in Cayce to spread awareness for the challenges they face on a regular basis.
Tom Hamilton’s plea to the drivers of South Carolina is simple: “Bicyclists are out here; they have a right to the road and they need to pay attention.”
He was one of the cyclists that showed up to the Ride of Silence in Cayce, joined by Julie Poppell. They're Columbia locals and had an unfortunate close to call with a deadly cyclist accident on the road.
“Some years ago, Tom and I did a charity ride from Columbia to the beach and along the route, there was a family that had been riding along with us," Poppell. "The mother and the children got hit. The father turned back to see his family on the road. A truck had been pulling a trailer and hit them with the trailer."
She says a twelve-year-old died as a result and it's the reason they showed up on Wednesday. It's just one of the many cases of a deadly road incident in the state involving cyclists.
According to a report from SCDOT, between 2015 and 2019, over 800 people were killed in pedestrian and bicycle crashes.
Andrew Zappalowsky has organized Columbia’s Ride of Silence for the past 6 years. He says Columbia is a uniquely difficult city in which to ride a bike.
“I moved here from Oregon where there are separated bike trails and bike lanes and designated bike-friendly roads throughout the whole town," Zappalowsky said. "When I moved here, I noticed that lack of infrastructure and I went from riding my bicycle everywhere for shopping and to work, etc. to now only occasionally doing it.”
Wednesday's event featured a ten-mile-long ride around Cayce, with a police escort from the city police department. Zappalowsky said it's all about remembering those who were killed on the roads and spread awareness to drives across the state.
“There are many people, folk, here who are in this area especially that do not have the money for automobiles and automobile insurance, so their only option is bikes and buses.”
Poppell just wants drivers to pay attention.
"Just slow down, take a minute. It's not a big amount of time out of your day to keep other people safe."
The City of Columbia is hosting a collection of bike-safe events throughout the month of May. A list of those events can be found here.