'Ride of Silence' Spotlights Cyclists Killed While Riding Bicycles

ROYAL OAK, MI – Around 1:30 a.m. on Sept.19, 2008, Jacqueline Robinson, a 40-year-old single mother of two boys, was struck, killed and dragged 100 feet as she commuted by bike from southwest Detroit to Royal Oak to care for a 92-year-old man.

Robinson and thousands of of other Americans who died in cycling accidents who will be remembered in North American Ride of Silence events to be held nationwide Wednesday, May 18, 2016. Without uttering a word, cyclists will send a deafening message in a silent funeral processions honoring cyclists who have been killed or injured while riding their bikes on public highways.

Robinson, who grew up in Dearborn, had no car, and the bicycle was her only form of transportation, according to ghostbikes.com.

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She died of massive internal injuries and multiple broken bones. Her cousin said at the time that the 4-foot, 11-inch, 100-pound woman who had overcome a nasty marital split and custody battle for two now adult sons was “left on the side of the road like a pile of garbage.”

Royal Oak: Sign-in for the 12- to 13-mile ride begins at 6:30 p.m. and the ride leaves at 7 p.m. from the fountain in Royal Oak goes to Ferndale and back. Send Calvin T. Hughes Jr. an email for more information.

Grosse Pointe: 25-mile route. Send organizer Russ St. John an email for route details and more information.

Westland: The 10-12 mile ride departs Nankin Mills parking lot at the corner of Hines Drive and Ann Arbor Trail. Send Dave Duffield and email for more information.

Detroit: The largest Ride of Silence event in southeast Michigan features a new 10-mile route this year that features the entire Dequindre Cut, but still starts and finishes on Belle Isle. Email Steven Roach for more information.

Adrian: Gather at 6:30 p.m. behind Adrian District Library for 10-mile ride beginning at 7. You must wear a helmet to ride with the group. Email Jim Dickson for more information.

Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti: The 9-mile, approximately one-hour ride begins at 7 p.m. at Recreation Park, Oakwood at Congress, in Ypsilanti Email Bob Krzewinski for more information.

East Lansing: Gather at Wells Hall courtyard no later than 6 p.m. for 8.5-mile ride that begins at 6:30 p.m. Tie-on arm bands — black if you know someone who was hit and killed, or red for someone who was hit and injured. An after-party at the state Capitol building to celebrate cyclists who have lost their lives. Send Tim Potter a email for more information.

• To find other rides, visit the Ride of Silence website here.

Learn More

The Ride of Silence has created memorial page to remember cyclists who have been killed due to a bicycle/motorist crash. Read more here.

Since the first ride, it has grown to include hundreds of thousands in over 30 countries worldwide. The Ride of Silence began in 2003 when Chris Phelan, a friend of Larry Schwartz who died after being hit by a school bus mirror while riding in Dallas, Texas, started the initiative through word of mouth and emails, according to the Ride of Silence website.

According to a report by the Governors Highway Safety Association called Spotlight on Highway Safety: Bicyclist Safety, Michigan had 29 bicycle fatalities in 2010, 24 in 2011 and 19 in 2012, the latest years for which figures are available. Michigan State Police said updated bicycle and other fatality information will be posted on its website in the coming weeks.

Image credit: Patch.com file photo by Wendy Ann Mitchell, who contributed to this report.