Ghost bike memorial reminds drivers to pay more attention to the road
Rose Peters was a wife, mother, and athlete. She lost her life doing what she loved, cycling. Now her family is hoping her story will help shed light on what they say are dangerous roads for bicyclists in our area.
“She is a friendly, outgoing, everybody loved her,” says James Peters, Rose’s husband. “She was a fanatic about exercising. We used to go cross country on a tandem bike, we have gone coast to coast several times. She had a problem with her legs so she went to the hand cycle. She been using that for two or three years,” says James Peters.
James and Rose Peters had been married for more than 53 years. James was tracking Rose on his cell phone the day she died.
“I saw her make the turn and I knew she would be down in 10 minutes and she never showed up,” says James Peters.
Rose Peters actively volunteered for a non-profit called Incight which helps people with disabilities stay active and even work to become athletes.
“Rose’s presence at these events was worth her weight in gold. She is a very up beat person, she was accommodating her own disability,” says Judy May, Regional Director for Incight. “She had knee replacement surgery which necessitated a hand cycle rather than a bicycle,” says May.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department blocked two lanes on Highway 74 for several hours Thursday so it could take measurements of the scene and maybe find a way to make the intersection safer.
“This is just a small step to build awareness that we need to build cities like we used to,” says Mark Friis, the Executive Director for the Inland Empire Biking Alliance. “We need to fit the car within that paradigm and not have everyone else fit in around the car,” says Friis.
“Ghost bikes has been around for more than a decade now, it started in New York City, and basically and it’s a memorial,” says Friis. “Now it’s a way for families to get some kind of closure.”
Officers said alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors in the collision. There’s no word if the driver of the car will face any charges in the deadly collision.
