Catherine Benedict and Alexa Gomberg are close friends of Minh-Thi Nguyen. Both planned the Ride for Your Life Memorial Bike Ride and Rally in Boston last November, on the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, and Gomberg is a cofounder of the Massachusetts chapter of Families for Safe Streets, which will launch on Aug. 30 at Rainbow Day. John B. Corcoran is the son of John H. Corcoran.
Bike lanes have become a hot topic among candidates for local office in Greater Boston this summer.
Josh Kraft, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s biggest challenger, railed against them in a press conference in West Roxbury last month, near a street that had been redesigned with bike lanes in 2023 after a pedestrian had been fatally struck by a car four years before. In his campaign kickoff in February, Kraft called for “an immediate pause for all new bike lane construction” in Boston.
Meanwhile in Cambridge, during a June meeting considering bike lane installation on a major roadway, some Cambridge city councilors appeared to dismiss concerns from bike lane advocates. Councilor Catherine Zusy, cosponsor of an order to delay the installation, implied that many pro-bike lane residents were part of an astroturf campaign, claiming they only participated in a public comment period because they “had been told by an email to come out and speak.” Councilor Ayesha Wilson, cosponsor of an order to cancel the project, said, “This isn’t a life, I mean, this isn’t — I really despise the fact that we have this conversation in a matter of life or death.” Minutes later, she dismissed cyclists’ deaths as “sadly, accidents happen.” Fortunately, both their orders failed.
Here’s what’s not being stated frequently enough: Separated bike lanes reduce collisions and save lives.
The Federal Highway Administration has found that converting traditional bike lanes to separated lanes with flex posts reduces bike-motor vehicle crashes by 53 percent. Yet since 2023, there have been about 3,800 bike crashes and 23 deaths in Massachusetts, five from collisions in Boston and Cambridge.
A year ago, we didn’t know those statistics. Our grief has forced us to learn them, and more. Back then, all we knew was that we loved John Corcoran and Minh-Thi Nguyen, and they loved what biking gave them.
Biking was 62-year-old Newton resident John Corcoran’s favorite hobby, and he especially relished long rides across Boston and Cambridge with his wife, Barbara, and their two children. He was such a slow, cautious cyclist that Barbara would joke she risked falling over when she biked beside him.
Biking was more of a means of transportation for 24-year-old Minh-Thi Nguyen. Although she had a car, biking between her Inman Square apartment and her MIT physics laboratory cut her commute by three times. The time she saved let Minh-Thi work diligently on her PhD while still caring for her friends and enjoying her many hobbies, from weightlifting to making sushi to crocheting while watching the Bravo hit show “Below Deck.”
Motor vehicles hit Minh-Thi and John as they carefully biked in Cambridge in June 2024 and September 2024. Hours later, they were pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital. Minh-Thi had been excited to attend a concert at MGM Music Hall the next day and celebrate close friends’ birthdays. John had planned to spend the next few days catching up with Barbara, who had just returned from a trip that left him home alone for a week, and planning their retirement.
Their deaths violently pushed us into a numbness we’re only now beginning to climb out of. To better understand how John and Minh-Thi died, we started learning about bike safety and transportation policy. The three of us come from very different biking backgrounds. But our reading led us to the same conclusion, which is overwhelmingly supported by years of studies: Safe street infrastructure and policies save lives, and separated bike lanes are one of the most important tools in this toolbox, alongside truck safety features and protected intersections.
Boston-area candidates raise important questions about how bike lanes will affect our cities. Common fears, however, aren’t backed up by research. We hear that bike lanes will worsen congestion, but a study cited by the FHA found they don’t. In fact, bike lanes boost ridership and can decrease driving, lessening traffic for everyone. Yes, installing separated bike lanes can reduce street parking, but many local leaders are pursuing alternate parking locations and solutions. And studies resoundingly show that bike lanes don’t hurt retail sales.
Cycling has recently become much more popular in Greater Boston. Like John and Minh-Thi, local residents cycle for varied reasons. People who cycle are your friends, your coworkers, your neighbors. Bike lanes reduce crashes for them and for pedestrians and drivers. A 2025 City of Boston analysis calculated a 51 percent decrease in all types of crashes — pedestrian, bike, and car — on streets where separated bike lanes were installed. Bike lanes keep us all safer.
Some Boston-area candidates are ignoring the overwhelming research consensus on bike lanes and displaying a staggering lack of regard for people who cycle, victims of traffic violence, and everyone who cares about safer roads. Fortunately, in November, voters can choose who governs our streets. For the loved ones of bicyclists who died after being struck by vehicles, every death of a vulnerable road user reopens a deep wound. We urge voters to do their best to ensure no one else joins us in the grief we’ve known.