Cyclists honor memory of Yolanda Yvette Carr

So it now appears Yolanda Yvettte Carr may have been returning home from the Casino where she worked when she was killed by a hit-and-run driver at Niagara Avenue and 22nd Street Monday night.

A “ghost bike”, painted white, rests on the lawn of a vacant home near where her ride home from work ended.

GoBike’s Rebecca Reilly, a former bike messenger, said the ghost bike tradition began among messengers and has continued to raise awareness.

Niagara Falls Councilperson Brian Archie was at the heart of a memorial held Saturday to honor Yolanda. Only one journalist was present.

We need more bike-friendly streets. As Jim Jones, a recovering traffic engineer who now works for Shared Mobility and GoBike Buffalo, who attended the event Saturday morning, as a society, we have done a poor job of designing bike friendly roads and educating motorists about the importance of sharing the road.

As the crowd listened, someone on a bike ran the stop sign on Niagara in a white SUV traveling at least 30 mph, people and bikes be damned. Then a bike rider did the same thing.

Meanwhile, Jones didn’t mention it when discussing the car-centric design of Niagara Falls Boulevard, but the state highway is marked as a bike route. Niagara Avenue is not, even though it is a state road. For 100 years, we have designed wide roads with multiple lanes and bicyclists and pedestrians as innocent victims.

Change comes hard. I don’t hear anyone complaining about Walnut or Ferry Avenues anymore and both, with one lane, curb bumps and a bikelane are safer and more pleasant for motorists and bikes.

Archie spoke about the need for citizens to visit the city council and make voices heard about better infrastructure planning, bike safety and adherence to the city’s bike master plan.

One of the things Jones spoke about was the horrific thought of how the majority, no matter where they are going, grab the car keys.

If you have to go somewhere and it is 20 minutes away, or closer by car, manage your time. Take a bike.

Yolanda’s life matters. Here is a link to the GoFundMe created to fund her cremation and burial.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-yolanda-carrs-family

https://www.newsbreak.com/wkbw-7-news-buffalo-563669/3556433682579-she-…