06/15/2026
"Across Chicago’s Southwest Side — which is dominated by heavy truck traffic and wide roads that practically invite speeding — vehicle crashes amount to an urgent crisis. During the five-year stretch from 2020 to 2024 (the latest data available from the city), we experienced crashes that killed or seriously injured somebody that were comparable in number to the shootings that killed or seriously injured somebody. In my neighborhood of Archer Heights, we experienced many more fatal crashes than homicides.
Riley made it his life’s work to address this crisis by creating safer streets for everybody: drivers, pedestrians, public transit users and his own joyful community of cyclists. We should continue that work in his honor, so maybe the next vigil won’t feel quite so familiar."
— Dixon Galvez-Searle, founding member and transit advocacy steward, The Southwest Collective
Traffic safety is an issue that many cyclists feel strongly about. But make no mistake: This is an issue that affects everybody.