BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — On Saturday morning, a group of people boarded a bus in Boulder with a common goal: better understanding the impact of crashes involving vulnerable road users, while working on how to make the streets safer for everyone.
The bus drove to a number of locations throughout Boulder County, each of which was connected to a different cyclist involved in a crash that either seriously injured or killed them.
The ride, dubbed Route2Change, was organized by The White Line, which the parents of 17-year-old Magnus White founded after he was hit and killed by a driver in the summer of 2023.
It was the first ride of its kind, as far as the Whites know, and is only the first one The White Line is planning.
Colorado lawmakers were key to this mobile town hall. The legislators heard the devastating accounts of the crashes from the cyclists, or the people speaking on their behalf, and the nonprofit hopes that this will influence the policy they champion in the upcoming legislative session.
"We actually came up with the idea shortly after our time at the State Capitol this spring, and it was an interesting experience," said Michael White, Magnus' father. "You have a timer when you're up there giving your testimony. You have three minutes, and the timer's right in front of you. And that really seeded the idea for this."
"We were just feeling it was so hard to get our story in three minutes. And also, it was only really conducive to those who can go to the Capitol in the middle of the day, during the work day," explained Jill White, Magnus' mother. "Why not bring the lawmakers to the community on a weekend where they can — everyone who wants to participate can be here and can share their story?"
The Whites believe that physically visiting the sites of the crashes and having those who know exactly what happened there describe it to the lawmakers leaves a lasting mark.
"To see it, to feel it, to really experience it in a visceral way, we're hoping it's going to really make an impact," said Jill.
"When you visit these places, it's a bit like, it's almost a little bit of sacred ground, you know. Somebody was hit or killed here, and there's a certain, you know, reverence you have to have there," Michael said. "Versus when in the Capitol, you bring a picture of your loved one, and it's just, it's not the same."
One of the prongs of The White Line's approach to their advocacy work is sharing real stories that do not shy away from the brutal realities of such sudden deaths on the road. Route2Change encapsulated that mindset.
"Cyclist was killed, cyclist was hit, pedestrian was hit — well, there are people under there, right? That are being hit and killed? And their stories, what happened to them, deserves to be told," Jill said. "Their families deserve to tell it and be seen and have a voice in moving and creating change."
"We're just a part of this. We're not the focus. Magnus isn't the focus. It's everybody else," said Michael. "It's just making sure that everybody gets their chance if they want to tell their story."
The Whites know how much courage it takes to share such a personal story with strangers. They were honored to share that space with the people who piled onto the bus and passed around a microphone.
The first person to address the group was Anna Needy, a 16-year-old who grew up in Boulder.
"I've truly grown up on bikes. I love mountain biking. I love riding to school," Needy said as she began to tell her story.
On September 19, 2024, Needy was riding her bicycle to school. While on the southwest corner of 30th Street and Canyon Boulevard, Needy was hit by a driver.
"A driver never saw me. He hit the back of my bike, and I tore the ACL in my left knee," Needy said. "So many people have told me that 'You're so lucky that you're here. You're so lucky that you can tell your story.' And absolutely, I am. I'm so glad that I can tell you this. And you know, then it's not my parents telling it for me," Needy said. "I'm here today to share my story in hopes that something else happens and someone else doesn't have to go through what I've been through in the last year."
Needy said it has been 10 months since her surgery, and that she has learned a lot through the process. Mainly, she believes there needs to be real change — quickly.
"I was riding my bike to school. I should have made it to school. This never should have happened. It was completely preventable," Needy told the group on the bus. "The driver was fined about $150. He never went to court. He never had to hear my statement of what happened and how it's changed my life. Never got to hear what my parents had to say. He just paid his fine."
The Executive Director of The White Line, Jacqueline Claudia, read a statement prepared by Andrew Bernstein next. Bernstein was riding his bicycle when a driver struck him on July 20, 2019.
"He crashed into me, tossed my body into the tall grass on the side of the road, split my bike into pieces, and did much the same to me," Claudia read from Bernstein's statement. "I suffered 35 broken bones, two collapsed lungs, internal bleeding, and a spinal cord injury that left my leg paralyzed. The driver drove off, and I would have died from blood loss, were it not for an attentive motorist who passed the spot half an hour later and saw me."
According to The White Line, the driver in Bernstein's case was not apprehended until 2021. The driver was sentenced to two years in prison.
The bus continued along, driving into a residential area where Jennifer Gardner explained her children were hit by a driver on October 7, 2022. The White Line reported that the driver blamed the sun being in his eyes.
One of Gardner's children suffered bone bruising, and the other needed eight stitches across her chin.
Gardner worked to make the streets in the area safer by installing three speed humps.
Then, the bus drove to a crosswalk at Baseline Road and Roser Drive. The group exited the bus and stood on the sidewalk to hear from Dana Donley Morton, who explained what happened to 16-year-old Myers Graham.
"Myers had pressed this button here to cross the road to go to school; the lights were flashing," said Morton, while gesturing to the sign on the sidewalk. "Myers was simply riding his bike to school with his neighborhood friends, following all the rules of the road and obeying the crosswalk signals. He was doing everything right."
That was on September 6, 2024.
"That's when the driver struck him with her vehicle in a hit-and-run, leaving him injured with a traumatic brain injury, broken clavicle, and lacerated spleen. The trauma from that moment has altered the course of his life permanently," Morton told the crowd. "This accident has cost him the childhood he once knew and the future he had ahead of him. While he's working hard every day to heal the emotional and physical scars, that moment will remain with him for the rest of his life."
The driver in the case, who fled the scene, received four years of community corrections. The White Line also reported that the driver has 13 motor vehicle-related cases in her criminal history.
Claudia then read a statement on behalf of the family of 41-year-old John Wilkinson, who was hit and killed by a driver in May of this year.
"His father called him a cycling machine who logged hundreds and thousands of miles each week," Claudia read from the statement. "He was a gearhead. He was a mechanic. He was a storyteller who loved cycling, fixed gear bikes, photography, vintage video games, and Japanese culture."
Wilkinson had recently moved to Colorado from Missouri, Claudia said.
"John was riding in the bike lane, doing what he loved, when a blue Toyota Highlander with Colorado plates suddenly veered into his path. The SUV hit him with such tremendous force that the impact shattered the entire windshield, mangled his bicycle, and caused catastrophic trauma. The driver did not stop," read Claudia. "Witnesses described horrible screeching noises. The car fled. The bike was later found discarded along Lookout Road several miles up."
According to the statement on Wilkinson's behalf, the car dragged his bicycle for miles under its bumper.
The case against the 23-year-old suspect is ongoing.
Then, an unplanned story was shared on the bus. Marcus Luscher was handed the microphone to describe what happened to his late wife, Linnea, in 2006.
"Charles Kuhn, who hit Linnea, was driving a side dump gravel truck that was 24,000 pounds overloaded, and four of the 10 breaks were inoperable," Marcus said. "As he approached the intersection where there was a red light, he couldn't stop. So instead of plowing into the cars that were stopped at a red light, he took the right-hand turn off and hit Linnea, who was crossing the street with her mom right behind her."
The sudden loss occurred when their children were only two and six years old.
"I really haven't spoken about this event in the 20 years, 19 years, since this has happened," Luscher said. "It's just powerful, just powerful being here and hearing all these stories."
Then, the bus pulled over along the Diagonal Highway, just after a ghost bike with an American flag. The spot marks the location where Magnus White was killed in July of 2023.
"He always rode all the way to the right, furthest away from the cars. He was doing everything right that day, and it didn't prevent him from being killed by a driver who wasn't paying attention and didn't take the responsibility not to be driving a vehicle after spending hours up at night taking cocaine and prescription drugs and drinking," Jill told the group.
"From the moment the body cam came on when the police arrived, every single word out of this driver's mouth was a lie, and the police believed every single one," Michael added. "Had they even asked her for an impairment test, this could have saved two years — nearly two years of trial, expenses, investigation, heartache that we lived through because this driver continued to lie for months and months and months and then pled not guilty, so we had to go to trial for it. It wasn't until the trial that all the truth came out."
Denver7 covered each day of the trial against the woman found guilty of vehicular homicide in connection with Magnus' death. Yeva Smilianska was sentenced to four years in prison in June.
One of Magnus' close friends, Amedeo Claudia, happened to be riding by the ghost bike while the group was there. It's a ride he often takes to stop by the site.
"I ride here more often than not when I'm alone. I come and say hi. Today you guys are here too, which is nice in a way," Amedeo said. "Magnus died doing the same thing I was doing today. And that really stings every time I come by."
The last stop on the Route2Change bus ride was for Bill Davis, who was hit and killed by a drunk driver on June 25, 2016. He was a 35-year-old father of three children, and his wife, Brie Davis, emotionally explained the toll this had taken on all of their lives.
"He went out for a bike ride with a couple of his friends that evening, and never came home," Brie said. "My three boys were three, six and nine at the time, and they had to grow up without their dad, and our oldest just graduated from high school, and his dad wasn't there."
The driver in the case pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and driving under the influence (DUI). According to The White Line, she was sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was the maximum penalty. The White Line also reported this was not her first DUI arrest, nor the first person she had hit.
"She had hit someone just a few months before hitting my husband and injuring them, and had yet to meet with her probation officer. She was drunk. Her blood alcohol level was something like three times the legal limit. She had cocaine and marijuana in her system," Brie said. "She did not stop. She drove into the bike lane and hit him so hard that she killed him instantly, and she kept driving."
The White Line has worked to gather data related to vulnerable road user fatality and injuries, in addition to the numbers associated with driver behavior. Now, they have published a data explorer where those findings can be found.
For instance, the White Line discovered that there are roughly 17 vulnerable road users killed every day across the nation between 2001 and 2023. The organization reports that there are approximately 84 deaths every 84 minutes, and the fatality rate increased by almost 30% during the 2001-2023 time period in America.
As part of the new dataset, The White Line offers a tool that allows individuals to enter their zip code and receive a report detailing vulnerable road user fatalities in specific congressional or senate districts. The organization believes the numbers can be used to enact change via political representatives.
Saturday marked the launch of the Route2Change mobile town hall. There are stops planned in South Denver, Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Aurora.
Last August, The White Line organized a memorial ride in honor of Magnus, called "Ride for Magnus: Ride for Your Life." According to the organization, 4,282 people were part of that ride.
