LETTER: Young bicyclist killed in tragedy

Having been hit twice by cars while bicycling in a designated bike lane, I feel compelled to speak up regarding the tragic but surely preventable accident that took the life of 12-year-old Haylee Ryan (Oct. 16 Review-Journal).

Undoubtedly, the bus driver was partially at fault because the law states that a vehicle must give a bicyclist three-feet of separation. He gave her zero separation.

But what about the SUV that Haylee was knocked into? That vehicle was parked in a designated bike lane, which is illegal in Las Vegas. The bus was forced to correct its course to avoid the illegally parked vehicle, and so too was Haylee. Instead of having a clear six-foot wide space in which to ride her bike, she was instead squeezed toward the traffic. She was afforded no escape route and tragedy struck.

We have funded, designed, engineered and built bike safety into our roads, but drivers seem to be oblivious. As a community, we need to educate drivers about the rules of the road regarding bicycles, and those rules need to be enforced. As individuals, we need to drive more responsibly and with much more awareness of the bicyclists that we share the road with. That would be a lasting and fitting tribute to Haylee Ryan.