Vigil in Cambridge honors two cyclists killed in crashes – NBC Boston

On Monday, two cyclists who recently died in accidents in Cambridge, Massachusetts were remembered.

Kim Staley, 55, of Florida, was killed in an accident on June 7 at the intersection of DeWolfe Street and Mt. Auburn Street, near Harvard Square. On Friday, 24-year-old Minh-Thi Nguyen of Cambridge was killed in an accident on Hampshire Street.

Nguyen will be remembered as a brilliant graduate student at MIT who studied physics and brought joy to many people.

“She was always planning the next ski trip,” said her friend Hudson Loughlin. “The next dinner party. Or a weekend trip. And there were always a huge crowd of friends.”

Nguyen was riding her bike near Kendall Square on Friday morning when she was hit by a box truck.

“I think the support of all of you here is a perfect reflection of the deep community she wanted to build,” said her friend Nick Krasnow. “She was infinitely generous with her time.”

Staley, who was visiting from Florida, was killed two weeks earlier in a very similar accident at another intersection in Cambridge.

“We are gathered here today to make sure that those closest to Minh-Thi and Kim know that they are not grieving alone,” said Rev. Lindsay Popperson, who led the vigil outside City Hall on Monday afternoon to remember the two women and call for change.

Bicycle safety advocates are pushing for additional safety measures on city streets, including more bike lanes and traffic lights for bicycles.

“Cambridge is one of the best cities for bicyclists in America, but that’s a really low bar,” says Elizabeth Weinbloom, who commutes through Cambridge by bike. “As more and more bike lanes have been built, there are more and more cyclists because people come here thinking they can live a life without a car and get around safely by bike, but that’s just not true.”

Cambridge City Council recently voted to delay implementation of a series of additional cyclist protection measures on three of Cambridge’s busiest roads.

But several council members believe this is the wrong approach.

“We have to understand that transportation is changing,” said Deputy Mayor Marc McGovern. “We have to be more compassionate, more patient, we have to slow down.”