They were campaigning for safer streets. They died in a collision with a car

Twenty years ago, one of the founding members of the AutoMat association, just thirty-year-old Jan Bouchal, known as Pup, was tragically killed. Two decades later, Czech cities—and cities elsewhere—still lack safe, separated infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. And people who, despite its absence, choose cycling as their everyday means of transport while also campaigning for safer streets are still dying. Let us remember some of them.

Andreas Mandalka (Germany)

Probably the best-known European case of recent years occurred on January 30, 2024, in the heart of Germany’s automotive industry. Forty-four-year-old Andreas Mandalka, known by the nickname Natenom, spent years documenting dangerous driving behavior and shortcomings in cycling infrastructure. Since 2011, he had used his blog to describe the everyday experiences of people who cycle, drawing particular attention to drivers failing to maintain a safe passing distance. He was also involved in the development of the OpenBikeSensor, a device that measures the distance of passing vehicles.

A ghost bike commemorating Andreas’s tragic death. Jan Bouchal is featured in the opening photo

Although he often pointed out that only a small proportion of drivers behaved badly, the 44-year-old blogger from Baden-Württemberg was becoming increasingly frustrated by the authorities’ failure to act. He felt that they regarded him as a nuisance. What proved fatal was an ordinary journey home. On a straight stretch of a newly resurfaced road, running alongside a forest road whose poor condition he had previously reported, he was fatally struck from behind by a car while cycling with his lights on and wearing a helmet.

Paul Varry (France)

Nine months later, on October 15, 2024, 27-year-old cycling activist Paul Varry, a member of the Paris en Selle association, was killed in Paris. According to investigators, an SUV driver entered the bike lane while passing a traffic jam and drove over Varry’s foot. When the cyclist hit the hood to alert the driver to the dangerous behavior, the driver initially reversed. Varry got off his bike and stood in front of the vehicle. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the driver then deliberately turned the wheels toward him, accelerated, and ran him over. Varry died at the scene.

Paul VarryThe case is extraordinary from a legal perspective as well. The French prosecutor’s office did not charge the driver with negligent manslaughter, but with murder. In May 2026, a court ruled that he would stand trial before a jury on that charge. The defense denies that the killing was intentional. Varry’s death sparked widespread memorial rides and demonstrations for safer streets across France. He became a symbol of growing tensions between some motorists and the expanding use of bicycles as a mode of transport.

Riley O’Neil (USA)

Thirty-five-year-old Riley O’Neil was killed in June 2026 while cycling to work in Chicago. The driver of a parked car opened the door directly into his path. After the collision, O’Neil lost control of his bicycle, veered into the roadway, and was struck by an oncoming truck. O’Neil worked as a project manager for the Complete Streets program at the Chicago Department of Transportation. He was involved in building cycling infrastructure, installing hundreds of bicycle racks, and implementing other measures designed to make the city’s streets safer. “Riley O’Neill was an exceptional public servant who helped make our city a safer and more sustainable place,” Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said following his death.

Riley O’Neil

Louisa Gag (USA)

The last person in our sad list is 36-year-old transportation planner Louisa Gag from Boston. In July 2026, she was struck by a truck while cycling. The accident occurred on a street with an unprotected bike lane—the very type of road whose transformation had been the focus of her professional career. Gag had previously worked for Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. “Louisa led projects and championed changes that made our streets safer, our communities stronger, and everyday life better for residents,” the mayor said following her death. Anyone who has ever cycled through a city knows the feeling: a bike lane that suddenly ends, or a painted line on the road that provides no real protection. Louisa Gag was working to change precisely these kinds of places. And she died in one of them.

Louisa Gag

Safe streets are not a utopia

How much longer will it take for street design to reflect the needs of the people who actually use them? We may not know everything. But we do know how to design streets where people do not die. Cities such as Helsinki, Utrecht, and Oslo have demonstrated this by choosing to prioritize safety and embrace the Vision Zero principle—that is, to strive for a road system in which no one is killed in traffic crashes. This is not a technical problem. We have known the solutions for a long time. The question is how much longer it will take before we start applying them consistently.

Add your signature to the Call Zero, calling on politicians and public officials to finally stop overlooking the lack of safe infrastructure in our cities.