Memorial bike ride held for Pitt employee killed in Oakland bicycle crash

PITTSBURGH — A memorial bike ride was held Friday evening for a bicyclist who was killed in October after getting pinned between two cars in Oakland.

The memorial bike ride finished Susan Hicks’ ride home, starting near the scene of the accident at Posvar Hall in Oakland. %

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“All these people are here to celebrate her life and honor her in her death and make sure she gets home,” Courtney Ehrlichman, a friend of Hicks, said.

Police said Hicks, 34, of Pittsburgh’s Morningside neighborhood, died after a vehicle rear-ended another, pushing the second car forward into her and pinning her between two vehicles near the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Bellefield Street.

Hicks, who had worked for the University of Pittsburgh as an administrator for the last two years, was taken to UPMC Presbyterian, where she later died.

No charges have been filed against the driver who initiated the collision that killed Hicks. The medical examiner ruled her death accidental.

For many, the shock and grief over her death raised the question of whether Pittsburgh truly is bicycle-friendly.

"If there were designated bike lanes, absolutely, this could have been avoided,” bicyclist Peg Schmidt said.

Schmidt said Hicks’ death hit too close to home for her, as she bikes to Pitt three to four times each week.

“I follow the rules, and she was following the rules. So when that happened to her, I thought that could have been me,” Schmidt said.

Hicks’ friends said they hope her death brings about long-term changes.

"I think it's still bike-friendly. I think there is still a lot of work going on behind the scenes that we'll continue to see becoming more and more bike-friendly,” Ehrlichman said.

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