Sylvia Bingham's spirit, and her 'ghost bike', live on after fatal cycling accident: Michael K. McIntyre's Tipoff
By Michael K McIntyre
February 01, 2010
Originally posted on Cleveland.com
A truck mowed down Sylvia Bingham in September, killing her as she rode her bicyle on Prospect Avenue headed to work at the offices of Hard Hatted Women, Inc.The Yale graduate's ghost bike, though, lives on.
The white bike propped on the corner of Prospect Avenue and East 21st Street is still decorated with flowers and a number of bicycle helmets. (Though she was a proponent of helmets, Bingham was not wearing hers at the time of her death.)
Jim Sheehan of the Ohio City Bicycle Co-op, which put up the memorial, said people regularly add helmets, turning the memorial into a sort of public art display. The helmets, he said, can be taken by those who need them, in keeping with Bingham's giving spirit.
But helmets aren't the only issue. Bingham's family has established afoundation in the name of their daughter, a California native in Cleveland for a yearlong stint as an Americorps Vista volunteer, to demand the right for people to bike safely and to educate people about how to share the road.
The driver who hit Bingham, Herschel Roberts, has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide and driving while under the influence.
Cleveland man indicted for killing bicyclist Sylvia Bingham
By Stan Donaldson
October 22, 2009
Originally posted on Cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 61-year-old Cleveland man was indicted Thursday for vehicular homicide and driving while under the influence in a Sept. 15 accident that killed a 22-year-old bicyclist, the Cuyahoga County prosecutor's office said. Herschel Roberts was also indicted for failure to stop after an accident. Prosecutors said that Roberts drove a 2005 Peterbilt Straight truck near Prospect Avenue and East 21st Street when he struck Sylvia Bingham and left the scene.
Roberts' truck was found an hour later in the 1100 block of East 40th Street. Police said he tested positive for marijuana.
He is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 2.
Bringham, a Yale University graduate, was killed as she rode from Ohio City to work at the Hard Hatted Women office, where she helped tradeswomen become mentors.