NORWOOD, Ohio — Two Cincinnati-area high school students are pushing for safer bike routes after a recent deadly crash involving a young cyclist left them shaken and determined to prevent future tragedies.
Christian Basler and Iggy Dwyer, both students at Summit Country Day School, say they've experienced too many close calls while biking and want to see systematic changes to protect cyclists.
"I just had these scenarios playing out in my head of all these close calls we've had. It was honestly keeping me up at night, so it all felt so real, just how similar the age was, and just like the kid really just seemed kind of like us, you know," Basler said.
The teens' advocacy comes after Moeller sophomore Dylan Straughn was hit and killed while riding his bike, and a 13-year-old was struck by a driver in Liberty Township.
Both students described frightening encounters with drivers who appear to intentionally intimidate cyclists.
"It was very, very near misses to me and to the other cars," Dwyer said.
WATCH: Summit Country Day students Christian Basler and Iggy Dwyer advocate for systematic changes after the recent cyclist death
"Sometimes they just ride in the same lane next to us, kind of push us to the edge of the road. I don't know if it's like a power stitch or what it is. It's just like they have the power and I feel like we feel so little in those moments," Basler said.
To demonstrate the dangers young cyclists face, the students took us on a ride from Basler's home through various routes, including the Wasson Way trail.
"We'd have to cross over Red Bank Road, which is, I think, a four or five-lane road, pretty big, pretty dangerous crosswalk," Basler said.
We even passed a memorial to a cyclist along the way.
The journey revealed bumpy and dangerous conditions that forced the group to walk their bikes at times to avoid being run off the road.
"Once I'm off the trail, that's when I get to the dangerous part," Dwyer said. "Especially knowing I had similar experiences crossing State Route 28."
The students have been advocating at their school for the creation of safer bike routes and more trails that don't require sharing space with vehicles.
"Something as simple as painting crosswalks would be great, or transforming two white lines in a high-speed road into an elevated crosswalk like I've seen in Oakley," Dwyer said.
