PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Bike safety advocates joined friends and family of Mario D’Adamo III on Sunday to honor him with a memorial bike ride, marking a full year since his death. They gathered solemnly in FDR Park, where a hit-and-run driver killed the 37-year-old.
“My son was a beautiful, beautiful person who loved people,” said D’Adamo’s father.
The younger D’Adamo was an avid bike rider. He lived in South Philly his whole life, put himself through law school, and kept himself in shape by riding in FDR Park.
“He loved this park. The day he died, he got done in court, he would come home, take his suit off, and ride his bike in this park. And he loved to talk to people,” his father said.
The painful memories are still fresh for D’Adamo’s father.
“I hate to think of his body flying in the air. And seeing him that night at the hospital with his head cracked and my wife holding, cradling his head,” he said.
“It’s just so tragic that he had to die in a place that was so much a part of his life in a good way.”
The memorial bike ride comes just weeks after a Barbara Friedes, a pediatric oncologist riding her bike in Center City, was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver.
“Every person we lose due to vehicle violence is a tragedy and a stark reminder that the work’s not done and we have to keep going,” said Chris Gale, executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia.
That work, he said, includes pushing the Cherelle Parker administration to stick to its goal of reducing and eventually eliminating traffic deaths.
City Council President Kenyatta Johnson and an official from the Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems spoke about the Parker administration’s commitment to traffic safety at the memorial.
Sidney Ozer and Mindy Maslin lost their own son in similar fashion on Father’s Day 2020 on Henry Avenue.
“When you get behind the wheel of an automobile you have to remember there’s an incredible responsibility when driving that car,” said Maslin.
“Pedestrians and bicyclists have rights as well,” said Ozer.
Along with other advocates in the city, they’re pushing for measures like concrete bike lane protectors and stricter speeding enforcement.