PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Police have found a vehicle they say may be the one that struck and killed a teen on a bicycle in Northeast Philadelphia Friday. Meanwhile, new data shows his death is part of an unfortunate, upward trend in cyclist deaths.
William McWilliams, 16, was hit by a car Friday morning while crossing the intersection of Woodhaven and Byberry roads on his mountain bike. Police say the impact was so strong, it knocked the cyclist out of his sandals. The driver fled the scene. The teen was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
Police say they’ve recovered a black Dodge Charger they think might be the car from the accident. Investigators are performing DNA testing in an effort to determine the driver’s identity. That driver is still at large.
According to Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small, it’s not clear whether McWilliams was in a bike lane when he was hit. “A lot of the debris from the striking vehicle and from the bicycle are actually on the bicycle lane,” he said, “but we’re not certain whether he was using the bicycle lane or not.”
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Data collected by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia shows cyclist deaths have been on the rise since 2019. The organization’s Sarah Clark Stuart says McWilliams was the seventh bicyclist killed in Philadelphia this year. The year with the greatest number of bicycle fatalities was 2021 when eight bicyclists were killed on the roads, but prior to 2019, she says that number never exceeded four.
Stuart says it’s shocking that the city has reached seven bike deaths halfway through the year. “This is terrible news that we might even exceed that number at the rate the city is going,” she said.
“We need a transportation system, a roadway system that is designed to allow people to make mistakes, but not cause the crash to be fatal,” argued Stuart. The solution, she says, is a better designed roadway that protects cyclists with barriers like curbs.
“We need the ability to use technology that's readily available. In this case, it's just designed in order to save lives.”
Stuart also advocates for protected bike lanes. “Many bike lanes in Philadelphia are just paint. And that's not enough. It's something but it's not enough. It's not enough to save lives,” she said.
She says another factor contributing to the problem is speed. “Speeding in Philadelphia accounts for over half of the reckless driving. It's killing people. It's unnecessary,” Stuart said.
She believes automated speed enforcement, like the cameras found on Roosevelt Boulevard, has been helpful in reducing fatalities, but that technology will expire in December unless it’s renewed by the Pennsylvania state legislature. Stuart says she would like to see it expanded to other roads, and for the legislature to use technology to help reduce hit and run crashes.
“It's still at a sort of epidemic level,” she said, “the number of people who are dying by drivers who flee the scene and don't stay with and face the consequences of their actions.”
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