Cynthia Silk of Warren, who walks the bike path daily, came upon the horrible scene at the intersection of the East Bay Bike Path and Poppasquash Road shortly after a deadly accident Tuesday afternoon. A 6-year-old boy riding an orange bicycle was killed while crossing the road.
Ms. Silk said she saw several family members, including the boy’s father, two grandparents, and two siblings.
“Their cries didn’t even sound human. They were wailing,” Ms. Silk said. She talked to the young siblings, who were crying. “They said, ‘I wish it was me, I wish it was me,’ ” she said.
“I saw the father of the little boy calling somebody, saying, ‘I don’t think it’s good, I don’t think it’s good.’ ”
“I was heartbroken, trying to empathize and put myself into what those little girls, and the dad, were feeling. Life is so fragile, and it’s all about being at the wrong place at the wrong time, together with the distractions of driving today … I felt badly for the 21-year-old girl that hit the little boy, too.”
Though in all areas of the bike path, pedestrians and bikers are supposed to yield to cars, Ms. Silk admits to violating those standards at times. “I know I’ve run my share of stop signs out here, because I like to get my exercise,” she said, “But it has definitely taught me a lesson. You have to be careful out here … it’s not just the drivers that are supposed to yield to us, we have to be very cautious.”