Two days after a driver killed Courtney Carter, a driver killed 11-year-old Roxanne Alexis Bonnoni in front of her home in Natrona. Both crashes are tragically similar.

UPDATE: Join the family and community of Courtney Carter along with other safe streets advocates for a vigil, ghost bike dedication, and gentle 1.5 mile memorial ride on Tuesday, September 3rd, 6pm at Tacoma St & Rosedale St. Please bring flowers.

Tragically, this past Sunday a driver killed 9-year-old Courtney Carter while she was riding her bike in Homewood on Sunday August 18, 2024. Then, two days later on August 20, 2024, a driver killed 11-year-old Roxanne Alexis Bonnoni in front of her home in Natrona (Harrison Twp) in the Pittsburgh region.

Our hearts go out to both families as they deal with these gut-wrenching tragedies. On Tuesday night, friends and family of Courtney Carter gathered in that same spot for a balloon release. Courtney was just about to start fourth grade at nearby Pittsburgh Faison.

Both of these crashes are tragically similar circumstances: Both children were around the same age and riding bikes near their homes when they were killed by a driver. Also in both of of these cases, neighbors echoed similar sentiments– that something needs to be done about the speeding drivers on their street.

WTAE reported that Carter’s father echoed his neighbors’ concerns about the lack of traffic-calming measures in the area. In Homewood, there had been two previous requests for traffic calming at the Rosedale & Tacoma St crash location, but a timeline has yet be established. Pittsburgh’s deputy mayor Jake Pawlak noted that traffic calming projects in more dangerous corridors are the ones that have priority.

The devastating loss of life and impact to families is why we fought for the city to adopt Vision Zero, why Mayor Gainey has committed to eliminating traffic fatalities, and why we will all continue to push for safety on our streets in Pittsburgh and beyond.

Everyone deserves safe streets and kids need safe places in their neighborhood to be kids, especially in front of their homes.

According to the Mayor, the City’s “Collision Investigation Unit is actively working to investigate this incident in real-time. Once the investigation is complete, our Vision Zero Fatal Crash Response Team will complete a site visit to determine what improvements can be made to ensure that this never happens again.”

People will make mistakes that result in crashes, but these mistakes shouldn’t end in a tragedy. Traffic fatalities and crashes are preventable, and we need to act now to change our streets to ensure no further loss of life.

Speed Kills, Traffic Calming Saves Lives

This all serves as a reminder as to why the City of Pittsburgh and all of Allegheny County must generously fund safe streets infrastructure, so that there are resources to fulfill the countless traffic calming requests submitted by residents each year.  

The City’s Department of Mobility and Infrastructure (DOMI) has a program where residents can request traffic calming on their street, which they did at this site. This popular program has proven effective in slowing down cars and illustrates that much more funding and staff capacity needs to be made available for the City’s traffic calming program.

To quote Mayor Gainey, “may each of us honor Courtney’s memory by recommitting ourselves to solutions that keep everyone safe.”