Ride of Silence gives voice to pedestrian, cycling deaths
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With 37 people in attendance including representatives of the Maui County police and Maui County Mayor Richard Bissen's administration, the Maui Bicycling League held its annual Ride of Silence on Saturday with the goal of preventing pedestrian and cycling deaths.
The event is observed in more than 400 cities around the world. Similar events have spread for the first time to Oahu and the Big Island after it was introduced to Hawaiʻi by the Maui Bicycle League in 2014 -- the same year the league was founded following the death of cyclist Karl Hagen, who died in a hit-and-run while riding in a bike lane in Wailea.
"Every year, there is more attendance," said Saman Dias, the league's chair, talking about the Saturday event in Kihei. "The people want to be involved."
According to the league, 53 people have died on Hawaiʻi's roads as of May, a 51% increase from the same time last year. More than six pedestrian fatalities have already occurred on Maui.
Dias said more awareness is needed, especially by people under the influence of alcohol and drugs who have the choice of having a friend drive them home or taking a cab.
"We're not being considerate of other persons," she said.
Dias said there needs to be more driver education and tougher sentences for offenders.
"As a community, we have to take responsibility," she said. "We have to show the community this is no joke."
Dias referenced the 2015 prosecution of the man who hit Hagen as a good example of cracking down on intoxicated drivers who cause fatalities. Bissen, a circuit judge at the time, sentenced the driver, who tested positive for meth, to 10 years in prison for negligent homicide and five years for drug charges.
This year's ride honored Hagen and others killed on Maui's roads including Volker Weiss, Agustin Dela Cruz, Henry Ritmeester and Andrew Janssen, and Weiss's daughter Marina Riker spoke during the opening ceremony.
Those in attendance included Victoria Takayesu, director of the Department of the Corporation Counsel; Jared Sam Agtunong on behalf of Councilmember Tom Cook; Ignacio Filippini, representing the Maui Department of Transportation; and officers from the Maui Police Department.
The ride honored:
• Volker Weiss, 59, of Kihei died in 2023 after the bicycle he was riding was hit by a Jeep Gladiator pickup truck that was passing multiple vehicles on Pulehu Road. He had a wife and two stepdaughters.
• Agustin Dela Cruz, 73, of Lahaina was riding his bicycle home after work in 2022 when he was struck from behind by a truck and killed in a hit-and-run on Front Street. The father of six had two full-time jobs and one part-time job.
• Henry Ritmeester, 64, of Haiku was riding south on Kula Highway south of Kealakapu Road in Kula in 2021 when a pickup truck crossed the center line and collided head-on with his bicycle.
• Andrew Janssen, 64, a Kula chiropractor who had a wife and three daughters, died in 2019 after he was hit by a pickup truck that was turning left on Hapapa Road in Kula while Janssen was riding in the bike lane.
• Karl Hagen, 61, of Wailea died in 2014 when he was struck in a bike lane by a driver high on meth on the Piilani Highway north of Kanani Road. Hagen had a wife and two daughters.