KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — The third survivor of the bicycle tragedy in Cooper Township was released from the hospital on Tuesday.
Jennifer Johnson will continue her recovery at home.
The fourth survivor, Paul Gobble, has been transferred to Mary Free Bed Hospital in Grand Rapids for physical rehabilitation.
It comes upon the release of new information from Michigan’s Office of Highway Safety Planning that shows bicycle deaths are rising faster than any other category they measure. They jumped from 21 in 2014 to 33 last year. That’s an increase of 57 percent.
The spike may be because of an increase in both the number of motorists due to lower gas prices and the number of people who have taken to the roads on bikes for the exercise.
John Olbrot with the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club said the tragedy in Kalamazoo has increased awareness of the issue and the danger locally. It needs to become more universal and the creation of more trails and bike lanes will increase safety even more.
It has also given a push to a proposal by Sen. Margaret O’Brien, R-Portage, to increase penalties for motorists who disobey the rules of the road and strike bikers, joggers and pedestrians.
She began work on the legislation after the death of a Western Michigan University student who was struck and killed in Oshtemo earlier this year.
