LITTLETON, Colo. — Tragedy taught Josh Stewart that Littleton's roads aren't safe enough for cyclists.
"I think a lot of us just don't know how important it is to be here and be talking about this," he said.
Stewart spoke to a crowd on Thursday outside Euclid Middle School that was gathered to honor the memory of Stewart's son, Liam, who was hit and killed by a driver one year ago while biking to Euclid Middle, where he was a seventh grader.
"If designers take the time to make a safe street for the most vulnerable of us, it's automatically safe for everybody else, including drivers," he said.
The crowd included Liam's classmates and friends, and their parents – people like Jessica Kaufman, who said she now worries about letting her kids bike to school.
"We used to ride our bikes all the time, and it's terrible that got taken away from them," she said. "I think all kids deserve that independence, and it's a kid's right to ride their bike."
As Stewart's speech wound down, the crowd prepared to bike from Euclid Middle to Bemis Public Library, one of Liam's favorite places. Stewart said that to Liam, the library and his bike both represented freedom.
The city unveiled a bench in Liam's memory.
The community committed to keep Liam's memory alive through safe streets activism.
"I would ride my bike more places if it were safer," Erin Roethlisberger said. "I've come to realize in light of this event how easy it is for drivers to make mistakes that result in fatalities, and there's a lot of things we can do to prevent that."
Liam's friend Christian Wright was in shock when he heard about his friend's death last year. He said he doesn't bike to school, but he would if the city made some changes.
"Obviously more, like, bike lanes and everything for people that do bike to school and to and from work," he said.
Tragedy teaches.
Liam's community hopes their city and state have learned their lesson.
"The kids ... they're the most important part of our community," Stewart said. "We need to be able to get them to school safely because every child has the right to get to school safely."