Katrease Stafford

Detroit Free Press

Members of Biking Belle Isle were out on one of bicycling group's regular bi-weekly rides late last month when the nightmare that every avid cyclist fears happened.

As the group — out for a 25-mile ride — waited for traffic to clear at McNichols and Parkside in north Detroit, a car slammed into two of the cyclists, pinning 58-year-old Michael Greer underneath the vehicle and throwing 59-year-old Stephanie White into the air against a nearby wall. Both cyclists suffered critical injuries and face a long recovery, according to a GoFundMe page.

It was just the latest in a string of tragic crashes involving bicyclists and cars in Michigan, including a June incident near Kalamazoo in which five bicyclists were killed and four others critically injured when a pickup truck plowed through the group as they pedaled up a hill on a rural two-lane road.

Michigan State Police statistics show that the roads are indeed becoming more dangerous for bicyclists, with an alarming surge in crashes — fatal and non-fatal — reported by police agencies across the state.

"In 2015 we saw significant increases in just about all the crash categories we report on and the largest was among bicyclist fatalities," said Melody Kindraka, spokeswoman for the Office of Highway Safety Planning. "It was up 57% from 21 in 2014 to 33 in 2015."

According to the data, in 2014 there were 1,763 bicyclists involved in motor vehicle crashes in Michigan. That number rose to 1,897 in 2015. Figures are not yet available for 2016. Kindraka said prior to 2014, bicyclist crashes had been on a downward trend.

Citing the fatal June 7 deadly crash in Kalamazoo, John Lindenmayer, executive director of the League of Michigan Bicyclists, said he's worried the fatalities and injuries won't decrease and will remain on par this year with 2015 totals.

"It's obviously disconcerting that fatalities for bicyclists are on the rise," Lindenmayer said. "In 2015, it spiked dramatically and that obviously is an alarming number. ... We suspect there's a good chance 2016 isn't going to be any better, especially when you consider what happened in Kalamazoo when we lost five bicyclists tragically and our thoughts and prayers are with those families."

Authorities at the time said the bicyclists were riding in a group on a rural road in Kalamazoo County’s Cooper Township when Charles Pickett Jr. plowed into them with his pickup. Pickett has been charged with five counts of second-degree murder, five counts of driving under the influence of controlled substances causing death and four counts of driving while under the influence of controlled substances causing serious injury.

Just one week ago, a Macomb Township man on a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a car in Center Line. The 60-year-old man, who was not named, was pinned under the car and removed by officers but was pronounced dead at the scene. The crash occurred on Federal Street just south of 10 Mile when the bicyclist pulled out of a convenience store onto Federal, riding north, on the street.

Police said the bicyclist was not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.

In the crash that injured members of the Biking Belle Isle group, Detroit Police Officer Dan Donakowski said a 29-year-old man was driving a black Pontiac Grand Prix at a high rate of speed when he lost control of his car. The driver was arrested but Wayne County Prosecutor's Office spokeswoman Maria Miller said criminal charges have not been authorized in the case because police are still investigating the crash.

White and Greer remain in the intensive care unit at Sinai Grace Hospital and are recovering slowly, according to close friend and fellow bicyclist Thomas Page, saying the crash was a blow for those who know the injured cyclists. A GoFundMe fundraising page has been set up to help White and Greer with any ongoing medical costs.

"Stephanie is very slowly recovering and Michael was aware and conscious and he called me by name," Page said after visiting them last week. "But they both still have a long way to go. ...We're all trying to wait and see what type of long-term care they'll need. People have already been stepping up, cutting her grass and it's wonderful. It makes me want to break down just thinking about it."

Page said he knows White and Greer well through a "tight-knit" bicyclists' community in the metro Detroit area.

"They're both wonderful riders and what I mean by that is they're respectful riders, respectful of neighborhoods," Page said. "Stephanie is a team leader for Biking Belle Isle and not only did she do her own ride, she reached out in support of the most needy people in the community. Michael on his own has also participated in that ... They're part of the giveback. They don't just do it for themselves, they do it for the shared community of Detroit."

David Rudolph, founder of Handlebars for the Homeless, said White and Greer have volunteered and participated in the organization's yearly event, which is a professionally-led bicycle tour that benefits the programs and services of Neighborhood Services Organization. Rudolph said the group's upcoming Aug. 7 ride event will go through the neighborhood and right past where the crash happened.

"All bikers are all connected," Rudolph said. "Stephanie was one of our bike chaplains and she had been with the NSO group, Handlebars for the Homeless. Mike has been a volunteer participant. So when we heard about it, we claimed them as part of our biking family.

"Our message obviously has been about bike safety. There's this idea that we need to share the road. There are more and more bikers on the road. ... When I heard about the crash, I said 'My, God. This is our bike route and we've been doing this for 3 years. There need to be more education for motorists and continued education for cyclists."

Kindraka said in light of the recent uptick in crashes, the state is now working to identify what might be the cause behind them and what sort of work can be done to address it, including additional infrastructure. Kindraka said her office held the state's first pedestrian and bicyclist safety conference in April and more collaborative work is underway.

For Lindenmayer, his organization is asking for two immediate policy changes: A safe passing law, which would require motorists to give bicyclists at least five feet of space when they pass on the road and enhanced penalties for drivers who seriously injure or kill a bicyclist, pedestrian or wheelchair user.

"We've been working on that for awhile now," he said, adding that Michigan is one of 11 states without any sort of safe passing law. "With all the recent attention with these tragedies, we're hoping to fast track these bills."

Lindenmayer said while he's seen some cities, like Grand Rapids, work toward implementing more precautions for bicyclists, he said education — for motorists and bicyclists — and enforcement continues to have "a long way to go."

"There was nothing that we could have possibly done, whether it was engineering or education, that would have changed that fateful evening in Kalamazoo," Lindenmayer said. "But many of these tragedies are absolutely preventable and that's what we're focusing our energy on."

Contact Katrease Stafford: 313-223-4759 or kstafford@freepress.com.

Staff writer Christina Hall contributed to this report.