Don Parker Ride

Photo Credit: Me

Three months ago today something tragic happened,  From the original article:

“A man from Allison Park has died following an accident this morning in Indiana Township.
Don Parker, 52, had two passions - one for the people in his life and the other for bicycling.”

Today I had the privilege to ride with people whom I had never met and only known by names on a computer screen. We came from all over the city, meeting along the way, groups growing larger and more visible as we neared town. We came together in town the couples that became groups now become an assembly as we now rode not just on common ground but also with a common purpose. We rode through town stopping at the county building in hopes of meeting with the District Attorney Stephen A Zapalla Jr. and asking him about the tragedy and what if anything is being done.



We didn’t get to talk to the D.A (We really didn’t expect to) but we did get to talk to Mike Manko the Spokesperson from the DA office. Here is what we learned.

Taken from Bike Pgh Forums
- The DA's office only received the case in the last "10 days or two weeks or so", and is still investigating. The local LEO and County police may have completed their investigations, but the DA's office has only begun looking into it. He emphasized how slow the legal process works.
- If the driver was issued a ticket, that is a summary offense issued by the local LEO's and has no bearing on the DA's investigation.
- He could not comment on the status of the investigation, but he said that when the decision to press charges or not is made, it probably won't be well publicized. He did invite the community to check in every few weeks or so for a status update. There is a feedback link on the DA's office's website that will go directly to Mr. Manko. (mmanko@da.allegheny.pa.us)

As Mick said in the same thread:
“If our goal was to get some kind of justice for Don Parker, then we accomplished (perhaps) a little. Maybe or maybe not.

If our goal was to let our elected officials know that a dead cyclist will not go unnoticed, then we succeeded.

I'm glad we did it.”

So am I.

It was during the Moment of Silence, as I stood there on Grant St. that I realized that it could of just as easily been Me, or John, or Tabby, or Eleanor. If you are reading this then know that it could of been you.