Sylvia Bingham
About Sylvia
Sylvia Bingham grew up in San Rafael, California where she lived with her parents, Steve and Francoise. After graduating from Terra Linda High School in 2005, she went on to Yale University where she studied French and sociology.
Sylvia was passionate about people and wanted to make a difference to underserved communities. She also cared deeply about the environment, which led to her love for cycling. In high school, Sylvia formed a social justice club with the help of Next Generation. She led opposition to military recruiting on high school campuses and demonstrated for peace in the Middle East.
Sylvia was passionate about healthy food - growing it, cooking it, sharing it with her friends. A talented chef, she enjoyed throwing dinner parties for her friends and family. She also never missed an opportunity to educate others about the difficulties facing so many low-income communities from partaking in the health food movement, a testament to her commitment to helping others and reminder of the incredibly thoughtful and caring person she was. As one example, she volunteered at City Seed in New Haven and designed a poster informing people that they could use their SNAP benefits (Food Stamps) to buy produce at New Haven’s farmers markets.
In 2009 after graduating from Yale, Sylvia moved to Cleveland to work as a AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer with Hard Hatted Women, an organization helping low-income women become employed in well-paying jobs traditionally held by men.
Crash Description
On September 15, 2009, Sylvia was riding her bike to work in the curb lane of Prospect Avenue at East 21st Street around 9 A.M., She was just a few blocks from her job at Hard Hatted Women when she encountered a large truck that was turning onto East 21st. Sylvia was knocked down by the box truck’s sharp, unannounced right hook at the intersection. Because the 40,000 lb. truck had no protective side underride guards or lateral protection devices, she ended up underneath the truck and was crushed by its rear wheels.
Life After the Crash
After the crash, Sylvia’s parents, Steve and Francoise, created the Sylvia Bingham Fund to support small non-profit organizations promoting safety for cyclists and pedestrians The Fund also works with state and federal transportation agencies, legislators and other policy makers to provide a “Safe Streets” strategy whose goal is Vision Zero, the end to fatal and serious injury crashes.
In addition to its focus on bicycle safety, the Fund honors Sylvia’s social justice activism by supporting organizations that engage in work that reflects the values that Sylvia cared about. This includes organizations where she worked or volunteered as well as organizations that she would have loved to support had she not been killed at age 22.
Steve and Francoise remain deeply involved in efforts to motivate the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) to require side guards on trucks, technology that could have saved Sylvia’s life. Steve has also become one of the foremost advocates and educators on truck-bike crashes, as well as the safety solutions that exist to prevent these types of crashes.
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