PHILADELPHIA (BRAIN) — The family of 24-year-old Emily Fredricks, who died after being struck by a privately owned trash truck as she biked to work last November, has announced a $6.1 million settlement agreement with the truck's owner, Gold Medal Environmental.
The settlement includes $6 million in compensatory damages paid to Fredricks' estate and $125,000, paid out in five annual $25,000 payments, to improve cycling safety in the city. The Fredricks family and company representatives will jointly determine the recipients.
The driver of the truck, who was making a right turn at an intersection when Fredricks was struck, told police at the scene that he never saw her.
Gold Medal is under new ownership and new management since the incident. The company has enhanced its truck driver safety program under the direction of an independent highway safety expert, and is including a new training curriculum on urban vehicle operations, obstacle course instruction at its new training facility, and what Fredricks' attorneys describe as "intensive behind-the-wheel interactions with bicyclists."
Emily's parents will meet and speak with the company's drivers and management about the vital importance of driving safely and the consequences of failing to do so. Drivers are also now eligible, under a new incentive program, for significant salary bonuses that reward accident-free driving.
In a press statement, Richard and Laura Fredricks, Emily's parents, said they think Emily would be proud of what has been accomplished. "We live everyday heartbroken over the loss of our precious daughter, searching for some way to see some good result from her passing. With this agreement, we feel lives can and will be saved by making Philadelphia's streets safer for bicyclists, as well as drivers — truck and car — and also pedestrians."
