The driver who struck and killed a bicyclist and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia doctor earlier this month in Center City has been charged with vehicular homicide, DUI and other crimes.
Michael Vahey, 68, was allegedly going more than twice the speed limit with double the legal blood-alcohol level when he hit 30-year-old Barbara Friedes, who was riding in the designated bike lane, according to the District Attorney’s Office. The impact knocked Friedes 150 feet away, and she died of her injuries a short time later, authorities said.
The crash happened at around 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 17, on Spruce Street, near 18th Street, in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. Vahey, behind the wheel of a Volkswagen, also struck three parked cars and nearly hit a pedestrian in the area, prosecutors said.
Evidence shows that Vahey was traveling 57 mph in a 25 mph zone, and his blood-alcohol content was 0.16, the DA’s Office alleged. The DUI limit is 0.08.
Friedes had recently been selected to be a chief resident at CHOP, hospital officials said. Born on a U.S. Air Force base in Wyoming, she moved frequently due to her father’s military career and settled in Philadelphia with her husband, Cole, three years ago, when both began medical residencies in the city, according to an obituary. Her funeral service will be held Friday in Florida.
Vahey was hospitalized following the crash with nonlife-threatening injuries. Prosecutors said he has no DUI history or prior criminal record of any kind.
DA Larry Krasner vowed to seek high bail, and the court on Thursday jailed Vahey on $999,999 bond, of which he must post 10%, according to legal records. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 13.
His attorney, Amato T. Sanita, said Vahey is “cooperating fully” with authorities and is “extremely remorseful.”
“I myself, as well as Mr. Vahey, believe that changes really need to be made so that bicyclists in the future are better protected,” he told Metro.
Sanita declined to comment on future legal proceedings or his strategy in the case.
Some cycling advocates and observers questioned the weeklong delay in bringing charges. Krasner said the case was complex, with toxicology tests and technical evidence.
“Car accident cases involving fatalities also involve a lot of forensics,” he told reporters during a news conference Thursday. “That can and often does take a good amount of time.”
The broader issue, he said, is that the criminal justice system is not adept at “differentiating between criminal acts and ones that are subject to civil liability” in vehicular crashes. “So sometimes we don’t have the toolkit of charges available that, ideally, we would like to see,” Krasner added.
Friedes’s death, along with a series of other serious crashes, has intensified calls for improved pedestrian and cyclist safety in Philadelphia.
Hundreds of cyclists participated in a protest ride Friday night from the Museum of Art to City Hall in an attempt to pressure Mayor Cherelle Parker to do more to address dangerous road conditions.
“It’s past time for the city to make streets safe for everyone who bikes,” said Jessie Amadio, of Philly Bike Action, which organized in the event, in a statement. “We need the city to treat our lives with dignity and take our safety seriously.”
The group has an ongoing campaign against permits held by several Center City churches allowing congregants to park their vehicles in bike lanes on the weekends.
Leaders from the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia and other advocacy organizations are pushing for protected bike lanes on Spruce Street and throughout the city, as well as legislation permanently legalizing protected bike lanes on state roads.
Protected bike lanes shield cyclists from traffic through the placement of concrete barriers, heavy planters, a row of parked cars, or other obstructions. A pilot program has allowed some parking-protected lanes on state roads in Philadelphia.
Nicole Brunet, the bicycle coalition’s policy director, said the organization asked for protected lanes on Spruce and Pine streets – two popular routes through Center City – in 2009. Instead, the city installed painted lanes.
After 24-year-old cyclist Emily Fredericks was killed at 11th and Spruce streets in 2017, flexible posts were set up in an attempt to slow down turning vehicles, according to the coalition.
But, Brunet said, drivers can easily drive over the posts, and advocates have argued the devices do not do enough to safeguard cyclists.
Ten cyclists were killed in crashes last year – a record for Philadelphia – and Friedes is the first fatality in 2024. Nearly 30 pedestrians have died since the beginning of the year, Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said.
Overall, traffic-related deaths in the city are down, though pedestrians comprise a larger share of the total, according to a bicycle coalition analysis.
