Ghost bike memorial in Philly's FDR Park honors bicyclist killed by attempted hit-and-run driver

The loved ones of a man who was killed by an attempted hit-and-run driver gathered on Saturday afternoon to honor his life and place a ghost bike in his honor.

On what would have been his 38th birthday, family and friends of Mario D'Adamo III Esq. placed the bicycle memorial at FDR Park where he was killed on August 3, 2023.

Emotions ran high as the community called for more traffic safety measures in parks like speed bumps and speed limit signs.

"Our family is heartbroken over losing our son who worked so hard to become an attorney,” D'Adamo's mother, Paula D'Adamo said. “He was killed doing a simple thing - riding a bike in a park. Our prayer is that no family will ever experience the pain of losing a child in such a tragic and avoidable way.”

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D'Adamo was riding in the bike lane when a driver hit him with their car. The driver allegedly tried to flee the scene, but crashed into a tree.

“It is unacceptable that we have to talk about a fatality due to dangerous driving inside a public park,” Executive Director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia Chris Gale said. “Our parks should be safe spaces for everyone, regardless of how they choose to enjoy the park.”

D'Adamo's family say the Saint Joseph's Prep graduate grew up going to FDR Park frequently to play baseball, ride his bike and run.

Saturday's event brought members of Families for Safe Streets of Greater Philadelphia, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and Friends of FDR Park and D'Adamo's loved ones.

"Horrible, horrible, 37 years old. I should be planning a wedding. But instead, I have to do a memorial for my son," his mother told NBC10.

This comes one month after Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker signed an executive order recommitting Philadelphia to the goal of reaching zero traffic deaths at a reception on the eve of Vision Zero PHL 2024, the program’s annual conference.

“Every Philadelphian deserves to be able to navigate the city - whether that be by foot, public transit, bicycle, or personal vehicle - and get home safely,” said Mayor Parker. “We are making a commitment to all Philadelphians that this administration will improve road safety and save lives from being lost to senseless traffic violence.”

The mayor’s goal is to focus on strategies that will eliminate fatal crashes as quickly as possible, in support of the Regional Vision Zero by 2050 goal.

According to Nicole Brunet of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, there were 126 traffic deaths in 2023. Now, in the first four months of 2024, nearly 60% of traffic deaths have been pedestrians.

"We need to shrink the size of the roadway. We need to add speed humps, speed cushions, whatever you wanna call them, to physically slow people down. We can also add raised crosswalks," Brunet said.

As of now, in FDR Park, there are only a few speed limit signs with little to no protection in the bike lane.