South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Ride of Silence honors cyclists

They bicycled through west Broward County silently, and at about half their normal speed. It was their way of honoring Ute Burkhardt and others. About 50 bicyclists gathered at Markham Park in Sunrise recently to participate in the annual Ride of Silence, created to memorialize cyclists who have died or been injured in accidents with motorists. Burkhardt, 38, of Hollywood, was bicycling along Northeast Seventh Avenue in Dania Beach when she was run over and killed by a man with multiple traffic tickets. The citation he received after hitting Burkhardt was later dismissed. Ride of Silence organizer Celia Conti, of Plantation, said the ride, one of about 250 organized simultaneously nationwide, also is intended to remind motorists to be careful when encountering cyclists.

“It’s not only to acknowledge the fact that we deal with this traffic problem every time that we ride, but that there are those of us who lost the battle,” she said. Burkhardt died at the scene. About 4:50 p.m. Oct. 26, Delvern K. Major, driving a 40-foot truck, overtook Burkhardt, then swerved back to avoid an oncoming truck. He knocked her down and ran over her with his back wheels, according to the police report.

Burkhardt’s sister, Petra Riggs, filed a civil suit against Major’s employer, G&G Marine of Dania Beach. She questions why the company allowed him to drive, given his record of traffic infractions. Major, of Pompano Beach, declined to comment, as did G&G attorney Clark Cochran. “He was qualified by the state of Florida to be a driver and they make the ultimate decision,” said Major’s attorney, John Camillo.

Major, 27, provided an eight-page statement for the accident report. When the traffic charge of passing too closely came up in court, Broward County Judge Terri-Ann Miller dismissed the case, citing a Florida statute that makes accident reports privileged information. And with no witnesses, only the report put him at the scene.

“If there are no witnesses to place him there, they call it ‘reasonable doubt,’” Conti said. “Ute is no longer with us, and that’s not reasonable at all.” Even if a driver is at fault in a bicycle fatality, the criminal charges often amount to just a ticket, said Ron Ishoy, spokesman for the Broward State Attorney’s Office.

“For the victim’s family, that part of the law is always difficult to understand,” he said. Major had a valid driver’s license, even though he was cited for 26 violations since 2003, according to records from the Department of Motor Vehicles. In 20 of those cases, he pleaded “no contest” and judges withheld adjudication.

“He never, ever should have been hired [by G&G],” said Riggs’ attorney, Andrew Yaffa. Richard Petryk, who was Major’s lawyer in at least 13 traffic cases — not the one involving Burkhardt — noted that about half the citations were for non-moving violations and that Major has never been charged in an accident.

During the Ride of Silence, the group rode about 10 miles. Steve Bennett, of Fort Lauderdale, participated in honor of Burkhardt, though he never met her. He said he commutes daily to Hollywood by bicycle past a roadside memorial for Burkhardt.

“Ute was very much in my thoughts,” Bennett said. In addition to his participation in the ride, Bennett memorialized Burkhardt about two months ago at the roadside memorial. Over the white wooden cross, he draped the medal he earned in April for completing a 150-mile charity ride for multiple sclerosis.

Burkhardt was a frequent cyclist, riding about 100 miles per week, said Elizabeth Craig, who lived across the street from her. A native of Germany, Burkhardt grew up in Idaho, then began a career as a flight attendant with American Airlines.

“She was just the most pure, down-to-earth person,” Craig said. “She just couldn’t do enough for everybody.”

Nick Sortal can be reached at nsortal@sun-sentinel.com