A year later, area cyclists gather to remember Bengtson, stress need for better safety laws, more bike trails

By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Nearly one year after Ellen Bengtson died in a bicycling accident, about 20 area cyclists gathered together at her “ghost bike” to remember her.

“Ellen was a good friend of mine. She and I rode bikes a lot together,” said Dick Neal. “She was involved in a lot of things in the community, and she was well-loved.

Neal said that Bengtson attended his church, and he and other church members “kind of took her under our wing.”

“She was really special, so it’s been kind of a hard year without her,” Neal said.

Bengtson, a Charles City bicycling enthusiast, was killed in a bicycling accident last August while she was riding south of Charles City. She was 28 years old.

Bengtson, an environmental engineer at Cambrex Charles City Inc., was riding her bike southbound on Shadow Avenue when she was struck by a pickup driven by Colby Elliott, age 43, of Clarksville. Elliott was later charged with homicide by vehicle – reckless driving.

A white “ghost bike” has been erected in the ditch near where the accident happened, and friends and fellow bikers gathered around the memorial last Tuesday.

Mark Melrose mentioned two other bikers from the area who have lost their lives in accidents and have ghost bike memorials. Bob Philips, who was killed in 2016, has a ghost bike at 300th Street along the same road where Bengtson’s memorial is. Brian Lauterbach, who was killed in 2014, has a ghost bike outside Charles City on Highway 14.

“Just the fact that there are three ghost bikes in this area is unheard of,” Melrose said. “It shouldn’t have happened, and we want to spread the word.”

Melrose said most fatal accidents involving bicyclists occur when drivers of automobiles are distracted.

“We’re not against drivers, we just don’t want them to drive distracted,” he said. “We go out, we have lights, we have helmets, we try to obey traffic laws, and we just want drivers to be aware that we’re out here, and get off their cell phones.”

Neal said he’s been involved with teaching bicycle safety to young people since Bengtson’s death. He said his advice to drivers of motorized vehicles was to “stay off your cell phone and pay attention.” His advice to bikers was to “make sure you’re seen, wear bright clothing, wear helmets. Just be seen.”

Melrose expressed the need for legislation regarding distracted driving in Iowa.

“We’re hoping for tougher laws, so that you can be fined if you’re on your phone while driving,” he said. “So many states have laws like that, but all Iowa has done is pass a law that says distracted driving should be taught in driver’s ed.”

Melrose also expressed the need for more bike trails in the area.

“We would like to get off county roads, eventually, and get on bike trails,” he said. “Our hopes and dreams are to have dedicated bike trails in this area, that connect to Elma and all the way over to Clarksville.”

Melrose said that improved bike trails would solve a lot of the problems bicyclists in the area have.

“If we could get on trails, we would be happy, but right now we can’t,” he said. “We have to ride on county roads and try to be as visible as possible.”