Families rally in Philly to honor victims of traffic deaths and demand legislative change

The midday sun hung over Ayeshia Poole’s shoulder as she explained the ambitious goal that her daughter, Jayanna Powell, had once set for herself.

Jayanna could sing and dance her heart out — she’d memorized the lyrics to Beyoncé's 2011 track, “Love on Top,” along with the fluid dance moves from the song’s video — but she aspired to be more than a pop star.

By the time she was in second grade, Jayanna had told her mother that she planned on being the first Black woman elected to the U.S. presidency. It was a tender thought, a child’s dream, open and big as the sky.

On Nov. 18, 2016, Jayanna and her older brother, Hassan Cox, trekked across 63rd Street near Lansdowne Avenue in West Philly, and were struck by a Nissan Altima that had swerved around a stopped trolley car.

Cox, then 12, suffered injuries to his knee. Jayanna was tossed nearly 100 feet through the air, and died later that day. She was 8.

Poole retraced this story — her daughter’s endearing precociousness, the unending anguish of her death — on Sunday in West Philly’s Carroll Park, where other grieving families gathered to mark the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

“Every day,” Poole said, “is extremely hard.”

The World Day of Remembrance was started in 1992 by a mother, Brigitte Chaudhry, whose son had been struck and killed by a motorist who drove through a red light in south London.

Philadelphia’s extension of the event, organized by the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, was a somber affair.

A slight autumn chill hung in the air, and the names of the 106 people who have been killed in traffic crashes in the city thus far this year were read aloud. Some mourners clutched yellow carnations and held aloft photos of their loved ones.

There was talk, from city and state officials, about legislative action that’s meant to address vehicular violence.

“Every neighborhood deserves safe streets,” said City Councilmember Jamie Gauthier.

Earlier this year, an Inquirer report found that the city had recorded 577 driving-related deaths between 2020 and 2023; a third of those victims were pedestrians. Drivers in Philadelphia are involved in fatal accidents at more than double the rate of those in Boston, and triple the rate of drivers in New York City, according to a 2023 city traffic safety report.

In October, City Council approved a bill to ban drivers from stopping for any amount of time in a bike lane. Violators would face a $125 fine in Center City, and $75 in other areas.

Council members voted 17-0 to adopt the legislation, which followed a string of horrific car crashes that left pedestrians dead or gravely injured. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker recently signed the no-stopping bill.

One midsummer day brought the prevalence of the city’s traffic violence into sharp focus.

At about 4:30 p.m. on July 17, a driver, Sekia Spencer, allegedly struck a 26-year-old woman who was walking across the 5800 block of Chew Avenue in Germantown, according to Philadelphia police. The victim was flung into Spencer’s windshield and admitted to Einstein Medical Center in critical condition.

Spencer, 40, was charged with aggravated assault while driving under the influence and related offenses.

A few hours later, at 7 p.m., Barbara Friedes, a 30-year-old medical resident who specialized in pediatric oncology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, was struck and killed by an allegedly intoxicated motorist as she rode her bicycle on the 1800 block of Spruce Street.

The driver, Michael Vahey, 68, was later charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter, and related offenses.

Minutes after Friedes was fatally struck, Christopher Cabrera, 38, was standing on the corner of Frankford and East Allegheny Avenues in Kensington when he was hit by a speeding Toyota that police said had veered onto the curb.

Cabrera died at the scene, and the driver, Christopher Sorensen, 41, was later charged with homicide by vehicle.

“Drivers,” Gauthier said, “are more reckless than ever.”

Mario D’Adamo II called for motorists to face longer mandatory prison sentences for driving drunk, leaving the scene of crashes, or being involved in fatal collisions.

His son, Mario D’Adamo III, a 37-year-old attorney and avid cyclist, was riding in a bike lane at South Philly’s sprawling FDR Park on Aug. 4, 2023, when he was struck by a Tesla and killed.

Police said the driver, Thomas Ford, 68, attempted to flee the scene of the crash. Ford was later charged with homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence and involuntary manslaughter.

D’Adamo cannot escape the nightmare of his son’s final hours: seeing his wife cradle their boy’s head in a hospital, the devastation of hearing that he’d passed, then being told by an undertaker that his injuries were too severe to allow for an open-casket viewing.

“The impact on our family has been devastating,” D’Adamo said softly.

In 2016, then-Mayor Jim Kenney created a Vision Zero task force, which was meant to pursue policy and infrastructure changes that could ultimately bring an end to traffic deaths in the city.

The idea is not far-fetched; other cities, like Hoboken, N.J., and Jersey City, have already eliminated traffic deaths through similar efforts.

Parker faced criticism earlier this year for reducing city spending on Vision Zero by more than $1 million in her first budget. Parker’s administration, however, insisted this characterization was wrong, noting that it was spending $1.25 million on other speed enforcement and traffic calming measures.

There is another policy idea, one that is near to Ayeshia Poole’s heart.

The motorist who struck and killed Jayanna, Paul Woodlyn III, was convicted in 2017 of involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another person, and sentenced to 4½ to nine years in state prison, followed by nine years’ probation.

Woodlyn had tried to have his car repaired at an auto body shop in Chester County, claiming it had been damaged by a deer.

So Poole and her sister, Jasmine Hoffman, hit upon an idea for an Amber Alert-like state notification system — Jay Alerts — which would disseminate to body shops and garages information about cars that have been involved in hit-and-run crashes.

In 2017, State Sen. Anthony Williams introduced legislation to bring Poole’s vision to life. The bill has languished in the Senate ever since.

State Rep. Morgan Cephas plans to introduce similar legislation in the House. CBS News has reported that PennDot estimated it would cost about $375,000 to create a Jay Alerts system, a process that would take just 10 months to complete.

“Every time you turn on the news or look at the paper, you see stories about hit-and-runs,” Poole said. “It hurts my heart.”