Bonnie Tinker, 61, died Thursday when she was involved in a right-hook collision with a dump truck on the Virginia Tech Campus. Tinker, a respected anti-war and social equality activist in Portland, was visiting Virginia to attend a Quaker conference. As of Monday, police at Virginia Tech were still interviewing witnesses and continuing to investigate the crash. No charges had been filed.

In an Oregonian article last Friday, friends of Tinker reflected on her passion and leadership as an activist for peace and social justice. The Oregonian highlighted Tinker's activist career, which included banning military recruiters from Portland schools and advocating for nontraditional families, and her role in the anti-war group known as Seriously PO'ed Grannies. Tinker's bold, confrontational style of activism sometimes provoked anger and led to her arrest in 2007 for painting the number of US soldiers killed in the Iraq war on the outside of a military recruitment center in Portland. However, that same energy helped guide the efforts of many more supporters.

Here at the BTA we're saddened by the loss of a dedicated local activist, and we extend our condolences to Bonnie Tinker's family and friends. In light of the circumstances that caused her death – tragically, too familiar to Portland – we are reflecting on all of the hard work and support from the people in our community working to improve safety for cyclists. Thanks to our city's engineers, educators and advocates, and to the cyclists who ride our streets and trails, our city is becoming safer for bicycling. Bonnie Tinker's death reminds us of a different reality for many others.

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