Samantha Flores was riding her bike home from work around midnight last Friday, September 7th, when she was hit by a vehicle that left the scene. She’s now in the hospital suffering from severe injuries. She had holes in her liver and one of her lungs, a dislocated elbow, lacerations on her spleen and stomach, a broken femur with a buildup of tissue in the knee, which was also dislocated. She also has a broken fibula in her left foot. She was knocked unconscious but regained consciousness in the hospital.
She’s 23 and works 2 jobs, one of which is at Kimura, a ramen restaurant downtown. The manager, Victor Cortez recalls, “Sam had a lot of regulars who came specifically to see her, so a lot of her customers are distraught because she’s not around. She’s a really generous and thoughtful person. She’s also vegan, so she’s very interested in preservation of nature and animals.” Kimura is donating $2 to Sam from every vegan ramen sold.
On Friday night she was working late at Cherrity Bar where she’s a manager. Cherrity Bar is a nonprofit that donates a portion of their proceeds to other nonprofits. She spent months cultivating it from the ground up, and it opened last weekend without her there.
“The best way to describer her is giving, she gives to every person she meets,” said one of her friends. Regular Kimura customer Idaira remembers, “I would come to this place and even though it was really busy, she would always have a smile and be kind to everyone, you don’t see that at all the bars.”
The crash happened just north of 410 on Nacadoches. At midnight she couldn’t take the bus, and being that most streets in that area are cul-de-sacs, Nacadoches is basically the only route she could take on her bike.
We owe it to those who chose to bike or who have no other options, to make our streets safer.
San Antonio is not projected to reach its Vision Zero goal of zero pedestrian/cyclist fatalities and injuries by 2020. As of 2016, there were 2,912 pedestrian/cyclist injuries and fatalities. These are actually increasing. People for Bikes named San Antonio one of the most dangerous large cities for biking.
The SA2020 goal for Complete Streets is 6,465 miles by 2020. Yet, as of 2016, there were only 2,370 miles of Complete Streets. In San Antonio, 80 percent of severe or fatal crashes occur on main arterial roads with speeds posted at more than 35 mph. Protected bikeways can cut traffic crashes up to 90 percent!
Her medical bills are piling up. To donate visit her gofundme page.
There will be an SATX SR bike ride for Sam on Wednesday 9/19.