Sep 12, 2025

Santa Fe cyclists this week shared details of some of the harrowing experiences they have had while struggling to share Santa Fe roads with drivers.

“I pretend that I am invisible and that every driver is drunk, and I’ve been hit twice,” said Santa Fe resident Jim Kentsch. “My point is that one can be a reasonably prudent bicyclist and still get hit.”

During a meeting of the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee on Thursday, community members called for policy changes in the wake of a fatal crash that killed cyclist Steven Ballinger in June.

Ballinger was riding through an intersection at a green light when he was struck and killed by the driver of a pickup who police say turned left in front of the cyclist and other vehicles that had the right of way.

Several who attended the meeting — as well as committee members — expressed outrage over what they saw as an inadequate level of accountability for the pickup driver: a misdemeanor count of careless driving with a deferred sentence.

Jennifer Bevers, a member of the cycling group Santa Fe Fat Tire Society, lamented that many cyclists are no longer riding on streets in the city given the risk of being struck.

“I have given up riding my road bike here because I feel like it’s too dangerous in the community to do so,” she said. 'Everyone that I’ve met has migrated to the trails because they feel like the roads are too unsafe to ride.'

Committee Chair Michael Garcia, who is on the City Council, said he hopes for the group to recommend actions the council can take to address the problem.

The committee opened the door to such a process Thursday, voting to invite a representative from the police department to a future meeting for a discussion of criminal charges and traffic enforcement related to cyclists and pedestrians.

The group also set plans to research penalties related to bicycle and pedestrian crashes as well as training for officers and education for new drivers related to the topic.

In order to compile comprehensive data on such crashes and the resulting injuries and fatalities, members voted to begin a process for producing a white paper analyzing bicycle and pedestrian safety in Santa Fe.

Garcia said the group could also consider putting legislative priorities forward for the city to lobby for during the next legislative session.

Professional cyclist Irena Ossola, who grew up in Santa Fe, was struck in 2017 on Alameda Street while she was riding in the bike lane and airlifted to a hospital in Albuquerque. News reports from the time noted she spent more than a week unconscious and several more in the hospital, followed by rehabilitation.

She has advocated for steeper penalties for drivers in such crashes, noting the driver who struck her paid a $150 fine.

“This continues to happen,” Ossola said. “I think if there was a penalty to make people a little more aware, to consider when they’re out driving that it’s such a huge risk, and that if you hit someone they have no protection.”

Statewide proposals for increasing penalties in past years have so far failed to gain traction among legislators. Concerns do not center solely around cyclists — New Mexico has for years had the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the country.

"I look forward to [the committee] hopefully moving forward a policy or recommendation, whether it be for the city or state, to change the law as necessary so that people who are cyclists are regarded as people who get to use the streets," said Jennifer Webber, former president of Bike Santa Fe. "And that when they are injured or killed, they can see some justice."

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* Bicyclists question lack of consequences for drivers in fatal wrecks