July 7th, 1993 - November 28th, 2017

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About Emily

Emily Claire Fredricks was born on July 7th, 1993, and was 24 years old when she was killed by the driver of a sanitation truck while cycling. She was the sunshine of her loved one’s lives; she was funny, kind, with her whole life ahead of her. Emily was a creative French pastry chef who loved to laugh. She was a sister, a daughter, a friend; unafraid to love or be loved. Emily’s life was cut short, leaving the lives of all of those left behind shattered. Her family misses her every second of every day.

Crash Description

Emily was killed by the driver of a sanitation truck while cycling to work in Philadelphia. As Emily was traveling on a road with a bike lane, a truck driver that should have yielded to her at the intersection made a right hook into her, hitting Emily while she was legally biking. Dashcam and street cam footage also show the driver had earbuds in and was distracted in his cab, and show the driver ignored signage and failed to use his turn signal.

Life After the Crash

With Emily gone, the Fredricks family is forever changed. Emily’s mother, Laura Fredricks, says “Emily's absence has left behind a painful sadness that our Family feels each and every day." As holidays approach, wrapping gifts and engaging in family traditions is a painful reminder of their daughter’s death. Attending extended family functions forces Laura to consider the future Emily will never have. The Fredricks family finds comfort in talking about Emily with their friends, but as COVID has locked down parts of the country, friends are hard to meet with and the isolation has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health.

The pain of losing Emily drives Laura and Rich Fredricks to advocate for safer trucking regulations. They reached an agreement with the company involved in Emily’s crash where the company would donate money to safety efforts each year for the five years following the crash that killed Emily. Laura and Rich are working with their representatives, local groups, and nonprofits, such as Families for Safe Streets, Vision Zero City Initiative, and the Institute for Safer Trucking, in order to make sure that what happened to their daughter will not happen again.

While the driver was charged with homicide by vehicle, involuntary manslaughter and recklessly endangering another human being, those charges were dismissed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in August of 2022. "Emily was our sunshine, and this ruling makes it seems that her life did not matter at all." The Fredricks' know there is much work to do in how those who use their vehicles to kill or seriously injure loved ones are criminally charged, held accountable, and face the consequences of their actions.