DA announcing "major development" in Barbara Friedes death investigation

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Just over a week after Children's Hospital of Philadelphia doctor Barbara Friedes was hit and killed while riding her bike in Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner plans to provide a "significant" update on the investigation into her death.

Krasner's office will make that announcement at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 25.

Friedes, a chief resident at CHOP, was riding in the designated westbound bike lane on Spruce Street on July 17 when she was hit by a 68-year-old man , also driving west on Spruce, near 18th Street.

Friedes suffered "severe head trauma," according to police, and was taken to Jefferson University Hospital where she died a short time later. She was 30 years old.

"Barbara was a beacon of light," Dr. Jeanine Ronan, attending physician and program director of the Pediatrics Residency Program, said in part in a statement shared with CBS News Philadelphia. "She was loved by so many and embodied kindness, strength and a deep compassion for all who crossed her path."

According to the Philadelphia Parking Authority, Friedes was the first cyclist death reported in the city in 2024.

Advocates call for more bike lane protections

In the wake of Friedes' death, advocates said Spruce Street has one of the most popular bike lanes in the city, but it's too dangerous for cyclists .

Spruce is a one-way, one-lane street running east to west. The parking lane is to the right of the lane of traffic. To the left of the road is a small buffer lane, and a bike lane is on the far left next to the sidewalk. Advocates say the buffer lane is not enough to protect people on bikes.

"If there was a concrete barrier between the driver and Barbara yesterday, Barbara would be alive today," said Nicole Brunet, policy director with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia .

The Bicycle Coalition is calling on city leaders to:

• Fully protect the Spruce and Pine streets bike lanes and other protected bike lanes throughout the city with permanent concrete barriers
• End the legacy practice of allowing parking in bike lanes on weekends
• Replace all "No Parking" signage with "No Stopping" signage along protected bike lanes

The family of Emily Fredricks , a 24-year-old pastry chef who was hit and killed by a sanitation truck while riding her bike to work in 2017, went to Harrisburg in June to advocate for more parking-separated bike lanes (PSBLs). Those PSBLs allow parked cars to serve as a barrier between the bike lane and the lane of traffic.

Still, CBS News Philadelphia found car after car blocking bike lanes in the city, oftentimes forcing cyclists into traffic.

Most signs say "no parking" as opposed to "no stopping" which means drivers can legally block the lane for up to twenty minutes before being ticketed. Some residents along Spruce Street said they need to park there at least for a short time to drop off items or unload groceries.

Last year, the Philadelphia Parking Authority issued 3,887 tickets to bike lane violators . That's roughly triple the amount issued each of the previous two years.

Still, an investigation found numerous cars parked for more than 20 minutes and up to 75 minutes with no driver inside.