Mother of cyclist killed in collision wants Denver to do more to make streets safer

Cindy Stepp says her daughter Ainslie O'Neil was outdoorsy like the rest of their family.

"She was an amazing, fun human being," Stepp said. "We were active. We were outside all the time."

As an adult, she cycled nearly everywhere she went. Cindy remembers that in December 2022, she gave her daughter a gentle reminder.

"I remember saying to her, 'Just be careful out there. Pay attention,' and she said, 'I can be careful. I do pay attention,'" said Stepp.

Just a week later Ainslie was hit and killed by a car at West 35th and Federal Boulevard.

Her death happened five years after Denver launched Vision Zero; vowing to decrease fatalities on their streets by 2030.

"Since then, traffic fatalities have only increased across our city each year, with 2021 and 2022, each seeing 84 people killed on our streets. And we're already on track to have. Another record-breaking year," said Molly McKinley the Policy Director for The Denver Streets Partnership.

Wednesday the City recommitted to Vision Zero but Thursday critics and Cindy gathered on the corner where Ainslie was killed to say it isn't enough.

"The transformational changes needed to meet the goal of Vision Zero require significant funding and leadership who is willing to stay the course, especially when things get challenging," said McKinley

Cindy says she thinks it will take more than infrastructure and studies to prevent another death, and even though she would rather be anywhere but this corner, she says she does it for Ainslie.

"I'm doing things that are stretching me and are uncomfortable, and I'm doing them to honor my daughter," said Stepp.

The Denver Streets Partnership and their partners say they hope the new Denver City Council and mayor take this issue more seriously.