National Night Out advocates for road safety 5 years after Colorado bicyclist was killed in hit-and-run
Lisa Vogel spent her Sunday advocating for her husband Chuck Vogel, who was killed five years ago.
"He was an avid cyclist. Our whole family has been," said Lisa. "He was out riding his bike early morning, July 4th of 2019, and he was killed by a hit-and-run driver."
The driver was eventually tracked down out of state and arrested before pleading guilty to the crime, but Lisa says she needed to do more to keep her husband's memory alive.
"Never underestimate the power of one voice. I'm one voice, and I've been able to spread the message in multiple areas, in multiple opportunities," said Lisa.
On Sunday, she was at O'Brien Park in Parker along with firefighters, police officers and a group of high school students for National Night Out.
It was organized by the students to raise awareness about driving safety and teach people how deadly cars can be if you drive carelessly.
"We want to make sure our community stays safe and happy and healthy," said Ashlyn Burgess, a senior at Chaparral High School.
She says she and her peers know what it's like to lose someone to a crash.
"We've had a couple of people in our community passed away from being in car crashes. We've had one recently named Destiny Zimmerman. She is near and dear to our community, our hearts," said Burgess.
She says it's important for every driver, regardless of their experience level, to drive safely.
"Knowing somebody's precious life had been lost when they were going to go to college or going to go do something amazing, and they had so much life left to live. It's really a difficult thing to process and really something that could have been prevented," said Burgess.
Lisa knows that all too well and she's glad that she can help this group of young men and women remind the community to be safe behind the wheel.
"Oh they're amazing," said Lisa.
