Standing on the corner of Richmond and Clearfield Streets last Friday afternoon I was wondering how I could make a story about transportation interesting. I didn’t know what angle I should take or how I could describe the trolleys in a way that hadn’t been done before. Just then it was like someone dropped the perfect transportation story in front of me. Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Two cyclists came zooming around the corner and sped into oncoming traffic on Richmond Street. Seconds later there was a crash and a loud scream and one of the cyclists was lying in the street, unable to move. He rode his bike into the driver’s side mirror of an SUV and was now lying across the yellow lines in the middle of Richmond Street.
I couldn’t believe I had just witnessed such a dramatic accident. People were pouring out into the street and crowding the sidewalk, staring in disbelief. Suddenly I had the perfect story, the perfect angle and more than enough people to interview. After talking to a few people I found out that accidents occur frequently on Richmond Street and we really had been in the right place at the right time to uncover this reoccurring event and write a story. As I witnessed the accident and the aftermath I heard the words we had heard the first week in class echo through my head, “You have to be out looking for a story to find a good story… You need to be out in your neighborhoods observing.” I guess our professors were right.
-Stephanie Hobson and Amy Fuhrmeister, Group 7, Port Richmond
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