The way Luke Hoffman handled a brush with death says a lot about how he approaches life.
Hoffman is director of the Iowa Bicycle Coalition, a statewide assemblage of cycling interests whose agenda for 2025 is topped by an all-out push to win passage of long-sought legislation requiring that drivers' use of communications devices like cellphones be hands-free while they're at the wheel. The goal: reining in distracted driving, the cause of an average of nine fatal accidents a day in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Which makes what happened to Hoffman last June particularly ironic.
Hoffman, one of the Des Moines Register's 15 People to Watch in 2025, was on the route inspection pre-ride for the 2024 edition of the Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, preparing to climb a hill 19 miles outside Knoxville. He was hugging the white line on the right edge of a county road when he heard a vehicle coming up behind him.
Written by
Bill Steiden of the Des Moines Register
Photo: Cody Scanlan/The Register