O P I N I O N
THE SOAPBOX
Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.
“It’s against the law to run bicycles off the road, even though it’s sometimes very tempting.” Rep. Thomas Walsh, R-Hooksett
By now most of us have heard these comments made by Rep. Walsh on the NH House floor. If you haven’t, search Youtube for “Rep. Walsh on NH House Floor” and you should find a twenty-second clip. [https://youtu.be/p6lG8L-iTrA?si=Uyf-cl4rngOl7qBu]. (To see Walsh’s entire floor speech, go to this URL [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNYB9mNW2m8] then fast forward to time stamp 5:29:45.)
(Some of you may remember Walsh was also the sponsor of a recent failed attempt to tax every single bicycle in the state at $50 per year.)
I am astounded that an elected official would publicly joke about the misfortunes of their constituents. Even more shocking is that this official, Rep. Thomas Walsh of Hooksett, is chairman of the House Transportation Committee. That committee is tasked with considering matters of safety in land transportation.
Rep. Walsh made his comments only a few days after hearing testimony from two NH citizens, seated only feet away from him, who described the injuries they personally suffered after being struck by vehicles. One described her ongoing vision impairment after her head injury.
Walsh said, “It’s sometimes very tempting.” Make no mistake, when someone responds to temptation they are making a conscious choice and acting on conscious intent. Was he really joking about assault, negligent homicide or manslaughter? Because in New Hampshire, an intentional collision with a bicyclist would be treated as a serious violent crime, not a traffic offense. Likely charges would come from New Hampshire’s criminal code.
Was Walsh really making a joke about the little boy in Manchester riding his bike when he was hit by a pickup truck and killed? [https://www.wmur.com/article/manchester-boy-4-was-riding-bicycle-when-he-was-fatally-struck-by-pickup-truck-police-say/34673903]
Was Walsh really making a joke about NH families who have lost loved ones, or those who have suffered debilitating injuries on NH roads at the hands of “tempted” drivers? Here are some examples of what he seemed to be joking about:
Elisabeth Benoit, of Concord, was a 43-year-old mother when she was struck by a vehicle on Loudon Road in Concord. The driver fled the scene, and Benoit later died of her injuries.
A young woman in Conway died after being hit by a pickup truck while riding her bike to work. She was air-lifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock in Lebanon, but her injuries were too severe and she died.
And outside of NH, Regan Cole-Graham, of Playa del Rey, CA, was a 36-year-old mother of two and Google executive when she was killed in February 2026 after being struck from behind during a family bike ride. She was seven months pregnant; both she and her unborn daughter, Ophelia, died.
I have to wonder what other crimes Walsh jokes about, or if he has a history of speaking about human life with such flagrant disregard.
Please join me in calling for Rep. Walsh to clarify his remarks and apologize for his abhorrent statement on the floor of the people’s house.
We need a public hearing to determine:
- were Walsh’s remarks intended to normalize dangerous, even criminal, behavior?
- did his remarks undermine public safety?
- does his attitude interfere with his responsibility to effectively chair the house transportation committee?
- do his remarks warrant censure and/or reprimand?
Jeff Rogers is a member of the board of the Bike Walk Alliance of New Hampshire. The views expressed in this article are his own.
Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Comment below using our DISQUS app. Got issues of your own? Submissions to The Soapbox can be uploaded using our DIY feature here.