U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse joined the parents of 17-year-old cycling phenom Magnus White Wednesday to push for a bill named in his honor.

The Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act of 2024 (H.R. 10347) was initially introduced by Neguse, along with Jill and Michael White, to the 118th Congress on Dec. 10, 2024. The bill, if passed, would expand minimum performance standards to ensure that vehicles’ Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems can detect pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles.

Neguse appeared with the family in a social media video Wednesday to bring the potential bill back into the spotlight — less than a week since the woman charged with the 2023 death of Magnus White was sentenced to four years in prison.

“Fundamentally, this is a bill that sees everyone. The farmworker, the cyclist, the pedestrian — every citizen among us. We owe it to them, and we owe it to Magnus, to do everything we can to save lives,” Neguse said in the video.

White’s death occurred on Highway 119 and North 63rd Street near Gunbarrel on the morning of July 29, 2023, when 24-year-old Yeva Smilianska’s Toyota Matrix slammed into White and his bicycle.

White, a champion cyclist from Boulder, was riding on a paved portion of the road, training for the U.S. national team for mountain biking, when Smilianska crashed into him. White hit the hood of the car before Smilianska’s vehicle continued into a field, eventually striking a fence around 300 feet away.

White was about to sign a contract in Europe and was about to ride with the national team — a dream he had since sixth grade.

Smilianksa’s trial lasted five days in April. Prosecutors argued that the defendant had been drinking and taking drugs, staying up until just hours before the crash. 

She was ultimately found guilty of vehicular homicide and sentenced to four years in prison on Friday — but the case did not mark the end of the White family’s fight to improve the safety of cyclists across the country.

Following the sentencing, the family said they will continue their work with the foundation they started in their son’s honor — The White Line — and attend legislative sessions to fight for harsher penalties for vehicular homicide cases involving pedestrians and cyclists.

They will also be working on the Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act.

“Our son Magnus was doing everything right. He was a champion cyclist, riding in a safe, wide bike lane, and he never stood a chance,” Michael White said in the video. “Since his death, I’ve met too many families living the same nightmare of sudden loss. What’s even harder is knowing that so many of these crashes could have been prevented.”

The bill would compound upon the the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law established in 2021 — and mandated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration last year — that requires AEB systems on all new passenger vehicles by September 2029. 

The Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act would require these systems to detect cyclists and pedestrians.

“I’ve seen this lifesaving tech in action. Automatic Emergency Braking works,” Michael White said. “It can protect road crews, first responders, motorcyclists, kids walking to school, people in wheelchairs — anyone without a car’s armor. And it could have saved our son. The Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act will ensure this technology becomes standard, not optional.”