Rita Walter
Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists

Fundraising Director
The Joann Realmonte Coalition

Rita Walter is an active member and Outreach Director for the Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists. Rita works with cyclists who have been injured and assists families of cyclists who have been killed in car/bike crashes. Rita’s duties include hospital visitations, attending funerals, and incident review.  Rita gathers statistical data and coordinates legal, educational, insurance and support services for victims. 

Rita joined Stay Alive Arizona in the spring of 2006 when she participated in the annual Stay Alive Arizona Teen Leadership Retreat at Saguaro Ranch.  Rita participated in her first Stay Alive Arizona Live Broadcast in April 2007, sharing her personal loss with over 2400 students.

Rita’s husband, Jack Carney, was an enthusiastic bicyclist.  On October 16, 2005, Jack was riding his bicycle when a teen driver ended his life.  Jack was 63 years old; the driver was 19.  In a sense, the young driver’s life also ended that day in October. 

Rita is dedicated to coordinating with the community to increase driver awareness and to promote bicycling safety.  Rita believes to the only way to make a difference is to get involved – even if that involvement affects only one other life.  Rita believes that if the Stay Alive Arizona efforts spares only one family from a lifetime of loss and grief; if it saves only one student from living with the pain of taking another’s life, the program will have made a difference.

Since joining Stay Alive Arizona, Rita has worked to solicit funding so the Coalition can continue to work with student groups to prevent teen driving crashes and fatalities.