The parents of Massachusetts are pushing on safe streets, youth programs after the tragic death of the daughter

Mary Beth Ellis misses her daughter Sidney Mae Olson, a young girl who found joy in the little things: flowers, rainbows, books, art and an active part of the community.

Ellis remembers that Sidney selected the “perfect flower” to the desk of her father on May 8, 2023. Just a day later, Sidney died at the age of 5 when the driver of a tractor -trailer, who struck and killed the girl who had a full life in front of him at a busy intersection in the city center in the city center.

Sidney and a family member had crossed a zebra crossing on the way to art lessons, and the walk sign showed that it was still safe to cross.

Friday was two years since the tragedy, and Ellis will celebrate her second Mother's Day without Sidney on Sunday. She and her husband Eric Olson are on the mission to honor her daughter's legacy.

“The most difficult thing for me is that every day removes us from the days with SID. It is so bitter,” said Ellis on Saturday in an Andover recreation complex, in which she and her husband Hope Hope one day have a bicycle park in Sidney's name with a child-friendly pumping pathways and mountain bike skills in cooperation with the city with the city.

“As a parent, I am still talking about her,” added Ellis, “preparing the good memories, think of all the funny times we had together as a family.”

The 47-year-old mother, a former professional endurance athlete who has the world's best ranking in the Ironman in the world of the world, showed her and her husband a free library in honor of Sidney.

Their efforts to carry out their daughter's active and congregation -related spirit through “Sidney's rainbow”, a fund that promotes their work have extensive.

Ellis and her husband continue a campaign entitled “Freedom to Move”, which has two sides: standing for technology, the streets and vehicles open for all people safer and access to secure activities for children.

“What we have learned on the way is that the technologies that Sids have saved life and save a lot more life and create more secure communities could exist,” Eric Olson told the Herald.

Immediate legal efforts led to a number of improvements in road safety in the city of Merrimack Valley, including changing the traffic signals at the intersection, at which Sidney was killed in an “exclusive pedestrian phase”.

This means that traffic is stopped in all directions when the Walk signs are switched on. At the time of the tragedy, the vehicles were allowed to turn over a crosswalk while a walker was displayed.

Olson traveled to Washington, DC last May, to achieve an advocacy event with the National Safety Council, and urged guidelines and measures to make streets throughout the country safer. The opportunity, he said, opened his eyes for how technology is the “only way” to change road behavior.

Olson follows exactly that governor Maura Healey is included in her budget proposal for the 2026 financial year, which contains provisions for legalizing the use of automated speed cameras in Massachusetts. He said the equipment in other countries reduced deaths.

An investigation of the crash, in which Sidney was killed, was not to blame, the district prosecutor of Essex County, Paul Tucker, said in November 2023.

The driver had no criminal charges. The examination showed that the driver stopped at the intersection and that Sidney did not drive on the crossbast cross on her scooter.

Sidneys Rainbows also works with the national group, families for safe roads, to create a state chapter, resources and the opportunity for families affected by tragedies on the street for safe roads.

Ellis, the fund's executive director, continues to lead Sidney's Rainbow runner, a program that is inspired by the “love of running and nature of her daughter”. Children aged 5 to 13 have discovered their own passion for things that made Sidney smile, their parents said.

This summer the Fund Track race is organizing for all community members

The day before Sidney's death, Eric Olson remembers published when his daughter was excited to publish butterflies that her class had slipped.

“She would come home from school,” he said of Sidney, “and she had this little sentence she would say” You will think that is crazy, but these little things were always hatched like the butterflies. “

When the husband and the wife put up with her daughter's life and put out her legacy, her 4-year-old son Ellis played in the rain, sprayed in puddles and enjoyed the little things, just like his older sister.

“One of my most beautiful memories is that we would be in our room on the other side of the hall and only hear you hear talking after we have put her,” said Mary Beth Ellis. “There is nothing better than watching how your children connect and play.”

“She is still part of our lives,” added the mother, “and I think she will be a large part of our lives forever.”

Originally published: May 10, 2025 at 17:57 PM Edt