bay area cycling news

Hours after the CHP release a report on how Lauren Ward allegedly biked into a big rig, her family is filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the big rig driver, Gabriel Manzur Vera, and his company, Randazzo Enterprises Inc. “Lauren was an experienced cyclist who was strong and confident on her bike, knew the rules of the road and advocated for bicycle safety. While the CHP was conducting its investigation, we brought in scientists and other experts to evaluate the circumstances surrounding Lauren’s tragic death, and the team disagrees with the CHP’s conclusions as to the cause. As a result, Bob and the Ward children would like a jury to hear the evidence and decide,” said John Feder of Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & McGuinn. Read more on the family's press release .

The Palo Alto Daily News (hosted by Mercury News) is covering last night's CHP report detailing Lauren Ward's fatal accident with a big rig on November 4. According to a redacted CHP report released Monday night, Vera was driving his truck west on Alpine Road in the right lane between 10 and 15 mph at about 3:40 p.m. and Ward was to the immediate left of the vehicle sharing the lane. Ward, who was riding at an unknown speed, "unsafely turned" her Trek bicycle and fell to her right side, the report states. ... The trucker told the CHP the collision happened as he was moving from the right westbound lane into a lane that turned right onto southbound Interstate Highway 280. Vera told the CHP he had his right blinker on and was looking at his right rear view mirror, but when he looked forward he heard a "bump." It strikes me that short of swerving across the entire lane, even an "unsafe turn" causing a crash means that the driver was *way* too close to