bay area cycling news

The Menlo Park Patch is reporting that the CHP today updated findings on the November 2010 collision between cyclist Lauren Ward and an 18-wheeler driven by Gabriel Vera of Randazzo Enterprises Inc. After reviewing the data from the initial report, conducting a forensics analysis, and reconstructing the events that transpired that day, CHP Spokesman Art Montiel says their findings have changed. “It has been determined the big rig truck and bicycle came into contact with the left front portion of the truck colliding with the right rear portion of the bicycle, while the bike was still in an upright position,“ Montiel said. Read more on the Menlo Park Patch's site . What's still unclear is whether the CHP will be filing charges against the driver, or whether Lauren was cleared from being at fault for her own death.

SF StreetsBlog is reporting on the collision between 25-year-old Nancy Ho and a delivery truck in SoMa on Wednesday. Nancy Ho of San Francisco was pronounced dead at San Francisco General Hospital shortly before 11 last night. She is the first bicyclist to die from a collision with a vehicle on San Francisco streets this year. San Francisco police said she was traveling eastbound on Mission Street yesterday around 8:04 a.m. when she was hit by a Berkeley Farms truck while making a left turn onto Fremont Street. Lt. Troy Dangerfield said the left turn is prohibited except for buses and taxis, and blamed Ho for causing the crash. Read the article (and the hundreds of comments) on the SF StreetsBlog website .

Police Detective Sal Madrigal said the unidentified driver of a white Volvo was traveling southwest on Oregon Expressway and made a right-hand turn onto Cowper Street when he or she collided with the victim and sped away. Read a bit more on the Palo Alto Online website. If you have information about the hit-and-run, please call the Palo Alto Police Department at 650-329-2413.

Berkeley resident Anthony Michael Martin, a physicist and former professional cyclist who goes by the name of Mike, was possibly riding his bike in the hills of Berkeley or Oakland when he went missing, since his cell phone was found on Saturday by a cyclist on Tunnel Road in Berkeley. The possibility of him passing out on a steep climb is high, friends say, because of his attempts with liquid diets and fasting. If anybody has information on his whereabouts please call the Berkeley Police at 510-981-5900. Read more details at the Berkeley Patch .

56-year-old Timothy Bucher was killed last Wednesday bicycling in Castro Valley near Fairmont Drive and Foothill, when a San Francisco woman didn't notice where she was driving and hit him. The bicyclist, 56-year-old Timothy Bucher, hit his head on the windshield of the car and landed in the roadway, CHP officials said. Bucher was wearing his helmet but still suffered major injuries. He was taken to Eden Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, according to the CHP. Read a few more details at the Pleasanton Weekly .

The Santa Cruz Patch reports that due to community efforts, the burgundy Nissan that was involved in the hit-and-run death of cyclist Zachary Parke on the UC Santa Cruz campus last week was found. "However, they have held back further details while the investigation continues."

A 25 year old bicyclist is the probable victim of a hit-and-run early this morning near the UC Santa Cruz campus on Empire Grade Road. The body was found by a passing cyclist around 8am today. Pieces of debris indicate the the car could be a maroon or burgundy Nissan. From the Santa Cruz Sentinel : Pudge said the driver of a maroon or burgundy Nissan is suspected of hitting the cyclist on Tuesday night or this morning. Pieces of the car's headlight were found at the scene, as well as paint chips, bicycle parts and other debris. ... Law enforcement officers are looking for the car and driver. CHP officer Sarah Jackson said the Nissan likely has a damaged headlight, side mirror, fender or other damaged areas on its front end. Please keep an eye out for a damaged red Nissan and call the CHP if you have any information; 831-622-0511 or 831-796-2160.

In Portola Valley, Mayor Ted Driscoll will be speaking tonight at a Town Council meeting about bicyclist safety, and improving relations between cyclists and motorists, which has been known to be rather tense these past few years as bicycling activity has increased around the Bay Area. Among the significant topics scheduled for the June 8 Portola Valley Town Council meeting, Mayor Ted Driscoll has prepared a 1,000-word analysis on the issue of bicycle safety in town. Mr. Driscoll's object: to engage the council and the public in a discussion leading to a regular forum, perhaps a bicycle committee, for dealing with the issues. The council meets at 7:30 p.m. in the Historic Schoolhouse at 765 Portola Road. The bicycle discussion is the first item on the regular agenda. Read up at the Almanac Online .

An article in the Half Moon Bay Review reminds us all of the impact lots of cycling events can have on a small, rural town. Echoing the complaints of others, PMAC member Rob Skinner stated that Pescadero had little to gain from hosting bike events. At best, cyclists would buy a bite to eat on their way through, Skinner said. At worst, they could be involved in collisions and tie up roads for hours. ... That happened last month when a representative from the Canary Century bike event presented a ride set for Memorial Day weekend to help benefit Stanford Medical Center. PMAC members were irritated by the proposal because it was scheduled for one of the busiest tourist days for the town, and the event had already been forwarded to the county for approval before anyone on the South Coast could provide input. Read more at the HMBReview website .

A few news outlets are reporting that an official bike lane is now being considered for the section of Alpine Road that meets highway 280, where veteran cyclist Lauren Ward was killed last November. The hundreds of westbound bicycles that traverse the Alpine Road intersection every day have been making do without a bike lane. That would change with the implementation of any of four proposed designs now being looked at by the San Mateo County Public Works Department and the California Transportation Department. The four design proposals are detailed on SVBC's website , and you can read more at the Palo Alto Online .

The Mercury News is reporting that a San Jose man, David Garcia, was hit and dragged by a car around 10am Sunday morning near Crucero Drive and Dubert Lane in San Jose. He's now in a coma and the police are looking for the car. Josette Garcia said her brother was bicycling, with no helmet, about 9:30 a.m., home after a trip to Jack's Liquor Store, where his parents had asked him to buy lottery tickets. Apparently, people from an apartment complex near McLaughlin Avenue saw what happened, Josette Garcia said, and pulled her brother out of the street. Police asked anyone with information about this hit-and-run to contact the San Jose Police Department's Traffic Investigation Unit at 408-277-4654.

The newly launched Bay Citizen has an interesting article about cyclist vs car accidents in San Francisco. One September morning last year, Mary Jenn, a San Francisco massage therapist, was riding her bike to work when a police officer who was parked on O’Farrell Street opened the door of his cruiser in her path. ... The police officer was one of 101 drivers to “door” a cyclist in San Francisco over the past two years, according to an analysis by The Bay Citizen of 1,147 bicycle accidents recorded by the San Francisco Police Department during that period. That's from an article about dooring in the city , which references a nicely statistical article cataloguing cyclist vs car accidents up there. Additionally, they're releasing much of the raw data in various formats .

Lauren Ward was killed last November when an eighteen-wheeler collided with her on Alpine Road at highway 280 in western Palo Alto / Los Altos Hills. A month later the CHP concluded that Lauren had made an "unsafe turn" into the big-rig, and that the driver was not at fault, despite having a history of previous accidental deaths . Today, however, the Los Altos Town Crier is reporting that the CHP is reopening the investigation , prompted by "new information" about the accident. The CHP spokesman is careful to not assume anything about the new information, however: "Our original investigation is completed and everything’s still the same (regarding the party found at fault),” [ CHP spokesman Art Montiel ] said. “We don’t know if the additional info will make that change." Read (only a few more) details on the Los Altos Town Crier's website .

Lists are abuzz today with some firsthand reports of cyclists witnessing an elderly gentlemen in a Mercedes drift into the southbound bike lane on Foothill Boulevard just south of Arastradero Road in Palo Alto, hitting a female cyclist. The driver had stopped but the woman was transported to the hospital for severe back pain. At the moment there seem to be no official news articles or police statements. Foothill Boulevard is a very common thoroughfare for cyclist either commuting north and south, or out on lunchtime rides from around the prolific companies in Silicon Valley. The bike lanes are sometimes unmarked but very wide shoulders that usually provide comfort to cyclists who can stay away from the 45mph (and often faster) traffic.

The Santa Cruz City Council is voting today on moving the Pacific Coast Bike Route from Mission Drive to West Cliff Drive. Transportation officials have sought to relocate the route, which is part of an 1,800-mile stretch from British Columbia to Southern California, to share West Cliff’s unparalleled view of Monterey Bay with visiting riders and reduce their risk of collisions with vehicles. Since 2007, two bicyclists have been killed after being struck on Mission Street, which has no bike lanes, and police have recorded three other crashes there since 2009. Read the full reasoning at the Santa Cruz Sentinal .