bay area cycling news

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 .

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...

It seems news agencies are digging down into some of the news about Gabriel Vera, the driver of the big-rig who collided with cyclist Lauren Ward. The Contra Costa Times is now reporting that a civil wrongful death suit was settled against Vera for $1.5 million from the 2007 Santa Cruz death of John Myslin, the other cyclist-death accident that Vera was involved in. [demolition company] Randazzo [Enterprises] and Vera agreed to contribute insurance money in exchange for release of all claims and a dismissal of the lawsuit, according to the May 2008 civil case in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. Read more at the Contra Costa Times website .

Palo Alto Online is reporting that a cyclist was hit by a car and injured on El Camino Way in Palo Alto: The adult male was transported to a local hospital after the collision, which occurred in front of Palo Alto Commons senior housing in the 4000 block of El Camino Way , Battalion Chief Geo Blackshire said. Read (not much) more on their website .

It seems that the truck driver in the November 4 fatal collision with cyclist Lauren Ward was also involved in another cyclist getting killed in Santa Cruz in August 2007. On Aug. 7, 2007, Vera's big rig and cyclist John Myslin, a 25-year-old high school teacher, collided at the intersection of Mission and Bay streets in Santa Cruz. An investigation concluded that the popular Pacific Collegiate School teacher was at fault and police advised the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's Office not to file charges against Vera. Police have yet to release a final statement on the November 4 crash because a lack of eyewitnesses is making the analysis difficult. If you have any information regarding the November 4 crash, please call CHP investigators at 650-369-6261. Read more at the Palo Alto Daily News (on Mercury News' website).