[PREV - CYCLING_EVILLE] [TOP]
October 14-19, 2013
A case recently in the news in San Francisco:
a cyclist killed a pedestrian at the
intersection of Castro and Market.
Cyclist-pedestrian fatalities are
thankfully rare, though they do happen,
and I don't think I've ever heard of a While there are peds capable of
case where it would make any sense to staggering out into the street
regard the pedestrian as at fault. in front of a cyclist, usually
the cyclist can take evasive
For a cyclist to hit a pedestrian action without much trouble.
hard enough to cause serious
injury, they need to be doing
something seriously reckless--
Like buzzing at high-speed through
a cross-walk against a light.
That's what the cyclist was doing at Castro & Market,
and much as I like to try to find the cyclist's side of
the story, much as any cyclist who's been paying
attention to the way things get reported tries to do that,
none of us have been willing to step up in this case.
Market
Castro St \ \ St
(steep hill \ \ ' '
the cyclist \ \ ' '
sped down) \ \ ' '
\ \ ' '
\ \ ' '
\ `' '
' .___________.
' P.___________17th St.
' *|
' ' | |
' ' | | Castro P -- parklet
' ' | | Theater
' ' | |
' ' | | * -- point of
' ' | | collison
'
' Castro St
(flat section)
The reasoning goes something like this:
o Well, okay, the guy was bombing downhill
pretty fast-- maybe that's not great, but
you can see how that happens.
o He was then suprised by a light changing
at the bottom of the hill, and perhaps was
unable to stop for that-- that's also not
great, but you know, it's not like the
lights are timed with bike brakes in mind. (And cars run fresh
reds all the time.)
o He then continued moving at high speed
through this very wide intersection,
without attempting to brake or turn, One of the things that
barreling toward one of the most bothers me about this:
popular cross-walks in town. if I thought I was going to
have trouble stopping in
By that point he's lost every cyclist time, I would've done an
in the audience. He's lucky he only evasive turn down Market
killed one person. Street
Note though: 17th St,
It's very hard to get his which also merges at
behavior to make sense, though this intersection,
there is this one report I've isn't an option:
heard that claims that he was currently it's blocked
running some sort of performance off with a parklet.
monitoring app, i.e. he really
was literally racing, trying to An interesting thought: the
establish bragging rights with a best evasive move might
quick transit cross-town. have been a turn to the
right, on the far side of
My guess is that he was hoping the intersection, going the
that he could slip through the wrong way in the oncoming
cross-walk ahead of the wavefront traffic lane. A bike can
of pedestrians crossing. get away with a move like
that, slipping into the slot
The story he told-- he was between the waiting cars
posting on the net about this, and the parked ones--
shortly after it happened presuming there's no other
(just in case you weren't bike there, coming the
already convinced he was an other way--
idiot...)-- was that when he
realized he was going to hit But there's a strong
the pedestrians he "aimed for psychological barrier
a thin spot" in the crowd, and against that kind of
"laid it down" (slammed on the move. You can't blame
brakes and skidded sideways, the guy if he didn't
lying down on the ground): he see that solution
did indeed hit some people, (though the actual
including an older guy in his trouble is he doesn't
70s who was mortally injured. seem to have looked for
any solution that
involved slowing down).
His post was actually a really
interesting piece of writing.
No "New Yorker" short story
could do a better job of
capturing psychological (Some people seem to assume that
transference and denial: he this older guy must've been
realizes he's hit someone, moving slowly-- I suggest the
and is trying not to think opposite. I know an SF citizen
about it, instead he's much older than that who
focused on the sight of his habitually moves faster than most
own bike helmet lying crushed people reading this, and I would
on the ground. guess that this guy was a similar
fellow: he was leading the pack
There's a popular reading in the cross-walk, and thus he was
of this piece that tries right in the "thin spot" that the
to use it to show how bad cyclist was originally hoping to
his attitude was, but to race through.)
me it just sounds concussed
and disoriented.
All you need to know
about his bad attitude is
the way he was riding.
The cyclist in this case was
indeed convicted, but with
sentence suspended-- myself
I would've said he deserved (But then, you don't often hear
some actual jail time. about reckless car drivers
getting prison sentences, do you?)
Specifically: he
pled guilty to A small consolation: I hear
felony manslaughter, through the grapevine that he
and was sentenced to feels like he's completely
1000 hours of ruined his life with this
community service. episode, and will probably
need to leave San Francisco.
The prosecutor did some Though if I understand
annoying posturing about the way parole works,
sending a message to cyclists he may be forced to
who need to learn they're not hang around for awhile.
above the rules.
Why don't we send a message
about reckless, dangerous
behavior in general, whether
cyclists are involved?
And why don't we prioritize
enforcement based on the likely
hazards of some reckless behavior,
and go after the guys in the
heaviest, most dangerous vehicles?
This incident has brought out the usual
anti-bike crowd in force, as such things
often do.
When a car driver does something
stupid and nasty, it's not taken as
representative of all car drivers...
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