Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

San Francisco, even more so than many other cities in California including Los Angeles, has become more and more a city of bike riders.  Cyclists are beginning to commute more to work and home in the “City by the Bay” but, unfortunately, aggressive bike riding recently led to the death of a pedestrian and caused an fairly uncommon scenario, namely, a biker being charged with vehicular manslaughter.

On the morning of March 29th, a software developer by the name of Chris Bucchere was commuting to work on his bike. As he approached the intersection in an area of the city used by many pedestrians, he ran through a red light and struck a 71 year-old man attempting to cross the street.  Nearby surveillance cameras caught the incident on tape allowing officials to estimate the cyclist’s speed at approximately 35 miles per hour or more. A story in the New York Times attributed statements to the cyclist as follows: “I laid it down and just plowed through the crosswalk in the least crowded place I could find.”  In a fairly unprecedented move, the bike rider was later charged and entered a plea agreement on criminal charges of vehicular manslaughter.

What Can This Incident Teach Us About The Laws As They Relate to Bicycles and Persons Traveling on Foot?