Posted on 04/25/2012 6:26:25 PM PDT by Theoria
San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón is preparing to file felony vehicular manslaughter charges against Chris Bucchere, the bicyclist who fatally struck a 71-year-old pedestrian in the Castro district last month.
The felony charge - which could result in a 16-month sentence for Bucchere if he is convicted - is a sharp contrast to the misdemeanor count prosecutors filed in a case last year in which a bicyclist struck and killed a woman along the Embarcadero.
The difference this time is prosecutors' conclusion that Bucchere, 35, was grossly negligent in his riding before he ran into Sutchi Hui in a crosswalk at Market and Castro streets March 29.
"I think the evidence is very strong," said one source inside the D.A.'s office, who asked not to be named while the charges are still pending.
The problem wasn't that Bucchere ran a red light - prosecutors think the light was yellow when he rode into the intersection heading south.
But before that, a motorist reported seeing Bucchere fly through several red lights and stop signs along Divisadero Street leading up to the intersection, said police Capt. Denis O'Leary, head of the hit-and-run detail that investigated the collision.
Also, a tracker on Bucchere's bike allegedly showed he was riding faster than 35 mph in a 25-mph zone.
Finally, a video taken from a surveillance camera at 17th and Market streets reportedly showed a hunched-over Bucchere speeding through the intersection, making little or no attempt to stop before hitting Hui on the far side.
"It really shows his recklessness," O'Leary said.
In short, prosecutors will argue that - light or no light - Bucchere was traveling at an unsafe speed and failed to yield to Hui in the crosswalk.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
I walk to work on sidewalks. I have had many close calls with bikes coming up behind me on the sidewalk. You can’t hear them coming. If I altered my path by a few inches I would have had serious injuries. Cops should go after those people who ride bikes on sidewalks.
I've heard of creative writing. You may have majored in creative reading. Or you've been smoking some of that 'cuban leaf'.
In the Tour de France, coming down out of the Alps, they hit 70, and those ain't straight roads. They're negotiating curves.
54 on a 20 lb bike feels about like 120 on a motorcyle. I've done both. White knuckles.
I was at a stop light in Livermore Calif. today..
A male Bicyclist shot through the intersection like a rocket! He could have never stopped if someone stepped out in front of him.
I wanted to throw a rock at him.
What do you mean? Just the cyclists?
I live in CT and we have the Lance wanna-be’s on our road all of the time because it’s a winding country road, not much traffic.
Last summer, we were cooking our steak dinner on an apple wood fire, and a group of them came by and started yelling at us about the smoke. “thanx for burning your trash, my lungs really appreciate it” one guy said....another one said something about us recycling our trash instead of burning it...
What a bunch of elitist dumb**s snobs!
And it's all over the Bay Area. This place has really become Sodom and Gomorrah, and it has nothing to do with homosexuality. It has to do with a breathtakingly heartless cruelty that has pervading the entire area, turning people into reptiles. It's the X-Files for real.
That's what happens when a community abandons God. It's hard to believe that the first building in San Francisco was a house of worship.
Mission San Francisco de Asís
DH has done well over 55 mph coming down mountain passes. 30 mph or q little more on the flat is not that remarkable for a seasoned cyclist
The ones that go really fast are like the downhill skiers. Fearless. Willing to risk broken bones, or worse.
I don’t know DH top speed and don’t want to. I think you have to be more than a little crazy to pedal hard while riding down a mountain pass.....and he talks about being slow compared to some of the lower level pros he rides with from time to time....
Incidentally the rudeness goes both ways. He rides by all traffic laws and in appropriate lanes and has had cars try to run him off the road on multiple occasions just to see if they can make him crash
Me too. 54.5mph is my personal record. Now, I'll admit a lot of the cyclists in big cities are fools, been there done that, bought the t-shirt. But I have to posit those are the exception. I have been riding in Dallas for nearly 40 years, I know hundreds of people who ride a lot. We had a gal get run down on the Katy Trail a year ago. Knocked down and killed from the fall. I still wonder how fast the guy who hit her was going. That is a very congested trail.
Personally, I always do what I can to be a good citizen, I expect the peds with their iPods to turn right in front of me so I do what I can not to run over anybody. It ain't always easy but I have a pretty good record so far.
The bicyclists here are really a piece of work. I saw one punch through a car windshield once for no reason that I could see.
There’s also the Critical Mass where they take over the streets for god only knows what reason.
People are conditioned to watch out for the *big things* (cars), not the little things.
I had a Harley driver give me the evil eye in a parking lot last year. I almost pulled out in front of him, because I lost him in the front post of windshield. All I could do was throw up my hands and say "Sorry! Sorry!" It happens.
I think I have as well. No speedometer, but passing cars in an area I drove that fast.
How to handle 'Critical Mass' bicyclers, My experience at Bio 2004:To: liberallyconservative
Oh, OK...
After moving less than half a block in 20 minutes (one block away from from Moscone), a bunch of bicyclists started riding between the cars, leader with a bull horn, shouting something about taking over the streets.
He had the horn pointed back wards so I didn't hear him coming. Durn! he got away!
However, I popped my door open in front of the third or so cyclist in the string. (I did look first to make sure he had room to stop).
He screams "You effin' clymer!!!" (OK, I cleaned it up a little, so sue me...)
I looked up smiled sweetly and said "That makes two of us..."
Totally messed them up. They had to stop and regroup. His buds split leaving him with two young "ladies" to protect him from the mean man in the car. Boo fricking hoo
I closed the door and he started to pass by and continued to berate me. When he was adjacent to the door I popped it open at him, not to hit him, but to persuade him to move along.
He darn near fell off his bike trying to dodge me.
"We're going to call 911!!!"
"Don't bother, I'll call for you" which I did. (The line was busy)
He and the two chicks decided that it was past their collective bedtimes or something and split.
Felt GOOD...
3,573 posted on 06/08/2004 5:57:17 PM PDT by null and void
I've run across some of them, even the older, professional types, heading up the Mt. Lemmon highway. Riding three abreast, carrying on their conversation, oblivious to the cars piling up behind them. I'd look at the drivers, shrug my shoulders "I'm not with them! I'm not with them!" Educated, intelligent idiots, creating road rage.
Used to be you could find posts of substance, now all we have are beatings,and some rubbish about what the Obama crew is doing or not doing.
Is news so scarce or have we lost the high ground, I hate to think that Drudge is beginning to look good.
I have no reason to doubt your sincerity or your word but in all my years of driving the only "offense" I've ever seen by motorists against a cyclist is driving too close - and even that was unavoidable. I have never seen a motorist try to run down a bike.
On the other hand I have witnessed innumerable acts by cyclists against motorists, pedestrians, and other cyclists. Failure to yield, failure to signal, running lights and stop signs, as well as striking cars and pedestrians. I know that they are out-gunned when it comes to comparisons of sheer kinetic energy, but all the more reason to be wary instead of belligerent.
I have tried to preach to my fellow cyclists about being morons.
Some of them get it. Some don’t. Most of my pals are not fools. They recognize the futility of trying to resist a two ton motor vehicle piloted by someone with a bad attitude and a filthy mouth.
Personally, I try to avoid pissing off the people in cars. They may not run me down but the next person they encounter on a twenty pound steed is gonna have a bad day when we do stupid stuff.
Stay save FV. Watch yer six.
I have. I've been the guy on the bike who was assaulted, and I wasn't doing squat. Riding down the bleeding sidewalk and minding my own bidnezz.
Oh yeah, it happens. A lot. Not to be disrespectful, but I've been there. That is one of the reasons I got my CHL.
I ain't making no excuses for richardheads on bikes, but we got no chance against a car, even a Prius. That's why I respect the cars, I don't need any more crashes resulting in surgeries and extended recovery times.
We ain't all morons, some of us are just like y'all.
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