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Tragically another cyclist is dead after being run over by a San Francisco Muni bus this past Friday, October 18, 2013. The fatal bicycle crash, occurring at 8:40pm, shut down the streets surrounding the Bryant and Division intersection. Although little is currently known of the events surrounding the accident, the bicyclist has been identified as an older Asian male, and the bus was the 27-Bryant, carrying approximately three dozen passengers. No further information has been released by the San Francisco Police Department.

This most recent bicycle death signifies the fourth bicycle fatality in San Francisco this year, after the deaths of Diane SullivanDylan Mitchell, and Amelie Le Moullac.

This story comes as yet another stark reminder that the City, though named as a bicycle friendly city and home to many civic improvements, is a dangerous place to ride a bicycle. With traffic increasing due to the ongoing BART strike, guaranteed congestion should mean heightened awareness for both bicycles and motorists. Bicyclists share the very much the same rights and responsibilities as automobiles and it is important that we respect them as such. I regard this most recent bicycle death as another symptom that we are in the midst of a bicycle accident epidemic. I know how the City is supposed to train its MUNI drivers, and this includes very stringent guidelines for the safe interaction between MUNI buses and bicyclists. Obviously, these stringent standards, set by the City of San Francisco itself, are not being followed by the operators. Another bicyclist is dead and I am wondering just how well the MUNI is training the drivers, and how so many cyclists are being killed in this bicycle friendly city?

NOVEMBER 14th: 6:00 p.m. Public memorial for Cheng Jin Lai at  1008 Mission St. His family and Supervisor Jane Kim will be there as well as members from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

 

Hello, I’m Claude Wyle, a bicycle accident attorney. Have an idea for a topic you’d like to see covered here? Feel free to contact me: cwyle@ccwlawyers.com or visit www.CCWLawyers.com.

3 Comments

  1. Gravatar for free opinion
    free opinion

    sure, cyclist shoud be train too. Of course they need to be respect as suche on the streets and that means they need to respect the law too, which a big majority they don't, they do whatever they want and because it will always blame the driver, they think they can get away with everything. Oh you forgot the one that kill an old man with his bycicle? oh that is why we should think bad of all cyclists? he did not even show any remorse. What do you anwers to that. You being a lawyer and reading what you have write makes me sick, you can not generalize people, companies or critize anybody and take side if you are a lawyer.

  2. Claude Wyle

    Thanks for your comment, which I appreciate.

    Please note that as an attorney and as a blogger I am not required to be neutral and I am never neutral on the subject of safety. No one who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area would be surprised if I question why we have so many MUNI related injuries and so many MUNI related bicycle injuries and fatalities.

    I am not generalizing and saying that all MUNI operators are bad, and I do not believe that to be the case. However, as conscious community members, we should always pay attention to collisions and try to learn from these collisions to help us to prevent future harm. If we learn what is causing collisions then we can perhaps help prevent collisions and injuries.

    And we should always be free to question if the powers that be are doing their job when we learn of failures in the system. And I would like to know why you would compare this bicyclist who was killed by a MUNI bus to another bicyclist who was accused of killing a pedestrian? Are all bicyclists now branded as bad because of one incident?

    You seem to feel that the majority of bicyclists flaunt the traffic rules, yet you are criticizing me as condemning all MUNI drivers. You are entitled to your opinion, however statistics do show that the majority of bicycle riders who are injured were not at fault for their injuries.

    I apologize if I have offended you in any way for asking questions that I think need to be asked. You have my very best wishes,

    Claude

  3. Claude Wyle

    Please note that there will be a public memorial this evening for Cheng Jin Lai, the bicyclist that was killed. 6 p.m. today at 1008 Mission St

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