Category Archives: Bike Safety

San Diego bicycle safety best practices and California bike law information for help understanding the rules of the road for bikes.

Driver’s Tweets Lead to Murder Charge in California Bike Accident

Based on his tweets and driving history, charges against a California man were upgraded from manslaughter to murder in a bicycle accident, according to NPR. The man, 18, allegedly lost control of his 2004 Dodge Neon when it struck a woman, 58, and her husband, 57, riding their bikes in Pleasanton, Calif. on June 9. The collision killed the woman and injured her husband, who suffered a broken leg in the wreck. According to a report in The San Francisco Chronicle about the accident, the driver had been traveling 83 mph in a 40 mph zone, lost control and crashed into the couple, who had been riding in a bike lane alongside Foothill Road. The driver stopped and gave a statement to police after the accident, and once they completed their investigation in late July, he was arrested on felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving. After an initial…
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One Killed, Two Injured in Pendleton Cycling Accident

A North County Transit District bus struck and killed Udo Heinz and injured two other cyclists while they were riding through Camp Pendleton. The crash occurred about 1 p.m. on August 4. The cyclists were traveling on Stuart Mesa, a route for cyclists who are traveling to and from Orange County. Heinz, 43, was a mechanical engineer working as vice president of commercial products for TUV Rheinland Group, an engineering firm in Cologne Germany. According the Ed Buice, spokesperson for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which is investigating the accident, the bus driver tried to pass the cyclists, all civilians, near the Cook Crossing, not far from the base’s Stuart Mesa housing area. The driver crossed into the northbound lane before veering back into the southbound lane, hitting the cyclists. The second cyclist was John Edwards, a longtime wallpaper hanger. He suffered severe permanent injuries in the accident. According to…
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CEO of Connect Injured In Bicycle Accident

On July 21, Duane Roth, CEO of Connect, suffered a head injury in a bicycle accident, according to the Daily Transcript. Roth, 63, is an experienced rider and was wearing a bicycle helmet, according to reports. The cause of the accident is unknown. “He was on a bicycle ride with several other people. He headed off the road and got a head injury,” said Ted Roth, Duane’s brother. Whatever caused Roth’s accident, it ended with him hitting a rock embankment near Lake Cuyamaca. The force of the impact was so great that it caused his helmet to break. Roth was taken to UCSD Medical Center by helicopter, where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure on his brain by removing a piece of his skull. After his surgery, Roth was placed in the ICU in a medically induced coma. “He will probably be in the ICU for four or five days,”…
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