🚀 go-pugleaf

On 8/12/2011 7:12 AM, jcdill wrote:
> On 15/07/11 2:31 PM, jcdill wrote:
>> <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/15/BAUL1KB1PH.DTL&tsp=1>
>>
>>
>> Briefly: Bicyclist, northbound on Embarcadero, runs a red light and
>> plows into a 60 year old woman who was crossing in the cross walk. She
>> suffered a very serious life-threatening head injury.
>
> For those who haven't heard, the pedestrian died this week.
>
> jc
>

As a result of this bicycle homicide, someone finally lit a fire under 
the SFPD. Read this article in SFGate.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/12/BALM1KMPSE.DTL

Now if we could only get the heat turned up higher under the SFPD, 
perhaps the bicycle problem would completely disappear in the city.

Jonz

In case the URL does not work the article is posted below. I 
particularly enjoyed the typically clueless comments attributed to 
bicyclist Amin Ariana.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bicyclists accustomed to speeding through red lights 
got a surprise Friday on San Francisco's Market Street - a ticket.
A recent spike in accidents involving pedestrians prompted police to 
step up traffic law enforcement at Market and Fifth, where walkers, cars 
and bikes come together in droves. Officers said they weren't singling 
out bicyclists, but riders made up the bulk of those who were stopped 
Friday morning.

Police announced the stepped-up enforcement effort after a spate of 
street tragedies, starting with a July 15 incident in which a 
Washington, D.C., woman was fatally injured crossing the Embarcadero at 
Mission Street by a bicyclist who allegedly ran a red light.

Five days later, a cyclist making an illegal left turn was killed by a 
box truck at the corner of Fremont and Mission streets. On Aug. 4, a 
9-year-old boy crossing Mission at New Montgomery Street was struck and 
badly injured, allegedly by a drunken driver.

Officer Eric Balmy, one of five officers patrolling Market and Fifth on 
Friday, said the increased attention is a way to educate the public 
about the rules of the road.

Most of those stopped by the foot-patrol officers were cyclists, though 
the police were able to radio counterparts on motorcycles and in cars 
farther down Market to pull over some vehicles. Over the course of one 
hour, the officers at Fifth cited at least 10 cyclists and spoke to two 
car drivers who were driving illegally in the public transit lane.

Amin Ariana, 31, was stopped for running a red light on his bicycle.

"I didn't think that if there were no pedestrians and no cars, I'd have 
to stop there," he said. "I didn't know I did something wrong."

Officer Albie Esparza, a police spokesman, said cyclists face the same 
repercussions as drivers when they receive citations - they have to go 
to court and pay the same fines.

Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, 
said she supports crackdowns on dangerous riding but that she was told 
some cyclists were cited Friday for minor violations such as not having 
proper reflectors on their bikes.

"We fully support attention to behaviors that are worrisome, but it's a 
worry to me if people are prioritizing issues like that," Shahum said. 
"There's a difference between someone running a red light and someone 
riding without reflectors."

Balmy couldn't say how many citations he and the other officers issued 
Friday but that it was "higher than average."

Officers will continue the stepped-up enforcement at other intersections 
in coming weeks, police said.