Articles Posted in Bicycle Accidents

Dominic Loparenza, a 6-year-old Morgan Hill boy, suffered critical head injuries in a bicycle accident. According to an article in the Morgan Hill Times, Dominic was riding his bicycle without a helmet eastbound on Kalana Avenue at Santa Teresa Boulevard when 53-year-old Maria Scanlon, who was driving a Honda Odyssey southbound on Santa Teresa, hit the boy. Officials say in their report that Dominic suddenly made a U-turn into the path of the van.

Dominic is reportedly in critical but stable condition. He suffered a depressed skull fracture, according to California Highway Patrol officials. Investigators also say that alcohol or drugs were not involved in the incident and have not yet filed any charges against Scanlon.

This news report puts the blame for this California bicycle accident on Dominic. But something about the news account of the accident doesn’t add up. The information that the boy made a U-turn in the street in front of the Odyssey has not been attributed to anyone. If independent eyewitnesses and physical evidence (the relative positions of the bike and the car as well as the damage to each of the vehicles) confirm that Dominic did in fact, make a U-turn, I’d buy that story. Even if Dominic did make a U-turn into the path of the van, why didn’t the van stop in time? Why was the van so close that a sudden U-turn did not give the van adequate time to stop or change direction?
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A Rialto auto accident on the 200 block of Willow Ave. near Rialto Ave., caused by a speeding drunk driver in a Honda Sport Utility Vehicle has killed a 2-year-old girl and seriously wounded her family, according to a news article in The Daily Bulletin.

Phelan resident Rolando Astorga, 27-years-old was intoxicated when he hit the Rialto family of four who had been riding their bicycles on the sidewalk, said Rialto Police Lt. Joe Cirilo. He was fleeing from an earlier accident when he hit a median, lost control of his vehicle and struck the family. The 2-year-old girl and her 28-year-old father William Dinoso Dean were taken to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. The mother, Glenda Brooks, 26 and her 1-year-old son were taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

What a senseless and horrific situation for this young family. Please keep them in your prayers and your hearts.

Alcohol-impaired driving is a huge problem. Typically drunk-driving incidents are at a high around the July 4th holiday. California Highway Patrol. (CHP) San Bernardino County had 25 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) fatalities in July of 2006 (last year available). The total number of San Bernardino County DUI accident deaths was 152 with nearly 2,000 injured in 2006.
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A hit-and-run accident at the Acton and Ashby intersection near San Pablo Avenue has put a bicyclist in the hospital. According to a news report, CHP officers are looking for a motorcyclist and a now damaged 2006 blue Suzuki GSXR 650 believed to be responsible for running the woman bike rider down late evening Sunday.

CHP spokesman Sam Morgan is quoted in the article stating officers had earlier been chasing the speeding two-wheeler on the Interstate 80 but decided to stop on city streets as the motorcyclist turned off at the Ashby Avenue exit.

This accident must come as a terrible blow for the victim and her family and I hope and wish her a fast and easy recovery. It is terrifying to imagine an accident such as this that happens out of nowhere causing an innocent person personal injury and suffering.
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The parents of a cyclist who died in a big rig accident in Santa Cruz are suing the city, county, state of California, the truck driver and the trucking company seeking damages in the wrongful death of their son. According to a news report in the San Jose Mercury News, 25-year-old John Myslin, a beloved teacher at Pacific Collegiate High School, was riding his mountain bike when the big rig struck him.

Myslin was killed last August and apparently another cyclist was hit and killed at the same intersection last month. Santa Cruz police have ruled that the bicycle accident was Myslin’s fault. But his parents have disagreed and say in the lawsuit that the driver of the big rig should’ve seen their son and avoided hitting him. In addition to suing the truck driver and his employer, Radazzo Enterprises Inc., Myslin’s parents are also suing the city, county and the state for the “dangerous and defective condition of the roadway,” which contributed to their son’s death. They alleged that the public entities “negligently and carelessly failed to provide a safe place for bicyclists to ride.”
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The Orange County district attorney has filed two felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence against a 20-year-old Huntington Beach man who struck and killed a 14-year-old boy who was riding his bicycle on a city street, The Orange County Register reported. Jeffrey F. Woods was reportedly driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs when he hit Danny Oates.

An affidavit filed by police officers in court, which was obtained by the Register, also shows that Woods was texting on his cell phone trying to execute a drug deal at the time he hit Danny with his pickup truck. We hope Mr. Woods is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. These charges have been a long time coming. As Danny’s father told the newspaper, this was nothing short of murder and Mr. Woods deserves to go to jail for his callous and negligent actions that snatched a young boy full of life and potential away from his parents.
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A 13-year-old boy in Martinez, Calif. was killed when be was struck by a teenage driver at a busy and apparently dangerous intersection as he was riding his bicycle. According to a news article in CBS News’ Web site, the boy, identified as Tommy Choi, sustained major injuries and was rushed to the hospital where he died an hour after the accident.

The boy was reportedly riding his bike back from school on the busy street, which had a speed limit of 35 mph. The driver who hit the boy was a 16-year-old. Drugs or alcohol don’t seem to be a factor but we don’t know yet if the driver was speeding or was distracted in some other way. The teen driver has not been cited or charged yet.
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A Modesto man is suspected of driving under the influence, hitting a bicyclist and then leading police on a six-mile pursuit. At the end of the chase, 29-year-old Emiliano Maldonado Jr. was arrested. The 51-year-old bicyclist, whom Maldonado allegedly struck, dragged and then left on the street, suffered severe injuries in the hit-and-run accident, but is expected to survive, the Modesto Bee newspaper reports.

According to officials, the bicyclist was following the rules of the road and was using his hands to signal as he headed North on Crows Landing Road Friday morning. He was trying to merge across traffic when the pickup driven by Maldonado hit him. Maldonado then reportedly made a U-turn dragging the bicyclist under the truck. However, the bicyclist managed to break free and Maldonado fled the scene. Police suspect Maldonado was driving under the influence. Officials are looking for more eyewitnesses who saw the bicycle accident.
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A 17-year-old boy is in the hospital with major, but non-life threatening, injuries after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle in Artesia, according to a CBS News report. The report states that the victim, whose name has not been released, and two other boys were riding their bicycles near South Street when a car sideswiped the back of the victim’s bicycle causing him to hit the pavement.

The driver of that older red Honda compact car reportedly never stopped. Officials, who are investigating this bicycle accident, suspect the Honda would have visible damage in the front. The teen is now in an area hospital recovering from his injuries. The article does not go into too much detail about what type of injuries the boy suffered although it states clearly that his life is not in danger.

Hit and run accidents have become way too common for comfort in Southern California. How does someone believe it’s OK to hit someone with their vehicle and then drive away as if nothing happened? It’s inhumane, unethical and outrageous. This is a tough time for the victim’s family that must be facing medical bills and hospital expenses on top of the trauma of having a loved one being involved in an accident.
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Two bicyclists were killed and one other suffered major injuries when they were reportedly struck by a Santa Clara sheriff’s patrol car that crossed the double yellow line and hit a group of riders in Cupertino, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The newspaper also reports that a good Samaritan who stopped to help the injured bicyclists said the deputy told him that he had fallen asleep at the wheel. The bicycle accident claimed the lives of two young, avid bikers – Matt Peterson, 30, of San Francisco and Kristy Gough, 31 of Oakland.

A 20-year-old man from Germany identified as Christopher Knapp was also seriously injured but was reportedly in stable condition. A fourth rider was not hurt, the newspaper reported. California Highway Patrol officials say there is no evidence that the 27-year-old Sheriff’s Deputy, James Council, fell asleep at the wheel or that drugs or alcohol were involved. So, apparently, CHP did not even take a blood sample from this deputy although according to another county sergeant, their department routinely tests blood samples from any employee involved in a major accident.

CHP officials also say that the deputy crossed the double yellow line into oncoming traffic and struck the group of bikers. So what caused him to cross the double yellow line and what caused the deputy to seem disoriented? Officials don’t have the answers to those questions yet.
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The Shasta County District Attorney has decided not to file charges in the fatal bicycle accident case where a bicyclist was struck and killed by a car on Highway 299 in Redding two months ago. According to a news article in the Redding Record Searchlight, Sherry Mann, 58 was riding her bicycle east on the highway when Morgan Watkins, 21, drifted over to the shoulder and hit Mann while reaching into the back seat to get a baby bottle.

But district attorney’s officials have decided against filing criminal charges against Watkins because they say there is little or no physical evidence in the case and no eyewitnesses. It also seems as if Mann’s husband influenced the DA’s decision not to try Watkins on misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charges. Officials say that without specific evidence about where the impact occurred, it is tough to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Watkins drifted over the fog line and hit Mann.

The DA’s decision has local bicyclists worried and angry. Of course, it is disturbing to many when a life is lost and the person who apparently caused the death walks away from it, uninjured and without facing any consequences. But Mann’s husband, Russell, told the newspaper that he doesn’t believe the driver deliberately hit his wife and that she probably paid a hefty price for a small mistake. He says he doesn’t believe her mistake warranted a criminal charge.
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