Can you tell if I'm a driver or a cyclist?

"the drunken driver has the right of way" Ethan Coen

In terms of the police and prosecuting/investigating hit and run, they cannot prosecute without an eyewitness/someone to place the driver behind the wheel. With only a license plate number, the main recourse is civil because the car-owner can be held responsible regardless.

I know the counter arguments but I don't buy them.

She is VERY sorry for what she did...It's not like she planned on going to the city and hit somebody.She was not acting maliciously.

There has been a lot of talk about how the police knew who they were looking for etc... From what I have seen and heard that is NOT the case. They had very little information on the driver of this vehicle. My personal feeling is you do have to give her credit for turning herself in. She could have kept running from this and who knows if the police would have figured it out.

Everyone feels very bad for the victim and is sorry for what has happened to him and how it has affected his family. We all wish him a quick and speedy recovery.

I understand both sides of this. I can understand everyone being angry but at the same time she is only 16.. I have a family member that was in an accident, that was a 16 yr olds fault. They sustained injuries that will affect them for the rest of their life as well, but that doesn't mean that they heald a grudge against them. They have been forgiven for what they have done. It may not be exact circumstances but I do hope everyone that has been commenting on this page can find it in their hearts to forgive this girl. She really is NOT a bad person. She is a good student, involved in sports, and great kid all around.

If riding your bike with your child is so dangerous, don't you think it SHOULDN'T be? Should everyone not have the right to choose to ride their bicycles (the most efficient, logical, and beneficial vehicle in existence) safely on the streets, even with their children?

How, HOW can you be blaming the victim here? You are crossing the line to downright inhumane.

You talk as if the prevalent dangers of motorists on our streets are an inevitable fact of life, and ignore any city in the world where urban policy has clearly broken that delusion (see Western Europe). Infrastructure guides behavior - if we didn't have such wide, high-speed roads that encourage driving (and beating the light), then people wouldn't do it so much.

"Frivolous lawsuit"? Then why did Judge Busch agree with us about the injunction and that the city had to do an EIR on the Bicycle Plan? Frivolous lawsuits get thrown out of court. There were no "non-residents" involved in the successful litigation. You seem to have me mixed up with my brother; he's the guy who puts out the rag in Anderson Valley.

"You know if two bitter enemies Mayor Newsom and Chris Daly can both enthusiastically support the city's bike plan, it says a lot about the merit of the plans goals."

If Daly and Newsom agree on something, all it tells you is that it's probably bullshit, like the luxury condos on Rincon Hill, the Market/Octavia Plan, and allowing UC to rip off the old extension site for a massive housing development, all of which they agree on.

"Driving around with kids in the car is more dangerous than having them along on a bike. Rob Anderson has been informed of this before, but such facts don't seem to stick in whatever substance he's got filling up his skull."

The only way you could establish this as a fact is if we knew the miles children traveled in cars so we could compare it with the miles they traveled on bikes with their negligent elders.

I guess my point was that we tread dangerous ground when we make "broad brush" generalizations about (for example) car drivers, cyclists, the police or 16 year old girls. In doing so, we can blind ourselves to the possibility that we may, in fact, have some common ground with those we generalize about and effectively shut the door on any cooperation with them. I don't think it was your intent to make such a generalization.

Certainly accidents rates are higher for teenage drivers. I don't know if data exists correlating specifically hit & run accidents with age. The reports of hit & runs I've come across lately span ages from 20 to 62. Reasons for running included DUI, driving a stolen vehicle, lack of insurance, etc. In all cases, the drivers didn't want to face the consequences of their actions. I don't think that's necessarily age-specific.

I do not want to accuse all teenage drivers are reckless. I'm sure majority of them drive safely majority of time. On the other hand there is well established statistics to show young drivers are responsible for disproportionate amount of accidents. The statistics are reflected in the high insurance rate they are charged by insurance companies.

Shame on you for trying to blame the victim: I suppose you're the kind of guy who thinks that women in short skirts are to be blamed if some criminal rapes them. Children reide as passengers on bicycles in every city in the world, except when there's too much snow! I've travelled the world around, not a cyclist but as a photojournalist, and I've seen more kids on bicycles in cities like Beijing per capita than anywhere else in the world. Beijing also has some of the most agressive drivers I've ever seen (even more so than in wars) but even they look out for cyclists.

I googled your link and was directed to your blog:

http://district5diary.blogspot.com/

where I discovered that you SUPPORT the frivolous lawsuit using Environmental Impact Studies as a way to block the city's bike lanes project: a suit filed by a non-resident of San Francisco. You know if two bitter enemies Mayor Newsom and Chris Daly can both enthusiastically support the city's bike plan, it says a lot about the merit of the plans goals.
You are somewhere to the right of Pat Buchanan, I suppose. would you please try not to co-opt the suffering of the victims into your luridly irrational arguments against people's legal rights to cycle without being the victims of felony crimes? I wish you quick recovery from your neurotic personality disorders. Please get help or at least stay home reading your back issues of the Anderson Valley rag....

Exactly what does it explain? I'm sure a lot of responsible, law-abiding 16 year old girls would like to hear your answer.

@ kit: Thank you. I hope your comments don't fall on deaf ears. Let us please move past the rhetoric- filled, finger-pointing stage. It's boring and counter-productive.

As an *everyday* cyclist in SF and the greater Bay Area, I've encountered my share of rude, dangerous drivers and indifferent police. I've also encountered polite, considerate drivers and police officers who've (on more than one occasion) defended my right to be on the road.

Andrew, while your physical healing will take some time, I hope reading the well-wishes from Canada, Wales, Spain, the East Coast and who knows where else speeds up your non-physical healing. Heal up, get back on the bike, I hope to see you out there soon.

Let's look at this as a step forward in our relationship with the SFPD, turn the page, and thank them for their professionalism and effectiveness on this case, so we can build trust and mutual respect for each other that can lead to better protection for those of us under pedal power.