Today’s Headlines

  • SFMTA to Make Short-Term Improvements on 14-Mission (City Insider)
  • Driver Injures Bicycle Rider at Dolores and 22nd Street (Mission Local)
  • Motor Home Death Is 11th Traffic Fatality in Santa Clara County in Two Weeks (Mercury News)
  • Proposed Alameda County Ballot Measure Could Increase Transportation Sales Tax (CoCo Times)
  • Cost of Proposed Bike/Ped Path in Lafayette Gives Council Members Pause (CoCo Times)
  • Muni Inspectors Cracking Down Throughout City (C.W. Nevius)
  • SFMTA to Hold Public Hearings on EIR for Muni TEP (SF Examiner)
  • Overview of Thanksgiving Transit Impacts (SF Examiner)
  • Marin Transit Contract to Save $1.3 Million By Merging Shuttle Service (Marin IJ)
  • BART Proposes Redrawing Voting Districts to Match East Bay Population Growth (SF Examiner)
More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill
  • Anonymous

    Re: Drivers Hits Bicyclists at Dolores and 22nd St

    I live a block from here and I cross this intersection almost daily, and it really needs a bike lane. The sharrows aren’t good enough considering that it’s the main bicycle route into Noe Valley from the Valencia corridor. There is a surprising steady amount of bike traffic up this road and down Chattanooga to 24th St, and I think the road design needs to acknowledge the bike traffic here and create bike lanes.

    “[The on-scene officer] said the cyclist was wearing a helmet and using lights, though
    they were not bright enough. He said that in the 20 minutes following
    the accident, he had seen a handful of bikers who he thought needed
    brighter lights.”

    Un-friggin-believable: the cop at the scene (the unbiased expert that he is on riding a bicycle in SF) has to make some damn excuse to blame the victim. That is such BS. The cars need to slow the hell down and pay attention to the fact that there is bicycle traffic through here. Again, being literally on my block, many cars go roaring through this area. This intersection needs some sort of bike lane paint through the intersection and signage warning drivers to watch for cyclists (since apparently they can’t think of that themselves).

  • mikesonn

    Did the driver drive away from the scene? Why is her name not being released?

  • TwinPeaks_SF

    Totally agree. The woman on her bike had right-of-way, had lights, and was even wearing a helmet. But still… “bicyclists” need to watch out more.

    We all need to be responsible on the road, but people driving multi-ton vehicles need to be especially vigilant.

  • Re Driver hits bicyclist at Dolores and 22nd:

    I, too, bike this intersection, perhaps 3 or 4 times a week. After reading the article, I think Streetsblog should give out an award each month for Most Outrageous Example of Blaming The Victim. Though perhaps I’ve seen worse, this police officer should at least be nominated.

    Perhaps it would be instructive to do a little rewriting.  Instead of:

    “Bruckner said the cyclist was wearing a helmet and using lights, though they were not bright enough. He said that in the 20 minutes following the accident, he had seen a handful of bikers who he thought needed brighter lights. The Dolores and 22nd intersection is particularly dangerous for cyclists, he said. ‘It’s downhill and bikes get very into that speed, they lose common sense of safety and try to blow through the intersection,” Bruckner said. “It’s one of those risky intersections for bikes.’ ”

    How about:

    “Bruckner said although the driver had her headlights on, it was dark, and she didn’t look carefully enough as she made her left hand turn. This caused her to hit oncoming traffic that had the right of way over her, a clear violation of the law.  He said in the 20 minutes following the accident he noticed many cars poorly judge the gaps in traffic and make risky left-hand turns. The Dolores and 22nd intersection is particularly dangerous for anyone passing through it, he said. ‘Car drivers are on their way to the freeway at this intersection and really don’t pay enough attention to the traffic at hand, whether it be bikes, pedestrians or other cars. I wish they would slow down and consider the harm they might do to others. These people can really be a danger to everyone else on the road.’ “

  • TwinPeaks_SF

    Very well put! Would make an interesting Streetsblog weekly column – much more interesting than the Weekly Carnage.

  • mikesonn

    I would fall off my chair if I read that in a major publication in this city, even more so if it was accurately quoted from a SFPD.

  • mikesonn

    I’d love to see some Muni/SFMTA inspectors crack down on drivers blocking the box in SoMa. Fare cheats aren’t costing you nearly as much as the wasted time waiting on these idiots for several light cycles.

  • Gneiss

    Imagine if Officer Bruckner walked or cycled his beat at dusk rather than drove.  I think we’d be seeing a slightly different perspective.  Our peace officers should really spend a little time wearing different shoes.

  • See

    Quotes like this (and a lot of other evidence over the years) sure make me think SFBC should be more focused on our enforcement and criminal justice system, and somewhat less focused on smooth pavement.

  • See

    (No dig intended towards SFBC, of course. Fixing the police force is an incredibly hard task that has eluded many movements.)

  • Anonymous

    @KarenLynnAllen:disqus Like @mikesonn:disqus said, I would be blown away to see somebody actually write that. But we can keep working towards it.

    I actually think @41a659b5cbca07a07ee130b1dacf0dae:disqus has a great point, which is that the SFBC should begin a more strong outreach program with the police to teach them about bias towards bicycles and how to get rid of it. And as @002ec2dcc5273303fbfd34e45385ab64:disqus said, we definitely need to get cops on bikes so they truly understand what it’s like to be treated as a second-class citizen in our city, *even* when you are the victim of a crime committed by a motorist. Only then can we hope that bicyclists will achieve parity on the roads.

  • Davistrain

    Regarding the 11 fatalities in Santa Clara County in two weeks: discounting the motor home collision, does the fact that so-called “Daylight Saving Time” ended on the first Sunday of November have anything to do with the rash of fatal collisions?  Did a similar increase occur last year?  We should remember that “Daylight Saving Time” saves not 
    one microsecond of daylight; a more accurate name would be “Activity Rescheduling Time”.  With the present system,  Many of us are suddenly doing our commutes and errands in the dark, rather than gradually adjusting as the days grow shorter.