Red-Light Running Cyclist Kills Pedestrian

The victim, 67-year-old Dionette Cherney, was visiting from Washington, D.C. She "suffered a head injury (on July 14) in the crash, from which she did not recover". Her death now opens "the question of what charges, if any, might be filed against the (25-year-old) cyclist."

Cherny is "the first pedestrian killed by a cyclist in five years in the Bay Area, according to the Bay Citizen's Bike Accident Tracker, which charts all bike crashes reported by police between 2005 and 2010." (Bay Citizen, July 15).

"In San Francisco, cyclists don't pose as great a risk to pedestrians, reports the transportation site SF Streetsblog: "811 people were injured by drivers last year, 18 people were injured by bicyclists, according to SFPD data."

The tragic collision also serves as a reminder that "ultimately, people on bikes should yield to people on foot," said Elizabeth Stampe, the executive director of Walk San Francisco".

Thanks to Ellen Fletcher