After a cyclist fatally collided with an elderly pedestrian on a crowded Castro District crosswalk on March 29, city leaders are considering following the Bicycle Advisory Committee's recommendation to send cyclists who break traffic laws to class.
The death of the 71-year-old pedestrian has shed new light on the issue of cyclists breaking traffic laws, such as running red lights which is suspected in the tragic crash.
The Castro District fatality has received much attention in part because of the cyclist's on-line comments, made after the crash.
"The light turned yellow as I was approaching the intersection, but I was already way too committed to stop," the post stated.
"Bert Hill, chairman of The City's Bicycle Advisory Committee, said a program is being developed by his group, police and the District Attorney's Office to give first-time bicycling violators a dose of information instead of - or in addition to - a normal moving-violation citation. More details of the program, which could be rolled out by the fall, are still being determined, Hill said.
The announcement of the bicycling class proposal came during a news conference (April 10) called by Board of Supervisors President David Chiu."
The Examiner includes traffic collisions data, among them are the 899 pedestrian injuries in 2010 of which 96% were with motor vehicles.
Read the full story: S.F. might school scofflaw cyclists
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