Update: Alleged red light running cyclist killed in San Diego; first bicycling death in city this year

This is not the news any of us wanted to wake up to.

Multiple sources report a 57-year old bike rider was killed when he was trying to cross Camino del Rio West at Hancock Street in San Diego around 11:15 pm last night. The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was headed west on Hancock when he was struck and killed by a Jeep SUV traveling south on Camino del Rio.

According to San Diego’s ABC 10 News, a witness reportedly saw the west-bound victim run the red light before he was hit by the Jeep that had just exited the freeway. Police say the driver does not appear to have broken any laws.

“He was crossing the street while the light was green,” witness Kevon Smith said. “It wasn’t his light, it was the opposite light. And he just went on his bike, didn’t stop… A Jeep, it was already coming off the freeway, it tried to slow down, (and) hit him.”

Advocacy group Bike SD describes Camino del Rio West as a virtual freeway with six lanes of traffic where speeds frequently exceed 50 mph. And notes that cyclists often have a hard time triggering the traffic light on Hancock, which could explain why the rider went through it; it’s not clear whether he stopped before proceeding or just kept going without stopping.

This is the 69th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 9th in San Diego County; surprisingly, it’s the first bike-related death in the city of San Diego since the first of this year.

Update: The San Diego Union-Tribune identifies the victim as 57-year old San Diego resident Edmund Nicholas Davis. According to the paper, Davis was riding in the crosswalk, against the light, when he was hit.

The paper also says he was a registered sex offender who had been convicted of child molestation, as well as rape. 

My sympathy and prayers for Edmund Nicholas Davis and his loved ones, as well as his victims.

8 comments

  1. bike2hike says:

    “cyclists often have a hard time triggering the traffic light on Hancock” I’m sorry but there’s nothing hard about stopping at a red light it’s black & white!

    • bikinginla says:

      The problem comes in stopping for a light where you can’t trigger it to change with a bike. If there’s not a beg button — and I have no idea whether there is one there or not — riders can be stuck waiting for a car to come along and trigger it to change. Which can take a long time, especially at night.

      I always stop for red lights. However, I have stopped at a few that just wouldn’t change for me, and ended up riding through them after several minutes. And after that happened a few times, I would simply treat it as a stop sign — stop, check traffic in all directions, then go — because I knew it wasn’t going to change for me.

      Again, I have no idea if that was the case here, but based on the comment on BikeSD that riders have a hard time triggering the light there, I can see where it might be a possibility.

  2. […] in CA we get a Ted Rogers report on a red-light running cyclist. Alleged red light running cyclist killed in San Diego; first bicycling death in city this year and Cyclist killed in Midway District collision As Ted reported local cyclists say the signal does […]

  3. bike2hike says:

    He was a convicted of child molester as well as rape! I call that karma

  4. J Loughlan says:

    Your “sympathy and prayers” for Edmund Nicholas Davis, A REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER AND CONVICTED CHILD MOLESTER AND RAPIST????? Are you kidding me?? I’m utterly speechless.

    • bikinginla says:

      He was a human being who was killed while riding a bike. My faith teaches me to forgive and show compassion others, regardless of who they are and what they may have done; maybe yours doesn’t. And he can’t harm anyone now.

      So go ahead and be speechless.

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