Unfortunately, it had to happen sooner or later.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a woman was killed in Oceanside around 7:20 pm when a driver slammed into her bicycle.
The crash occurred at near west State Route 76 and Benet Road.
The paper reports SR-76 is a surface street in that part of Oceanside, with stop lights at major intersections.
No other information is available at this time.
This is the first bicycling death I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the first in San Diego County.
That compares with at least 78 SoCal bike deaths last year, and four in the county.
Update: According to San Diego’s ABC 10 News, the collision occurred at SR-76 at Bennet Road in Oceanside. , with investigators blaming the victim for running the red light.
A street view shows a busy intersection with a two lane road with a 45 mph speed limit on Bennet, while SR-76 has four lanes with a 55 mph speed limit. Most SoCal drivers routinely exceed the posted limits by 5 to 15 mph.
There is simply no excuse to allow speeds like that on a surface street, unless your intention is to kill innocent victims.
It also seems extremely unlikely that the victim would have run the red light at an intersection like that, unless she was caught mid-crossing when the light changed.
Which is not the same thing in any sense.
Correction: I originally wrote that the driver was arrested for DUI. However, I misread the ABC 10 News story, which actually said a second crash occurred as police were investigating the crash, and it was that driver who was busted for DUI. Thanks to Zero 007 for the correction.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all her loved ones.
Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.
Our prayers go up for the family and friends of the victim.
The article from Fox 5 does not say that the driver who struck the bicyclist was arrested for DUI. It states that while police was investigating another completely unrelated car to the initial accident hit a police car blocking the accident scene and its driver was checked for DUI.
Please do not deceive by writing innacuracies!
You’re right, I misread the original article. There was no attempt to deceive, just a major screwup on my part. I’ve corrected this piece to reflect that. Thanks for the correction!