Bullshit.
The Press-Enterprise is reporting that an 82-year old Murrieta man died late Sunday afternoon, a little over 32 hours after he was struck by a driver while riding in Temecula.
And Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies didn’t hesitate to blame the victim for his own death, when he’s not around to share his side of the story.
According to the paper, Kenrick Skinner was crossing Margarita Road at Paseo Brillante in Temecula around 7:20 Saturday morning when he was struck by an eastbound driver.
Skinner was taken to Wildomar’s Inland Valley Medical Center, where he died around 4 pm Sunday.
The driver remained at the scene and called 911.
A street view shows four lane roadway, with bike lanes and a left turn bay in each direction on Margarita, the intersection controlled only by a single stop sign on southbound Paseo Brillante.
It strains credibility to believe that an 82-year old man would somehow violate the right-of-way by riding out into oncoming traffic, as investigators suggest.
The paper doesn’t say which direction Skinner was traveling, but it’s easy to imagine that the broadly curving roadway may have appeared clear before he started crossing.
He may have struggled to get across the wide roadway before drivers caught up to him — especially if they were traveling at a high rate of speed, which seems likely given the early hour and the wide open roadway design.
Which means a better question isn’t why was he was in the roadway, but why did the driver fail to see a man on a bicycle directly in front of him?
If sheriff’s investigators can answer that, they’ll know why this tragic crash happened.
Anyone with information is urged to call Deputy Hoctor of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department’s Southwest Station at 951/696-3000.
This is at least the 48th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
It’s also the fourth SoCal bike death in the past week.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kenrick Skinner and his loved ones.
