Andrew Bennett

Andrew Bennett of San Francisco was hit by a hit and run driver in San Francisco. The driver had run a red light and hit Bennett who had his 4 year old on a trail-a-bike with him, riding in the nice bike lane on Valencia Street.

The police have a partial license plate (KAY or KAT and a heart symbol) and a make/model (Silver PT Cruiser) but have not found the coward who ran Bennett over, leaving him with a broken spine.

The SF Chronicle has nothing to say on this subject - which could raise awareness in the search - but managed to print 4 anti-cyclist screeds in the LTTE section on July 13. This includes a letter indicating that people should be careful when riding a bike because her son had been hit by a car that ran a red light. If waiting for a green light is not being careful, I really don't know what I can do.

I sent in a reply and was published.

A real crime
A little over a week ago, Andrew Bennett was riding down the bike lane on Valencia with his 4-year-old son, when a Silver PT Cruiser ran a red light and hit Bennett, breaking his spine. The driver sped off, leaving Bennett in the street. The police have a partial license plate.
The Chronicle has not seen fit to publish any information about this, yet finds room for four letters to the editor describing cyclists as the bane of humanity for riding two abreast.
A society that finds that rude but does not decry hit-and-run vehicular assault is truly one on the decline.
JOHN MURPHY
San Francisco

One more reason to bike to work.

All:

Since last Friday afternoon, three of our co-workers vehicles have had their catalytic converters stolen from their vehicles while parked in the parking lot (Bldgs. A & I). In all cases, the victim vehicles were all Toyota trucks (ease of access to the under-body and converter). In such cases, the thieves are primarily interested in selling the semi-precious metals that are contained in the catalytic converters.

Marc Evans Speaks. Well, Allow Me To Retort

In the comments to my previous post, Marc Evans - or should I say "cyclist, triathlon coach and Daly City resident Marc Evans" decided to drop down his collected wisdom on the peleton.

I would like to clarify some misconceptions about the Honor the Stop program addressed in the article and some of the comments herein:

Before we get started I will clarify one more thing from the article. It should say "narcissist, cyclist, triathlon coach and Daly City resident Marc Evans". Of course, perhaps the Woodside Almanac felt that including the word narcissist was a redundancy given the inclusion of the phrase "triathlon coach". In my experience being a "triathlon coach" requires a few things.

1) Being very good at triathlon but not good enough to make a living competing.
2) Establishing a cool nickname like "Coach Bill" or "N Squared". Call your students part of "Team Bleeper" or something.
3) Endless streams of self promotion.

Depending on your skill at #3, you might just scratch out a meager living and score endless amounts of fresh tail.

OK, that was uncalled for. Sue me.

1) It is NOT accurate to say these institutions “took over the idea”…I’ve spent hundreds of hours in meetings, handing out bands, attending town meetings etc at my own expense, working with the officers (CHP, Sheriff, Police, CalTrans etc) in the field showing them how to pledge, and paying for the wristbands. We have personally pledges a few thousand individuals (cyclist, pedestrians, motorcyclist and mortorists alike). Honor the Stop is for all roadway users.

2) And it was my idea to organize the enforcement scheme which was implemented. It is accurate that I was not informed of the specific date(s), but it was discussed at length a few months ago. The wristbands were donated to sheriff’s office from the Town of Woodside who purchased 5000 bands.

3)The idea for the wristband began a year before Kristy and Matt were killed. There was an article in the San Jose Mercury News about a concept I had be thinking of for some time with regards to the increasing tension among cyclists and motorist. As a coach, I have always required full compliance in obeying the roadways laws. And every client I've worked with knows my insistance on this is not casual.
The deaths of Kristy and Matt caused me to take the action of creating Honor the Stop.

MY IDEA. MY MY MY MY MY! IT WAS MY IDEA! LOOK AT ME! (See Narcissism).

4) The Honor the Stop program is a simple message for all roadway users. And unfortunately, many people attempt to categorize the program as anti-cyclist and a power play by the law enforcement agencies. The truth is the Town of Woodside and surrounding areas are a magnet for cyclists of all skill levels. It is however, my goal that everyone who uses the roadways display respect for one another by obeying the roadway laws. Cyclists for a vasy majority do not obey the laws and perhaps, no more or less than motorists, but it is my concern for their safety that I advocate obeying all roadway laws.

OK, time to get serious. If Mr. Evans were truly concerned about the safety of cyclists, he would marshall his efforts into an initiative that might improve the safety of cyclists. Unfortunately, promoting a jihad about driving safely would only fall into the noise and not achieve the goal of getting his name into the paper by playing to the meme that "Cyclists for a vasy (sic) majority do not obey the laws".

Additionally, Evans lives in Daly City (according to the article) or Gardnerville (accoring to his post) but he chose Woodside to be the focus of his efforts. Why not Daly City or neighboring San Francisco? Perhaps because in San Francisco his noise would be drowned out by Rob Anderson?

All he's really accomplished with his efforts is to reinforce the notion amongst Woodside residents that cyclists are merely "guests" on the road partaking in an inherently risky activity, and that if there is an incident it happens because the cyclist is participating in that activity. The net effect - motorists feel no inclination to take care on the road because if they hit a cyclist - the fault lies with the cyclist simply because the cyclist was on the road. The recent fatalities in Woodside occured on Sand Hill Road and on Woodside Road, nowhere near a stop sign. One self inflicted, one by driver error, and one by the dubious "Experienced Cyclist took a U-turn into the middle of a busy road and was run over by 87 year old driver, died and then refused to testify against the driver." Matt and Kristy were killed nowhere near a stop sign. The stings going on in Woodside are nowhere near safety hotspots.

I would like to offer to the pelotons for the locat bike clubs, teams and other groups of individuals who do not obey the laws a respectful challenge. That is, STOP and OBEY the laws and I believe we will all eventually find a way to share the roadways with courtesy for all users. The clubs, teams and groups of cyclists who regularly disregard the stop signs are setting a poor example for others and creating a environment whereby mortorist do not know whether you are going to stop or not. If the team, groups, and clubs agree to stop at ALL signs and lights then the not so fast riders will not not so inclinded to run the sign to bridge the gap to the peloton.

There are plenty of people in Woodside who hate the Noon/Valley/Spectrum rides. Question - if those rides suddenly started stopping at the stop signs on the route, would the Woodside Citizens start showing up at the corner of Whiskey Hill and Sand Hill with free lemonade for cyclists? No. They are just spiteful people who can't stand having to deal with legitimate road users who delay them a handful of seconds, so they grasp at any straw to demonize them. And here comes Marc Evans with a whole box of straws.

Those rides come to a full stop at Arastradero and Alpine and proceed with extreme care - because that is a real safety issue. At Portola and Alpine there is NO safety issue. At Woodside and Mountain Home, there is a four way stop and the clearance of that intersection is negotiated silently by the front of the peleton and the drivers at the intersection, and the rational choice is to let the entire peleton clear in one shot.

Again, Honor the Stop is a simple message and if children who I've pledged "get it" then, perhaps there's a chance adults will too.

I hope people will come together to obey the laws not matter what mode of transportation they use. Honor the Stop is NOT a divisive program, but rather an opportunity for everyone to respectfully share the roadways.

I disrespectfully disagree.

All the best,

Marc Evans

Founder, Honor The Stop
Gardnerville, Nevada

Narcissism

More from the San Mateo County Sheriffs Dept

Hat tip to Richard Masoner who pointed to this article in the Woodside Almanac

"It's extremely important that we get people in vehicles doing less and paying attention to what they're doing," he added. "At the same time, it's dangerous to ride (a bicycle) around people who are multi-tasking."

Is Sergeant Denton implying I shouldn't be riding my bicycle in Woodside because of the inattentive multi-taskers? This is crap - it gives more credence to the (presumed) minority that claims that the roads are for cars and cars only - when the drivers of those cars are the creators of the danger.

OK, aside from his poorly worded statement, maybe he's saying that we need to crack down on the inattentive drivers who create dangerous conditions?

The deputies had help on July 1 from police departments in Menlo Park and Redwood City, which contributed two and four motorcycle officers, respectively, Sgt. Denton said. There were more cell phone citations on July 1 because it was a weekday with fewer cyclists out there, he said.

Interesting correllation. The distribution of cellphone citations had nothing to do with how many cellphone using drivers are out there - it had to do with how many cyclsists were out there. Perhaps with less cyclists around, the cops can focus on "lower priority issues" like talking on the cellphone. Of course, cellphone usage causes drivers to be inattentive, which the Sergeant claims is "extremely important" to get people to stop doing.

The year-old honor-the-stop campaign is the work of cyclist, triathlon coach and Daly City resident Marc Evans, who urges cyclists, drivers, equestrians, pedestrians, joggers, and motorcyclists to obey all traffic laws and symbolize that commitment by wearing a red and black wristband.

Evans was prompted to do this in response to the deaths of Kristy Gough and Matt Peterson, who were killed by an inattentive driver. Make that a sleeping driver. Who was also a Santa Clara County Deputy. This happened to them while not in the process of running a stopsign themselves. More appropriate tribute might be "honor your REM sleep". I cannot for the life of me figure out how the death of innocent victims prompts one to scold the victim class instead of at the class causing the mayhem.

If getting hit is inevitable, I might as well lay back and enjoy it.

A happy break

Too much crazy lately.

I present to you my Mother-In-Laws peach preserves.

Hit and Run 18th & Valencia: Request for Information - please RT

Contact Andrew Bennett at (415) 939-4700 OR mailandrewbennett@gmail.com with
any information on the below.

Hit and Run of Two Cyclists, One aged Four, at 18th And Valencia

On Wednesday, July 1st 2009 at 11:30am a Silver PT Cruiser sped through at red
light going westbound on 18th across Valencia in the Mission District of San
Francisco.

This vehicle struck an adult riding a grey steel frame bicycle which had a blue
childrens add on tandem bike ridden by a four year old boy. The cyclists were
traveling through the intersection on the green light going northbound on
Valencia at 18th street, July 1/2009 at 11:30am

The driver sped up to run a red light causing severe injury to at least one of
the cyclists.

Many people witnessed the accident and gave aid, several said that they got a
plate # but when SFPD interviewed, the only people present had incomplete
information. It is believed that witnesses with complete info left the scene
believing that those remaining had complete info.

Unless more information is gained, the driver will not be found. If you
witnessed this accident, or know someone who did, please, please come forward
by contacting Andrew Bennett at (415) 939-4700 OR mailandrewbennett@gmail.com
AND by calling the SFPD hit and Run Unit at (415) 553-1641. Case Number
090669569 (ask for Inspector Custer).

One of the cyclists has a fractured spine. We need your help in bringing the
driver who hit a father and son and left the scene to justice. An injury to one
is an injury to all.

Woodside cops harass charity ride

Sent by a reader. By the way, the previous post included mostly stuff sent by
a reader :)

Anyway, I came across a scene last Saturday that had me boiling...

I usually ride Sunday mornings, and the ride usually includes some
portion of the Portola Valley Loop. This past weekend, schedule
commitments dictated that I ride Saturday morning instead. A friend
and I rode The Loop clockwise, starting up Portola Road. We noticed
arrows on the road, and a LOT of riders around. Seems there was an
organized ride, some kind of "Giro de Peninsula", sponsored by the San
Mateo Italian Association (or similar). Anyhoo, there were a LOT of
these folks riding, and it seemed to be generally the more hobbyist
rider, at least when we passed through.
Now, the Portola Valley Fire Station is a regular water stop for
us, and as we approached, we noticed at least 50 people there, as this
was an official Rest Stop on their route. What surprised me, though,
was that less than 100 yards before the clearly visible rest stop (at
the top of what may have been a tough hill for many of these riders),
the Portola Valley/Woodside police were ticketing cyclists who rolled
through the stop sign in their eagerness to get to the rest stop. I
stopped (I usually do), and proceeded through the intersection,
turning right onto Portola Road, when a woman in a minivan came around
behind me, pulled into the bike lane/shoulder, and just stopped
short! I signaled to the Policeman standing right there, indicating
"What's up with that?", but he was too busy writing tickets to those
dangerous renegade cyclists who rolled through the stop sign.

This disturbed me.

After stopping for water (it was pretty hot already), we proceeded
around The Loop clockwise. When we approached the intersection of
Portola Road and Sand Hill Road, what to our wondering eyes should
appear but a Police car and a Police motorcycle, lying in wait for
cyclists turning from Portola onto Sand Hill.

Talk about shooting fish in a barrel! It's one thing to
legitimately enforce real laws. If they did this regularly, like
every week or every month, I wouldn't even be too annoyed. However,
to wait for an *organized ride* that guided hundreds of cyclists
through town, just to selectively enforce really rubbed me the wrong
way.

One hopes karma comes into play down the line...

cheers,

Maybe Woodside is trying to get such a bad repuation amongst the organized charity rides that nobody runs them in their neighborhood anymore. Note that there is one that benefits the "Woodside School". Cyclists tried to organize a boycott of this one before when Woodside was refusing permits to organized rides, the School cried that it isn't even in Woodside (it's next to Woodside and services people in Woodside, but who's picking nits here).

The problem, besides this School, and maybe Robert's Market, who in Woodside really gives a rats ass if their community suffers an image problem. It's not like they will suffer from a dramatic loss in tourism dollars. The San Gregorio Store is very nice to cyclists - only asking that you take your cleats off because they have new hardwood floors. This is because the cyclists are a major revenue stream out there in the cuts. Woodside doesn't need your money.