Bicyclist pleads guilty to manslaughter in Calif

[azurnoir]

Source: pioneer Press/Twin Cities.Com

SAN FRANCISCO—A bicyclist has pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter after running down a 71-year-old pedestrian in a San Francisco crosswalk, prosecutors said Tuesday.

Under the unusual plea deal last week, Chris Bucchere, 37, would not serve any jail time and instead be sentenced to three years of probation and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service in the death of Sutchi Hui of San Bruno on March 29, 2012, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon said.

Gascon believes it could be the first vehicular manslaughter conviction in the nation involving a bicyclist. He plans to provide more details during a news conference later in the day.

"With the conditions of this plea, the defendant will be held accountable for the tragic death of Sutchi Hui and will have an opportunity for redemption," Gascón said in a statement. "We hope this case continues to serve as a reminder that blatant disregard of the traffic laws can have dire consequences."

http://www.twincities.com/breakingnews/ci_23714955/bicyclist-pleads-guilty-manslaughter-calif

Read more: http://www.twincities.com/breakingnews/ci_23714955/bicyclist-pleads-guilty-manslaughter-calif

[jtuck004]

1. Damn, life is cheap here. n/t

[AtheistCrusader]

2. Might be the first conviction, but it's happened before.

[Dash87]

3. Bikers still have to yield to pedestrians.

Same rules as cars.

[adirondacker]

7. That was my first thought. The percentage of responsible cyclists FAR outnumber the few

renegades. And even the renegades, for the most part, are very aware and ride with some level of responsibility.

It's rather amusing and frightening to see the number of drivers on their cell phones during my rides. Riding down one stretch of a busy street i estimated 50% of the drivers texting or holding a conversation.

[JDPriestly]

17. In my neighborhood, it's about 1/3 irresponsible bicyclists and 2/3 responsible one.

Just yesterday, at a busy intersection with a four-way stop sign arrangement, it was my turn to go, but a bicycle rode up maybe 15 feet from the intersection, didn't even pause at the intersection and road right in. Four-ways, cars stopped, a car stopped right where he was supposed to also stop, and the stupid bike-rider runs right through. Hardly even looked where he was going much less at the stop sign.

That happens over and over.

Last weekend, two bike riders going 10-15 miles per hour hogged the roadway in front of me. There were four lanes, but I could not change to the left lane because the traffic was very heavy and I could not get in.

Slow traffic is supposed to move over to the right. If I am going 10-15 miles per hour on a street with a 35-mile-per-hour speed limit and a car is behind me, I am required to pull over. That's the law. You cannot ride at 15 miles-per-hour on your bicycle in front of other traffic in a 35-mile-per-hour zone. Not in California anyway.

Bike riders need to read the Vehicle code in their state -- and not just about the rights of bike-riders.

Safety on the road is everyone's responsibility. Not just that of automobile drivers.

We used to hear the slogan, "The life you save may be your own." Bike riders need to wake up to that fact.

I favor requiring all who ride bikes on city streets, regardless of age, to pass a special test and have a bike license.

And by the way, last night I saw someone riding a bike who was wearing a white band that looked a bit like a school-crossing-guard's vest. He was easy to see. I think bike riders should wear that at night. When you are young, you do not realize that as you age (until you get cataract surgery), your night vision dims. Colors are hard to differentiate from dusk to dawn. Bike riders need to dress and ride safely.

[adirondacker]

18. I'm not trying to deny that they're out there. I think some of it may have to do with the location.

Some of it may have to do with a form of critical mass, when there is enough cyclists who will verbally correct the idiots that pull stupid stunts, it tends to dampen the ego of most. I certainly don't hold back when someone cuts me off. I'm well aware of the idiots who claim the road as "theirs", but I also know that car drivers can be an aggressive bunch way more often, having been yelled at and squeezed plenty of times. I ride the line in bike lanes to make my presence known, otherwise distracted drivers end up in the lane and are blind. I occasionally ride sidewalks when the roads are just too dangerous, but I'm always aware of pedestrians and their right of way. A decent bike light and fluorescent jacket are part of my attire.

I know of a guy that had a bike to bike collision with a helmet on. He ended up in a coma for 6 months, survived, but will never be the same due to some cognitive damage.

I agree that there may have to be a license to ride in some areas, especially larger cities.

[Thor_MN]

23. I agree with most of what you said, but you might be thinking of a law that applies to highways

not to roads.

"Last weekend, two bike riders going 10-15 miles per hour hogged the roadway in front of me. There were four lanes, but I could not change to the left lane because the traffic was very heavy and I could not get in.

Slow traffic is supposed to move over to the right. If I am going 10-15 miles per hour on a street with a 35-mile-per-hour speed limit and a car is behind me, I am required to pull over. "

I don't think any state has minimum speed limits on anything below highways. And certainly no minimum speed limit where there is a 35 mph zone. I do know that in every state, a bicyclist has the right to occupy a traffic lane if there is no safe shoulder to ride on. They are expected to allow traffic around them periodically where safe. The fact that you said traffic was heavy supports their occupying the lane (assuming there was no safe shoulder or bike lane). Were they assholes for not letting traffic by more often? Yes. Were they required to? Maybe, maybe not, depends on the site and conditions.

The rest of what you said? Damn straight.



V C Section 22400 Minimum Speed Law
Minimum Speed Law

22400. (a) No person shall drive upon a highway at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, unless the reduced speed is necessary for safe operation, because of a grade, or in compliance with law.

No person shall bring a vehicle to a complete stop upon a highway so as to impede or block the normal and reasonable movement of traffic unless the stop is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.

(b) Whenever the Department of Transportation determines on the basis of an engineering and traffic survey that slow speeds on any part of a state highway consistently impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, the department may determine and declare a minimum speed limit below which no person shall drive a vehicle, except when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law, when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected along the part of the highway for which a minimum speed limit is established.

Subdivision (b) of this section shall apply only to vehicles subject to registration.
Amended Ch. 364, Stats. 1979. Effective January 1, 1980.

[leftyohiolib]

9. dried up?

[Le Taz Hot]

19. A term

relegated only to females. I'm not sure which is worse in today's posts: "dried up" or "brood mare."

[Scootaloo]

26. Did you miss one poster's "butt-buddies"?

It's been a weird day on DU.

[Le Taz Hot]

28. Thankfully, yes. n/t

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

5. So there is a .....

.....stand your ground pedestrian law in California. At least a guilty verdict in this case.

[LanternWaste]

13. The lengths we often go to validate a belief....

The lengths we often go to validate a belief....

[Ratty]

6. They didn't mention it in the article

Is this the same guy that bragged about hitting a pedestrian and got caught because he bragged about it on twitter?

[Ash_F]

10. He posted about it on a forum

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2126649/Chris-Bucchere-accused-KILLING-71-year-old-defending-actions-cycling-internet-forum.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

It sounds like he had remorse for the victim, but then he ended his post with a joke about the "death" of his helmet which was really inappropriate considering he killed someone. Though I guess he didn't know that at the time.

[closeupready]

29. His photo is ripe for all kinds of obesity jokes.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Yes it is the same callous idiot.

The case gained particular notoriety after Bucchere, who was hospitalized for injuries in the crash, apparently posted his thoughts on the accident to the Mission Cycling AM Riders Google group.

The post said the author was traveling south on Divisadero Street, which becomes Castro just north of Market, and was about to cross Market when the traffic light ahead of him turned yellow.

"I was already way too committed to stop," the post said. "The light turned red as I was cruising through the middle of the intersection and then, almost instantly, the southern crosswalk on Market and Castro filled up with people coming from both directions. ... I couldn't see a line through the crowd and I couldn't stop, so I laid it down and just plowed through the crowded crosswalk in the least-populated place I could find."

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/Cyclist-pleads-guilty-in-Castro-crosswalk-death-4680814.php#photo-2801512

[Judi Lynn]

8. Why go so fast you can't or won't control the bike? Unbearable.

[center]

Chris Bucchere

[/center]

[Monk06]

16. He didn't potato chip that front wheel be laying the bike down. He locked his brakes and T boned

the old guy and then went sky ground over the bars. He's lying about the collision. He's a big guy. Either a car ran over the bike after the hit or he folded the wheel on impact.

Of course the bike is a shit quality GT so there's that. Which means the guy is an amateur and riding well over his skill level.

[thenooch]

21. I can see the problem...

[img][/img]

Rim Brakes!

Having just bought a >$1300 29er bike with hydraulic disc brakes, I can attest to their stopping power. This man would still be alive if these archaic rim squeeze brakes were outlawed! (especially in hilly cities like San Francisco)

[yurbud]

31. the only time my rim but bent like that was when I was hit by a bus.

[Mz Pip]

12. Doesn't seem like much of a punishment

No jail time. BFD.

[ArcticFox]

14. Sounds like an issue whether he violated traffic laws

Here in California, you can enter an intersection in yellow, and are legal if it turns red while you're in the intersection. He probably committed some violation by hitting someone in the crosswalk, but liability was probably in question. I'd guess he took a plea deal only to avoid a small potential for a large sentence.

[petronius]

24. If the description (from the biker) posted in #11 is accurate, then it does

seem that he would have been traveling legally. And the cross walk law here doesn't allow a pedestrian to step out in front of a vehicle that is already close enough to be a hazard - there's responsibility in both ways.

I wonder if the walk signal is poorly timed (I always thought there is or should be a delay in between the red and the subsequent green on the cross street), or more likely if the crowd of pedestrians was anticipating and the man who was hit went along with the flow without being aware of the cyclist.

Sad story...

[Gormy Cuss]

30. Yellow means proceed with caution, something this guy was not doing...

given his rate of speed and his own words concerning his lack of caution.

CA vehicle code is bizarrely hostile to pedestrians. Every other place lived has had specific requirements on cars remaining at a complete stop until pedestrians are well beyond the vehicle's travel lane (usually it's until the pedestrians are two lanes away or in a lane for the opposite traffic direction.) The crosswalk law here encourages bad behaviors like cars turning right on red into crosswalks before pedestrians have a chance to step off the curb too. I couldn't believe how lax the laws are here.

[Monk06]

15. I wonder if the guy was a fixie?

Nope pic above looks like he had freewheel and brakes.

[Betsy Ross]

20. To those not familiar with San Francisco

Heading south on Divisadero before Market is a major downhill slope. It would be, and is, very easy to not be able to stop when a light turns yellow, which is what happened in this case. There is no question that the biker was at fault, but it was not a flagrant disregard for the law.

[Nye Bevan]

22. Bicyclists are supposed to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks?

I have never seen any evidence of that law.

[David__77]

25. I think there need to be stronger bicycle regulations.

Brakes need to meet higher standards, lights need to be required, and perhaps other measures adopted so as to increase the likelihood of safe operation. I've almost been hit while walking by errant bicyclists. They need to realize that they are operating a vehicle, and a potentially dangerous machine.

[Alameda]

27. I agree with you 100%

I can't say how many times I've almost been hit by a bike. Too many seem to have no regard for pedestrians, and they ride on the sidewalk and create danger for everyone. Where I live there is a sidewalk in front of my building with bicyclists making it dangerous to even walk out the door. I wish the police would give tickets and patrol this. There is even a sign saying to walk your bike, but most (90%) ignore it.

There is a convalescent home on the block where some of the people would try to take walks with their walkers, but they discontinued because of the bikes. This is just wrong. The sidewalks are for pedestrians.