Santa Clara (Calif.) sheriff's deputy crashes into 3 bicyclists, 2 killed

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

A rookie Santa Clara County deputy sheriff patrolling a winding Cupertino road this morning veered into the opposite lane of traffic and struck a trio of bicyclists, killing two people, including a rising star in the Bay Area cycling community, authorities said.

... Gough, Peterson and the third cyclist were on a training ride on Stevens Canyon Road and had broken away from a group of eight others when they were struck by the on-duty deputy at about 10:25 a.m., friends of the riders said.

The unidentified deputy was northbound when his white cruiser accidentally crossed over the double yellow line near Montebello Road and hit the cyclists, according to Sgt. Don Morrissey, a spokesman for the sheriff's department.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/09/MNKSVGTJ1.DTL&tsp=1

[Kolesar]

1. Witnesses said they overheard the deputy saying he may have fallen asleep at the wheel.

Witnesses said they overheard the deputy saying he may have fallen asleep at the wheel. While the deputy was on patrol, he was not responding to a call, or speeding at the time of the crash, authorities said.

http://cbs5.com/local/bicyclists.crash.sheriff.2.673306.html



I make a point of calling vehicular incidents what they are. They only sometimes are "accidents". They are "crashes" or "collisions" and if they are caused by irresponsible motoring, they are not "accidents".

[Shine]

2. Tragic story. I was reading this one in the Chronicle, too.

:( the last thing anyone expects is getting hit by a COP CAR while climbing a hill.

[Fovea]

3. Funny you say this

I was hit by an off duty police officer in KCMO back in 1977.

And man this looks really like a serious accident or a deliberate.