Dustin Michelson, Staff Photographer
Last Wednesday at 3:52 p.m., an SUV driver struck 63-year-old bicyclist Charles Raymond Gilbreth on the 4500 block of Montezuma Road.
According to the County of San Diego’s press release, Gilbreth was thrown off his bicycle into the grass. Although Advanced Cardiac Life Support was started when the paramedics arrived after a 911 call was placed, it was too late.
The reasons why the SUV collided with Gilbreth are unknown and pending investigation.
According to Bike San Diego writer Sam Ollinger’s blog, one witness claimed the SUV driver became impatient and used the bike lane to go around the bus in front of him.
Gilbreth was a Caucasian male who resided with his wife in San Diego.
Ollinger said five years ago, KPBS’ Morning Edition Anchor, Tom Fudge , was struck in the same location. Luckily, he survived.
“It strikes me as unbelievably callous that the leaders in the city are unmoved and unwilling to take action to address this deadly problem,” Ollinger said.
San Diego State student Melanie Martinez said the San Diego Police Department could work to improve the safety on Montezuma Road.
“Many drivers speed not realizing it is a university area where people are always walking or bicycling,” Martinez said. “It would be helpful to have officers watch the streets during the day.”
SDPD is investigating the accident to determine the cause of the collision. For inquiries or information about the case, contact the SDPD.
I passed the scene on my way home from work at 3:45 pm. It could not have happened seven minutes later since emergency crews and police were already on site.
The victim’s race was not a factor in the incident.
We need to put pressure on San Diego city government to make “San Diego Americas Safest City”
Let’s start by enforcing traffic laws Under California vehicle code all vehicles including bicycles trucks cars, motorcycles etc. are considered vehicles and their operators be that they’re called drivers or riders, need to obey traffic laws.
The systemic problem is that vehicle operators are not held accountable…therefore they’re going to continue to practice bad unsafe habits. It doesn’t mater which group is more to blame. the problem is with both
I am also pointing out that the bicycle or motorcycle will always lose against a car. We all need to obey the traffic laws so that we can share the roads safely and be America’s Safest City!
Talk to your friends family and coworkers, write, email and call let us all demand a safer city on the roads and streets.