Santa Clara County: Driver drifts into shoulder, kills cyclist

A 20 year old driver drifted into the shoulder on San Tomas Expressway in Campbell, CA earlier today, killing a 59 year old man on a bicycle, according to CHP dispatches and news reports.

According to the Mercury News, the driver initially drove away. Another motorist followed her to a local Peet’s Coffee shop, and the driver’s father took her back to the scene of the collision.

Merc-News: Cyclist killed in Hit and run

It’s disturbing that this driver’s first instinct after hitting the cyclist was apparently to run. Props to Dad for doing the right thing. Because she returned quickly, she likely avoids a felony hit and run charge. Props also to the motorist who followed tge suspect as she ran.

We don’t know what distracted the driver, but I have my suspicions. Let’s hope the police collected the suspect’s phone as evidence. Please don’t text and drive, kids.

H/T Shiva Sharma for this sad news.

4 Comments

  1. I don’t know what’s worse: That the driver drove away or that the parent was in the car and had to drive back to the scene?

    The driver should get charged with vehicular homicide and the father should be charged with aiding and abetting or contributing to the delinquency of a minor or the like.

  2. according to the SJMN, the driver called her dad at Peet’s then he came down and took her back to the scene. he was not with her when the accident happened.

  3. Randomly came across this post during a search. I met Stan Wicka while walking my dogs as he pulled into his driveway (one street over) on a bike. He was 59 at the time, riding an old steel clunker. I introduced myself and asked how was his ride. Expecting to hear he’d been rolling around a local bike path, he explained he’d ridden over to Santa Cruz, been out sailing with a friend, and had just ridden back. This was from Santa Clara, mind you…

    That was on a Thursday evening (Stan had lost his job as a hardware engineer at National; I offered to help find him a new one, but I came to learn he wasn’t really looking that hard). Saturday morning came a knock on my door (I’d pointed out my house). “Let’s go for a bike ride!”, he said. OK, I’d planned on one anyway, so whipped things together and set out down San Tomas with him, thinking maybe we’d hit Mt. Eden. Long story short, we rode for a while chatting with some cute girls, then set off for Mt. Umunhum at his suggestion. I’d set it as a goal to ride, but he said “Why wait? Life’s too short!”. Little did I know how right he was. We climbed it together, and I was worried but waited for him at the top, and he proved to be in incredible shape for a guy that had recently just started riding a bike.

    Anyway, I thought about him again today, as I often do walking by his house. Fast forward, Melanie Souza is still driving on the roads with barely a slap on her wrist (probably still with a phone in her hand), and Stan (I’ve since learned) has many, many friends who still really miss his unique and wonderful spirit.

    http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23270453/woman-set-be-charged-hit-and-run-killing

    I should bring myself to go ride Umunhum again tomorrow…

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