26-year-old Kate Slattery was killed last night, 22 June 2016 she was safely riding her bicycle and was struck by a speeding SUV running a red light at the intersection of Howard and 7th Street in San Francisco, California
You died last night. You were hit by a car at Howard & 7th in San Francisco when you were riding your bike through the intersection. I was a passenger in the orange prius. We saw the SUV hit you, and speed off. We screamed ‘No! No! No!’. But our screams were not heeded.
You did not know what hit you, how could you?
Full Article: "I am sorry"
This is by an eyewitness of the crash that tried to help Kate Slattery after she was hit by the SUV.
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Just one moment of impatience or carelessness blotted out this life. Something to think about very seriously
San Francisco has some major problems with cyclists and pedestrians being killed. It's population is perhaps a third of Chicago's, but non-drivers are being killed at an even higher rate. Maybe they should rename their "plan" from "Vision Zero" to "Zero Vision".
Unfortunately Kate Slattery was not the only cyclist fatality that evening in SF; Heather Miller struck by a speeding, stolen car in Golden Gate Park:
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_30053013/san-francisco-s...
Small consolation that the driver in Kate's death was arrested and charged with more than minor traffic offenses immediately.
Small consolation... i thought that causing a death during commission of a felony carried an automatic murder charge?
Wish that were the case, but doesn't murder require intent? I'm pretty sure that running a red light is not a felony in and of itself, and I have not seen anything reported stating the driver was suspected of any other crime.
If you want a case that should rise to that level, then how about this one:
http://chi.streetsblog.org/2016/05/06/why-driver-who-dragged-a-cycl...
and
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160511/bridgeport/police-recount-...
Seriously, for the last couple of years it seems like traffic in the city is akin to the Wild West. Everybody does what they want without fear of repercussions, and until very recently the police did not seem too interested in enforcing any of the laws. Fullerton and Lincoln/Halsted during rush hours is evidence of this "anything goes" attitude prevalent with with all users.
So yes, it is a small consolation that the police (or DA) somewhere finally charged a driver with a felony in a case that as yet reported does not involve drugs, alcohol or the commission of another crime. Would that this were the case always, but you have to start somewhere.
i don't think intent is the trigger for a murder charge... people have been charged with murder when the death involved was not from direct action of the criminal. In this case, the driver was operating a stolen vehicle -a crime- when he struck and killed the rider. He most likely did not intend to kill anyone, but the end result of his crime was her death.
I believe you are getting the cases mixed up - the driver that killed Kate Slattery stopped and was arrested a couple blocks away from the collision; this is the driver I was referring to being appropriately and immediately charged with more than minor traffic violations.
The driver that killed Heather Miller was driving a stolen car, which was found abandoned down the road. If (when) the police catch up to that special piece of work I would hope that the circumstances elevate those charges to murder.
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