It is our sad duty to once again report that a bicyclist has been killed in Marin County. This latest crash occurred on Saturday, February 7th at roughly 4:30 PM on San Antonio Road immediately south of the Marin-Sonoma border. The victim was Daniel Fred, age 75, of Novato. He was riding alone at the time that he was struck from behind by a Petaluma man driving a Toyota Highlander.
The driver was released from the scene when police determined he was not under the influence. No traffic citation was issued, despite a rear-end crash presumptively being the fault of the rear driver. We do not know what account the driver gave to police about how he might have struck Fred. The sun could not have been in his eyes, as both bicyclist and driver were traveling southeast. Lighting was clearly not an issue, as sunset would not be for another 70 minutes. This prompts the question of whether the driver was distracted at the time of the crash. According to police, an investigation is underway that will “consider all possibilities.” We will follow up and report back on the results when a decision is made whether or not to charge the driver.
We disagree with SMART that this section of the SMART Pathway is “complete”…