Deputy responsible for young biker’s deaths
San Jose, California – The tragic events that unfolded on Sunday morning, March 9, involved a group of cyclists who were out training on Stevens Canyon Road in Santa Clara County, in the hills west of Cupertino. There were about a dozen cyclists, most of them members of the Third Pillar Racing Team. Three of the cyclists had pulled away, and were riding single file about 10-20 seconds ahead of the main group; one of the cyclists, Matt Peterson, 29, of San Francisco, was a member of Roaring Mouse Cycles Team. The other two cyclists were Kristy Gough, 30, a San Leandro resident and member of the Third Pillar Racing team and Christopher Knapp, 20, a German national and member of the FC-Rheinland-Pfalz Racing Club.
Also on the road was a patrolling Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy heading the opposite direction in his cruiser when he “negligently, carelessly, recklessly and unlawfully” crossed the double yellow line and drove head-on into the three cyclists. Instantly killed was Matt Peterson; Kristy Gough died shortly after and Christopher Knapp sustained a broken arm and leg. The three cyclists were five minutes away from their finish at Stevens Creek Reservoir when they were struck.
The deputy, who is 27, claimed he had fallen asleep at the wheel. Furthermore, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of misdemeanor manslaughter. According to news reports, there were no skid marks on the roadway, which indicate that Deputy Council never even applied his brakes. The San Francisco gate also reported that he had worked a 12 1⁄2-hour shift the day before, and had ten and a half hours off before the start of another 12 1⁄2-hour shift at 6 a.m., 4 1/2 hours before the fatal crash. If pilots cannot fly for more than 12 hours at a time, shouldn’t there be laws regulating the amount of time police officers have on the roads? The parents of the cyclists filed wrongful-death lawsuits against Deputy Council, and they are hopeful that justice will be served. In order for the trial to be completely fair, the Sheriff’s Office has turned the case over to the California Highway Patrol. For the memory of these cyclists and the prevention of further accidents, hopefully this crash will be the catalyst for substantive road safety improvements, starting with prohibiting officers who are drowsy or have worked more than x amount of hours from being on the roads, if this was mandated earlier, these cyclists would still be alive.
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