jab

From this morning:

https://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...bn23fatal.html

For the non-locals, this is a pretty popular stretch of road with cyclists; it has wide lanes, a wide shoulder, and no stoplights for miles. This incident happened near here.

Be careful out there!

-JAB

SoCalAl

This was one of my main routes when heading into SD from Scripps Ranch but it's become a pretty tough ride over the last 5 years with all the trucks. I'm really sorry to hear about this and hope the SOB who drove off will......

MarkS

Why what? The wording might be confusing, but that stretch *is* legal for bikes. In the channel 10 image gallery associated with the the event (https://www.10news.com/slideshow/news...s;p=news;w=400) you can see the "Share the Road" sign only about 20 yards from where the incident occurred. That article also says that they have a person of interest in custody.

All very disturbing.

Dchiefransom

It looks like it happened at an off ramp. I wonder if the driver was looking at the sign instead of the road. It's pretty dark at 6:00 AM.

Swami'sPrincess

If anyone finds out the Marine Corp Captain's name and or any funeral arrangements pleaseeeeeee contact me via email ...wahine1965@gmail.com
Swami's
Triathlon Club of San Diego
SDBC
are trying to stay in the loop so we can pay our respects.
Thanks, Sumi G.

Digital Gee

As of a few moments ago on the 11 p.m. KUSI news, the name was not yet being released.

MarkS

The UT site has some updated info:

https://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...-7m24bike.html.

The author's name and phone are at the bottom. Perhaps if you called her she might know the name of the individual.

If you look at the news page for channel 10 news, there's a small picture of the suspect mini-van (this picture is likely to disappear since its not part of the news article itself).

jab

Today's SD Union Tribune coverage identifies him:



-JAB

jab

Some of those pictures... wow.

-JAB

Swami'sPrincess

please see your email matt
Anyone with funeral arrangement info pleeeeeeaaaassssee update this forum.

MattP.

The funeral is on Monday at 1 PM. I dont know the exact location, but it is a Marine funeral, if that helps at all. I can get the exact location if needed.

shokhead

Trucks and vans with as many people as they can cram in the back and that wont stop for anything.

genec

The elevated speed limits on this road get the drivers to thinking they are already on the freeway...

This road has posted 65MPH speeds.

shokhead

They think that 65 is how many people you have to have in the van.

Swami'sPrincess

Memorial ride is Saturday at Nytro/ Starbuck's Encinitas on First Street at 745-800 roll off.
Funeral is 1pm at MCRD on Monday

Medpilot

Wow, that’s practically right across the street from my dispatch office.

Capt. Patrick Michael Klokow and his family will be in my thoughts.

RIP.

genec

Arrest made.

Detectives Thursday arrested a Mira Mesa man who allegedly admitted involvement in a hit-and-run traffic accident that killed a 29-year-old Marine Corps officer bicycling to work on a Miramar-area street.

Jose Luis Cifuentes, 58, confessed Thursday afternoon to being the driver whose vehicle struck USMC Capt. Patrick Klokow in the 7300 block of Kearny Villa Road early Tuesday morning, San Diego police reported.

Cifuentes underwent several interrogations after being pulled over near the scene of the fatal crash in a minivan with a mangled front end.

He initially insisted the damage had occurred in an unrelated freeway accident, SDPD Detective Sgt. Jeff Fellows said.

Klokow, a Santa Clara native and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, was pedaling to the south near State Route 163 about 6 a.m. when a vehicle hit him from behind at high speed. The involved motorist kept driving, leaving the serviceman dying in the roadway, according to investigators.

About four hours later, a motorcycle officer investigating the crash spotted Cifuentes' Mercury Villager traveling along Kearny Villa Road, about a quarter-mile from the scene of the fatality, Fellows said.

Police pulled Cifuentes over, took him into custody and impounded the vehicle, which had a smashed windshield and crumpled hood.

During an initial round of questioning, Cifuentes said his vehicle had been damaged by lumber that fell out of a truck in front of him as he drove near the intersection of Interstate 805 and State Route 52, Fellows said.

Police found no corroboration for that story, the sergeant said, but released him pending the results of forensic tests on the minivan and a lie-detector exam.

At the time of his death, Klokow was on his way to Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, where he served as commanding officer of a company that trains military instructors.

In January 2003, Klokow deployed to Kuwait as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, then went to Iraq two months later, serving combat duty until that July.

Klokow, a triathlete, had been stationed at MCRD for about two years.

A 1999 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, he was married with no children.

https://news.yahoo.com/s/kgtv/20050826/lo_kgtv/2902090

Swami'sPrincess

Reminder- Patrick Klokow's funeral is tomorrow at 1pm at MCRD San Diego

The ride was very well attended and we stopped at the site and added a few pieces to the road marker cross which is about 50 feet from the "Share the Road" sign. Also as an added note, there is another cross for another cyclist killed in 2001 several hundred yards north of Patrick's cross.

Please check out Swami's and Tri club of San Diego sites for another ride that I understand is in the works. This one will have had more time to organize and I heard there is hope that Anne, his widow, will attend. I think Tri club is organizing it.

Thanks to all who attended yesterday.

genec

Two cyclists killed at the same location less than 4 years apart...

and yet the road engineers raised the speed limit to 65MPH not long ago... just doesn't make sense.

Perhaps this is a good location for San Diego's first Ghost Bike.

John E

Four years ago, Larry Mahr was struck from behind by an inattentive motorist who had drifted from the (wide) rightmost traffic lane into the (also wide) bike lane. The design of the road was arguably NOT a factor, although I would endorse a reduction of the speed limit to, say, 50mph, ASSUMING this could be enforced (unlikely).

Last week, Captain Klokow was struck from behind at the high-speed free diverge exit to freeway 163. Mr. Cifuentes has not disclosed whether he simply did not see the well-lit, brightly-clad Marine, or whether he was confused about how to execute a traffic weave with a bicyclist. In this case, I argue that the design of the road did contribute to the incident, since I hold the admittedly not universally shared that freeway-style high-speed free turns, merges, and diverges have no place except on limited-access freeways.

There is no reasonable alternate route for most cyclists using Kearny Villa Road.

John E

Swami's Princess, it is always a pleasure to welcome another "local" to the forum. I would have joined your group for the memorial ride, but I had to attend a memorial service that morning at the new Cottonwood Creek Park.

MarkS

Would he have been well lit? At least in the South Bay, that was a very foggy morning. I don't think we've had one that foggy in the week prior or since. My assumption had been that Mr. Cifuentes had over-driven his lights ... but maybe it was clearer inland?

genec

As there is a quite reasonable alternative route for most traffic... that being hiway 15, which is quite visible from Kearny Villa road itself; I suggest traffic calming measures that reduce the speeds on KV road for motor vehicle traffic.

Oddly enough KV road was once a local hiway, and cyclists were invited on to the local military air base to make safe north south transitions. Since hiway 15 has been installed KV road has been allowed to fall into disrepair, yet since it is lightly used and nearly flat and straight, the sight lines are enough that MV traffic has driven the speed limit up again to hiway speeds.

It is quite evident by the recent deaths of cyclists on this route that motorists cannot handle these high speeds while cyclists also depend on good sightlines for their safety on this road... there is a dichotomy involved here in that higher speeds also tend to cause a form of tunnel vision, thus the cyclists may disappear from the motorist vision at higher speeds. Couple this with the poor condition of the roadway, and motorists may be distracted from ever seeing cyclists.

The solution is to reduce the speeds on that road to improve the ability of the motorists to see the cyclists. The easiest method may be to simply split the roadbed into a single lane MV road (one north, one south), with a wide bicycle sidepath. This can be done with K barriers with stopsigns at the few "intersections" which are in reality, on and off ramps.

Other forms of traffic calming may also be suitable... but more expensive. Perhaps just closing the on/off ramps is a viable solution.

At any rate, the motorists have an alternative, the cyclists do not, so any improvements should be geared toward making the road more cyclist friendly, period.

History should not be allowed to repeat itself.

Swami'sPrincess

Thank you John. Perhaps you'll be available for the next ride.

I went to the memorial service today at MCRD. It was a very well attended and emotional hour. I have never felt more proud to be an American, greatful for these brave men and women who serve our country and saddened by by loss of a person I really never met.

I believe there is likely going to be some guidance coming our way from the San Diego Bike Coalition pertaining to phone calls and letters that should made and written. I hope our voices can make a difference.

genec

Mira Mesa man pleads not guilty in hit-and-run that killed cyclist

By Dana Littlefield
STAFF WRITER

August 30, 2005

A Mira Mesa man pleaded not guilty yesterday to felony hit-and-run charges in the death of a Marine captain killed while bicycling to work last week.

Jose Luis Cifuentes, 58, also pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge during an arraignment in San Diego Superior Court. He was charged in connection with the death of Patrick Klokow, 29, of Santa Clara.

After hearing from the lawyers in the case, Judge Roger W. Krauel kept Cifuentes' bail at $75,000. Cifuentes was being held in county jail.

Deputy District Attorney William Gentry Jr. argued unsuccessfully for an increase in bail, noting that Cifuentes has relatives in Mexico and could flee. Gentry said $100,000 bail would be appropriate.

Deputy Public Defender Allen Cazares argued that Cifuentes' bail should be lower, noting that he has lived in the county for more than a decade and has no criminal record.

Cazares said Cifuentes was on his way to an appointment for dialysis the morning of the collision.

According to police, Klokow was riding his bicycle to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot when he was struck about 6 a.m. Tuesday on Kearny Villa Road near the southbound state Route 163 on-ramp. There were no witnesses.

Later the same morning, a police officer stopped a Mercury Villager minivan near where Klokow was killed and noticed it had a smashed windshield and hood damage.

The driver, Cifuentes, told police the damage occurred when his vehicle was struck by a load of lumber on state Route 52. He was released but gave permission for the minivan to be impounded and inspected.

He was arrested Thursday afternoon.

Dana Littlefield: (619) 542-4590; dana.littlefield@uniontrib.com

https://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...0cifuente.html

*****************************************

Of course no doubt his next move is the "I didn't see him" defense... sigh...