Photo Source: haaretz.com
Source: A cyclist died shortly after colliding with a dump truck Friday afternoon near the intersection of Bancroft Way and Fulton Street. The victim has been identified by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau as Shlomo Bentin, 65, who was a guest lecturer at UC Berkeley. Bentin was pronounced dead at Highland Hospital in Oakland after he was transported by ambulance to the hospital trauma center. According to Berkeley Police Department Sgt. Mary Kusmiss, the vehicle and bicyclist were both traveling westbound on Bancroft Way at around 3:38 p.m. when an apparent collision between the two occurred. The victim was then transported to the local police center where he was pronounced dead by physicians. “Whether the truck actually struck the cyclist or not is not clear from any witnesses,” Kusmiss said. Kusmiss said the investigation team is currently reconstructing the accident in order to determine what role the dump truck played in the incident. The driver of the dump truck as well as his supervisor remained at the scene and were questioned by police officers. The cyclist sustained “life-threatening injuries” to his head, and possibly other parts of his body, and was unresponsive when emergency personnel reached the scene, Kusmiss said. According to Kusmiss, people who witnessed the accident flagged down a passing ambulance. EMT personnel performed CPR on the man, who lay in the roadway near his bicycle. He had reportedly been wearing a helmet. Kusmiss said a pedestrian who witnessed the accident prompted a motorcyclist to flag down the truck, which ended up traveling approximately one more block before returning to the scene. “The motorcyclist followed the truck and told the driver to return, as he may have struck the cyclist,” Kusmiss said. According to a statement released by the police department Friday night, the truck driver is not under arrest and has cooperated with police thus far.
Collision Data
Crash time: between 3 p.m. and 5:59 p.m.
Closest Intersection:
Land use: Urban
Road type: Local Road or Street
Where on the road the collision happened: Road
Collision type: Sideswipe
Driver Data
Vehicle type: Large Trucks
If truck: Municipal Truck (garbage truck, street sweepers, snow plows)
At crash time driver was: Don't Know
Sources
Source: News ReportType: Newspaper
Pos/Neg: Neutral
Link if Website: http://www.dailycal.org/2012/07/13/dump-truck-collides-with-bicyclist/
Legal Status
Legal status: No charges filedAgainst:
Civil Suit filed?:
Settled?:
In favor of:
Type of Charge:

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