Firecrackers

[SadieKate]

I also commend you for your follow-up but I have to throw some cold water on the elation due to your confrontation without law enforcement present. This was extremely risky. There are b'zillions of stories by folks who have a violent response when talking even in a reasonable tone to offenders. Follow-up from a safe distance, always remain respectful and wait for law enforcement. You describe it as the "house of a colleague." In my world, that means you know the person only at work and truly have no idea who and what may lurk at home, such as unsupervised teenagers at home during the day drinking or doing drugs.

I hate posted stories of cyclists killed because we are all at risk every day of our lives whether we are on our bikes, in our cars, or out walking. The "stay safe" declarations are true no matter what, but please don't go looking for trouble. You were very lucky.

From the Martinez Gazette, Thursday, June 15, 2006
By Ben Bush, Staff Reporter

DETAILS EMERGE IN ROAD RAGE DEATH

Kit Kohler, the brother of Thomas Cooney, the bicyclist who died following an apparent road rage incident on May 31, explained that Cooney likely died not from a physical fight with a driver but from an apparent collision when the driver got out of his car attempting to stop him. While biking down Alhambra Avenue, Cooney believed that a driver in a black pickup truck had cut him off. Kohler recalled the driver's version of events as told to him by the police. The driver claims that Cooney punched and then spit on him through the truck window while biking alongside the vehicle. The driver pulled over further up the road, got out of his vehicle and stood in the road gesturing for Cooney to stop. The two collided and Cooney flipped over, landing on his head and sustaining severe injuries. "The driver tried to stop Tom and Tom tried to get around him, and they collided," said Kohler.

Cooney was transported to John Muir Medical Center, where he died the following day. According to Kohler, the police confirmed that Cooney had been wearing a helmet at the time of the incident. "Apparently, the helmet split or broke," Kohler said, "he hit hard enough to do that."

According to Kohler, when police arrived on the scene, *Cooney lay in the far left lane on Alhambra Avenue at the junction with Berellessa, on the opposite side of the road from the bike lane. This as led to speculation that Cooney had veered away from the driver and that the driver had gone out of his way to chase Cooney across the street to block him.