Bay Area high school cycling coach dies after bike crash

Officials are analyzing the death of a Terra Linda High School coach after a traffic collision during a bike ride The development happened while Christopher Brignetti of San Rafael was traveling on Manuel T Freitas Parkway last Saturday afternoon police commented Brignetti who was riding east collided with a automobile that was turning left onto Lea Drive according to the preliminary research Related Articles Driver suspected of intentionally running down killing California motorcyclist Liverpool athlete Diogo Jota and his brother were killed in a car accident in Spain police say Driver killed in solo-vehicle crash Tuesday in San Jose Driver charged with manslaughter in fatal East Bay freeway crash Driver killed in fiery weekend crash in Walnut Creek First responders provided health aid for serious injuries and took Brignetti to a hospital stated San Rafael police Sgt Justin Graham Brignetti was pronounced dead at the hospital Police do not suspect intoxication and did not arrest the driver who is an adult Lt Scott Eberle declined to release the driver s name and age and revealed police do not plan to seek charges The intersection of Freitas Parkway and Lea Drive has a history of collisions involving vehicles and bicyclists according to the Marin County Bicycle Coalition Four incidents occurred between and each with similar circumstances the organization disclosed In each development a bicyclist was riding downhill on Freitas Parkway before being hit by a driver making an uphill left turn onto Lea Drive the group reported A collision at the site left a bicyclist in a coma for months it explained Particular crashes are genuinely hard to predict or prevent this is not one of those crashes the organization commented in a comment Had changes been made to the intersection after any of these four majority new collisions this preponderance latest tragedy would have been far less likely The group wants the city s inhabitants works staff to conduct an crisis safety assessment of the intersection They also ask that the city implement a plan to narrow journey lanes stripe buffered bike lanes and extend the nearby median in both directions City Attorney Rob Epstein noted police will statement their investigative findings to city management Brignetti was a mountain biking coach at Terra Linda High School Sarah Roth a friend described him as a positive light on the squad He would totally rally the kids she revealed He had plenty of other things he could have been doing with his free time he didn t have to do this He volunteered because he loved cycling and it was infectious being around him Roth explained she has biked in the area since she was a child She stated the section of Freitas Parkway has fast-moving traffic when bicyclists are traveling downhill Shrubbery and a tall pine tree also block the view of drivers turning left to Lea Drive she disclosed It looks very benign Roth mentioned of the intersection You wouldn t realize it is dangerous until you see the evidence She stated the collision at the intersection was avoidable It should ve been fixed a long time ago The city knew about the issue Roth revealed Because nobody died previously they didn t fix it Brignetti was one of coaches for high school association of students Roth announced Her husband John Cheetham is the head coach He was a very experienced cyclist Roth revealed If this could happen to him then this could happen to anyone at the intersection since he was super aware and very cautious A GoFundMe page verified by Roth has been created to help Brignetti s wife and children The fundraising event had garnered about of its goal by Thursday afternoon