Guest Commentary – Amazon driver runs over bicyclist foot, crushes bike; Elk Grove Police blamed cyclist, let the driver continue route
By Michael Monasky | Guest Contributor |
Just before 4 pm, Tuesday, October 10, 2023, an Amazon Prime delivery truck ran over a woman’s foot while crushing the front wheel of her bicycle. The truck was leaving Laguna Pointe Way to merge with quickly moving east bound traffic on Laguna Boulevard.
The cyclist was moving west bound on the side walk (on the sounth side of Laguana) as traffic in this corridor moves at freeway speeds. The Amazon Prime delivery driver was watching out for fast moving east bound traffic, but missed sight of the west bound cyclist on the side walk.
Amazon Prime delivery drivers are on closely monitored time frames that dictate where and when they should drop packages. They drive very large trucks with severely limited sight-lines so they are prone to higher risk of hitting pedestrians and cyclists.
Pedestrians and cyclists use side walks in opposite direction to high speed traffic because they fear being struck from behind. Young drivers are taught to look both ways before executing a turn to ensure there is no pedestrian activity. It makes you wonder if Amazon is adequately training their contract drivers before they are put on a delivery route.
The police were emotionally cruel in their treatment of the cyclist-victim of this unfortunate collision. The cyclist refused emergency transport for medical treatment because she feared losing her bicycle and her belongings.
She called family for support but the police refused to standby to calm traffic until their arrival. Although she had abrasions on both feet, and she complained that her left foot was crushed by the truck’s tire running over it, the police told her to get up and move to a nearby parking lot for safety.
I advised the victim to stay still and not bear weight on her crushed foot. Her husband and young daughter arrived about ten minutes later; he and I assisted her into their truck to seek medical aid. Meanwhile, additional cyclists and pedestrians moved west bound against traffic on the sidewalk.
It was particularly ironic that the woman who drove the Amazon Prime delivery truck (looking particularly distraught) received the bulk of the police department’s attention. Another Amazon employee drove away the truck; he was wearing a “CROOKS” (and “castles”) ball cap.
Amazon crooks; Elk Grove police creeps; a crushed foot; a twisted wreck of a bicycle; the delivery truck sent on its way. Elk Grove police refused to pass contact and identification information to the cyclist-victim, saying it would be forwarded to her in 10 days.
I really don’t like the idea of ambulance-chasing lawyers. And I’m not happy with the way Elk Grove cops present themselves to the public. Damn Amazon and the size of these trucks, their hurried delivery behaviors, the excessive speeds on our streets, our collective ignorance of pedestrian traffic.
There is no way a person on a bicycle can be compared to a car when in traffic. Our city and its council government are responsible for this bloody mess. In this case both Amazon and EGPD are deep pockets that deserve to be mined.
Irony piled upon itself; Elk Grove’s multi-modal transit center, with an Amtrak station, is planned just a few blocks from this high-speed no-man’s land.
