Elderly Woman Dies Of Injuries After Hit By Bicyclist At San Jose State University
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- An 89-year-old San Jose woman died Saturday from head injuries after a bicyclist collided with her in a walkway on the campus of San Jose State University early Thursday, authorities said Thursday.
The woman was identified as Ching-Tsun Nee, who died of cranial cerebral injuries when she hit her head on the ground after the bicyclist struck her, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner's office.
At about 6 a.m. Thursday, a female bicyclist was heading west on Paseo De San Carlos, a combined-use walkway through the center of the SJSU campus, when she collided with Nee, SJSU police Capt. Alan Cavallo said.
Nee had been walking east in the walkway with another woman when the collision dropped her to the ground and onto her head, resulting in life-threatening injuries, Cavallo said.
The bicyclist stopped, helped to provide first aid to the injured woman, cooperated fully with SJSU police who arrived to investigate, and was not arrested or cited, according to Cavallo.
Neither the bicyclist, who is not being identified, nor Nee were students at SJSU, Cavallo said.
The Paseo De San Carlos walkway that Nee and the bicyclist were on is meant for combined use, including pedestrians, cyclists and skateboarders and the campus has no designated bike or other paths for specific uses, Cavallo said.
Police plan to assemble the facts in the case and submit it to the district attorney's office to see if there is "any criminal activity that needs to be addressed," he said.
While it was dark at the time of the early-morning accident Thursday, the walkway was illuminated by overhead lights. The bicyclist also had a light on her helmet, campus police said.
The university requires bicyclists driving on campus to travel at a maximum speed of 5 mph but Cavallo said he was "not going to speculate" about what speed the bicyclist was going prior to the accident.
Cavallo said he researched campus collisions going back three years and there were no previous cases of a bike versus pedestrian accident, although there have been bike collisions with cars and skateboards.
"I think the story is it's an accident and it's just unfortunate," Cavallo said.
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