Ed Maestas wants to find the person who did this.
Ed Maestas, a 63-year-old Ocean Beach resident, was knocked unconscious a week ago while bicycling down Ladera Street near Sunset Cliffs when he smashed into a car that turned right in front of him without warning. The car slowed, but then took off as it roared off on Cordova Street.
Surveillance video shows the moment as a car collided with a bike at a Point Loma intersection, just before the car took off.
“I can’t even believe I’m alive,” said Ed Maestas. Last Thursday morning he was about a half hour into his regular ride — a few miles from wrapping up — and headed down Ladera Street, going west. Ladera has a good sloop towards the Cliffs.
“I was coming down the hill on Ladera Street at 20 to 25 miles per hour,” said Maestas.
Then, suddenly, a car appeared in front of him going uphill and which began to turn on Cordova.
Frame from video of crash showing moment of impact – and the car.
“He was coming up Ladera Street with no blinker on, and I’m coming down the hill, and I didn’t expect him to turn. Next thing I know, he turned right in front of me and hit me,” said Maestas.
Surveillance video showed his bike crashing into the side of the car at the intersection. You can see the car briefly stop before it leaves the area.
The car is possibly a black Chrysler Sebring convertible with damage on its right side.
According to Michael Chen at 10News:
Maestas, who wasn’t wearing a helmet, was knocked unconscious and came to in the ambulance. “My head spinning, shoulder hurting, ribs hurting,” said Maestas.
Maestas suffered road rash and bruises across his body, along with bruised ribs and stitches in his arm, but remarkably, he suffered no broken bones.
For Maestas, it was a lesson learned. “I survived, but next time, I will have a helmet from now on,” said Maestas. Maestas says the video is hard to watch.
“I can’t understand. Why did he drive off? It’s not even decent. I’m laying in the street, and you drive off?” said Maestas. Maestas is now sharing his story in hopes of helping track down the driver.
Go to 10News for the newscast and surveillance video of the crash.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Ed Please where a helmet Don’t leave home with out it. Glad you’re basically okay. Cars don’t see bikes Where colors, bright orange or yellow, and a helmet. Stu
While wearing a helmet is a good idea (I never bike without mine), that still is no excuse for the driver, add to the fact he/she fled.
It is rather absurd that Sunset Cliffs Boulevard past Point Loma Avenue contains only one semi-controlled intersection at the Cordova split and this continues into Ladera and up into Cornish. Area should be full of bikes+peds not fast moving vehicles with nothing except the congestion of too many vehicles to slow them down. It should be a slow drive along the ocean not a race to the parking lot or back home.
This accident had nothing to do with any of that.
Left-hand turn was made from Ladera onto Cordova. While the intersection itself is controlled in terms of traffic coming from Cordova it is another instance of the Sunset Cliffs-Ladera street having no infrastructure to slow people down. You should spend some more time there and watch how fast people drive in that section and understand how it leads to incidents like this.
I’ve been surfing the cliffs for 40 years, I am very familiar with Ladera, been on it thousands of times. It is only a two block long street and I have never witnessed speeding or anything like that on this short piece of street. This was simply a car making a turn and not seeing the bicycle.
Obviously you don’t surf there often anymore if you haven’t witnessed the jackassery that goes down on that two block stretch of street nowadays. This ain’t the 70s, heck it’s not even the early 00s anymore down there on summer weekends.
Maybe if there was a stop sign or some other form of infrastructure forcing people to stop and think there’d be less accidents of thoughtlessness.
How many accidents have there been on Ladera? This is the first one I have heard of. I’m sure there are more, but how many?
I don’t think stu was excusing the driver at all, Chris.
I didn’t think he was. I was just putting in my two cents.
“… Cars don’t see bikes…”
Conversely, bikes regularly ignore cars, pedestrians, traffic rules, regulations and laws.
I’ve know Ed for many years. He takes good care of himself by running a lot and biking. At 63, he probably came out as well as he did because he is in good shape. The driver not stopping is a crime and I hope we can locate that car.
Sadly, another incident to report – not a hit and run but injuries.
https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/san-diego-news/suv-hits-man-dog-on-point-loma-heights-street