SAN FRANCISCO—A German tourist was the victim of a hit-and-run accident on Masonic Avenue around 10:40 p.m. on Friday, August 13. Nils Linke, 21, was riding his bicycle southbound on Masonic when he was struck from behind by a 1989 Mercedes Benz, also traveling southbound, driven by 36-year-old Joshua Calder. According to San Francisco Police, Calder admitted to having been drinking before striking Linke with his vehicle.
"Ghost Bike" Memorial for Nils Linke at Turk and Masonic Avenue. Photo Courtesy: http://www.ibikenopa.blogspot.com/
Calder is currently being held on $500,000 bail, and could be charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony hit-and-run causing death and DUI. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of driving with no proof of insurance, and is scheduled to appear in court October 1. Calder left the scene near the University of San Francisco after striking Linke, but using vehicle descriptions provided by witnesses in the area, police located Calder’s Mercedes Benz a few blocks away near the corner of Turk Street and Tamalpais Terrace.
Masonic Avenue has a history of being plagued with public complaint due to its lack of a separated bicycle lane from normal vehicle traffic, according to BIKE NOPA, a San Francisco resident’s blog dedicated to cycling in San Francisco’s North Panhandle neighborhood. The blog, maintained by NOPA resident Michael Helquist, brought to light a petition signed by more than 500 residents of the Masonic area over two years prior to the accident. The petition, headed by an organization called Fix Masonic, was “hand-delivered to Nathaniel (Nat) Ford, Executive Director of the Municipal Transportation Agency, on February 27, 2008," according to Helquist’s blog, and called for solutions to growing traffic concerns on Masonic Avenue. Many of the petition’s concerns address dangers to pedestrians and cyclists, and call for “reconfiguring or removing lanes to calm traffic,” as well as “adding a bike lane for bike safety and to slow traffic speeds.”
Fix Masonic was successful in driving a few changes to the Masonic Avenue corridor, including a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit and a new traffic signal head for bicycle and pedestrian crossing. In a statement to the San Francisco News, Helquist said about the improvements, "I'm encouraged that SFMTA is considering further traffic calming measures for Masonic that can be implemented now or in the near future. The posted speed limit is 25 miles per hour, and our goal should be to implement as many adjustments and additions to the Masonic corridor that will yield that speed."
Anonymous mementos honoring Linke began to manifest on the corner of Turk Street and Masonic Avenue in the form of flyers, a bouquet of daffodils taped to a tree and a white-painted “ghost bike,” complete with candles and flowers that appeared Thursday, August 19. According to the Ghost Bikes organization’s website, “A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign near the crash site, accompanied by a small plaque. They serve as reminders of the tragedy that took place on an otherwise anonymous street corner, and as quiet statements in support of cyclists' right to safe travel.”
Linke is coincidentally the second German tourist to be killed in San Francisco within a week, following the tragic fatal shooting of 50-year-old Mechtild Schroeer. A candlelight vigil will be hosted for Linke at 7 p.m. on August 25 at the San Francisco Day School, located at 350 Masonic Avenue.
