Authorities charged Junming Zhu, 26, on Monday with the negligent motor vehicle homicide of John Corcoran on Sept. 23.
Zhu’s new-model Mercedes-Benz SUV left Memorial Drive by the DeWolfe Boathouse near the Boston University Bridge and hit Corcoran, 62, head-on while Corcoran was riding his e-bike home to Newton. Zhu, whose identity was made public for the first time since the crash, pleaded not guilty, according to media reports.
Zhu, according to the Massachusetts State Police report, said he was distracted by the sudden presence of “an insect.” He had a passenger in the vehicle, but the report does not say if Zhu or his passenger were injured in the crash.
Corcoran’s family expressed relief that the investigation report was finally public and that charges have been filed. Corcoran’s son, Jack, graduated this spring from Harvard – also his father’s alma mater.
Two other cyclists were struck and killed in Cambridge last year: Kim Staley, 54, of Florida at the intersection of Mount Auburn and DeWolfe streets on June 6; and Massachusetts Institute of Technology doctoral student Minh-Thi “Minty” Nguyen, 26, on June 24 at Hampshire and Portland streets. (Portland turns into Cardinal Medeiros Avenue across the intersection.) Both died as the result of a right turn by a truck in an intersection.
In late September nearly 1,000 cyclists organized by the group Critical Mass rode to and around the Cambridge side of the BU Bridge’s rotary during rush hour to bring awareness to the three deaths.
The state, after years of complaints, took steps to improve the area’s dangerous engineering: Cyclists had been merging into a head-on lane with Memorial Drive traffic before ramping up onto a shared sidewalk by the boathouse where Corcoran was hit. The state enlarged and separated the sidewalk and bike lanes.
Zhu was charged with three counts of negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked-lanes violation along with the vehicular homicide charge. He was released on his own recognizance and awaits a pretrial hearing Sept. 22.
A stronger
Please consider making a financial contribution to maintain, expand and improve Cambridge Day.
We are now a 501(c)3 nonprofit and all donations are tax deductible.
Please consider a recurring contribution.
What purpose to report that it was a “new-model Mercedes-Benz SUV” other than to bias the reader?
He drove across two lanes of oncoming traffic and onto a sidewalk—because of an insect? Ridiculous. If that’s a valid excuse, why have traffic laws at all? “Sorry I hit that crowd, there was a bug in my car.”