San Rafael cycling coach dies after bike crash

Authorities are investigating the death of a Terra Linda High School coach after a traffic collision during a bike ride.

The incident happened while Christopher Brignetti, 54, of San Rafael was traveling on Manuel T. Freitas Parkway on Saturday afternoon, police said. Brignetti, who was riding east, collided with a vehicle that was turning left onto Lea Drive, according to the preliminary investigation.

First responders provided medical aid for serious injuries and took Brignetti to a hospital, said San Rafael police Sgt. Justin Graham. Brignetti was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Police do not suspect intoxication and did not arrest the driver, who is an adult. Lt. Scott Eberle declined to release the driver’s name and age and said police do not plan to seek charges.

The intersection of Freitas Parkway and Lea Drive has a history of collisions involving vehicles and bicyclists, according to the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. Four incidents occurred between 2018 and 2023, each with similar circumstances, the organization said.

In each case, a bicyclist was riding downhill on Freitas Parkway before being hit by a driver making an uphill left turn onto Lea Drive, the group said. A 2007 collision at the site left a bicyclist in a coma for months, it said.

“Some crashes are genuinely hard to predict or prevent — this is not one of those crashes,” the organization said in a statement. “Had changes been made to the intersection after any of these four most recent collisions, this most recent tragedy would have been far less likely.”

The group wants the city’s public works staff to conduct an emergency safety assessment of the intersection. They also ask that the city implement a plan to narrow travel lanes, stripe buffered bike lanes and extend the nearby median in both directions.

City Attorney Rob Epstein said police will report their investigative findings to city management.

Brignetti was a mountain biking coach at Terra Linda High School. Sarah Roth, a friend, described him as a “positive light” on the team.

“He would totally rally the kids,” she said. “He had plenty of other things he could have been doing with his free time, he didn’t have to do this. He volunteered because he loved cycling and it was infectious being around him.”

Roth said she has biked in the area since she was a child. She said the section of Freitas Parkway has fast-moving traffic when bicyclists are traveling downhill. Shrubbery and a tall pine tree also block the view of drivers turning left to Lea Drive, she said.

“It looks very benign,” Roth said of the intersection. “You wouldn’t realize it is dangerous until you see the data.”

She said the collision at the intersection was avoidable.

“It should’ve been fixed a long time ago. The city knew about the issue,” Roth said. “Because nobody died previously, they didn’t fix it.”

Brignetti was one of 10 coaches for high school team of 30 students Roth said. Her husband, John Cheetham, is the head coach.

“He was a very experienced cyclist,” Roth said. “If this could happen to him then this could happen to anyone at the intersection since he was super aware and very cautious.”

A GoFundMe page verified by Roth has been created to support Brignetti’s wife and children. The fundraiser had garnered about $66,000 of its $100,000 goal by Thursday afternoon.