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Driver was allegedly distracted by a bug prior to fatal Cambridge cyclist crash last fall
Authorities allege Junming Zhu collided head-on with John Corcoran, who was riding his electric bicycle along Memorial Drive last September.
Nearly 10 months after he allegedly struck and killed a cyclist in Cambridge, a Malden man appeared in court Monday as he pleaded not guilty to motor vehicle homicide by negligent operation.
Junming Zhu, 26, is accused of killing 62-year-old John Corcoran, who was mortally wounded while biking near Boston University’s DeWolfe Boathouse on Memorial Drive last September. Zhu purportedly told authorities he lost control of his SUV and jumped the curb because he was distracted by an insect, court documents revealed.
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In addition to motor vehicle homicide, Zhu is also charged with negligent operation of a motor vehicle and a marked lanes violation. He was released on personal recognizance following his arraignment in Cambridge District Court. His attorney was not immediately available for comment Monday afternoon.
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The death of Corcoran, a Newton father of two, prompted widespread protests among Greater Boston cyclists and a push for bike safety improvements along Memorial Drive.
Per a statement of facts filed in court, Zhu told Massachusetts State Police troopers he was driving a friend home from a trip to Micro Center in Cambridge when he noticed a large insect in the car and tried to swat it away.
“He stated that his intention was to pull over to the side of the road to get the bug out of the car,” Trooper Justin Pye wrote in the report. “Zhu stated that in an attempt to pull over … [he] traveled onto the sidewalk and struck what he thought was an unoccupied bicycle.”
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Instead, authorities allege, Zhu’s Mercedes-Benz collided head-on with Corcoran, who was riding his electric bicycle on the multi-use sidewalk. Corcoran was later pronounced dead at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“The reaction to an insect flying into the cab of the vehicle was completely unreasonable,” Pye wrote in the statement of facts. Corcoran, he added, did nothing wrong leading up to the collision.
“It is reasonable to assume any pedestrian and/or cyclist faced with a similar situation would not have been expecting a motor vehicle to drive over a curb and enter the sidewalk they were traveling on,” the trooper wrote. “It is my opinion that Junming Zhu was solely responsible for this fatal crash. Had he maintained control of his vehicle and stayed in the roadway, the collision would have likely not occurred.”
According to The Boston Globe, Corcoran’s son, Jack, and widow, Barbara Bower, were present in the courtroom Monday as Zhu answered the charges.
“It’s been difficult to wait,” Jack Corcoran told the Globe. “I’ve been imagining this for a number of months and actually having it happen was just very trance-like.”
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Bower added: “To know that was probably the last face John saw before he died, it’s upsetting.”
They said they continue to visit his ghost bike memorial near the BU boathouse.
“We probably visit that more than an actual grave at this point,” Jack told the Globe. “It feels like there’s something more of him there, honestly, than in a graveyard.”
Zhu is due back in court Sept. 22.
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