Touching Roadside Memorial Dedicated To Bicyclist Fatally Struck In 2013 Appears In Pleasanton

DUBLIN, CA — It has been four years since Dublin resident Diana Hersevoort was fatally struck by a car while she rode her bicycle with her husband, Johannes Hersevoort, along Foothill Road in Pleasanton. Many Tri-Valley locals remember the tragic collision that left the 58-year-old grandmother dead and her husband with a broken leg.

Hersevoort and her husband were riding their bicycles northbound on Foothill Road south of Golden Eagle Way just after 1 p.m. on June 9, 2013 when Pleasanton resident Cody Hall, then 19, who was driving a 2004 Dodge Neon in the same direction, crashed into them. Hall faced a murder charge for the crash, but prosecutors reached an agreement with him that allowed him to plead no contest to the lesser charge of felony vehicular manslaughter.

Diana’s family, who visits the small memorial placed in the spot where she took her last breaths, were recently surprised to discover that someone had changed the flag and had a sign made in her honor. The tie dye-themed sign reads, “Slow Down Speed Kills.”

The family says they would like to know who the kind soul is who took the time to pay homage to the woman who was known by others as a kind person who loved animals and flowers. The Hersevoorts hope to thank the good Samaritan for keeping her memory alive.

“Acts of kindness should not go unrecognized,” Heather Grimm, one of Diana’s daughters, told Patch.

The speed limit on Foothill Road is 40 mph but police estimated Hall was traveling at about 83 mph as he approached and passed another vehicle that also was traveling north just before he hit Diana.

In a previous Patch article, criminal defense attorney Mary Ann Bird said a guilty conviction for Hall could have put the teen in prison until he was in his 30s. The Hall case drew national attention because his social media posts about his penchant for speeding, along with his driving record, were likely going to be part of the foundation for the murder case against him.

Photo courtesy H. Grimm