Cyclist Killed in Accident was Renowned Israeli Professor – Witnesses Still Sought

The bicyclist who was killed in an apparent collision with a dump truck on Bancroft Way near the UC Berkeley campus Friday afternoon was a famous Israeli expert on psychology who was honored in April with the Israeli Prize, his nation's highest accolade.

The 65-year-old victim, identified as Shlomo Bentin by the Alameda County coroner's bureau, was fatally injured while riding his bike on Bancroft just west of Fulton Street, Berkeley police said.

Witnesses told police that Bentin was involved in a collision with a dump truck, which was flagged down by a passing motorcyclist, according to Berkeley police. The dump truck driver was not aware of the collision, returned to the scene and cooperated with police, according to police.

Berkeley police issued an appeal for witness accounts Friday but so far have not been able to find anyone who saw the collision, the San Francisco Chronicle reported late this afternoon, Saturday. Anyone who witnessed the accident is asked to call Berkeley police at 510-981-5900.

The Romanian-born Bentin, a professor at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, was one of 10 leading Israeli citizens honored in a high-profile ceremony in April when they were awarded the Israeli Prize, the nation's most distinguished honor.

Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said he suffered significant head trauma and that his helmet was broken into several pieces, according to the Chronicle. She said he was in Berkeley as a visiting professor at Cal, the paper reported.

Bentin is one of four co-authors of an article published online in April in Neuropsychologia. The article, "Crowd perception in prosopagnosia," addresses recognition in crowds for those suffering from prosopagnoia, who have impaired ability to recognize individual faces. 

The calendar for the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley lists speaking on "Motor System Contributions to Social Cognition" Oct. 27 on campus.