Once again, Orange County takes traffic crime seriously.
Garden Grove resident Victor Manuel Romero faces a single count of murder for the hit-and-run death of homeless bike rider Raymond MacDonald in Huntington Beach last weekend.
He’s being held on $1 million bond. Which either reflects the seriousness of the charge, or the depth of his bank account.
No word on whether he will also be charged with driving under the influence and hit-and-run. Although they may be waiting for toxicology tests to come back before deciding on DUI charges.
However, the seriousness of the charge suggests they suspect DUI this may not be his first offense; a DUI conviction in California requires signing a letter stating that killing someone while under the the influence can result in being charged with murder. Which presumably is what happened here.
Or it could just be that they’re finally starting to get it.
Meanwhile, MacDonald’s mother left a heartbreaking comment on this site, including the news that he was killed just hours after celebrating his birthday with her.
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No official word yet, but the advocacy group Justice for Woon has revealed that charges will finally be filed against 23-year old Mariah Kandise Banks for the hit-and-run death of Frederick “Woon” Frazier.
Frazier was fatally run down as he rode his bike at Manchester and Normandie in South LA nearly a year ago.
Banks reportedly turned herself in last May as investigators were closing in, despite allegedly repainting her formerly white Porsche Cayenne to hide evidence of the crime.
Authorities may be waiting until the one-year anniversary of Frazier’s death on Wednesday to announce the charges.
Or they may be trying to go under the radar after last June’s farce, when charges against Banks were announced with great fanfare, then quietly withdrawn with no further word.
Read more from Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman.
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This is the cost of traffic violence.
Just a day after we linked to a knee-jerk, anti-Vision Zero comment, we saw the real cost of that kind of attitude.
Two girls were run down by the driver of a big rig gravel truck as they were walking in a crosswalk with the light, on their way to school near Exposition Park.
The driver swears he never saw them as he was turning, even though they were directly in front of him. And kept driving until another driver flagged him down to say he was dragging them beneath his truck.
Now one of the girls, a 14-year old student at Clinton Middle School, has died, while her 12-year old sister clings to life.
But sure.
Let’s all keep dragging our feet on Vision Zero. And all you NIMBY traffic safety-denying drivers keep on fighting it, because a few moments of inconvenience is certainly more important than a human life.
And no need to redesign trucks to provide a 180 degree view from behind the wheel, so drivers could actually see what’s in the road directly in front of them. Or require sideguards so innocent bike riders and pedestrians don’t get dragged underneath them.
Seriously, it’s just a couple of kids.
No big deal, right?
Right?
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If you’re looking for somewhere to ride on Saturday, you could do a lot worse than stopping for the spring Corgi Beach Day in Huntington Beach.
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Local
Authorities can’t prove the injuries a drunk driver suffered were the result of an alleged beating by sheriff’s deputies — including one who was just reinstated after being fired for the incident — because the driver admitted head-butting a bicyclist just before he was stopped.
A writer for the Daily Breeze says after 34 years bicycling up and down the coast, he’s ready for his ‘bent phase. After his ElliptiGo phase, that is.
An Aussie writer takes advantage of a layover at LAX to go mountain biking in Topanga Canyon.
Despite the panicked reported from ER physicians, a study commissioned by Santa Monica-based Bird shows similar injury rates for e-scooters and bicycles.
Santa Clarita wants your input on the city’s proposed Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan.
State
Bike riders call for a protected bike lane on 30th Street in San Diego’s North Park, calling it a test of the city’s commitment to climate action.
The local community is rallying around the family of an 11-year old Fontana boy after he was killed when he touched wheels with another kid’s bike while riding around his apartment complex last weekend.
The Southern California Chapter of the Police Unity Tour will make a stop at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Sunday’s ride to honor Sgt. Ronald Helus, who was killed in the shooting, as well as the other 144 police officers who died in the line of duty in last year.
A 36-year old Morgan Hill man was shot in the leg while he was riding his bike Wednesday night.
A Streetsblog op-ed says 20 should be plenty under San Francisco’s Vision Zero plan.
More bike lanes are coming to San Jose, even if that means — gasp! — removing parking spaces.
Sad news from Stanislaus County, where a bike rider was killed in a crash yesterday morning; the driver faces charges for manslaughter and DUI.
National
Consumer Reports wants to know why traffic deaths remain so high when safety tech has made so many advances. Simple answer: Too many badly designed roads, too high speeds, and too many fallible human beings behind the wheel.
Curbed says open street festivals can help cities practice for congestion pricing by showing residents there are other ways to get around without driving.
Outside suggests that maybe a roof rack isn’t the best way to haul your bike.
People for Bikes has released their third annual Participation Survey, showing one-third of all Americans ride bikes, but half of adult Americans don’t even own a working bike.
The former police chief of Kauai, Hawaii is still recovering two months after he was seriously injured in a collision while participating in a time trial.
A Seattle website examines the reasoning behind the city’s recent retreat on proposed bike lanes.
They get it. A paper in Grand Junction CO tells drivers that with or without sharrows, bike riders have a right to be in the roadway, and we all have a right to feel safe. Let’s hope they pay attention, because my brother lives and rides there now.
A bike boulevard in Lawrence KS — actually, just an intersection — lasted just two weeks before officials scrubbed it off the streets when people complained.
Life is cheap in Missouri, where a drunk driver walked with just probation after killing a bike rider in a crash. Naturally, her lawyer blamed the victim, and claimed his client wasn’t really drunk at the time of the crash because the booze hadn’t hit her yet.
A Chicago weekly wonders what can be done about those damn scofflaw cyclists.
Neighbors of an Illinois boy who disappeared eight years ago are still keeping his bicycle for him.
Presidential candidate and Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar is one of us, after going on epic bike rides through the state with her newspaper reporter dad.
I want to be like him when I grow up. An Ohio man is still riding at 92, though he recently switched from two wheels to a three-wheeled recumbent.
He’s got a point. A long-time New Orleans bicyclist says the No. 1 rule for riding in traffic is to ride with traffic. And the No. 2 rule is never ride against traffic.
You’ve got to be kidding. A Florida cop is off the hook for killing a 15-year old boy as he was crossing the street because speeding — even at a whopping 21 mph over the limit — isn’t enough to justify a manslaughter charge under Florida law.
International
Forget helmets. Now you need a wearable inflatable air bag.
A couple of Vancouver cops could face criminal charges after the bike rider they were tailing in an unmarked car suffered serious injuries falling off his bike.
Repeat after me — This is Saskatoon, not Amsterdam.
A writer for Forbes says Chinese dockless bikeshare has descended into a horrible game of chicken.
Finally…
Look at the new ebike Look. Nothing like listening to a bike-riding brass band.
And this is how Peter Sagan trains.
No, seriously, I want those little toy cyclists.
