Once again, someone riding a bicycle was killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver in Southern California, and we didn’t learn about until weeks later.
Except this time there was a cop involved.
Allegedly.
According to the Los Angeles Times— the only source currently reporting the story — 38-year old Chino resident Fabio Cebreros was riding his bike on Bon View Ave in Ontario on Christmas Eve, when he was struck by an off-duty cop around 7:37 pm.
The driver was identified as 39-year old Aaron Kleibacker, a rookie officer with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division.
Cebreros was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries,
Kleibacker initially fled the scene before returning, although it isn’t clear if he turned himself in, or if he was recognized by a witness or identified some other way.
He reportedly cooperated with investigators, but failed a sobriety test, testing at over twice the legal limit.
Kleibacker was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, and released the next day. Charges are pending.
The Times reports Kleibacker appears to have joined the LAPD after serving with the Marines. An LAPD spokesperson confirmed that he still works for the department, although probationary officers can be fired outright for alleged misconduct.
There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or where it happened on Bon View; there’s also no information on how long Cebreros was hospitalized before he died.
We also don’t know how long it took Kleibacker to return following the crash, which could have an impact on whether he faces hit-and-run charges, in addition to vehicular manslaughter and — presumably — DUI counts.
This was at least the 56th bicycling fatality in Southern California last year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
Twenty of those deaths last year involved hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Fabio Cebreros and his loved ones.
Like most Angelenos, I’ve been watching news of the fires with increasing horror all week. And like too many of us, too many of my friends have lost everything in a literal puff of smoke.
But when concerned friends and relatives would ask, I would confidently tell them we were in a safe area far from the danger; the only thing we had to worry about was someone starting a fire in the Hollywood Hills above us.
Guess what happened next.
In a matter of minutes, we went from praying for others to grabbing everything we could before joining a long line of fellow evacuees on the gridlocked streets of Hollywood as ash fell around us from the growing glow just blocks away.
It took us two-and-a-half hours to get to an overpriced hotel three miles away. Something I could done it in 20 minutes on a bike.
And would have if I didn’t have a wife and dog to worry about.
But we were safe, and watched on the news as firefighters made a heroic stand that literally saved our entire neighborhood.
By yesterday morning we were back in our home, nervously watching the winds as we unpacked everything we took in haste the night before.
Then came the false alarm evacuation alert ordering us to leave once again, only to be cancelled 20 minutes later with an “oopsie” alert explaining we got it in error for a fire far away.
Which oddly did not seem to lower my blood pressure or pulse rate one iota.
Now I’m completely exhausted, physically and emotionally, and worried sick about the friends we’ve yet to hear from.
And just this side of tears if my wife looks at me the wrong way. Or the dog, for that matter.
So I hope you’ll forgive me if I miss yet another post today. I just don’t have it in me to write about bikes right now.
I’ll be back on Monday, as usual, to catch up on anything we’ve missed, barring any further disasters, natural or otherwise.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.
And hope this is all over when I finally wake up, whenever that may be.
My internet service has been going in and out all night, which is what happens when the cable company insists on stringing overhead wires in wind prone areas.
And the power’s not looking much better at the moment, so let’s make this quick.
If you’re in the LA area, and thinking about riding your bike in these winds, don’t.
The National Weather Service has described these winds as life-threatening, and they’re not kidding.
We’re seeing hurricane force winds throughout the LA area, particularly near mountains and canyons, which can easily blow large objects through the air, and knock down branches and power lines.
I’ve also had sudden gusts of winds knock me off my bike, and blow me across multiple lanes of traffic.
And trust me, that ain’t fun.
Then there’s the multiple fires spreading across the area, which can erupt suddenly and spread a lot faster than you can ride away.
In addition, the smoke from these fires is highly toxic, and poses a significantly greater risk if you’re exercising and breathing deeply. So if you can smell smoke, don’t ride.
Period.
There’s also the problem of multiple road closures, including PCH and the hills in Pacific Palisades, as well as around Eaton Canyon and Sun Valley. Which means that even if you do decide to chance it, you may find your usual route shut down.
Not to mention your escape route, if you need one.
On the other hand, if you have to evacuate, your bike makes a much better choice in an emergency than a motor vehicle, as hundreds of drivers trying to escape the Palisades fire learned the hard way yesterday.
The kids appeared to be taking part in a rideout, taking up every lane on one side of the roadway.
While the law allows them to take the full right lane, they can’t legally occupy the entire roadway unless they’re riding at the normal speed of traffic.
Something the cops seemed to be more concerned with than the driver who dangerously and illegally swerved in and through them, sometimes running red lights and driving on the wrong side of the road, all while blaring his horn.
The LAPD responded to a call for service at Olympic Boulevard and Highland Avenue around 1:30 p.m. Saturday, but when officers arrived the caller wasn’t there , according to LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes.
“We’re aware of the video, but detectives are investigating exactly what occurred,” Cervantes said. “There shouldn’t be that many bicycles on the road blocking traffic, so that would be unsafe, but I don’t know exactly what transpired.”
Never mind that the driver could have easily killed someone with his dangerous antics.
On the other hand, video appears to show a violent mob attacking the same car in a parking garage a few minutes later, repeatedly stomping and kicking the Mercedes, and shattering the windshield as a man appears to flee while covering his head.
Which is another way of saying no one appears to be entirely innocent here.
Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng and Steven Hansen for the heads-up.
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That’s more like it.
A Lancaster, California man will spend the next 12 years behind bars after killing a man riding in a Camarillo bike lane last July, as he was fleeing from police at speeds up to 100 mph.
Or make that six years, since California inmates seldom serve more than half their sentences.
Makare Darnell Toliver was being pursued by Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies on July 27th, suspected of robbing a man at gunpoint in a hotel parking lot, when he slammed into Ventura resident Robert Pierret while swerving into the bike lane on Central Ave to pass a slower car.
Pierret died after being taken to a local hospital.
Toliver continued to flee after hitting Pierret’s bicycle. He and his passenger were finally taken into custody after crashing into another car.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An Arizona candidate for Father of the Year faces charges for beating up two ebike-riding kids and stealing their cellphones, after evidently becoming enraged watching them swerve between vehicles — all while his own son watched from the car. Something tells me that kid is really proud of his dad right now. Or maybe not.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A 56-year old British driver walked without a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that left a 17-year old boy with life-changing injuries — despite having 128 previous traffic convictions and lying to the cops about selling his car — after the judge concludes he’s too old for the current state of the country’s prisons.
Good news from Moneywise, which reports that LA-based former pro Phil Gaimon, creator of the popular Worst Retirement Ever videos, thinks he’s finally beaten the outrageous $250,000 in medical bills he received after a 2020 track racing crash that resulted in multiple, potentially life-threatening fractures — something that’s now prohibited by a federal bill protecting consumers from unexpected out-of-network medical bills.
But as last week’s twin bicycling deaths just five miles apart in Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert make clear, the area’s streets remain dangerous for anyone on two wheels.
Too many streets are too wide, with speed limits too high, and offer too little protection for people riding bicycles. Or on foot.
Then again, they aren’t all that safe for people cars, either.
While the CV Link could provide a safer route for recreational riders, it won’t do anything to protect people traveling to and from the pathway, or for bike commuters who have to travel to and through areas unserved by the route.
Meanwhile, faster riders will undoubtedly face complaints from others on the path, and likely spur speed restrictions before long — if it doesn’t already have them — spurring many road riders to return to the streets.
So while the CV Link may offer a pleasant off-road alternative for some riders, it will do nothing to improve safety and reduce traffic violence on the valley’s deadly streets.
And people who walk, run or ride a bike will continue to pay the price.
After years of lawsuits and dithering by public officials, the city instituted a $9 charge for people driving into the heart of Manhattan, which will gradually rise in future years.
Despite complaints from motorists, the idea is not to punish drivers, but to reduce traffic congestion while raising millions of dollars for public transportation.
It’s something that has already proven successful in London and throughout Europe, which will inevitably give rise to the usual complaints of this is not (insert city here).
But it’s definitely worth trying.
And Day One reportedly went off without a hitch.
Yet while other major cities move forward with congestion pricing, Los Angeles is slow-walking its own Metro proposal, doing what our leaders do best — studying the idea, in hopes it will just go away.
Even that isn’t scheduled to begin until 2028, though, when a study focusing on central Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley and the westside will finally launch.
Although they could probably save time by launching a study right now to see if they can find any elected officials willing to stand up to complaints from angry drivers.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
It’s official. The negligent homicide charge has been dropped against a DEA agent who blew through a stop sign, and killed a Salem, Oregon woman riding a bicycle, after a judge ruled he was entitled to federal immunity because he was on the job. Almost as if he was elected president or something.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
In both cases the driver remained at the scene. And just like the earlier case, there’s no word on how the crash that killed Petre occurred, or who was at fault.
Hopefully we’ll learn more soon.
Petre is the second bicyclist killed in Southern California this year, and the second in Riverside County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Patrick Petre and his loved ones.
Investigators say drugs or alcohol weren’t factors in the crash. But the age of the driver once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive safely.
Or at all, for that matter.
Anyone with information or video of the crash is urged to call San Diego County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeremy Collis at 760/966-3555, or email jeremy.collis@SDSheriff.org.
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Meanwhile, it’s Day 3 of the Vision Zero failure here in Los Angeles.
That’s why a coalition of nonprofits and road safety advocates will once again host a die-in on the steps of LA City Hall next weekend to raise awareness of the need for safe streets.
As of this writing, traffic fatalities in the City of Los Angeles are expected to once again be above 300 for the third year in a row.
And yet, 2025 will be the 10th anniversary of the start of the Vision Zero program, a program aimed at reducing traffic fatalities to zero by 2025.
However, the core components of this program were watered down, removed, or underfunded within a few years of its start. The result is that in the last 10 years, there has been an 80% increase in traffic fatalities, primarily affecting pedestrians in underserved communities.
*A die-in is “a protest or demonstration in which a group of people gather and lie down as if dead.” (Oxford Dictionary) In our case, to represent the lives lost to traffic violence and protest the lack of effective action by our City and state leaders, as demonstrated by rising fatalities.
We aim to have 300 people in attendance, representing each life lost. Help us make this happen!
Date: Saturday, January 11th 2024
Location: Steps of Los Angeles City Hall 232 N Spring Street
Set-up Time: 8:30-10 AM
Press Conference & Die-In protest: 10 AM to 11 AM
Breakdown Time: 11 AM to 12 PM
Volunteers and Activists needed:
10 volunteers are needed for setup and breakdown.
300+ volunteer activists are needed to lay on the steps of City Hall during the press conference. White roses will be laid on top of those participating in the die-in to represent the over 300 lives lost in 2024.
What to Bring: We will have signs and poster boards to make signs. However, we also encourage you to bring signs emphasizing the importance of road safety, responsible driving, and the need for change.
Parking: Parking is limited and pricey around LA City Hall. It is recommended that you ride, walk, or take Metro Line B (exit Civic Center/Grand Park Station) to City Hall.
As both cyclist and driver, I don’t think we should pit ourselves against each other. Maybe try to share, rather than compete, for the space… and a little patience and tolerance would go a long way – especially to the @Ocado guy delivering people’s turkeys.
Streetsblog says the short bike lane extension on Reseda Blvd is the first LA project clearly forced by Measure HLA, adding a little more than the length of a football field to the existing bike lanes after the street was resurfaced.
That’s more like it. A 23-year old Las Vegas woman will spend the next 11 years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a 32-year old man who was riding a bicycle; she was sentenced to 15 years for vehicular homicide with four years suspended, along with a concurrent term of three years for tampering with evidence, and 90 days for driving under the influence.
Thanks to Ralph D, Johannes H, Brian N, John M, Glen S, Kevin B, Rob K and Greg M for their generous contributions to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!
And thank you to everyone who donated this year. I can’t begin to tell you how much your support means to me.
Meanwhile, I’ve had a full week to recover, and I’m tanned, rested and ready to rock and roll.
And my apologies to anyone who forwarded news this past week, because it’s after 3 am and I’m too damn tired to dig through my emails to credit everyone.
But I do appreciate the links, and thank you for your help.
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Speaking of non-action by our elected leaders, yesterday’s vehicular terrorist attack in New Orleans is yet another reminder that there is absolutely nothing in place or planned to protect tourists and shoppers from a similar attack on Hollywood Blvd.
While there are plans for parking-protected bike lanes on the boulevard, that won’t offer any protection if cars aren’t present, and does nothing to keep drivers from accessing the sidewalk.
We need barrier-protected bike lanes and steel bollards along the full length go the Walk of Fame, and a secure pedestrian plaza at Hollywood & Highland, where the largest crowds congregate.
Because it’s virtually inevitable that we’ll see more attacks like this across the US in the years to come. And sooner or later, it’s bound to happen here.
The first complaint in the op-ed is that the total number of vouchers provided in the first round was relatively small compared to the large size of the California e-bike market. However, instead of suggesting that the budget be increased to help more Californians achieve transportation independence, as we called for recently, the editorial takes the opposite position of suggesting that the program simply be canceled.
Never mind that the rollout was deliberately throttled by program managers, who released just a small fraction of the available funds, despite knowing demand would far exceed supply.
And it did.
But somehow, the authors of the SCNG editorial saw limited rollout as a reason to kill the whole damn thing. Makes perfect sense. If your goal is to force everyone back into their cars.
That “gimmick” will have “imperceptible impact on environmental outcomes,” according to the senior transportation policy analyst at the conservative Reason Foundation, who argues it “confers private benefits on recipients, but will fall a social cost-benefit test.”
Maybe someone should tell him about the massive subsidies we all pay for motor vehicles, which confer private benefits on car owners at the expense of everyone else while killing our planet — along with tens of thousands of Americans every year — if he really wants to talk cost-benefit tests.
The authors somehow conclude that the roughly 1,500 vouchers released in the initial round would “goose” sales of ebikes in California just 0.78%, out of a guesstimated 192,000 annual sales. Which is a far better argument for releasing the full $38 million budget than for killing the program.
Let alone increasing it to a level equivalent to the state’s electric vehicle incentives, where it could have a far greater impact on our congested streets, air quality and warming planet.
Then, of course, they have to trot out the spurious argument that ebike injuries are soaring, as if they would somehow remain at an artificially low level while ebike sales and usage skyrocket.
Or that the voucher recipients might bring in devices from other states that could enable ebikes to exceed California’s 28 mph maximum. Maybe they could show the same concern for illegal devices that allow drivers to skirt other California regulations.
Or gun owners, for that matter.
Finally, they assume that “kids obviously will be driving many of the subsidized ebikes,” even though the program is limited to legal adults.
Not to mention the obvious windshield bias reflected in the term “driving,” which is what you do with a car, as opposed to riding a bicycle.
But that’s what happens when the authors shoot from the lip, without bothering to do even the most basic research to understand what the hell they’re talking about.
Ebikes are neither liberal nor conservative. And even the relatively paltry $38 million approved for full funding of the ebike voucher program amounts to nothing more than a rounding error on the state’s $291 billion budget.
So if the SCNG editorial board is feeling grouchy and in the mood to pinch pennies, maybe they should look somewhere else.
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On a related subject, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Edward Clancy, the founder of San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, is no longer associated with the state’s Ebike Incentive Program, following multiple investigations into the organization.
However, a lot of questions remain about both Clancy and Pedal Ahead, including what role he still plays with the organization, and let alone what the legal name of the group is.
Which raises evstillen more questions of why the CARB is continue to work with a group that is so clearly in over their head, at best.
Because we should only use state funds to subsidize driving, evidently.
And Los Angeles Times readers warn we should brace ourselves for more collisions with ebike-riding teens along the beach. As if 1,500 vouchers given to low-income adults in need of transportation will somehow translate to countless more teens recklessly riding illegal electric motorbikes.
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A new YouTube short explains why the owners of Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries are wrong to keep fighting improved bike lanes along deadly Forest Lawn Drive.
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A New York driver is caught on video illegally using the bike lane, squeezing by people on bicycles to bypass backed up traffic, until they get stuck waiting on a turning car.
I know you're super super important, but keep your cars out of the bike lanes. pic.twitter.com/vkatJ7Y1IY
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A writer for the National Review says Trump must end the non-existent war on cars, and somehow sees the transition to electric vehicles as part of a nefarious plot to “radically reduce the number of cars in circulation.” Which wouldn’t be a bad idea, even if he’s wildly off base. But you’ll have to find a way around the magazine’s paywall if you want to read it.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
No bias here, either. The Sacramento Bee reports that local police busted a 14-year old boy after he led them on a one-hour chase on an electric bicycle, at speeds up to 60 mph. Except anything that goes that fast is actually an electric motorcycle, since ebike speeds are capped at 28 mph, and even then only if they can hit that speed under pedal power.
The BBC asks if bike lanes can reshape “car-crazy Los Angeles” in time for the 2028 LA Olympics, by way of former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Twenty-eight by 28” transport plan; current Mayor Karen Bass says “As a bike rider, I certainly hope so.” Which appears to be the first time she’s uttered the word “bike” since becoming mayor.
Streetsblog editor Joe Linton does a little prognosticating and makes his predictions for the coming year, including the opening of South LA’s Rail to Rail walking and biking path, and the first lawsuit against Los Angeles for failing to live up to its commitment to implement the city mobility plan under Measure HLA.
That’s more like it. A 26-year old San Antonio, Texas woman can look forward to spending the next 12 years behind bars, after she pleaded no contest to killing an 18-year old man while under the influence of alcohol, cocaine and Xanax — not to mention failing her court-ordered breathalyzer tests six separate times in the lead-up to her trial.
Bittersweet news, as the wife of fallen bicyclist and NHL star Matthew Gaudreau gave birth to their son Tripp Matthew Gaudreau, four months after he and his brother Johnny were killed by an alleged drunk and overly aggressive driver while riding their bikes in New Jersey the night before their sister’s wedding.
The Grinch struck in Florida in the days before Christmas, as someone stole a “good amount” of cash from nonprofit bike-donation program Jack the Bike Man.
International
Momentum lists a dozen bicycling resolutions for the new year, from mastering the art of bicycle maintenance to becoming a bike advocate. My only resolution every year is not to make any resolutions. If you want to make a change in your life, just do it when and where you are, without waiting for some arbitrary date on the calendar.
According to the press release, the driver of the SUV cooperated with investigators, and there was no indication that drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas of the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station at 760/836–1600.
Just 8 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb.
Yet no city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it.
Thanks to William C, Steven F, Lorena C, Justin C and Joel F for their generous support to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!
This will be my last regularly scheduled news update this year, as I prepare to embark on my annual post-Christmas mental, physical and emotional breakdown, if I can just make it through tomorrow.
We’ll be back bright and early on January 2nd to catch up on anything important we may have missed over the next week.
And I’ll be around in case any breaking news needs your attention.
So please accept my best wishes for the holidays, however and whatever you celebrate. And may you and yours have a very healthy, happy and prosperous year to come.
Just remember to be careful out there, whether you’re riding, driving or walking. Because I don’t want to write about you or anyone else, unless maybe you interrupt your ride to rescue kittens from a burning building or something.
And a special thank you to everyone who has donated to this year’s fund drive. I can’t begin to tell you just how grateful I am.
Let’s just hope next year isn’t quite as challenging as this one has been.
Then he tackled the boy when he got off his bike, telling him to put his hands behind his back. And ended up threatening to tase the kid after he got scared and ran into his garage, while his brother called for their mom.
Yet the local police department insists the cop didn’t do anything wrong, although they did decide they need to rewrite the policy to require officers to identify themselves at the beginning of an encounter.
Gee, ya think?
And maybe teach their cops how not to escalate a situation that begins with a very minor traffic infraction committed by a little kid.
LA Metro will offer free rides all day today and New Years Eve on a buses and trains; the Metro Bike bikeshare will also be free from today through January 1st by using the code 010125.
State
Calbike considers the best and worst of 2024, from legislative wins to removal of the MOVE Culver City bike lanes. Although they criticized the short rollout time for the state ebike voucher program, without mentioning the botched launch itself.
Palo Alto is the latest California city to adopt Vision Zero, committing to eliminating traffic deaths within ten years. Let’s just hope they have better luck than some other CA cities I could name — and by “luck” I mean commit the money and resources necessary to actually improve safety, rather than just shove the plan on a shelf and forget about it.
