Arrest finally made in BMO stadium road rage murder, guilty plea to 2nd degree murder of Ventura teen, and Canberra mass casualty crash

August 28, 2026 / / One comment

The fun thing about health problems is the learning never stops.

For instance, I learned Wednesday that I can cope with low blood sugar, and I can cope with low blood pressure. What I can’t cope with is low blood sugar and low blood pressure.

My night was like an endless version of an Elvis Costello song.

And can someone please tell me if Lake America is anywhere near the Gulf of America? I get so confused. 

………

They got him.

Finally.

Police made an arrest for the intentional hit-and-run crash that killed 16-year old Jonathan “Junior” Flores, after chasing him into the parking lot at BMO Stadium two years ago.

Thirty-three-year old Los Angeles resident Jonathan Rodriguez was arrested after fleeing first to Mexico, then to El Salvador.

Flores was taking part in an afternoon ride with around 40 other teens when an altercation took place between the driver of a BMW and some of the kids as they rode on Figueroa Street.

When the kids tried to escape through a gap in the fencing around the parking lot, the driver of a second car, who police allege was Rodriguez, broke through the gate and chased the teens into the parking lot, slamming into Flores before backing out and fleeing the scene.

To make matters worse, Flores was an innocent victim who had nothing to do with the original altercation, in which someone allegedly broke one of the cars’ mirrors.

Flores had been wanted on $2 million bond after police tracked both cars to his home.

He was taken into custody at LAX when police negotiated his surrender after tracking him to El Salvador.

Let’s hope the negotiations that led to his surrender didn’t include reducing the charges or possible sentencing, even though that seems likely.

………

It only took five years, but we’ve finally seen justice for 16-year old Pedro Valdez.

Thirty-three-year old Samuel Matthew Rocha pled guilty to 2nd degree murder and using his car as a weapon for the road rage death of Valdez, and injuring four other teens — two “significantly” — when he plowed his car through a group of seven bike-riding kids.

That comes four months after a jury convicted Rocha of four counts of assault with a deadly weapon, and two counts of battery, along with the special allegation of causing great bodily injury in the commission of a felony.

Rocha ran down the kids, who were just out enjoying a bike ride, eleven minutes after he had battered a man and a woman at a laundromat, and intentionally stuck an employee with his car as he was leaving the parking lot.

Rocha remains in custody without bail, and faces 27 to life when he is sentenced on October 27th.

I just hope he gets enough time that he’s not back out on the streets in a few years, thanks to the revolving door on ur state prison system.

………

Another mass casualty crash, this time in Australia, as a “vehicle” — evidently the 40-year old driver was not in control of it — plowed into five members of a Canberra bike club, resulting a scene a senior cop described as “beyond comprehension”.

Three riders were injured; one, a 32-year old woman, died at the scene, while a 39-year old man remains in critical and unstable condition. The other victim, a 34-year old man, was treated and released.

The victims were in the left lane of a four lane divided highway — the equivalent of our right lane — when they were struck by a driver traveling in the same direction, for some unknown reason.

Yet the driver still has not been charged or cited, for reasons known only to the local police.

………

I’m including the information from this email I got yesterday.

We’re launching Bike Streets in LA County! Log every ride with Bike Streets and help us build the Low-Stress Bike Map. Ride and help us reach our first weekly goal of 20 riders. bikestreets.com/join

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike just keeps on going.

The Tennessee Highway Patrol has released dashcam video of an Elizabethton cop striking a bike rider in a crosswalk, in a left cross collision; the FHP says the bike rider failed to observe a stop sign. But the video also shows the cop failed to slow down or look for any other traffic before turning.

Nope, nothing to see here. Half of drivers in the UK say they honk at bike riders at least once a week, and half of bike riders have experienced drivers shouting or swearing at them in the last year. Which is either an indictment of the country’s crappy bicyclists, or its impatient drivers. Or both. 

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Scottish teen faces charges for the attack that deliberately knocked a man off his bicycle, as the bike-riding thief takes off with it, in an attack captured by a trailing bike rider.

………

Local 

Secret Los Angeles discovers the not-so-secret Bicycle Kitchen bike co-op on Fountain Ave, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year.

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro weighs in on LA’s mayoral race, saying Councilmember and mayoral challenger Nithya Raman was ridiculed for celebrating a new crosswalk in her district, even as the pavement beneath it remained cracked. So Shapiro evidently thinks the councilmember somehow controls the Bureau of Street Services, which is under the mayor’s purview. And that she was the one responsible for bankrupting the city, which halted street repair work. 

SF Gate looks at SoCal’s killer highway, and the ongoing efforts to improve safety on the deadly PCH from Malibu to Huntington Beach, including a bill in the state legislature that would allow speed cams on the state highway through Long Beach.

The invaluable LA Streetsblog is less than $3,000 short of their fundraising goal with just one week to go.

 

State

That about sums it up. The Los Angeles Times says Orange County DA Todd Spitzer’s buyback program for illegal e-motos and hacked ebikes means the country is treating ebikes like guns. I don’t know if that means they are taking ebikes too seriously, or not taking guns seriously enough.

A Coronado letter writer says we don’t need any new ebike laws, we just have to enforce the ones we already have.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, broke ground on two complete streets projects in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, with new bike lanes, improved pedestrian crossings and roadway repairs along Orange and Central avenues.

This is who we share the road with. Two teenagers riding an e-scooter and an e-motorbike hospitalized in extremely critical condition after they were struck by elderly driver in Riverside, who struggled to come to a stop with one of the victims embedded in their windshield. 

 

National

Salon considers the Trump administration’s battle to restore the manhood of America rooted in speed and strength, with nary an unmanly bicycle to be seen. Although his administration also revisited a 2016 park management plan for Teton National Park, opening the way for a bike path along the primary roadway through the park.

Forbes says legislation, lawsuits and tariffs may pose a bigger threat to ebikes than any bike-lane feud. And says ebikes are changing the way we think about bike helmets. Maybe we could start by offering more protection than the current standards of 12.5 mph.

Vinyl and Velvet says that $50, 60-year old Schwinn Sting-Ray in your garage could be worth real money. If I had one of those hidden away, they’d have to back up a Brinks truck to get me to sell.

Illinois follows California’s lead, and establishes a three-tier system for legal bikes, while requiring a license and insurance for anything outside the system.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a ghost bike that had been in a Pittsburgh neighborhood for over a decade.

New York bicyclists held a die-in on Wednesday to protest the deaths of three bike riders and a pedestrian over just a five day period.

A 38-year old man in was arrested and charged with two counts of first degree homicide, along with a host of other charges, for the hit-and-run death of Savannah, Georgia’s “Flag Man,” who was known for riding around the city with a giant American flag attached to his bicycle; the charges suggest police believe the driver acted intentionally when he veered off the roadway to strike the victim on the center median.

 

International

The Hackernoon website says retail analytics consistently fail to account for bicycle traffic, counting customers who arrive by car, transit and on foot, but apparently failing to consider than anyone might actually ride a bike to their shops.

A travel writer rides Bolivia’s Death Road, and lives to tell about it.

A Canadian bike rider takes the scenic route, traveling roughly 280 miles roundtrip through “wild as hell” woods on mostly off-road trails from Gatineau, Quebec to Montreal.

A London paper considers the city paradoxically seeing a 21% surge in bicycling injuries, even as bicycling deaths fall.

A bike nonprofit calls on the government to prioritize bicycles for short trips, as successive heatwaves continue to pound the UK.

British TV hosts were left flabbergasted when a man known as Britain’s “most hated cyclist” for his helmet cam videos of lawbreaking drivers, said the new 20 mph speed limits in Birmingham don’t apply to bicyclists, arguing that speed limits are for motorized vehicles. He may be right, depending on exactly how the law is written. Or not. 

Bike riders in Flanders, Belgium say they feel “most unsafe” when drivers pass too fast or too closely. In other words, just like bike riders everywhere. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar continue to dominate the Vuelta, padding his lead on a day when he barely survived a near-crash on a descent. Unless disaster strikes, the race is now a question of who else will be on the podium with him, rather than who will win. 

The Guardian asks if the revival of the Philly Classic could lead to another Golden Age of American cycling. We can only hope.

American gravelist Chad Haga reluctantly called it a career, after mounting injuries and a heavy training crash forced him into early retirement.

 

Finally…

Evidently, computerized bikes are nothing new, you could have had one 40 years ago. And at least we don’t have to worry about riding into the nearest bomb shelter.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Protect yourself from scorching heat, LA council boldly does nothing on e-motos, and supporting bike and transit votes in CA legislature

August 26, 2026 / / One comment

I’ve been remiss in failing to remind you to stay safe during the current heat wave.

If possible, ride early or late, avoiding the peak afternoon hours when temperatures will be flirting with or surpassing the 100° mark, depending on where you are.

If you’re riding recreationally, try to stick to the coast, where temps will be significantly cooler, or try to ride shady streets when possible.

Stay hydrated. Drink more than you think you need, and stop frequently to cool off.

And use lots of sunscreen. You don’t want to end up with a face that looks like mine right now.

………

The Los Angeles city council took bold action to halt the spread of illegal e-motos and electric dirt bikes in the city on Tuesday.

Oh, who am I kidding.

The council did what they do best, voting unanimously to study the issue.

The motion from Heather Hutt, John Lee and Traci Park instructs LADOT, LAPD, city attorneys, the Bureau of Street Services, LA Metro and the Bicycle Advisory Committee to report back in 90 days with suggestions on how to best regulate electric motorbikes on a number of issues — most of which are already covered by state law, or by bills up for a final vote in the state legislature this week.

The only topics that aren’t covered by current or pending state laws would require ebike education for anyone under 18 or without a valid driver’s license, and regulate storing and charging any type of two-wheeled electric vehicle to prevent hazardous waste and battery fires.

They could have asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance covering those two issues and voted on that, but that wouldn’t have given them a performative platform act like they’re doing something without actually doing anything.

And as we’ve seen in the past, those 90 day deadlines are extremely elastic, often stretching months or years past the promised due date.

So once again, hats off to the city council for taking the kind of bold, decisive non-action we’ve come to expect from them.

………

Speaking of bills in the state legislature, Streetsblog’s Damien Newton provides the links you need to respond to action alerts to help save public transit, strengthen the state’s Active Transportation Program, and pass the best of the surviving ebike safety bills, which would clearly differentiate between ebikes and e-motos.

This is the final week of the legislative session, so bills either pass now or die for this year.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike just keeps on going.

The Florida driver accused of a road rage attack on a trio of bicyclists faces charges after turning himself in to police on Monday, three days after he honked at them, then swerved his SUV to strike one and force the other off the road, before finally popping off a shot before driving away.

No bias here. You don’t even have to navigate the Telegraph’s paywall to get the drift of this drivel, as a columnist’s screed denounces ebikes as “the most complete expression of the bullying arrogance of cyclists,” and “dangerous vehicles” that are “an aesthetic blight on London.” By which he means the relatively tame Lime bikes, which about as dangerous as an ill-tempered Chihuahua. 

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

The editor of the Putney News, in the eponymous jolly olde London neighborhood, says it’s time to talk about dangerous bicyclists, as the number of pedestrians killed or injured by bicyclists last year was up 71% over 2015 — although that was a total of just 234 in a country of 65 million people, with just two people killed. Yes, two. And yes, one is one too many, but that hardly seems like reason to panic. 

………

Local 

One letter writer in the LA Times defends bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive, while others call for speed cams, speed bumps and sarcasm instead of lane reductions.

KCRW talks with Streetsblog editor Joe Linton about whether Metro is up to the task of handling visitors for the 2028 Olympics.

Glendale will host a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 3rd to celebrate completion of the La Crescenta Avenue Rehabilitation Project, which includes a lane reduction and bike lanes.

 

State

The Orange County DA continues his aggressive prosecution of parents of illegal e-moto riders, charging a father for the apparent electric dirt bike crash that injured his 12-year old son earlier this year.

Irvine-based Rivian ebike spinoff Also has raised $150 million in capital to pursue driverless — and presumably riderless — delivery vehicles.

 

National

Outside recommends the year’s best and most affordable bike gear. Even if they seem to use “affordability” in the most Trumpian sense. 

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Seattle finished work on a new bike lane, just two months after a 76-year old woman was killed riding her bike there. Although it works even better if you build it before someone gets killed. 

The US edition of Britain’s Daily Express breaks the shocking news that a woman on a multi-day bike tour was mauled to death by a 400-pound grizzly bear after stopping to camp in Montana — five years ago.

An Elizabethton, Tennessee bike rider was hospitalized after being struck by a cop in an apparent left cross collision; needless to say, the officer was not charged or cited for the crash. Because somehow, they just never seem to be a fault when cops investigate cops.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani says he disagrees with the city council speaker over whether the city’s Citi Bike bikeshare should require age verification over privacy concerns and whether the technology actually works.

A bipartisan bill in Pennsylvania state senate would approve the full Idaho Stop law in the state, allowing bike riders to treat red lights like stop signs, and stop signs as yields, when it is safe to do so; the Philadelphia bike coalition approves.

Most of the story is hidden behind a paywall, but a Republican writer for the conservative Washington Examiner says he used to think bike lanes were DEI projects, too, until he watched his father take his last breath after getting hit by the driver of an SUV on a notoriously dangerous South Carolina road.

Maryland cops threw the book at a 13-year old kid for riding an illegal e-moto — which the local website oddly capitalized — and evading a bike cop, then attempting to steal the cop’s police mountain bike when they swooped in for the bust in Mickey D’s parking lot.

 

International

Inside Hook talks with 2016 champ Nico Rosberg about trading an F1 cockpit for a mountain bike.

Four men face murder charges for lynching a falsely accused bike thief in Rio’s upscale Copacabana neighborhood; two security guards and two food delivery riders allegedly beat the victim to death after accusing him of stealing the bicycle, which he actually had borrowed from his sister.

An Edinburgh, Scotland writer issues a non-declaration of war on cars, which he says have already won, but instead takes apart the “car-centric society we accept as normal, confront(s) Edinburgh’s disgrace, its poverty, and show(s) that a cycling city, where the bike is how most people make most journeys, is the healthier, fairer alternative.” Well said. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The Vuelta a España is looking increasingly over after just four stages, as Tadej Pogačar soloed to victory by over two-and-a-half minutes, increasing his overall lead to 3:21 over Primož Roglič.

A Spanish hotel got rave four star reviews for sheltering the entire Vuelta peloton from a sudden hailstorm on Monday, even if most of the reviews were muy irónico.

The Scottish Sun displays a keen grasp of the obvious, saying it will be hard for the country to develop the next Chris Hoy if kids can’t even safely ride their bikes amid angry, impatient drivers.

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with feral LA drivers, but bike riders here hardly ever get attacked by wild boars. A bike helmet won’t magically ward off errant drivers, even if you’re mayor of New York.

And taking the goat by the horns.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Rest in power DJ Chicken Leather, remember Milligan massacre by giving to The White Line, and grammar peeves make lousy pets

August 25, 2026 / / No comments

Sad news to report, as a beloved member of the Los Angeles bicycling community has died.

Paul Bacca, better known by his street name DJ Chicken Leather, was active for years as a volunteer with Midnight Ridazz and Critical Mass, as well as the Bike Kitchen and Bike Oven co-ops.

But he was best known for his ever-present handheld camera, questioning riders, cops and city officials whenever and wherever a bike event took place.

Anytime bike riders were present, he was bound to be there, too, with a ready smile and effervescent personality, despite his own struggles.

I lost track of him in recent years, as I became less active in the bicycling community due to my own health issues. I don’t know what happened to him or how he died, or even how or where he was found.

And to be honest, I don’t think it really matters.

But it was always a joy to encounter him at CicLAvia or City Hall, even if that camera made you want to hide at times.

Rest in power, friend. All your struggles are over, and your demons behind you.

Instagram post

………

The parents of 19-year old Haylan Engdahl, one of the two members of the Milligan University cycling team killed in a mass casualty crash by a possible wake-and-bake driver, have asked for donations to The White Line in lieu of flowers.

The nonprofit bike safety organization was founded by the parents of 17-year old US Cycling Team member Magnus White, who was killed by a driver who had been up all night drinking and getting high.

………

One of my pet peeves is lazy headline writers, like this one, who say that a bike rider was killed after a collision.

Which literally means the victim survived the crash, only to somehow be murdered afterwards.

You can say the victim died after the crash — like this headline — was killed as because of a crash, or was killed in the crash or by the driver. But you can’t say, as far too many writers do, that someone was killed after the crash, unless the driver got out and strangled them afterwards.

And yes, I know that’s just the English major in me coming out to enforce laws of grammar that I willfully break myself.

And yes, I also know that peeves make lousy pets.

………

No, KABC-7, cellphone video does not show an ebike takeover of the right lanes of the 91 Freeway in Long Beach.

It shows kids on illegal e-motos and dirt bikes popping wheelies and swerving between lanes; there’s not a single actual Class 1, 2 or 3 ebike visible anywhere in the group.

But it does appear to show a driver illegally using a handheld cellphone behind the wheel.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike just keeps on going.

An apparent road-raging Florida driver was caught on video veering his SUV into a group of bicyclists before opening fire with a gun. Although if the same thing happened here, I’d question whether it was a gang driveby rather than a road rage confrontation. 

You’ve got to be kidding. A Florida man is asking a judge to dismiss charges against him for taking a boy’s cellphone away, asserting that the state’s Stand Your Ground law allowed him to defend himself and another man from a little kid who had been filming himself popping wheelies on an ebike.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Singaporean service man was sentenced to a week behind bars for negligent bicycling after he crashed into an 83-year old woman on his rented bike; the woman died two days later after suffering a fractured skull.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton checks out the new curb-protected bike lanes being built on Alameda Street, connecting Union Station with the LA State Historic Park.

 The Los Angeles Times shockingly discovers that there are some Angelenos who actually get around without a car. However, as we all know, that kind of anti-social behavior should be shunned and shamed by the normal car-driving populous.

Long Beach expects the city’s new speed cams to bring in around $5 million annually, hiring 12 people to administer the program, and using the funds to improve street safety.

 

State

Orange County is considering a proposal to put scannable license plates on ebikes, which would require a change in state law, and also appears to lump all ebikes together — even though the problem comes from people riding illegal e-motorbikes and dirt bikes, which probably wouldn’t be licensed because they’re…wait for it…illegal.

Encinitas is also considering new ebike laws that would require a change in state law, which allows bicycles on any roadway open to automobiles, other than some restricted access highways.

A San Diego County writer says yes, ebikes can be dangerous, but experts say it’s really the streets and bike lanes that need to be fixed.

A beloved Lafayette bike shop is shutting its doors after a mere 101 years.

 

National

That’s more like it. Seattle’s mayor signed an executive order to speed up the city’s Vision Zero program, including fixing an intersection where a bike rider was killed. That compares favorably to a certain SoCal metropolis, where the mayor cancels shovel-ready safety improvements, and doesn’t seem to know the city even has a Vision Zero program.

Cambridge, Massachusetts is building more bike lanes this summer, as required by a city ordinance adopted in 2020.

A 14-mile Rhode Island bike path follows the route of a 171-year old rail line around Narragansett Bay, offering views of the bay, as well as light houses.

New Yorkers are fed up with “crazy” bikeshare prices.

 

International

Bike Radar examines the trends that led to their shortlist for Gravel Bike of the Year. You know, trends like, uh, gravel racing.

Toronto bicyclists are planning to make this week’s Critical Mass ride a protest against Ontario’s plan to rip out the city’s bike lanes. Meanwhile, Toronto’s mayor says Ontario Premier Doug Ford should be focused on Donald Trump, and not the city’s bike lanes.

Seriously? An English city is considering redesigning a new bike lane after drivers complained that it’s too wide and too confusing, causing congestion and slowing them down too much.

No disconnect here. Nearly 80% of Irish kids never bike to school, even though 70% of their parents say that’s the preferred method of getting there.

A dangerous new trend in England and Ireland shows young drivers posting video of themselves driving on the wrong side of the roadway. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

An employee of a Korean bicycle company was acquitted of causing the death of a 66-year old man in a head-on collision on a bicycle path, after the court concluded that the victim was riding on the wrong side of the path, and may not have taken proper care to avoid the crash.

Speaking of Singapore, as we were earlier, local bicyclists are calling for mutual respect from their peers and other road users, as bicycling collisions hit a four-year high. So the real problem causing crashes is that bike riders don’t respect one another? 

 

Competitive Cycling

There was no winner of the Vuelta’s third stage on Monday, after the stage was neutralized when a sudden hailstorm forced riders to take cover in nearby hotels. Eyewitnesses dramatically described seeing nothing happen in the race.

Briton’s Ethan Hayter missed out on a chance to take the Vuelta leader’s jersey in stage 2 when he was reeled in after a long breakaway, and after taking a pair of scissors to his skinsuit because the legs were too tight.

The manager of double Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard has taken UCI to task for their response, or the lack thereof, to the death of 19-year old Welsh cyclist Finlay Tarling, arguing that competitors have a right to expect a safe course.

An Oakland cartoonist has penned a graphic biography of Marshall “Major” Taylor, the early bike racer who was America’s first Black sporting champ, and for a time, the world’s fastest man.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can shove a newspaper down your jersey instead of investing in a proper jacket this winter. Probably not the best idea to — allegedly — steal an ebike, then try to collect a $100 reward for finding it.

And what the hell did they think would happen when the Vuelta hired a social media commentator whose only expertise was filming herself flirting with strangers?

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

86-year old Carlsbad ebike rider killed by apparent driverless car, PCH driver tries to punch bicyclist, and doctor applies medical test to bike radar

August 24, 2026 / / No comments

After living with topical chemo for a few weeks, I now have a gaping, pulpy hole in my right cheek, and virtually no skin left on the top half of my left ear; we’ll learn in a few weeks if that got rid of the skin cancer, or if I will still need surgery. 

Seriously, wear sunscreen when you ride. Your future face will thank you. 

………

An 86-year old man was injured in a collision after allegedly riding an ebike through a red light in Carlsbad on July 31st, and died later at the hospital.

But once again, the story fails to mention whether he was riding a legal Class 1, 2 or 3 ped-assist e-bicycle, or an electric motorbike.

It also fails to mention whether the vehicle that hit him had a driver, which would seem to be an important detail.

………

No bias here.

A road-raging Laguna beach driver got out of his car to confront a bike rider on PCH on Saturday, attempting to punch the bicyclist as the other man backed away.

Needless to say, many people sided with the driver, blaming bicyclists for simply riding on the busy highway, despite having no idea what had spurred the incident.

Never mind that the driver committed assault simply by getting out of his car to confront the rider, and again by trying to punch him.

Funny how people get upset about bicyclists riding the coastal highway on weekends, but have no problem with people clogging it with their cars, taking up far more space less efficiently.

Instagram post

………

Interesting insight, as a physician says his 36 year of medical training convinces him not to use a rear-facing radar to detect oncoming motorists, because it would not hold up to a randomized clinical trial.

The problem, according to Dr. James H. Stein, is that an unbiased funder would look at the premise, and immediately concluded that it is unlikely to hold up to scrutiny.

At its limit of roughly 450 feet, for a vehicle driving 55 mph, the device provides about 5-6 seconds of warning (less if they are driving faster). That is enough time to register an alert, but I do not think it meaningfully changes the decisions available to a cyclist. The options remain the same as seeing a vehicle in your rear view mirror or hearing it approach: hold your line, move right (even if that means moving off the road), or signal your presence by waving your arms. Those decisions are made as the car approaches, not from that far away. Earlier detection, in this context, adds information without adding options.

A radar also tells you nothing about a driver’s trajectory, or whether it will hit you or go around you. It only notifies you of the vehicle’s presence.

The problem is that the constant notifications may lead to divided attention and notification fatigue, as  the rider’s focus is repeatedly diverted from the roadway to the screen and back again.

Furthermore, most of what can hurt a cyclist is in front of them: potholes, gravel, debris, pedestrians, other cyclists, and cars either parked or entering the roadway. Even before radar, I have seen cyclists become so absorbed in their cycling computer that they rode off the road, and others have hit parked cars in front of them because they were not paying close enough attention. And I can’t count the number of times riders I know forgot to charge their light (the one with safety evidence) but did remember to charge their radar device.

Stein says looking at the marketing materials is where his research training kicks in, telling “There are no data showing that radar, or even early detection, reduces crashes or injuries,” and “Showing that an intervention changes something we can measure is not the same as showing that it improves the outcome we actually care about.”

It’s worth taking a few moments to read the whole thing, and giving it some thought. And even learning something about supplemental oxygen and treating anemia in hospitalized patients, while you’re at it.

Because he brings up a perspective that you may have never considered.

I know I hadn’t.

………

Today’s common theme follows the pattern in recent weeks of ebikes of all stripes and the people who hate them.

Additional ebike-related news, good and bad, includes —

………

BikeLA announces the return of their annual Bike Fest fundraiser this November.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bike just keeps on going.

Literally war, in this case, as Russia’s 3rd Army posted video of a drone attack on an unarmed Ukrainian civilian riding a bicycle, before removing the online video, perhaps after realizing they had just posted evidence of a war crime.

Speaking of bias, the Adelaide, Australia Advertiser says forget toll roads, and make bicyclists pay a toll to pay for the $12 million the city is investing in bikeways. But then they kindly hide the story behind one of the country’s typical draconian paywalls to avoid the disservice of making us actually read that dreck.

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A British writer confesses to riding through red lights, but says the solution to scofflaw bicyclists is fewer laws governing bicyclists, not more.

………

Local 

South Pasadena will host a pair of community meetings next week to discuss Metro-funded makeovers of the Fremont Avenue corridor from Columbia Street to Alhambra Road, and the Huntington Drive corridor from Alhambra Road to Garfield Ave.

A Cal Poly student describes riding his bicycle back to school from the San Fernando Valley to San Luis Obispo via Topanga Canyon Boulevard and PCH. Not once, but twice.

 

State

LAist says a $10.7 million bike lane project is coming to a long-overdue ten-mile stretch of PCH in Huntington Beach.

 

National

Two Navy vets in their 50s reunited for the first time in 30 years for a cross-country bike ride from California to New York to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11.

A Portland writer describes the law, or lack thereof, behind the trail crossing sign that has been used nationwide since 2000 under the MUTCD, showing a yellow warning square with a pedestrian and a bicycle; yellow signs are considered advisory, and not legally binding.

Good idea. Three Chattanooga, Tennessee microbreweries host weekly bike nights. Although if anyone tried that here, you’d probably have cops lined up outside waiting for anyone biking under the influence.

A 38-year old Raleigh, North Carolina woman was under the influence, driving with a suspended license and had her six kids under ten years old in her car when she hit and killed a 69-year old man out for a midnight bike ride.

A North Carolina cyclist is calling for safety changes in the state, after two young men he knew were killed in the Milligan University massacre, saying he raced with or against every victim of the crash.

 

International

A writer for Cycling Weekly says riding a fixed-gear bike is the best way to demonstrate your superiority over riders on carbon superbikes. Although the name of the magazine describes by own riding style these days, of cycling weakly. 

Speaking of good ideas, Calgary, Alberta, hosted a women’s-only Gran Fondo, with 180 women lining up for timed rides of 25 and 44 miles.

Two English men, ages 31 and 24, face murder charges for killing a 27-year old man riding a bicycle by punching him in an unprovoked attack.

A bike route crosses four European countries, crossing from the Netherlands through Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg on the Vennbahn, and ending with a soak in Aachen, Germany’s historic thermal baths.

Momentum says Japan’s newest national bike route draws a 101-mile circle around Mount Fuji, combining bicycling with mountain scenery, cultural attractions and “some very good reasons to stop for ice cream.”

Australia’s Bicycle Networks says a new bike and pedestrian bridge marks another step forward for Sydney as a bicycling city.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mauritian cyclist Kim Le Court-Pienaar won the women’s Tour of Britain by a 24-second margin, after claiming the leader’s jersey with an uphill solo attack on stage three; Lorena Wiebes finished second by claiming four of the five stages, just not the one that counted. 

Twenty-one-year old British rider Matthew Brennan won the second stage of the Vuelta, the longest stage the race’s 21 stages, as Tadej Pogačar held on to the leader’s red jersey; as it now stands, Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan are second and third.

Julian Alaphilippe says he’s done with pro cycling, and is calling it a career “with immediate effect” at age 34.

 

Finally…

If you’re underage and riding an illegal e-moto, try not to crash directly in front of the cop shop. If at REI you don’t spend, your car’s not welcome here in Bend.

And yes, a bright kit will make you more visible to everyone. Thanks to Norm for the link.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

State senate committee votes to keep drunks on road, driver didn’t brake in Milligan massacre, and LA sued for Pershing Drive death

August 21, 2026 / / No comments

Evidently, Sacramento legislators support drunk drivers.

Or at least one does, anyway.

The Senate Appropriations Committee, led by Sen. Sabrina Cervantes, approved a hostile amendment that gutted a bill that would have required interlock devices for drivers convicted of DUI.

The bill, which has widespread support, would simply have brought the state in line with most other states, which already require the devices.

According to CalMatters,

Cervantes, you might remember, was arrested for a DUI in Sacramento last year, but prosecutors chose not to press charges after a blood test found she had “no measurable amount of drugs or alcohol in her system.” (She later sued the Sacramento Police Department, arguing the arrest was discriminatory and in retaliation for her legislation restricting police data collection.)

Her sister, Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, has two DUI convictions.

So anyone whose loved ones are killed by any drunk drivers with a previous DUI can send the thank you card directly to Cervantes office.

And hey, let’s have another one for the road.

Thanks to Joel for the heads-up.

………

More fallout from the crash that killed two members of the Milligan University cycling team, and injured seven others — nine casualties out of the eleven member team.

The crash occurred when the car ahead of driver John Alexander Benfield moved from the right lane to the left lane. But rather than follow the first driver to the other lane to avoid the team, Benfield smashed into them, with investigators alleging he didn’t brake or take any other evasive action to avoid them.

It’s’s not even clear if Benfield ever saw the cycling team before plowing into them.

A county deputy helping to secure the scene allegedly detected the odor of marijuana coming from Benfield’s car.

You know, just a little wake and bake behind the wheel.

Allegedly.

Milligan University sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers, both 19, died at the scene.

I said yesterday that Engdahl was from Kenosha, Illinois, but he was actually from Kenosha, Wisconsin; the other victim, Brayden Rogers, was a native of Huntsville, Alabama.

At last report, four of the surviving victims remained in critical condition in the ICU; three required surgery from the orthopedic trauma team, and one will require additional surgery.

Meanwhile, Benfield remained in custody after his bail was doubled to $300,000.

………

No surprise here, as the husband of fallen bicyclist Regan Cole-Graham announced plans to file a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles.

Matthew Graham alleges that his wife’s death, along with that of his unborn daughter Ophelia, resulted from the removal of bike lanes from Pershing Drive, endangering bicyclists and ultimately leading to the deadly crash.

The 87-year old driver hasn’t been charged, supporting the argument that the crash was caused by poor road design.

I have argued since the bike lanes were installed in 2017, then ripped out months later to appease angry pass-through motorists, that the city would ultimately be responsible for any future deaths that occurred there.

Now Los Angeles taxpayers will be on the hook for yet another costly settlement — one that could easily reach into eight figures, because the city knowingly created a situation that was less safe than it had been when the bike lanes were installed.

But there’s no amount that could make these needless deaths right.

………

This has nothing to do bikes, or anything else this site normally discusses.

But I literally laughed out loud when I stumbled on outraged articles about Australia’s national debt topping $1 trillion dollars, the same week the US national debt topped $40 trillion — a difference of a mere $39,000,000,000,000.

Never mind that $1 trillion Australian dollars equals just over $700 billion USD.

………

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A London bike rider says we have met the enemy, and he is us, arguing that cars aren’t the problem, and bike riders have to look to their own ranks to improve safety.

In a typical over-response to ebikes, bicycles of all types will now be banned from the historic city center of Como, Italy, after Mayor Alessandro Rapinese was struck by an ebike rider in June; bike riders will now be forced to dismount and walk their bikes.

………

Local 

Incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and challenger Nithya Raman debated in Sherman Oaks on Wednesday, with questioners seemingly dedicated to protecting established businesses and homeowners, and opposing increased housing allowed under SB 79. My main takes were 1) Bass doesn’t seem to know she’s been mayor for three years, when she could have gotten a lot done, but didn’t, and 2) LAist probably didn’t need to talk over Bass and Raman with a station ID every ten minutes, as if we all had no idea who or what we were listening to.

More on CicLAvia returning to Pasadena this November after a ten-year absence.

Santa Monica drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians are urged to slow down and stay alert as the new school year begins. Good advice, but do they really want people to walk slower near schools? 

 

State

Orange County DA Todd Spitzer is hosting what may be the country’s first ebike buyback event, providing up to $1,000 in an effort to get illegal e-motos and hacked ebikes off the road; the first 75 people will also get two Angels baseball tickets. There’s probably no truth to the rumor that the next 75 people will have to take four Angels tickets. Thanks to Edward for the tip.

San Diego is one of the largest US cities without a bikeshare system, something local bicyclists want to change, seven years after the city’s DecoBike system went down the drain. But you’ll have to get past the Union-Tribune’s draconian paywall if you want to read it. 

San Diego’s Bike the Bay rolls for the 19th year on Sunday, giving local riders their only opportunity to pedal across the city’s iconic San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge. Although to be honest, the ferry is more fun, anyway. 

 

National

You know bikes are taking over when a new bike park opens in windswept Laramie, Wyoming, in the middle of cowboy country.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole an ebike from a Derby, Kansas father who was declared legally blind earlier this year, taking away his only form of transportation and forcing him to miss work.

Tragic news from New York, where a 51-year old father called his wife to say he was just minutes from their home; moments later a hit-and-run driver doing an estimated 100 mph ran a red light and slammed into him on his bicycle, no doubt killing him instantly. Have I mentioned lately that hit-and-run drivers one the lowest forms of human scum occupying the earth? I didn’t think so. And don’t get me started on excessive speeding. 

 

International

Bike Radar presents their short list for Bike of the Year.

The Guardian goes riding up Norway’s Mjølkevegen, as bicyclists are discover “the road’s breathtaking panoramas of peaks and lakes, dotted with cozy inns.” Although you shouldn’t be allowed to ride it unless you can pronounce it. 

An Australian researcher says yes, ebike subsidies and safer infrastructure matters, but what will really encourage more people to ride bikes is having sufficient skills, confidence and support to ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-two-year old Welsh cyclist Josh Tarling will line up for the start of the Vuelta a España for his Netcompany-Ineos team, just one week after his 19-year old brother Finlay was killed when a van driver got onto the course at the Volta a Portugal last Friday.

Calls to improve safety in professional cycling have only gotten louder in the week since Tarling’s death.

The same thing that happened to Tarling nearly happened to Aussie cyclist Maeve Plouffe at the women’s Tour of Britain as she was trying to catch up to the peloton after a puncture, and was almost struck head-on by a driver in a roundabout when traffic was allowed back on the course before all the riders had cleared.

It happened again on the race’s second stage, when the stage was neutralized for an hour due to a traffic collision ahead of the riders, as UCI seems incapable of keeping a race course clear long enough to run a race; Dutch superstar Lorena Wiebes has won both stages so far.

The BBC says the Tour of Britain is inspiring more Muslim women to ride bikes; then again, they said the same thing about the Tour de France Femmes. And once again, you’ll have to get past their paywall if you want to read it.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a runaway pig evades an ebike rider, and ends up living with Grammy-winning Hollywood celeb. Or when using cracked pavement as a bike stand becomes an internet bicycle meme.

And this is what you call a scary effing close call.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Driver mows down elite college cycling team, killing two and injuring seven; and Michigan Make-A-Wish killer begs for reduced sentence

August 20, 2026 / / No comments

A beautiful Appalachian highway became a death trap for members of an elite college cycling team yesterday morning.

Two members of the Milligan University cycling team were killed, and seven others injured — four critically — when a 69-year old driver plowed into the whole fucking team.

Sophomores Haylan Engdahl and Brayden Rogers, students at the small Christian liberal arts college, were killed. The small private university is located in Elizabethton, Tennessee, in the northeastern corner of the state.

A CNN report offers photos of the victims, one of whom, 19-year old Haylan Engdahl, graduated high school in Kenosha, Illinois.

And yes, it feels like an extra gut punch to share my last name with one of the victims.

The driver, Newland, North Carolina resident John Benfield, was arrested and charged with two counts of vehicular homicide by recklessness and five counts of aggravated assault by vehicle by recklessness. At last report, he had not been released on bond.

It’s not known at this time if he was under the influence.

According to NBC News,

Sam Rogers said he passed by the accident. At first, he saw Carter County sheriff’s vehicles and ambulances arriving, and then he came upon the aftermath.

“I was horrified to see numerous crumpled bikes. There was a person on the road injured and another covered in blood being helped,” Rogers said. “The bicycles were completely destroyed.”

They were only 11 miles from the campus when Benfield somehow managed to take out over 80% of the 11 team members on the training ride.

At least the other seven beat the odds. The speed limit on that section of Tennessee Highway 19 is 50 mph, which means the victims had a 25% chance of survival if the driver was doing the speed limit, according to AAA.

And as we all know, the chances of a driver actually doing the speed limit or less is somewhere south of nil.

One victim has been released from the hospital, and two others were in stable condition.

Below is a statement from the university.

According to CBS News,

“This is an elite cycling team. It’s not a bunch of club guys getting together to ride. They know what they are doing,” said Carter County District Attorney Steven Finney.

Milligan’s men’s cycling team won the team time trial at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals in Wisconsin earlier this year.

There’s no word at this time on how the crash occurred, other than it was at or near a curve in the roadway.

This is yet another tragic reminder that a driver’s license allows someone to operate a weapon of mass destruction, which even in the right hands is just one critical error from becoming a ground-hugging ballistic missile.

As for the wrong hands, just go back and read this again.

To argue that something like this should never happen is an obvious understatement. Yet it does, far too frequently.

And I’m sick to death of shedding tears and saying prayers for people I don’t even know.

To wit, see below.

Thanks to Mike and Al for the heads-up.

………

Michigan driver Mandy Marie Benn could have her sentence shortened for the 2022 crash that killed two people and injured three others taking part in a Make-A-Wish bicycle ride.

A jury found Benn guilty on 15 counts, including two counts of 2nd degree murder, possessing prescription drugs, operating while intoxicated causing serious death and reckless driving causing death. She was sentenced to two consecutive 35- to 60-year terms in prison.

According to WLNS 6 News,

The deadly crash happened four years ago on Stage Road in Ronald Township, northeast of Ionia, as Mandy Marie Benn was driving north. She tried to pass a truck, driving into the path of bicyclists participating in a Make-A-Wish bicycle tour. Two cyclists were killed: Edward Erickson, 48, of Ann Arbor, and Michael Salhaney, 57, of Bloomfield Hills. Three others were hurt. The prosecution said evidence showed that Benn had a prescription medication called Lorazepam, a sedative that had not been prescribed to her, in her system at the time of the crash.

Now her attorney is arguing that her sentences should have been applied concurrently, rather than consecutively, and an appeals court has sent it back to the trial judge to explain why the consecutive sentences were imposed.

She’ll have a hearing in November to argue her case.

Personally, I don’t care if her sentences are consecutive, concurrent or inside out as long as she never gets out from behind bars.

………

Somehow, this seems like a good place to mention that I have a new and improved design for one of my earlier T-shirts, which also comes in yellow and blue versions, now that I have a slightly better idea what the hell I’m doing.

Because it’s true, and they do. As too many of us have learned the hard way, myself included.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

A judge ordered work on a Crown Height, New York bike lane halted, after a resident asserted the city had broken the law by failing to notify her, and hadn’t provide equired certifications showing consultations with FDNY, NYPD, Small Business Services and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities; needless to say, the NYDOT begs to differ.

A Canadian website argues that The Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent unanimous decision allowing the provincial government to rip out Toronto bike lanes over the objection of city leaders is about much more important issues than just bike lanes. I’m sure that will come as cold comfort to the riders now forced to confront city traffic, or the impatient drivers following behind them.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A 59-year old British Columbia man now believes bicyclists should be licensed and insured, after he was struck by another rider while on his own bike, after the second man crashed into him at a signalized crosswalk, leaving him with a broken humerus, a crushed rotator cuff, metal plates, stitches and screws in his shoulder; without a ride home, he posted his situation on Facebook, and a kindhearted stranger picked him up from the hospital, and got his pain meds for him.

………

Local 

Culver City is the first SoCal city to have Amazon deliveries made by e-cargo bikes, even if they look like mini cargo vans.

Long Beach is hosting its sixth annual Long Beach Safe Streets Awareness Week, returning with the theme of “Long Beach Moves Together.” Which is undoubtedly the most times I’ve ever used “Long Beach” in a single sentence.

 

State

California Streetsblog’s Damien Newton talks with Streets Are For Everyone founder Damian Kevitt about the last minute votes pending in the state legislature before it adjourns next week.

Streets For All says your help is needed to keep critical transit funding off the state chopping block.

This is who we share the road with. Heartbreaking news from Huntington Beach, where a 74-year old man in a motorized wheelchair was killed by a driver as he was crossing the street.

This is who we share the road with, part two. San Jose police are looking for a road-raging driver who stabbed two people during an altercation, at an intersection where residents have long complained about speeding drivers. But apparently not stabbing ones, until now. 

 

National

A 17-year old high school senior from Arizona likely set a new record for riders under 18 by finishing the 2,700-mile Tour Divide Race in just 20 days, as well as completing both the Arizona and Colorado Trails, making him the youngest person to finish the Triple Crown of bikepacking. And I was today years old when I learned there’s a Triple Crown of bikepacking. 

A Washington State newspaper patiently explains that bike riders aren’t breaking the law by running stop signs, because the Idaho Stop is legal there — and not stopping is safe than stopping. Would someone please explain that to Gavin Newsom, who’s vetoed it twice? Wait, don’t bother. He’ll either be President Newsom or unemployed in a couple years, anyway. 

A Colorado man claimed he thought he’d hit a deer when police tracked him down three weeks after he hit and killed a man riding a bicycle, and just kept going; he had the car repaired in the meantime, and evidently no one bothered to tell him the damage came from a human being. Call me crazy, but wouldn’t most people at least stop to examine the damage to their car if they thought they’d hit a large animal — let alone see if it was okay?

As if today’s news wasn’t bad enough, the family of a Springfield, Missouri couple filed a lawsuit against the parents of a young child, arguing the couple encountered the kid in the roadway as they were riding their bikes, and had to choose between hitting the child or crashing into an embankment; they chose the embankment, and both suffered catastrophic injuries, with the husband dying two weeks after the crash, and the wife suffering “permanent and disabling” injuries.

Streetsblog celebrates the “one-of-a-kind” bike path on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario, despite — or maybe because of — Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to kill it.

Hoboken, New Jersey risks its perfect Vision Zero record after the city council voted to end a bike lane project a couple months early, even as the mayor pledged to keep it open in the planned October end date.

When is a bike lane not a bike lane? When a Philadelphia funeral home uses the protected bike land to stage funeral processions, while apparently trying to drum up additional business.

 

International

Cycling Electric offers tips on how to choose a cargo bike, as well as loading and riding it safely.

Good for them. A group of English kids faced down a bulldozer to save a 20-year old DIY bike park.

That’s more like it. Reported bike thefts from UK train stations dropped 11%, while the number of thieves charged for stealing bikes from them more than doubled after police reversed a policy of not investigating thefts if the bikes had been there more than two hours.

Must be nice. A South Korean city is automatically insuring all of its more than 900,000 residents against injuries or liability when riding a bicycle or personal mobility devices.

A New Zealand writer places tongue very firmly in cheek, and writes about the harrowing passage of crossing the street outside the prime minister’s former residence, after he complained “to a crowd of no doubt weeping voters” about “a whole bunch of bike lanes…that made it very difficult for me getting from my apartment into the parliamentary precinct,” even though it’s been two years since he’s lived there. I need to send The Spinoff politics writer Lyric Waiwiri-Smith a thank you card, because I really needed that after today’s news.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Lorena Wiebes responded to the death of 19-year old Welsh cyclist Finlay Tarling as she lined up for the opening stage of the women’s Tour of Britain, saying “Parents shouldn’t fear their children not coming home from a race.” Or a training ride, for that matter. 

EF Education-EasyPost chief Jonathan Vaughters blasted UCI for its focus on “ridiculous little” safety measures, such as minimum handlebar widths, “when they’re unable to keep traffic off the road.”

A Colorado man set a new course record in winning the 53rd Annual Mount Washington Auto Road Bicycle Hillclimb, shaving two minutes off the previous mark, and moving LA-based former pro Phil Gaimon’s 2022 course record down into third place.

 

Finally…

Call him the Pied Piper of bicyclists. That feeling when you campaign against drug use by popping a 1,400 mile wheelie, convincing everyone else you must be on drugs.

And if you’re attacked by a grizzly, don’t try to whack it with your bike.

I mean, seriously.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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