13-year old boy killed riding ebike in Menifee Monday, collateral damage in a police chase for a non-violent property crime

September 17, 2026 / / No comments

Southern California’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad few days continued in Menifee on Wednesday, where a 13-year boy became collateral damage in a police chase.

And yes, he was riding an ebike. And no, it really doesn’t matter what kind of an ebike it was, because the kid apparently did nothing wrong, and his ebike was not a factor in the crash.

Multiple sources are reporting that police in Menifee responded to a report of a burglary in progress on the 27000 block of Hemingway Court around 4:54 pm Monday.

A car driven by a woman believed to be involved in the burglary was seen leaving the area, and fled when the cops attempted to pull her over.

The driver was headed west on Holland Road at a high rate of speed when she ran the red light at Holland and Evans Road, striking the boy, who was riding north on Evans Road.

The victim, identified as 13-year-old Menifee resident Cody Villatoro, died at the scene, despite the efforts of police and paramedics.

The driver continued to flee until her car became disabled, at which point police arrested the woman, 21-year old Temecula resident Melody Valdez, on suspicion of evading police and homicide, among other charges.

So let’s repeat. Villatoro was riding with the green light, and apparently did nothing wrong other than share the planet with a driver wanted by police for a nonviolent property crime. But now he’s dead, because of a driver’s bad decision to flee and the cops’ choice to continue the chase.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Garcia of the Menifee Police Department at Ogarcia@menifeepolice.org or call 951/723-1641.

A crowdfunding campaign has raised over $17,000 of the $20,000 goal.

Our beloved 13-year-old Cody Valentino Garcia Villatoro was taken from us far too soon. He was a kind, loving, and joyful child who brought happiness wherever he went. He had such a beautiful spirit and a way of making the people around him smile. Sadly, his life was cut short when he was hit by a car that was being pursued by authorities. Our family is devastated by this unimaginable loss. We would deeply appreciate any help, no matter how small, to help our family in these incredibly difficult time. If you are unable to donate, sharing this message and keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers means more to us than words can express. Thank you for helping us honor and remember our sweet Cody Valentino Garcia Villatoro.

This is at least the 48th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the fourth we know about in Riverside County. At least 14 of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.

This comes in addition to two 14-year old boys killed when they were struck by an 88-year old driver in Riverside on Tuesday, August 25, while one was riding an e-scooter and the other was on an e-motorbike; they both died of their injuries last week.

And a 52-year old man was killed in Carson on Friday when he was struck by a driver while riding either a motorcycle or a bicycle. Because those two are so easily confused.

Maybe tomorrow we can get back to our usual business, if drivers will just stop killing us for a few days.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Cody Valentino Garcia Villatoro and all his family and loved ones. 

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

68-year old Long Beach man killed by semi driver in apparent right-hook hit-and-run 2 weeks ago, public not told until now

September 17, 2026 / / 2 comments

Sometimes, I don’t even know what to say.

A bad day Tuesday on the streets of Southern California, followed by a worse day yesterday.

Tuesday, it was news of a grandfather killed by a driver in El Monte while riding the ebike he just got for his birthday, followed by two people on a Metro bus killed by a speeding, red light-running driver in Chatsworth, who has been charged with two counts of murder.

Then a helicopter reporting on the crash for KNBC-4 and Telemundo fell from the sky, killing both people on board and an unfortunate bystander from Guatemala on the ground.

Then the first news to pop up yesterday was a Long Beach man killed in a right-hook crash by a hit-and-run truck driver, in what oddly wasn’t called a hit-and-run. That was followed by a 13-year old on an ebike killed by a driver fleeing the police in Menifee.

And just as I started to write this, news broke of a pedestrian killed when he was struck by three separate drivers in Long Beach Sunday, two of whom fled the scene.

But at least I don’t have to write about that one.

All this just days after LA advocates stormed City Hall on Tuesday with a demand to declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence, which I’d much rather be writing about.

And yes, I recognize the irony in being unable to write about a demand that drivers stop killing us because drivers won’t stop killing us.

Sigh.

So let’s start with the tragedy in Long Beach, if only because it happened first.

The Long Beach Post reports that a 68-year old Long Beach man, whose identity has not been made public, was struck by the driver of a semi-truck as he was riding on the sidewalk on PCH near Canal Ave on September 4th.

Yes, two weeks ago, and we’re just now finding out.

The crash occurred shortly after 11 pm as he was riding west on the south sidewalk, which should have been the safest place to ride along SoCal’s killer highway, but wasn’t. Because as he approaching a parking lot driveway, the semi driver pulled out from the parking lot, and turned right directly in front of him.

The victim stopped his bike, but trailer of the semi still struck him, knocking him to the ground — and presumably, under the truck’s rear wheels.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died a day later, according to My News LA, although the medical examiner didn’t bother to inform the Long Beach Police Department until September 10th.

And they still didn’t tell us for another week.

Nearly two full weeks after the collision, they still haven’t found the driver, and there is no description of the truck. Yet for some reason, the cops aren’t calling this a hit-and-run, apparently on the questionable assumption that the driver may not have been aware he hit someone.

My News LA reports the driver was leaving a restaurant parking lot; the only restaurant on the south side of that block is the Golden Star Restaurant at 1560 PCH.

Anyone with information is urged to call LBPD Detective Paredes at 562/570-7358; anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 800/222-TIPS (8477).

This is at least the 47th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the 16th we know about in Los Angeles County. At least 13 of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

48-year old father and grandfather Esteban “Steve” Martinez killed by driver in El Monte ebike crash

September 16, 2026 / / No comments

A man was killed by a pickup driver while riding an ebike in El Monte Monday night.

But what happened still isn’t clear. Nor is it clear whether the victim was riding a ped-assist bicycle, or some other kind of electric bike.

To be honest, I wasn’t planning to write about this crash, because the mangled bike lying in the roadway appeared to be very heavy with wide fat tires, looking more like an electric motorbike than a bicycle.

But video from KCBS-2 clearly shows the bike had operable pedals, so the victim, identified as 48 year-old Estaban Martinez, could have been riding an electric bicycle when he was killed.

All we know for certain is that Martinez, who went by Steve, was found lying unresponsive on the sidewalk on the on the 4100 block Richwood Ave near Bryant Road around 10:45 pm Monday, with his bike and shoes in the street next to him.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, despite the efforts of paramedics.

The pickup driver remained at the scene until she was taken away by police, possibly for blood alcohol test, according to the station.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know with any certainty at this time. Neighbors say Richwood and Bryant has been a problem intersection for some time, with motorists frequently running the stop sign.

Although KABC-7 somehow conflates this tragedy with Sunday’s takeover of the 6th Street Bridge in Boyle Heights in which police confiscated 78 electric minibikes illegally ridden by teenagers, as if there’s no difference between what Martinez was riding and a mini motorbike.

There is a name briefly visible on the side of the bike as it was loaded onto a truck to be taken away, but I’ve been unable to make it out, even with magnification.

Family members remembered Martinez as the father of five children, aged 7 to 30, and a proud grandfather.

According to KCBS,

“He was just so loving. He joked around a lot, played with the kids a lot,” said Martinez’s sister, Josefina. “When we had parties, he was always the one interacting with the kids. The kids loved him; my kids love him.”

They say that Martinez had just gotten the e-bike for his birthday recently, and that he had left his home a few blocks from the crash Monday night to visit a friend.

In the end, maybe it doesn’t matter what Martinez was riding. Because once again, a loving father is gone and a family has been violently ripped apart because the victim chose to travel on two wheels instead of four.

Anyone with information is urged to call the El Monte Police Department Watch Commander at 626/580-2109.

This is at least the 46th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the 15th we know about in Los Angeles County — a number that is probably far higher, since the LAPD has stopped publicly reporting most traffic deaths.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steve Martinez and all his family and loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Demand a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, stop LA’s nonexistent “war on cars,” and lefties want to kill your palm trees

September 15, 2026 / / No comments

If today’s post seems a little jazzier than usual, it was written under the influence of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, which is way better than any drug.

Today’s photo of LA City Hall looking like a big dick to represent all the little ones, male and female, inside. 

……….

More on today’s call for the City of Los Angeles to declare a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, as I’ve mashed an email notification and press release together.

And yes, there’s still time to get to City Hall if you can make it this morning.

DEMAND A STATE OF EMERGENCY ON TRAFFIC VIOLENCE!

More than 1,300 people and 40 coalition partners have signed SAFE’s open letter calling on the Mayor and City Council to declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence and take immediate action.

Now, we’re bringing that demand to City Hall. We need you to show up, give public comment, and make your voice heard.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026
9:30 a.m. Meet at City Hall
10:00 a.m. City Council meeting begins
Press conference following public comment
200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Entrance on Main St.

Our goal is to have at least 50 people give public comment. If you can speak during public comment or at our press conference, please confirm with me and review the instructions and talking points for public comment.

We hope to see you at City Hall Tuesday.

WHAT: Streets Are For Everyone (SAFE), People’s Vision Zero, and community members will present an open letter to Los Angeles City Council signed by more than 1,300 Angelenos and 43 Coalition Partners to Los Angeles City Hall, calling on Mayor Karen Bass and the Los Angeles City Council to immediately declare a State of Emergency on traffic violence and implement 5 broad strategies to immediately address and reduce serious injuries and fatalities due to traffic violence.

The stats speak for themselves:

  • The City of Los Angeles has had more traffic fatalities than homicides for the past 3 years.
  • In 2025, Los Angeles had 324 traffic fatalities and 16,160 people injured; that’s 3.5% higher than in 2024 (313). (Source: TIMS)
  • So far this year, traffic fatalities are already well over 200 and are currently running 8% higher than the same time last year. (Source: LAPD as of 22 Aug 2026)

In 2015, Los Angeles started Vision Zero, LA’s plan to eliminate traffic fatalities by 2025. That plan failed, and traffic fatalities are now 34% higher than they were in 2015 (241 compared to 324). (Source: TIMS) Since then, LA has failed to produce a comprehensive plan to reduce traffic violence.

In April 2025, an independent analysis of Vision Zero found 13 key points of failure. All of these boil down to poor coordination and prioritization within and across city departments as well as a lack of political will. None of this has been fixed.

On 11 May 2026, in an email, Ms Tina Backstrom from the LA Mayor’s office stated that Mayor Karen Bass had an Executive Directive on her desk to re-launch Vision Zero and that it would be reviewed and signed within three weeks. This was never done.

Los Angeles has spent more than a decade promising to eliminate traffic deaths. Not only did Vision Zero fail, but things have gotten worse, and now, instead of fixing what continues to fail, the city has chosen to ignore the problem.

I admit, I was unaware of that email stating that Bass would re-launch Vision Zero, which just seems to add to her failings when it comes to traffic safety.

And makes her recent stepped-up support of safety projects — other than Forest Lawn Drive, of course — seem more like the flailing actions of someone desperately running for re-election, than any real change of heart.

But maybe that’s just me.

……….

No bias here.

A former Los Angeles city planner writes that Los Angeles needs to stop the mythical “war on cars,” spewing a lengthy word salad to say that Los Angeles isn’t Amsterdam, which should come as no surprise to anyone.

For one thing, the people in Amsterdam live in one of the world’s happiest countries, which can hardly be said about Angelenos.

Thomas Glick implicitly criticizes CD 4 Councilmember and LA mayoral challenger Nithya Raman for saying people should drive less, while also driving herself.

Oh, the shame!

That will surely make her hang her head and slink away.

Glick also says that bicycling, and bike lanes, are good things. But, you know, bike lanes can get cluttered with palm fronds and other debris after it rains, making them virtually unusable.

Which seems like a far better argument for bike lane-sized street sweepers, than it is for whatever point Glick is trying to make.

Then there’s this.

That is the larger problem. Los Angeles transportation policy increasingly seems designed to satisfy the demands of progressive transportation organizations and advocacy groups such as Streets for All rather than starting with the more basic question: What will actually move the greatest number of Angelenos safely and efficiently?

Mayor Karen Bass, to her credit, has shown that there can be a middle ground. Bass is hardly opposed to public transportation, bike lanes or reducing automobile dependence. But she has also demonstrated a willingness to recognize that transportation policy has to work for the people who actually live here. When faced with significant community opposition to the proposed redesign of Forest Lawn Drive, which would have removed a traffic lane in each direction to create a protected bike lane, Bass ordered the project redesigned rather than simply pushing ahead. Her revised approach calls for protected bike infrastructure while maintaining the existing traffic lanes.

That is the kind of balance Los Angeles needs. The choice shouldn’t be between doing nothing and declaring war on the automobile. We can make streets safer, expand transit and provide better options for bicyclists without pretending that every traffic lane is an obstacle to be eliminated. Bass’s decision on Forest Lawn Drive suggests that even a mayor committed to expanding alternative transportation can recognize that there are limits to how much roadway Los Angeles can take away from the automobile before the cure becomes worse than the disease.

Never mind that the point of the Forest Lawn Drive project wasn’t about building bike lanes, but slowing traffic and saving lives on one of the city’s deadliest corridors.

Which you’d think a former city planner would understand, but apparently not.

And never mind that the project has undergone years of public meetings and revisions to accommodate various competing visions. Or that Bass halted the Forest Lawn project in response to a $300,000 lobbying campaign on behalf of a pair of very wealthy private cemeteries, who are apparently trying to drum up more business at their front step.

So yeah, let’s stop that mythical “war on cars,” and let the people in them keep killing themselves, and others, to the content of their lil ol’ hearts.

And yeah, stop taking away traffic lanes to build those darn bus lanes, too, even though buses move more people far more efficiently than cars can.

So sure, let’s keep Los Angeles deadly. And car and smog choked. And inefficient. And unaccommodating. And progressively less livable.

But whatever you do, don’t do anything to restrict Angelenos God-given right to drive their cars.

Or even suggest that maybe they should do it just a teeny bit less.

………

No bias here, either.

In bicycle-adjacent news, the conservative New York Post writes that “A lefty public transport nonprofit that supports socialist Los Angeles mayoral hopeful Nithya Raman is coming for the city’s iconic palm trees.”

Maybe someone should tell them that their own New York mayor is a loud and proud Democratic socialist. And I didn’t know Streets For All was a “lefty” group, unless traffic safety and urban livability are “lefty” issues.

Besides, they’re right. The only good thing about LA’s palm trees, which are actually a form of very big grass, is they look kinda cool and give the city an iconic image.

But they take a lot of water, provide virtually no shade, and do nothing to cool our over-baked city. And they go up like a torch in any kind of fire, as we see every 4th of July and most Christmases.

Apparently, pointing that out — which many others have done before — is enough to get you labeled a “lefty.” And God forbid, a supporter of a (gasp) Nithya Raman.

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That’s tonight!

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A multi-agency Orange County police task force cracked down on traffic violations, writing 102 citations with an emphasis on motorcycle noise violation and illegal electric motorbikes.

According to New Santa Ana, the violations included:

  • 18 citations for loud exhaust violations Loudest reading: 111 dBA, well above California’s 95 dBA limit for passenger vehicles and 80 dBA limit for motorcycles.
  • 2 citations for emissions violations Referred to the State Referee, where drivers must complete compliance testing and repairs.
  • 33 speeding citations Highest recorded speed: 95 MPH in a 50 zone on SR‑1 near El Morro School.
  • 6 drivers cited for unlicensed or suspended license operation
  • 1 vehicle impounded
  • 1 arrest Charges included open container, DUI, and possession of a concealed firearm.

Which leaves 41 violations for…something.

………

Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly acting like total dicks. 

A 51-year old Eugene, Oregon man faces charges for intentionally riding his bike into a 73-year old homeless woman — twice — after she told him to “watch out” when he rode close to her and her dog, leaving her with minor injuries.

………

Local 

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass manages to get herself photographed center stage at the groundbreaking for the Spring/Alameda Safety and Mobility Project, making the sort of public appearance she could have, and should have, been making for the past three-and-a-half years.

Good news from Culver City, where the Ballona Creek bike path was reopened on Friday after storm damage from the recent hurricane was repaired.

 

State

Apparently, riding a motorcycle on the sidewalk with your unsecured, un-helmeted two-year old kid on your lap is no big deal in Santa Ana.

Nearly 1,000 ebikes, e-motos and electric scooters were turned in during the Orange County DA’s buyback program on Saturday. Although judging by the video clips I saw, many were of the normal, and legal, ped-assist type, which wouldn’t do anything to reduce the number of dangerous and illegal electric vehicles the program was intended to remove from the roadway. 

San Diego is considering suing bikemakers for deceptive ebike ads.

Here’s why — okay, one reason — paywalls don’t make any sense. The San Diego Union-Tribune hid a story about the identity of the 14-year old kid killed riding an ebike in Pacific Beach over the weekend behind their draconian paywall, even though the kid’s name and other details were readily available from at least a half dozen other sources.

 

National

A website lists five Android apps that are “perfect” for bicyclists, even if you do your riding indoors.

Dominos is relaunching the bicycle with a built-in pizza oven, which they seem to do every few years, but this time as an ebike, presumably for even faster and hotter deliveries. Or maybe just a reliable PR stunt. 

A travel lane is being removed from a Eugene, Oregon street to make room for bike lanes and a combination bus/parking lane, in a city where removing a traffic lane doesn’t seem to be the end of the world.

Evidently, the New York Post thinks Seattle is in California, writing that the driver spotted speeding along a Seattle bike lane was driving next to a “major California freeway.” 

Denver Broncos all-pro safety Talanoa Hufanga’s NFL dreams began with a little red bicycle, riding to high school football games with his dad when he was just five or six years old.

More than 200 Loyola of Chicago students, faculty and staff took part in the university’s annual midnight bike ride, a tradition since 1989.

A 41-year old Louisville, Kentucky man was released on his own recognizance and allowed to drive to medical appointments for his Stage IV cancer, despite being charged with the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle. It’s not that he shouldn’t be allowed to get to his medical treatments, it’s that the man he killed didn’t get any say in any of it. 

An Indiana University researcher uses bikes to develop a heat map.

A Maryland bike shop owner explains why he decided “decades ago” not to sell ebikes to minors, or to parents for their minor kids. Because apparently ebikes were a major problem in his shop decades before they became a problem anywhere else. 

Heartbreaking story from Durham, North Carolina, where a nine-year old boy was killed by a driver on Sunday while riding the bicycle he got for his birthday; his mom said “Just hug your babies. Love your babies. And people need to slow down. If you’re in a neighborhood full of kids, slow down.”

 

International

Travel + Leisure lists ten countries that are made for a two-wheeled vacay, only two of which — Slovenia and Vietnam — are even kinda surprising.

A story from British Columbia seems to miss the most important part, after a 47-year old man pled guilty to second-degree murder in the hit-and-run death of a 54-year old man riding a bicycle, after pleading down from first-degree murder — yet somehow, fails to mention why he was charged with murder in the first place.

In shocking news, the BBC reveals that reckless ebike users pose a danger to people on bicycles. Kinda like reckless people in or on anything, including feet. 

European cities show how to pay people to bike to work — and make it work.

Protests took place in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, after a 51-year old suspected bike thief died in police custody.

A man riding 500 miles to raise funds for his seriously ill partner was beaten by his fellow Poles for wearing a yellow and blue hat, accusing him of being a Ukrainian nationalist, even though the hat was clearly labeled to represent a Polish region.

 

Competitive Cycling

Five Americans to watch at this year’s Worlds.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your donut ride across Los Angeles is just a slightly veiled ad for an energy drink. This is who we share the boardwalk with.

And the latest reason for cops to oppose a new bike lane is because it could become “a highway for illegal ebikes on drug runs.”

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Ebike rider killed in Arleta crash, and demand a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence at LA council tomorrow

September 14, 2026 / / No comments

Okay, where were we?

I should have known I was tempting fate by going on a rant over traffic deaths. But why the hell did fate take it out on a young kid?

And you can find the t-shirt in today’s photo, and a few other ghost bike tees, by clicking on the Swag button on the upper right. I’d really like to stop posting them if drivers would just stop killing us. 

………

Speaking of ebike deaths, which I was really trying not to do, someone was killed riding an ebike in Arleta early Sunday.

According to KTLA-5, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was stuck by the driver of a white SUV in the 13000 block of Osborne Street, as if the color of the vehicle had some sort of magical effect on the outcome.

Actually, KTLA says the victim was killed after being struck by the SUV, as if a) the victim was beaten or strangled after being stuck by the vehicle, and b) the driver of the SUV somehow had nothing to do with it.

You can do better, KTLA.

As usual, there’s no word on what kind of ebike it was, whether the victim was riding a legal ped-assist bike or an illegal e-moto or dirt bike, since neither the cops nor the press can seem to distinguish between them.

At least Hoodline managed to add that section of Osborne Street is on Los Angeles’s Vision Zero High Injury Network — suggesting that the city still cares about such things — with 20 total vehicle fatalities and 16 pedestrian or bicyclist collisions from 2010 to 2020.

And why does it take The Korea Daily to report on LA traffic deaths and injuries? The Los Angeles-based paper reports that,

According to traffic collision statistics released by the Los Angeles Police Department on Aug. 27, a total of 187 people were killed in traffic crashes in Los Angeles between Jan. 1 and Aug. 15 this year. That represents a 5% increase from 178 deaths during the same period last year.

Injury crashes also increased by about 7%, from 971 to 1,043, while bicycle-related injury crashes surged 37% to 144.

The only real surprise that bicycle-related injury crashes surged more than a third is that anyone is still tracking the number, since no one bothers to tell us anymore.

……….

A reminder that Streets Are For Everyone is urging you to show up for tomorrow’s LA City Council Meeting, where they will demand that the city declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence.

The time has come to demand a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence from our local leaders.

SAFE will join our coalition partners at Los Angeles City Council on September 15th to drop our open letterdemanding that the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Council immediately declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence and address this public health crisis.

Thank you for signing on and joining this movement. Your signature helped us reach more than 1,250 signatures on this campaign, showing our local leaders that Angelenos want streets that are safe to use.

The next step is here, and we need you with us as we deliver that message directly to City Hall.

Please join SAFE on September 15th at 9:30 am in City Hall to help us deliver our open letter and make our voices heard. We are asking everyone who has signed this letter to attend the City Council meeting and give public comment.

Our goal is to have at least 50 people give public comment, making it clear to our local leaders that traffic violence is an urgent public safety crisis that deserves their attention.

Event Details

  • Date: Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
  • Time: Meet at 9:30 a.m.
  • Council Meeting Begins at 10:00 a.m.
  • Press Conference following Public Comment
  • Location: 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Entrance on Main St.)

Instructions and Talking Points for Public Comment.

After public comment concludes, advocates will leave the Council Chamber and regroup outside on the steps of City Hall for a Press Conference.

Thank you again for adding your name to this campaign and standing with us. We have built the movement. Now it is time to bring it directly to our local leaders.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me via email (aaron@streetsareforeveryone.org) or by calling my cell (818.697.2621)

We hope to see you at City Hall on September 15th.

Unfortunately, I won’t be there, as much as I’d like to be.

The meds I take to keep from acting out my dreams, and possibly inadvertently killing my wife in my sleep, means I will likely be unconscious at that hour. And even if I tried to shake off the effects of the drug and show up, I’d be too sick from it to even make it there.

So please, if you can, go in my stead and be my witness before the council to demand they take urgent action to stop people from killing us.

God knows, we’ve got enough ghost bikes in this damn city.

……….

LA mayoral challenger Nithya Raman announced her plan to make LA cooler and more livable before the ’28 Olympics.

Twitter post

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He gets it.

A writer for The Guardian, who confesses the “humiliating” fact that he can’t ride a bike because his parents were too busy arguing or falling asleep to teach him, has this to say about the Trump administration’s attack on “DEI” bike lanes.

Rhetorically, the administration’s charge of bike lanes being some form of diversity, equity, and inclusion makes no sense. If riding a bike is so easy, then how can we classify it as unique enough to be diverse? Children ride bikes. It’s far less exotic than, say, operating a motorcycle, which takes a special license in every state. Maybe if we had a dedicated lane for a penny-farthing, I’d buy this explanation. If I were tooling around on one of those, I’d never get where I was going, because scores of beautiful women would be stopping me every few feet.

Conservative disapproval for bike lanes stems from a blinkered, irrational view of culture, and more accurately, masculinity. Trumpists have teased Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg for riding bikes. But I’ve been teased for not being able to ride a bike. Shouldn’t I be lauded for my commitment to machismo? My belief in the petrol-powered conveyance deserves commendation. My parents’ inattention to my development actually made me cooler, right?

If anything, I’m the diversity in this scenario. I can’t use a bike lane. I’ve been excluded from significant parts of the road. I can’t even walk in the bike lane. I should be furious, writing pointed, profane letters to my city councilperson, begging them to release me from my shackles. Or better yet, I should demand the city taxpayers pay for me to take bike lessons, so I can be accommodated. I’m the weirdo here. The one who has to explain my predicament, to feel excluded from the general population. Except, I’m not going to complain.

………

American cars are getting fatter, along with our citizenry.

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

No bias here. A 30-year San Diego bike rider says the sharrows on Mira Mesa may be a death trap, but the solution can’t be to make Mira Mesa more congested, suggesting bike riders should be directed to quieter streets. As I recall from nearly 40 years ago, nothing could make Mira Mesa more congested. Although the San Diego Union-Tribune evidently doesn’t want you to know about it, since it’s hidden behind its draconian paywall. 

………

Local 

Good on them. LA street safety vigilante Jonathan Hale led People’s Vision Zero in painting a new crosswalk at Sycamore and Lexington, after the city refused to so anything.

Los Angeles Mayor Bass took credit for breaking ground on the long-planned Spring-Alameda Safety and Mobility Project, which far-predated her administration.

 

State

A 12-year old Laguna Nigel boy has been appearing before Orange County city councils to call for stricter ebike rules for kids his age, arguing that too many ride too fast, ignore rules and take risks.

Speaking of the San Diego U-T’s draconian paywall, an engineering study has found the Coast Highway bridge in Encinitas is in poor condition. But they apparently don’t want you to learn about it until the bridge collapses under you. 

The deaths of Kellie Standish and William Colby Tucker on PCH in Ventura earlier this year have renewed calls for improving safety on the deadly highway.

Two major safety projects are underway to bridge coastal gaps and improve bicycle and pedestrian safety between Montecito and Summerland.

Sad news from Santa Cruz County, where a driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI after killing a bike rider near Soquel.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. An associate vice president of Brigham Young University, and the director of BYU’s nationally recognized David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies was killed while riding his bike last week; Vincent Stanley Benfell III was 63.

In a bizarre case, an Ohio mom was found dead on top of a train car, 130 miles from where she disappeared while riding her bicycle.

Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany, New York are accelerating investments in bike lanes and safer streets, building out the networks necessary to making bicycling a practical means of transportation.

Around 30 riders in Birmingham, Alabama honored two forgotten victims of the fight for civil rights, 53 years after 13-year old Virgil Ware was shot and killed by white teens while riding on the handlebars of his brother’s bike, and 16-year old Johnny Robinson fatally shot by a cop, the same morning as the infamous bombing at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church killed four young girls. Do I really need to mention that both young men were Black? I didn’t think so. 

A 76-year old disabled US Air Force vet started a five-day ride across Florida’s 28th Congressional District, leading a group to support the campaign of retired Navy Commander and Democratic candidate Phil Ehr.

 

International

Momentum asks the burning question why do cities insist on using sharrows when they don’t make bicyclists any safer, and often leave us less safer? That’s easy — they can be installed for pennies on the dollar without removing parking or a traffic lane, so they don’t inconvenience anyone by risking our lives. 

A Canadian writer goes riding with the last remaining bicycle couriers in Vancouver, as digital copies replace the death-defying thrill of zooming papers across the city on two wheels.

Dozens of Toronto bike advocates took to the streets to protest Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s move to rip out popular bike lanes and move them to quieter, less direct streets. Although “dozens” of protesters aren’t likely to get his, or anyone else’s, attention.

A British bike nonprofit has found that ebike bikeshares encourage people to try bicycling who might not otherwise.

 

Competitive Cycling

To the surprise of no one who’s been paying attention for the past two weeks, Spain’s Enric Mas won the Vuelta for the first time, after three previous second place finishes; Mas finished two minutes and 15 seconds ahead of Primož Roglič, and another half minute over Austrian Felix Gall. 

Congratulations to American Sepp Kuss on his fifth place finish, 8:45 back and one place behind Richard Carapaz.

Bummer. Irishman Eddie Dunbar crashed out on the penultimate state of the Vuelta, breaking his collarbone one day after an emotional comeback win on Peñas Blancas.

Mexico’s Isaac del Toro overcame Frenchman Paul Seixas to win a dramatic uphill sprint to the finish of the GP de Montreal, announcing themselves heirs apparent to Tadej Pogačar for the world championships.

Slovenian Urška Žigart broke her jaw for the second time in three months, prematurely ending her season with a crash on stage 3 of the Faun Tour Femmes.

 

Finally…

No, bike lanes are not just extra pavement that can be used by drivers whenever it’s convenient — and that includes protected bike lanes along Seattle freeways.

And that feeling when you get brake checked by a delivery robot, so you throw it into the bushes.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

14-year old San Diego boy killed by driver while riding Class 2 ebike in Pacific Beach Saturday night

September 14, 2026 / / 2 comments

Every traffic death is a needless waste of a human life.

It’s even worse when it’s a kid. And maybe it doesn’t even matter if he was on a legal ebike or not, because the result is the same.

At least, that was the case Saturday night when a 14-year old boy was killed riding an ebike in Pacific Beach.

A number of sources are reporting that the boy was riding on Olney Street at Balboa Ave in the San Diego neighborhood when he allegedly went through a red light around 9:20 pm, and was struck by a 38-year old driver headed west on Balboa.

The victim, identified as Owen Harris, an 8th grade student at Pacific Beach Middle School, died after being taken to a hospital.

The driver remained at the scene following the crash, and cooperated with investigators.

And no, CBS8, he was not struck and killed by a Tesla. Whether or not the driver was at fault, the car had one. As we’ve discussed many times before, whether or not Harris ran the red light depends a lot on whether there were any independent witnesses who saw the crash, other than the driver who killed him.

Harris was also riding a legal ped-assist ebike — or at least an ebike that was sold as one. The website for the pink Zooz ebike he was riding stresses that they are sold as Class 2 ebikes with a maximum speed of 20 mph.

Although it’s not hard to find instructions online for how to easily “uncork” at least some of their ebikes to exceed the legal speed limit.

But again, whether the bike was uncorked or otherwise does not change the outcome in any way. Or the tragic loss of a young man with virtually unlimited possibilities.

This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the 10th we know about in San Diego County — an average of more than one a month.

My deepest sympathies and prayers for Owen Harris and all his family and loved ones. 

Thanks to Phillip for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,
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