Turns out the driver arrested in the April hit-and-run death of San Bernardino County bicyclist Troy Davids has a long criminal and traffic record.
Twenty-six-year old Casey Andrew Coltrain was already on probation for driving under the influence of drugs when he allegedly crossed onto the wrong side of the road, ran a red light and hit Davids as he rode his bike in a crosswalk on his way home from work.
In addition, Coltrain has prior convictions for misdemeanor reckless driving and drug-related charges, as well as speeding, failure to stop at a stop sign and not using a seat belt. Not to mention multiple convictions for burglary, possessing an illegal dagger and receiving stolen property; he was already in jail on his latest burglary and probation violation charges when he was arrested for the hit and run.
He faces second-degree murder and felony hit-and-run charges in the death.
It will be interesting to see if the DA tries to use this as a possible 3rd Strike.
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Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman digs into the latest tragedy in South LA, movingly capturing the devastating effect the hit-and-run death of 19-year old Oscar Toledo Jr — aka Snoopy — has had on his family and friends.
Meanwhile, an account has been set up to help pay for his funeral expenses.
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LocalStreetsblog reviews last week’s community meeting to discuss the North Figueroa road diet and bike lane, and finds it kind of boring.
The LACBC talks bikes on the Bike Talk podcast, with special guests Karen Kroener, Joe Linton, Don Ward and Josef Bray-Ali.
Neon Tommy joins the LA edition of the World Naked Bike Ride; LAist offers a photo array of the event. I’m afraid to look for fear of who I’ll know and what I might not want to see.
Celebrate the 4th of July with a West Covina bike ride; thanks to ride leader Cynthia Carter for the link.
State
An Orange County off-road rider suffered a serious head injury in a fall on a remote trail and had to be airlifted out. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.
It’s not just us. An 81-year old marathoner is killed by a suspected drunk driver while running in a bike lane in Corona del Mar.
A drunk Sacramento driver intentionally runs down a cyclist after the rider punctures his tire in a dispute, then hits two more riders — accidently, apparently.
Glendale-area Assembly Member Mike Gatto introduces a bill to create an Amber Alert-style warning system for serious hit-and-run cases. Another Sacramento bill would increase penalties for drivers who injure cyclists and pedestrians.
National
That study showing head injuries increased in cities with bike share systems? Not so much, as it turns out, as both head and overall injury rates actually went down.
A Philadelphia rider receives a $2.4 million jury award after suffering life-changing injuries in a dooring.
Tragically, a 24-year old Maryland bike rider is killed when she stops to change a flat tire in Kentucky. The assistant basketball coach with the Catholic University of America in DC was on a cross country tour to raise funds for a cancer charity.
Caught on video: A Virginia bike rider is hit head-on by a motorist driving on a bike/pedestrian bridge; amazingly, the local police don’t give a damn, despite the video evidence.
Fair warning for California drivers. A new three-foot passing law goes into effect in West Virginia, and traffic does not come grinding to a halt.
International
American rider Andrew Talansky is the surprise winner of the Criterium du Dauphine after a successful breakaway on the final stage, but what does it mean for next month’s Le Tour?
A 19-year old French cyclist dies after riding his bike into the ocean on a Facebook dare.
Egypt’s new president leads a mass bike ride to urge his countrymen to ride more. And yes, only men were allowed on the ride.
Shocking! An Aussie newspaper clocks cyclists exceeding the advisory speed limit on bike and pedestrian bridge.
A New Zealand neurosurgeon says bike helmets are useless in high speed collisions, while a helmet manufacturer, who couldn’t possibly have any reason for bias, insists they’re effective.
Finally…
Your next high tech Samsung device could be a bike. And repeat after me: If you’re already on probation and carrying a virtual illegal drug superstore in your backpack, don’t ride your damn bike on the sidewalk.
Bicycle helmet standards never took high speed impact into account. The CPSC standard I was able to find specifies a 6.2 meter per second impact, which is pretty much a 2 meter freefall. So the standard is to mostly protect a rider from spontaneously falling off a bike, whether it be onto a flat surface, a curb, or curved anvil.
Likewise, the Snell B-95 standard specifies a 1.3+ meter fall (though I assume the deceleration thresholds are different for the different standards).
Even though these impact standards don’t take into account high speed impacts, it is unreasonable to expect them to reasonably cover all crash scenarios. At some point, it’s not just the head that sustains the fatal injuries.
Also, though helmets are essentially useless in high speed impacts, they can still be useful in mitigating injuries in high speed crashes/ where there isn’t really any impact except for the glancing fall to the ground and subsequent roll/slide to a stop.
You’re preaching to the choir. I’m a firm believer is helmet use, even while noting their obvious limitations.
[…] Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: Career criminal arrested in fatal San Bernardino County hit-and-run […]
take this crap Down casey is innocent he was with ME at the time this happened so obviously you’re beloved police are not doing that great of a job
Let me know when and if the charges are dropped, and I’ll be happy to make a correction.