Police investigators say Wendy Cendejas apparently fell making a left turn into traffic while riding east on Warner Ave, west of Sceptre Lane, around 6:30 pm on Saturday, October 17th.
She was found by police lying in the roadway, with her bicycle nearby.
Cendejas was taken to UCI Medical Center, where she died the following Monday.
It’s unclear from the description if anyone actually saw her fall. And there’s no information on what may have caused the fall, which could have been anything from simply losing her balance to striking some sort of obstacle in the roadway.
Or her fall could have been caused by a driver in some way.
Anyone with information is urged to call Traffic Investigator D. Demetre of the Huntington Beach Police Department at 714/536-5670.
This is at least the 54th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 13th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Wendy Cendejas and her loved ones.
October 28, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Horrific killer attack in Las Vegas, paint gun assault in LA’s Palms neighborhood, and bike riders killed by bad cop drivers
My apologies, once again, for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
An unexpected blood sugar crash literally put me on my ass, taking me from feeling fine to too sick to stand up in a matter of minutes, and knocking me out until early morning.
One more reminder that diabetes sucks.
Seriously, if you’re at risk for diabetes, do whatever it takes to avoid it. Because you really don’t want this shit.
And another reminder came yesterday.
For the past several months, I’ve been battling hand pain and numbness that’s grown progressively worse, forcing me to work through severe pain just to get this site online every night.
After a neuro exam that could have passed for a medieval torture session, it turns out I’ve got advanced carpal tunnel in both wrists, which will likely require surgery in the next few months.
And which was probably caused by diabetes.
Good times.
Meanwhile, I’ve got a number of other medical tests coming up in the next few days that will likely affect me in ways that could make it difficult, if not impossible, to write, as I struggle to get everything checked out before our health insurance runs out at the end of the year.
I’ll do my best to keep up, but please accept my apologies in advance if I can’t manage to post any new updates.
Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow and Friday; if not, we’ll be back bright and early next week once all this is over.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal has a number of other stories about the attack; unfortunately, they’re hidden behind a paywall. Definitely not a smart move for a story that’s getting international attention.
Thanks to everyone who gave me a heads-up about this incident.
Some asshole driver shot at us with a something like paintball gun and hit me twice while we were riding side by side in a lane down Jefferson near National. It hurt and left a nasty mark. Pretty upset, but also relieved it wasn’t anything worse. Also the “paint” or whatever the fuck that was looked like snot and bird poop mixed together. So gross.
Too many jerks seem to think things like that are funny, never realizing — or maybe not caring — that it can rapidly develop into a life threatening situation if the victim loses control or falls off her bike.
Just like we saw in Las Vegas.
And even under the best circumstances, it hurts like hell.
Let’s hope she called the police, because shooting someone with anything is a crime.
Thanks to Howard for the tip.
………
Even cops will tell you they’re some of the worst drivers on the road.
Then there’s this from the protests over the police shooting of a Black man in Philadelphia. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the forward.
Can confirm that a cop car drove through the line that us bikers were holding for the marchers. No one was seriously hurt but the disregard for our safety and use of force in that moment was astounding. https://t.co/l7gEqxa8FA
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in a Louisiana city are looking for a “very suspicious,” masked bike-riding man who’s been entering people’s yards and going through their mailboxes. Then again, anyone who doesn’t wear a mask should be considered suspicious these days.
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Local
A new bikeshare dock is helping to close the gap created by a two-year shutdown of the L-Line — formerly Gold Line — in DTLA after the Little Tokyo Metro station was permanently closed.
Not everyone gets it, though. A San Diego columnist displays his windshield bias, insisting that the city’s Sunset Cliffs Natural Park is being ruined by bicycles after being shocked! shocked! to see a boisterous group ride complete with police escort. Apparently, natural areas are only supposed to be enjoyed by people who drive in silence to get there.
Sonoma County is doing its best to stiff a woman who won a $1.9 million judgement against the county after she was seriously injured hitting a massive pothole on her bike, but they’re running out of legal options. Thanks to Phillip Young for the link.
The LSU student newspaper complains about a lack of bike lanes on and around campus, saying the situation “poses a significant threat to the safety of students.” Sounds like nothing’s changed since I used to ride there decades ago.
A London driver lost control of his Ferrari, barely avoiding some people on bikes. A reminder that anyone with excess money can buy a fast car, but not the skill to drive it.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding on westbound Highway 126 east of Main Street in Piru when he was struck by a driver just after 5:45 am.
After an on-scene investigation took place, CHP officials determined the bicyclist may have been riding in the traffic lanes and the driver of a Nissan Sentra was unable to avoid colliding with the bicyclist, according to a CHP news release. The driver sustained minor injuries.
Never mind that bicyclists have as much right to be in the roadway as motorists do. Or that the traffic lane is exactly where they’re supposed to ride.
According to California law, while bike riders are allowed to ride on the shoulder, they’re neither required or expected to. And nothing to the right of the fog line is legally considered part of the roadway.
In addition, CVC 21202(a)(4) clearly states if the traffic lane is too narrow safely share — which includes most right hand lanes in Southern California — the rider may use the full lane.
(3) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
Then there’s statement from the CHP that the driver was unable to avoid the collision.
So let’s be clear.
Unless the victim was riding without lights or reflectors in the early morning darkness, the driver should have been able to see him. But if he wasn’t, the CHP would undoubtedly have mentioned that.
And if the driver had his headlights on, which would be legally required at that hour, he would have been able to see him anyway — unless he was driving too fast for his headlights, which is a violation of California’s Basic Speed Law.
“No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather, visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property.”
The key word there in this case is visibility, which includes darkness.
So unless the victim was riding against traffic — which again, the CHP would have mentioned — the question remains why the driver couldn’t see a grown man on a bicycle directly in front of his or her car?
And why is the CHP once again blaming a victim for his own death?
Because we all deserve to know.
Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP at 805/553-0800.
This is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
Tom Justice kept just two twenties from his first several robberies, dumping the rest in the trash or where homeless people could find it.
He eventually spent 11 years behind bars after stealing a total of $129,338 from 26 banks in Illinois and Southern California, making his escape on a bespoke racing bike.
………
Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Aurelio Jose Barrera was one of us.
After he retired from the LA Times, Barrera rode his bike every morning to deliver excess fruit from neighbors’ trees to feed homeless men and women.
He won the award for a groundbreaking series of black and white photos that personalized LA’s long-overlooked Latino community back in the 1980s, when the paper didn’t think it was worth covering.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Just horrible. Two people are dead in Las Vegas after a passenger leaned out the window of a moving car to push a woman off her bike, then fell out of the car himself. The woman was killed when she hit her head on the asphalt, and the man who needlessly took her life died when he hit his head on a street light after skidding 150 feet along the roadway. The driver could face a well-deserved murder charge.
Despite a pandemic-induced shutdown, CicLAvia celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this month. I was there for the first one on 10-10-10, and witnessed the inception of CicLAvia as an LACBC board member when few people thought it could really happen in auto-centric Los Angeles. Myself included.
A Ventura man faces attempted murder charges for a series of attacks on homeless people; a bystander suffered minor injuries when the attacker ran him down with his car as he tried to follow the suspect on his bike.
More bad news, as a bike rider was killed in a Eureka collision. Note to Redheaded Blackbelt — maybe don’t include a photo showing the victim’s tarp-covered body next time. No one needs to see that shit.
No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says popup bike lanes installed during the pandemic are being ripped out after “paralyzing cities” with gridlock. Never mind that the whole point of popup lanes is that they are temporary, but can be converted to permanent lanes if they prove successful, and removed if they don’t.
Oasis star Liam Gallagher is one of us now, riding a bike through the streets of London after doctors tell him to stop jogging.
October 23, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hit-and-run driver busted behind bars for killing South LA father, LA considers civilian traffic cops, and Bike the Vote!
They didn’t have to look far to find one hit-and-run driver.
Fortunately, his two children were uninjured, aside from the trauma of seeing their father killed in front of their eyes.
When LAPD officers searched for Iscaya, however, they found he was already being held by sheriff’s deputies on $2.2 million bail, charged with multiple counts including murder.
Maybe they should just add another murder count while they’re at it.
Unfortunately, felony hit-and-run resulting in death would only add a maximum of four years to whatever he gets if he’s convicted on the other charges.
Congratulations to Davis on their award-winning bike safety musical. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
The City has won the 2020 Helen Putnam Award from the League of California Cities for Excellence in Economic Development through the Arts for “Light the Way: A Bike Safety Musical,” Full press release at: https://t.co/mg2EW6XWRS @bikecitytheatre @CaCitiespic.twitter.com/Qpt8qRF7bn
New York bike cops continue to use their bicycles as shields and weapons against protesters.
And bust protestors because their bikes fall over.
a plainclothes helps arrest someone pushed down and trampled by…black bloc bike cops?? why does the NYPD have black bloc bike cops pic.twitter.com/wmkGU1eRIA
— talia ‘stop filming faces’ jane (@itsa_talia) October 21, 2020
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Los Angeles could soon be the home of the nation’s largest ebike factory; privately owed ROKiT MADE plans to open next year to build “best-in-class e-Bike models across all price points in each market segment,” in a plant designed to accommodate up to 2,000 workers.
A Kansas driver had his wrist slap sentence tossed out on appeal, after the court ruled the judge has exceeded her discretion by reducing his ten-year sentence for second-degree murder by over eight years; the court ordered him resentenced for running down a man with his car following a dispute.
The Cedar City, Utah edition of the Belgian Waffle Ride was the first gravel race to roll as the nation slowly continues a premature wakeup from Covid-19; VeloNews looks at the precautions that were taken to help keep everyone safe.
October 21, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Streetsblog honors BikinginLA sponsor; cars get bigger, stronger & deadlier; and Paris to eliminate half of parking spaces
The festivities kick off this evening with a free Game Show on Zoom hosted by Streetsblog LA founder Damien Newton and Jim Pocrass, who is being honored with the 2020 Streetsie Patron’s Award.
That’s followed on Saturday with Ask Me Anything with LA County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl; Streetsblog wants to know what you’d like to ask her when she appears on the website’s Zoom party.
It all culminates next Tuesday with the 2020 Streetsie Award Dinner on Zoom.
And this is what you have to look forward to in the not-too-distant future.
I promise I will stop posting photos of this murderous behemoth in a sec. But imagine you are riding down the street and get left hooked by this, where you make impact with that front grille. Holy crap. At least your spouse will win a nice judgment in the civil case afterwards. pic.twitter.com/qTvnNZYv7q
October 20, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Ped superhero Peatónito studies LA Vision Zero fail; Slow Streets win at LA Council, and bike rider busted for Metro murder
I’ve never been one for the whole superhero genre, preferring to find heroes in real life.
But I make an exception for Mexico City’s caped protector of pedestrians, the legendary Peatónito.
Nowadays it feels like we can all use a hero or shero. So we’re happy to introduce Peatónito! He comes to us from Mexico City, where he began his masked work saving lives and slowing traffic. And Peatónito has traveled beyond, from NYC to Los Angeles, fighting against the crime of poorly designed streets & sidewalks and reckless driving through creative public demonstrations and street theater.
This summer, Los Angeles Walks partnered with the crime fighter as we trained future generations of peatónitos and organized for safe street changes. He finished his training at UCLA’s Institute of Transportaiton Studies, where he penned a pedestrian manifesto (or his graduate capstone paper) titled The Pedestrian Battle of Los Angeles: How to Empower Communities to Plan and Implement Pedestrian Road Safety Infrastructure.
• Walking in a non-white census tract increases the probability of being killed or severely injured by a motor vehicle in Los Angeles (Figure 1). Black people are only 8% of the population, but 20% of all pedestrian fatalities. Meanwhile, median income, vulnerable age (children and older adults), and the number of cars in a household do not have a statistically significant relationship with pedestrian road safety.
• City council members are responsive to residents’ demands and threats opposing pedestrian-focused traffic safety. Even when other city agencies and LADOT support these improvements, the city council has more power over deciding the outcome of road safety infrastructure plans. Consequently, there is a need to balance this power dynamic.
• Affluent, car-oriented residents tend to have stronger influence over council members, who prioritize their concerns over those of underserved people. This power dynamic in LA permits small groups of noisy stakeholders to hijack a conversation; they manipulate the narrative to make it seem convenient for everyone. It is vital to give more power to the people that fight for safe streets, whose voices
“The pedestrian is nobody in this city, he has been forgotten by authorities and our own citizenry. The curious and paradoxical thing is that we are all pedestrians at some moment. As such, we have forgotten ourselves.” – Peatónito
Here’s how Los Angeles Walks succinctly sums up Peatónito’s recommendations.
• The City must recommit and strengthen the Vision Zero program, a city-wide initiative to reduce traffic fatalities to ZERO by 2025.
• The City budget should adequately fund and staff all of Vision Zero’s goals, including the Dignity Infused Community Engagement (DICE) project.
• The state should get rid of the 85th percentile rule, a state rule that requires speed to be set at the average of ongoing traffic, which has led to what many call “speed creep.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Let’s hope he sticks around. LA pedestrians — and bike riders — could really use our own superhero.
Speaking of which, it looks like people won out over cars in the City of Angels for a change.
The City of LA Transportation Committee just approved a motion to make current slow streets more permanent using better materials (metal posts/signs) and limiting speeds to 15mph or less. Thank you @MikeBoninLA for your leadership on this issue. Now let’s find $ to make new ones!
BIKE RECOVERY: "We found a post on OfferUp selling the bike and went and retrieved it using the original receipt and serial number. Individuals using Bike Index alerted me that it was for sale." pic.twitter.com/RGKAN40tt1
Meanwhile, it’s nice to see a community organization pressing the candidates for LA’s 10th Council District about their stands on active transportation.
A Toronto letter writer complains that few of the city’s bike riders wear helmets, despite a mandatory helmet law. Although the headline writer deserves to get their knuckles rapped for saying “Bike lanes are only good if cyclists wear a helmet,” which is factually incorrect, and has nothing to do with what the writer wrote.
The race moto rider Julian Alaphilippe crashed into in the Tour of Flanders says he can’t help feeling guilty about the crash. Although the people who really deserve the blame are the ones who allow motorcycles near cyclists in the peloton to begin with.
