September 12, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday
It’s the 16th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, the solo crash that laid me up for four months. And in a roundabout way, set me on the path to bike advocacy, and starting this site.
Yet somehow, I’ve never thanked those bees properly for not killing me that day.
Keep your eyes open for a black Toyota four-door sedan, with significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side. Even if the car turns out to be stolen, it could provide vital clues leading to the killer.
If you see the car, or have any other information, call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).
The men, apparently part of a group of five who burglarized the shop early Monday morning, were last seen as they exited the train at Pasadena’s Memorial Park station at 5:30 am.
Streets For All is hosting CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt for their latest virtual happy hour tomorrow evening; Hutt was appointed by the council to replace recently convicted councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Streets For All is also calling for support for a pair of motions at tomorrow’s LA City Council Public Works Committee meeting to the accelerate the design, construction, and implementation of transportation infrastructure projects, and create better coordination between city agencies who build and maintain public infrastructure.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A British man accused the local police of doing nothing after thieves broke into his home and stole four high-end mountain bikes worth more than $54,000; he spent the equivalent of $7,500 to track them down and fly to Poland to recover them.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The CHP says a 71-year old Paso Robles man suffered a concussion and broken nose when he rode his “performance bicycle” into uneven pavement on the shoulder of a state highway near Cambria, blaming his unfamiliarity with the roadway and riding too fast for conditions. But not for Caltrans’ failure to maintain a safe road surface.
A Huntington Beach bike rider has been killed after a rampaging driver appeared to intentionally target three people riding bicycles in less than an hour Sunday night.
That was followed half an hour later as a second man suffered minor injuries when he reported being deliberately sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver just a few blocks away on Edwards Street at Brad Drive.
Then as police were investigating that crash, a third victim who had been riding a bicycle was found lying in the street less than a mile away near Heil Avenue and Springdale Street around 10:45 pm, suffering from major injuries.
At this time, none of the victims have been identified.
Huntington Beach police investigators believe the same driver was responsible for all three crashes, in a single night of vehicular mayhem.
Witnesses describe the vehicle as appearing to be a black Toyota four-door sedan, which suffered significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066; anonymous tips can be submitted to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).
This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and fifth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Update: KTLA-5 talks with another bike rider, who says he was also chased by a driver who tried to strike him on Sunday night. He had to ride between two cars to escape.
A neighbor who witnessed the fatal crash says the driver never slowed down after hitting the victim, and that the car may have been a Volvo rather than Toyota. So look for a black sedan with major damage to the right front.
They also report Huntington Beach police are struggling to identify the man who was killed.
Which is yet another reminder to always carry some form of ID with you. And preferably something that won’t be stolen if you become incapacitated, like a RoadID or some other form of wearable identification.
Update 2: Now two lives could be effectively ended.
There’s no word on possible charges, but it’s likely the kid will face at least one felony murder count, as well as charges of assault with a deadly weapon. If he’s tried as a juvenile, he could be held until he turns 21; if the Orange County DA charges him as an adult, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
Or worse.
The victim has been identified as 70-year old Huntington Beach resident Steven Gonzales.
No motive has been announced for the attacks, but it could have been a copycat of the East Bay Area attacks from earlier this year, in which young people in stolen cars attempted to door or strike people riding bicycles or e-scooters.
September 11, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Despite ebike panic, the real danger comes from drivers; and Manhattan Beach approves likely illegal bike crackdown
My apologies once again for last week’s unexcused absence.
I’m still struggling to adjust to taking insulin with meals multiple times a day, and relearning what and when to eat.
Every time I think I have my diabetes figured out, they change my meds and I have to start all over again.
Last week that resulted in wild, more than 200 point swings in my blood sugar levels, which is over twice the normal range. And which inevitably knocks me on my ass whether I’m too high, or too low.
But hopefully that’s behind me now, and we can ease back into all the latest bike news. Although it could take me a few days to catch up on everything.
In fact, despite the recent bicycling state of emergency that ensued after 15-year old Brodee Champlain Kingman was killed in a collision while riding an ebike in Encinitas, 88% of ebike crashes since 2020 also involved someone driving a motor vehicle.
Here’s just part of what Fonseca has to say.
I noticed a car-sized hole in much of the media coverage and government response; overwhelmingly, the collisions and injuries and deaths resulted from a car driver hitting a bike rider. But you wouldn’t necessarily know that from reading news articles or government reports.
The focus on young e-bike riders’ safety can obscure the bigger crisis: People driving cars and trucks are killing more people on our roads.
Prohibits riding on City sidewalks, plazas, grass areas, the Strand, parking structures owned or operated by the City, County, or State, and Veterans Parkway.
Prohibits riding at speeds over 15 miles per hour on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail (i.e. Beach Bike Path), and maintains the current “Walk Only Zone” on both sides of the pier.
Requires wearing of properly strapped helmets for all riders under 18 years of age;
Requires riders to use bike lanes where possible, and on streets without bike lanes, to ride close to the right curb or edge of roadway.
Requires riders to ride in single file and not more than two abreast.
Prohibits riding on the back of a bicycle or e-bike without a seat.
Prohibits speeding, racing, or stunt activity.
Reaffirms requirements to yield to pedestrians at all times.
The regulations call for a $500 fine for a first violation, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for each additional infraction within one year of the person’s first citation.
Although state law already covers some of these, like requiring bike riders under 18 to wear a helmet, and for bicyclists to use bike lanes on streets that have them, even though they’re allowed to leave the bike lanes for any number of reasons.
However, Manhattan Beach oversteps their authority when tinkering with traffic regulations, which are exclusively the authority of the state, not local governments.
That includes requiring bike riders to ride next to the curb, when state law only requires riding as close to the curb as practicable. They also can’t legally prevent bicyclists from taking any lane that is too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle, or when traveling at the normal speed of traffic.
Nor can they require bicyclists to ride single file, or prohibit riding more than two abreast in a single traffic lane, which is permitted under state law.
Never mind that the requirements to ride single file and not more that two-abreast are self-contradictory. And those fines are meaningless if they exceed what the state allows for the same violation.
A Pasadena writer celebrates the bikeway’s opening, but expresses concerns that not enough outreach has been done to educate bike riders and drivers about the risks of a two-way bike lane, as well as regretting that the project didn’t include a bike lane on Colorado Blvd, as well.
No bias here, either. A driver in the UK walked without charges, or even a ticket, despite reversing down a country road at a bike rider following a punishment pass — and running over a dog in the process — after police investigators concluded he probably just wanted to talk with the person on the bike, who was warned not to shout at any drivers in the future. All I can say is they’re damn lucky that wasn’t my dog.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road through the Santa Monica Mountains known as The Snake could reopen in January, after closing to motor vehicles for the past four years due to damage from the Woolsey fire and subsequent mudslides.
Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel continued to attack on Sunday, seeking a second consecutive stage win after falling out of the overall battle after his disastrous stage 13 ride up the Col du Tourmalet on Friday.
And The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards begrudgingly signs autographs for bicyclists riding next to his limo. Thanks to Westside Wheelmen for the heads-up.
Like the needless death of a toddler as she rides a bike next to her mother.
And the arrest of a teenaged boy for the hit-and-run that took her life.
The Los Angeles Times reports that three-year old Odalys Navarro died Monday, four days after she was run down from behind by someone on a dirt bike as she rode her bicycle in the rural Riverside County community of Mead Valley.
Her mother, who is five months pregnant, was also seriously injured in the August 31st crash.
It was a Thursday afternoon 8/31 that was supposed to be filled with joy and laughter, tragedy struck. A hit-and-run incident involving a motorcycle left my child and myself lying on the ground, fighting for our lives. It is difficult to put into words the pain and anguish my family has endured since that fateful day.
My little girl, who was only 3 years old going on to 4 in about a month and I were walking home from the park when the motorcycle came out of nowhere. The impact was severe, leaving both of us with life-threatening injuries. The reckless driver, without a shred of humanity, callously fled the scene, leaving my family shattered and broken.
His name was withheld because he’s a juvenile. Which means that, unless he’s charged as an adult, he can only be held until he turns 21, even if he’s convicted.
The crowdfunding campaign to pay Odalys Navarro’s funeral costs, and her and her mother’s medical expenses, has raised a little more than $5,000 of the $25,000 goal.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the CHP’s Riverside investigators at 951/637-8000.
This is at least the 34th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and sixth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
There’s nothing sadder than a ghost bike for a child.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Odalys Navarro and all her family.
I’ve been dealing with major blood sugar swings this week. Wednesday’s post was canceled due to a major blood sugar crash, while today’s was due to a blood sugar spike.
Both knocked me out for several hours, making it impossible to get anything done.
So I’m going to take the rest of the week off, and try to get things back under control.
I’ll see you back her next week.
Just one — or two — reminders that diabetes sucks.
September 5, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Why Vision Zero is failing in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and why you can’t get there from here in Playa Vista
Vision Zero is now nine years old in California, yet people keep dying on our streets.
The Los Angeles Times looks at why, examining the failure of Vision Zero in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the latter just two years away from the deadline by which it’s supposed to end traffic fatalities once and for all.
Not that anyone in city leadership seems to notice.
Or care.
But San Francisco, like Los Angeles, has spent the better part of a decade making such changes as part of an ambitious pledge to reduce traffic-related deaths to zero. Neither city is close to achieving that goal…
“It’s been an abject failure,” said John Yi, the executive director of Los Angeles Walks, a nonprofit that works with immigrants and communities of color to build safer pedestrian infrastructure in their neighborhoods.
Last year, 312 people were killed in car crashes and 1,517 were seriously injured, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Bicyclists and pedestrians represented 57% of deaths and 41% of severe injuries, though most people in Los Angeles travel by car.
The paper correctly points the finger at deadly speeds, noting efforts at the state level to lower speed limits and legalize speed cams.
But lowering speed limits will only do so much good in a state where they are universally ignored, and drivers routinely travel 10 to 15 miles above whatever limit in nominally posted.
And get angry if they’re stopped for doing so, apparently believing it’s their God-given right as Californians to travel above the speed limit.
Graphic by tomexploresla
Meanwhile, so much has been given away to appease the windshield-addled crowd that California’s proposed bill to legalize speed cams will be limited to a limited effect, in a limited number of cities.
Including a built-in 10 mph cushion above the limit, as state lawmakers seem willing to sacrifice human lives rather than force drivers to take their damn feet off the gas.
The simple fact is, our traffic engineers and planners know what it will take to end traffic deaths, but city and state officials are simply unwilling to do it.
Let alone fund it.
They lack the political will to make the wholesale changes necessary to channel and slow motor vehicles, and the heavy-footed, mistake prone people in them.
Let alone reimagine our transportation system for the 21st Century, abandoning the failed model that’s driven deaths, congestion and climate change for the past century, and moving towards a cleaner, healthier and more efficient model focused on transit and active transportation.
Which is not to say private motor vehicles must go away. But they must be deprioritized, no longer the first choice to transport individuals and goods, but the last.
So instead, we’ve found ourselves nibbling at the edges, adding crosswalks and beacons that work until they don’t. And counting on drivers to pay attention and obey the law, rather than reimagining roadways to force them to.
In the end, the problem causing Vision Zero to fail isn’t speed.
It’s money. And political leadership, or the lack thereof.
Neither of which our elected officials have been willing to invest.
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Evidently, you can’t get there from here.
Joni Yung comes up with a complicated workaround to get to and through Playa Vista.
The soils in the area of the slip out are not stable and adding to the danger, there is a redwood tree along the cutslope (hill) that is encroaching in the travel lane. From the edge of the tree to the edge of the erosion, there is approx. 8-ft, 10-inches of road width remaining. The downhill side is an approximately 12-ft drop into a creek. This is very narrow for any vehicle, car or truck. This reduced width could potentially be a concern for a motorist unfamiliar with the area.
However, despite the name, this isn’t Highway 1 along the coast, but a smaller inland roadway.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. After a bike rider was seriously inured when he was left-crossed by a driver who violated his right-of-way, a Kansas City TV station was quick to blame the victim for hitting the back of the driver’s car. Even though they’d be unlikely to blame a driver who hit another car in the same situation.
An English driver was charged with the equivalent of reckless driving and DUI for the head-on crash that seriously injured a bike rider, after he apparently got tired of waiting at a red light, and went around another car onto the wrong side of the road. The crash was caught on video, but be warned it’s hard to watch.
Colorado’s Sepp Kuss took the leaders jersey in the Vuelta on Friday and retained it through the weekend, becoming the first American to lead a Grand Tour in a decade. However, Remco Evenepoel called him an outsider, downplaying Kuss’ chances and saying he “kicked a hornet’s nest full of majestic eagles!” Um, okay.
There’s no word on the identity of the victim or how the crash occurred. However, a street view shows a full crossing gate, which suggests the victim may have ridden around it — if it was working.
This is at least the 33rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and just the fourth that I’m aware of in San Diego County, which compares to nine this time last year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and their loved ones.
September 1, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan
Welcome to your last pre-Thanksgiving three-day weekend — not to mention the opening weekend for college football.
Which means you can count on a higher than usual percentage of drunks and otherwise intoxicated people on the roads.
So the usual protocol applies.
Ride defensively. And if you’re riding anytime after noon today, assume every driver you see has had a few.
Chances are, you won’t be far off.
I expect to see you back here bright and early Tuesday morning. And I don’t want to have to write about you, unless maybe you pull a pack of puppies out of a burning building or something.
Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez reportedly made a U-turn to reverse direction and run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga from behind following an apparent traffic-related dispute between the two men.
Gutierrez was arrested three weeks after the July, 2021 vehicular assault, and continues to be held on $1 million bond.
The victims, including two sisters, were riding in the back seat of the Uber when 31-year old Gregory Black slammed into them while racing through red lights at up to 100 mph.
Black, described as a known gang member with an extensive rap sheet, was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and held on $4 million bond.
So much for the myth that bail is based strictly on the suspect’s ability to pay. And not a reflection of how seriously prosecutors take the crime.
Black was already serving a five-year probation following his release from prison for attempted murder.
According to Southern California Newsgroup’s Steve Scauzillo, the plan will “create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.”
Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.
Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.
The plan has a focus on equity, improving service and safety first in areas where fewer people own cars, including including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
But as we’ve seen with the City of Los Angeles, it’s one thing to make a plan, and another to implement it, as ActiveSGV’s special programs director Wesley Reutimann pointed out.
He said Metro should redirect budget dollars from highways toward completing bikeways and walkways. But getting the OK from cities and landowners can gum up the works. Metro is also asking cities to help fund the projects or apply for grant dollars. This can delay or nix projects altogether, he said.
“Long story short: Metro did a plan (in 2016) and most of it was never implemented. It just feels like this plan update is window dressing,” Reutimann said.
Even a fraction of what the agency wastes on highway engorgements could go a long way towards actually implementing this plan.
Let’s hope someone over there figures out how to do that.
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This will be great if it actually happens.
And that’s a big if.
A pair of Los Angeles City Council motions call for streamlining operations between LADOT, LA Street Services, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Bureau of Street Lighting, as well as developing a five-year infrastructure spending plan for the city.
Correction, they both call for a pair of studies on how to do it.
Which is what the Los Angeles city government does best — study problems, rather than actually solve them.
A Denver TV station provides more information on the crash that severely injured professional ultra endurance bicyclist Jay Petervary as he was attempting to set a new record for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Investigators concluded Petervary was riding on a mountain highway in central Colorado when he was rear-ended by a 16-year old driver, who may have been speeding, while attempting to pass on a “straight on a wide, open road with no trees or obstructions.”
Petervary says he landed about 20 yards from his bike, skidding face first on the roadway.
He is now focusing on his recovery while his wife organizes his transport back home to Idaho, his future care and the legal repercussions. Donations are still being accepted for the Be Good Foundation. As of Thursday morning, he had raised about $9,500 of the $20,000 goal.
Petervary has a lengthy history with long-distance racing. The sponsored athlete has competed for 25 years, exploring new routes and races. But he also loves providing experiences and opportunities for others, he wrote on his website. He has adopted the mantra “Ride Forward” in not only his athletic endeavors, but in his business, relationships, friendships and more.
“It also meant to not have regrets or get bogged down in the past but also reflect and learn to move forward more fluidly,” he wrote online.
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While we’re catching up on crashes, an Arizona TV station talks with the Flagstaff bicyclist who was sideswiped by the driver of a passing RV, taking out around a dozen riders on a group ride like so many bowling pins.
Saturday, Wallace was biking on Lake Mary Road with a local cycling group, “Team Pay and Take” when he was hit in the head by an RV’s side mirror. His helmet came off, and he then crashed into multiple cyclists behind him, causing a pileup. “I mean, these people are like family,” Wallace said. “You know you ride with them every week. My partner was on the ride as well and she crashed right behind me. So your first thought is just like is everyone OK?”
Wallace said the person driving the RV stopped and cooperated with police, but this is an important reminder to share the road as it’s state law to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space. “I think it’s just a sad point that when we get behind the wheel of a car, we don’t see our fellow humans out there as someone who has someone to go home to after the ride,” Wallace said.
No word yet on whether the driver will faces charges; at last report, he was only ticketed for an unsafe pass.
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Good question.
The Militant tried this in 2021 when @JackBox dine-in was still closed during the Pandemic.
Canada’s prime minister is one of us. And so are his kids.
Hopped on our bikes this morning for Didi’s first day back at school. Ella’s also heading back to school today… and I know others across the country are, too. Hope everyone has a great year – you’ve got this! pic.twitter.com/uqbY45RYlj
No surprise here, as a new Belgian study shows you’re twice as likely to be killed in a collision with a bigass pickup or SUV than with a typical passenger car.
BREAKING: New large-scale Belgian study shows shocking impact of vehicle weight increases on road death and injury.
e.g. When a cyclist or pedestrian is hit by a pick-up, the risk of serious injury increases by 90% compared to a car. The risk of death increases by 200%.
No bias here, either. Residents of León, Guanajuato, Mexico protested plans for a new bike lane, arguing that “about 8 cyclists pass the whole morning,” while official stats say over 65 times that many people ride it every day. Never mind that many more would probably ride there if they felt safer.
San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick calls on the city’s transportation agency to tow drivers who park in bike lanes, after talking the staff at a bagel shop into refusing to serve a driver who parked in a protected bike lane in front of the shop. Note to traffic engineers and planners — if someone can park in it, it’s not protected.
Outside says you should spend at least $250 on bike bibs, arguing that high-end bibs will literally save your ass. I’ll reserve comment, since I’ve never spent more than a fraction of that, and my ass is still firmly attached.
Boulder, Colorado threatens to beat California to the ebike rebate punch with the city’s second round of ebike vouchers, before California gets around to issuing its first.
That’s more like it. A Louisiana semi-truck driver is facing a negligent homicide charge for killing a man riding a bicycle by sideswiping the victim while attempting to pass his bike on a curve; the charge is an upgrade from an initial ticket for violating the state’s three-foot passing law.
An Indian woman is calling for a fresh approach to urban planning, saying the country needs a greater emphasis on bicycling to boost the enrollment of girls in both urban and rural schools, increase productivity for individuals, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
American super-domestique Sepp Kuss soloed to victory in the sixth stage of the Vuelta, high-fiving fans the final 50 yards; meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel lost time to key rivals Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, as he handed the leader’s jersey to France’s Lenny Martinez.
