Day 170 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Happy Juneteenth, for everyone wondering why you got the day off today.
Or worse, why you didn’t.
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The LAPD wants our help identifying a killer hit-and-run driver.
And as usual, they waited until the trail went cold to do it, hit-and-run alert system be damned.
The department is asking for the public’s help finding the speeding driver who killed 34-year old Los Angeles resident Jose Villalobos as he was riding his bike on west on Century Boulevard near San Pedro Street around 11:10 pm on Sunday, June 1st.
The suspect vehicle is described as a silver Chevrolet Camaro, whose driver fled without stopping.
“Following the crash, the driver of the Camaro made a right turn onto San Pedro Street, continued northbound, and then turned westbound onto East 98th Street, fleeing the scene without stopping to render aid or identify themselves, as required by law,” police said.
There’s no description of the driver at this time.
The LAPD has posted video of the crash, which occurred with other vehicles around, suggesting that someone may have seen it. But be forewarned, the video shows the crash and the aftermath, so be sure you really want to see it before you click on the link.
Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD South Traffic Division at 323/421-2500, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 800/222-8477 or lacrimestoppers.org.
As always, there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of LA.
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If you were planning to go to the Historic South LA meets Watts CicLAvia this Sunday, you can make other plans.
According to the organizers of the nonprofit open streets event,
POSTPONED: CicLAvia—Historic South Central meets Watts
Out of care and safety for our communities during our city’s current situation, and in collaboration with our partners, we are postponing this event which was scheduled for this Sunday, June 22, 2025.
It’s a sad commentary that so many Angelenos don’t feel safe on our streets these days.
Blame the ICE raids that have terrorized the city’s Latino residents — even legal residents and American citizens — into staying off the streets, and the small number of troublemakers who have taken advantage of the resulting protests to spread chaos.
Not to mention the gratuitous and inflammatory militarization of our city to score political points and look tough on Fox News.
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People For Bikes announced their list of the year’s best cities to ride a bike in.
And aș usual, Los Angeles leads the list.
Okay, just kidding.
Surprisingly, Brooklyn leads the list of big cities, followed by Minneapolis and Seattle, with Queens not far behind; San Francisco is the only California city in the top ten.
Even though two of those are actually New York boroughs, rather than cities.
Davis and Berkeley, California, head the list of medium-sized cities with populations between 50,000 and 300,000, topping Corvallis, Oregon and Platinum Bike Friendly Boulder, Colorado.
Michigan’s carfree Mackinac Island naturally leads the list of small cities, while Paris is tied with Delft and The Hague atop a Dutch-heavy list of international cities.
And Los Angeles?
We’re all the way down at 977th among US cities, 1,191 internationally, with a pathetic — but well-deserved — score of 25 out of a possible 100. Which puts us behind 161 other cities in California.
That shouldn’t be the case. Los Angeles has everything we need to be one of the world’s best bike cities. Except for political leadership.
You can find your own city ranking here.
Meanwhile, the bike industry advocacy group says overall, the US is making steady progress toward improved bicycling nationwide.
Except for Los Angeles, that is.
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On a related subject, a new YouGov survey reveals that three-quarters of Americans support bike lanes in their ares.
Americans are much more likely to support bike lanes in their local area than to oppose them (76% vs. 15%). Americans who live in cities (81%) and suburbs (78%) are more likely than people who live in towns (71%) and rural areas (66%) to support bike lanes in their area. Democrats (90%) are more likely than Republicans (66%) to support bike lanes.
It’s surprising that the last stat isn’t surprising, because there’s a very strong conservative case to be made for bike lanes.
But then, nothing about politics really makes sense these days.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Good question. Momentum examines why bicycling in the city — any city — is turning into a culture war. Not that it hasn’t been for the last half century or so.
A Brooklyn judge has put a temporary hold on New York Mayor Eric Adam’s plan to rip out a protected bike lane in the borough.
No bias here. A British DJ justifiably came under attack after claiming that bike riders have to ride single file, saying she was literally shaking with rage — even though the law clearly says they can ride abreast. And yes, she also claimed she pays the country’s nonexistent road tax.
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Local
If you’re reading this early enough, you may still have time to make the 8 am start time for the free Black Folk Juneteenth Freedom Day Ride from Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza to Leimert Park.
State
A Los Gatos mom is building high-tech, custom bikes based on frames from Serotta.
Streetsblog argues that San Francisco cut corners on the new curbside Valencia Street protected bike lane, despite having the eyes of the city on it after the dispute over the previous center-running lane.
National
Um, okay. Waymo announced they’re partnering with the League of American Bicyclists, and vice versa, because money.
Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse reintroduced the Magnus White Cyclist Safety Act in the US House; the bill, named in honor of the fallen 17-year-old USA Cycling Team member, would require motor vehicle Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) systems to detect pedestrians, as well as bicycles and motorcycles.
A group of Texas kid are under investigation after they surrounded someone riding a bicycle, and shot the person in the stomach with a flare gun after claiming the bike belonged to one of them; another shot missed and nearly hit a passing car.
A Minneapolis grandmother rode 3,230 miles across the US in 64 days to “raise awareness for climate change.” Although you’d think she’d want to raise awareness about it, since not that many people are for it.
A Philadelphia monsignor rode his bike 104 miles to raise more than $40,000 to repair the parish rectory.
According to a local newspaper, vulnerable road users are even more vulnerable in South Florida.
International
Worldcrunch explores why fewer children around the world are learning to ride a bike. And no, I never heard of the site, either.
Over 100 people turned out in the rain for a memorial ride in Whitehorse, in Canada’s Yukon territory, to honor a teacher killed by a hit-and-run driver last year while riding his bike just hours before the alleged driver pled guilty to multiple charges related to his death.
An American couple exported this country’s hit-and-run epidemic to Iceland, fleeing the scene after hitting a man riding his bicycle and telling Búi Aðalsteinsson, host of the Hjólvarpið podcast, aka The Bikecast, that they were just going to look for a parking space. And yes, I included those Icelandic names just to see if they would reproduce here.
Life is cheap on the Isle of Man, where a speeding driver walked without a day behind bars for a crash that left a woman riding a bike with a broken back, after attempting to pass the victim on a bend while driving with no insurance and two bald tires.
A British bike advocate mounted a camera on his bike, and captured video of a “staggering” 315 drivers commit traffic violations in just 24 hours. But it’s the people on two wheels who are the problem, right?
The Dutch Carlier brothers are back in the bike biz, reportedly nearing completion on a new ebike they’re developing for Raleigh, after losing their VanMoof brand in bankruptcy.
A Minnesota man biking to Japan says he barely made it out of Iran as the country came under intensive Israeli bombardment.
Japanese bicyclists should plan on getting wet, as the country’s forthcoming crackdown on bicycling violations will include the common practice of riding a bicycle in the rain while holding an umbrella in one hand.
Competitive Cycling
American endurance cyclist George Qadado is looking to represent Palestine at the Pan Asian Games, since his parents immigrated from the occupied territory in the 1980s.
Finally…
Bike cops are nothing new, unless the cop is riding preschool kid’s bike. Your next bike lights could pop out of your helmet, and be powered with a crank.
No, really.
And if you wanted a drink, why didn’t you just ask for it, already?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
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