According to the Orange County Coroner’s office, a male bike rider was killed while riding on the 5 Freeway in Santa Ana last night.
The collision took place on the southbound I-5 north of 4th Street just before 11 pm, when the rider was struck by multiple vehicles. The victim has not been publicly identified; no word on whether authorities know who he was, or if it is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
No information is given for how the collision occurred, or whether he was riding on the shoulder or in the traffic lanes. However, there is an exit ramp at 4th; if he was attempting to continue on the freeway it would have put him in the path of exiting vehicles.
And no explanation is given for what he was doing on the freeway at that hour. Or at all.
Hopefully more information will become available later that will shed light on this troubling case.
This is the 43rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Orange County; that compares to just two in the county this time last year. And he is the fifth cyclist to be killed in Santa Ana in the last 36 months.
Update: It gets even stranger.
According to the Orange County Register, 21-year old Tustin resident Jordan Ames was riding south in the center carpool lane — not the right shoulder — when he veered in front of traffic and was hit by a Honda CRV. He was then thrown into the main traffic lanes, where he was hit multiple times.
How he even got to the car pool lane on a busy freeway — let alone what he was doing there — is still to be determined. A lot of questions will have to be answered before this one makes any sense.
Meanwhile, a commenter describes coming on the scene in the immediate aftermath of the crash. But be warned, the description is very graphic; you may not want to read it.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jordan Ames and his loved ones.
June 16, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LADOT drops DTLA bike lanes in favor of parking, Pomona thinks bike lanes are for kids, and LAFD on bikes
One quick note.
I renewed my annual membership in the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition last night.
With the LACBC facing financial difficulties stemming from the coronavirus crisis, as well as major financial mismanagement by the previous executive director, who shall forevermore go unnamed here, it’s more important than ever to join or renew your membership.
Or just make a donation to keep the LACBC fighting for your right to ride safely on our streets.
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I have a confession to make.
Ever since the company my wife works for — correction, worked for — shut down for the coronavirus lockdown, never to return, I haven’t been able to dig into the details on bike projects the way I’d like.
As much as I enjoy having her around, I miss those nine hours or so to myself everyday to gets things done.
Fortunately, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton is here to take up the slack.
But what I didn’t realize was that those bike lanes are only planned for just over half of the 1.3 mile project.
As Joe explains it,
Overall this is a good project. It’s a worthwhile improvement over what is out there today.
I did get a little frustrated about bike lanes on these streets. The city is adding left-side bike lanes (a one-way street best practice – like bike lanes on Spring and Main Streets) but only on about 0.7-mile of the overall 1.3-mile project – just over half the project. The issue is parking – there are two blocks of on-street parking that would need to be removed. While I personally would favor removing that parking, I understand it’s not easy politically.
I am still frustrated though that the city is basically throwing out 7 blocks of bike lanes because just 2 blocks are difficult. I wrote a letter to try to get the city to do the remaining 5 easy blocks of bike lane – which would connect Pershing Square with the downtown library.
That’s right.
LADOT, which is supposedly tasked with implementing the mobility plan, bike plan, Vision Zero, and the mayor’s Green New Deal plan to dramatically reduce driving in the city, is skipping a full seven blocks of bike lanes in favor of two lousy blocks of car parking.
In Downtown Los Angeles, no less, which UCLA parking meister Donald Shoup describes as having more parking per acre than any other city.
No, anywhere.
Which pretty much tells you where people on bicycles rate in the city’s transportation hierarchy these days.
Like several steps below cars. And maybe a step or two above road kill.
He suggests emailing city officials to politely request that they install additional bike lanes, at least on the five blocks where it doesn’t require the removal of parking spaces, and wouldn’t inconvenience anyone.
And he even provides a sample letter, while stressing that you should put it in your own words.
Email addresses:
councilmember.huizar@lacity.org
mayor.helpdesk@lacity.org
seleta.reynolds@lacity.org
and bcc Joe Linton at linton.joe@gmail.com)
Sample letter:
Honorable Councilmember Huizar, Mayor Garcetti, and General Manager Reynolds –
I write to you in support of adding bus and bike lanes to the greatest extent possible on 5th and 6th Streets downtown.
BSS is repaving these streets starting June 15th. LADOT announced that bus lanes will be added from Figueroa to Central, and left-side bike lanes will be added from Spring to Central.
Thank you all for your role in bringing much needed bus lanes, which will improve transit, air quality, equity, and quality of life for Angelenos.
Thank you all for the needed bike lanes, which will improve safety and health. I urge you though to extend the bike lanes further than the current announced length. It appears that LADOT is skipping seven blocks (Figueroa to Spring) of bike lanes to preserve two blocks (Hill to Spring) of parking.
At a minimum, the city should install a left-side bike lane for the missing five blocks – from Hill to Figueroa – where there is sufficient space and no parking removal necessary. Adding this bike lane would keep cyclists safer, as well as keeping us out of the bus lane, making the bus lane more effective.
Sincerely,
[name]
[street address]
I’ll send my email later today. And I hope you will, too.
Because there’s no reason our safety should take a backseat to a parked car.
………
Apparently, bike lanes are for kids in Pomona. Or at least, they now come under the Youth Services budget.
Library funding, landscape maintenance, and park facility maintenance now being counted as part of the "youth services" budget pic.twitter.com/HK6WTIyOeo
The Sonoma bicyclist killed in a hit-and-run a couple weeks ago has been identified as a 35-year old Romanian entrepreneur, who was killed when a passing pickup driver struck him in the head with the truck’s wing mirror; the damaged truck was found a few miles away, but the driver still hasn’t been arrested.
Breaking news: KNBC-4 reports there was a fatal crash between two drivers at 82nd and Broadway in South LA’s Florence neighborhood, which appears to have involved a pair of bike riders in a collateral damage crash.
No word on who was killed, but chances are, it was one or more of the people on bicycles.
Not so simple answer: There is nothing in California law that forbids riding abreast.
Some police agencies attempt to use CVC 21202 to forbid riding abreast, which requires bicyclists to ride as far to the right as practicable, concluding that the outside rider is violating the law.
However, they fail to consider the many exceptions to CVC 21202, which make it clear that the requirement to ride to the right does not apply on lanes that are too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle. Which is most of the right hand traffic lanes in Southern California.
In which case there is no limit to the number of people who can ride abreast — as long as you remain within a single lane.
However, you still have to pull over to the right when safe to do so if there are five or more vehicles following behind you and unable to pass. But once again, that does not apply in some circumstances.
Like if there are two or more lanes in the direction you’re traveling, in which case drivers can simply change lanes to pass.
It’s also worth noting that the law doesn’t apply if you’re riding at the speed of traffic around you.
So if you’re riding the speed limit, or drivers are slowed to your speed by congestion, you can ride wherever the hell you want.
Including riding abreast if that’s what you want.
………
This is why people continue to die on our streets.
And yes, there is video, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Some things you just can’t unsee.
At least the judge told him not to drive, though. And everyone knows meth heads do exactly what they’re told.
Right?
Thanks to Brian Kreimendahl of Bike Santa Fe for the heads-up.
………
This is what’s known as a disproportionate response.
A road raging Seattle woman tries to run people over after someone hit her car with a snowball. Then gets out of her car and physically attacks them until she was restrained.
Seriously.
Attempted murder is never an appropriate response.
Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the tip.
………
Norm Bradwell forwards a new video that explains how Toronto increased bicycling rates a whopping 1095% on two busy roads for a paltry $1.25 million.
Or less than one million in US dollars.
………
Evidently, dockless bikeshare is pretty chill in Seattle these days.
That Portland woman who killed a bike rider while high on her dog’s Xanax got a well-deserved 15 years behind bars. Hopefully that comes with a mandatory drug treatment program for both of them.
He gets it. An op-ed in a Florida paper says the three E’s — education, enforcement and engineering — aren’t enough to lower the state’s worst in the nation bicycling death rate; it will take solid data, and real action based on that data.
Florida lawmakers consider making the same mistake California made by raising the threshold for felony theft from $300 to $1,500, although the Golden State only made it $1,000. Problem is the value of most bicycles is far less than that, making it the equivalent of a Get Out of Jail Free card for bike thieves.
A Florida woman is suing Lime for a crash that left her daughter in a persistent vegetative state over instructions that tell e-scooter users to ride in the street, even though that’s illegal in the state. In California, it’s illegal to use motorized scooters on the sidewalk. Thanks to David Drexler for the tip.
International
Another day, another smartphone app promising to alert drivers to the presence of bike riders and pedestrians. But only if the driver and the person on the bike or on foot both have it installed and turned on. Not to mention convincing drivers they don’t have to pay attention because the app will do it for them.
An Irish cycling coach says 2019 will be the worst year ever for bicycle crashes, because too many people are learning to get fast on virtual trainers before they develop the skill to ride safely on the streets.
Who needs Vision Zero when you have some of the nation’s crappiest drivers? Seriously, when you’re riding your bike with five outstanding warrants while carrying drug paraphernalia and an illegal weapon, obey the damn traffic laws, already.
And it’s probably not the best idea to text your husband to say you’re at the local tavern after just attempting to run his bike down with your car.
Councilmember Mike Bonin rebuts the call by fellow councilmember Paul Koretz to temporarily ban e-scooters in Los Angeles.
We need smart regs for dockless scooters, not a total ban. Scooters are popular, convenient, zero emission. If we are serious about combatting climate change, cutting emissions, or reducing gridlock, we need to put our mobility where our mouth is. https://t.co/PwJbOo8Zr7
Since we’ve been talking about e-scooters recently, maybe we should all catch up on the laws regarding their use in the Golden State. Much of which may come as a surprise to many people using them.
………
A Metro bus nearly took out a trio of bicyclists when the driver starts drifting into an occupied bike lane in DTLA.
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Credit Vietnam with what may be the world’s coolest pedestrian bridge.
This pedestrian bridge in Vietnam was opened to the public in June. Known as the Golden Bridge, it stands 1,400m above sea level above the Ba Na hills and is a work of art. pic.twitter.com/jveuu5kySB
Talk about not getting it. A New York expat in San Luis Obispo says people in SLO aren’t going to give up their cars to walk, bike or take mass transit. The point is to make it safe and convenient for people who want to leave their cars at home, which will make traffic a little easier for everyone — even people who insist on driving everywhere.
Houston police name the suspect in the shooting of a noted cardiac surgeon who was killed by another bicyclist while riding his bike to work; he had apparently carried a grudge against the doctor for 20 years, ever since his mother died during surgery.
Talk about not getting it. An Illinois accident reconstruction specialist says bike riders should only ride on quiet country roads, not urban bike paths. Which is fine if you only ride recreationally, but ridiculous if you actually need to go somewhere. He also doesn’t seem to know the difference between a bike path and a bike lane.
An Illinois politician says the racist comment he posted to a video online isn’t racist, just funny. If you consider a stumbling drunk white woman knocking a Hispanic woman off her bicycle, combined with a joke about Trump’s border wall, funny. Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the heads-up.
You’ve got to be kidding. After a speeding, distracted driver kills a bike-riding Baton Rouge city councilmember, the Louisiana parish where it occurred responds with a series of victim-blaming safety recommendations that wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference.
A very well-deserved five years behind bars for a British man who downed a Jägermeister shot and 10 pints of beer, then got behind the wheel and sent 38 texts while driving before running down a man riding his bike. And just drove away afterwards. You really have to suck to make five years seem like a light sentence.
No bias here. A British paper writes that Aussie motorists blew up when they saw a photo of a bicyclist riding in the street, rather than in a brand new $4.7 million protected bike lane next to it. And only at the end mentions that the bike lane was still taped off because it wasn’t open yet.
April 20, 2018 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Trinh ghost bike ceremony, Lance settles with the feds, and the golden age of cycling this ain’t
My apologies again for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
Let it serve as yet another reminder that on a scale of one to ten, diabetes sucks. If you’re at risk, do everything you can to avoid getting it — ride your bike, stay active, lose weight, eat better.
Whatever it takes. Because you don’t want this crap.
Trust me.
………
Let’s start with Wednesday’s ghost bike ceremony for Lenny Trinh, the Burbank postal worker and father killed in a dooring on Monday.
Steve S sent moving photos from the installation ceremony, which appeared to draw over 100 people.
Meanwhile. CiclaValley agonizes over the recent rash of bicycling deaths as he helped organize the ghost bike ceremony for Trinh.
On the other hand, you’ve got the cars. Some call them “freedom machines,” others call them destroyers of cities and harbingers of impending environmental apocalypse. But no matter how you feel about the automobile, there’s no getting around the fact that cars and bikes have an intensely symbiotic yet ultimately disastrous relationship. They’re like George and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, or that couple at the party who are always one more cocktail away from either hurling crockery at each other or having hate sex on the dining room table, and you never know which until it happens.
Sunset ranks the top ten bicycling towns in the west, with Davis coming in fourth and San Francisco tenth; not surprisingly, Portland took the top spot. Needless to say, Los Angeles was not on the list.
Colorado’s legislature passed a bill allowing local jurisdictions to decide whether to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs, aka the Idaho Stop.
Houston’s mayor continues his efforts to make the auto-centric city safer and friendlier for people on bikes, committing another $10 million to the effort. Anyone who’s spent any time in the Texas city can attest that if they can do it, so can Los Angeles.
An Ohio man has gotten the death sentence for abducting and killing a 20-year old woman as she was riding her bike last year; he had committed an almost identical crime nearly 30 years earlier.
A bicyclist was killed by a hit-and-run driver at New York’s La Guardia Airport back in February. So naturally, they respond by restricting bikes, not cars.
A 25-year old Belgian cyclist died in his sleep, the second rider from that country to die under questionable circumstances, after Michael Goolaerts died of a heart attack during the Paris-Roubaix classic.
August 25, 2017 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Camarillo hit-and-run driver, more on Governors’ bike safety study, and a bicycle bike workstand
Another day, another heartless hit-and-run coward.
An Aussie Olympic track cyclist was arrested and charged with six counts of selling ecstacy; Jack Bobridge had retired from racing last year after winning silver in team pursuit in the 2012 and 2016 games.
A coming bike industry report says ebikes are the industry’s fasted growing category, older Americans account for 1/3 of all new bicyclists, Latinos ride more than any other racial group and low-income people ride more than anyone else. So much for the myth of the rich, elite cyclists.
Oregon police arrested the woman who fled the scene after demanding the bike rider she hit pay for the damages to her car. But not until she returned to the scene of the crime, crashed into a tree and ran over her passenger.
A Canadian bike rider has his journey across the country halted when someone stole his locked bike and all his gear in front of a Winnipeg Walmart; however, local residents have been contributing to replace it.
The husband of the London woman killed by a brakeless fixie rider calls for changes in the law to treat bike riders like motorists when someone is killed or injured by a cyclist. Someone should tell him most killer drivers walk away with just a light caress on the wrist.
An Australian driver claimed he was blinded by the sun when he plowed into a dozen cyclists while making a U-turn, injuring five riders, one critically. So why couldn’t he see the riders before he made his turn? Or if he was already blinded, why the hell would he make a U-turn when he can’t see where he was going?
Several sources — including Better Bike’s Mark Elliot and the city’s mayor — tweeted late last night that the city council voted unanimously to install bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd as part of the current reconstruction of the iconic street.
Credit Elliot, who never gave up on the seemingly lost cause, despite years of rejection from the city.
Maybe it’s time to stop calling it the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills.
Or maybe we should wait until there’s paint on the ground, just to be safe.
Update: Mark Elliot has written his story on the approval — including the news that the council voted to make the lanes hi-viz, which will piss off the film industry. Meanwhile, Joni Yung reported live from the meeting on Facebook.
But Starr had no way of knowing that at the time. And neither did the driver who hit him.
The suspect is described as being about 30 years old, with olive skin and a dark goatee. His car appeared to be a 5 or 7 Series BMW with a license plate starting with WXP.
Federal prosecutors lay out why they’re picking on Lance Armstrong in their $100 million lawsuit, even though he wasn’t the only one on the US Postal team who doped. Odds are team leaders knew exactly what was going on, as well. But Lance makes a convenient, and high profile, scapegoat.
The LA Times reviews Blood Road, the documentary about champion cyclist Rebecca Rusch’s bike tour along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to visit the remote site where her father died in the Vietnam War.
Fullerton announces plans to create a two-mile bike boulevard along Wilshire Blvd, to be completed late next year. LA’s bike plan calls for a network of Bicycle Friendly Streets as the city calls them, exactly zero of which have been built. And probably won’t.
The murder of a young Muslim woman in Virginia wasn’t a hate crime, unless hatred of people walking and on bikes qualifies; the teenager was part of a group that got into a dispute with the road raging driver, who hit her with a baseball bat, then dumped her body in a pond. There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the murderous jerk who killed her. Thanks once again to Megan Lynch.
On Oct. 7, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1096 that gives two of the three classes of electric bikes the right to access bike paths and bike lanes. This is the first of its kind of legislation in the country, and it is a sign that e-bikes are coming of age.
AB 1096, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2016, divides electric bikes into three classes:
Type 1: Pedal-assisted machines with a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph
Type 2: Throttle-assisted machines with a maximum assisted speed of 20 mph;
Type 3: Pedal-assisted bikes with a maximum assisted speed of 28 mph.
As of 2017, electric bike manufacturers must label e-bikes as a Type 1, 2, or 3. The infographic below by People for Bikes and the California Bicycle Coalition explains the policy more completely.
E-bikes are gaining in popularity, and not just with seniors, people with injuries or disabilities, families, and those who have particularly long or uphill commutes. These bikes are quickly going mainstream because they’re fun to ride and adaptable to various conditions.
Though AB 1096 permits various classes of e-bikes to ride in or on various bike paths and lanes (as indicated on the chart above), be aware of where e-bikes still may not be permitted to ride, unless specifically indicated in these areas:
Bike paths and roads that are not under federal or state vehicle codes (an example would be a bike path in a county park).
Natural surface paths in parks, like mountain bike trails, and open space areas.
Most importantly, counties, cities and other government entities still have the right to regulate e-bikes, just as they have the right to regulate bicycle usage with their domains.
Since we’re discussing e-bikes’ rights and responsibilities under the law, let’s go a little further. In 2001, the United States Congress passed Public Law 107-319. It stated that electric bicycles and tricycles that meet the definition of low-speed electric bicycles are regulated by the federal Consumer Product Safety Act versus mopeds and motorcycles that have the ability to exceed the speed of an electric bicycle. The latter are regulated by the Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
States then passed their own laws regulating e-bikes. In California, low-speed (up to 20 mph) e-bikes have all the rights and responsibilities of a motor vehicle, just as a bicycle does. E-bike riders do not need a driver’s license, license plate or insurance. You must be at least 16 years old to ride an e-bike, and if you are age 17 or younger, you must wear a bicycle helmet.
Now with AB 1096, you can ride an e-bike almost anywhere you can ride a bicycle. But remember, all the traffic laws – from stop signs to traffic signals and to phone and text use and from riding with traffic and having working brakes, handlebars, and lights on your bike – all apply to you on your e-bike.
There are a couple of potential legal issues that I see facing e-bike riders. The most important one in my mind is the issue of insurance. As I said, no insurance is required for an e-bike in California.
I have read online that dealers believe that if your e-bike is stolen, it is likely that your homeowner’s or rental insurance policy would cover the theft. They do suggest that you contact your insurance agent to confirm that.
My apprehension is whether your uninsured motorist insurance would cover you if you are in a collision and the driver of the motor vehicle is either uninsured or doesn’t have enough insurance to cover you if the collision results in serious injuries or a wrongful death. A cyclist riding a bicycle who has a collision is covered by his/her uninsured motorist insurance. Is a cyclist on an e-bike similarly covered?
This is a very important point, and it’s why we always recommend that a cyclist increase his/her uninsured motorist insurance as high as their insurance company will permit. It’s pennies on the dollar and if you’re in a collision, it could mean that you have a much easier time of restarting your life.
Your uninsured motorist insurance kicks in if the driver does not have insurance, if the driver does not have enough insurance to cover the damage he/she caused, or in the event of a hit and run when the driver is not found.
Does your uninsured motorist insurance cover you on an e-bike? I urge you to contact your insurance agency and ask. If they say “yes,” get it in writing!
It is also worth noting that regardless of what type of bike you are riding, it is illegal to ride under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Besides the obvious, I see a potential legal issue here also.
In 1985, California passed Vehicle Code 21200.5, which made cycling (or bicycling) under the influence a CUI rather than a DUI. A CUI is a misdemeanor and it will show up on your record as a conviction. It also carries a $250 fine but no jail time. If the individual is under 21, a CUI conviction can result in the suspension of the person’s driver’s license.
In my mind it is unclear whether riding a Type 1 or a Type 2 e-bike under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol would be categorized as a CUI or a DUI if you were stopped by law enforcement.
Cal. Veh. Code § 231, specifically defines a bicycle as a device upon which any person may ride, propelled exclusively by human power through a belt, chain, or gears, and having one of more wheels. It says that persons riding bicycles are subject to the provisions of this code (CUI) specified in Sections 21200 and 21200.5.
A moped rider who is under the influence is subject to the drunk driving laws (DUIs). This was decided in 1977 by the California Court of Appeal in People v. Jordan, 75 Cal. App.3d Supp.1. The court specifically stated that because it had a motor it did not fall under the CUI law.
There doesn’t seem to be any law on the books at this time that would remove Type 1 or Type 2 e-bikes from DUI law. My best advice would be to not test the law and to not ride under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs (illegal OR prescription drugs).
So the next time you see an e-bike in a bike lane, remember, it, too, has the right to be there.
Jim Pocrass, Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP
For more than 25 years, Jim Pocrass has represented people who were seriously injured, or families who lost a loved one in a wrongful death, due to the carelessness or negligence of another. Jim is repeatedly named to Best Lawyers of America and to Southern California Super Lawyers for the outstanding results he consistently achieves for his clients. Having represented hundreds of cyclists during his career, and Jim’s own interest in cycling, have resulted in him becoming a bicycle advocate. He is a board member of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. For a free, no-obligation consultation, contact Jim Pocrass at 310.550.9050 or at info@pocrass.com.
The man accused of shooting and killing a developmentally disabled San Diego bike rider just for the hell of it has pled guilty to first degree murder.
Twenty-two-year old Humberto Emanuel Galvez leaned out of a car window and shot Jordan Hickey with a shotgun as Hickey was just blocks from his home as he rode home from visiting his girlfriend four years ago.
Galvez will be sentenced to life without parole for the shooting; by pleading guilty, he took a possible death sentence off the table.
His partner in the crime, 24-year old Juan Ignacio Gomez, also faces life without parole after being convicted last week.
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Local
Routing bike riders onto alternate back streets that don’t form a complete grid isn’t the right answer, a lesson CiclaValley says ostensibly bike-friendly CD4 candidate Carolyn Ramsay needs to learn.
Build it, and they will come in droves. Buffered bike lanes in San Diego result in a 347% increase in ridership since 2012.
Former baseball great Curt Schilling joins with other San Diego residents to help replace the 18 custom bikes stolen from wounded vets; so far, they’ve raised $25,000 to replace bikes valued at $45,000.
I want one. Or maybe two. Trek’s Bontrager line introduces a new tail light designed for daytime use, said to be brighter than a car taillight and visible for over a mile away.
A Harvard study says police are still using outdated collision report forms, missing out on vital data that could help prevent bike collisions; Los Angeles cyclists have been asking the LAPD to improve their forms for years.
Nice story. A 12-year old boy in my hometown who was born without arms will soon be able to ride a bike for the first time, thanks to the efforts of his new friend.
A Milwaukee writer says it’s not riding a bike that’s hazardous to your health.
A Minnesota public library is introducing The Book Bike, a bicycle-towed trailer designed to bring books to local kids.
Some people just don’t get it. A Syracuse paper says parking is more important than bike lanes, even though getting more people on bikes could reduce the need for it.
The Baltimore bishop accused in the drunken hit-and-run death of a bike rider has pled not guilty; she faces trial on June 4th. So much for confession being good for the soul.
No bias here, as a Florida rider died after being doored, yet the local press blames him for running into it. Note to Tampa Bay Times: If someone dies of his injuries, they were life threatening, even if they didn’t appear that way at first.
International
Montreal cyclists say the city has a long way to go to improve safety; a new bike path could have only been designed by someone who doesn’t ride.
Paris plans to double the size of its bike lane network to over 860 miles in the next five years, including protected bike lanes on the Champs Elysees and other major avenues. Seriously, if they can do it there…
At least Mercedes AMG didn’t build yet another high-end racing bike, like so many other car makers dabbling in bicycling. They built a mountain bike instead.
Bystanders join together to lift a car off a Chinese cyclist when she’s pinned underneath following a collision. For some reason, though, they illustrated the story with a photo from CicLAvia, and a caption about LA’s planned bike share program.
Finally…
Someone stole the new sign asking people to stop pooping on an Illinois bike path; to be honest, given the opportunity, I might have taken it myself. When you’re wanted on two outstanding warrants and carrying nine packets of heroin on your bike, put a damn bell on your bike if that’s what the law requires.
And yes, biking under the influence is illegal in California, as a San Raphael rider blows twice the legal limit after blowing a stop sign.
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Please accept my best wishes for a happy Passover, a happy Easter, or just a damn fine weekend, whatever you may observe.
After suffering just three bicycling fatalities in the first six weeks of the year, four Southern California bike riders have lost their lives in just the last week.
The latest, an 89-year old man who reportedly rode out into traffic on a busy San Diego street.
According to the Union-Tribune, the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was leaving a parking lot on Imperial Avenue near Marketplace Avenue around 10 am Tuesday. The paper reports he rode straight out into the roadway, heading north, despite a right turn only sign.
He made it nearly all the way across the four lane avenue before he was struck by a pickup traveling west in the right lane.
No word on how fast the driver was going, or why he wasn’t able to stop in time. Despite the apparent victim blaming in the U-T report, and another from KUSI-TV suggesting he rode “directly” in front of the oncoming truck, he should have been visible to the driver after crossing three lanes of traffic.
The victim was taken to a hospital with a broken pelvis and major head injuries; he died there later the same day.
This is the seventh bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second in San Diego County.
Note:I am not attempting to blame the driver in this collision. As billsd and Jennifer point out in the comments below, the victim appears to have broken the law in some way and may well bear at least some responsibility.
What I am questioning is how the collision could have occurred as it has been reported. A cyclist who manages to make it almost all the way across a four lane roadway cannot be described as riding out into traffic, let alone directly; it had to be clear at least part of the way for him to make it that far. So the question becomes why the driver was unable to see and avoid someone who presumably was riding slowly across the street, and why the victim thought he could make it across.
Maybe the driver’s view was obstructed by another vehicle; maybe the victim couldn’t see the car coming or misjudged its speed. We simply don’t know based on the limited information available.
Another possibility is that the police gave the wrong direction for which way the victim was traveling. If he was headed south out of the cemetery on the north side of the road, rather than north out of the shopping center parking lot to the south — where there is no exit, as billsd points out — then he might have ridden out in front of an oncoming car, and the driver may have been unable to stop in time.
All I know is that this story does not make sense as it has been reported.
And as Jennifer points out, I may have been overly critical of the press, as they appear to have relied on the information provided by the police.As a result, I have changed the headline which initially criticized the news sources for blaming the victim.
He also says the site is just west of a hill, as well as trees in the median, both of which could have hidden the victim and the driver from one another until it was too late.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his family.
