The Press-Enterprise is reporting that an 82-year old Murrieta man died late Sunday afternoon, a little over 32 hours after he was struck by a driver while riding in Temecula.
And Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputies didn’t hesitate to blame the victim for his own death, when he’s not around to share his side of the story.
Skinner was taken to Wildomar’s Inland Valley Medical Center, where he died around 4 pm Sunday.
The driver remained at the scene and called 911.
A street view shows four lane roadway, with bike lanes and a left turn bay in each direction on Margarita, the intersection controlled only by a single stop sign on southbound Paseo Brillante.
It strains credibility to believe that an 82-year old man would somehow violate the right-of-way by riding out into oncoming traffic, as investigators suggest.
The paper doesn’t say which direction Skinner was traveling, but it’s easy to imagine that the broadly curving roadway may have appeared clear before he started crossing.
He may have struggled to get across the wide roadway before drivers caught up to him — especially if they were traveling at a high rate of speed, which seems likely given the early hour and the wide open roadway design.
Which means a better question isn’t why was he was in the roadway, but why did the driver fail to see a man on a bicycle directly in front of him?
If sheriff’s investigators can answer that, they’ll know why this tragic crash happened.
October 5, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Sheriff’s deputies shot Dijon Kizzee 16 times, blaming road diets for CA decline, and things are looking up in Santa Ana
And escalated when Kizzee allegedly dropped a stolen gun as he struggled to escape the deputies; what’s in dispute is whether he attempted to pick the gun back up. Especially since the official version of events has changed several times in the days following the shooting.
At least four of those shots could have been fatal.
BIKE RECOVERY: "Someone was offered the bike by a Craigslist seller, and contacted me after seeing it on Bike Index." @BikeIndexBOUpic.twitter.com/fM8MmBY21I
BIKE RECOVERY: "Bike Index was key to police being able to recover this bike from a pawn shop. Inputting the serial was very very important. Thank you for this tool." #yegbike@stolenbikesyegpic.twitter.com/mx5w01S3zL
it’s up to us to make sure the free, voluntary program stays that way to prevent abuses like we saw with the city’s previous mandatory licensing program, which became an excuse to stop people of color without probable cause as they rode their bikes.
Talk about not getting it. Apparently confusing the treatment with the disease, a London columnist complains that bike lanes are choking the life out of the city through fume-filled traffic jams. Someone should tell him that it’s all those cars that cause the noxious fumes — and the traffic. And safe bike lanes mean fewer of those on the roads.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A columnist for the Southern California News Groupremembers Long Beach real estate scion and bike advocate Mark Bixby, who fought to get a bike lane across the new replacement for the Gerald Desmond Bridge, and won, before dying in a 2011 plane crash along with four other people.
State
Sad news from Eureka, where a bike rider was killed in a collision when the victim allegedly swerved in front of an oncoming car, according to the driver and multiple witnesses.
Chicago business owners blame new protected bike lanes for a drop in business, with one hardware store owner insisting the loss of parking spaces has meant a 30% drop in sales. Although a far more likely explanation is the same drop in business suffered by brick and mortar retailers across the US during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Sportsmanoffers a nice profile of Josh Quigley, the bicyclist who set a new record for the northern crossing of Scotland, just months after he barely survived getting run down at 70 mph driver by a Texas driver while on an around the world bike tour. He was inspired to do the ride by Britain’s Sir Chris Hoy after a failed suicide attempt.
A bike-riding Philippines columnist says it’s time the country has a mandatory bike helmet law. Never mind that experience around the world shows that helmet laws depress bicycling rates, which is exactly the wrong thing to do with the world facing a climate crisis — let along the Covid-19 pandemic.
The victim, who was publicly identified only as a 68-year old man, was riding on the 2900 block of Harbor Blvd when he was struck by a tow truck driver around 11:30 pm.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver stayed after the crash, and was not suspected of being under the influence.
Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time.
A street view shows a six lane divided roadway with a wide sidewalk, lined with a number of car dealerships; it’s possible the driver was entering or leaving a car lot at the time of the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to contact to contact Costa Mesa PD Traffic Investigator Darren Wood at 714/754-5264.
This is at least the 47th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in Orange County, continuing a very bad year for bike riders in the county.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his family and loved ones.
He was transferred to the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, where he remained in critical condition until passing away on this past Wednesday.
Unfortunately, no information is available about the crash. A street view simply shows what appears to be a pair of relatively quiet two-lane streets in a residential neighborhood.
Police say the driver, who remained at the scene, did not appear to be impaired at the time of the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Santa Paula Police Department at 805/525-4474.
This is at least the 46th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a local hospital where he died from his injuries.
According to the police, he was apparently riding in the bike lane when he hit some unidentified object, and was thrown from his bike.
The article stresses that no other vehicle was involved.
However, without identifying the object he allegedly struck, it’s also possible that the victim could have been sideswiped by a passing driver, or fallen in an attempt to avoid one.
There’s also no word on whether the victim was wearing a helmet, which might have helped in this situation, depending on the speed he was riding. Or it might have been of no use, since they don’t specify what injuries he suffered.
Hopefully we’ll learn more later.
Anyone with information is urged contact Traffic Investigator Keith Phan at 562/799-4100 ext. 1625, or email kphan@sealbeachca.gov.
This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eleventh that I’m aware of in Orange County, which is having a very bad year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
The city settled a civil rights case filed by the victim’s family for $5.7 million.
The fired cop was also one of a group of officers who killed an aspiring rapper who fell asleep in his car in a Taco Bell parking lot with a gun in his lap.
Another reminder, if anyone needs it, that bicycling can be literally life changing.
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Apparently, when you’re rich, $2 million bail for killing two kids while — allegedly — drunk and street racing is no big deal.
RELEASED ON BAIL: Rebecca Grossman, co-founder of the Grossman Burn Center, posted $2 million bail and was released just after midnight, following her arrest in a DUI crash that killed 2 young brothers in Westlake Village. https://t.co/DGoW0w8kxJpic.twitter.com/XB1jLyoVkD
This is the cost of traffic violence. It turns out the 77-year old woman killed by a driver while riding her bike north of Davis was a chemistry professor emeritus at UC Davis, who certainly deserved better. Few things piss me off more than the CHP’s knee-jerk reaction to blame the victim in a bike crash, when the only surviving witness is apparently the person who killed her.
Contra Costa County is now offering rebates of $150 on the purchase of an ebike, or $300 for low income residents. Which should be available everywhere, since it’s one of the best ways to get people out of their cars, while staying safe during the coronavirus crisis.
Police in Manitoba returned a stolen bike to its owner after busting a man for an outstanding warrant and several baggies of meth; a check revealed the bike he was riding had been stolen two years earlier. Hint: See item above.
October 1, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Socialite kills brothers in alleged drunken street racing crash, more endorsements, and Burbank bike/ped overpass opens
The hit-and-run driver had apparently been drinking, and may have engaged in street racing at the time of the crash.
According to KCBS-2, she was identified as a 57-year old socialite and humanitarian, who should have known better.
Rebecca Grossman, 57, was arrested on two counts of vehicular manslaughter and is being held on $2 million bail. She did not stay on the scene, and her white Mercedes with front-end damage was towed away about a half-mile from where the boys were struck.
Grossman is the founder and chair of the Grossman Burn Foundation, and has also been recognized for her humanitarian work across the world.
Now two little boys will never grow up.
And if there’s any justice, it will be a long time before she sees the light of day again.
Chris Buonomo reports a new Burbank bicycle/pedestrian bridge is finally open, complete with nifty curved fencing to keep anyone from throwing things over the side. Or jumping.
A major ruling from a California appeals court, which overturned one of the biggest limitations on damage awards for injured bike riders, ruling that encountering a giant pothole is not an inherent risk of long-distance bicycling. That could open the way for all kinds of damage awards for bike riders — especially if the people responsible for the roadway already knew about the problem. Thanks to Phillip Young and Richard Duquette for the heads-up.
The victim, who was not publicly identified or described in any way, apparently died at the scene. Meanwhile, the driver fled the scene; no word on whether the police have any information to go on.
There’s also no word on how the collision occurred.
In other words, pretty much all we know is that it happened, and someone died.
Which is pretty damn shameful.
The TV story reports investigators are looking for witnesses, but once again, they don’t tell anyone how they can come forward if they know anything.
This is at least the 44th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his or her loved ones.
Lacey inexplicably ruled that the shooting was justified, because Zeferino gestured as he as speaking, and failed to understand the orders shouted to him at gunpoint in English.
At last report, all three officers were still working as Gardena cops, without so much as a slap on the wrist.
Which is more than enough reason to give my vote to Gascón.
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Ted Faber reports there are new bike lanes on Manchester Blvd.
When conversations about race within the cycling industry come up, white cyclists often say things like, “The trail/bike/biking doesn’t care what color you are … just ride.”
When I’m feeling generous, I can write this off as naiveté. When I’m being brutally honest, I understand this as a dangerous distraction from the real issue.
For many white cyclists, the bike is often separate from their sociopolitical lives; it’s a means of escape, a recreational machine reserved for fitness or fun.
For many BIPOC cyclists, the bike is a tool that is intimately connected to the way we experience the world.
For those of us who are white, it’s impossible to know what it’s like to experience our streets as a person of color, unless we take the time to actually listen.
Pieces like this may not celebrate the world of bicycling that we know and love.
But they are vitally important to make riding a bike, and our world, more inclusive for everyone.
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Here’s your chance to enter Dutch academia, while working on the science of bicycling.
Earlier in Delta Park, some yelled ‘get him’ to a bicyclist passing through and then pursued and stopped and harassed him – before letting him pass thru pic.twitter.com/I5KUReLQ0R
No bias here. After a Texas driver was confronted by a bike rider enraged by his close pass, he responded by suggesting that a) bike riders should be licensed, b) bikes are too slow to be allowed on roads, and c) bike cops should get tickets for not signaling their turns. Apparently d) maybe he should try driving a little more safely next time never crossed his mind. (Scroll down)
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Culver City continues to leap past Los Angeles in repurposing the streets, including a new protected bike lane on Washington Blvd. Although it seems to be best protected from pedestrians and diners, with only thin plastic bollards to keep the cars away.
Bay Area residents are celebrating the governor’s signing of SB 288, which streamlines bike and transit projects by exempting many projects from the environmental reviews that were too often used as a cynical tool to stop them. We should be celebrating that one down here, too.
September 29, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Lyft e-bikeshare coming to Santa Monica, Arroyo Seco bike path finally patched, and new survey on bike helmet laws
E-bikeshare is back in Santa Monica, following the demise of Jump Bikes after their sale to Lime earlier this year.
The bikes will be docked at the existing Breeze bikeshare docks, after Santa Monica’s municipal bikeshare bites the dust this November, eventually expanding to 500 bikes.
Here’s what the company has to say.
The new ebikes allow riders to travel around Santa Monica and West Los Angeles with less effort. When the rider pedals, the ebikes use a small electric motor to boost the rider’s pedal power, making longer trips easier and more accessible. Users will be able to rent ebikes in the Lyft app for $1 to unlock and $0.34 per minute – just scan the QR code and go. Riders can lock the bikes to any one of 80 Breeze stations with the attached cable, or to any public bike rack within the service area for an extra $1. For more about pricing and service area, visit the Lyft website…
Lyft also offers a Community Pass for bikes and scooters in Santa Monica. The Lyft Community Pass is a reduced-fare membership program for qualifying residents of Santa Monica and LA. Membership costs $5/month and includes discounted ebike rides at $0.05/min. The Community Pass program is available to residents ages 18 and older who qualify for the Big Blue Bus Low Income Fare is Easy (LIFE) program, Calfresh, Medicaid, SNAP, or the SCE Energy Savings Assistance Program and to qualifying Santa Monica Community College students.
Correction: I originally wrote that Jump had been acquired by Lyft, but they were actually purchased by Lime. My apologies for the error.
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Speaking of Santa Monica, David Drexler confirms that the 5 mph speed limit signs have been removed from the newly widened beachfront Marvin Braude bike path through the city.
As we noted last week, the signs with the ridiculously low speed limit were installed temporarily as part of a construction project.
The lengthy delay in getting it fixed could stem from the mishmash of public agencies involved in the repair work, including, but possibly not limited to,
LADOT
Bureau of Engineering
Board of Public Works
LA County
Regional Water Quality Control Board
StreetsLA (nee Bureau of Street Services)
Maybe someone should form a single umbrella agency to manage the city and county river channel bikeways so it doesn’t take the local equivalent of a UN Security Council negotiation every time something goes wrong.
I’m told credit goes to LA Bicycle Advisory Committee member John Laue for getting this done.
You may remember Christopher Kidd from his days running the LADOT Bike Blog, which is about the last time the agency communicated effectively to the general public.
Since then, he’s been building a successful career as a Complete Streets planner in the Bay Area.
Which should make this an interesting talk.
Centering equity in transportation planning is long overdue, but methods and tools are rapidly developing to meet the challenge. Join me, @remix and @TransForm_Alert this Wednesday to hear about & discuss our workhttps://t.co/8KlzdOewqv
Washington bike riders will now be able to treat stop signs as yields, as the state becomes just the latest to adopt a modified form of the Idaho Stop Law. California should join Oregon and Washington in adopting the law, making it uniform throughout the West Coast.
A Nebraska bike nonprofit is looking for a new home after losing their current location; the organization rescues and restores bicycles, and allows at-risk kids to work on them to earn their first bikes.
Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to keep your bike safe at home. My best advice is to keep your bike inside your home if at all possible; if you have to use a garage, make sure it’s locked to something that’s secretly anchored.
Stardom has changed life for the better for the 15-year old Indian girl who rode a bike over 700 miles to carry her injured father home earlier this year; she now has a new home, eight bikes, two possible movie deals and an offer to train with the national cycling team when the pandemic loses its grip.
