Southern California streets keep claiming more victims, as traffic rebounds to pre-lockdown levels with little or no accommodation for the jump in bike riding in recent months.
The latest victim was a popular Fontana barber who was killed by a driver late Sunday night.
According to a notice from the San Bernardino County Coroner, 59-year old Fontana resident Adolph “Ray” Trujillo was struck by a vehicle while riding his bike in 1600 block of Baseline Ave around 11:50 pm.
This is at least the 37th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County. It’s also the ninth SoCal bicycling death this month alone, and the 13th in the last two months.
Something has to be done now to stop this rising tide of traffic violence.
Because Ray Trujillo deserved better.
And do we all.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Adolph “Ray” Trujillo and all his loved ones.
Recently I’ve been trading messages with former South Pasadena resident Megan Lynch, as she struggles with the challenges of being a disabled bike rider attending grad school at an ostensibly bike-friendly university.
Or maybe, bike-friendly as long as you’re physically abled.
She’s struggled with everything ranging from finding safe and affordable handicapped-accessible housing, to simply finding a bike rack that can accommodate her adaptive recumbent bicycle.
Both of which could easily be corrected if someone actually gave a damn.
Big if, evidently.
Because this past weekend, I received this heartbreaking email indicating she’s had enough.
I have barely survived this first year of grad school because UC Davis is so ableist. Grad school is hard for abled 20-somethings in the prime of their lives. It is so much worse for anyone who is not in this society’s hegemonic class.
I went to the Disabled Students Center – they didn’t care.
I went to others at UC Davis – they didn’t care.
I went to my union – they didn’t care.
I went to the wildcat strikers – they didn’t care.
Finally, I saw that no matter how much this place was hurting my health, no one cared. Once more, I was the only person that was going to save me. So I looked around for other disabled students who wanted to work on this. They gave input, but no one made the time. I did this by myself until just the beginning of July when I finally found disability activists at UC Berkeley, UCSD, and potentially at UC Santa Cruz.
It shouldn’t have to be like this.
This past Sunday marked the 30th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, mandating access for people with disabilities in every aspect of American life, from employment and housing to education.
“Do you know what it means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss is trying to say? It’s like ‘Hey, if I could pay you less, I would, but it’s against the law.’” – Chris Rock
Attempting to meet ADA and no further is admitting that you’d do less if you could get away with it. In 30 years of ADA, UC still hasn’t fully met ADA conditions. But meeting ADA isn’t enough. For example, accessible cycle racks & lockers are important for transportation to those disabled people that can cycle, especially on a majority cycle campus like UC Davis. But when asked, abled transportation & parking services workers say “Bike racks aren’t covered under ADA”. This is not likely true, but even if it were ruled so, it’s just another argument for exceeding ADA to achieve an inclusive and accessible campus environment.
Here are a few more entirely reasonable quotes pulled from their list of demands.
• Cycling racks & cycling lockers must be U-racks that will accommodate the types of cycles disabled people are more likely to ride such as handcycles, tricycles and quadracycles (both upright and recumbent). Racks must be far enough away from each other and from obstacles like curbs, hedges, and walls for a large cycle (including cargo cycles) to fit and for a large person to be alongside the cycle locking it without being too close to the next person over also locking their cycle at a rack.
• Campus cycling facilities should have staff trained in the maintenance and repair of cycle frames disabled cyclists use like handcycles, recumbents, tricycles, quadracycles, and e-assist cycles of all types.
• Each campus should have a hub for wheelchair and mobility aid repair. In addition to carrying parts and executing repairs, specialized wheelchairs for outdoor recreation on trails and at the beach should be available to rent by disabled students who use wheelchairs.
If there’s anything there that’s unreasonable, outrageously expensive, or too difficult to implement, I can’t see it.
Dahl had received the bike through a $6,000 grant.
He says the thief didn’t just steal his bike, but also took part of his independence.
“What this individual stole wasn’t just a bike, it wasn’t just a handcycle, it wasn’t just a $6,000 object, it was my independence. It was my ability to ride,” Dahl said.
Hopefully someone will spot the bike before it gets sold or dismantled.
If not, if anyone wants to start a crowdfunding campaign to buy him a new one, I’ll be happy to feature it here.
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Apparently, shopping at a Circle K convenience store can be bad for your health.
And two Florida men are charged with attempted murder for attempting to smash their car into a man on a bicycle after spotting him shopping at Circle K, then shooing him when they caught up with him again.
Father of the Year contender: This single dad took his daughter on his bicycle, riding across China to celebrate her birthday. pic.twitter.com/AuhMCTaPKJ
— South China Morning Post (@SCMPNews) July 23, 2020
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Not every violent assault starts in a convenience store parking lot, though; a British Columbia man got a measly five years for killing another man, stopping his bike to kick the victim in the head with steel-toed boots, in a dispute over encroaching on his preferred panhandling spot.
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Local
Call it yet another LADOT fail. At a time when new bike riders are begging for safe bikeways, the city gives them these sad North Hollywood sharrows — even though there’s more than enough room for a protected bike lane instead. As we’ve noted before, sharrows appear to exist only to help drivers improve their aim.
Pez Cycling Newslooks at the brief rise and fall of spine bikes, made in the early years after the turn of the century with half-carbon/half steel frames. Like my 2004 LeMond, for instance.
Despite the efforts of paramedics, he died at the scene, his body coming to rest in the bike lane he was most likely riding in.
There’s no information about the driver or the suspect vehicle at this time.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Detective Kelsey Myers or Detective Shawn Loughlin of the LBPD Collision Investigation Detail at 562/570-7355.
This is at least the 36th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third fatal bicycling hit-and-run in the county in four days.
Exactly one third of those SoCal bike deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers, including five in less than the last two weeks, and eight in the past two months as more people have begun driving again.
Once again, a man has died following a violent hit-and-run while riding his bike in South Los Angeles.
And once again, the LAPD doesn’t seem to think the public needed to know about it.
According to KCBS-2/KCAL-9, 37-year old South LA resident Jorge Guerra was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding home from the park with his two young children on July 8th.
Fortunately, his two-year old son Nathan and four-year old daughter Madelyn weren’t seriously injured; their father wasn’t so lucky.
Guerra was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, but lapsed into a coma after arriving; he died of organ failure on July 16th.
The driver continued north on Wadsworth, crashing into several parked cars before stopping just south of Manchester Blvd. He ran off, leaving the damaged car behind.
Police are still looking for the suspect, who hasn’t been identified; unsurprisingly, the car he was driving was stolen. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver.
Now Guerra’s wife is faced with raising her kids as a grieving single mother while in the middle of a pandemic.
Unfortunately, like the death of Melvin “Peanut” Frye last month, the LAPD apparently failed to inform the public at the time of the crash — or alert them to a dangerous car thief hiding in their midst. Even though both Los Angeles and California have Yellow Alert systems to get the word out as quickly as possible.
There’s no explanation for why the LAPD continually refuses to use them; evidently, they’d rather wait until the trail goes cold and people have forgotten key details before asking for their help. Which could be one reason why hit-and-run drivers continue to get away with it here.
This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. Over half of those deaths in the county have been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jorge Guerra and all his family and loved ones.
July 24, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bike riders under attack around the world, pickup-driving Torrance racists, and PCH bike path closure above Ventura
A road-raging British bike rider punched a 78-year old driver in the mouth, knocking out a tooth, after the driver stopped his car when the man made rude gestures and shouted at him as he passed him and his two kids. Violence is never the answer. But that kind of response from a man riding with his kids just might imply that the guy earned it.
Volunteer members of the American Ski Patrol have traded slats for wheels, and will be patrolling the 32-mile American River Parkway multi-use trail in the Sacramento area. Maybe we can talk them into patrolling a few trails down this way, too. Because no one else is doing it.
Colorado bike rack and lock maker Rocky Mount barely survived the pandemic, thanks to a loan from the Payroll Protection Program, but the owner realizes it’s not over yet. Just to be clear, the pandemic is barely getting started; it’s going to be a rough ride for all of us before things get better.
Heartbreaking news, as an experienced bike tourist was killed in a collision just as she was starting a two-month bike ride across Canada. Although it would be nice if the story didn’t wait until the next-to-last paragraph to mention that the pickup that hit her had a driver.
Dooring a bike rider will now cost British Columbia drivers $368, after the province quadrupled the previous $81 fine. Which is still way too low, but at least it’s going in the right direction.
Frye was run down by an unknown motorist as he was crossing Main Street at 103rd Street in the Broadway-Manchester neighborhood; he was riding west across Main while the driver was headed south.
He died at he scene.
The driver kept going, without stopping or identifying themself as required by law. Authorities are looking for a black or dark-colored Dodge Durango; no description was given for the driver.
No announcement appears to have been made at the time.
Then again, Frye’s family wasn’t even notified until more than a week later, after frantically calling hospitals and checking jail bookings before they were finally contacted by the coroner’s office.
The press conference was held to request the public’s help in solving the crime. The city offers a standing $50,000 award for information leading to an arrest and conviction for any fatal hit-and-run, regardless of whether the reward has been announced by the police.
Mishy Frye said people have called her to relay information about the type of car involved, “and then nobody can give the detectives no information.”
“I’m just shocked, because you guys know him,” she said. “Everybody know him in this area. Everyone. It’s not right…”
“I want justice for him, not through you calling me, but call the detectives,” she said. “Holding onto a secret makes you no better than the person that hit him.”
In addition to LA’s citywide hit-and-run alert system, California has approved a statewide Yellow Alert system to notify the public in the event of a hit-and-run. Both are intended to alert the public as quickly as possible to watch for the suspect vehicle in the event of a hit-and-run, and encourage witnesses to come forward while the event is still fresh in their minds.
Not a month later.
Had the police released information about the crash at the time, along with announcing the standing reward, someone might have come forward by now.
And maybe Frye’s family could have been spared the pain of not knowing what had happened to him for ten long days after the crash. Let alone knowing that the heartless coward who killed him is still out there.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Keith Gonzales at 323/421-2500, or 323/421-2577 after normal business hours.
This is at least the 34th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Half of those deaths in LA County have been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Melvin “Peanut” Frye and all his loved ones.
The store manager accused him of riding recklessly through the aisle and disturbing other shoppers, while some witnesses said he was just test riding the bike and telling people to have a nice day.
Police threw the book at him, filing charges of aggravated and simple assault, disarming a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, defiant trespass and disorderly conduct.
So instead of a bicycle for his birthday, his son will get to see his father behind bars.
No bias here. Tomorrow Riverside police are planning yet another of the frequent safety operations targeting violations by bike riders and drivers that put bicyclists at risk. Yet My News LA, which usually does better, suggests the operation is targeting unsafe bicycling. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.
An Illinois hit-and-run driver turned himself in after smashing into a bike rider because he felt bad about what he’d done. Every hit-and-run driver should feel the same way. And do the same thing.
He gets it, too. A writer for the conservative London Timescalls on officials to stand up to anti-cycling NIMBYs if the “golden age of cycling” promised by Prime Minister Boris Johnson is ever going to become a reality.
No bias here, either. A British taxi site blames an elderly man for damaging a cab with his bike and fists during a road rage incident, when the cab driver interfered in a dispute the older man was having with someone else after “purposely inconveniencing” other people on the road. Purposely inconveniencing people usually just means legally riding a bicycle in the roadway in front of impatient drivers.
Four Australian kids were killed by an alleged drunk and stoned in a horrifying crash as they walked on a sidewalk to get ice cream this past February; of the five cousins, only one boy who was riding a bicycle behind the others survived the brutal crash.
Take a few minutes to read this great thread from a man who worked his way back on his bike after nearly dying from a heart attack; just click on the date to load the full thread.
About 10-15 minutes after I was waking up I coded as my heart sac had filled to capacity due to the leaky artery and it had no room to beat. This necessitated that a long needle be put into that heart sac in order to drain the blood.
A British bike rider blames an overly close pass on the perceived protective powers of a thin strip of magic white paint.
Perfectly OK to overtake a cyclist with a 30cm gap here, as the magic white line provides all the protection the cyclist needs. Cycle lanes passing through pinch points are asking for trouble. @RichmondCycling@LBRUT@KingstonCyclingpic.twitter.com/Kw1OBqZ1sw
If we can’t give them safe places to ride, those new bike riders who started during the coronavirus lockdown are likely to head back to their cars after getting frightened off the streets.
And a once in a generational opportunity to reimagine our streets will be lost forever.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A British TV fashion advisor apologized after saying she “fucking hate(s) cyclists” and wants to kill them all with her car — including her own bike-riding husband. Although her apology only came after extensive online criticism, and doesn’t change the fact that she said it to begin with.
The East Side Riders Bike Club teamed with the LA Galaxy for a ride to the closed-to-the-public Dignity Health Sports Center for Saturday’s match with LAFC; it didn’t help, though, as the Galaxy fell to their crosstown rivals.
The New York Times examines the problem of ensuring marginalized residents are heard in the rush to repurpose streets due to the coronavirus, and that outdoor dining, Slow Streets and popup bike lanes don’t just benefit wealthy white residents. At least the last one’s not a problem in Los Angeles, because the city doesn’t have any.
They get it. A WorldTour team offers advice on how to safely watch cycling again as they prepare to start the season. But say if you’re in doubt, just stay home.
We’re just one week away from restarting the season after more than four long months. Here’s a few rules we kindly ask our fans and everyone at the races to follow, so that they protect themselves and all those around. Video: @lapedaleccpic.twitter.com/T6kFLQ72zD
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 20, 2020
And listen to the founder of the Major Taylor Cycling Club discuss America’s first Black sports hero with his son. (Correction: I originally misread that as a discussion with Major Taylor’s son, even though he didn’t have one, and would be pretty old if he did. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link, and Andy Stow for the correction.)
In the late 1800s, Marshall “Major” Taylor was an African American cyclist that broke both world records and racial boundaries. John W. Tolbert III sits down with his son to discuss Major’s legacy. From @WOSU with the #StoryCorpsMobileTour. https://t.co/fGxcrw6DFt
July 20, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Endorsing Nithya Raman in LA’s CD4, bike riding reporter attacked by police, and this is who we share the road with
With everything going on these days, it’s easy to forget we have a city council election coming up this November in LA’s 4th Council District.
And not just when it became expedient in an election year.
Photo by Element5 Digital from Pexels.
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Evidently, Portland isn’t the only place where bike riders and the press are under attack.
I was just assaulted by an officer for crossing the road to my bicycle while holding up my press badge and he called me a "smart ass" for doing so, accused me of wanting to start a problem. I yelled help, he said "you're gonna need help" before throwing me. @Chicago_Policepic.twitter.com/XYuJe19IQm
What's the story here? Apart from the fact that if you buy a metal box that says 120mph on the speedometer, and you rarely get beyond 10mph, at some point you become a little unhinged?
