He was taken UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was pronounced dead around 1:30 yesterday afternoon.
The Daily Pilot reports the 57-year old man, identified by the Orange County coroner as Anaheim resident Mario Gomez, was riding his bike against traffic when he was struck.
And yes, the driver remained at the scene, as legally required.
Huntington Beach police note that Gomez wasn’t wearing a helmet, which is valid for a change, since he died of head trauma. Although they don’t say how fast the driver was going, or if the crash would have been survivable with or without one.
Nor do they note whether he was originally from this country. Many Central American immigrants are taught to ride facing traffic, and bring that habit with them — too often with results that are all too predictable in Southern California traffic.
None of which absolves the driver of responsibility to pay attention to the road ahead of him, and note any conflicting traffic, regardless of which direction it’s coming from.
Any anyone with information is urged to call Huntington Beach Police Investigator Adam Turner, 714/536-5670 or Investigator Daniel Kim 714/536-5666.
Like drivers in a highly modified Mercedes using every trick known to man to evade the police while speeding across the US at an average of 123 mph.
And a top speed of 193 mph.
Speeds which would be instantly fatal to anyone outside of the car in the event of a crash. And probably in it, too.
All to win an illegal, unauthorized race across the country, speeding 2,800 miles across the US in less than 27 and a half hours. And putting the lives of everyone else on the roadway at risk, in every city, county and state they drove through.
Maybe it’s here where I point out that all of this is patently insane.
It’s insane to shift-drive across the country on open roads at triple-digit speeds. It’s insane to have such arrogant disregard for the law that you heavily modify a vehicle specifically to evade the police, using technologies that are themselves illegal in many states—laser jammers are illegal in California, Colorado, and Illinois, to name three states on the route, and it’s illegal in every state not to have functioning brake and taillights. It’s insane to try to pass this off as both a bold adventure AND a paragon of driving skill and discretion. And it’s insane for the media to accept that narrative so credulously and uncritically…
Los Angeles got a pair of state grants totaling $3.5 million to build 2.2 miles of multi-use pathways along the LA River in North Atwater Village, as well as improving habitat along the river.
If you’re carrying a garage door opener, crack pipe and several change purses on what’s probably a $5,000 stolen bike, stay off the sidewalk — and put a damn light on it.
Mind your turn signals and stop signs in Oxnard tomorrow, when the police conduct a bike and pedestrian safety sting, calling it an educational operation. The usual protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you get outside their jurisdiction.
Gothamist wants to know why ebikes are okay for Amazon and UPS deliveries in NYC, but remain illegal for immigrants delivering food. And why the governor hasn’t signed a bill to rectify that.
He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
However, the crash could not have happened the way the paper describes; according to the Daily News, the driver was headed west on Kester, which is a north-south street.
Most likely, the driver was traveling north or south on Kester, but could have been on Victory.
He or she stayed at the scene, and reportedly rendered assistance, as required by law.
As always, the question is whether there were any independent witnesses who saw the crash. Although at that hour, there should have been witnesses on such a busy street.
Click to enlarge
Victory is one of LA’s most dangerous streets; a one mile section just a short distance east of the crash scene is one of the city’s top Vision Zero High Priority corridors.
Yet like most streets on the list, little or nothing has been done to protect innocent lives.
This is at least the 68th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 31st that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
It’s also the 16th in the City of Los Angeles since the first of the year.
December 6, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: LACBC back on track, injured San Diego bike rider reportedly dies, and bikes on the bus — literally
Let’s start with news from last night’s open house at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.
The group appears to be getting back on track again after a disastrous lack of financial oversight under the previous executive director resulted in major cutbacks at the organization.
Pictured here are LACBC Director of Education Colin Bogart, left, and new Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman, right, honoring outgoing board member — and BikinginLA sponsor — Jim Pocrass for his service to the coalition and the bicycling community.
A representative from Lime also told the people in attendance that the coalition will be the recipient of the funds raised by the Lime Hero program in Los Angeles next year.
So it doesn’t mean their financial problems are over. But they’re off to a damn good start.
New board chair Michael Fishman, co-founder and president of Pure Cycles makes an announcement as Jim Pocrass waits to be honored.
Correction: I initially reported that layoffs due to the financial cutbacks resulted in a reduction to just four staff members. However, I’ve been reminded that some of those staff members left on their own. My apologies to Zachary Rynew and any others for misrepresenting the situation.
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Speaking of the LACBC, they’re looking for volunteers to help give out free bike lights next week.
Sadly, Phillip Young tells me the man died, and was buried last week.
So far, I’ve been unable to find official confirmation of the death. If confirmed, this will be just the fourth bicycling fatality I’m aware of in San Diego County this year.
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LADOT wants your input on what can be done to improve the Valley portion of Sepulveda Blvd tomorrow, which could definitely use it.
Share your ideas on how to make Sepulveda Blvd more safe, beautiful, and accessible to the entire community. Join @MRodCD7 and #LADOT on December 7, at the Sepulveda Vision Workshop between 10 a.m. and noon at the Mission Community Police Station. #MovingLAForwardpic.twitter.com/ME6J7NeKbM
Sometimes its’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana police busted a 30-year old man who led them on a foot chase after they tried to stop him for riding salmon while carrying two six packs of beer, then using the cans like mini hand grenades. When they finally caught him, he refused to say where the beer came from, but was happy to tell them about his crack pipe.
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I depend on your support to help keep this site going, and bring you all the best bike news from around the corner, and around the the world.
The LA Clippers’ plan to reduce traffic at their proposed arena in Inglewood includes just 93 bicycle parking spaces to serve 18,000 people. Which doesn’t exactly make it sound like they really intend to encourage people to ride to the games, does it?
He definitely doesn’t get it. A member of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors is up in arms over plans to spend $90 million to build bike lanes, saying the funds should be spent on highways to reduce gridlock. Maybe someone could explain the concept of induced demand to him. Not to mention sprawl-driven driving.
National
Thieves have hit a dozen Denver-area bike shops, targeting high-end bicycles. Apparently, they’ve finally figured out that it’s easier to steal a lot of new bikes than one or two used ones.
Life is cheap in Indiana, where a 60-year old woman got a net two years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a bike rider, after prosecutors pled away the DUI count and another felony charge.
Connor, who is accused in the hit-and-run death of Kevin Lentz as he was riding with a group of fellow mountain bikers, was arrested for parole violations and multiple other charges just five days after the alleged head-on hit on Lentz.
Police arrested Connor on Thanksgiving Day as he was apparently driving drunk and stoned, with a loaded gun and a bag of meth in his pickup — along with his four-year old son.
Connor faces one count of each of the following charges: child cruelty resulting in injury or death, felon in possession of a firearm, possession of an unlisted handgun, carrying a loaded firearm in public, carrying a concealed weapon with a prior conviction, having a concealed weapon in a vehicle with a prior conviction, possession of a controlled substance while armed, use of controlled substance while possessing a firearm, crime against a person or property while having a previous conviction for drugs, DUI for alcohol or drugs, DUI for alcohol and drugs, and violating probation, according to (Escondido Police Department).
He also faces three counts of crime against a person or property while having a previous conviction for narcotics and four counts of possessing ammo while prohibited, according to EPD.
And that lengthy list doesn’t even include charges for killing Lentz and fleeing the scene.
I plan to be there to help them honor my friend, site sponsor and former fellow board member Jim Pocrass, so be sure to say hi.
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Robert Leone forwards news of another closure of Camp Pendleton to people on bicycles next week.
This is how a representative of the base described it.
Due to military operations bicycle access will be closed on Old Pacific Highway from San Onofre State Park to the Las Pulgas gate entrance. Bicyclists may ride on the I-5 shoulder during the indicated days of the Old Pacific Highway closure.
Closure time: 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM
When: Daily, from December 9-13
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Turns out our means of transportation is far more efficient than anything else. Including those mice and lemmings in cars.
BREAKING: When it comes to how things get around, nothing that nature or man has designed is more efficient than a person on a bicycle. Don’t believe me? It’s science, from @sciam. HT @CyclingSurgeon
As someone who has stuck his feet in his mouth so many times I now wear favored socks, I can safely say when everyone thinks you got it wrong, chances are it’s your fault.
Mountain View has prohibited parking RVs in bike lanes; the ACLU finds that “disturbing.” Yes, people who live in RVs need a place to park them, but bike lanes have no value, and offer limited safety, if no one can actually ride in them.
Portland will now require larger buildings to include a bike room. Even though bike thieves love them; if they’re not monitored 24/7, it’s just an invitation to steal multiple bikes at once.
December 4, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Successful die-in at City Hall, Lee moves to rip out Reseda bike lanes, and more Peloton ad fallout
Fed up by the lack of progress on reducing traffic deaths in Los Angeles, dozens of protesters staged a die-in outside City Hall Tuesday, calling on city leaders to take swift, bold action to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians.
“We have all the tools and solutions to solve this crisis,” said cyclist and organizer Andres Quinche. “What we are lacking is the courage and the conviction from our city council members, our mayor, (and) the Department of Transportation to stand up and say that safety matters more than speed, and that someone’s life is more valuable than a driver losing 10 seconds on their way to work…”
“I call the mayor’s office once a week to ask about this,” he said. “And I always get a response that someone’s going to get back to me about it. And it’s been maybe like two months since the last protest we staged and I haven’t heard anything.
But then, that’s about what you’d expect from a city that considers installing speed feedback signs a Vision Zero improvement.
Streetsblog’s seemingly ubiquitous Joe Linton described the die-in this way.
Though L.A. drivers are on track to kill more than 200 people in 2019, speakers emphasized the especially horrific deaths of Marlene and Amy Lorenzo, and of Alessa Fajardo – all kids on their way to school. In a crosswalk near Exposition Park in April, a driver killed sisters Marlene (14) and Amy (12) while they were walking to school. In a Koreatown crosswalk in October, a driver killed Alessa (4) as her mother walked her to nursery school.
Speakers criticized L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and the L.A. City Council for lacking courage and conviction to put their leadership behind the Vision Zero policies they approved. In attendance were three pro-Vision Zero candidates hoping to be elected to the City Council in 2020.
Needless to say, none of LA’s elected officials bothered to stop by. But as Linton notes, three candidates running for city council next year did.
In a move that’s pretty much the opposite of Vision Zero, recently elected CD12 Councilmember John Lee continues to make his anti-bike and traffic safety bones with a resolution aiming to “improve” or remove the hard-won bike lanes on Reseda Blvd.
LA City Councilmember John Lee has introduced a motion calling for a report on the Reseda Boulevard Great Street projects, including a community opinion survey and a "recommendation to improve the project or return to the original street design." pic.twitter.com/2k7y6rnj3e
Then again, it would be nice to have more bike lanes, period.
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Active SGV invites you to join them on their annual holiday lights ride this Friday.
Reduce, reuse, cycle! Dig up that old, ugly sweater that’s been hiding in the back of your closet all year and join us for our annual holiday lights ride in the #SanGabrielValley!
Interesting take from Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss, who says ticketing bicyclists is pointless and cruel because on the streets, survival is more important than strict adherence to the law. I’m firm believer that we’re all safest when we follow the rules, except when we’re not. Your safety is what matters most when you ride. And only you can decide what that means at any given moment.
The 20-something victim was found lying dead next to a bicycle, in the traffic lane near the intersection of Figueroa and 89th Streets around 9 pm Sunday.
The woman’s terrified face is so disconcerting, her distress so obvious that it’s impossible to focus on anything else happening in the ad. She’s already trim and gorgeous, and yes, even though exercise should be about more than self-image, it’s clear this woman is trying to compensate for something. Is it her crumbling marriage? Her husband’s not-so-subtle suggestion she drop a few pounds?
The zeal with which she attacks the Peloton clearly speaks to some deep, unfulfilled need somewhere in her life. Here she is — young, beautiful, successful, with a child and financial security– and yet, something inside her is still so obviously and utterly broken that only an unhealthy fixation on indoor cycling can help mend it.
Meanwhile, the online world quickly jumped in to offer its own takes.
Meanwhile, a distracted Canadian driver was still on the road despite being cited for cellphone use nine previous times.
10th cellphone offence. a 57 year old driver was observed by a Burlington OPP member talking on their cellphone in icy road conditions. The officer found that the driver had 9 previous convictions for the same offence. Driver was charged. #DriveSafe#hangupanddrive#oblivious kw^ pic.twitter.com/pW3jFfuahp
I count on your support to help close the long and challenging gap after the sponsorship funds for this site run out, and before they start to renew again in the spring.
Forty-one-year old Escondido resident Jamison Connor was identified as the driver who allegedly ran down 36-year old Vista resident Kevin Lentz, leaving him to die in the street, and forcing his one-year old son to grow up without a father.
Connor was initially taken into custody on unrelated parole violation allegations related to “various weapons charges, drug charges, and driving under the influence allegations,” according to a police spokesman.
Which matters, because unless Escondido authorities can come up with other charges, the most Connor could get for a fatal hit-and-run in California is just four years.
David Huntsman goes for a bike ride on the “organically evolved” bike paths of Paris.
Paris’ organically evolved network of protected, sidewalk and unprotected bicycle trails man any cyclist can get anywhere comfortably. Not just well-trained and fit adults. Paris Paths https://t.co/nqekvo6XYY
Then answers the question themselves, suggesting they knew all along that the ridiculously tall, 6.15 meter — 20 feet 2.5 inch — STOOPIDTALLER™ bike from LA’s own Richie Trimble holds the record, making it more that twice as tall as the Malaysian bike.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
A road raging Aussie driver turned himself in after an attack that was caught on video, running up from behind to punch a bike rider in the head, knocking him off his bike and out cold, before throwing the bike at the victim. All because the bike rider complained about the driver encroaching on a bike lane.
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Local
An op-ed from a UCLA professor says e-scooters are a growing public health challenge, and users need mandatory helmets and training. Because evidently, all other modes of transportation are so much safer, and scooter users kill so many other people. Except they aren’t, and they don’t.
Redondo Beach considers what’s basically the opposite of Vision Zero, concluding that it has fewer total crashes than the regional average in the northern reaches of the city, so no improvements are necessary — despite a recent rash of traffic deaths it blames on “incorrect behavior” and other “non-systemic issues.”
Bad news from San Diego, where a 46-year old man suffered life threatening injuries when he allegedly swerved his bike in front of a pickup driver in San Ysidro. As always, the question is whether there are any independent witnesses who saw him swerve. Besides the driver, that is.
The one time of year I come right out and ask for your money.
Okay, beg.
Because operating this site is a more than full-time job, for far less than minimum wage. And while I truly appreciate each of the sponsors over there on the right, their support, as valuable as it is, doesn’t cover what I need to keep this site going.
Especially after a year like this, when the money that came in went out just as fast. Or faster, even.
But that’s where you come in.
Your support helps fill in that gaping gap, and allows me to devote all my working hours to bringing you the latest bike news on a daily basis, from around the corner or around the world.
And devote whatever time I have left in this life to helping make this a safer place for people on bicycles, and a more livable world for all of us.
Or call it the 1st Corgi Memorial Fund Drive in memory of our late, great spokesdog
It’s not an easy job. Especially when I have to bring you news that none of us want.
But it matters. Because we can’t fix problems if we don’t know they exist. And our leaders can’t hide the truths we shine a light on.
So give what you can, or give what you want.
But please, give something.
You can contribute with just a few clicks by using PayPal. Or by using the using the Zelle feature that came with the banking app that’s probably already on your smartphone; just send your contribution to ted @ bikinginla.com.
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If you can’t afford to give anything, or just prefer not to, that’s cool too. You’re more than welcome to keep coming back, and contributing to our online community.
But please give if you can, and what you can. Because we can really use the help.
This year especially.
Thank you to Felicia G and theMuirs for their generous contributions to this fund drive even before it officially began.
And as always, a special thanks to Todd Rowell, who came up with the idea for this fund drive in the first place.
