Maybe it’s time to ask what the hell is going on in the Coachella Valley.
Because for the second time in less than two weeks, a Coachella Valley bike rider has been killed in a collision, this time in Rancho Mirage.
According to the Desert Sun, the victim was riding east across busy Bob Hope Drive in the crosswalk on Casino, in front of the Agua Caliente Casino, round 1:30 pm Friday when he was struck by the driver of a car headed north on Bob Hope.
There’s no word on who had the green light, or why the driver apparently didn’t notice an older man on a bicycle in the crosswalk directly in front of him.
The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with police, and did not appear to be under the influence.
This comes less than two weeks after a Canadian man was fatally injured in a collision just eleven miles away in Indian Wells — at least the fourth bike rider killed in the Coachella Valley in the last year, according to the Desert Sun.
Which would make this man the fifth bicyclist to die in the valley, where surface streets are too often designed like freeways, encouraging drivers to exceed the already too high speed limits.
And what little bicycling infrastructure there is does far too little to keep riders safe.
Anyone with any information is urged to call the Riverside County Sheriff’s department at 760/836-1600.
This is at least the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third I’m aware of in Riverside County.
April 5, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Murder charge for OC hit-and-run, justice for Woon finally coming, and keep fighting Vision Zero
Once again, Orange County takes traffic crime seriously.
He’s being held on $1 million bond. Which either reflects the seriousness of the charge, or the depth of his bank account.
No word on whether he will also be charged with driving under the influence and hit-and-run. Although they may be waiting for toxicology tests to come back before deciding on DUI charges.
However, the seriousness of the charge suggests they suspect DUI this may not be his first offense; a DUI conviction in California requires signing a letter stating that killing someone while under the the influence can result in being charged with murder. Which presumably is what happened here.
No official word yet, but the advocacy group Justice for Woon has revealed that charges will finally be filed against 23-year old Mariah Kandise Banks for the hit-and-run death of Frederick “Woon” Frazier.
Banks reportedly turned herself in last May as investigators were closing in, despite allegedly repainting her formerly white Porsche Cayenne to hide evidence of the crime.
Authorities may be waiting until the one-year anniversary of Frazier’s death on Wednesday to announce the charges.
The driver swears he never saw them as he was turning, even though they were directly in front of him. And kept driving until another driver flagged him down to say he was dragging them beneath his truck.
Let’s all keep dragging our feet on Vision Zero. And all you NIMBY traffic safety-denying drivers keep on fighting it, because a few moments of inconvenience is certainly more important than a human life.
And no need to redesign trucks to provide a 180 degree view from behind the wheel, so drivers could actually see what’s in the road directly in front of them. Or require sideguards so innocent bike riders and pedestrians don’t get dragged underneath them.
The Southern California Chapter of the Police Unity Tour will make a stop at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks on Sunday’s ride to honor Sgt. Ronald Helus, who was killed in the shooting, as well as the other 144 police officers who died in the line of duty in last year.
They get it. A paper in Grand Junction CO tells drivers that with or without sharrows, bike riders have a right to be in the roadway, and we all have a right to feel safe. Let’s hope they pay attention, because my brother lives and rides there now.
You’ve got to be kidding. A Florida cop is off the hook for killing a 15-year old boy as he was crossing the street because speeding — even at a whopping 21 mph over the limit — isn’t enough to justify a manslaughter charge under Florida law.
Briones would allegedly ride his mountain bike up to the unwary victims and slash them in the face with a knife or some other sharp object, then ride off before they had time to react.
And hopes to raise an additional $100,000 for No Kid Hungry over the summer.
This summer I'm going on a 3-month van tour to ride bikes, make new friends all over the US, and make videos. The goal is a @strava KOM every day, and $100k (1 million meals) for @chefscycle@nokidhungry, sponsored by @veloguide @ShoAirCG and lots more. pic.twitter.com/caeYHZOjLX
The San Diego bike rider seriously injured in a crash with a scooter user was reportedly riding salmon on the boardwalk near Belmont Park; he suffered several fractured vertebrae and two broken ribs.
Hundreds of Lime dockless bikeshare bikes ended up stacked in a Reno scrapyard after the company was unable to reach an agreement to continue its contact with the city. Evidently, there are no poor or homeless people up there who could have put the bikes to better use, or kids who could use a new bike.
A Texas bar is being sued for serving a man who got behind the wheel after getting extremely intoxicated and plowed into a group of bicyclists, killing one and seriously injuring another; naturally, the bar’s owners blame the victims for throwing themselves in front of a drunk. Unfortunately, California law prevents bars from being held accountable for the actions of their customers, no matter how drunk they help them get before driving home.
A Maine man will spend just 48 days behind bars for riding his bike up to a man in a drug store parking lot, threatening him with a knife and demanding money. Note to centralmaine.com — Seriously? Was the thief’s mode of transportation really his most important identifying feature? Would you describe a criminal who drove there as a motorist under the same circumstances?
Life is cheap in Japan, where a 26-year old man walked with probation following a conviction for attempted murder; he got angry during a fight with a relative, and threw a bicycle off the 12th floor of a building, striking a 76-year old woman walking in the courtyard below. Fortunately, she escaped with just a nearly six-inch gash in her forehead.
The suspect is described as an 18- to 30-year-old Latino man with short hair, about 150 pounds and 5’6″ to 5’8″, wearing a dark-colored T-shirt and pants, and riding a black and green mountain bike
Let’s hope they catch this guy before he does some serious damage.
Current wording exempts riders from the requirement to stay to the right when the lane is too narrow to share, which is the case with most right lanes in Southern California.
Not only is it not a significant change, it doesn’t change the rights or responsibilities of bike riders at all. Just simplifies the wording, bringing it in line with statutes in other states.
Yet somehow, AAA still opposed it.
Just one more example of the organization’s mindless, knee-jerk opposition to almost any legislation regarding bikes, including their fight against the three-foot passing law.
Even when it doesn’t infringe on their members’ God-given right to go “vroom, vroom” to their hearts content.
I cancelled my membership several years back when I got tired of the organization using my dues to lobby against laws intended to protect my own life.
And that of everyone else who rides a bike.
………
The war on cars is a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
This is who we share the roads with. Ten percent of drivers told AAA they “always or frequently” use their smartphones illegally while driving, while nearly 50% admit to doing it at least once. And those are just the ones honest enough to give a truthful answer; the real total is probably somewhere north of that. Far north.
A Scottish man on an around the world bike tour has picked up a passenger, adopting a stray kitten in Bosnia; he modified his bike to give it a space up front.
April 2, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Nipsey Hussle was one of us, and kindhearted cop replaces 91-year old Tarzana woman’s stolen bike
No surprise here. Encinitas bicycle advocate and local leader Roberta Walker and her husband have filed a claim against the city for the crash that left her with critical injuries last December, arguing that the signage and sharrows she was riding on were confusing and contributed to the crash. And that there should have been a bike lane, instead.
A pair of Napa parents are committed to promoting bicycle safety after their 11-year old son was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver while crossing the street on his bike; naturally, the driver wasn’t charged.
National
Outside discusses five insects everyone can eat. Most bike riders have probably eaten a few before learning to ride with their mouths closed.
Looks like Seattle is retreating on its bike-friendly reputation. A week after pulling the plug on a long-planed bike lane, Seattle scratches plans for 22 proposed bikeways, requiring an update in the city’s Bike Master Plan.
Grand Junction CO makes a big deal over their new sharrows, saying they show where bicyclists are allowed to use the full lane — before noting that they don’t actually change anything.
A group of bike-riding teenagers swarmed Boston’s former Big Dig tunnel, taking over two lanes of the freeway on the O’Neill Tunnel until they were herded out by police. Although I’m more concerned by the driver who used a handheld cellphone to record them.
They’re some of us, too. US Magazineshows bike-riding celebs around the world. Depending on how you define celebrities, of course. Although I like Lea Michelle, who said she kept a bicycle on the Paramount lot to bike to the set and back.
The BBC’s Piers Morgan insists that bike riders should be licensed and insured, accusing riders of being “completely unaccountable,” “invisible people marching around anonymously on your bikes creating havoc.” Maybe someone should explain to him how bicycling works, because marching ain’t it.
His mother tried to drive him to the emergency room, but stopped to call for help along the way. Paramedics arrived to provide care and take the boy the rest of the way to a Fontana hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
No ID has been been provided for the victim.
Police note that neither child was wearing a helmet, despite California law requiring a bike helmet for any child under 18. However, they added that it did not appear to be a factor in this crash, suggesting that he did not die from a head injury.
This is at least the 17th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
He’s also the second child to die in Fontana after falling off his bike in the last three weeks; a 13-year old boy was killed after allegedly falling in front of an oncoming car last month.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the vicitm and all his family and loved ones.
April 1, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: LA approves memorial signs instead of fixing streets, BAC agenda, and Yerba Buena Road closed
I honestly don’t know what to think about this one.
The signs can be requested by the families of fallen bicyclists, memorializing the victim while offering a general nod to bike safety.
They’ll stay in place for five to seven years, after which families can pay to have them replaced.
However, a maximum of just 20 signs will be installed each year, which will barely keep up with the number of riders killed on an annual basis in Los Angeles.
In an interview withKPCC’s Take Two, (Councilmember Bob) Blumenfield explained how the idea for the signs was borne out of a tragedy in Woodland Hills last April. On Easter Sunday, 15-year-old Sebastian Montero was struck by a car and killedwhile riding his bike on Burbank Boulevard.
Blumenfield was in contact with the boy’s family, as well as local police officers— together, they discussed ways to prevent future tragedies.
“I’ve been to too many of those ghost bike ceremonies, and they’re heartbreaking,” Blumenfield said.
After one officer, Duke Dao, suggested the idea for the memorial signs, Blumenfield ran with it.
I’m told be someone who worked closely with Blumenfield on the proposal that he’s absolutely sincere in wanting to do something to both remember the victims of traffic violence, and keep it from happening again.
But a simple sign’s not going to do that.
Blumenfield is one of the city’s better councilmembers on traffic issues, and is working to get a bike lane installed where Montero was killed.
But many of his peers have taken active steps to block desperately needed, potentially life-saving bikeways.
Despite the unanimous vote to establish the memorial program, we have to wonder how many of the councilmembers voted for memorials to fallen bicyclists instead of taking active steps to prevent their deaths.
Because it’s a lot easier to put up a small memorial sign than to fix the roads to avoid the need for them.
Among those voting yes,
Gil Cedillo has blocked road diets on North Figueroa and Temple Street, as well as trying to remove his entire district from the bike plan.
All voted to approve the memorials, while helping create — or at least not alleviate — conditions likely to require them.
Meanwhile, there’s a reasonable fear that the memorial signs will just blend into the streetscape, no more noticeable than the street signs indicating where police officers have been killed.
And if you haven’t seen those, that’s exactly my point.
Ghost bikes are intrusive and evocative. Granted, many drivers don’t know what they are. But once they do, they notice them every time they pass, and that drives the meaning home.
I’m not sure that will happen with these.
Especially if the limit of just 20 a year stays in place. It should be expanded to include not just those riders killed in the future, but the many riders who have needlessly lost their lives in the past.
And it should include pedestrians, as well, since they die in much greater numbers on LA’s mean streets than we do.
Maybe if hundreds of these memorial signs started to appear every year, blanketing every part of the city, people might finally get it. And realize that too damn many people are getting killed just because they rode a bike or went for a walk.
Then the council might finally do more than put up a sign.
Maybe.
Thanks to everyone who sent me links to this story.
No word on whether the alleged speeding driver who killed him was ever charged.
Photo by Steve S
………
The Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee will hold its bimonthly meeting this Tuesday. As always, the meetings are open to the public, and you are encouraged to attend.
The LA City Bicycle Advisory Committee meets Tuesday 4/2/19 7pm in Hollywood to consider a number of topics including Vision Zero update, LADOT's on-street wayfinding sign project, dockless scooters and bicycles in LA +more. See agenda for more details. Bring your bike inside. pic.twitter.com/ErIQrh5wr5
I’d like to think that might actually make someone think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking, smoking or downing pills.
But the threat of the death penalty hasn’t seemed to stop anyone from murdering other people.
So there’s that.
Thanks to Evan Burbridge for the link.
………
Local
LAistnotes the problems with LA’s troubled Vision Zero program, including a lack of social media presence for the past seven months. What the city doesn’t seem to get is that most of us really, really want to support Vision Zero LA — if they ever get their shit together.
The San Francisco Chronicle complains about the mythical war on cars, exemplified by a discussion of congestion pricing. Never mind that congestion pricing is intended to help improve traffic flow, which is hardly anti-driver. Or that nearly 100% of the roads are already dedicated to motorists, and the rest of us are just hoping for a few crumbs.
Two Kansas men were killed when a driver slammed into their bicycles from behind. No word on why the driver apparently didn’t see a couple grown men on bikes directly in front of him, but I’m sure we could all take a pretty reasonable guess.
An Oklahoma man learned the hard way not to wear a skull mask while carrying meth and weed on his bike. Although his lawyer might want to argue that simply wearing a mask, scary or otherwise, on a public street is not probable cause for a traffic stop. Which makes everything that followed moot.
The upstate New York jerk who wrote a ten-year old boy a letter of non-apology after a judge let him off easy for sideswiping the boy’s bike will now have to perform community service.
Taking a cue from LA Mayor Eric Garcetti’s playbook, Baltimore’s mayor decides to rip out a protected bike lane, and says no way to a planned road diet. Although to be fair, she’s replacing the protected lane with a painted green lane. And she gave it four years, while Garcetti removed the non-protected bike lanes and road diets in Playa del Rey after just one month of driver complaints.
Only after he passed away at the ripe old age of 93 on Saturday was it revealed that a Montreal man was the secret “Mr. Bike Man” who gave away over 1,700 bikes, helmets and locks to children in the Montreal area for the past 34 years.
French drivers are apparently vandalizing speed cameras, costing the country the equivalent of nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars. And it may have contributed to a jump in traffic deaths.
Sydney, Australia residents rise up against what they term a “nonsensical” bicycle superhighway, fearing it would somehow jeopardize pedestrians more than all those cars zooming past. Seriously, why is it that people continue to fight bike lanes that have repeatedly proven to be a net benefit to the surrounding community, regardless of any loss of parking?
Thanks to Matthew R for his generous monthly donation to support this site, and keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
Police are investigating whether he was drunk or stoned at the time of the crash, which seems highly likely.
Video from the scene shows a mangled cruiser bike with plastic baskets front and rear, and a large amount of debris strewn in the street, suggesting the victim may have been homeless or collecting recyclables.
However, that is just speculation at this point.
Anyone with information is urged to call Huntington Beach Police Accident Investigator B. Atkins at 714/536-5666, or Investigator A. Turner at 714/536-5670.
This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third I’m aware of in Orange County; two of those three deaths have been hit-and-runs.
Update: The victim has been identified by his mother as 33-year old Ray MacDonald, who lived in the Huntington Beach area for the past three years; he was killed the day after his birthday.
He leaves behind a daughter, and a loving family and friends.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ray MacDonald and all his loved ones.
March 29, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike rider severely injured in bizarre hit-and-run, and Garcetti swears he supports road diets
The victim, identified only as a 45-year old man named Esteban, remains hospitalized in the ICU with severe injuries.
But in a bizarre twist, the police have found the car, talked with the owner and identified the hit-and-run driver. They just don’t know where he is.
Thirty-five-year old Jose Miguel Mendez Lopez was running an errand in his boss’ car when he ran the victim down from behind.
And despite informing his boss of the crash, he ignored her pleas to return to the scene of the crash, and is now in hiding at an undisclosed location.
Meanwhile, a young woman suffered life-threatening injuries in a collision while riding at 8th and Hope in DTLA Tuesday evening.
Even though the chance of achieving zero traffic deaths within the decade ending in 2025 is pretty close to zero, itself.
Garcetti also swears he supports road diets, calling them absolutely necessary — when communities support them, that is.
Even though he’s done absolutely nothing to support road diets on Temple Street, 6th Street and North Figueroa, where the local communities have done exactly that.
And he hasn’t shown up at any of the many public meetings to defend the road diet on Venice Blvd, which he also claims to support.
At best, his support so far has been exemplified by benign neglect. Which in practice isn’t much better than outright opposition, allowing opponents to gain an outsized voice with the lack of any vocal support from the mayor’s office.
But who knows?
Maybe now that he’s not running for president he might actually show up for the job he was hired to do.
Presumably it will still remain free to ride your bike through the area.
Although given the lack of infrastructure, and all the angry drivers upset about forking over $4 for the pleasure of driving home from work, I’m not sure if you’d want to.
Call it a mini-ciclovia. With the coming return of the Long Beach Grand Prix, Long Beach will once again open the 1.5-mile course to people without motors, whether on foot, skates, bicycles, or any other form of non-motorized transportation. And once again, only for one and a half hours, in the middle of the work day, when most people can’t go.
State
This is the cost of traffic violence. Both members of the British indie band Her were killed in a car crash, along with their manager, while driving to a show in Santa Ana; no word on just where the crash occurred.
The father of Olympic cyclist and Stanford University student Kelly Catlin, who took her own life earlier this month, says Stanford could have done more to prevent her suicide, despite an earlier attempt and a week’s stay at the university hospital.
Sacramento approves a new bike trail, even though it will mean the removal of unused train tracks and a burned out bridge that train fans had hoped to use someday.
A 75-year old Healdsburg driver will face a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge for killing a woman on an organized charity ride when he drove onto the wrong side of the road to pass a slow moving truck, hitting her head-on.
Two-thirds of British drivers apparently believe in magic, somehow imagining that bicyclists just come out of nowhere. Which is another way of saying they aren’t paying attention behind the wheel, and have no idea what’s going on around them.
An 82-year old English woman suffered a serious head injury when she was knocked down by members of a university cycling team; she was collateral damage when a half-dozen riders went down trying to avoid her as she crossed the road.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. An Irish bike rider says he was knocked off his bike after someone threw a catalog at him from a passing car. Which strains credibility, if only because no one uses a dead tree catalog these days.
Australian cyclist Michael Hepburn was praised for his sportsmanship after he got off his bike to help his friend Zak Dempster when he fell during the Three Days of Panne race, even though they were competitors in the race.
It takes a major schmuck to stand over a cyclist laughing and filming as he lies on the ground writhing in pain after going off the road — let alone joke about stealing his bike. Portuguese pro Domingos Goncalves suffered a broken collarbone and shoulder blade in the crash, while the jerk filming him hopefully suffered massive humiliation.
An email from the Desert Bicycle Club identifies the victim as 68-year old Paul Jackson, a part-time resident from Calgary, Canada.
He’s described as a very experienced cyclist, which makes this tragedy that much harder to understand.
It’s possible that the minivan was parked and Jackson didn’t see it for some reason. Or it’s equally possible that the driver may have come to a sudden stop after cutting him off, or he could have somehow been forced into the rear of the van.
Or any number of possible explanations.
Unfortunately, we may never know unless a witness other than the driver comes forward.
Anyone with information is urged to call Officer Conoway of the Indian Wells Police Department Traffic Team at 760/836-1600.
This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second I’m aware of in Riverside County; in fact, it’s the second in the county in just the past week.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Paul Jackson and all his family and loved ones.
