A Covina cyclist has been killed in train collision.
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was struck by a Metrolink train at 1:38 this afternoon on Azusa Avenue near Northview High School.
No word on why the victim was on the tracks at the time of the collision.
Train collisions are the easiest type of wreck to avoid, since their route is predictable and both audible and visual warnings are given before they pass.
This is the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in LA County; this is also the second time a SoCal cyclist has been killed in a collision with a train this year.
My deepest sympathy for the victim and his or her loved ones.
February 23, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Prize winner’s new bike, Burbank considers bike/ped bridge, and Ventura tow truck driver ID’d
John sends a photo of his daughter on the custom bike that she won, noting that not only was she able to get the bike made to her specifications, but the store also assembled the bike, fit it to her and made all the adjustments.
It looks great. And I think we can all agree she looks good on it.
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CiclaValley reports the Burbank city council will meet tonight to consider a proposed bike and pedestrian bridge over the LA River to connect with a future bike path extension.
Considering the city’s recent decision to ban bikes from a long-shared pedestrian, equestrian and formerly, bike bridge, it can use all the support it can get, whether in person or by email; CiclaValley provides full details in the above link.
Beverly Hills begins testing its two-station pilot bikeshare system this week, in preparation for throwing bike riding tourists to the wolves in the historically bike unfriendly city.
Streetsblog’s Damien Newton talks murals and bicycle education in El Monte in the latest Damien Talks podcast.
Long Beach announces the entertainment and activities planned for Beach Streets Downtown, the city’s second ciclovía, scheduled for March 19th.
Next City reports San Diego plans to remake its city core with over nine miles of protected bike lanes and 5.5 miles of pedestrian greenways. Meanwhile, the city’s DecoBike bikeshare program is reportedly struggling after its first year, with only 88 of a projected 180 stations installed.
Ventura County will open a new campground for bike tourists in Foster Park, at the trailhead for the Ojai Valley Trail.
San Francisco installs a green bike lane next to the center line, rather than the curb, on one street to formalize the practice of cyclists passing cars on the left as they line up to make a right turn; the city also replaces a former freeway with a new condo complex that has no car parking, but offers bicycle parking for every resident.
National
An Arkansas cyclist needed 17 stiches after being attacked by a pit bull while training for a race; the dog’s owner insists he must have done something to provoke it. Like riding his bike, for instance.
A Chattanooga man is under arrest for allegedly pushing an eight-year old boy off his bike and climbing on top of him, then throwing his nine-year old brother off of his bike when he tried to intervene. Maybe we can lock him up with the Arkansas pit bull.
You know hit-and-run has become a major problem everywhere when an off-duty Massachusetts cop is accused of fleeing the scene after hitting a cyclist; his punishment so far amounts to a paid vacation while police investigate.
Orangetheory Fitness expands its orange-colored ghost bike-rip-off marketing campaign to British Columbia; the local manager claims no one would confuse them with actual ghost bikes, even though the issue has come up in virtually every city they’ve used it in.
London bicycle funding is scheduled to be cut in half at the same time the city encouraging more people to ride their bikes.
British bike writer and historian Carlton Reid takes a stroll through the comment section of a bikelash petition to block a London bike superhighway, including a signed comment by actor Tom Conti insisting that bicycles cause pollution.
Scottish transportation and environmental advocates join in calling on the country to spend less money on roads and more on biking and walking.
A UK parish councilor who flipped off a group of cyclists after running them off the road — leaving one rider hanging upside down in a tree — has resigned his position after being charged with careless driving. Never mind that his actions appeared to be intentional, and not the least bit careless.
Even in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Muslim women are defying conservative traditions and cultural disapproval by riding their bikes, noting that nothing in their religion prohibits it.
If you’re going to steal a bike, taking one honoring a fallen cop from the local police headquarters probably isn’t your best choice. What do porn and mountain bike racing have in common? More than you might think.
Reynaga was convicted last August for running a stop sign and right hooking Rodriguez, dragging him and his bike several yards — by some accounts, up to 150 feet — before finally stopping his truck. He got out, walked back to look at the young man lying badly injured the street, then simply got back on his truck and drove away to continue his deliveries.
At least one driver manage to avoid striking Rodriguez as he lay on the dark street before he was hit by another car, whose driver had the decency to stay at the scene.
It’s impossible to say which vehicle struck the fatal blow.
Reynaga faced up to four well-deserved years in prison, even though the judge planned to sentence him to two.
But that changed when Rodriguez’ relatives urged him to show leniency — not because they felt sorry for Reynaga, but out of sympathy for his family, because they didn’t want them to suffer the loss of a loved one like they did.
Moved by their remarkable compassion, the judge ordered Reynaga released, while imposing $16,000 restitution to help pay for Rodriguez’ burial in Mexico, along with three years probation; if he violates probation, he could be sentenced to serve the full four years.
Let’s hope he justifies their kindness.
Thanks to Jeffrey Fylling and Ann for the heads-up.
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A homeless man faces 27 years in prison — yes, 27 — for stealing a specialized three-wheeled bicycle belonging to a Burbank boy suffering from cerebral palsy.
The $5000 tricycle was found on the side of a road in Silver Lake several days later after the alleged thief dumped it when media coverage made it too hard to sell.
So let’s get this straight.
A hit-and-run driver who left a man to die in the street gets off with a little more than a year in jail, while someone who stole a bike faces nearly three decades behind bars.
Even with the bike thief’s long list of priors, something is seriously wrong here.
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A California appeals court overturned the murder conviction of the substance abuse counselor who got loaded, got behind the wheel and smashed into a Torrance pedestrian so hard she knocked his pants off — then drove two miles with his underwear-clad body embedded in her windshield.
The court ruled that the jury might have been prejudiced because they were shown her entire rap sheet — including previous convictions for possession, prostitution and burglary.
At least they let her conviction for hit-and-run stand.
But the 55-years to life sentence she originally received is out the window, pending a likely retrial. Or more likely, a plea for a dramatically reduced sentence.
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This is what a distracted driver looks like on the road, as a cellphone-using SUV driver repeatedly drifts towards a bike lane before right crossing the rider.
Assuming the Santa Monica city council says yes on Tuesday, the city’s Breeze bikeshare will expand outside the SaMo for the first time with five new stations in Venice.
A writer for the San Gabriel Tribune calls a proposed Class 1 bike path on Garvey Ave in Rosemead a game changer because people are more likely to ride their bikes if they feel safe. And credits advocacy group Bike SGV for many of the bicycle improvements in the area.
State
A San Diego cyclist is suing the city after suffering serious injuries when he hit a pothole so big it could be seen in a satellite view taken months before.
The Coyote’s Bicycle, a new book from a San Diego journalist, follows Central American migrants making their way illegally across the border by bicycle.
The feds aren’t the only ones having issues with Apple; bicyclists in Cupertino have suffered serious injuries on wet pavement at the construction site for the new Apple headquarters.
A San Francisco cab driver insists it’s okay for him to break traffic laws because he’s a professional and knows what he’s doing. So bike messengers, pro cyclists and delivery people should be able to break the law with abandon, right?
Sonoma County bicyclists hold a Tour de Trash, riding the back roads of Petaluma on Saturday to locate trash, then coming back in trucks on Sunday to remove it.
National
Country music star Clay Walker credits riding 25 to 40 miles a day with his band with helping him manage the effects of MS.
Truck side guards could save the lives of countless people on foot and bikes, but the federal government has failed to take action.
Austin TX agrees to stripe a bike lane by narrowing traffic lanes from a dangerously capacious 14 feet to a more realistic 11 feet — but only after a kid riding his bike on the sidewalk is hit by a car.
Not surprisingly, Arkansas cyclists would rather have a driver cross a double yellow line to pass than follow behind until they get to a passing lane. I agree; in my experience, drivers who follow behind a bike instead of passing usually do it too closely and impatiently.
When a carfree Little Rock AK man called police to report the bicycle he used as his only form of transportation had been stolen, the cop who responded promptly walked into a pawn shop, pulled out his own credit card and bought him a new one.
The Cincinnati paper says it’s time to embrace the bicycle and fully commit to bike-friendly infrastructure and education.
Tennessee proposes legislation forbidding funding bike and pedestrian projects with gas taxes. In that case, they should also prohibit general tax funds paid by bicyclists and pedestrians from being used for highway projects.
Evidently, they take drunk driving seriously in Pennsylvania, as a woman who killed a cyclist while driving under the influence gets up to 13 years behind bars.
Four North Carolina cyclists were seriously injured when a driver tried to pass in an unsafe place, and cut over into them when she saw a car coming in the opposite direction. That’s the caveat in crossing the yellow line to pass a cyclist; the driver has to have enough sense to do it only when it’s safe.
Irish track cycling gold medalist Martyn Irvine talks about walking away from the sport after losing his love for riding.
Apparently, it’s open season on pro cyclists, as two riders for the Belgian Lotto team became just latest racers to be hit by a car while they were training in Spain; fortunately, their injuries seem to be limited to bruises and abrasions.
Nothing suspicious here. The former executive director of the Russian anti-doping agency was planning to write a tell-all book about the country’s doping program before his sudden and unexpected death. Let the probably well-founded conspiracy theories begin.
Sounds familiar. When a Singaporean ad man lost his major client, he switched careers, becoming a cycling coach and setting up a new bike school. Which is sort of how this site was born, too. Although it wasn’t the dog that crapped on my best work, it was usually my clients.
A Malaysian bank funds a twice monthly two-hour ciclovía in Kuala Lumpur, including offering free loan of one hundred bicycles and ten tandems for the event.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene; his identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The driver fled the scene, leaving his victim lying in the road, where he was found by police responding to the call.
No word yet on how the collision may have occurred.
A satellite view shows the area is a mixture of farmland and housing developments. There appears to be a substandard bike lane headed east on Telegraph, with only a fragmentary bike lane westbound at the intersection with Saticoy, giving way to a narrow shoulder to the west with a 50 mph speed limit. Meanwhile, Saticoy is marked as a bike route, with no improvements to the street.
Police are looking for a white, four door Nissan sedan with substantial front end damage. Anyone with information is urged to call the Ventura Police Department’s Traffic Unit at 805/339-4323.
This is the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Ventura County. That exceeds the total for all of last year in the county.
Update: The victim has been identified as 14-year old Jonathon Hernandez of Ventura; KABC-7 reports he was a football player at Buena High School in Ventura.
He was apparently riding at that hour because he was upset after an emotional family meeting to mark his sister’s birthday, who died of leukemia a few months earlier; family members did not know he had gone out. He had called friends to say was coming over because he needed to talk.
Surveillance video shows he was struck by a white flatbed tow truck driving east on Telegraph, which should have major front end damage based on evidence at the scene.
Based on the description, the tow truck driver should face a murder charge once he’s apprehended, since Hernandez wouldn’t have been struck by the second vehicle if the driver had stopped as the law and basic human decency requires. Which does not absolve the second driver of his or her own responsibility.
A fund has been established to pay for funeral expenses. As of this writing, it had raised nearly $6,000 of the $10,000 goal in just seven hours.
Update 2: Police have identified the driver of the tow truck as Martin Henderson, the owner/operator of a towing company that contracts with Ventura.
They say he had the right-of-way as Hernandez allegedly ran the red light; presumably they base that on the same surveillance video that showed the two collisions.
Regardless of who may have been at fault, it does not excuse leaving a young man to die on the street.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jonathon Hernandez and all his loved ones.
And they cite CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz as saying transportation policy for Westwood was developed without “consulting him or the community.”
Funny, that’s not the way I remember it.
I attended a number of meetings where the 2010 Bike Plan, and specifically Westwood Blvd, were discussed, dating back to when the initial plan was first unveiled in 2009.
All of which were attended by Koretz’s staff members, and at least some by Koretz himself. Including one highly contentious meeting that focused solely on Westwood, where supporters argued with angry residents and business owners protesting the possible removal of bike lanes and/or a traffic lane to in order to accommodate bike lanes.
Those complaints were heard loud and clear. The result was a revised plan creating a floating bike lane that would have retained all traffic lanes, and kept parking by flipping it from one side of the street to the other between the morning and evening rush.
However, business owners refused to consider it because it meant their customers would have to cross the street to get to their shops. Meanwhile neighboring homeowners, who were addressed directly, simply didn’t want bike lanes on “their” street.
Koretz responded to their complaints by halting a nearly-completed engineering study of bike lanes on the boulevard, followed by putting a permanent hold on installation of the bike lanes themselves at the behest of local residents. Even though I’m told the study would have showed the bike lanes would improve safety with no significant impact on traffic flow.
In response, traffic planner Ryan Snyder developed a plan that would have added bike lanes along most of Westwood, with sharrows in a small section where there was too narrow for bike lanes, while keeping all parking on both sides of the street and retaining existing traffic lanes.
Yet even the “Remove Nothing Plan” was rejected out of hand, this time out of supposed fear for the safety of cyclists on the busy street. Which never seemed to be a concern for opponents in any discussions prior to that point, making it seem that they were simply fishing for any argument to stop the plan.
And never mind countless outreach efforts by the LACBC and their bike ambassadors, and multiple presentations to neighborhood councils and homeowner groups.
So it wasn’t that there wasn’t any outreach, or effort to address the concerns of Koretz and local community members. It’s just that they insisted on sticking their fingers in their ears and stomping their feet like petulant two-year olds while shouting “No! No! No!”
To say neither he nor the community was consulted is disingenuous at best, if not an outright lie.
Was drinking 40-ounce beers with a friend just hours prior to the wreck
Spent the afternoon slashing tires and otherwise vandalizing cars with said friend
Got behind the wheel with alcohol, marijuana and another unnamed depressant in his system
Drove away after rear-ending another car
Later passed the same car on the right as the driver tried to stop him
Drove on the shoulder at twice the posted speed limit
Didn’t stop after hitting Gardner, but pulled over later in a parking lot to examine the damage to his car
Drove back to the crime scene, refusing to stop when a cop tried to flag him down
Hit another car trying to get away
Apparently couldn’t have cared less when told his victim was going to die, asking only if his car was damaged and when he could get it back
The station says he could get 15 years hard time if he’s convicted.
Somehow, that barely seems like enough.
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Never mind getting drivers to pay attention. The key to safety is obsessive hi-viz, according to this 1978 bike safety vid dug up by British bike historian Carlton Reid.
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Local
The LA Times is hosting a half-day conversation on the future of transportation in Southern California, including talks with Mayor Eric Garcetti and U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, as well as discussions on self-driving cars, hyperloops and the next steps for LA. It appears to be free, but you have to apply for an invitation, which may or may not be granted.
A writer for the Pasadena Weekly says you are not a driving instructor, so keep your horn to yourself; it’s not intended to tell others how to drive, give them the audible equivalent of the bird, or tell slower traffic, including cyclists, to get the hell out of your way. Amen, sister.
A Fallbrook website offers photos of the recent 12 and 6 Hours of Temecula endurance mountain bike races.
Business owners on a Santa Barbara street complain that plans for a bike lane would violate California environmental laws by removing 100 parking spaces along the street; they swear they support bike lanes, just somewhere else where it would cost a lot more. No, seriously, they say removing parking spaces and giving people an alternative to driving would be worse for the environment.
Salinas bike lockers are going unused. If no one is using bike lockers, chances are they’re either in the wrong place, unsecure or people don’t feel safe riding there.
San Jose police arrest the driver who fled the scene and abandoned his car after running down a cyclist last week.
National
Once again, a new study upends your training diet by announcing fried foods are now good for you. Although a greasy meal before your next century could prove a little problematic.
In a long and wonky piece, People for Bikes says it looks like major changes are coming to the national street design committee that will make it friendlier to bicycling and walking.
Another example of women earning a fraction of what men do. After a Las Vegas gambler bets a woman gambler $10,000 she can’t ride her bike from Vegas to LA in 72 hours, he bets another guy $600,000 he can’t ride from LA to Vegas in 48.
Houston plans to make the notoriously auto-centric city more bike friendly, including a long-term proposal for 861 miles of “high-comfort” bikeways. Does that mean you have to ride them on a plush bike?
Now that pro cycling is allegedly cleaning up its act, amateur cyclists represent the next frontier in doping. Meanwhile, Lance’s lawyers say cycling was a cesspool back in his day, and only a fool would have believed it when he insisted he wasn’t doping. I guess that means there were a lot of fools back then, myself included, who truly wanted to believe.
A travel website suggests bicycling is the best way to visit Bagan, Myanmar, which it describes as a temple-filled, real-life Narnia where bikes rent for $1 a day. You just have to walk through the right wardrobe to get there.
Finally…
It’s one thing to reject a bike lane to preserve parking, but voting to preserve illegal double-parking may set some sort of NIMBY record. Now you can wash your clothes while you pedal; if they can figure out how to put that on an actual bike so you’ll have clean clothes to wear at the end of your ride, I’m in.
Cyclists biking around the University of Southern California may once again be stopped and cited for riding their bikes in a crosswalk.
The officer stopping them, whether they are from the Los Angeles Police Department or USC security, when asked why they are writing a ticket might reference the sign that reads “Walk Bikes In Crosswalk” as the reason for citing the cyclist. What the officer apparently doesn’t know is that there is no such law, regardless of what the signs says.
At the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Open House a couple of months ago, I met a graduate student who attends USC and who is a cyclist. He told me about this sign at Jefferson and Royal, and a few others like it, near the USC campus. He wanted to know if these signs were accurate and enforceable. A few days later he took and emailed me the accompanying photo.
I knew this wasn’t a question of law as bicycles can be ridden – legally – through crosswalks. So where and how and why was this sign on the street?
We contacted Sgt. Flynn of the LAPD, Central Traffic Division, who said, “I do not know of any California Vehicle Code section that states you can’t ride your bike in a crosswalk. The only section that someone could be cited for, if it is an official sign, would be CVC 21461(a)vc ‘Official Traffic Sign or Signal-failure of Driver to Obey Regulatory Provisions.’”
So where did this sign come from and why is it still there? What we found out after many, many telephone calls and emails, is that the sign is reflective of old laws that empowered officers to cite bicyclists for not walking their bikes in a crosswalk. But that law was taken off the books in 2006.
This is not a new issue, particularly in the USC neighborhood. In September 2009, the Daily Trojan reported that a task force of LAPD officers and USC security was being put together to regulate safety. This would include sting operations set up at intersections to cite cyclists riding their bikes in crosswalks. Citations could cost up to $250.
On Jan. 12, 2010, four months later, Streetsblog wrote a more extensive article on this same topic called “If You Want to Know Bicycle Law, Don’t Ask the California Highway Patrol, Part 2.” Streetsblog reported that, as we know, there was no law that stated that cyclists had to dismount and walk their bikes in crosswalks. Ten years later, since the 2006 change in the law, we’re still discussing these same issues.
Los Angeles Department of Transportation has jurisdiction over most traffic devices – signs and signals – in the City of Los Angeles. DOT employees confirmed that this sign is a DOT sign and it was installed by DOT.
LADOT’s Bicycle Coordinator Michelle Mowrey was one of the people involved in the 2006 modifications of the California Vehicle Code that resulted in the removal of the law that bicycles had to be walked through crosswalks.
When we asked Mowrey about this sign, she told me that whether or not it is reflecting the pre-2006 law, it is a non-standard sign. Mowrey told us that though the sign doesn’t appear in any Caltrans’ manuals, a black-and-yellow sign, as it is, indicates that it’s a warning sign, not a regulatory sign, which is black-and-white. Citations can be issued only on regulatory black-and-white signs. That’s why speed limit signs are black-and-white and “Share the Road” signs are black-and-yellow.
An LAPD representative said the LAPD was not involved in the signs. We were told their opinion of the sign is that it is a safety recommendation. Our question, then, would be, do LAPD officers know that or are they still ticketing cyclists for disobeying the sign? We don’t have an answer to that question.
We talked to three different people at LADOT about why these signs were up. In essence, they all said that after the law was changed, in 2006, steps were taken to remove signs like these on all city streets. These signs were overlooked, apparently, and it was just an oversight.
Mehrdad Moshskar, LADOT’s central district engineer, was our next stop. We were referred to him to find out how to get the signs removed. Moshskar assured me that all of these signs in that area of town would be removed soon.
People have asked me if I thought the signs originated with USC. I have no idea, and no one knew or was willing to tell me.
The official answer came from Tim Fremaux in the LADOT Bicycle Coordination Department who said, “Anyone can submit any traffic-related request via myladot.lacity.org and it will be reviewed. If DOT approves the request, it will be implemented on our streets.”
There are Traffic Division and Bicycle Liason meetings held on a quarterly basis, which are open to the public. These meetings include representatives from LADOT, USC, the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office and other public groups. For more information about these meetings, contact Lt. Chris Ramirez at 213-486-6000.
Meanwhile, if anybody goes past Jefferson and Royal, would you email me at info@pocrass.com and let me know if the sign is still up?
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.
Metro is preparing to open a new pedestrian bridge linking the Universal City Metro stop to the Universal Studios across the street this April.
Because slowing traffic and fixing the street on busy Lankershim Blvd so it would be safe for pedestrians was apparently out of the question.
So if you take your bike on the subway to visit City Walk or take the studio tour, you’ll need to either cart it over the elevated walkway — if bikes are allowed on it — or risk your life crossing a street that city officials seemingly determined was too dangerous to fix.
Italian cycling great Mario Cipollini responds to complaints about riding without a helmet by donning one to ride on rollers. And doffing everything else.
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Local
The Biking Black Hole is looking for volunteers to test its new bikeshare program starting next Monday; there will be two stations with 50 bikes in Beverly Hills during the pilot phase, part of the promised expansion of Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare program. Although the question remains whether users will be able to find a safe place to ride in the notoriously bike-unfriendly city.
The San Diego Reader talks to local residents who accepted New Belgium Brewery’s challenge to live carfree for a full year, and finds they like it.
Tres shock! A planned road diet reducing the Coast Highway in Oceanside to two lanes, along with bike lanes on either side, is meeting resistance from some local residents. Not unlike virtually every proposed road diet, and most bike lanes, everywhere.
The CHP blames a Palo Alto cyclist for making an unsafe lane change in a fatal collision; he was riding in a bike lane that forces riders to cross high speed traffic merging right onto an on ramp. From the description, it sounds like the real person responsible the tragedy is whoever designed the bike lanes in the first place. Not to mention whoever approved a 55 mph speed limit on a surface street.
Dallas and Forth Worth plan a 64-mile bike trail connecting the two cities. Yet we can’t even manage to get a continuous bikeway connecting Downtown LA and Santa Monica.
Women bike messengers in Chicago call for an end to cat calls and harassment. Seriously, women should just be allowed to do their jobs, and ride a bike without being subjected to abuse.
A Brooklyn street gets an upgrade from sharrows to buffered bike lanes after overcoming previous opposition. Meanwhile, the head of a neighborhood group is trying to stir up a scandal, saying two members of a community board should have abstained from the vote that overwhelmingly approved bike lanes on another street, even though it wouldn’t have made a damn bit of difference in the outcome.
Outside reports on the sad last days of BMX legend Dave Mirra, who took his own life in North Carolina earlier this month; friends say he was depressed and had lost direction, despite making plans for a comeback.
International
Caught on video: A British cyclist narrowly escapes being hit by a large truck in a dangerously close pass.
To cut down on congestion, Mumbai is proposing to ban all new car and motorcycle registrations after a yet-to-be-determined date; the city also plans 100 new cycle tracks, among other roadway improvements.
There was no information on the identity of the victim, or how the collision occurred.
A story from the Fontana Herald News says the vehicle crashed on the side of the road after hitting the rider, and shows a photo of a silver sedan smashed against a light pole.
This is the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second in San Bernardino County. It’s also the fourth bicycling death in Fontana since 2011.
Update: Not surprisingly, the driver has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. He reportedly drifted into the bike lane, knocking the victim onto the hood of his car, then catapulting him 40 feet after striking the light pole.
The unidentified victim was pronounced dead at the scene. He’s described only as a Hispanic man in his 40s or 50s, who was riding a red bicycle.
Anyone who may know the identity of the victim is urged to call Fontana police at 909-350-7700.
When someone is injured while riding a bicycle, we often never find out what happened after they are rushed to the hospital.
Today we did. And the answer was not the one we wanted.
The Orange County Coroner announced that 52-year old Yorba Linda resident Angel Preciado passed away late Monday, five weeks after he was hit by a motor vehicle in Yorba Linda.
According to the Orange County Register, he was riding in a crosswalk on Imperial when he was left crossed by a truck turning from southbound Eureka onto Imperial. He was taken UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he remained in a coma until he was pronounced dead at 10:30 pm Monday.
A satellite view shows crosswalks on both sides of Imperial. The description of the wreck would place Preciado in the east crosswalk; no word on which direction he was riding.
The Register reports the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made.
Much will depend on how the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office interprets the law allowing cyclists to ride in a crosswalk. While state law permits crosswalk riding where bicyclists are allowed to ride on the sidewalk — which appears to be the case in Yorba Linda — it is often misinterpreted to say cyclists must walk in crosswalks or may only ride in the direction of traffic.
Preciado, who grew up in Venice Beach, was described as “an awesome, generous, loving guy,” who friends loved and could count on.
His roommate and best friend said they had both lived on the streets for some time before they were taken in by friends in Yorba Linda.
He said Preciado had borrowed a friends bike to run an errand; the next thing he knew, he was awakened by sheriff’s deputies dropping off the bike, which was unscathed.
This is the 17th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in Orange County. And it’s the first reported bicycling fatality in Yorba Linda in the past five years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Angel Preciado and his loved ones.
The council had been presented with three plans to remake the roadway into a Complete Street that would serve the needs of all road users, as well as the greater community — two involving road diets and bike lanes, and one which would accommodate bike lanes by narrowing the existing traffic lanes.
But even though the third option would have had no effect on traffic flow, other than improving safety, the council voted to do nothing in the face of opposition from some mostly older residents.
It was a setback for the region, and leaves Las Tunas a dangerous commuter arterial instead of a vibrant center for local people and businesses. I have no doubt that the people of Temple City will eventually see the light, but in the meantime the design of Las Tunas remains stuck in the past, serving only a part of the community’s needs, forcing everyone else into a steel box….
When we create a transportation system that only works for cars, we create a partial system that excludes and marginalizes people who can’t afford cars, don’t want a car, or who are unable to drive. We essentially force all but the most experienced and confident (or desperate) to buy into the car system. Once people buy into that system they expect cities to design infrastructure for their convenience, which further reinforces the incompleteness of this unsafe, inequitable, unsustainable, people-unfriendly system.
Meanwhile, Andrew Yip forwards a letter from a Realtor organization that set out to rile up opponents of the plan in advance of last week’s meeting.
Let’s see how many obvious errors you can spot in it.
Never mind that bike lanes like the ones proposed for Las Tunas have been repeatedly shown to not just improve safety, but boost sales for local businesses, reduce business vacancy rates and increase property values for homeowners in the surrounding area.
Maybe those property owners would have liked to know some of that before they were roused into voicing their opposition and cowing the council.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misidentified the city as Rosemead, rather than Temple City. Thanks to John Lloyd and Andrew Yip for the correction.
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Let’s catch up on a little new bike news.
Why bother putting fenders on your bike when you can just buy a $3,570 bike with front and rear mud guards built into the carbon fiber frame?
Just what every kid needs. A $2,775 carbon fiber mountain bike designed for children from four to seven; at least the frame is adjustable as they grow. Did I mention it costs nearly three grand?
Meanwhile, a nice essay by Anna Schwinn in Bicycle Times suggests the reason fewer women ride bikes starts with the bike itself, in an industry that caters to men and offers few models in women’s sizes. And even then, usually lower quality at a higher price. Thanks to Richard Risemberg for the link.
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Local
The new documentary about East LA’s Ovarian Psycho’s scheduled to premier at South by Southwest has just 15 days to raise another $15,000 to get funded.
KPCC reports on the battle over the Mariposa Street Bridge, where Burbank officials recently voted to ban the mere presence of bicycles lest they frighten the horses.
LADOT Bike Blog celebrates the 20th anniversary of the city’s successful sidewalk bike rack program; you can request a bike rack at your favorite location by filling out this form. I’m requesting racks at a couple of medical buildings I visit far too often; it’s absurd that offices dedicated to health force their patients and staff to drive because there’s no safe bike parking for blocks around.
Burbank is planning an “epic day of celebration” at this year’s Burbank on Parade on April 23rd, including a mini-CicLAvia sponsored by Walk Bike Burbank.
Calbike is asking the state Air Resources Board to extend their Clean Vehicle Rebate Program to cover up to half the cost of a bicycle, since bikes are cleaner than the greenest car.
The father and son team of Darryl and Bryce Headrick were officially charged with felony aggravated assault on a peace officer on Tuesday, after allegedly attacking a cop who tried to stop Headrick the Younger on suspicion of biking under the influence last week.
Another case of a hit-and-run driver running down a jogger in a bike lane, this time in San Diego. And this time, with her 3-year old daughter in the car; she also hit two parked cars for good measure.
Duel doctorates in aeronautics and astronautics, cyclocross racer and a top 20 finisher in the collegiate national road cycling championships. Not a bad resume for this San Benito County woman.
A UC Berkeley student says common sense on the part of drivers and pedestrians can help prevent collisions with cyclists. Common sense on the part of bike riders can go a long way, too.
The parents of a Delaware student who was knocked down by a bike rider has sued the university for failing to ban bikes from sidewalks; the victim is still in a coma four months later.
