Sometimes it’s clear that something bad has happened.
But exactly what often isn’t clear for hours — or sometimes days — afterwards.
That’s what happened Wednesday morning when word broke of a serious collision involving a bike rider.
First reports from the CHP put the collision west of San Diego in El Cajon, then later reports placed it in Ramona — even though the two cities are miles from one another. That was followed by initial news reports in which a CHP spokesperson confirmed someone had died, but said it wasn’t clear if the victim was the cyclist or the driver.
It took until late Wednesday afternoon before it was clear what had really happened.
Alarcon died at the scene shortly after the collision, despite the efforts of the driver and two others to tend to him.
No explanation is given for why he was apparently unable to see the oncoming car or stop before entering the roadway. However, judging from the satellite view, it’s possible the driver could have rounded the corner at San Vicente and gotten up to speed before either had a chance to react, if he’d been driving aggressively.
The paper notes he was not wearing a helmet, but does not say if he suffered a head injury. A side impact at that speed is unlikely to be survivable, with or without a helmet.
This is the 41st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in San Diego County. He is also the third cyclist to be killed in Ramona, with a population of under 21,000, in the past four years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Juan Alarcon and his family.
After San Marino rises up against the great unwashed masses on bikes, a writer for the Pasadena Star-News takes offense at residents taking offense.
Actually, we should all take offense at that.
Unlike the mad rantings of the Wicked Witch of Wall Street, who feared New York’s blue hued Citi Bikes would besmirch her fair city, at least some San Marino residents fear the mere presence of less-entitled outsiders on bikes.
What, exactly, they think we’re going to do there is beyond me. Though the story suggests at least one anonymous fear-monger implies we’re going to molest, or at least annoy, their children and shower in their schools.
Okay.
To the best of my knowledge, the city’s proposed bike plan merely makes it more convenient for residents and outsiders alike to ride in and through the city.
Hopefully city officials will discard the mad rantings of xenophobic anti-bike residents, and opt for better safety for everyone, instead.
Thanks to Wesley Reutimann and Day One for the heads-up.
Apparently, Taylor Phinney’s violent crash in the national road race championships on Monday was caused by a race motorcycle that suddenly appeared in his path after he rounded a blind curve. He’s expected to miss this year’s Tour de France — if not the entire season — after surgery for a compound fracture of both bones of the left lower leg.
And British TdF champ Chris Froome insists he doesn’t use anything stronger than espresso. Then again, didn’t that guy from Texas who insists he won seven Tours say the same thing?
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Local
Former Talking Head and noted bike rider David Byrne falls in love with DTLA, and proclaims it the perfect place to start a bike program. Maybe he missed all those bike lanes spreading throughout Downtown.
Unless he somehow rear-ended a stopped car, it’s highly unlikely a cyclist was responsible for colliding with a car in Saugus since they were both travelling in the same direction, despite what the story in the SGV Signal suggests.
A Long Beach bike rider is shot and killed after fleeing police.
State Assemblywoman Christina Garcia receives a petition in support of Andy’s Law to stiffen penalties for hit-and-run — and take away the driver’s license for up to 10 years.
National
Bike and pedestrian advocates and urbanists need to work together if either are going to succeed.
No license, no problem. An unlicensed New York driver faces a whopping $500 fine for killing a cyclist. Good thing the NYPD has its priorities straight.
Would an 80-year old bike rider really run a red light?
That’s what we’re being asked to believe, after a cyclist lost his life on a Long Beach intersection Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, 80-year old Long Beach resident Mariano Carasaquit Libron was riding in the crosswalk on eastbound 16th Street, attempting to cross Long Beach Boulevard, when he was hit by a medical van.
The collision occurred at 1:27 pm as Libron reportedly ran the red light in front of the southbound transport vehicle driven by a 24-year old Long Beach resident. The Orange County Register reports responding officers found him lying unconscious in the roadway; he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The satellite view shows a very wide six lane intersection, divided by two railroad tracks and a center median.
While anyone can make a mistake, it seems to strain credibility that an 80-year old man conservative enough to ride in a crosswalk — and presumably, on the sidewalk leading up to it — would blow through a light directly in front of oncoming traffic.
What seems far more likely is that the light may have changed while a slow-riding Libron was already in the intersection, and the transport driver somehow failed to see the rider directly in front of him after the light turned green as he approached the corner.
It’s also possible that the driver of the van may have been the only surviving witness; unless there were independent witnesses, investigators only have his word that the light was green.
Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach Collision Investigation Detail Detective Steve Fox at 562/570-7355.
This is the 40th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th in Los Angeles County. This is also the eighth bike rider to die in Long Beach in the last four years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Mariano Libron and all his loved ones.
May 26, 2014 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: A local bike shop worker moves up, a cycling triple crown, and a bad break for Phinney
Congratulations are in order for one of my favorite bike people.
Chris Klibowitz of the Santa Monica Helen’s Cycles, and former manager at the Westwood location, is leaving the bike shop after six years for a new job as editor at ROAD Magazine.
You’ll never meet a nicer guy. Or anyone more knowledgeable or passionate about bicycling, or more deserving of the opportunity.
And now that I think about it, maybe it’s ROAD that deserves the congratulations.
Meanwhile, newly crowned national time trial champ Taylor Phinney sees his season come to an unexpected end as he breaks his lower left leg in two places and damages the same knee after apparently crashing into a roadside barrier on a steep descent. Best wishes for a full and fast recovery from what sounds like a very nasty injury.
An agreement with state parks officials will allow the Santa Ana River trail to pass through Chino Hills State Park, eventually creating a continuous 110-mile pathway from the Pacific Coast Trail to the beach.
A Wall Street website lists the top six American bicycling cities. For a change, Portland isn’t at the top of the list, and as usual, San Francisco is the only California city on it.
When intersections are designed for cars, bike riders break the law; when they’re designed for everyone, most people follow the rules — cyclists included.
International
A Canadian bike rider spots his recently stolen bike going the other way on a bus rack, and steals it back at a red light.
A UK cyclist goes out for a ride in the country and ends up in a rave. And no bias here, as a Virginia TV station not only claims a cyclist collided with a car, but that authorities found him “passed out” on the median. Or maybe he was just unconscious because he’s just been in a collision.
My father fought in World War II, in both Europe and the Pacific.
In fact, he was training for the invasion of Japan when the war ended; his unit had been told to expect a 100% casualty rate. If Japan hadn’t surrendered when it did, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
Or be, period.
My grandfather was a doughboy in World War I; exposure to poison gasses probably contributed to the emphysema that eventually took his life, along with a lifetime of smoking.
My brother served in Vietnam, thankfully without serious incident.
They all made it back home. A lot of the men and women they served with didn’t. Along with countless others who fought in earlier and later wars.
Several of the kids just few years ahead of me in school went to Vietnam and never came back, while a Marine friend of mine — the husband of a co-worker — was one of the few Americans to die in the first Gulf War.
And we’ve lost too damn many good men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan.
So please, take just a moment amid the bike rides and barbeques and sales going on today to remember what Memorial Day is really all about. And say a prayer for all those who have given their lives for their country, if you’re so inclined.
San Jose’s Mr. Roadshow tells drivers how to avoid right-hooking cyclists. And offers the heartbreaking tale of a priest who comforted a teenage cyclist as she lay dying following a traffic collision, only to lose his own life in a cycling collision years later.
Palo Alto residents agree changes to a contentious roadway should include measures to alter human behavior.
After a Toronto cyclist is screwed over by the insurance company of the driver who hit him, the local paper rides to his rescue.
A new French 360-degree helmet cam can take immersive video of your ride. Or capture dangerous drivers on video no matter what direction they come from.
Several cyclists riding with the bicycling Australian prime minister are taken out by an oil slick. Somehow, I can’t imagine any American president riding in a peloton.
It’s standard practice in public relations that when you want to hide something bad news, you release it on a Friday afternoon where it can get lost on the weekend news cycle. And when you really want to hide something, you release it on a Friday just before a three-day holiday weekend.
That’s exactly what the LA County Sheriff’s Department did today.
The department has been highly criticized for investigating their own deputy in the December death of cyclist Milt Olin, rather than turn it over to independent investigators from the CHP, which usually handles traffic fatalities for the LASD.
Now, after sitting on the news for over a week, they finally announced that the results of their foot-dragging investigation into the former Napster executive and entertainment lawyer’s death were turned over to the DA’s office for evaluation on May 15th.
Why it took over five months to conduct an investigation that probably wouldn’t have taken five days if it was an average citizen behind the wheel is anyone’s guess. Let alone why the announcement wasn’t made last week, unless they were deliberately attempting to time it for the holiday weekend.
The incredibly cryptic announcement doesn’t offer a clue as to the results of the investigation, leading many in the cycling community to suspect the department may be attempting to cover-up its own culpability in Olin’s death. And hoping we won’t notice.
Good luck with that.
I’ve heard from a number of riders since the news broke late Friday afternoon, all of whom suspect something fishy is going on. And virtually all of whom question why the LASD chose to investigate itself, knowing the results would be held in doubt unless they unexpectedly come down hard on the department itself.
And yes, I’m told the CHP was more than willing to step in to assist or take over the investigation, but were never asked.
Meanwhile, the Times cites the coroner’s report as saying Olin appeared to be wearing earphones connected to an iPhone, which would be in violation of state law permitting an earpiece to be used in one ear only.
What bearing that could possibly have in the investigation is highly questionable, unless they’re trying to make a case that Olin should have somehow been able to avoid the patrol car that drifted into the bike lane and ran him down from behind.
Even eyes in the back of his head, let alone perfect hearing, probably wouldn’t have helped in that case.
The paper also notes that the Sheriff’s Department has publicly apologized to Olin’s family. As well they should.
But what they really owe them, and us, is an open and honest investigation, rather than a five month cone of silence followed by deliberately trying to bury the press release when it was most likely to go unnoticed.
On the later, they failed miserably.
On the former, the jury is still out. If it ever gets to one.
Thanks to everyone who reached out to me about this story.
Great news on the Westside, as the popular San Vicente bike lanes are being extended through Brentwood. I rode through there myself on Friday, and even unfinished, it feels a lot more comfortable than the usual Friday traffic madhouse.
A speeding New Orleans driver is indicted on negligent homicide and negligent injury charges for killing an Atlanta firefighter in town for an Ironman competition and injuring another rider. Apparently they’re taking this case seriously, since he was taken into custody on a total of $600,000 bond.
After a North Carolina bike rider confronts a cop to deny running a red light, the officer takes him down, breaking his arm in the process.
A UK motorcyclist riding in a bike lane knocks down a bicyclist, then blames the victim before posting video of the incident online — which clearly shows his mirror clipping the rider’s arm.
A Sydney newspaper calls a study showing bike lanes carried the same amount of traffic as the lanes next to them a two-wheeled fraud.
A Thai driver walks with a one year probation and a 10,000 Bhat fine — the equivalent of just $307 — for killing two bike riding British tourists on an around the world tour. I’d like to say life is cheap there, but I’ve seen just as bad right here in the US.
This is why people continue to die on our streets.
An Olympia WA man gets work-release despite his seventh — yes, seventh — DUI arrest; he’ll spend nights and weekends in jail, but be released every day to run his business. Odd that they don’t offer bank robbers and drug dealers the same consideration. And no word on how he plans to get there; let’s hope he won’t be driving.
And an Illinois lawmaker proposes a new bill to help keep more drunks on the road. Because it’s too inconvenient for them to find some other way to get around without killing someone.
………
More on the League of American Bicyclists’ 12-month study of bicycling fatalities across the US, as USA Streetsblog offers eight takeaways from the study released Wednesday, including:
Most fatalities occur on urban arterial roads
Hit-from-behind collisions were the most frequent cause of bicycling fatalities
Intersections are the most dangerous place for urban riders
Most victims were wearing helmets
The more people who ride in your state, the less risk you face
A moving new documentary profiles Damian Kevitt and Ghost Bikes LA to call attention to the dangers cyclists face, especially from hit-and-run drivers. At only eight minutes long, it’s definitely worth watching.
Both Milestone Rides and Boyonabike offer reviews of last week’s LA Bike Week, most of which I missed.
Santa Monica considers dropping speed limits to 15 mph near schools; then again, it doesn’t matter what the speed limit is if they don’t adequately enforce it.
Specialized finally puts their wind tunnel to good use by determining the aerodynamics of beards on bikes. Now if they’d just figure out if shaving your legs really makes you faster.
A Virginia lawyer offers advice on the eight things you should do right away if you’ve been injured in a bike collision. Seriously, though, you’d think an attorney would know not to call them accidents.
International
An Ottawa writer says the city doesn’t need any more bike lanes because they can’t make the climate bike friendly. Oddly, he doesn’t suggest they stop building roads due to adverse winter driving conditions.
A Melbourne bike rider is injured when she crashes into a police vehicle hidden by a blind curve on a bike path. The cops were targeting motorbikes and other motorized vehicles illegally using the trail, like… uh, them.
Aussie cyclists protest the country’s mandatory helmet law; ridership in Tel Aviv jumped 54% in just two years after the Israeli city revoked theirs.
The Memorial Day weekend means heavy traffic this afternoon as people get off work early and rush to get home and get out of town. So ride defensively and watch out for drivers today, because chances are, they won’t be watching for you.
I expect to see you all back here safe and sound on Tuesday.
I’m just getting word of a dangerous situation on the Coyote Creek Trail in Los Alamitos.
Orange County cyclist Bob Masuzumi writes that he was riding south on the trail with a small group of riders between Wardlow Road and Los Alamitos Blvd, just before a bridge that crosses a secondary creek next to the high school.
As he tells it,
The rider in the lead didn’t realize the trail, which is poorly marked, curved away from the creek and that you had to cross the creek using the bridge. Unfortunately, he rode off the trail and ended up at the bottom of Coyote Creek, sustaining a serious concussion resulting in 3 days in the ICU. He was then transferred to their rehab facility from which he should be released tomorrow. However, he will continue to receive therapy as an out-patient for an unknown length of time.
I believe that not only does it need proper markings, but there should be a fence extending from the bridge past the curve, so that other riders do not make the same mistake. Also, a fence needs to be added on the other side of the bridge. Currently, a rider, after crossing the bridge, needs to make a 90 degree right turn, otherwise they will end up going down the embankment toward the high school. This area does not seem to be very safe for cyclists at all & we believe should be corrected to prevent anything similar happening to another cyclist.
I can’t say I’m familiar with the area, even though we’ve discussed problems on the trail before. Including the fact that Los Alamitos has failed to adequately maintain its section of the pathway.
But if you know the part of the trail he’s talking about, what do you think?
Is this as dangerous as it sounds, and does it need corrective measures — or at least a warning sign to comply with state law regarding known dangers on off-road trails?
And is anyone familiar with any other riders who may have been hurt there?
We learned, for example, that a much higher percentage of fatal crashes than expected — 40% of fatal crashes with a reported collision type — were “hit from behind” incidents — that’s important to know for our education program. Not surprisingly, high-speed urban and suburban arterial streets with no provisions for bicyclists are an over-represented location — representing 56% of all bicyclist fatalities — that’s good information to share with our Bicycle Friendly Community partners.
We found important new information about why crashes happen, how they are reported, and the scope of enforcement actions taken against motorists — including common felonies charged and average sentences for 77 convictions related to bicyclist fatalities
Overwhelmingly, however, we were struck by the lack of information, the lack of action, and the lack of a sense of outrage over these deaths, even in communities where this kind of tragedy is relatively common.
It’s something I plan to dive into over the next few days. Because the better we understand how and why these tragedies occur, the more we can do to prevent them.
As they say in asking us all to call on the US Department of Transportation to demand action — and as I’ve argued many times before — there’s only one acceptable number of traffic fatalities when it comes to cyclists and pedestrians. Or anyone else, for that matter.
Zero.
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Local
Metro honors Sweeyoke Ooi for their monthly Why We Ride series. Because, as they say, Bike Week never ends for many Angelenos. And they offer photos from their Bike Week Guided Ride Day, which evidently did. End, that is.
The Times astutely notes that it’s time to retire the myth that Los Angeles has a love affair with cars, despite what our state’s senior Senator says.
Rick Risemberg attends Sunday’s Reinventing the Wheel: the Future of Mobility in LA sponsored by Santa Monica public radio station KCRW and finds it sadly auto-focused. And out of beer.
Caught on video: A British Columbia cop goes on trial for punching a handcuffed cyclist in the face. Since when do bike riders get arrested — let alone punched — for not wearing a helmet and allegedly running a red light?
In a brilliant experiment, a Swedish city gives residents free bikes for six months as long as they promise not to drive three days a week; thanks to Daniel Blazquez for the link.
Former Tour de France winner Jan Ullrich injures two people in a three car crash while driving drunk at 20 kilometers over the speed limit. Then tries to pass it off by saying it could happen to anyone. Uh, no. Only someone stupid and careless enough to get behind the wheel after drinking.
But they lose me with the illustration of a bike crashing into a car. And the last line that seems to put responsibility on riders to avoid getting killed, rather than on drivers to avoid killing someone.
So what do you think?
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This is what cyclists are up against in Beverly Hills.
Something tells me the officer needs a little retraining. Or maybe a new job.
And the driver needs to be behind bars.
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As long as we’re in DC, I somehow missed this one last week as the US Secretary of Labor says he just wants to ride his bike to work. And that the department is committed to making “cycling to work an affordable, easy and enjoyable option.”
Sounds good to me.
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Local
The Source says the new Metro bike map was released just in time for last week’s Bike Week.
Santa Monica’s Cynergy Cycles is offering a discount on registration for the California Coast Classic Bicycle Tour benefitting the Arthritis Foundation. Which means I now have two medical conditions with their own benefit bike rides, and I’d like to stop there, thank you.
Ex-con Michael Reyes pleads guilty to killing Chula Vista bike rider Daniel Voigt while driving in a stolen car with a suspended license last month; he faces over 14 well-deserved years in prison when he’s sentenced in July.
San Diego considers building an enclosed bikeway under the Coronado Bridge, which currently bans bikes. I seriously want to ride that one.
Okay. The Tour de Cluck offers a bike tour of Davis-area chicken coops. Yes, chicken coops.
Only 1% of head injuries occur on bikes, while 48% occur in cars. But no one suggests helmets for automobile passengers. Or most business employees, for that matter.
Not surprisingly, Portland comes out on top in a new ranking of the best cities for bicycling; also not surprising is that LA is nowhere on the list.
My hometown bikes to work at 11 times the national rate. When I last lived there three decades back, it was pretty much just me.
Is anyone really surprised that a Nebraska football star won’t faces charges for stealing not one, not two, but seven bicycles? It’s long past time to stop coddling criminal athletes.
Evanston IL plans to encourage bicycling by banning bikes on some streets. Yeah, that’ll work.
Great Britain honors the cyclists who lost their lives in World War I. That was the war so devastating it was supposed to end all wars. Despite their sacrifice, it didn’t.
Dover police knock a cyclist off his bike when he allegedly failed to respond to commands to dismount, then say he just fell off.
Bradley Wiggins wants to restore your faith in cycling. My faith in cycling is as strong as ever; my faith in pro cyclists, not so much.
IKEA is now offering an e-bike in some Austrian stores; no word on whether you have to build it yourself.
As China continues to re-enter the world, its citizens face the same dangers Westerners do, as a Chinese bike rider is kidnapped by Taliban militants in Pakistan.
Finally…
A Cambridge, Massachusetts bike safety campaign uses the local vernacular as it urges riders to Be Wicked Smaaht. And a British driver who killed a teenage passenger in a 130 mph crash — in a 60 mph zone, no less — has his sentence cut in half because he’s sorry. Oh, well okay, then.
