Archive for bikinginla

Update: Bike rider dies Monday after apparent solo Fathers Day fall; Temecula rider dies of natural causes

June 26, 2013 / / 2 comments

These are the emails I hate to receive, when someone contacts me asking if I’ve heard about a bike rider who was killed.

Because too often, it’s something that hasn’t crossed my radar yet. And too often, it turns out to be true.

That’s what happened last night when I got a message asking about reports that a rider was killed on Avenue 64 in Los Angeles, near the Pasadena city limits.

A little research turned up a story on the Highland Park–Mount Washington Patch site, describing an apparent solo fall in which a rider suffered sever head trauma; comments to the story reported the victim had died, and gave a name.

According to the site, Jose Cuellar was riding south on Avenue 64 at Burleigh whn he lost control of his bike and fell, suffering severe head trauma. He was reportedly unconscious for 15 minutes before paramedics arrived and took him to a nearby hospital.

Reports of how the incident occurred are a little confusing. The site says the first indication of a problem was the sound of screeching tires; witnesses then report seeing the rider struggling to control a speed wobble before falling.

However, bike tires don’t normally screech, no matter how fast the rider is going or how much strain they’re under, suggesting that there may have been a motor vehicle involved which could have caused Cuellar to lose control of his bicycle.

The site notes he wasn’t wearing a helmet, which is relevant for a change, as this is exactly the sort of fall bike helmets are designed to protect against.

A call to the L.A. County Coroner’s office confirmed that 43-year old Jose Cuellar died at Huntington Memorial Hospital on Monday, June 24th.

According to the person I spoke with, the investigation into his death was just beginning, so no other information was available.

Update: Just received word from Sgt. Lazlo Sander, the LAPD’s bike liaison for the Central Traffic Division, that following further investigation, Cuellar’s death has been reclassified as a single vehicle traffic collision rather than a solo fall; however, there is still no suspicion that any other person or vehicle may have been involved.

……..

In more bad news, a popular Temecula high school teacher died of natural causes while riding Sunday.

According to the Press-Enterprise, 52-year old Darren Thomas, a history and social sciences teacher at Chaparral High School, collapsed while riding in the 40000 block of Calle Medusa, and was pronounced dead at a local hospital at 9:49 am.

There will be vigil in his honor at 7 pm this Thursday at Puma Stadium, and a memorial service is tentatively scheduled for 1 pm on Saturday, July 6th in the school gym.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jose Cuellar and Darren Thomas, and all their loved ones.

……..

These are the 39th and 40th bicycling fatalities in Southern California this year, compared to just 28 this time last year.

It’s also the 19th bike-related death in Los Angeles County this year, compared with 24 bicycling fatalities countywide for each of the last two years. And the third in Riverside County, compared to 11 and 13 in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

It’s also the sixth bicycling death in the City of L.A. this year, compared to five in all of 2011 and four in 2012.

In other words, we’re already 50% above last year in the City of L.A.

And this year isn’t even half over yet.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Breaking news: bike lanes come to Beverly Hills

June 26, 2013 / / 7 comments
Looking east from just past Rexford Drive

Looking east from just past Rexford Drive

Okay, so it wasn’t a total surprise.

Recent news reports had indicated Beverly Hills would be installing their first bike lanes over the next week or so.

So when I saw temporary no parkings signs on Burton Way on my way to CicLAvia on Sunday, I assumed something was in the works.

Since a meeting of the LACBC’s Civic Engagement committee meant I had to ride through Beverly Hills on my way to Downtown LA Tuesday evening, I made a point of taking Burton Way just to check it out.

And sure enough, as soon as I passed Rexford Drive, after surviving the relative terror that is Little Santa Monica at rush hour, there it was. A sparking, capacious new bike lane — so new, in fact, that other riders were taking to the sidewalk in apparent disbelief of what was right there on the street in front of them.

And who could blame them?

Beverly Hills had long earned its moniker as the Biking Black Hole for being the only city in the area without a single inch of bikeway.

Until today.

Maybe we should call them the Biking Grey Hole now. Especially since the new lanes, along with bike lanes and sharrows due to go in on Crescent Drive, are only being installed on a one-year trial basis.

Still, the lanes felt good, more than wide enough to ride two abreast. And the eastbound lanes connected with the lanes on the Los Angeles section of the street, allowing a smooth, comfortable ride from Rexford to San Vicente.

With the slight downhill, I found myself easily riding at 29 mph; previously, I would have held my speed down for fear of traffic conflicts.

Although I might question the placement of sharrows where the bike lanes end to allow right turn lanes on some of the major streets. While they are placed according to standards in the center of the right through lane, few cyclists are likely to ride there, as there is more than enough room to ride next to vehicular traffic in the few feet before the traffic light.

Looking back at Beverly Hills City Hall, which suddenly looks just a little bike-friendlier.

Looking back at Beverly Hills City Hall, which suddenly looks just a little bike-friendlier.

At least, that’s where I rode, since stopped traffic blocked access to the center of the lane, anyway.

On the ride home, the westbound lanes skipped a block between where the L.A. lanes end just at Doheny, and the Beverly Hills lanes picked up a block later.

After all this time, it seems like a minor miracle that Beverly Hills finally has bike lanes. And maybe a warning sign of the apocalypse.

And of course, they installed bike lanes on one of the streets in Beverly Hills that doesn’t need them, since it was more than wide enough to ride outside of the traffic lane as it was.

But still. They’re actually here.

We all owe a round of thanks to Mark Elliot of Better Bike, who has been leading an almost single-handed, and finally successful. fight for cyclists in the Biking Grey Hole.

Which could take a little getting used to.

Category: Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , ,

A successful Wilshire CicLAvia, Give Me 3 moves forward, and who knew drivers run stops signs, too?

June 25, 2013 / / 2 comments
The view from the Downtown hub

The view from the Downtown hub

Just a few quick thoughts on Sunday’s CicLAvia.

After all, there’s been more than enough written on the subject to make a review by yours truly truly irrelevant.

But let me offer my congratulations to the folks at CicLAvia for pulling off the most successful event yet.

Maybe it was the extended 9 am to 4 pm hours, allowing people to travel the route more leisurely.

It could have been using both sides of a wide boulevard, unlike the recent CicLAvia to the Sea, allowing more space to move. And the limited traffic crossings certainly didn’t hurt, making it possible for even the slowest riders to cover the entire route in an hour or so of actual pedaling.

Meanwhile, the shorter distance encouraged more walking, making this the first one where I’ve seen a significant amount of pedestrians along the entire route.

Evidently, bikes are good for business

Evidently, bikes are good for business

It might have been the iconic theme for an iconic boulevard. Along with the many entertainment and educational options along the route; the woman singing traditional Korean songs in not so traditional Koreatown was a highlight for me.

Call it Gangnam-style from a handful of centuries back.

Then there was the food of every possible description, dispensed from everything from trucks and restaurants to church groups and kids hawking cookies and lemonade.

It could have been the abundance of portapotties, reducing bladder pressure and putting everyone in better mood.

Or maybe it was all of the above, in what felt like the best planned and organized CicLAvia yet. Clearly, organizers have looked at what didn’t work in previous events and made some changes for the better.

I'll believe a car-free Wilshire when I see unicorn on it

I’ll believe a car-free Wilshire when I see unicorns

One minor criticism is that participants universally ignored signs suggesting slower people should keep to the right, resulting in conflict zones throughout the full length of Wilshire. Which may have been why I saw three riders fall, resulting, thankfully, in relatively minor injuries.

The worst was a woman who lay in the street grabbing her collarbone, causing me to ride a few blocks back to an aid station get medical help.

The others suffered scrapes and road rash, and declined medical help.

Note to everyone: If you have the option for free medical help in an event like this, take advantage of it. Prompt first aid can prevent worse problems later, and the need for avoid more expensive medical attention if further injuries become apparent the next day, as often happens.

A friend writes that she witnessed a bike-bourn hit-and-run, in which a couple on a tandem rode off after knocking down another rider. Witnesses were unable to stop the bike before it disappeared into the crowd, leaving the victim sprawled bloody on the street.

Me taking a picture from Downtown hub; photo by Maraget Wehbi

Me taking a picture from Downtown hub; photo by Maraget Wehbi

Then there’s the schmuck — and I use the term advisedly — who apparently was unwilling to make his way to one of the four crossing points, and gunned his late model Toyota through the barricades at Windsor Ave and across the CicLAvia route, where he hit a cyclist before fleeing the scene.

Fortunately, the rider wasn’t seriously hurt, though badly shaken. (Update: The rider has three fracture vertebrae as well as a mangled bike; having suffered the same injury a few decades back, he likely faces a long road to recovery and a lifetime of back pain.)

Unfortunately, the limited description means the driver will probably get away with it.

But on the off chance they find him, I hope they take away his license. And shove it so far up his ass he’ll need to see a proctologist to buy his next six pack of beer.

………

Congratulations to Wolfpack Hustle on pulling off what I’m told was a very successful and popular first-ever Civic Center Criterium on Sunday.

………

California’s latest attempt at passing a three-foot passing law is now before the Senate Standing Committee on Transportation and Housing after overwhelmingly passing the state Assembly, just shy of a veto-proof two-thirds majority.

The bill’s sponsor, Inglewood Assemblymember Steven Bradford, has been very smart in answering the unreasonable objections Governor Jerry Brown gave in vetoing the last two attempts to pass a three-foot law.

There should be no rational reason for Brown to veto the law this time around. Although as we’ve seen, rationality isn’t exactly his strong point when it comes to bikes.

There are some strong supporters of bicycling on this committee, including West Valley Sen. Fran Pavley. But it couldn’t hurt to contact committee members to voice your support.

As we’ve seen with the previous attempts to pass this law, nothing is guaranteed in California politics.

………

After learning that the rate of cellphone violations are down in California, a writer from the Press-Enterprise conducts his own survey and finds 7.7% of drivers he observed at a Temecula intersection were texting or using handheld phones — slightly higher than state stats.

More interesting, however, was his secondary observation that two-thirds of the drivers failed to stop for the stop signs.

Based accusations from motorists, I would have sworn only bike riders do that.

Pot, meet kettle.

………

Speaking of anti-bike bias, so much for the L.A. Newspaper Group’s self-proclaimed Summer of Cycling being a good thing, as the owners of the Daily News, Daily Breeze, Press Telegram, et al, once again trot out the tired cliché of licensing cyclists and requiring insurance for bike riders.

As usually happens when the press chums for angry drivers, the results will inevitably skew towards requiring licensing for bike riders, if only because there are far more motorists than there are bicyclists. Never mind that this question reads like a classic push poll designed to draw a negative response.

So once again, for their benefit and that of anyone else unclear on the concept, like most bicyclists, I have a drivers license, which means we’ve already passed the same test as anyone else on the road — and probably have a better knowledge of traffic law than most, since we too frequently have to defend our right just to be on the road.

And despite what the papers suggest, my automotive insurance covers me for liability when I ride, as well as covering medical expenses resulting from a collision with an uninsured motorist or a solo fall.

Just like pretty much every American bike rider over the age of 16.

So get over it, already.

And before they claim to cover the subject, they need to reach out to the people and groups who are fighting for the rights of cyclists every day.

Not the angry drivers who don’t have a clue about the rights of cyclists, or how to ride a bike safely on the streets of Southern California.

………

Congratulations to our friends at LA Streetsblog, winners of two L.A. Press Club awards Sunday night.

Well deserved.

………

Former LADOT Bike Blogger and current Calbike board member Chris Kidd updates his comprehensive listing of state sidewalk riding laws, including percentages of where it’s legal in each county.

………

Looks like we’re all invited to the official inauguration ceremony for our new mayor this Sunday evening. LADOT ranks the 50 most dangerous intersections for pedestrians; something tells me they’re not much safer for anyone else. Beverly Hills begins work on the city’s first bike lanes; needless to say, they’re only being installed on a trial basis. A writer raises questions about plans to improve bicycling on Redondo Beach’s Harbor Drive. A SoCal cyclist sets a new national one-hour record at the Home Depot Center Velodrome in Carson. A Valencia woman faces charges for a hit-and-run that seriously injured a cyclist. San Diego prosecutors decide on misdemeanor charges for the driver responsible for killing cyclist Charles Gilbreth — despite recklessly passing a bus — and blame fallen cyclist David Ortiz, at least in part, for his own death.

Bikes Belong looks to reinvent itself. A smart new Maine bill redefines traffic to include bikes, bans right hooks and removes the restriction to ride to the right. NYPD is — finally — starting to take traffic fatalities seriously; thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up. A New York columnist offers his take on the city’s new bike share program; Gothamist says that all you got? A Virginia cyclist is hit by a stray bullet when a man can’t manage to load his gun without firing it. A Texas woman leaps off her bike at the last second to avoid getting run over by a cement truck. New Orleans gets bike lanes on iconic Esplanade Ave. One hundred nineteen years ago yesterday, a Jewish mother of three successfully set out from Boston to bike around the world.

A bike-hating Toronto writer changes his tune after just  two hours on two wheels. A Winnipeg writer offers a tongue-in-cheek look at six ways a cyclist with a death wish can become a hood ornament; decent advice, but somehow, not so funny. Bikes now make up as much as a quarter of London’s rush hour traffic. Tips for the bike curious. Even in the Netherlands, childhood bike riding is down as more parents drive their kids to school. A look back at 150 years of bicycling in Copenhagen. Evidently, you need nine lives to ride a bike.

Finally, I don’t even know what to say here, as a Swiss man sexually assaults a bicycle after puncturing both tires; presumably so it couldn’t get away, I guess. And if you’re carrying a sunglass case full of meth on your bike at 1 am, put a damn light on it, already.

The bike, that is, not the meth.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bike Events, General, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Lotsa links: Memorial rides, CicLAvia Sunday, the Summer of Cycling, and a VA bike rider says you suck

June 22, 2013 / / One comment

It’s been awhile since we’ve had a chance to catch up with the latest headlines.

So pop open a cold one, limber up your clicking finger and settle in for a little light reading. You’ve got to rest up for Sunday’s CicLAvia anyway, right?

………

A memorial ride will be held at 8 am Saturday in Coronado for San Diego bike racer Jackie Dunn, and a second ride will be held in Rancho Cucamonga. Now if someone will just organize rides for the other six riders who’ve lost their lives in Southern California in the past week or so.

Meanwhile, Michael Wagner of CLR Effect writes movingly about the effect Dunn’s death, and that of Chris Cono, have had on the local bike racing family.

………

KNBC-4 looks forward to Sunday’s Wilshire Blvd CicLAvia. LAist offers a guide to CicLAvia, which it calls the longest — in terms of hours, not distance — most walkable and event-filled; I prefer the jelly filled, myself. The Militant Angeleno offers his own great tour of CicLAvia sites, but  you can always settle for the official guide and/or podcast initiated by the Getty, whatever that means. One of those Wilshire Blvd sites is the famed Gaylord apartments, built by the boulevard’s socialist capitalist namesake. Take a bike train from the Tar Pits to the Wolfpack Crit. The Bikerowave will be closed for CicLAvia on Sunday.

And Forbes says CicLAvia is turning L.A. into a city of pedestrians.

As for me, I’ll be working the LACBC booth at the Downtown hub at One Wilshire from 10 am to noon on Sunday; stop by and say hi if you’re in the area.

………

The LA Daily News declares this the summer of cycling, but not necessarily in a good way. But what’s with this whole “bike lobby” crap that’s suddenly popping up everywhere since the wicked witch of Wall Street’s mad rant? Thanks to LACBC board member April Economides for the link.

………

It looks like West Hollywood is serious about updating its bicycle and pedestrian plan; the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition says things are moving forward.

Seriously, the WHBC is an amazing group of bike advocates working hard to make WeHo a safer and more ridable city; if you live or bike in the city, you owe it to yourself to join.

………

A bicyclist is looking for witnesses to a hit-and-run at Washington and Pacific in Venice this past Tuesday. Get a free peach if you bike valet today at the SaMo farmers market. If you’ve had a bike stolen in Santa Monica lately, the SMPD wants to get it back to you today. As Santa Monica police prepare to focus on ticketing bike riders, city officials focus on safety in the face of rising cycling rates; maybe they’re playing good cop, bad cop? The Times looks at outgoing city councilmember Bill Rosendahl; he’s been the role model for what an elected official should be. LACBC recounts the recent Climate Ride. LADOT welcomes two new assistant bike program coordinators. A new park opens along the L.A. River bike path. A new Watts bike co-op is put on hold until the owner gets back from his deployment in Afghanistan. In the wake of the collision that killed fallen bike rider Phillip O’Neill, Boyonabike examines the proposed Pasadena bike plan and finds it lacking. Santa Clarita is looking for artists to design new bike racks. Long Beach gets approval for separate bike and pedestrian paths on the beach.

San Diego will install sensors to lengthen red lights to give cyclists time to get across major intersections. Orange County’s cdmCyclist talks to two of my favorite people and bike advocates. A new Riverside bridge offers safe passage to bicyclists and pedestrians on the north side; on the south, not so much. Turns out bike lanes make things better for everyone; except Hollywood filmmakers, of course. SFist starts a — hopefully tongue-in-cheek — sidewalk riding offender registry. A Stockton rider is hit by a pickup, then beaten with baseball bats by the occupants. Watsonville wants to be the new Bike City USA. Now that’s a bad fall, as a Marin County man falls off a bike trail and lands butt first on a piece of rebar. When it comes to infrastructure, a little effective signage might help; personally, I want to post the last one facing against traffic all over L.A.

Elly Blue says the secret to riding in high heels is there is no secret. Lance wants the rest to the cycling world to come clean. A new record in the Race Across America (RAAM). The latest gear for bike cops. Seattle claims to have the world’s best naked bike ride. Skaters beat up a Seattle bike rider after making him fall. Bike to Work Day comes on Wednesday in my home town. A Colorado highway gets a $312 million upgrade, including a bike path. Kansas City Star says someone just needs to tell motorists bike lanes are a good thing. Minneapolis ridership is up, but crashes remain steady — there’s still room for improvement, though. Lady, if a Chicago bike rider travelling at world-class speed really ran right over your dog, he’d probably be dead — and so would the cyclist. A Maine bicyclist gets sucked under the wheels of a passing semi, and police fall over themselves to blame the victim. Leonardo DiCaprio and friend go riding in New York. Gothamist writes in defense of salmon cycling. AARP comes out strongly in support of a Federal Complete Streets bill. Businesses along a new bike trail in Greenville SC saw a 30-50% increase in sales. A Florida driver offers a bike rider $14 for a cab before fleeing the scene after running her down. Now that LeBron has a second ring, can the bike-riding NBA star fix the streets of Miami?

How to cycle up an impossibly high cliff to increase ridership. Guardian readers offer tips for touring France by bike. The New York Times complains Amsterdam suffers from too many bikes; nice problem to have. UK bike bloggers say the bike industry should spend less on press trips and more on advocacy. Bikes are making a comeback in traffic-clogged Bangladesh.

Finally, if you’re being attacked by buzzards, maybe you need to ride a little faster. A Virginia letter writer says I’m okay but you suck, as he draws an artificial distinction between bike riders like him and those damned cyclists. And if this reminder to get on your bike doesn’t make you smile, you may be beyond hope.

In the mad dash between various meetings, writing for Streetsblog and trying to keep up this site this week, I’m afraid I’ve lost track of who sent me what links this time.

So my apologies if I don’t give credit where it’s due for forwarding stories; trust me, I do appreciate it and I’ll try to do a better job next time.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske weighs in on Santa Monica cyclist convicted of assault with a deadly weapon

June 21, 2013 / / 3 comments

Sometimes I’m surprised by just who reads this blog.

Let alone their willingness to weigh in on the issues we discuss.

Case in point: The other night, I mentioned I’d be writing a piece for LA Streetsblog about the cyclist who pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon after blowing through a red light, and seriously injuring a pedestrian on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.

And while I was reaching out to a handful of the area’s leading bike lawyers for comments, I invited any other lawyers who wanted to weigh in on the case to send me their thoughts.

Still, I was surprised to receive an email yesterday from bike lawyer Bob Mionske, Bicycling Magazine’s Road Rights columnist, and author of Bicycling and the Law.

I used some of what he had to say in my piece, which is now online at Streetsblog.

But his entire response is well worth reading, as it shines a light both on issues in the Santa Monica case, and the mentality facing cyclists on the road everywhere.

With regard to the “assault with a deadly weapon” charge against the cyclist in Santa Monica, it seems to me that this is overreach, and is due to a frustration with cycling in general, and scofflaw riding specifically. But as we have witnessed in the aftermath of many a cyclist death under the wheels of a culpable motorist, comments about the scofflaw straw man always emerge. This may be a version of the same mentality. When people are frustrated by some group—in yesterday’s culture, young “hotrodders,” in today’s culture, “scofflaw cyclists”—finding a member of that group who has actually broken the law and been caught may lead to a sort of collective punishment for the entire group, in which the culprit is made an example of.

Looking beyond the particulars of this case, there are two larger issues here.

First, there is the issue of disparate treatment of cyclists who break the law, and drivers who break the law. We can see this in the “Scofflaw Cyclist” meme that cyclists are tarred with. In fact, drivers break the law at least as often as cyclists do, and perhaps more often. And when drivers break the law, they are more likely to be a danger to others than when cyclists break the law. And yet, cyclists are the ones who are tarred with the “Scofflaw” meme, even when they are the law-abiding victims of negligent drivers.

When drivers are negligent and injure or kill a cyclist, are they charged with “assault with a deadly weapon”? Not that I’ve ever heard of. Often, they are coddled with “it was just an accident.” And often, law enforcement bends over backwards to shift the blame to the cyclist, when it is crystal clear that the driver was breaking the law. I have seen this happen many, many times.

Part of the problem we are facing is that we live in a culture where most people, including law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and jury members are drivers. Prosecutors have a high bar of proof when pressing criminal charges, and if the accused was a driver who did something that every driver does, it may be difficult for the prosecutor to convince a jury made up of drivers to find the accused driver guilty of a serious charge. But when the accused is a cyclist, and the general opinion of cyclists is that they are scofflaws, it will be easier for the prosecutor to convince a jury made up of drivers to find the accused cyclist guilty.

There is nothing inherently wrong with pressing charges against cyclists who negligently injure pedestrians. But there is something wrong when we treat cyclists more harshly than we treat drivers who negligently injure cyclists and pedestrians. If as a society we want to start charging cyclists with serious violations when they negligently injure pedestrians, then we’d better get serious about charging motorists with equally serious violations when they negligently injure cyclists and pedestrians.

Second, when charges are filed, they should reflect what actually happened. This means that the incident should not be undercharged (for example, “unsafe passing” when in fact somebody was killed as a result of an unsafe pass), and the incident should not be overcharged. The question raised by the charge in this incident is whether the charge reflects what actually happened, or whether the cyclist was overcharged. From my own experience, I have never seen a motorist charged with “assault with a deadly weapon” after running a stop (yes, motorists run stops) and hitting a cyclist or pedestrian.

One other quick note.

Many of the attorneys I spoke with described the charge against the cyclist as an overreach. Meaning, yes, the cyclist could be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, but it probably wasn’t the appropriate charge in this case.

And while they didn’t say it, one that a good lawyer might have been able to get dismissed.

Which brings up one last point I’m surprised none of the lawyers mentioned.

If you get a ticket while riding, whether in Santa Monica or anywhere else, you may want to fight it — especially if there’s a question of selective enforcement, which may be the case as the SMPD plans to target violations by bike riders over the next few months.

Mionske offers a good guide to determine whether to fight or pay.

You may or may not be able to fight it on your own. But it’s always a good idea to talk with a lawyer first.

But if you’re facing criminal charges, for whatever reason, you need a good lawyer. It’s not a question of whether you can afford one, but that you simply can’t afford not to have one.

You can find a list of attorneys with experience in bike cases over there on the right. Including every lawyer I talked to for my Streetsblog story.

I don’t know if Rocky Martin had one.

But I suspect if he had, his case might have turned out differently.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Law Enforcement, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , ,

Update: Bike rider in her 20s killed by FedEx truck in Fullerton

June 20, 2013 / / 5 comments

Make that seven dead cyclists in the last eight days.

No one wants to think about a fallen rider as a statistic. But it’s hard not to when the body count keeps piling up on a nearly daily basis.

Word is just breaking that a bike rider in Fullerton has become the latest to lose her life on the mean streets, train tracks and racing venues of Southern California.

According to KNBC-4, a woman, described only as a Fullerton resident in her 20s, was riding east on Nutwood Ave when she was struck by a Fed-Ex delivery truck traveling north on Ladera Vista Drive around 2:15 pm.

The truck was turning left onto Nutwood; judging by the position of the truck and bike in a photo accompanying the story, it looks like the truck may have cut the corner, possibly hitting the victim’s bike nearly head-on. The story notes the cyclist appeared to have the right-of-way.

The driver was reportedly cooperating with investigators.

This is the 38th bicycling fatality this year, and the fourth in Orange County. It’s also the second bike death in Fullerton in the last two years.

My sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones.

Thanks to Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.

Update: The victim has been identified as 22-year old Chelsea Kashergen of Fullerton. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Update: San Diego bike racer killed in velodrome fall

June 20, 2013 / / 2 comments

For the second time in less than a month, a Southern California bike racer has died — a reminder of just how dangerous it is to compete at the higher levels of our sport.

I began getting reports yesterday that a bike racer had died, but couldn’t find any confirmation. However, San Diego’s  Fox 5 now reports that Jackie Price Dunn has died following a fall at the San Diego Velodrome Tuesday evening.

Reports are she was left brain dead after touching wheels with another rider and hitting her head hard on the riding surface. According to the Fox report, she was kept on life support until her organs could be harvested for transplant.

She was 33 years old.

According to the Crank Cycling website, Dunn only recently began bike racing, rapidly rising to Cat 3 in less than two years after taking up the sport in 2012. The site reports she took up boxing after her naval officer husband was transferred to San Diego in 2008, losing over 80 pounds.

As she continued to get in shape, she discovered bicycling through competing triathlons, and started track racing in recent months. She was a member of the Catalyst Racing Cycling team, which offered a brief memorial on their Facebook page.

Her death comes less than a month after Chris Cono was killed during a criterium in Rancho Dominguez, leaving the tight knit racing community doubly shaken.

The San Diego Reader reports the San Diego Velodrome Association is currently being sued, along with the City of San Diego, by a cyclist who suffered a fractured skull and collarbone when the rider next to him hit a rough spot on the track and swerved into him.

The suit alleges that the group governing the Velodrome knowing allows cyclists to ride a dangerous and defective track. The outdoor track was last resurfaced in 2010.

This is the 37th cycling fatality in Southern California since the first of the year, and the fifth in San Diego County. She is also the 6th cyclist to die in the past week.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jackie Dunn and her family.

Thanks to David Huntsman and Stefan and jg for the heads-up.

Update: In a comment below, Matt Ruscigno says he was there on Tuesday night, and that there seemed to be nothing about the relatively slow-speed fall that seemed out of the ordinary at the time. And he notes there will be a memorial ride in Coronado this Saturday.

There has also been a memorial fund set up to help defer expenses for her family. 

Update 2: VeloNews offers a look at what happened, and who Jackie Dunn was. Then there’s this from the Catalyst Facebook page I linked to above:

In the past year Jackie decided that cycling was going to be her newest and greatest adventure. In that short amount of time Jackie made a huge impact in SoCal women’s cycling, quickly catting up from the 4s to the 3s, racing as much as she possibly could on the road & on the track. Along the way she recruited a ton of women into the sport with her contagious passion and positive attitude. This season almost every local women’s Cat 3/4 race podium has either been graced by Jackie’s presence or by someone who was encouraged into the sport by her. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Yet another bike rider dies on SoCal streets, as a 57-year old cyclist is killed riding in Carson

June 20, 2013 / / 6 comments

I could just scream.

For the fifth time in the last seven days, a bike rider has been killed on the mean streets of Southern California,.

According to the Daily Breeze, a 57-year old man was killed in a collision with a passenger van around 5 pm at the intersection of Avalon Blvd and Gardena Blvd in Carson. The victim, who is believed to be a resident of the city, was declared dead at the scene.

The driver remained at the scene following the collision; no other details are available at this time.

This is the 36th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, a horrifying half of which have occurred in L.A. County – which compares with 23 cycling deaths in L.A. County for all of last year.

My deepest sympathy for the victim and his loved ones.

………

Meanwhile, despite the lack of any information, KCBS-2 seems to think it’s important to question whether or not the victim in this case was wearing a helmet — without any details on how the collision occurred or whether a helmet would have made any difference.

Or, evidently, if the victim even suffered a head injury.

Despite popular opinion, bike helmets are not magic devices that can ward off serious injuries or death for the wearer.

While they are designed to protect against catastrophic head injuries in slow speed collisions, they offer little protection in high speed crashes, little or no protection against concussions, and no protection for any other part of the body.

I never ride my bike without one.

But it is simply irresponsible for any journalist to bring up the question of whether the victim was wearing one with no information to support it.

………

The Fontana Herald News offers a look at the life of 18-year old Carlos Morales Guzman, the bike rider killed by a train in Fontana last Saturday.

………

The green bike lanes on Spring Street, popular with everyone but Hollywood filmmakers, will see a significant reduction in paint coverage — and possibly safety — thanks to an unpopular compromise passed today in a unanimous vote of the L.A. City Council.

You can read my report here on LA Streetsblog.

………

Finally, a Santa Monica cyclist pleads guilty to a charge of Assault with a Deadly Weapon after running a red light at the Third Street Promenade and seriously injuring a pedestrian.

I’ve never heard of a motorist facing a similar charge after running a red light, though, even if someone is killed as a result. And to the best of my knowledge, a charge of Assault with a Deadly Weapon requires intent to cause harm, which would seem highly unlikely in a traffic collision — and which the police say was not present in this case.

Yes, cyclists who cause harm by breaking the law can and should be prosecuted, just as drivers are. Or should be, anyway.

But at first glance, this would seem to have been a significant overreach by prosecutors. Even if they did get away with it.

And don’t get me started on the promise by the Santa Monica police to focus on bicycling violations this summer, which sounds a lot like selective enforcement. Let alone the opposite of the bike-friendly city that SaMo aspires to be.

I’ll be writing about this for Streetsblog on Friday. If you have any inside knowledge of this case, or you’re a lawyer or police officer who can offer insight into the matter — on or off the record — email me at bikinginla at hotmail dot com.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Injuries and Fatalities, Legal Cases, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , ,

An open letter to the Los Angeles City Council — Don’t let LA down on Wednesday

June 18, 2013 / / 3 comments

You’re scaring us.

After putting off the motion from Councilmembers Huizar and Reyes to repaint the Spring Street Bike Lanes from last Friday, to Tuesday, to today, we have to wonder what’s going on.

Like whether negotiations have been going on behind the scenes that we haven’t been privy to. Or if the vote has been repeatedly postponed to reduce the number of bicyclists who can attend to argue for the motion; after all, it’s one thing to clear your schedule for a single day, quite another to clear it over and over again.

Paranoid, I know.

But that’s what happens when the lies — yes, lies — of the film industry seem to take precedence over the safety and preferences of the city’s citizens.

Starting with the absurd claim that a little bit of green paint is chasing thousands of film industry jobs out of the city, when in fact, filming in Los Angeles is up over the last year.

Then there’s the lie that no other city in country has green bike lanes, or at least this particular shade of green. When in fact they’ve been in use in cities across the country, from Portland to Chicago and New York, with more coming every day. And the new bike lanes on San Francisco’s Market Street seem to be a very familiar hue.

And don’t get me started on the ridiculous claim that the lanes are impossible to remove in post production. Or that the real problem is the reflected glow from the lanes; I can color correct video to remove unwanted tints in just a few minutes on my laptop, with a lot less computer power — and skill — than even the lowliest production house employs.

Then again, a little paint — or any of the attributes of a modern city, for that matter — never stopped the Hollywood of old, which knew how to hide problematic things before filming ever began.

John Ford, Frank Capra or Stanley Kubrick would have just covered the street with hay or a black mat to hide the offending paint. FilmLA could easily invest in a mat that could be rented to production crews on a daily basis for minimal cost.

Or just give me a couple of hours and a box of gaffers tape, and I guarantee there won’t be a hint of green in the dailies.

Then there’s the claim — okay, lie — that supporters of the bike lanes have repeatedly backed out of compromise solutions that would work for everyone, from changing the paint to a less reflective hue to dramatically reducing the surface area to be painted.

I’ve talked to people directly involved in the discussion. And each one has made it clear that it was the representatives of the film industry that backed out after everyone thought they had an agreement.

Which raises the question of what, exactly, they want.

The only answer that makes sense is they want the bike lanes to go away. Not because they actually cause a problem, but because the film industry wants to stop any future changes to what they consider their street.

But it’s not.

It’s not a Hollywood back lot. It’s our home.

We live and work here. We ride our bikes for transportation and recreation, to work and shopping, nights out and meetings — sometimes with you. And sometimes, just because it’s fun.

Those green lanes, as battered and faded as they may be, have been a huge success.

And even motorists support bike lanes, including, yes, green ones.

According to a letter you’ve already received from the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, the number of people bicycling on Spring Street increased 52% in the first year after the lanes were installed, with another 40% increase this year.

More impressive, the number of women bike riders on Spring increased 100% on weekdays, and 650% on weekends. Women tend to be more risk averse when it comes to bicycling; the fact that they are responding to this street to such a degree suggests just how safe they feel in the green lanes.

In other words, the green lanes are doing exactly what they were designed to do.

If you vote to let them die, as the film industry is selfishly demanding — and as we fear you will in the face of your continued silence —  you will send a clear message that the convenience of wealthy special interests outweighs the safety and desires of the general public.

It will also tell the bicycling community that the hard-won bike plan you approved a few years ago isn’t worth the ink on the pages. Let alone the paint on the street.

Because we’ll know that any bikeway, anywhere, can be removed on the whim of a few well-connected opponents. And that your support for our lives and safety, let alone the livability of our city, runs neither deep nor wide.

Please, I beg you, prove us wrong and dispel our fears.

Send a clear signal that you are sincere in your desire to end car culture and reshape L.A. into the livable, walkable, bikable world-class city it should be.

And that this is our city, not a Hollywood back lot.

Because Hollywood will survive, and thrive, with or without these bike lanes.

We, and the city we love, may not.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Move along, nothing to see here

June 18, 2013 / / 5 comments

I have to beg your forgiveness.

Trying to follow up on the recent rash of bicycling fatalities ate up the time I would have used to write today’s post, which was intended to be a rant over the City Council’s repeated rescheduling of the vote to repaint the Spring Street green bike lanes.

Because it’s looking more and more like this issue is being hammered out behind closed doors. And while the council may or may not be talking with representatives of the film industry, they sure as hell aren’t talking to us.

And that scares me.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen them, I’ve updated the stories on the death of the 25-year old Los Angeles resident killed while riding near Caltech, and the 12-year old killed in Camarillo on Sunday.

Just a couple other quick notes.

Damien Newton offers a great recap of the issues involved in the debate over repainting the Spring Street green bike lanes, pointing out the fallacies offered by the other side — which is the nicest way I can put it.

A new study shows California drivers want bike lanes just like we do. I’ve long argued that bike lanes provide as much benefit to drivers as they do for cyclists; thanks to Monet Diamonte for the link.

Yes, the Bible teaches us to share with the less fortunate. But if you encounter a bear while riding your bike, it’s probably best not to offer it any barbecue from your church picnic.

And if you’re too drunk to stay on your bike, you might not want to ride away from the police while making siren noises with your mouth.

Just a suggestion.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,
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