Archive for Injuries and Fatalities

Cyclist killed in solo Mt. Washington fall

August 19, 2012 / / 3 comments

According to the L.A. Times, a bike rider lost his life descending a steep hill in the Mt. Washington area early Sunday morning.

The Times reports that 34-year old Los Angeles resident Jean Carlos Galaviz was riding south on Canon Crest Street near Avenue 45 around 3:45 am Sunday. Galaviz had just left a relative’s home when he failed to make a turn and crashed into the hillside; he died of abdominal injuries and internal bleeding at USC Medical Center.

Police do no believe any other vehicles were involved.

No word on whether his bike had lights, which might have helped him negotiate the turn in the darkness.

This is the 47th cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th in Los Angeles County. Galaviz is the 10 rider to die in a solo fall this year; half of those have occurred in L.A. County.

My deepest sympathy for the victim and his family and loved ones.

Thanks to Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.

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

Salmon cyclist killed in early morning Simi Valley collision; possible Riverside bike rider fatally shot

August 11, 2012 / / 6 comments

Just when it looked like we might make it through a single week without another cyclist getting killed — which would have made it the first fatality-free week in the last 11 — comes word that two riders have died in the last two days.

One by truck. One by gun.

………

A 62-year old Simi Valley man died in a Thousand Oaks hospital less than an hour after he was hit by a semi-truck while riding the wrong way on a darkened street.

According to the Ventura County Star, Trinidad Nava was riding south in the north-bound side of First Street at Easy Street in Simi Valley around 4:35 am Friday, when a big rig truck made a right turn out of a driveway and hit Nava head-on; KTVA radio says the truck was leaving a car dealership.

The paper reports he was riding without lights despite the early hour; Nava was declared dead of blunt force trauma at 5:30 am.

The driver, who has not been publicly identified, stayed at the scene and tried to help him.

The Star notes that the crash occurred just blocks from where the Simi Valley City Council recently rejected proposed bike lanes on Los Angeles Avenue at the urging of local business owners; however, even if they had been approved, they would not have made a difference in this case.

What might have helped is better education and outreach.

Many cyclists who learned to ride in Central American countries were taught to ride facing traffic, rather than with traffic; some Americans were taught the same thing, especially those who started riding as children in the 50s and 60s. Yet riding against traffic greatly increases risk to riders by placing them where drivers aren’t looking for them, while reducing reaction times and increasing the force of impact.

At the same time, outreach programs, such as the LACBC’s former City of Lights program, have worked to provide lights to riders who may not understand the need for them or have the money to buy them. I don’t know if such a program exists in Ventura County.

Either way, it’s too late to help Navi.

This is the 45th cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second in Ventura County, following the death of Guadalupe Cruz in Fillmore this June; Cruz was reportedly riding on the wrong side of the street, as well.

My sympathy and prayers for Navi and his loved ones. Thanks to Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.

………

Riverside police report that a man has died after being found suffering from gunshot wounds on Wednesday; the Southwest Riverside News Network says that he was found next to a bicycle.

Thirty-seven-year old Riverside resident Rene Barrientos Corona was found at Arlington Avenue near Fairhaven Drive in the La Sierra Hills neighborhood when police responded to a report of a man down and bleeding in the street.

Police initially thought he had been hit by a car before medical personnel determined that he had been shot; Corona died at a local hospital the following night.

There’s no indication whether he was riding the bike or walking it at the time of the shooting; it’s possible that the bike wasn’t even his. However, the presence of the bike and the fact that police assumed he’d been hit by a car would suggest it was.

Witnesses said a dark, four-door vehicle with a spoiler on the back sped away from the area where Corona was found. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Ron Sanfilippo at 951-353-7105 or Detective Rick Cobb at 951-353-7135.

Corona is the third bike rider to be killed by gunfire in Southern California this year, compared to nine last year.

My prayers for Corona and his family.

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

Update: LAPD looks for yet another coward who ran away after running down a cyclist

August 6, 2012 / / 2 comments

The L.A. Times reports that police are on the lookout for the driver who hit a cyclist, then fled the scene to avoid taking any responsibility for his or her actions.

The collision — not accident, as the Times insists on inaccurately calling it — occurred at 8:55 pm at Central Avenue and  32nd Street, south of Downtown L.A. The rider, who has not been publicly identified, was transported to County/USC Medical Center with severe head trauma.

No information on how the collision occurred.

According to the Times, police are looking for a red or orange 1992 or 93 Chevrolet pickup, last seen speeding south on Central Avenue.

Statistics compiled by the LAPD indicate that one-third of all traffic collisions in the city are hit-and-runs.

Why this continues to be acceptable to the leaders and people of this city, I will never understand.

Update: According to a press release from the LAPD, the rider, identified only as a 32-year old Huntington Park resident, was riding east on 32nd when he made a right turn onto Central Ave. As he was finishing his turn, he rode into the path of a truck traveling south on Central; it’s unclear whether the rider drifted onto the wrong side of the road, or if the truck was in the wrong position on the roadway.

The victim is in critical condition with severe head injuries.

Witnesses describe the truck as a 1992 – 1998 Silverado flatbed truck, red with white painted panels.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Central Traffic Detectives Felix Padilla or Josephine Mapson at (213) 972-1825 or Central Traffic Watch Commander at (213) 972-1853.  

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Injuries and Fatalities, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , ,

Update: 44-year old cyclist killed in Bermuda Dunes — 2nd Riverside County cycling death in four days

August 4, 2012 / / 11 comments

Dear God, not again.

Southern California’s unbelievable — and prior to last month, unimaginable — plague of cycling fatalities continues, as yet another rider succumbs after being struck by a vehicle.

And once again, in Riverside County.

According to KCBS-2, 44-year old La Quinta resident Mark Ledbetter was hit by some sort of vehicle, described only as a gold Dodge, on the 79900 block of Country Club Drive in Bermuda Dunes. The collision occurred just after 7 am Saturday; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A second cyclist was also hit and slightly injured, but did not require hospitalization.

No other information is available this time.

This is the 44th cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth in Riverside County. It’s also the second Riverside cycling death in the last four days, and the third in just three weeks.

And it’s the 15th SoCal in just the last five weeks — an utterly unacceptable average of three deaths every week.

And it’s got to stop.

Now.

My sympathy and prayers for Mark Ledbetter and all his family and loved ones.

Update: MyDesert.com offers more details on how the collision occurred. 

According to the website, Ledbetter was riding westbound alongside 29-year old Chad Priest on Country Club Drive; Priest was on the shoulder and Ledbetter was riding in the traffic lane, with the shoulder dividing line between them.

A 2009 Dodge Caliber driven by 32-year old Coachella Anthony Peraza struck them from behind, hitting Ledbetter full on while striking Priest with his passenger side mirror. CHP investigators don’t know how fast Peraza was driving, or why he failed to avoid the two riders.

Ledbetter was declared dead at the scene around 7:30 am, while Priest received moderate cuts and bruises on his left side.

The investigation is ongoing; no word on whether Peraza will face charges. But for once, it doesn’t sound authorities are jumping to blame the victims. 

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

Justice denied in Orange County, Lippman ghost bike removed, and Christine Dahab misses her court date

August 3, 2012 / / 10 comments

Long Beach filmmaker Danny Gamboa forwards word that justice has been delayed — if not denied — in the case of Duane Parkison, the San Bernardino detective killed in a hit-from-behind collision while riding in Irvine last year.

A Facebook page demanding justice for Parkison notes that the OC DA’s office has indicated they won’t be filing charges, and implies the driver may be receiving some sort of favorable treatment.

Today I got a call from Mike Lubinski at the OC DA’s office. He is possibly releasing a statement to the press and public as to why they did not file charges and asked if I would like it sent to me. I told him I asked for an official reason two months ago and was told by Tom Glazier that the woman did everything she could to avoid the accident. I told him for this reason I do not trust the DA anyway and do not care to read the statement. I mentioned the “lunch” numerous times and asked if the statement brings up the lunch and he said it does not and did not comment further. So, if anyone wants to read the statement they can request it, and when we put up the website with the police report everyone will be able to draw their own conclusions. As for the “lunch”, stay tuned, we are working on getting answers for that.

It goes on to explain the lunch reference, and notes that the Irvine police have recommended charges.

In my opinion, there have been strange twists in the investigation of this. The Irvine Police Dept. found her at fault for two vehicle violations and recommended a charge of Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter but the OC DA will not file charges. In her transcribed statement to the Irvine PD the driver says she had “lunch with the Deputy Sheriff of San Bernardino County”… “something Hoops?” and she goes on to say “he took my husband and I to lunch and was very kind”. Duane was on vacation and this did not occur in the jurisdiction of San Bernardino County so why would anyone have “lunch” with the driver? The family would like to see this “lunch” investigated. For more information, please come to the “Justice for Duane Parkison” facebook page.

It does raise questions as to why the DA is apparently ignoring the recommendations of the Irvine police in this case.

Call me crazy, but I thought it was up to a judge and jury to decide whether she actually did everything she could to avoid the collision.

………

An anonymous reader sends word that the ghost bike installed for fallen cyclist Roger Lippman has already been removed — evidently by the heartless folks at Caltrans, who don’t seem to want any reminders of how dangerous their roadways really are.

Roger Lippman’s ghost bike is gone.  It was there yesterday, but gone this morning.  The fake purple flowers I had woven into the post it was chained to were left lying on the sand.

I specifically chose purple after a quote from the book The Color Purple.  According to the character Celie, the Lord knows purple is pretty and that’s exactly why he puts so little of it in the world. He’s “just wanting to share a good thing.  I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don’t notice it.” Well, imagine how pissed He is whenever some idiot fails to notice His master work, which He created in his own image, just because a goddam text or “one for the road” is so much more important.  I kind of imagine that the Joel Alexander Murphys of the world will be bitchslapped straight out through the back wall of the universe if they hop on the “up” elevator by mistake.

………

Dj Wheels offers a couple of legal updates.

First up is the news that a bench warrant has been put on hold for Christine Dahab after she failed to appear for a scheduled court date. Dahab is the driver charged with felony DUI and DWI after plowing into a group of late night riders in Culver City last year, injuring 13 riders; an LAPD officer investigating the case suggested that the collision was the riders fault for evidently staging a drunken orgy in the street.

Wheels speculates that her failure to appear may be related to Dahab’s pregnancy; if she doesn’t appear by August 16th, a warrant for her arrest will be issued.

Meanwhile, road raging Angeles Crest driver Earl Cox is going to trial as we speak.

………

LAPD reminds everyone to be on the lookout for the driver who killed Paul Albert Helfen in an early morning Nordhoff Street hit-and-run on June 22nd. And notes there’s a $50,000 reward for information.

If you don’t want to get involved, send the information to me. I’d love to get this SOB off the streets.

And I could use the money.

………

Great Streetsblog profile of the cycling group Cast a Shadow, riding next week to raise funds for clean water in Africa.

………

LACBC’s former award-winning City of Lights program is transforming into a new organization to be called Multicultural Communities for Mobility. KPCC offers a great report on last weekend’s Wolfpack Hustle midnight singlespeed drag race;, while a rider captures a helmet cam view. Santa Monica bike advocates and staffers question funding for the city’s ambitious bike action plan. After losing his father to the disease, an Israeli man rides from Malibu to NYC to fight cancer. A Long Beach cyclist pedals his bike across the country in 46 days, and chronicles his story in an e-book.

Corona cyclists won’t see sharrows on the coast highway until fall. A Newport Beach rider writes about where it all went wrong in the first part of a first-person story. Bike SD reports that a San Diego cyclist is on life support following a June hit-and-run. San Diego is joining the rest of the civilized world in scrapping its bike licensing program. An Ocean Beach writer says if you’re going to ride, follow the rules. A tax on sugar could have unintended consequences for cyclists who use sports drinks, bars and gels. A Santa Cruz writer says parents should set an example for their kids by wearing a helmet. Lodi cyclists will soon get new artistic bike racks. The 18-month old Fresno girl critically injured in the drunken crosswalk collision that killed her 7-year old sister and injured their father has come out of a medically-induced coma; the driver had a .11 BAC. A Modesto teacher is killed in a left cross while riding in Santa Cruz at around 40 mph, after the driver says he never saw him; thanks to Brian Skaggs and Don Blount for the heads-up. Campbell CA cyclists are reeling from two bicycling fatalities in just 30 hours. Bad roads will continue to contribute to collisions for cyclists, and everyone else on them, according to a Bay Area report. A Bay to L.A. bike tour will take place this month to support Prop 37, requiring the labeling of genetically modified organisms.

Crashing and the five stages of grief. A Seattle cyclist steals his bike back a year after it was stolen, no thanks to the police. Minnesota attempts to ease cycling with a new mobile app. A 90-year old WI driver faces charges after running down a cyclist while mistakenly driving on a separated bike path. A New York cyclist builds his own protected bike lane to keep cops from double parking in it. Nine New York cyclists share their favorite rides in the city. The New York Post rabidly says pull the plug as NYC’s bike share hits a minor speed bump. Once again, a NY cyclist is critically injured, but it’s nobody’s fault. Charlotte’s new bike share system will be a legacy of the Democratic National Convention. A Michigan cyclist on a cross-country tour is killed by semi-truck in Georgia. A Florida rider is found guilty of illegally leaving a bike lane — with about 30 other riders — despite the testimony of the rider they were passing, because the judge believed the blind man officer who didn’t see the rider they were passing.

Montreal police are investigating whether a driver intentionally ran down a cyclist after yelling at him to use the bike path. A UK driver is convicted of killing a bike riding father of three while showing off for a woman; it was his second hit-and-run in six years. Motherhood and Olympic cycling medals do mix after all. American cycling scion Taylor Phinney firmly establishes himself as the fourth best cyclist in the Games, after finishing just off the podium in both the road race and the time trial. Gold medalist and Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins backs mandatory helmet laws  — or maybe not — after a cyclist is run over by a bus, even though a helmet would not have helped in the slightest in this case. The London Times offers an even-handed look at the debate. The London Telegraph says the time for talking has stopped and it’s time to actually do something about bike safety. Scottish traffic cameras cut accident and injury rates. Funding bike advocacy could help the bike industry sell 30 million more bikes. An Aussie cyclist crashes because his coffee was too hot. Brisbane police are on the lookout for a spitting cyclist.

Finally, once again, Bikeyface nails it. And are you a velocapitalist?

Category: Bikes & the Law, Guest Columns, Injuries and Fatalities, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update: Another month, another cycling fatality — bike rider killed in Lake Elsinore area

August 1, 2012 / / 3 comments

That didn’t take long.

After an exceptionally deadly month of July, in which 13 SoCal cyclists lost their lives, yet another rider was killed on the very first day of August.

According to the Southwest Riverside News Network, the victim was hit by a pickup at approximately 4:50 pm on Grand Avenue near the intersection with Blackwell Blvd in Lakeland Village.

The Lake-Elsinore-Wildomar Patch reports that witnesses saw the rider enter traffic quickly, leaving no time for the driver to respond before the collision.

A satellite view shows an uncontrolled intersection on Grand, with stops signs on Blackwell. However, there’s no indication whether either party may have entered from the side street, or who may have had the right-of-way.

A man who lived nearby heard the impact, but didn’t hear the sound of brakes prior to the collision. He ran out and called 911, then knelt down and put his hand on the victim’s chest, reportedly feeling a heartbeat but no breathing. Paramedics declared the man dead at the scene.

Patch reports the cause of the crash is under investigation; the victim has not been publicly identified.

A photo on the Patch site shows a badly mangled road bike with panniers and what appears to be a cooler on the back rack, suggesting he may have been riding home from work at the time of the collision.

This collision also occurred at the same intersection as another fatal bike collision in 2010.

This is the 43rd traffic-related bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Riverside County.

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

Update: The victim has been identified as 46-year old Harry Dettloff of Lake Elsinore. The NC Times says he was hit while crossing Grand Avenue just north of Baldwin, and puts the time of death as 5:08 pm.

Update 2: According to the Press-Enterprise, Dettloff was riding with traffic on the west shoulder of Grand Avenue when a Nissan Frontier truck driven by 60-year old Patrick Wattson of Wildomar struck him from behind at around 40 mph.

A CHP spokesman said the truck drifted off the road because Wattson was “momentarily inattentive.” The officer also notes that Dettloff wasn’t wearing a helmet, though it’s not clear how much benefit a helmet would have provided in a collision at that speed.

Now a man is dead because a driver couldn’t manage to pay attention while operating a two-ton truck.

But hey, it was just an accident, right?

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

Update: Cyclist killed by alleged DUI driver in Sunset Beach identified as 52-year old Long Beach resident

July 28, 2012 / / 75 comments

More bad news.

Word is just coming in that yet another Southern California bicyclist has been killed — the 13th to die on SoCal streets this month alone.

According to a report from KTLA-5, the cyclist, who has not yet been publicly identified, was riding on northbound Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach when he was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver around 4:19 pm Saturday.

The collision occurred at the intersection of 8th Street and PCH in the Sunset Beach district. Emergency responders found the victim lying unconscious and seriously injured in the middle of the roadway; he was declared dead at the scene.

No word yet on how the collision occurred, however, police arrested the driver, Becki Lee James of Huntington Beach, on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Anyone with information is urged to call police at 714/536-5670.

This is the 42nd cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and 7th in Orange County; the victim is also the 6th cyclist killed by a suspected drunk driver in SoCal this year.

My prayers and sympathy for the victim and his family.

Update: An anonymous source has identified the victim as 52-year old Kenneth Prevatte, which has just been confirmed by the Orange County Register; the Register says he’s from Long Beach. A comment from Allan indicates that he was wearing full road kit when he was killed, suggesting that he may have been an experienced road rider.

My source indicates that Becki James was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI causing great bodily injury & gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and has already been released from custody.

Update 2: A comment from Boyonabike reminds us that Prevatte’s death comes just a little over a month after Roger Lippman was killed while riding on PCH, and five months since Ernest Klein died in a collision on Bolsa Ave — making this the 3rd fatal cycling collision in Huntington Beach in less than six months.

It also points a bloody finger at the beachside city, with a population of less than 200,000. as one of the most dangerous places in Southern California to ride a bike. As a comparison, San Diego, with twice as many deaths this year, has over six times the population.

Meanwhile, a comment from Jeff Keller offers more details on the collision.

As clarification, the cyclist and vehicle were driving southbound on PCH. This happened a few hundred feet from a party we were attending. The cyclist was laying near a parked car, not the middle of the street. His bike was on the sidewalk, mangled and unrecognizable. The vehicle that hit him stopped a few feet away. I did not see any skidmarks. If she stopped in the path that she hit him, she was 2-3 feet to the right of the right lane line, putting her in the path of the “bike lane”. It appeared his head hit the top of the passenger’s window, near the roof line. Sadly and disturbing, the driver’s emotions were muted. Not of someone that just killed an innocent human.

And Kenneth Prevatte’s sister writes to tell us a little bit about who he was, and the family he leaves behind.

My name is Michelle, I am Kenneth’s sister. I live in North Carolina and our family is devastated by his death. Thank you for your posts, any information is so appreciated as we piece together this tragedy. My brother was an experienced cyclist, extremely cautious, and conscientious. He leaves behind a loving wife, whom he just wed last July, a beautiful infant son, 2 sons and a daughter all in college, parents, a sister and many more loved ones. He was such a good, good man, words cannot express the depths of this loss. I hope that his death will not be in vain and something can be done to protect cyclists in your beautiful part of our country.

Update 3: A source who has spoken with paramedics on the scene says that Prevatte most likely died instantly of severe head trauma, despite wearing a helmet, and was unlikely to have experienced any pain or possibly even known what was happening. Thank God for small favors, anyway.

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

Man walking killed while walking bicycle in Lytle Creek; 12th bike-related fatality this month

July 24, 2012 / / 4 comments

And then there were 12.

In what is by far the worst month in memory for Southern California cyclists, an even dozen cyclists have now died on our streets this month alone.

According to the Press Enterprise, 42-year old Dondi Allen Quimby was hit by a car while walking his bicycle on the 200 block of Lytle Creek Road in Lytle Creek just before 1 am Sunday.

Quimby, who is described as a transient, was walking with his girlfriend along the shoulder of the road when he was hit by a 1997 Ford Thunderbird driven by Rancho Cucamonga resident Matthew Eldridge. He died at the scene; no word on whether the unidentified girlfriend was injured.

The 20-year old Eldridge was arrested about an hour later for investigation of felony drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter. And yet a spokesman for the CHP seems to be making the case for the driver’s defense, saying the location was very dark with a narrow shoulder.

Of course, if the driver was using headlights — which he certainly should have been doing at 1 am — darkness should have been irrelevant. And even a narrow shoulder suggests that a sober driver should have been able to see and avoid Quimby.

The San Bernardino County Coroner’s office is asking the public’s help in locating any of Quimby’s family members; anyone with information is urged to contact the Coroner’s Division at 909-387-2978.

This is the 41st bicycle-related fatality in Southern California so far this year — nearly one third of those this month alone. And it’s the seventh death in the last seven months in San Bernardino County, a total that equals all the cycling deaths in the county in 2010, the last year on record.

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

Just ride

July 23, 2012 / / 6 comments

“Man to man is so unjust.” — Bob Marley, Who the Cap Fit

My sister, who lives in Denver, called us Thursday evening.

As the call was wrapping up, she mentioned that she had to pick my 15-year old nephew up at the movies at 3 am.

Because he was on his way to a midnight showing of the new Batman movie.

The next morning, I awoke to the news that a madman had opened fire in an Aurora theater, not far from their home, during a midnight showing of the movie.

My stomach started doing flips.

It was bad enough that something like this had happened once again. Or that it happened in my home state, in a town I lived in briefly about three decades ago.

I knew there was little chance Adam had been at that particular theater at that exact time. But when an email to my sister went unanswered for longer than I could live with, I had to call to ensure he hadn’t been there.

And I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I felt when he answered the phone, and said he’d gone to a theater closer to his home. One that was, thankfully, madman and assault rifle free.

All weekend, we all were bombarded with a constant drumbeat of news bits, each adding to the still incomplete portrait of just what happened in that theater that night.

Yet none of the jabbering talking heads paused long enough to put this madness in perspective.

Twelve dead is a horrible, tragic needless waste.

But it doesn’t begin to compare with the 90 Americans who lose their lives on our streets every day. And it’s just one less than the death count of cyclists on SoCal streets this month alone.

Ninety killed every day.

Six-hundred-thirty every week.

Two-thousand-forty every month.

Yet there’s no breaking news reports for that story. No attractive anchormen or women breathlessly whipping to reporters in the field, no tidbit of meaningless information that’s not trivial to relate. No outrage or prayer vigils or 24-hour news cycles dedicated to the lives and deaths of victims of the rapidly compounding body count.

And seldom an arrest, let alone prosecution, even when the killer is known.

Instead, we just call them accidents.

Never mind that virtually every collision that occurs anywhere can be traced back to one or more people breaking the law, or operating their vehicles in a careless, distracted or intoxicated manner.

Accidents are virtually never just accidents.

Even on the rare occasions when killers are arrested, those who know them will argue that it wasn’t really their fault. If you only knew the whole story, they insist, you’d understand that he or she was really a good person who just made one little mistake, or did something so out of character it should be forgiven.

Even in cases where the driver left the victim to die on the side of the road, then ran off like a coward and hid the evidence of the collision in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his or her actions.

No outrage.

Seldom any consequences.

And even then, it usually amounts to nothing more than a limp slap on the wrist.

In the meantime, the body count continues to rise. And nothing is done to address the insanity on our streets; no politicians step forward to demand an end to our daily motor maniacal madness.

I don’t have an answer.

I believe, strongly, in a Vision Zero plan. And in placing greater responsibility on those with the greatest potential to cause injury and death.

As well as changing our laws to force drivers to stop and stay at the scene of a collision.

Yet we all wait in vain for a political leader with sufficient courage to take a stand on the issue. Let alone actually do something about it.

Then again, none of our elected leaders seems to have the courage to do something about all the Columbine/Virginia Tech/Aurora massacres that actually do make the news, either.

I wish I had a solution.

I really do.

Other than demanding that our candidates for every office go on the record for what, if elected, they would do to address these parallel, if vastly uneven, bloodbaths. Then vote accordingly in the fall.

But at least I know a way to release that knot that’s been gnawing at me since Friday morning. And salve, in some part, the overwhelming sadness.

And that’s get out on my bike.

For a moment, for a hour, for an afternoon.

Let the wind blow away whatever tears may fall.

And just ride.

My prayers for all those injured or killed in the Aurora shooting. And all the countless named and nameless victims of the madness on our street.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Car vs Bike, Injuries and Fatalities, Law Enforcement / Tags: , , , , , ,

Update: Indian Wells cyclist dies from natural causes, rather than solo fall

July 18, 2012 / / One comment

The bad news just keeps on coming.

An Indian Wells man has become the latest bike rider to die in what has become a truly horrible month for SoCal cyclists.

According to mydessert.com, the rider, described only as a man in his early 60s, was riding east on Miles Avenue near Washington Street when he apparently struck a curb and fell, suffering critical injuries. He died sometime later at a local hospital.

A sheriff’s deputy suggests that he may have had some sort of medical condition that caused him to fall; however, no details were released and cause of death is being withheld pending an autopsy and toxicology reports.

This is the 40th cycling fatality in Southern California this year, the sixth in Riverside County and the second in the past two months in the small community of Indian Wells. It’s also the 11th bike-related death in this very tragic month of July; over a quarter of this year’s fatalities have occurred this month.

And we still have two weeks to go.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

Update: The victim has been identified as 61-year old Gordon West of La Quinta. According to the coroner’s office, his death was due to natural causes, rather than a fall.

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