Archive for Injuries and Fatalities

Bike-riding father killed in late night Compton hit-and-run; yet another victim of a cowardly driver

May 20, 2018 / / 2 comments

Yet another bike rider has been killed by a hit-and-run driver — just days after bike riders went to City Hall to demand safer streets in South LA.

This time the death came a little further south in Compton.

Making it clear that hit-and-run is a problem throughout the LA area.

According to KTLA-5, 59-year old Compton resident Darnell Parker was struck with a vehicle at Alondra Blvd at Bradfield Ave around 12:05 am.

He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Almost needless to say, the driver fled following the crash.

KBCS-2 reports he was attempting to cross Alondra when he was run down. Although someone should tell them that hit-and-run is a crime, not an accident.

Parker was reportedly riding to a relative’s home when he was killed, leaving his children without a father.

Yes, this is the cost of traffic violence. And what happens when cowardly drivers leave their victims to die in the street.

Sheriff’s deputies are looking for video from nearby surveillance cameras, as well as possible witnesses. Anyone with information is urged to call the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Compton station at 310/605-6500.

This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th in LA County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Darnell Parker and all his family. 

 

 

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

Bicyclist dies after Palm Desert collision; both victim and driver worked for Marriott Resort

May 19, 2018 / / 4 comments

This past Tuesday, we mentioned that a bike rider had been seriously injured in a collision with a driver while riding in Palm Desert.

As often happens with reports from the Inland Empire, there was no information available.

For once, however, there was a follow-up report. Sadly, the news isn’t good.

Palm Spring’s KESQ-TV reports that the victim, identified as Diana Lynn Young, has died as a result of the crash.

According to the story, Young was a seven-year employee of JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa. While it’s not mentioned, I’m told that the driver also worked for the resort.

The collision occurred around 6:10 Monday morning on eastbound Country Club Drive, between Cook Street and Portola Avenue, which is directly in front of the resort.

While there is a painted curbside bike lane, it’s on a street with a 50 mph speed limit, meaning any collision with a bicyclist or a pedestrian is likely to be fatal.

This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Riverside County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the Diana Lynn Young and her loved ones. 

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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

Bike rider killed in Orange collision last month; few details available

May 10, 2018 / / 3 comments

Blame me for the delayed report.

A comment from A. Bauer let me know a bike rider had been killed in a collision in the City of Orange a few days earlier.

That was ten days ago.

In the meantime, I’ve been waiting for more details beyond the initial report in the Orange County Register. Or any real details, for that matter.

That finally came today with a Facebook post from the Orange County Bicycle Coalition.

According to the initial report, a bike rider was headed west Santa Ana Canyon Road when he was struck by a driver going north on Orange Olive Road around 5:30 pm on Thursday, April 26th.

That’s all the information that was available until today, despite checking on a near daily basis.

The OCBC speculates that the victim may have been riding salmon due to the lack of citations against the driver, and the position of his body and bike at the southeast corner of the T-intersection following the crash.

If he had been riding on the right side of the street, it’s likely that a collision with a northbound vehicle would have thrown him to the northeast side of the intersection.

The OCBC also sites a rumor that he may have fallen into the path of the driver.

However, it’s also possible that the limited description may have been wrong; he could have come off the sidewalk or actually been riding on Orange Olive instead.

The victim still hasn’t been publicly identified. That usually, but not always, indicates that the next of kin lives outside the US.

This is at least the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and just the second I’m aware of in Orange County.

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

Thanks to Bill Sellin and A. Bauer for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Update: Bicyclist killed when driver drifts off the road near El Cajon

April 18, 2018 / / 6 comments

It looks like LA’s recent epidemic of bicycling deaths has moved south.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a man on a road bike was killed when a driver drifted off the road, and lost control on the soft shoulder of a highway just outside El Cajon.

The crash occurred around 3:15 pm on Olde Highway 80 west of Flinn Crest Street.

The 67-year old driver reportedly sideswiped the victim, identified only as a 58-year old Alpine resident, before continuing to strike a bus stop sign, mailbox and a parked pickup truck.

The victim was taken to San Diego’s Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Video from the scene posted by San Diego’s KGTV-10 shows a badly mangled bike, and the driver’s minivan with the front end smashed in.

This is at least the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in San Diego County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 58-year old Brian Jennings, a professor of comparative politics and U.S. Government at Grossmont College.

Police believe the driver of the minivan fell asleep before drifting off the road and slamming into Jennings.

Update 2: I originally said the victim was riding a mountain bike, based on the initial reports; however, the video above clearly shows a road bike. Thanks to BV for the correction. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Brian Jennings and his loved ones.

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

Bicyclist killed in crash after getting doored in Burbank

April 17, 2018 / / 17 comments

Sadly, last night’s breaking news has been confirmed.

As we noted earlier, KNBC-4 reported last night that a bike rider had been killed after getting doored at Alameda Avenue and Mariposa Street in Burbank.

Unfortunately, however, they failed to post the story online.

Now the Burbank Leader has confirmed that 53-year old Burbank resident Lenny Trinh died after the driver of a parked car opened door as Trinh rode in a bike lane on Alameda, knocking him off his bike and into the path of an oncoming pickup.

Trinh was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.

The paper places the time of the crash at around 5 pm Monday, between Mariposa Street and Griffith Park Drive.

For a change, both drivers remained at the scene.

According to California law, the driver is always at fault in a dooring, as long as the victim is riding legally in the direction of traffic.

CVC 22517 clearly requires drivers to check for traffic before opening a car door and ensure that it does not interfere with traffic.

And yes, bike riders are considered traffic, in or out of a bike lane.

While dooring is one of the most common types of bicycle crashes, deaths are rare, averaging less than one per year in the entire SoCal region.

And they can be eliminated entirely if drivers are trained to use the Dutch Reach, opening the car door with their right hand so it forces them to look left over their shoulder.

This is at least the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 10th in LA County; it’s also the fifth bicycling fatality in the LA area in just the past two weeks.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Lenny Trinh and all his family and loved ones.

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

Update: Yet another bike rider killed in South LA hit-and-run; third death in last week on LA’s High Injury Network

April 16, 2018 / / 3 comments

It’s happened yet again.

Another bike rider has been killed in a South LA hit-and-run, the third person murdered by heartless, cowardly drivers in the last week.

All on streets identified as part of the city’s High Injury Network.

And all in CD8 Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson’s district.

According to the Los Angeles Daily News, the victim was struck by one driver and run over by at least one other motorist at the intersection of South Avalon and East Century Boulevards — all of whom left the scene.

KNBC-4 adds more detail, saying the victim, identified only as a man who appeared to be in his 60s, was crossing Century headed south in the crosswalk on Avalon when he was struck around 12:15 pm.

Both drivers fled the scene, before a second driver in a Lexus SUV, eventually returned and talked with police.

Which means the first driver should face a murder charge for leaving his victim lying in the street to be run over at least one other time.

We’ll never know if the victim might have survived if the first driver had stopped. What we do know is that after leaving him sprawled and bleeding in the road, he probably never had a chance.

We’ll also never know if he would had survived if the city had moved forward with the safety improvements called for as part of the LA Vision Zero’s High Injury Network.

But we do know that the failure to take any action after identifying the problem could leave the city with a greater legal liability for this death, as well as the two previous deaths in the district this past week.

Not to mention the bicyclist seriously injured in a deliberate hit-and-run assault while participating in a protest Wednesday afternoon.

And never mind that the City of Los Angeles is well aware of the hit-and-run epidemic, but done little to address it other than passing a standing reward program.

This is at least the 17th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Los Angeles County; it’s also the seventh in the City of Los Angeles.

There is an automatic $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in this case.

Update: The victim has been identified as 60-year old Christopher White, no town of residence given.

While the story mentions the $50,000 reward for the hit-and-run death of Frederick Frazier, there should also be a similar reward in this case under the city’s hit-and-run reward program. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Christopher White and his loved ones.

Thanks to Michael MacDonald for the heads-up.

 

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

Update: Bike rider killed in South LA hit-and-run

April 10, 2018 / / 5 comments

Yet another LA bike rider has been killed by a heartless coward who fled the scene.

According to a tweet by LAPD Capt. Jonathan Tom, a person riding a bicycle died after being struck by the driver of a white Porsche Cayenne at Manchester Blvd and Normandie Ave in the Manchester Square neighborhood.

A photo from the scene shows a shattered bike with debris scattered across the roadway.

No other information is available at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Traffic Detectives at 323/421-2500, or anonymously at 800/222-TIPS (8477)

This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth in Los Angeles County; it’s also the sixth in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: The victim has been identified as 22-year old Frederick Frazier.

KABC-7 reports the crash occurred around 12:47 pm today; they place it in the 1300 block of West Manchester Ave.

Update 2: Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman has written a moving — and graphic — description of the final moments of the man known as Woon to his friends, described as a strong an experienced cyclist. 

She also reminds us that, thanks to LA’s hit-and-run reward system, there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of his killer.  

And in a tragic irony, after several people blocked the intersection where Frazier was killed in an impromptu bike protest the next day, one person suffered minor injuries when a driver deliberately slammed her car into his bike. 

And naturally, fled the scene.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Frederick Frazier and his loved ones. 

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

Elderly man killed riding his bicycle in Norwalk collision

April 6, 2018 / / 2 comments

Evidently, the driver had nothing to do with it.

According to the Whittier Daily News, a man described only as a Latino in his 80s was killed when he was struck by a sedan in Norwalk this morning.

The collision occurred at 7:46 this morning at Mapledale Street and Claressa Avenue. He died at the scene.

It’s only in the last sentence of the article that the driver was even mentioned. And then only to say he or she was not arrested.

A street view shows two quiet, residential streets with no lane markings, which should have a 25 mph speed limit.

Normally a crash at that speed should have been survivable, but someone of that age is likely to be more fragile than a younger person would be.

This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Los Angeles County.

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

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Update: Bike rider killed in Rancho Mirage; driver may have drifted into bike lane

April 2, 2018 / / 9 comments

More bad news today.

According to KESQ-3, a man was killed in a collision while riding his bike in Rancho Mirage this morning.

The victim, identified only as an adult man, was struck near the intersection of Bob Hope Drive and Ginger Rodgers at 10:13 am.

He died at the scene.

The driver stopped after the crash, and was cooperating with investigators. Police do not think drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

The Desert Sun reports the crash occurred on a relatively desolate stretch of northbound Bob Hope Drive. The victim was found several feet from his bike, with a heavily damaged utility truck stopped nearby.

A street view shows two wide, straight traffic lanes in each direction on Bob Hope, with a 50 mph speed limit, and an unprotected gutter bike lane on each side.

According to KMIR-TV, the driver may have drifted into the bike lane.

This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California, and the second in Riverside County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 74-year old Victoria, British Colombia, resident Peter Harvey.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Peter Harvey and his loved ones. 

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Update: Teenage bike rider killed by alleged speeding driver in San Fernando Valley Easter Sunday

April 2, 2018 / / 10 comments

Tragic news, from what should have been a joyous day.

Word broke this morning that a 15-year old bike rider was killed in a collision in the San Fernando Valley on Easter Sunday.

A GoFundMe page to raise funds for funeral expenses reports that Reseda High School student Sebastian Montero was struck head-on by a speeding driver at the intersection of De Soto and Burbank.

No time of the crash, or any other information is available at this time.

There are two intersections for De Soto and Burbank, as the street jumps a block north before continuing; no word yet on exactly which one the crash occurred on. However, there appears to be bike lanes on either side of De Soto.

Hopefully we’ll have more information soon.

This is the 13th bicycling fatality I’m aware of in Southern California, and the sixth in Los Angeles County. It’s also the fifth in the City of Los Angeles.

A ghost bike will be installed at 9 pm tonight.

Update: According to a source with the LAPD, the crash took place at the south intersection, directly in front of Kaiser Medical Center, as Montero was crossing De Soto headed east, where the crosswalk would be if one was painted. 

The driver reportedly shifted to the right lane, and accelerated through the intersection as soon as the light changed, catching Montero before he could get across the street.

No information yet on who may be at fault or any possible charges. 

Update 2: The Los Angeles Daily News says the crash occurred around 11:40 am Sunday. He died about an hour later after being taken to a local hospital.

Police are investigating the timing of the traffic light, as well as the speed of the driver. 

Montero was riding with a friend, who was unharmed. 

Photos from GoFundMe page

Photo by Steve

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sebastian Montero and all his family and friends.

Thanks to Steve and Zachary Rynew for the heads-up.

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