He reportedly crossed over both lanes on the transition road and was struck by a car traveling at an estimated 70 mph. He was declared dead at the scene.
The driver, a 24-year old woman from Yorba Linda, remained at the scene. She was not cited or arrested.
No explanation was given for why Gutierrez was on the freeway; bicycles are banned from most urban freeways in the state.
Some news reports have suggested the victim may have been riding without lights, and might have done something that contributed to the crash.
However, no matter what he may or may not have done, street racing is a serious crime with entirely foreseeable consequences, akin to firing a gun down a crowded street. It should not be up to the rest of the world to stay the hell out of the way of dangerous drivers exceeding the speed limit and putting everyone else at risk.
Mike Wilkinson forwards video of a far too close pass in Stanton, which just happened to occur right next to the only parked car on the street.
He notes that, despite the perspective, he was riding outside the door zone. However, in the future, he plans to take the lane where the road narrows there.
If you find yourself jonesing for another ciclovía now that CicLAvia is done for the year, Long Beach hosts the next edition of their Beach Streets open streets event on November 12th.
And the LACBC will host a discussion of traffic laws with representatives of the LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department and the CHP, along with BikinginLA Sponsor Jim Pocrass, on November 14th.
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British Cycling confirms allegations that the head of their bike racing program used inappropriate and discriminatory language in telling a female racer to go and have a baby after her contract wasn’t renewed.
After allowing a previous DIY protected bike lane to stay in place, San Francisco’s transportation department wastes little time in removing the latest guerilla installation.
A pair of bike riders are Bay Area heroes, as one retrieves a lost purse left on a bus, and the other leaps off his bike to save the life of a truck driver who’d just been stabbed.
A Vallejo cop hit a bicyclist while looking for a burglary suspect; the rider allegedly went through a red light while wearing all black with no lights on his bike.
A Folsom restaurant owner is collecting funds from the meals he sells to support the family of an Afghan refugee killed by a distracted driver while riding with his son last year.
National
A new report reminds us that homeowners who fight bikeways are just shooting themselves in the foot. Or rather, in the pocketbook.
A new British Columbia study says slow down while riding in urban areas to avoid inhaling toxic air pollution; 9.3 mph is recommended as the ideal speed to avoid sucking in too much smog.
Caught on video: A British driver makes an unsafe pass, then cuts back into his lane just in time to avoid a truck — and barely misses an eight-year old girl.
Innovative approaches to bicycling and walking are leading Africa to a greener future, where four countries are among the world’s most dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The rider, who has not been publicly identified, was thrown a considerable distance by the force of the impact, coming to rest in the center of the roadway. He was taken to Holy Cross Hospital with injuries to his head and upper torso, where he was pronounced dead at 11:36.
The driver remained at the scene and was cooperating with investigators. The force of the impact would suggest the driver may have been traveling faster than the posted 35 mph speed limit.
There’s no word on whether the victim had lights and reflectors on his bicycle, which should have made him visible as he crossed the street.
Anyone with information is urged to call Valley Traffic Division Office Martinez at 818/644-8032 or Det. III Bustos at 818/644-8021.
This is the 65th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, the 26th in LA County and the eighth in the City of Los Angeles. He also the third bicyclist killed on Foothill Blvd in the last three years, which suggests a need for significant safety improvements.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
According to the paper, Marsh attempting to make a left turn from Navajo onto Highway 74 when a westbound car went through the red light and struck his bicycle; he died at the scene.
The driver sped off without stopping. The suspect vehicle is described only as a dark sedan with possible front-end damage to passenger side and windshield.
Navajo Road ends at Highway 74 with a double left turn lane controlled by a red light, while Highway 74 has two lanes in each direction with a painted center divider. The road has a 45 mph speed limit, but its straight-open design could encourage higher speeds, especially at that hour.
This is the 64th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the tenth in Riverside County; that compares with ten in the county for all of last year. Marsh is also the fifth bike rider to be killed in Perris in just the last three years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steven Marsh and all his loved ones.
Just a brief follow-up to the recent story about a woman who was seriously injured in a collision with a cyclist on the LA River Bike Path in Elysian Valley.
Still no details to explain what happened. However, the LACBC’s Colin Bogart forwards word that the rider did in fact stop after the wreck and cooperated with the police in their investigation.
So this was not a case of two-wheeled hit-and-run, as had been implied in earlier reports.
His cars won multiple victories at the Daytona 24 Hours, as well as two podium finishes at Le Mans. I’m told he also partnered on a car that won a $10 million Progressive XPrize for building a lightweight 100 mph car.
A GoFundMe page has raised nearly $14,000 to help defray his medical expenses.
A 19-year old woman is in critical condition after her bike was rear-ended by the driver of a pickup in Torrance Wednesday night; the driver was arrested on suspicion of driving while stoned.
A San Diego bicyclist was seriously injured when he was hit by an SUV in Mission Bay Park; the rider was making a left turn when he swerved in front of the oncoming vehicle, which police say had the right-of-way.
The Bay Area Bike Share system brings greater equity to bikeshare by reducing their first year annual membership to just five dollars for low income people, while allowing them to pay in cash instead of credit cards.
Chinese electronics giant LeEco is bringing what they call the world’s first super bike to the US. The 30-speed bike with built-in lighting comes complete with an Android touchscreen and fingerprint scanner; no word on US prices yet. Thanks to Adam Ginsburgh for the tip.
Now that’s something to look forward to. A 100-year old Memphis bridge spanning the Mississippi River will be converted to a bike bridge, a key link in a planned bikeway running from Memphis to New Orleans. With any luck, I’ll be the first one in line with my bike when it opens; thanks to Bob Young for the link.
Sometimes, doing the right thing turns out wrong; a Philadelphia bike rider was shot when he tried to stop an armed robbery; he’s expected to survive despite being shot four or five times. Meanwhile, an 18-year old bike rider was fatally gunned down following an argument, and another man was seen walking off with his bicycle afterwards.
Belize cycling champ Marlon Castillo pled guilty to a reduced charge of causing death by careless conduct in the 2011 death of fellow cyclist Ariel Rosado in a traffic collision.
A driver on Prince Edward Island insists that modern bike riders ride wherever the hell they want, jumping from one side of the road to another, then onto the sidewalk and through the crosswalk against the light.
The Orange County Register is reporting that a 44-year old Stanton woman was killed in a collision Friday night.
According to the paper, Deborah Gresham was riding her bike on Cerritos Ave east of Knott Ave at 7:35 pm when she was stuck by a vehicle. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The male driver, who has not been identified, was arrested on suspicion of vehicular homicide.
Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time. No word on how the crash occurred, or why OC sheriff’s deputies appear to have taken the unusual step of arresting the driver at the scene.
A street view shows a five lane roadway with two lanes in each direction and a center turn lane, with a wide right lane where parking is prohibited.
Given the location east of the intersection, it’s possible that she was rear-ended, or could have been struck by someone entering or leaving a driveway..
This is the 63rd bicycling fatality in Southern California, and the 10th in Orange County; it’s also the third in Stanton in the past four years. That compares with 62 in SoCal this time last year, and 16 in Orange County.
Update: City News Service identifies the driver as Ricardo Hernandez Sandoval, who is being held on $100,000 bond on suspicion of felony hit and run, felony DUI and vehicular manslaughter.
A source in Orange County reports he was followed to his home by horrified witnesses, where he was arrested less than an hour after the crash.
Gresham was in the westbound lanes when she was struck, literally within sight of her home.
Meanwhile, the Orange County Register identifies her as the founder of a Walking Dead fan site on Facebook with 20,000 followers worldwide.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Deborah Gresham and all her loved ones.
October 12, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Woman injured by cyclist in Elysian Valley, and sidewalk cyclist injured in WeHo right hook
My apologies for the continued lack of email notifications for subscribers. We’re still working on it.
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This is why you always have to ride carefully around pedestrians.
This past Saturday, a senior citizen, a mother, grandmother, active member of the Jardin del Rio Community Garden and a beautiful EV neighbor sustained life threatening injuries while on her morning exercise walk on the Elysian Valley Pedestrian/Bike path. She is said to have been struck from behind by a speeding cyclist at or around 8:00 AM, near the Riverdale Ave. street access to the path. Minutes ago, I visited her at the USC Medical Center with her son, where she is in ICU (intensive care unit) with head injuries that have her intubated and with a “no bone flap on right side” of her skull.
The Elysian Valley Neighborhood watch has called for safety on the path and necessary City correction from the inception of the bike path, a flawed design that neglected area historical pedestrian use and that today has a beloved neighbor battling for her life. The decision by City officials to favor the cycling community and to respond to area calls for safety improvements with bandaid approaches makes the city complicit in this injuries and grossly negligent.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on whether the rider stopped following the collision, or just fast he or she was actually traveling.
It’s always possible the victim may have stepped into the path of the rider without looking, something familiar to many of us who have used shared pathways.
But regardless, it’s up to all of us to ride in a safe and careful manner around pedestrians, to slow down and give them as much passing room as we’d expect from a motor vehicle. And give some kind of audible warning before passing to avoid tragedies like this, whether it’s “passing on your left” or a cheerful “good morning.”
Because this is what can happen if we don’t.
However, the writer goes on to call for immediately closing the bike path to cyclists until improvements are made — even though no one would ever demand all cars be banned from a street if a driver hit someone.
Let’s hope this woman pulls through, and makes a full and fast recovery.
And that the local community will work with bicyclists to find solutions that will benefit everyone.
Thanks to Patrick Pascal and Colin Bogart for the heads-up.
This should be a reminder to always use extreme caution when entering an intersection if you’re riding on the sidewalk. Or better yet, ride in the street; statistics show you’re actually safer on the roadway where you’re more visible to everyone.
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You’d think for $12,000, the wheels would stay on.
DTLA’s Metro Bike Share will expand to Pasadena next summer with at least 400 bikes in 34 stations; however, most of those stations will be south of the 210 Freeway, potentially underserving the poorer communities to the north.
The Daily Breeze reports on Palos Verdes Estates’ decision to overrule the PVE Traffic Safety Committee and not place “Bikes May Use Full Lane” signs on the city’s streets, saying it would cause confusion since they aren’t posted in other cities on the peninsula. Even though those signs only clarify to drivers what bicyclists are already allowed to do under state law.
Construction has been completed on the fully separated bike path on the east span of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, although it won’t open for another few weeks. And even though it only goes halfway across the bay.
The Minneapolis Bike Coalition questions whether bicyclists are being stopped for biking while black, after stats show nearly half of the tickets written to cyclists went to black riders in the overwhelming white city.
Unbelievable. Police blame a Canadian cyclist after he’s hit by a city road patching truck, even though he was walking his bike in a crosswalk after suffering a double flat.
An Irish writer says she nearly killed three cyclists in just the last week because they were dressed in black and riding dark bikes, insisting it’s a disgrace that helmets and reflective vests aren’t mandatory. She’s got a point about riding with lights, although if she’s had that many close calls in a single week, the problem may not be with the people on the bicycles.
The head of Ireland’s no-frills Ryanair goes off on cyclists once again, ranting that Dublin’s city council had destroyed the city center through “nonsensical pandering to bloody cyclists;” it was only five months ago he said cyclists should be shot.
Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge visits an American-style bike co-op in the Netherlands, helping kids work on a bike wheel despite her haute couture outfit.
Thanks to Samuel Kuruts for his generous donation to support this site. If everyone who visits this site today donated just $10, it would fund BikinginLA for a full year.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram is reporting that a man apparently died as a result of what was described as a major medical emergency during the bicycle segment of today’s Long Beach Marathon.
According to the paper, the man, who has not been publicly identified, suffered a cardiac arrest while riding near the intersection of Ocean Blvd and Prospect Ave in Belmont Shore at 6:30 am Sunday.
Despite the effort of paramedics, he was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
No other information is available at this time.
This is the 62nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 25th in Los Angeles County.
Update: News like this is always tragic; it somehow seems even worse when it’s someone who’s well known in the cycling community.
While the victim still has not been publicly identified, I received the following email from Richard Rosenthal Monday evening.
I was on the ride with my girlfriend, and we both witnessed the paramedics giving CPR to a cyclist on ground. It really shook my up, as he was a older man in full kit, much as I am. It was on my mind the remainder of the ride, and when I found out Monday morning that the cyclist had died I was even more shaken.
The news just got worse for me personally. I found out that the deceased was my friend Steve Hernandez. We both served together on the Board of Directors of Lightning Velo in Long Beach. Steve was one of the kindest people I have ever met….an imposing bear of a man with long hair and beard, but his personality couldn’t have been more opposite. Always quick with a smile and a laugh, he was one of the most beloved members of our club, and he will be missed sorely.
Update: The LA County coroner’s office confirms his identity as 59-year old Steven Hernandez.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steve Hernandez and his family.
Thanks to Danny Gamboa and Richard Rosenthal for the heads-up.
Still working on fixing the problem with email notifications for subscribers to this site. My sincere apologies to everyone who may be inconvenienced.
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It’s getting rough out there, especially if you’re not protected by a couple tons of glass and steel.
Capital Weekly reports overall traffic fatalities were up 7.2% last year. However, bicycling fatalities spiked 12.2%, while pedestrian deaths climbed 9.5%; advocates blame a perfect storm of distracted drivers and inadequate infrastructure.
On the other hand, SoCal bike deaths are defying the national trend by running just slightly ahead of last year at this time, which ended with a total of 73 bicycling fatalities, down significantly from 89 deaths in 2014.
Meanwhile, London is taking a step in the right direction by rating trucks on a five point scale for the danger they pose to vulnerable road users; low scoring trucks will be banned from the city’s roads.
SoCal Cycling interviews LA-based pro cyclist Phil Gaimon about his upcoming Malibu Gran Cookie Dough, which combines a challenging Gran Fondo along the coast with his penchant for cookies.
A Cincinnati bike rider was hit by a car during a rally urging drivers to slow down and watch out for pedestrians; he was rear-ended four weeks after his friend was killed on the same street.
According to the report, he was riding west on Imperial when he rode across the westbound traffic lanes into the path of car driven by an 86-year old man.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, just five days before his 20th birthday.
The driver remained at the scene, and there was no appearance of drug or alcohol use.
There’s no report on whether Petsas’ bike had lights or reflectors, or if the driver could have stopped in time to avoid the crash.
At that point, Imperial Highway appears to have a rideable shoulder, with three lanes of traffic in each direction and a double left turn lane, which may have been what he was trying to reach. It also appears to have a 60 mph speed limit, which means that traffic could have been traveling much faster at that hour.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is urged to call the CHP’s Santa Ana office at 714/567-6000.
This is the 61st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Orange County; that compares with 15 in the county this time last year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jonathan Petsas and all his loved ones.
