Archive for Bicycle Safety

Update: Car hits group ride in Lancaster following collision, husband and wife injured

August 27, 2011 / / 27 comments

Intersection where collision occurred; photos courtesy of Sarge and Michele Chavez

Once again, cyclists are collateral damage on the roads of Southern California.

According to a report from the L.A. Sheriff’s Department, a husband and wife from Valencia were seriously injured when two vehicles collided in the middle of a Lancaster intersection.

Approximately 20 cyclists were participating in a group ride organized by a local bike shop. As they crossed the intersection of Avenue L and 4th Street West Avenue L and Division Street around 8 pm, a PT Cruiser struck a minivan that was traveling next to them, forcing the van into the couple’s path.

Despite wearing a helmet, the husband suffered head trauma and is in critical condition in a local hospital; the wife is listed stable condition with moderate injuries. Neither has been publicly identified.

More information when it becomes available.

Update: A comment left by Whitney, who was on the ride, says that that collision occurred at approximately 8 am, rather than 8 pm as the L.A. Times and other sources have reported. She offers a little insight into what happened:

The group followed all rules of the road; we were barely into the ride, just starting out, less than a mile from starting. A car ran a red light and exactly as Opus shares, no one, no action, could have prevented this with the exception of the driver of the car that ran the light at high speed.

Even if the 2 cyclists were off to the side of the road, it is possible with the speed of the car at cause, and the trajectory of the car it hit, no “spot” was safe to be. In fact, different angle and the rest of us could have been hit.

Be safe, fellow cyclists, as none of us set out on Saturday morning with anything other than the camaraderie of a group ride in mind. Do whatever you can to raise awareness with your group. No doubt someone from our group will reach out for help, to help this family.

Again, the ride was at 8am, not 8pm. Daylight, morning, not evening. Should be safe right? Perhaps cameras at stop lights aren’t such a bad thing, at least, to capture cause when something like this happens, since all too often these events are at intersections.

Whitney offers an interesting suggestion.

Even with the removal of red light cameras in Los Angeles and other cities in the Southland, there are still thousands of traffic control cameras installed at the busier intersections.

It shouldn’t cost much to expand that system to cover most major intersections, not just to monitor traffic, but to provide evidence to police, attorneys and insurance companies in the event of a collision. Maybe that’s something that could be funded by the legal and insurance professionals who have a financial stake in determining exactly who is at fault in serious wrecks.

And Whitney and Opus raise another good point. Chances are, no one could have avoided a collision like this. Sometimes events occur so swiftly that escaping is not an option. 

However, it’s important to remember that similar tragedies have resulted to death and serious injuries to other drivers, pedestrians, people waiting at bus stops, customers and employees in nearby businesses, and even people in the presumed safety of their own homes. Once a vehicle goes ballistic, there’s no way to control who or what it hits, or who gets hurt as a result. 

This is not proof, as some will undoubtedly suggest, that bicycling is dangerous.

But rather, that cars are — especially in the hands of dangerous, careless and/or speeding drivers.

My heartfelt prayers for the victims, and all their family and loved ones.

Update: I’m told that the husband, Nathan “Bud” Tippee, has died of his injuries. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any confirmation in the press, but that’s not unusual; the press often doesn’t follow-up on stories involving critically injured traffic victims. If I get any more details, I’ll let you know.

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

Update: 50-year old cyclist killed by hit-and-run driver in South L.A.

August 24, 2011 / / 6 comments

As reported here last night, a cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run collision in an unincorporated area near Compton.

The bike rider, identified as 50-year old Enrique Lemus Bautista, was riding north on Avalon Blvd when he was hit by a dark colored car travelling west on Redondo Beach Blvd shortly after 9 pm Tuesday. The car, described as a black BMW, never stopped.

According to the Daily Breeze, witness reports conflicted, preventing CHP investigators from determining who had the right-of-way. It was also unknown if the driver was speeding.

No other information is available at this time.

As far as I’m concerned, though, anyone who leaves another human being to die in the street should be charged with murder, regardless of who is at fault.

This is the 50th confirmed traffic-related cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th in L.A. County. It’s also the 10th fatal hit-and-run involving a cyclist, and the 4th in the County of Los Angeles.

Thanks to Rex Reese for the KCBS-2 link.

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

Cyclist killed in South L.A.

August 23, 2011 / / Comments Off on Cyclist killed in South L.A.

Dispatches from the California Highway Patrol indicate that a cyclist may have been killed in the South L.A./Compton area tonight.

According to the report, a bicycle rider was hit while crossing the intersection of Avalon Blvd and East Redondo Beach Blvd in West Compton around 9:11 pm; the cyclist was pronounced dead around 9:23.

While the report is listed as a possible fatality, it also indicates that the Coroner was called to the scene.

More details as they become available.

Update: Total Traffic L.A. confirms that a cyclist was killed at that intersection; Redondo Beach Blvd is closed from San Pedro to Avalon. 

This is the 50th confirmed traffic-related cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th in L.A. County.

Update 2: I’m told that KTTV Fox 11 reported tonight that this collision was a hit-and-run; no link to the story yet. KTLA-5 confirms that it was hit-and-run.

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

Update: San Diego TV station attempts to thin the herd by encouraging children to ride against traffic

August 23, 2011 / / 9 comments

Evidently, they have too many children in San Diego.

How else can you explain a news report on KFMB-TV encouraging children riding to school to risk their lives by salmoning on the wrong side of the road?

And if your child walks, rides a bike or a skateboard to school, make sure they travel against traffic and always wears a helmet.

The helmet advice is fine. In fact, helmets are legally required in California for all bike riders under 18. And walking against traffic can be good advice, although it might have been nice to encourage children to walk on the sidewalk, rather than in the street.

But riding a bike against traffic is not only illegal — bikes are required to ride with traffic — but exceptionally dangerous. While it may give the illusion of increasing safety by allowing riders to see oncoming traffic, it reduces reaction times for both the rider and drivers while greatly increasing the severity of any collision.

It’s bad enough that a local reporter got it wrong and gave children and parents the wrong advice in a mistaken attempt to improve back-to-school safety. What’s worse is that the statement came in the middle of a quote from a California Highway Patrol officer.

At best, it appears to give official support for the reporter’s error. At worst, it suggests that the officer in question is badly misinformed about bike law and safety, and offering advice that could put children at risk.

Hopefully, they’ll make a correction soon. Before anyone takes their advice.

And maybe they’ll talk to someone who knows what the hell they’re talking about before making a similar mistake again.

Update: As of 12:30 today, KFMB still has not corrected their report, despite promising several people who contacted them that they would do so. As a result, I sent them the following email.

Dear Adrienne Moore — 

I’ve heard from a number of people who have contacted you today to correct the dangerously false advice given in your report “Avoiding a big danger kids face on way to school.” They wrote you to asking that you correct the suggestion that children riding bikes should ride against, rather than with, traffic. 
This is both illegal, as California law requires that all cyclists must ride in the same direction as traffic, and dangerous because it reduces reaction time for the cyclists and for motorists rushing towards them. There is no valid authority that advices riding against traffic in the U.S.; however, the placement of the statement within the discussion by CHP Officer Brian Pennings suggests that he provided you with that information.
If he told you that cyclists should ride facing traffic, he is wrong, and this gives you an opportunity to both correct his error and inform the general public how to ride safely with traffic. If not, you have done the CHP a disservice by suggesting that Officer Pennings is unaware of one of the most basic laws governing cycling.
Your continued failure to correct this advice puts the lives and safety of children at risk. I must insist that you offer a full retraction immediately before anyone is injured or killed as a result of your error; simply correcting the story online will not be sufficient to remedy the damage that has been done.
Update 2: I haven’t received a response to my email; however, the video report has been re-edited to say that pedestrians should walk against traffic, and skateboarders and bicyclists should wear a helmet. However, the online print version of the story still has not been corrected, and as far as I can tell, no effort has been made to correct the misinformation given all the people who may have heard or read the original report.
Update 3: I received a response from Adrienne Moore, the reporter who covered the story for KFMB, who apologized for the error and said the story had been corrected. However, the online print version still has not been corrected as of 10 pm August 23rd.
Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law / Tags: , , , , , ,

A beautiful, moving remembrance of a fallen cyclist. And brother.

August 22, 2011 / / 8 comments

Almost one a year ago to the day, I received an email from a reader telling me that a friend of his had been killed riding his bike a few days earlier.

A link to a Facebook page brought confirmation that Doug Caldwell, a popular local cyclist and scientist, had been killed, and another man, Scott Evans, seriously injured.

The driver, Gordon Wray, was charged with the death, and acquitted. Even for the relatively light charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter, it was a difficult case to prove.

In the flurry of angry comments that followed, I was surprised to see Stephen Caldwell jump into the fray to challenge those who claimed his brother’s death was nothing more than just an accident.

Afterwards, I offered him the use of this site if he ever wanted to tell his story, or simply remind us of the man Doug had been.

This past weekend, Stephen took me up on my offer — exactly one year after his brother was struck down on Foothill Blvd.

……..

To My Brother

For a boy, a bike means freedom. With a bike he can ride to a friend’s house or explore new neighborhoods on the weekend. He doesn’t need his parents anymore to drive him to school. He can, if he wants, ride to the beach. Were he a surfer he could devise a means to carry his board.

I think of my own boyhood. Few were the consecutive days when I did not ride my bike. Indeed, I took it so much for granted that recently I tried to remember the bicycle I used from the 7th through the 11th grade. Though I can specifically remember the Centurion ProTour I purchased just before my 12th grade year – the year I started driving – I cannot remember the prior one. I think it may have been light blue. I think it was a Schwinn. But it was my freedom. And I often rode with my brother.

For an adolescent boy-becoming-man, a car means freedom. He can go to the same places he went on his bike, but now more quickly. He can take girls on dates. He can drive to work at night. If he persuades his parents, he can drive to a city he never could have reached on bicycle. Greater freedom and a larger world.

For the adolescent with car keys, the bike takes on new meaning. Now a bike becomes simply a means of exercise. Or a way to feel the wind in his hair. (We lived at a time when helmets were rarely worn.) Now it is not primarily a means of transportation, but of recreation.

For some at this stage, the bicycle recedes into the past. They take it out again when they have their own children, or perhaps when they are on vacation and pleased to enjoy a summer boardwalk in a carefree way. For others, bicycles rise to the racks atop their cars, now transportable to scenic roads away from the busy city. For a few, bicycles become symbols of something greater, of greener worlds and healthier humans.

As boys, the bicycle demonstrated the sort of men we might become. The steep hills were our crucible. At the base of the hill one had three choices:  push the bike up while walking beside it; zig zag up to decrease the effective grade; or dig deep into oneself and learn to dominate the hill by going up it straight.

For the first boy, the ride down is but a lazier extension of the walk up. It is remarkable only in that it might not have been at all, close as the boy was to simply turning around at the bottom to look for an altogether easier route. For the second boy, the ride at the end is a reward for his labor. The gravity he once resisted now serves for his relaxation. But the rest is short-lived. Another hill will come, ever a burden.

For the last boy, the ride down on the wings of gravity is like a hero’s flight on the wings of victory. He has triumphed. He does not dread the next hill but seeks it out. “I defy you,” he thinks. “Indeed, though you may be even steeper and longer, I shall learn to ascend you faster.”

In a way, the three boys so described are three types of men. One cruises along in society, often at the expense of others. Another makes his way, but with only enough energy to provide for himself and the small world of his affections. The third is the sort who leads. Metaphorically, he has the power and strength to ride a tandem up a hill even doing the greater share of the peddling. Indeed, he can push himself to great heights because he knows that life is like the hills he conquered in his youth.

As a man, he must drive his car to his place of work, the place where he rides metaphorical mountains straight up. As a man, he sometimes rides his bicycle to work, a bit of a boy still in him. He enjoys the exercise which stills his busy mind, his mind which at his place of work he exerts for developing concepts or equations and for leading others to do embrace a vision.  He enjoys the open road with nature to his side – at least as much as he can experience in the city. He feels the air on sides of his head, but not the top, for now he does wear a helmet.

He is free for one last time. Ironically, on this day he is riding up a slight hill without exertion.  He has many mountains yet to climb, in tandem or as vanguard, showing others the way.

He is a man for one last time. And then a driver, proving only a simple law of basic physics – that energy times mass equals force – lays that man, my brother, to rest beside the road.

Like that. It ends. And we are left groping for answers.

Douglas Caldwell, a lifelong cyclist, was an eagle scout, a nature photographer, and a UCLA Ph.D. He had spent many years advancing space exploration, but in recent years had shifted his focus to alternate energy development. On August 20th, 2010 he was riding to his new job at JPL where he would have led a program to develop smart grid technologies for a greener planet earth. A driver straying into the bike lane struck him down. Douglas died the following day. 

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

Getting the royal road treatment from Hollywood police, and encouraging a motorist to drive better

August 19, 2011 / / 3 comments

Earlier this week, I was cut off by a driver who pulled out from a side street without ever looking in my direction.

So I jerked on my brakes and yelled out a warning. And he responded by calling me an asshole before speeding on his way.

So let me get this straight.

He drives in a careless manner, putting other people’s lives at risk. But I’m the asshole for trying to avoid getting killed?

Or maybe just being on the planet?

Fortunately, experiences — and drivers — like that are the exception.

Santa Monica Spoke member and bike advocate Eric Weinstein had a couple of much better encounters recently, demonstrating that there is hope for détente on our streets.

And that maybe things are better out there than it seems sometimes.

Sunday I was cycling back from a bar near Universal City. So, I’m southbound on Cahuenga Bvld, through the pass, which I expect to be difficult, with a narrow road and fast cars. Well…the auto traffic is conveniently stopped on most of the downhill portion. About 3/4 of a mile of cars: all nose to tail, not moving at all.

They can’t hurt you if they’re not moving! Nice!

So, I ride between the lanes and arrive at the Hollywood Bowl entrance intersection. There is an event starting, with a bunch of traffic and police types, and everyone waits for quite a few minutes until the cross traffic is stopped. When it’s time to go, the traffic officer points to me and says “You first.” I go, all alone, and she holds the rest for at least 30 seconds, which gives me time to accelerate to speed, take the lane, etc. Nice!

Then I get to Highland and Hollywood Boulevard, where my route turns right. Another line of cars, all turning right, all stopped by a traffic guy and a large bunch of pedestrians in the crosswalk. I cruise up the outside, because you all know you do not want to be between a car and a right turn!

When I get to the head of the line, the cop asks me “ You turning right?” “Yep” I say. Where else would I be going stopped at a right turn. The pedestrian mob ends, and he points to me and says “Go now!” and he holds the rest of the cars until I’m well clear. Nice! And much safer.

Are there new instructions on this to the Hollywood Traffic police? Have any other cyclists been allowed go first like that? This was a great experience! I really felt that a cyclist belonged in traffic.

The following day, I was biking down Colorado in Santa Monica near 20th. It was the part where it’s pretty commercial — the road is two lanes per side with some parking, some curb. It’s reasonably wide.

An unfortunately typical thing happens – the squeeze. When I bike there, I take 1/3 of the lane, putting me just outside the door zone. At almost 20 mph I expect the cars to follow me until there is room to pass in the lane to their left.  When there’s room on my right I put over to let them past.

What surprised me was that a small silver sports car could just squeeze by in the 2/3 of a lane remaining at about 35 mph. Always brings that feeling of mortality when there’s a car zooming by right next to your handlebar.

Sometimes, though, you catch them at the next light. That’s what happened this time, so I put up next to the open passenger side window and say “Hey” to the driver.

The driver is a blond woman, who is hunched over, looking down and texting! She is very, very startled as she realizes someone is talking to her from outside the car and sits up, looking guilty. I say, “You just did the same thing to me back there!”

Pause while she (maybe) remembers passing me a minute ago. If anything she looks more guilty. Next I say “Please don’t text!” She says apologetically “I wasn’t texting back there.”

“Please leave more space when you pass,” I say. “Sorry,” she says. And I think she means it. She really looked very embarrassed.

The light changes, and we drive off. I think she got it.

And, I hope, another driver converted to changing their ways.

Something tells me that the driver I encountered wouldn’t have responded quite so well had I been able to catch him.

Not that I tried, of course.

……..

As you may recall, Stephanie Segal is currently facing charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run for the death of cyclist James Laing in Agoura Hills last year. Laing was riding in the bike lane on Agoura Road when Segal allegedly ran him down, with a blood alcohol content of .26%.

Now, in what promises to be a very emotional day, Victim Impact Statements are scheduled to be heard on September 7th, starting at 8:30 am in Department 1 of the Malibu Courthouse, 23525 Civic Center Way.

Cyclists are urged to attend to show support for the victim and his family. I’m told that a room full of riders in bike jerseys would make a real statement to the court and offer comfort to the family; however, wear long pants, because shorts — bike or otherwise — are not allowed in the courtroom.

……..

Bicycling offers a look at the top contenders and 3 stages to watch in next week’s USA Pro Cycling Challenge, aka Tour of Colorado. It doesn’t bode well for the Pro Cycling Challenge that another Colorado bike race is sabotaged. Mark Cavendish and his HTC-Highroad team want to win one last grand tour at the Vuelta before the team is dissolved at the end of this season.

And then there’s this:

Q. Do you think Lance cheated?

A. Evelyn Stevens. Marianne Vos. Emma Pooley. Jeannie Longo. Kristin Armstrong.

Those are just five of the hundreds of female pro cyclists who deserve more attention and discussion than the question of whether Lance cheated.

That beautiful, brilliant response comes from competitive cyclist Kathryn Bertine, along with her responses to nine other questions cyclists get asked.

……..

After getting hit by a car 10 years ago, Simon Richardson recovered to become a Paralympic cycling champion. Now he’s fighting for his life, a victim of a hit-and-run collision on Wednesday.

……..

The L.A. Weekly decides the city’s new bike plan is already in trouble, just four months after it was adopted. Richard Risemberg points out that the biking black hole of Beverly Hills has a golden opportunity to do something that would benefit cyclists — and everyone else. Stephen Box says Metrolink passes the bike friendly test. Leading bike scribe and advocate Elly Blue’s Dinner & Bikes tour comes to Santa Monica on Saturday, September 10th; word is another local date is in the works on Monday the 12th. More on Temple City’s plans to construct the city’s first bikeway with separated bike lanes on Rosemead Ave. Long Beach makes a long leap towards livability. The L.A. firefighters riding to New York for 9/11 make a side trip to visit the victims of the Joplin MO tornado.

Two Orange County teenagers are under arrest for shooting passing cyclists with a BB gun. San Diego’s Courteous Mass and Critical Manners ride may not bring about world peace, but it’s a start. A driver gets two-years for killing a cyclist in a Bay Area hit-and-run. A Cupertino cyclist rides across Iowa at age 70 after taking up riding just last winter.

As usual, Bob Mionske nails it with a look at internet trolls who respond to every cycling news story from a highly biased and usually inaccurate windshield perspective. Bicycling says follow this diet, and you’ll be able to ride longer on less food and never bonk. Another example showing cyclists are at least as likely as pedestrians to be seriously injured in a collision between the two; oddly, I don’t hear anyone calling for dangerous scofflaw pedestrians to be taxed and licensed. Five easy steps to buying your next bike; they forgot to mention step six, which is finding a way to pay for it. After the rear cyclist on a tandem is killed in a collision, a witness is arrested for going through their belongings. So let me get this straight — did a teenage cyclist riding in a crosswalk dart out and hit a passing truck, or did the driver ignore the girl riding in the crosswalk and cut her off? Springfield Cyclist asks if you’ve ever done anything dumber than locking your bike to a post without the key; maybe that’s what happened here. An Ohio driver is charged with killing a bike-riding judge while driving with a blood alcohol content of nearly .29. New York cyclists may have won the lawsuit over the popular Prospect Park West bike lanes, but some local residents still think they suck — the cyclists and the bike lanes, that is. The sore losers at the Daily News complain about NYDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan’s highhanded ways; then again, they’d probably complain if she picked up the tab for drinks. Our North Carolina friend Zeke points out that road rage is relative, as drivers patiently line up behind a slow moving tractor without a single horn or finger.

A Canadian cyclist is injured after firecrackers are thrown from a passing car. A Vancouver cyclist is fighting British Columbia’s mandatory helmet law in court; although a little helmet hair isn’t a bad trade-off when your skull is at stake. A 10-year old Brit cyclist is impaled on his handlebars; fortunately, he’ll survive, but this seems to happen far more often than it should. Cyclists and driveways don’t have to be in conflict. Sydney bike riders would feel safer using the city’s bikeways if pedestrians and buses wouldn’t.

Finally, genius must have skipped a generation, as a bike thief is arrested after mentioning on his Facebook page that the bike he’s trying to sell is stolen.

And after nearly getting turned into bug splatter by a stop sign-running VW Beetle on my way home Wednesday night, I’ve come to the conclusion that my last words on this planet may very well be “Oh fu…!”

But then, aren’t we supposed to be the ones who run stop signs?

Category: Car vs Bike, Guest Columns / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Yet another teenage cyclist killed earlier this month, this time in Rancho Cucamonga

August 16, 2011 / / Comments Off on Yet another teenage cyclist killed earlier this month, this time in Rancho Cucamonga

A 16-year old Rancho Cucamonga cyclist died August 5th, nearly a week after he collided with a car.

Bernie Cota, who would have been a junior at Rancho Cucamonga High School, was riding his bike to a friend’s house on Friday, July 29th when the wreck occurred at the intersection of Milliken Ave and Terra Vista Parkway. No other details about the collision are currently available.

Cota was not wearing a helmet at the time, even though helmets are required for anyone under 18 in California. He suffered severe brain injuries, and despite surviving emergency surgery, lingered in a coma before being declared dead on Friday, August 5th.

According to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, his organs were donated after his death.

All of Cota’s organs were healthy and his mother opted to have them donated. She is absolutely certain that her son would have wanted it that way.

“Many people got good news that day,” Denise Cota said.

But many others received news that broke their hearts, including friends, relatives and Bernie Cota’s two younger brothers, Brent and Brandon.

A public memorial was held for Cota this past weekend, while a local hair salon and pizza parlor both held fundraisers for the family; friends made and sold t-shirts and bead bracelets to raise money for the funeral.

A local mortuary offers a moving slide show of a life cut short.

This is the 49th confirmed traffic-related cycling death in Southern California this year, and 4th in San Bernardino County; Cota was the second teenage cyclist to die in the county this month.

My heart and prayers go out to his family and loved ones. Thanks to Ann for forwarding the news.

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

Guest post: leading L.A. bike attorney and advocate Howard Krepack on taking the lane

August 16, 2011 / / 4 comments

There are just a handful of attorneys I’d want on my side when I need help, most of whom you can find over there on the right column.

Howard Krepack is one of those, someone I’ve come to know and respect as a friend and fellow cyclist, as well as an experienced attorney specializing in bike law and a strong supporter of our local cycling community. So when he contacted me recently to say he’d written a piece about the law behind your right to take the lane — as well as when and how to do it — I offered to let him share it here.

……..

Taking the Lane—It’s a Personal Decision

By Howard Krepack, Esq.
Partner, Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant Felton & Goldstein, LLP

Bicycling safety is all about balance and control, particularly when it comes to taking the lane. Sharing the road with motorists can be a breeze or a nightmare; you can do a lot to shape that reality for yourself.

Taking the lane makes you more visible to motorists by basically becoming one of them. It enables an approaching driver to spot you, slow down as necessary and pass you as if you were a car. If you are hugging the shoulder, many drivers will pass you too quickly and/or too closely. In addition, motorists are often preoccupied with other things—the phone, the radio, their passengers—to pay a great deal of attention to the cyclist riding near the curb (drifting to the shoulder is common for inattentive drivers).  Taking the lane also helps alleviate your chances of being caught in a right hook when a motorist makes a right turn.

The California Vehicle Code tackles the topic in Section 21202—Position in Traffic. It reads as follows:

(a) Any person operating a bicycle upon a roadway at a speed less than the normal speed of traffic moving in the same direction at that time shall ride as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway except under any of the following situations:

  1. When overtaking and passing another bicycle or vehicle proceeding in the same direction.
  2. When preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.
  3. When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including, but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, animals, surface hazards, or substandard width lanes) that make it unsafe to continue along the right-hand curb or edge, subject to the provisions of Section 21656. For purposes of this section, a “substandard width lane” is a lane that is too narrow for a bicycle and a vehicle to travel safely side by side within the lane.
  4. When approaching a place where a right turn is authorized.

But, just because taking the lane is legal and oftentimes optimal, doesn’t mean it’s for everyone. It is as much of a mental act as a physical one, and shouldn’t be done until you are comfortable putting yourself in that situation.

Even then, there are cases when balancing the legality with the reality doesn’t add up to taking the lane. For instance, when vehicular traffic is moving at 45 mph or more, a bicyclist traveling at 20 mph will be seen as a nuisance at best (with the possible accompanying road rage that implies) and an unseen victim at worst.

We live in a car-centric society where infrastructure improvements that would increase bicycling safety are slow in coming. Grassroots, non-profit groups are making great strides, but until cities and governmental agencies get on board in earnest, bicyclists will still be considered second-class citizens. Needed changes include:

  • An increase in the length and number of bike lanes and sharrows.
  • Keeping road shoulders clear of debris and obstacles.
  • Utilizing proper/appropriate signage to warn bicyclists of road conditions and hazards.
  • A better understanding on the part of public safety officers about the vehicle code as it pertains to bicyclists.
  • Public awareness that bicyclists and motorists share the same responsibilities and rights to the road.
  • Motorists adhering to the rules of the road.
  • Bicyclists adhering to the rules of the road.
  • Motorists and bicyclists treating each other with common courtesy.

Just like taking the lane, it’s all about balance and control.

(The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is dedicated to protecting the rights of those who have suffered serious injuries on or off the job. Partner Howard Krepack, an avid bicyclist, leads the firm’s bicycle accident practice. For more information about our firm, call us at 213-739-7000 or visit our website: www.geklaw.com.)

……..

I welcome guest posts, whether you’re a leading bike attorney or just a cyclist with something to say. And whether or not you agree with what I have to say — or vice versa.

So if you’d like to share your thoughts with your fellow cyclists on any bike-related subject, email me at bikinginla at hotmail dot com.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Guest Columns / Tags: , , , ,

12-year old Victorville cyclist killed near Hesperia

August 15, 2011 / / 2 comments

In yet another tragic cycling collision, a Victorville middle school student was killed after reportedly running a stop sign on Saturday.

The San Bernardino Sun reports that 12-year old Zachariah Houck was riding south on Joshua Road in Oak Hills with a group of friends around 6:45 pm when he went through the stop at Mesquite Street, and was struck by a Lincoln Navigator driven by George Peery.

Peery reportedly tried to swerve to the right to avoid Houck’s bike, but was unable to stop in time. Houck was pronounced dead at the scene; tragically, his parents arrived at the scene before police.

He had just started his first week of 7th grade on Thursday. The Victorville Daily Press quotes his aunt speaking for the family.

“We’re all numb,” Sarah Houck-Garcia, Houck’s aunt, said Monday. “It’s been tragic for the entire family. He was just a big love bug.”

According to the Daily Press, his middle school is accepting donations for the family.

Quail Valley is collecting donations for Houck’s family at the front office including gift cards, money or letters and cards of encouragement, according to Principal Dennis Zimmerman. Anyone wishing to make a donation to Houck’s family can visit the school at 10058 Arrowhead Road in Phelan or make out a check in the name of Zachariah Harrison Houck II and take it to a Wells Fargo branch.

This is the 48th confirmed traffic-related cycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 3rd in San Bernardino County.

My deepest sympathies to Houck’s family and friends.

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

Update: Taco Tuesday cyclists cited for bad behavior; anti-bike DWP employee a fake

August 11, 2011 / / 8 comments

In a story that seemed important at the time, police responded to complaints about the popular Taco Tuesday ride in Playa del Rey Tuesday night.

Upwards of 100 — or maybe 200 — riders were reportedly engaging in drunken, unruly behavior at the intersection of Culver Blvd and Vista del Mar.

At least six riders were cited for various traffic infractions, while four others were ticketed for curfew violations; a white van accompanying the riders was impounded after stopping briefly in a tow-away zone.

However, despite numerous reports that the riders were intoxicated and drinking in public, no arrests were made for liquor violations or biking under the influence, which is illegal under California law.

In the end, it was nothing more than a bike ride that may have gotten out of hand. A few hundred — or maybe just a few out of a few hundred — engaged in exactly the kind of two-wheeled boorish behavior that gives every other cyclist a bad name. And encourages the sort of bike hatred we all face in online forums and on the streets.

But it was not the near traffic riot some might suggest.

However, if this comment from the Daily News story about the event really is from a city employee, it may not be bad behavior from cyclists that we have to worry about.

Michael Walter · Sr. Purchasing Clerk at Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power

Cyclists are highway vermin. Run ’em down with your Hummer.

Surely a city employee isn’t dumb enough to post a threat — even one which he would undoubtedly claim to be a badly failed attempt at humor — under his own name and title.

Right?

Update: Good news. I just received a phone call from LAPD Sgt. David Krumer, who said he contacted DWP to followup on this comment, and was informed that no one by that name works for DWP and that position does not exist within the company. Evidently, someone with a grudge against DWP created the Michael Walter Facebook account and made the comment in order to make them look bad.

Somehow, it’s comforting to know that this is just the work of a random psycho, rather than a city employee.

……..

I’m told that charges have been filed against Glenn Michael Moore and Michael Dennis Roach, who were allegedly street racing on PCH when a collision sent Moore’s Accord sailing onto a nearby bike path, where it struck and critically injured cyclist Richard Lauwers.

Both are charged with a misdemeanor count of engaging in a speed contest; Moore is also charged with felony DUI causing great bodily injury and felony DUI with a BAC over .08% causing great bodily injury — despite the fact that the collision occurred around 8 am on a Sunday morning.

Fortunately, reports are that Lauwers has recovered from his injuries and continues to ride his bike.

……..

Late calendar additions:

Metro is holding a roundtable discussion to talk about operator training, bicycle outreach and education on Monday, August 22nd from 6 to 8 pm. Anyone whose ever been buzzed by a bus — which means just about every cyclist in L.A. — may want to attend.

The LACBC is co-sponsoring a bike tour of historic Glendale this weekend, and co-hosting a weekend-long training program for bicycle and pedestrian advocates with the Alliance for Biking and Walking in October. Meanwhile, the Coalition is forming a new West Hollywood affiliate chapter at 7 pm on Friday, August 19th at Poinsettia Park.

And C.I.C.L.E. and the Santa Monica Museum of Art co-host the Cause for Creativity: Tour da Arts on Saturday, August 21 from noon to 7 pm; pre-registration is advised since it usually fills up.

……..

Bob Mionske says congratulations to Los Angeles for passing the first-of-its-kind anti-harassment ordinance. And in a must read, he looks at the tendency of police and the media to blame the victim in cycling collisions.

In one of the cases he mentions, anti-bike bias rears its ugly head as a Kelowna, British Columbia rider is blamed for riding too fast in a bike lane after she’s right hooked by a driver.

……..

In bike racing news, American racing prodigy Taylor Phinney loses 35 seconds to drop to 8th place in the Eneco Tour after holding the leader’s jersey; and no, I never heard of that race before this year, either. But I have heard of the Tour of the Netherlands.

Tour de France champ Cadel Evans heads a strong line-up for the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado later this month. SoCal Cycling looks at last weekend’s Brentwood Grand Prix (scroll down), as does the Claremont Cyclist. A Tahoe cyclist relates life as a Category 1 racer; how to make the jump from Cat 4 to Cat 3. And a 15-year old Manhattan Beach bicyclist is invited to train in Europe by USA Cycling.

……..

The city releases its first quarterly report on the Bike Plan Implementation Team (BPIT); thanks to George Wolfberg for forwarding the link. But when cyclists were offered a chance to set the BPIT agenda, only two people bothered to respond.

Even so, Bikeside insists there’s no way to achieve progress on implementing the bike plan, while Alex Thompson considers the whole thing a complete and utter failure.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica cyclists applaud the city’s newly unveiled bike plan, while the Santa Monica Spoke applauds the process and city staff behind it. The Spoke offers a link to the plan and an email address to offer comments, bikeplan@SMSpoke.org.

……..

Damien Newton blames the poor design of De Soto Ave for contributing to the death of Alex Romero by encouraging drivers to speed. L.A. attorney and cyclist Howard Krepack says it’s past time to invest in Safe Routes to Schools. The biking black hole of Beverly Hills bars transparency by banning search engines; what ever happened to the idea of open government? KPCC looks at how to start cycling in the city. Turns out triple bike racks on buses could be against the law. KCET asks if L.A. needs a bike share program. A memorial grows for Jeremy Perez, the 7-year old cyclist killed in Redondo Beach on Saturday. The West San Gabriel Valley Bicycle Coalition — an LACBC affiliate — is working to make Alhambra bike friendlier. The Claremont Cyclist reports on local riders behaving, in some cases very, badly.

A San Francisco pedestrian has died after being struck by a red light-running rider last month. No DUI charges in the death of a cyclist walking his bike on PCH in Ventura as prosecutors apparently misplace the blood alcohol results. Here’s your chance to go downhill in Death Valley. A state grant has been awarded to close a gap in a Thousand Oaks bike lane. A mountain biker is rescued after being injured on a Laguna wilderness trail. An arrest has been made in the hit-and-run death of a Santa Cruz area cyclist; unlike the father of Dominique Rush in the Alex Romero case, the driver’s parents urged her to turn herself in and co-operated in the investigation. The owner of a Humboldt County trucking company clearly gets it in a look at the proposed three-foot passing law. San Francisco’s Rapha Cycle Club is a new kind of biker bar. A cyclist breaks into — not out of — Folsom prison. The Navy Seabee who saved the life of triathlete Jordon Rapp following a cycling collision last year receives a well-deserved honor for his efforts.

Broken Sidewalk looks at the problem of bicycle infrastructure designed by drivers — definitely worth reading. Transportation as a civil rights issue. The hidden perils of urban bike paths. Advice on how to wash your bike, and how to refresh your legs fast; personally, I use two hard boiled eggs and a café mocha — to bounce back, not wash. A Wisconsin rider says it’s time for all of us to take the pledge to make our streets a little safer, one driver and cyclist at a time. The Green Bay Packers are role models for cycling. Cyclists are rude, drivers are ruder. Rolling out the bike rides to commemorate 9/11. Bike lanes are used for everything but bikes. A well thought-out response to the typical complaint about cyclists not paying taxes. An Irish poet pedals across the U.S.

Tijuana sets the example in showing how bicyclists and motorists can co-exist peacefully. Building bike lanes pays dividends, despite perceptions of local merchants; meanwhile, Toronto’s mayor declares war on bikes. Bikes as looting lookouts and the subjects of violence on the streets of Hackney. The UK has seen a more than 10% jump in annual cycling casualties, defined as death or serious injury. Seeing Beijing in a whole new light after buying a bike.

Finally, a personal injury attorney with offices throughout L.A., O.C. and the Bay Area talks about L.A.’s new anti-harassment ordinance, and repeatedly insists there are only 13,000 cyclists in Los Angeles — missing the mark by roughly 587,000 monthly riders, according to estimates in the new bike plan.

And in the wake of the Dominique Rush case, a couple of readers remind us of another case where a father actively assisted in a cover-up after his son killed a cyclist; thanks to maggie and Jim Lucas for the heads-up.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Roadway Courtesy / Tags: , , , , ,
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