Archive for Bicycle Safety

Update: Man riding bicycle killed by motorcyclist fleeing police near Carlsbad State Beach; 4th San Diego County death in 10 days

August 16, 2022 / / 4 comments

What the hell is going on in San Diego County?

For the first seven months of this year, it was one of the safest places to ride a bicycle in Southern California, with just four deaths.

Even though just one is one too many.

Yet the county has doubled that total in just the last ten days, with the latest death coming yesterday in Carlsbad, where the victim was collateral damage in a police chase.

According to multiple sources, the victim was killed when he was struck by a motorcyclist who was being chased by a state parks officer for speeding and reckless riding.

The crash occurred around 1 pm at Carlsbad Boulevard near Palomar Airport Road, either in or near Carlsbad State Beach.

The San Diego Union-Tribune places the crash near North Ponto Beach.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene, while both the 28-year old motorcyclist and his passenger, a 22-year old woman, were hospitalized with serious injuries.

There’s no word on when or where the pursuit started, or how fast the motorcyclist was going at the time of the crash.

However, it raises inevitable questions about the wisdom of police chases that place innocent people at risk, and whether a parks cop was properly trained in how to conduct a chase.

Anyone with information is urged to call Carlsbad Police Investigator Adam Bentley at 442/339-5559.

This is at least the 58th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

It’s also the 4th bicycling death in the county in the last ten days, and the second in Carlsbad.

Update: According to the Union-Tribune, the victim has been identified as 68-year old Solano Beach resident Brad Allen Catcott. 

Catcott was reportedly moving from the bike lane to a turn lane when he was run down by the fleeing motorcyclist, and succumbed to blunt force trauma. 

The paper reports Carlsbad Police referred questions to State Parks officials, who said there “is no new information to share with the public” ten days after the crash. 

Not that they’re trying to cover their collective ass or anything. 

My deepest prayers and sympathy for the Brad Allen Catcott and all his loved ones.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

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

Woman killed walking bike across street in National City Wednesday; 3rd bike rider killed in San Diego County this week

August 12, 2022 / / One comment

The bad news just keeps on coming.

Multiple sources are reporting that a woman was killed walking her bike across the street in National City Wednesday morning, the third bike rider killed in San Diego County just this week.

The victim, identified only as a local transient, was apparently crossing Highland Avenue near 18th Street mid-block when she was struck by a 22-year old driver around 6:15 am.

She died at the scene, despite the efforts of paramedics.

The 22-year old driver remained at the scene following the crash, and cooperated with investigators.

This is at least the 57th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

73-year old man riding in Escondido bike lane fatally rear-ended by 69-year old driver

August 11, 2022 / / Comments Off on 73-year old man riding in Escondido bike lane fatally rear-ended by 69-year old driver

Another day, another person in Southern California killed while riding a bicycle.

This time in Escondido.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, a 73-year old man was killed when he was rear-ended while riding in a bike lane on Broadway.

The crash took place on southbound Broadway approaching El Norte Parkway around 10:25 Thursday morning.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, died at the scene after being knocked onto the sidewalk.

There’s no word on whether the 69-year-old woman behind the wheel swerved into the bike lane, or if the victim left the bike lane for some reason. However, police don’t believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

The driver was hospitalized for non-life threatening medical care, though it was unclear if she was injured in the crash or was treated for some sort of health condition.

Anyone with information is urged to call Escondido Police Officer Pete McCollough at 760/839-4930.

This is at least the 56th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

42-year old man killed riding ebike against traffic in Huntington Beach, 70-year old driver arrested for DUI

August 11, 2022 / / Comments Off on 42-year old man killed riding ebike against traffic in Huntington Beach, 70-year old driver arrested for DUI

Once again, Southern California’s killer highway has claimed a life.

But this time, the victim was at least partly at fault for riding salmon — even though he was struck by an allegedly stoned driver.

According to the Daily Pilot, 42-year old Huntington Beach resident Timothy John Briley was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike against traffic in Huntington Beach Tuesday evening.

Briley was reportedly riding north in the southbound lanes on Pacific Coast Highway, just north of Admiralty Drive, around 6 pm when he was struck head-on by an SUV driven by 70-year old Barbara Front of Huntington Beach.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he died 40 minutes later.

Front remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators; she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence at 7:40 pm.

There are no bike lanes or other bike infrastructure on PCH north of Admiralty, and no word on whether Briley was riding in the parking lane or traffic lanes.

There’s also no word on why he was riding against traffic, although some people mistakenly believe they’re safer facing oncoming traffic. However, the reality is just the opposite.

Anyone with information is urged to call Huntington Beach traffic investigator Jeremy Rounds at 714/536-5670.

This is at least the 55th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Orange County.

My deepest prayers and sympathy for Timothy John Briley and all his loved ones.

Thanks to Bill Sellin for the heads-up. 

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

35-year old woman riding ebike dies after collision with SUV driver in Carlsbad; her 16-month old daughter unhurt

August 9, 2022 / / Comments Off on 35-year old woman riding ebike dies after collision with SUV driver in Carlsbad; her 16-month old daughter unhurt

Because of last night’s breaking news, there will be no Morning Links today.

We’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on anything we missed. 

………

Three crashes. Three deaths. Three counties. Two hit-and-runs.

All in less than 20 hours.

A horrible weekend for the bicycling community finally concluded with the last of three innocent victims, who died simply because they rode their bicycles on Southern California streets.

Multiple sources are reporting that a young mother died after she was struck by the driver of a massive SUV in Carlsbad Sunday evening.

The 35-year old woman, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding an ebike with her 16-month old daughter when they were struck by the driver of a Toyota 4-Runner around 5:45 pm, near Basswood Ave and Valley Street.

She was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries, and died the next afternoon. Her child appeared to be unhurt, but was taken to the hospital as a precaution.

At least the driver stuck around this time, unlike the other two crashes.

The 42-year old woman reportedly cooperated with police investigators, who don’t believe drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.

Unfortunately, there’s no word on how the crash may have occurred. A street view doesn’t offer any help, showing a pair of two-lane residential streets, controlled with a four-way stop.

Anyone with information is urged to call Carlsbad Police Corporal Matt Bowen at 442/339-2282.

This is at least the 54th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.

My deepest prayers and sympathy for Christine Embree and all her loved ones.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up. 

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

53-year old La Habra man riding bike killed in Sunday hit-and-run; teenaged boy and father arrested next day

August 9, 2022 / / Comments Off on 53-year old La Habra man riding bike killed in Sunday hit-and-run; teenaged boy and father arrested next day

Three crashes. Three deaths. Three counties. Two hit-and-runs.

All in less than 20 hours.

A horrible weekend for the bicycling community continued with the second of three innocent victims, who died just because they rode their bicycles on Southern California streets.

According to the La Habra police department, a male bicyclist was found lying in the roadway in the 500 block of West La Habra Boulevard around 4:43 pm Sunday.

The victim, identified only as a 53-year old La Habra resident, was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

He died sometime later.

Police described the suspect vehicle as an extended cab Chevrolet Silverado pickup, white with stock rims and a construction rack in the truck bed, with damage to the center grill, hood and driver’s side headlight.

A father and his teenaged son were arrested Monday afternoon after public tips led police to the truck on 300 block of East Second Ave in La Habra.

The 17-year old La Habra boy was booked on charges of felony hit-and-run and possession of a stolen vehicle, while his father, 35-year old La Habra resident Mario Popsuc, was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, and aiding and abetting in the collision.

Anyone with information is urged to call La Habra police at 562/383-4305.

This is at least the 53rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the tenth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Eighteen of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

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

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

59-year old man killed riding bike in Adelanto hit-and-run; driver remains missing after abandoning her SUV

August 9, 2022 / / Comments Off on 59-year old man killed riding bike in Adelanto hit-and-run; driver remains missing after abandoning her SUV

Three crashes. Three deaths. Three counties. Two hit-and-runs.

All in less than 20 hours.

In a horrible weekend for the bicycling community, three innocent people were killed just because they were riding bicycles on Southern California streets.

The first came in Adelanto Saturday night, when a bike-riding man was killed in a hit-and run around 10:21 pm.

According to the Victorville News Group, 59-year old Adelanto resident Marty Sparling was crossing US Highway 395 at Cactus Road when he was struck by the driver of a 2008 Lincoln Navigator.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he died.

Police identified the vehicle through a license plate found at the scene, naming 38-year old Erika Romero-Aguilar of Adelanto as the driver. Her Navigator was later found abandoned nine miles away at the Pilot Truck Stop on Highway 395 in Hesperia.

Romero-Aguilar’s whereabouts remain unknown at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to call Deputy L. Torres at the Victor Valley Sheriff’s Station, 760/552-6800.

This is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.

Seventeen of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest prayers and sympathy for Marty Sparling and all his loved ones.

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

This is the cost of traffic violence — Six innocent victims killed in fiery, high-speed Windsor Hills crash

August 5, 2022 / / 8 comments

Sometimes the news is so bad, I don’t even want to write about it.

Or anything else, for that matter.

That’s the case today, after six innocent people were killed, and eight injured, by a speeding driver who ran a red light in LA’s Windsor Hills neighborhood yesterday afternoon.

The driver, reported to be a traveling nurse in her 40s, was traveling at an excessive rate of speed when she blew through the stop light at La Brea and Slauson directly into heavy cross traffic.

One of the cars immediately exploded into a fireball, as witnesses described bodies and debris raining into a gas station on the opposite corner.

At least six vehicles were involved in the crash, with one victim found inside a burned-out car hours later.

The victims included a pregnant woman; both she and her baby were killed, along with another infant.

The injured included several other children, ranging in age from 13 months to 15-years old.

The driver was hospitalized with serious injuries, and being held in custody as she receives treatment. At least one report indicated she wasn’t tested for drugs or alcohol, because they wouldn’t have shown up after the emergency medications she received at the scene and in the ER.

As others have noted, the design of the wide, multilane intersection and straight roadways engineered for high-speed traffic have to be seen as major contributory factors, along with cars capable of exceeding the speed limit to such a degree.

The technology exists to reign in speeding drivers; we just refuse to use it. And fail to demand it.

On a personal note, I have only watched the video above a single time. But that’s all it took to burn it into my consciousness; I’ve been unable to stop seeing that image as it plays over and over in my head.

And with it comes a renewed sense of failure and despair. I’ve been working for safer streets for a decade and a half now, while others have struggled for much longer. We’ve all seen decades of promises from city officials to do something.

But it’s always too little, too late. If they do anything at all.

LA’s Vision Zero program will be seven years old later this month, just three years from that magic date when we were promised traffic deaths would be eliminated, once and for all. Instead, they have steadily increased, with bike riders and pedestrians paying a disproportionate cost.

La Brea was one of the the first streets identified as part of the city’s High Injury Network, and should have seen significant efforts to tame traffic violence.

Yet it has been allowed to languish as an over-designed, high-speed car sewer. And now six people have paid the price for that inaction in a single fiery incident.

Six innocent people.

We’re bound to hear more about it in the days to come, as city officials mourn the victims and make more promises that they will inevitably fail to fulfill.

I’m disgusted and angry with it all.

I hope you are, too.

We’ll be back on Monday with our usual Morning Links. But right now, I don’t even want to think about it.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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

Breaking news: 78-year old man killed riding bike in Mission Viejo crash, no details available

August 2, 2022 / / One comment

News broke late this afternoon that an elderly man was killed riding his bike in Mission Viejo Tuesday morning.

According to Mission Viejo Patch, the victim, identified only as a 78-year old man, was killed in some sort of crash around 8 am Tuesday, near Los Alisos Boulevard and Entidad.

There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or even if there was another vehicle, let alone a driver, involved.

Hopefully, we’ll get more information soon.

This is at least the 51st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

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

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

74-year old Upland man dies in apparent solo fall on San Gabriel Canyon Road in Azusa; 50th SoCal bike death this year

July 29, 2022 / / 3 comments

Now we finally know what happened.

In Friday’s update, we mentioned multiple reports that someone was killed in a collision involving a bicyclist in Azusa Thursday morning.

Now we know that the previous reports were right.

And wrong.

According to My News LA, 74-year old Upland resident Stephen Naftilan was riding at mile marker 24.10 on San Gabriel Canyon Road around 10:15 Thursday morning, when he fell to the right and collapsed in the roadway.

Another bicyclist and a passerby witnessed his fall, and found he was unresponsive when they stopped to help.

He died at the scene.

Apparently, there was no one else involved.

Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP Baldwin Park Area office at 626/338-1164.

This is at least the 50th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 18th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

My deepest prayers and sympathy for Stephen Naftilan and all his loved ones.

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