October 28, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Driver flees on foot after hitting salmon scooter rider in DTLA, and Long Beach teen rideout marred by shoplifting
LA’s hit-and-run plague just keeps on going.
The LAPD is looking for a shirtless driver who ran off on foot after crashing into a woman riding an e-scooter in DTLA.
The victim was riding against traffic when she was struck, which means the driver probably wouldn’t have faced any consequences if he’d just stuck around.
Instead, he abandoned his car and fled on the sidewalk, for reasons known only to him at this point. It could be that he was drunk or stoned, the car was stolen, or possibly he was in the country illegally and feared deportation.
Or any one of a number of other possible explanations.
Meanwhile, the victim was hospitalized with a head wound, which means there is an automatic $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of the suspect.
An Arizona driver who ran a red light and slammed into a Flagstaff bike parade last March, killing one woman and injuring several other people, now faces multiple felony charges for kiddie porn after police discovered thousands of images on his phone when they got a search warrant to determine whether he was distracted at the time of the crash.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A Minnesota man whose license had been revoked faces a charge of criminal vehicular homicide after killing a 73-year old Catholic priest who was riding his bike on the shoulder of a highway; the 26-year old driver has 10 previous convictions for driving with a revoked license in just the last three and a half years. Just one more example of keeping a dangerous driver on the roads until it’s too late. He should have been jailed and his car confiscated after the second offense.
Talk about a rough year. A celebrity chef has filed suit against the NYPD alleging he was brutally beaten for violating a curfew when he attempted to deliver a pizza for a bicycle delivery service, after losing his restaurant when he caught Covid-19.
No bias here. After a Louisiana bike rider was injured in a collision, police bent over backward to blame the victim, while the story fails to mention that the pickup that hit him even had a driver.
International
No surprise here, as data from around the world shows that bikeshare usage goes up with warmer temperatures until it gets too hot, and wet weather discourages people from riding. In other news, water is wet, the pope is Catholic, and bears defecate in wooded areas.
The victim was reportedly trespassing on a horse ranch near the Mexican border on Monday, September 27th, when the owner’s adult son used his car as a weapon to slam into him with enough force to shatter his bicycle.
Allegedly, of course.
According to OnScene TV, the victim was a former worker on the Tijuana Valley ranch, who had reportedly been barred from the property.
The son gave chase in a Kia SUV, crashing into him at a high rate of speed, before losing control and smashing into bollards on the side of the dirt road.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was rushed to Mercy Hospital with major injuries, where he died sometime on or before October 5th.
The driver also suffered serious injuries, and had to be extricated from his vehicle.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was struck by 25-year old man from Washington state who was driving west on Ammunition.
He died at the scene.
Police do not suspect drug or alcohol use played a roll in the crash.
There’s no word on how the crash occurred, though it’s most likely the victim was walking along the right hand side of the roadway when he was run down.
There’s also no word on why he was apparently walking in the street, though it is possible he was on the sidewalk. However, the sidewalk appears to end a short distance west of Alturas, which could have forced him into the street.
No explanation has been given for why he was walking his bike. It’s possible he had just gotten off for some reason, or had a flat or some other mechanical issue. Or he may have just felt more comfortable walking after dark instead of riding.
But unless he just happened to find the bicycle on the side of the road, he died as one of us. And should have had the same right to remain safe walking a bicycle as riding one.
Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP at 760/643-3400.
This is at least the 53rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
However, it will more likely be counted as a pedestrian death in official statistics.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
The victim, identified only as a man in his 50s, was pronounced at the scene.
Investigators initially suspected he died as a result of a mountain biking crash, but later concluded his death was caused by some sort of undisclosed medical problem.
This is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
October 1, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: 16-year old Port Hueneme boy killed riding bike in Oxnard hit-and-run, 39-year old Oxnard man arrested
Yet another Southern California bike rider has lost his life to a heartless coward in a car.
Except this time, the victim was just a 16-year old boy.
The victim, identified only as a Port Hueneme resident, was rushed to Ventura County Medical Center, where he died.
Police investigators concluded that he was riding west on Hemlock, and had the right-of-way when he was struck.
The driver’s car was found abandoned less that a mile away near Hemlock and Patterson Road. The 39-year old owner was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.
According to an Oxnard police spokesperson, the victim had a headlight and reflectors on his bike, although it was so badly mangled as a result of the crash that police couldn’t tell if he had a taillight.
However, he was not wearing a helmet, as required for anyone under 18 under California law. Although whether that matters would depend on whether he suffered a head injury, and whether his injuries might have been survivable with one.
And that could depend on how fast the driver was going, on a street where residents have long complained about speeding drivers, and have repeatedly requested speed bumps, with no response from Oxnard city officials.
This is at least the 51st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
At least 18 of those deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers.
So his lack of a helmet may be relevant, depending on the speed of the impact.
His alleged killer, 39-year old Julio Sanchez, was being held on $500,000 bail after pleading not guilty to second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter with prior DUI convictions, leaving the scene of an accident, and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Andres Hernandez and all his family and loved ones.
The woman was riding with her husband on the San Juan Creek Trail north of Creekside Park around 8:30 pm, when she somehow lost control of her bike, and tumbled onto the rocks.
Her children, who had been riding in front and rear bike seats, were also thrown onto the rocks. However, they are expected to fully recover.
An Orange County Sheriff’s sergeant indicated that, unlike her children, Macy was not wearing a helmet, though there’s no indication at this time that she suffered a head injury.
Tragically, Macy’s husband was riding behind on his own ebike, and reportedly watched the crash that took his wife’s life, and nearly his entire family.
This is at least the 50th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 6th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
The news likes to blame e-bikes for everything, but in this case it’s not wearing a helmet that probably killed the woman, while helmets saved her two kids. They were returning from the Ohana Music Festival (Pearl Jam, Beck, etc) at the beach, and it was dark. San Juan Creek Trail there is wide and flat but is bounded by boulders lining the channelized creek below, and it seems she fell over and hit her head on them. Ironically they had passed the most dangerous part of the path, where it dips steeply under Stonehill Dr and speeds accelerate down the hill. I am a frequent user of that important trail, it’s a bicycle highway to Doheny State Beach for thousands of Orange County residents. I agree there is a problem with speeding e-bikers on this trail, especially kids on their Class III speeders, but there’s also plenty of non e-bikers in their kits racing through there. There are a few posted 10 mph signs that no one pays attention to. It seems too slow for a trail like this, 15 mph would be more reasonable, including where the woman fell over.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jennifer Lee Macy and all her family and loved ones.
September 19, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 71-year old man killed riding bicycle in Ladera Heights; driver arrested for DUI, yet CHP blames the victim
Anyone riding a bicycle in their 70s should be applauded.
Not killed.
Yet that’s what happened in unincorporated Ladera Heights in Los Angeles County early Saturday morning, when a 71-year old man was run down by an alleged DUI driver.
Then again, on a street with a 45 mph speed limit — and a driver likely to be going faster at that hour — he had little chance of surviving the impact.
CHP investigators arrested 27-year old Culver City resident Michael Tesfai for driving under the influence.
The question is whether there were any independent witnesses who saw the crash at that hour, or whether investigators are relying on the word of the driver, who has an inherent interest in seeing his actions in the best light. And may not be the most reliable witness given Tesfai’s allegedly intoxicated state.
This is at least the 49th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
It was just over a week ago that an Ocean Beach writer penned a truly awful piece blaming the victims of this year’s 13 bicycling fatalities in San Diego County for contributing, if not causing, their own deaths.
Make that 14 now.
But this time, the victim appears to be as blameless as humanly possible.
Raw video from the crash site shows a crumpled red road bike in the tall weeds on the shoulder of the roadway, next to debris from the driver’s car, separated by a chainlink fence from the busy 8 Freeway.
The rear flasher on his bike continued to strobe on the broken bicycle, long after the crash.
The 25-year old driver’s car was stopped nearby, the windshield shattered over the steering wheel. Which means she had to see him in the bike lane directly in front of her if she was paying any attention to the road in front of her.
Police do not suspect intoxication; however, there’s no mention of whether she may have been distracted. Remarkably, though, she doesn’t seem to have been arrested, or even ticketed, at the scene.
Given that she was on the wrong side of the roadway, and somehow unaware of a grown man on a bicycle right in front of her car, it’s hard to imagine that she wouldn’t be criminally liable.
If nothing else, the presence of the bike lane to her left should have been a clue that there might be someone on a bicycle there, let alone that she was driving the wrong way.
Although these days, I suppose we should give her credit just for sticking around.
But the simple fact is the man on the bike was exactly where he was supposed to be, doing exactly what he was supposed to do, and lost his life to the plague of traffic violence — and an apparently negligent, if not distracted, driver — anyway.
This is at least the 48th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th that I’m aware of in San Diego County, which is suffering through an exceptionally bloody year.
Update: The victim has been identified as 42-year old San Diego resident Matthew Peter Keenan.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Matthew Peter Keenan and all his loved ones.
………
Due to the time spent researching and writing this piece, and the late hour, there will be no Morning Links today. We’ll be back as usual on Friday to catch up on what we missed.
September 14, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Former Corona Del Mar baseball coach John Emme died Monday, 10 days after suffering critical injuries riding bike
A popular Orange County coach has died, more than a week after he was critically injured while riding his bike.
Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about what happened.
According to the OC Sports Zone, longtime Corona del Mar baseball coach John Emme suffered life-threatening injuries on Saturday, September 4th, in what was described only as a “bike accident.”
He died on Monday, after ten days in intensive care.
Richard Dunn added a little more information on Twitter, revealing that Emme had succumbed to a head injury.
However, there’s no word on how he was injured or where, whether Emme was struck by a driver, suffered a solo crash, or was injured some other way.
As the news spread, John Emme was fondly remembered for his 21-year tenure as coach of the baseball team at Corona Del Mar High School, leading his team to two CIF state championships.
