Archive for Bicycle Safety

Update: Man killed walking his bike across the street in South LA hit-and-run

August 12, 2017 / / 5 comments

Another human being has been murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver, for the crime of crossing the street.

According to multiple sources, a man was walking his bike across Broadway at 88th Street at 2:30 am when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

A witness reports seeing the driver of a Chevy Tahoe plow into the victim while speeding up to go through the light after it turned red. Then flee the scene without slowing down.

The victim, identified only as a possibly being in his late 40s, died at the scene.

A street view shows a staggered intersection at 88th, with a red light and crosswalks at each corner. Broadway has two lanes and a left turn lane in each direction, with a wide parking lane, making it a very broad street to cross.

The City of Los Angeles offers an automatic $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the driver in a fatal hit-and-run. Information can be provided anonymously at LACrimeStoppers.org.

This is the 34th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th in Los Angeles County. It’s also the fifth in the City of LA.

Update: The victim has been identified as 57-year old Albert Arnold. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Albert Arnold and all his loved ones.

Category: Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

LA Sheriff’s reserve deputy dies competing in World Police and Fire Games mountain bike race

August 11, 2017 / / 5 comments

Tragic news from what should have been a fun competition.

The LA Daily News reported this afternoon that a mountain biker competing in the 2017 World Police & Fire Games suffered a heart attack around 9:30 this morning.

He was transported to Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital from the course near Castaic Lake, where he arrived in full cardiac arrest.

Sadly, he didn’t make it.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced on Facebook this evening that Reserve Deputy Jacob Castroll passed away at 11:14.

According to their report, he was found unresponsive on the trail by another competitor at approximately 9:40 am.

Castroll’s death is being investigated by the department’s Homicide Bureau since the circumstances of his death are unknown.

It’s possible that he may have fallen after suffering a heart attack or some other physical problem, or that he may have gone into cardiac arrest after falling.

He had served as a reserve deputy with the Malibu/Los Hills sheriff’s station for the past seven years. He is survived by his wife and three children.

The Daily News gives Castroll’s age as 68.

This is the 33rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th in Los Angeles County.

Update: Contrary to earlier reports, The Acorn reports Castroll died due to blunt-force trauma to the head and neck, suggesting a fall rather than a heart attack.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jacob Castroll, and all his family and friends.

 

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

Motorized bike rider dies after being struck by two drivers in Redlands

July 31, 2017 / / 4 comments

Once again, a bike rider has been left to die street by a heartless coward.

According to the Redlands Daily Facts, a 55-year old San Bernardino man was riding a motorized bicycle south on Alabama Street north of Pioneer Street in Redlands when he was rear-ended by the driver of a Subaru Impreza  around 10:30 pm.

That driver fled the scene, leaving the victim lying in the street, where he was struck by a second driver a few minutes later.

The second driver had the decency to remain at the scene.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at Loma Linda University Medical Center a short time later.

No one will ever know if the victim, who has not been publicly identified, could have survived if the first driver had called for help and stayed at the scene to prevent the second crash.

The 20-year old driver turned himself in to police two hours later.

Which would have given him plenty of time to clear out his text messaging history or hide any other possible evidence of distraction or drug or alcohol use.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Redlands Police Department at 909-798-7681 ext. 1.

This is the 32nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh in San Bernardino County. And it’s just the second bicycling death in Redlands in the last five years.

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

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

Update: Hit-and-run driver kills bike rider in Newport Beach, injures another

July 15, 2017 / / 8 comments

This time the killer didn’t have a chance to sober up first.

The Orange County Register is reporting that a bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Newport Beach last night.

The driver, identified as 23-year-old Taylor Evans, fled the scene after striking two people riding their bikes on northbound Newport Boulevard near Industrial Way at 1:19 am.

One of the two victims apparently died at the scene. The other suffered undisclosed injuries.

Neither has been publicly identified at this time.

No word on how the collision occurred.

Evans was arrested a few blocks away at Newport Boulevard near E. 16th Street as he tried to push his damaged SUV out of the roadway. He was booked on suspicion of felony DUI with bodily injury, hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter.

A street view shows a six lane, high speed arterial roadway with a painted shoulder on the northbound side below Industrial Way, and a wide parking lane above it.

This is the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in Orange County. This is also at least the 13th bicycling death in Newport Beach since 2010, an average of nearly two a year.

Update: The City News Service has identified the victim as 41-year old Costa Mesa resident Jose Vasquez-Perez. The story also places the location as Costa Mesa, though the crash is being investigated by the Newport Beach Police Department.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jose Vasquez-Perez and his loved ones. 

 

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

Bike rider pulling shopping cart killed in San Bernardino hit-and-run

July 14, 2017 / / 2 comments

Sometimes the stories don’t add up.

The San Bernardino Sun reported this morning that a 37-year old man had been killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike in San Bernardino.

According to the paper, he was riding on southbound Arrowhead Ave at 13th Street when he was struck from behind at 11:04 pm.

However, a press release from the San Bernardino County coroner said he was pushing a shopping cart, instead.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to St. Bernardine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 11:47 pm.

The driver fled scene, but was arrested sometime later. No word on his or her ID, or if drugs or alcohol was involved.

The discrepancy was explained by KABC-7, which said the victim was towing the shopping cart behind his bike. However, the report does not appear to be online at this time.

This is the 30th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth in San Bernardino County.

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

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

71-year old Garden Grove bike rider killed in crash

July 5, 2017 / / Comments Off on 71-year old Garden Grove bike rider killed in crash

A man riding his bike was killed in a Garden Grove collision on Monday.

The Orange County Register reports 71-year old Garden Grove resident Eliseo Quiroz was struck by the driver of a Hyundai Accent at 4:53 pm in the 12700 block of Buaro Street.

Quiroz was trapped underneath the car, which continued on to strike two parked cars. He was taken to UCI Medical Center after responding officers and bystanders lifted the car off him, where he was pronounced dead at 5:28 pm.

No word on how the collision occurred, though police don’t believe drugs or alcohol use was a factor.

A street view shows a narrow, two-lane residential street with parking on both sides.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Garden Grove Police Department at 714/741-5823.

This is the 29th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in Orange County. He is also the 6th bike rider to die in Garden Grove since 2011.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Eliseo Quiroz and all this family. 

Thanks to Bill Sellin for the heads-up. 

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

Update: Los Angeles woman killed in Big Bear bicycling collision

July 4, 2017 / / One comment

A woman has been killed in a collision while riding her bike in Big Bear.

And as usual for the Inland Empire, there’s almost no information available. Except this time, there’s an LA connection.

According to the San Bernardino Sun, a 56-year old Los Angeles woman was stuck by a driver around 10:50 Monday morning at the intersection of Menlo Drive and Butte Drive. She was taken to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 11:33 am.

The San Bernardino County coroner reports her ID is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

No word on the identity of the driver, or how the collision occurred.

A street view shows a T-intersection with a two-lane road on Menlo connecting with a narrow, single lane roadway on Butte.

This is the 28th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in San Bernardino County. That compares with 47 bike-related deaths this time last year.

Update: The victim has been identified as Karen Antonich, who was riding with a partner when she was struck by a driver headed east on Butte Drive.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Karen Antonich and her loved ones. 

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

Update: La Quinta bike rider dies after crashing into truck parked in bike lane

June 26, 2017 / / 16 comments

A bike rider has died due to an ambiguous state law.

According to The Desert Sun, a bike rider was killed in a crash with a truck parked in a La Quinta bike lane this morning.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding north in the bike lane on Avenida Bermudas around 8 am when he rear-ended the truck.

He was taken to a hospital in Indio, where he was pronounced dead.

The Desert Sun places the location as the 54-000 block of Avenida Bermudas, while other sources place it a half mile south near Calle Chillon. The latter location seems more likely, since the paper says a road diet narrowed the roadway to two lanes and a single northbound bike lane in the area of the crash last December; the northern location still shows two lanes in each direction, along with a parking lane in both directions.

According to the paper, the driver has not been ticketed or charged.

The gardening truck was parked in the bike lane, but no one was cited, according to the sheriff’s department. The crash is still under investigation.

California law states vehicles may park in a bike lane if there aren’t any “no parking” signs present and it isn’t impacting the normal movement of a bicyclist, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

It’s hard to argue that the truck wasn’t blocking the lane if the victim couldn’t safely get around it.

This is yet another well intentioned law that actually makes things worse for people on bicycles.

The apparent purpose behind CVC 21211(b) is to keep cities from having to choose between parking and bike lanes. Yet in effect, it confuses drivers who don’t know whether or not they can park there, since it’s hard to park any vehicle in a bike lane without blocking it.

And as this tragedy shows, the consequences can be deadly for people on bicycles.

This is the 27th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in Riverside County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 81-year old Indio resident Larry Lee Ortner. The Riverside County News Source places the scene of the crash at the southern location, around the bend of the road above Calle Chillon. Thanks to Victor B for the heads-up.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Larry Lee Ortner and his loved ones.

 

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

Truck driver fatally strikes Hesperia bike rider from behind with wing mirror

June 18, 2017 / / 6 comments

This is why we have a three-foot passing law.

According to the Victor Valley News, a 47-year old man died after he was struck from behind while riding on Ranchero Road near Lassen Street in Hesperia Friday night.

Hesperia resident Ryan Dennis Angus was riding west on Ranchero around 8:27 pm when he was struck in the head with the wing mirror of a passing utility truck.

He was flown to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where the San Bernardino coroner’s office reports he was pronounced dead at 10 am Saturday morning.

A street view shows a wide-open two lane roadway with a minimal dirt shoulder.

The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with authorities. No word on whether he will be ticketed or charged as a result of the crash.

However, this crash could not have happened if the driver had given the victim the minimum three-foot passing distance required by state law.

This is the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in San Bernardino County. He is also the sixth bike rider to be killed in Hesperia since 2011.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ryan Dennis Angus and his loved ones.

 

 

 

 

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

Update: Man killed in San Jacinto bicycling collision; no details available

June 7, 2017 / / 2 comments

A man has been killed riding his bike in San Jacinto, with few details available at this time.

According to the Press-Enterprise, the man was hit by a vehicle around 9:30 last night at the intersection of San Jacinto Avenue and Shaver Street.

He was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 2:36 this morning, according to the Riverside County Coroner’s office.

He has not yet been identified as of this writing.

No other information is available. However, it appears the driver may have remained at the scene, since a sheriff’s official reports it’s unknown if drugs or alcohol were involved.

A street view shows a T-intersection with a four lane highway on San Jacinto Avenue, with a dirt shoulder on one side and a sidewalk on the other, and a two lane street on Shaver.

It’s yet another tragic reminder to always carry ID when you ride.

This is the 25th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Riverside County.

Update: The Valley News reports the victim was hit when he was traveling west across San Jacinto, and was hit by the driver of a northbound Toyota Camry, then again by the driver of a pickup as he was laying on the ground. 

The paper notes the dark roadway has been the scene of several recent major and fatal collisions. Which could make the city responsible for failing to correct the situation.

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

 

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