Ghost bike for Jonathan Tansavatdi; photo by Jim Lyle
Word is just coming in that someone has been killed while riding a bicycle in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Very few details are available at this time.
However, KNBC-4 reports the victim was struck by a moving truck on Vallon Drive near Hawthorne Boulevard around 2:50 pm this afternoon; presumably they mean a truck for a moving company, rather than one in motion.
According to the station, sheriff’s deputies believe the truck, which KCBS-2 identifies as a big rig, was making a right turn off an undisclosed side street when it struck the rider.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene. No other information is available at this time.
A satellite view shows Vallon as a narrow, winding residential road; Via la Cresta is the only cross street that enters it, just above Hawthorne, though Vallon connects with Marne Drive just below Hawthorne.
This is the 24th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 6th in Los Angeles County.
According to a sheriff’s spokesperson, the victim was riding down the hill on Hawthorne at a high rate of speed, estimated at 45 mph. The driver of a Mayflower truck turned right onto Hawthorne in front of the cyclist, who was unable to stop at that speed.
The driver continued on, reportedly having no idea the rider had collided with his truck.
However, if the rider was really going that fast, he would have hit with a significant amount of force, making it seem odd that the driver failed to notice.
Regardless, sheriff’s deputies concluded that the driver didn’t break the law, and everything he did was “legal at the time.”
Update 3: In their report from the scene, which I was unable to view last night, KNBC-4 reports the truck was stopped at the red light headed west on Hawthorne, and made a wide turn onto Vallon when the light turned green.
The victim, who still hasn’t been publicly identified, apparently rounded a blind curve on westbound Hawthorne while descending at a high rate of speed; unable to stop, he slammed into the side or rear of the truck.
The driver continued on, dragging the bicycle roughly 200 feet up Vallon before finally coming to a stop.
There’s no way to know if the victim would have had a chance if the driver had stopped after the initial collision.
Update 4: The victim has been identified as 29-year old Redondo Beach resident Pissanuk Jonathan Tansavatdi. Thanks to Martin Blount for the heads-up.
Meanwhile, Blount forwards a video showing the descent on Hawthorne Blvd. The intersection at Vallon comes into view at the 1:30 mark, with the riders passing through at 49 mph, giving credence to the police theory that Tansavatdi may have hit the truck at 45 mph.
Update 5: I’ve heard from a relative of Tansavatdi, who described him as sunny, cheerful, handsome, talented engineer, and a friend to many.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his or her loved ones.
A woman has died after a collision in Santee in San Diego County.
According to the Union-Tribune, the victim, who has not been identified, was riding along the northbound curb on Cuyamaca Street near River Park Drive when she allegedly veered across two lanes of traffic. She was hit by a car, whose driver unsuccessfully swerved to avoid her.
The woman was conscious following the collision, but died after being taken to Sharps Memorial Hospital.
The time of the collision is in doubt, however; the U-T says it was just before noon, while San Diego’s KNSD-7 places it at 4:30 pm.
Police say the driver does not appear to be at fault.
This is the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in San Diego County.
Update: The victim has been identified as 67-year old Margo Symmonds-Lavanway, who appears to have been homeless.
First responders found a mangled bike next to the SUV, with the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, still on the hood of the car; he was pronounced dead at the scene. The story says he was a pedestrian; however, while he may have been walking his bike, it’s not uncommon for police dispatches to refer to bicyclists as pedestrians.
A street view shows what appears to be a three lane road with two lanes eastbound and one headed west, with a center left turn lane. The photo included with the story appears to place the wreck in the westbound lane, next to the freeway.
No other details are available at this time.
This is the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in San Bernardino County; that compares with just three in the county for all of last year.
This has been the deadliest first two months of the year for at least the last six years. In fact, last year it took until until May 27th to reach that level in the seven county SoCal region.
Update: The victim has been identified as 16-year old Victorville resident Cesar Machuca Jr. Anyone with information urged to call San Bernardino Sheriff’s Deputies Sahagun or Haynes at 760/552-6800.
Update 2: The Victor Valley News reports the high school junior, who they identify as a Hesperia resident, was on his way home from his girlfriend’s house when he was rear-ended by the SUV’s driver.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Cesar Machuca Jr. and his loved ones.
A bike rider has been killed in Montclair Friday night.
InlandNews reports Montclair police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run involving a bike, and shows a photo of a damaged bicycle lying in the street.
They add that the suspect vehicle is a dark blue truck.
No other details are available at this time. However, KNBC-4 has confirmed the death in a story that is not yet online.
This is the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in San Bernardino County. That compares with eight in SoCal this time last year, and none in the county.
Update: The Daily Bulletin has identified the victim as 66-year old Montclair resident Dieu Van Nguyen.
According to the paper, Nguyen was struck by a pickup shortly before 6:30 pm on the 4600 block of Kingsley Street. Police responding to the scene found him laying on the sidewalk; he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Authorities are looking for a full-sized, dark colored four-door pick-up with lights on the roof over the windshield. Anyone with information is urged to call the Montclair Police Department at 909/621-4771.
Update 2: Nguyen was on his way to visit a friend when he found fatally injured less than one mile from his home. The Vietnamese immigrant, who recently retired, leaves behind a wife, three children and two step-children.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Dieu Van Nguyen and his loved ones.
February 25, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Killer SD hit-and-run driver has a bad night; next Griffith Park access meeting on Wednesday
This is why so many people hate lawyers.
The attorney for a San Diego driver who fled the scene after driving though a bike lane, jumping the curb and hitting two young girls, leaving one brain dead, says she’s just a “really good person who obviously had a very bad night.”
Right.
The victims’ family had a worse one.
He goes on to give reasons that he says affected her ability to control her car, which may or may not be valid.
But the bottom line is, if you can’t operate a motor vehicle safely, for whatever reason, don’t get behind the damn wheel.
And nothing excuses running off like a coward, leaving a couple of little girls bleeding in the street.
Ever. Period.
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A couple quick events, complete with massive graphics.
The next meeting to discuss access plans for Griffith Park, which could include frequent, yet inadequate, shuttle service on previously closed Mt. Hollywood Drive is scheduled for next Wednesday night.
And CICLE is hosting a Bikes and Beats Community Bike Ride this Saturday.
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A 31-year old transient is suspected in the stabbing death of cyclist Sidney Siemensma on an Irvine bike path last month; the suspect, an acquaintance of the victim, was already in custody on kiddie porn charges.
The website is up for live streaming of American cyclist Evelyn Stevens’ attempt to break the women’s hour record, starting at 10:30 am this Saturday.
My money is on her to smash it.
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Local
Streetsblog looks at that crazy, unmarked detour around the LA River Bike Path, which has been closed to make way for the El Niño flood control barriers installed by the Army Corps of Engineers. And suggests it’s an opportunity to stripe bike lanes on a more direct route, if anyone at LADOT or the mayor’s office happens to be listening.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in finding the people who fatally shot a father of four last year as he rode his bike on a Compton sidewalk.
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune says Temple City missed an opportunity to remake Las Tunas Drive and revitalize the city’s downtown, ensuring the city’s main drag will “remain a big drag, a four-lane plus turn-lane place to drive while going somewhere more interesting.” Not to mention keeping it dangerous for anyone not encased in a ton of steel and glass.
Palm Springs is adding bike lanes to five streets and improved signage and street markings to 17 others in the next few months, after painting green lanes on another five streets since last September.
A new Boulder CO off-road cycling tour company promises to take you on mountain biking trails you’ve never heard of. Grammatically, that should be “of which you’ve never heard.” But screw that.
You’ve got to be kidding. A North Dakota driver gets a whopping six months — half of that to be served at home — and a lousy $1,000 fine for killing a cyclist because he was busy taking a selfie as he drove. Nice to see they take distracted driving seriously up there. And yes, that’s dripping with sarcasm. And contempt.
A New York writer makes the case for enforcing red light laws against reckless bicyclists who blast through red lights, while maybe looking the other way when riders roll through more placid intersections.
A British cyclist will attempt to ride up France’s famed Mont Ventoux by three separate routes, on a Brompton. So the question becomes, will he ride like the wind or fold like the bike?
February 24, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Cyclist nearly rammed by Laguna Cyn driver; man buys bike with bad traveler’s checks in OC
An Orange County rider asks if he should report a horn-blaring driver who apparently tried to ram him while he was riding on Laguna Canyon Sunday afternoon.
What he caught on video is a case of assault with a deadly weapon, no different than if the road raging driver had threatened him with a gun.
But even if the authorities refuse to prosecute, it can lay the groundwork for future action against the driver if he or she does it again. It was the prior police reports of Dr. Christopher Thompson’s threatening behavior towards other riders that helped ensure a conviction and a four year prison sentence in the Mandeville Canyon case.
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Costa Mesa police are asking for the public’s help in finding a man who bought a $1,700 bike with fake traveler’s checks; anyone with information is urged to call 714/754-4873.
And wet your appetite for LA-based pro cyclist Phil Gaimon’s inaugural Malibu Gran Cookie Dough this November, combining “great bike riding” through the Malibu hills with the “classy fun of cookies” from celebrity chef Jeff Mahin.
It’s one thing for a rider to be attacked by one dog; surrounded by 25 or so is another matter.
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Local
Streetsblog reports Caltrans’ plans for a new toll flyover exit ramp off the 110 Freeway would dump freeway traffic onto South Figueroa, jeopardizing the long-planned MyFigueroa Complete Streets makeover, as well as a historic church. You have until March 21st to tell them where (else) they can stick it.
Metro is negotiating with Lyft to collect data on first mile/last mile trips that begin and end at transit stations, while looking forward to bikeshare to help solve some of that problem.
An LA model and former 30-mile a day cyclist returns to the runway after losing a leg, and nearly her life, due to toxic shock syndrome. Let’s hope she’s back on her bike, as well.
A Seattle TV station examines how bike lanes are paid for, explaining that the view from city hall is taxing bicyclists for bike lanes makes no more sense than taxing pedestrians to pay for sidewalks.
The widow of a Colorado cyclist killed by a distracted truck driver has channeled her grief into a heartbreaking public service announcement begging drivers to pay attention.
Northern Iowa cyclists say proposed legislation that goes way beyond a three-foot law by requiring drivers to change lanes to pass a cyclists is much needed, following too many close calls.
Great story from Texas, as a three cyclists out for a ride through the country rescue 22 abandoned puppies; all of the pups were quickly adopted. And a good idea, as one of the women carries dog food on her bike just in case she sees a stray. That’s just one more advantage of riding a bike; anyone in a car would have likely driven by without ever seeing the dogs. Or maybe run over them.
Now that Houston has a new 709-mile bike plan, they need to come up with the money to pay for it. Sort of like pretty much every city everywhere trying to re-envision their streets for people instead of cars.
A story posted on the London School of Economics website examines the rapid rise of bicycling in Memphis, while asking whether new bikeways simply reinforce existing racial inequality and spur racialized gentrification.
Angry Tennesseans rise up to fight a proposal to prohibit funds from gas taxes from being used for bicycling and pedestrian projects.
Randonneurs from around the world are concerned about Saturday’s North Carolina crash that took out four of their fellow riders, injuring two critically; one of the critically injured riders is the webmaster for bikelaw.com. Police say alcohol wasn’t a factor, but don’t say anything about other intoxicants; the driver who hit them was on probation for felony drug charges.
A London cyclist suspects bike thieves are targeting certain bicycles to order after two men on a scooter attempted to push her off her Brompton.
WaPo looks at a Danish city so bike friendly, even five-year olds are encouraged to bike to school.
The next time someone tells you (insert city here) isn’t Amsterdam, remind them that Amsterdam wasn’t always like that, either. Gizmodo traces the transformation of the city through a compelling series of before and after photos. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson and joninsocal for the heads-up.
A Basque women’s race issues a new poster designed by a woman rider after the previous one was withdrawn following charges it was sexist. Seriously, is it that hard to simply promote women’s racing as a competitive event?
The author of a petition to ban bikes entirely from roads through an Aussie mountain range swears it’s not anti-cycling; so far, it’s only gathered 30 similarly non-anti-bike signatures.
No anger issues here. An Aussie man is charged with deliberately chasing and running down a young bike-riding boy after he and his friends accidently knocked over the man’s garbage can.
A new study from the University of Duh shows real time weather information affects Singapore cyclists’ riding decisions. As does looking out the window and seeing it’s raining.
A Covina cyclist has been killed in train collision.
According to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was struck by a Metrolink train at 1:38 this afternoon on Azusa Avenue near Northview High School.
No word on why the victim was on the tracks at the time of the collision.
Train collisions are the easiest type of wreck to avoid, since their route is predictable and both audible and visual warnings are given before they pass.
This is the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in LA County; this is also the second time a SoCal cyclist has been killed in a collision with a train this year.
My deepest sympathy for the victim and his or her loved ones.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene; his identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The driver fled the scene, leaving his victim lying in the road, where he was found by police responding to the call.
No word yet on how the collision may have occurred.
A satellite view shows the area is a mixture of farmland and housing developments. There appears to be a substandard bike lane headed east on Telegraph, with only a fragmentary bike lane westbound at the intersection with Saticoy, giving way to a narrow shoulder to the west with a 50 mph speed limit. Meanwhile, Saticoy is marked as a bike route, with no improvements to the street.
Police are looking for a white, four door Nissan sedan with substantial front end damage. Anyone with information is urged to call the Ventura Police Department’s Traffic Unit at 805/339-4323.
This is the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in Ventura County. That exceeds the total for all of last year in the county.
Update: The victim has been identified as 14-year old Jonathon Hernandez of Ventura; KABC-7 reports he was a football player at Buena High School in Ventura.
He was apparently riding at that hour because he was upset after an emotional family meeting to mark his sister’s birthday, who died of leukemia a few months earlier; family members did not know he had gone out. He had called friends to say was coming over because he needed to talk.
Surveillance video shows he was struck by a white flatbed tow truck driving east on Telegraph, which should have major front end damage based on evidence at the scene.
Based on the description, the tow truck driver should face a murder charge once he’s apprehended, since Hernandez wouldn’t have been struck by the second vehicle if the driver had stopped as the law and basic human decency requires. Which does not absolve the second driver of his or her own responsibility.
A fund has been established to pay for funeral expenses. As of this writing, it had raised nearly $6,000 of the $10,000 goal in just seven hours.
Update 2: Police have identified the driver of the tow truck as Martin Henderson, the owner/operator of a towing company that contracts with Ventura.
They say he had the right-of-way as Hernandez allegedly ran the red light; presumably they base that on the same surveillance video that showed the two collisions.
Regardless of who may have been at fault, it does not excuse leaving a young man to die on the street.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jonathon Hernandez and all his loved ones.
There was no information on the identity of the victim, or how the collision occurred.
A story from the Fontana Herald News says the vehicle crashed on the side of the road after hitting the rider, and shows a photo of a silver sedan smashed against a light pole.
This is the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second in San Bernardino County. It’s also the fourth bicycling death in Fontana since 2011.
Update: Not surprisingly, the driver has been arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence. He reportedly drifted into the bike lane, knocking the victim onto the hood of his car, then catapulting him 40 feet after striking the light pole.
The unidentified victim was pronounced dead at the scene. He’s described only as a Hispanic man in his 40s or 50s, who was riding a red bicycle.
Anyone who may know the identity of the victim is urged to call Fontana police at 909-350-7700.
When someone is injured while riding a bicycle, we often never find out what happened after they are rushed to the hospital.
Today we did. And the answer was not the one we wanted.
The Orange County Coroner announced that 52-year old Yorba Linda resident Angel Preciado passed away late Monday, five weeks after he was hit by a motor vehicle in Yorba Linda.
According to the Orange County Register, he was riding in a crosswalk on Imperial when he was left crossed by a truck turning from southbound Eureka onto Imperial. He was taken UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he remained in a coma until he was pronounced dead at 10:30 pm Monday.
A satellite view shows crosswalks on both sides of Imperial. The description of the wreck would place Preciado in the east crosswalk; no word on which direction he was riding.
The Register reports the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made.
Much will depend on how the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the District Attorney’s office interprets the law allowing cyclists to ride in a crosswalk. While state law permits crosswalk riding where bicyclists are allowed to ride on the sidewalk — which appears to be the case in Yorba Linda — it is often misinterpreted to say cyclists must walk in crosswalks or may only ride in the direction of traffic.
Preciado, who grew up in Venice Beach, was described as “an awesome, generous, loving guy,” who friends loved and could count on.
His roommate and best friend said they had both lived on the streets for some time before they were taken in by friends in Yorba Linda.
He said Preciado had borrowed a friends bike to run an errand; the next thing he knew, he was awakened by sheriff’s deputies dropping off the bike, which was unscathed.
This is the 17th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth in Orange County. And it’s the first reported bicycling fatality in Yorba Linda in the past five years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Angel Preciado and his loved ones.
