March 20, 2026 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on California is #8 in bike/ped deaths and #1 in lawyer bikewashing, and pedestrian killed in intentional South LA hit-and-run
None of which really proves anything, other than a) too many people die from traffic violence on California streets, b) we need more and better bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and c) law firm marketers think bikewashing is the best way to improve their search rankings.
And they’re probably right.
Which is why I linked to stories about their studies, rather than the actual studies. You can click through if you really want to.
There’s no description of the driver or the suspect vehicle at this time. Although as always, there’s a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver.
Even when it’s on purpose.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Adding insult to literal injury, a Louisiana bicyclist was ticketed for being at fault after the bike rider was struck by a state trooper in an unmarked car. Because somehow, cops never seem to be at fault when they hit someone on a bicycle, especially when they’re doing the investigating.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Minnesota Governor and erstwhile vice presidential candidate Tim Walz made a visit to Angry Catfish Bicycle in Minneapolis, which sponsored the nationwide Unity Rides honoring fallen mountain biker and VA nurse Alex Pretti, murdered by ICE agents in January.
I noticed that truck over there on the left while walking the dog yesterday.
And was struck by the truck’s murder grill — not literally, thankfully — which seems designed to inflict maximum damage on anyone or anything unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
Any person struck by it, whether walking or bicycling, would likely be thrown forward as if struck by a giant hammer, then run over by the multi-ton truck if the driver was unable to stop in time.
Yet people wonder why traffic deaths continue to climb in the US, and not in other countries with more rational safety policies.
Never mind that there’s no license plate on the front of the damn thing.
I don’t know the city well enough to offer any informed thoughts, but it looks to be heavy on Class 3 bike routes, aka sharrows, which are usually worthless for anything other than wayfinding, if not actually dangerous.
Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette offers a short Facebook reminder to max out the Uninsured Driver coverage on your auto insurance policy, which will cover you on your bike if you crash, or get hit by a driver with no insurance or inadequate coverage.
The family of fallen Australian bicyclist James Rapley learned that the hard way, after the stoned driver who ran him down on Temescal Canyon in 2013 had no insurance or financial resources, leaving their lawyer unable to collect a dime, despite his efforts.
The opposite happened when I was struck by a road raging driver who refused to accept liability, and my own auto insurance covered every penny of my medical bills.
It was a painful lesson well learned.
Thanks to Phillip for the heads-up.
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A new short film from Shimano traces the rise of the inclusive All Bodies On Bikes group, with over 4,000 views in the first day.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
There’s a special place in hell for the 61-year old Florida man who was arrested for animal cruelty after allegedly beating and kicking a puppy, simply because it couldn’t keep up as he dragged it behind his bike, despite telling police he was “training” the dog. Maybe someone should tie him behind a bicycle and train him, instead.
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Local
A Redittor raves about the San Gabriel River bike path after riding over 30 miles from Santa Fe Dam to Seal Beach, then back again, as commenters tell him hush before everyone finds out.
They get it. A Streetsblog San Francisco op-ed says California has to stop expanding freeways, because “While transit, bike, and safety projects struggle for funding, the state keeps writing blank checks for freeway widening boondoggles. It’s time to tell our lawmakers: enough!” It’s long past time to stop flushing money down the induced demand-inducing toilet.
Albuquerque, New Mexico will now require drivers to stop at crosswalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, and student drivers in the state will have to take a three-hour course on driving around vulnerable road users, after a mother turned her grief over the death of her bike-riding daughter into a campaign to improve safety for all of us.
New York Mayor Mamdani is calling a halt to the previous administration’s policy of giving criminal summons to scofflaw bike riders, rather than traffic tickets, for even minor violations; the policy was considered unfair to delivery riders who need their bikes to earn a living. Although it was also unfair to anyone on two wheels, who were treated more harshly than motorists, despite posing less risk to those around them.
The Delaware-based Lycra Company, makers of Lycra, Coolmax, THERMOLITE, Supplex, and Tactel, is the latest bikewear-related firm to go belly-up, after the company couldn’t stretch to cover up to a half billion dollars in debts.
London’s epidemic of Lime Bike Leg could be ending, after the company redesigned their bikeshare ebikes to remove a heavy center bar that could trap a user’s leg under the bike if it fell over.
I was knocked on my ass by yet another migraine, which I’m told probably results from the TBI I got a couple decades ago in the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident.
And yes, I was wearing a helmet, and no, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference.
Then again, that’s probably the cause of my REM sleep disorder and potential pending Parkinson’s, too.
Good times.
And of course, I came back to yet another person killed riding a bicycle in Southern California. Which means we’re now averaging another bike death every 3.3 days this year.
Wear light, quick-drying clothing, bring — and drink — plenty of extra fluids, and stick to cooler, shady routes if you can.
And if possible, do your riding in the cooler morning or evening hours, when you’re less likely to suffer from heat-related problems.
I say that as someone who used to love riding on the hottest days when I was only likely to encounter mad dogs and Englishmen on the roads.
Depending on where you are, temperatures could range anywhere from the high 80s to the low 100s, at a time of year when your body isn’t adjusted to the heat.
But only after waiting seven hours following a call to Avis Car Rental to report he’d been in a crash in one of their cars. And even then, taking another three days to turn himself in at Long Beach police headquarters.
The beloved Long Beach occupational therapist was riding her bike just one block from her home when 40-year old Christopher Bryant allegedly blew through the stop sign at high speed, killing her on the spot.
Detectives seized his cell phone and filed search warrants to obtain phone records and GPS data, which could reveal not only where he went after the crash, but whether he was driving distracted at the time of the impact.
It would not show whether he had been under the influence when he killed Carreon, then drove home to his apartment in DTLA, however.
Bryant released on $50,000 bond after being booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Once built, this would be the busiest light rail line in the country, and connect the region to key destinations like The Grove, Farmers Market, the Beverly Center, Cedars Sinai, nearly all of West Hollywood, and the Hollywood Bowl!
But it’s not a done deal, and Metro needs to hear overwhelming support for the project.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
They’re onto us, comrades. An op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune suggests the city’s new bike lanes are part of a secret plot to enhance transit-oriented developments around the city, which would trigger SB 79 to allow greater housing density near transit stops, and foist it upon unsuspecting single-family neighborhoods. Although you’ll have to find your own way around the paper’s draconian paywall.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Two SoCal teens are rewriting the narrative around ebikes by promoting responsibility, community and positive culture among young riders. Although the press is still conflating ped-assist ebikes with electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.
Um, okay. A website for a Chicago suburb remembers the final resting place of six-day bike race champ Albert Schock, “currently listed as the 31st greatest American rider of all time (behind Lance Armstrong and Greg Lemond.)” And no, I’m not merely mocking it because the period is in the wrong place. But that doesn’t help any.
No bias here. A British paper says the residents of Plymouth, England are up in arms for a decision to spend the equivalent of over $5 million to build a bike lane a little more than the length of two football fields, even though that involves boring through an abandoned railroad tunnel to connect two bikeways. Never mind that it should say “some” residents, and no one would likely complain if it was a car tunnel.
The smallest bike lane in Killarney, Ireland — and possibly the entire country — measures just six inches at its narrowest point. Which even makes LA’s bike lanes seem absolutely capacious.
A 40-year old Swiss bicyclist’s 10,500-mile journey from one end of Africa to the other was delayed for two weeks when military authorities in Cameroon detained him for filming a bridge in a restricted area. Because as we all know, international spies always prefer traveling by bicycle instead of high-powered sports cars.
March 14, 2026 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 43-year old man dies after March 1 Clairemont, San Diego hit-and-run; SoCal bike rider killed every 3.4 days this year
As if the news couldn’t get any worse this week, now we’ve learned that yet another bike rider died after a San Diego hit-and-run earlier this month.
The victim’s sister announced the news by asking for help finding the driver.
Estefania Gallardo Bledsoe said her brother, 43-year old Clairemont resident Andrés Gallardo, was riding in the parking lane on Ashford Street around 11:30 pm on Sunday, March 1st, when the driver struck him from behind.
Gallardo was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he died, although it’s not clear just when he passed away.
The driver fled the scene.
Witnesses report hearing a loud collision, which suggests that speed may have been a factor. However, there’s no description of the driver or suspect vehicle at this time.
Bledsoe describes her brother as a happy, funny person, who worked in construction and loved soccer, cooking and his 16-year old son.
According to 10 News San Diego, she can’t understand how anyone could just leave him like that.
“If you do that, you have no heart and no soul. I don’t know how someone can go to bed at night and sleep, thinking about this,” Estefania said.
Despite her grief, Estefania said she is not giving up hope that someone will come forward with information.
“I still have hope. I believe good people are out there that know something. I’m not going to stop until I know who it was,” Estefania said.
We can hope.
A crowdfunding campaign to help defray funeral expenses and carry Gallardo’s ashes to his mother in West Virginia and his father in the Magallanes region of Chile has raised 65% of the approximately $4,000 goal.
This the 22nd bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the fourth in San Diego County.
That means a SoCal bike rider has been killed an average of every three-and-a-third days since the first of this awful year.
Seven of those deaths have now involved hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Andrés Gallardo and his family and loved ones.
March 14, 2026 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: 73-year old woman dies after apparent right-hook hit-and-run in Koreatown Monday; suspected DUI driver arrested
Seriously, this has got to stop.
For the fourth time just this week, someone has died riding a bicycle in Southern California.
The driver stopped briefly, then backed up and fled the scene.
The crash occurred around 6:40 am at Olympic Blvd and Vermont Ave, as the pickup was headed east on Olympic. The driver attempted to turn right onto Vermont, and apparently right hooked the victim as she rode east across Vermont.
The driver stopped for a moment, then backed up onto Olympic and fled east.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was taken to a hospital, where she died sometime later.
Police found a white Dodge Ram pickup matching the description of the suspect vehicle nearby and took the driver into custody. Investigators note that drug use “may” have played a role in the crash, though it’s unknown if alcohol may have also been a factor.
The crash is still under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call detectives with the LAPD’s West Traffic Division at 213/473-0234 or 1-877/527-3247.
This the 21st bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the ninth already in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fourth we know about in the City of Los Angeles.
Six of those SoCal deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers.
However, someone should tell My News LA that once a driver flees the scene, it’s not a “suspected” hit-and-run driver, it is a hit-and-run. The driver is only suspected once they’re accused.
However, there also seems to be some question whether the accused driver was taken into custody; KTLA-5 says an arrest was made, but My News LA says police are still looking for the driver, with the usual standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones.
