August 8, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Man walking bicycle killed crossing Long Beach street Wednesday evening; 8th SoCal bike rider killed in last 16 days
I just can’t.
For the eighth time in the last 16 days, someone riding a bicycle has been killed in Southern California, an average of one every other day.
Or in this case, just walking a bicycle across a Long Beach street.
He was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. Police don’t believe speed, impaired driving or distracted driving contributed to the crash.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was reportedly walking outside of a crosswalk at the time of the crash. That’s legal under California law as long as it’s safe to cross; it could have looked that way to the victim before he started across the four lane street.
There’s also no word on which side of Wardlow he was on, or where he was in relation to the intersection. However, there is an A Line train station and bus stops north of Wardlow; it’s possible he was walking his bike to the station when he was struck.
Unfortunately, with the limited information we have at this time, there’s no way to know what really happened, or why. Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.
Pacific Avenue, which becomes Pacific Place at Wardlow, has been among the city’s deadliest streets in recent years, recording nine deaths in vehicular collisions since 2020, most of them being pedestrians.
City officials are redesigning the street to slow traffic and enlarge spaces for bikers and walkers.
Maybe they should hurry.
Anyone who witnessed the crash is urged to call Detective Efrain Pineda of the Long Beach Police Department’s Collision Investigation Detail at 562/570-7355.
This is at least the 33rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
August 7, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on $4.2 million project to fix beach bike path, wall blocks bike path access in Marina del Rey, and Hyundai sued in Probst death
Day 219 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
………
They’re finally going to fix it.
LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath announced a $4.2 million project to repair the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which was washed out at the Santa Monica Canyon Channel outlet along Will Rogers Beach during heavy rains in February of last year.
The project qualifies for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding due to the federal disaster declaration. LA County Public Works will oversee the restoration work aimed at making the trail “stronger, safer, and more resilient,” according to Horvath’s office.
The paper reports the separate bike and pedestrian paths will remain open during the six-month construction project, though some beach access points may close temporarily.
………
Meanwhile, a few miles further south, a new wall is blocking a popular short cut to the Marvin Braude Trail in Marina del Rey.
According the Westside Current, the wall replaced a door-sized gap in a fence between Yvonne Burke Park and a Ralph’s supermarket parking lot late last month, angering local residents, bike riders and pedestrians accustomed to using it to get to the bike path.
Instead, bike riders now have to use dangerous Lincoln Blvd, where drivers routinely ignore the 35 mph speed limit, to reach the trail at Admiralty and Bali Way.
A petition calling for restoring the access currently stands at over 760 signatures. Correction: That petition is actually for local condo residents angry over losing their exclusive private access to the park, and has nothing to do with the wall blocking access to the bike path.Here’s a link to the actual petition calling to reopen the gate.
According to the lawsuit, the Hyundai was sold without anti-theft protection, allowing the two teenage suspects to steal the car using the “TikTok method” shared on social media.
The two suspects are not scheduled to face trial for Probst’s murder until next year. No word yet on when the civil suit will be heard.
Note to Hays, Kansas Post — If a shooting victim collapses and dies after riding his bike away from the scene of the crime, “escaped” may not be the appropriate word.
Seriously? A prolific bike thief in the UK walked without a day behind bars, despite hitting a man with a wheel after he tracked his stolen bike to the thief’s bicycle chop shop, and “inflicting grievous bodily harm without intent.” Although whacking someone with a bike wheel would seem to suggest intent, but what the hell do I know?
That’s more like it. A British appeals court increased the sentence for a South London bus driver who killed an eight-year old girl riding a bicycle on the sidewalk, while driving with three-times the legal limit for weed in his system; the man was resentenced to six years and eight months behind bars after the prosecutor argued the original four-year sentence was too lenient. And yes, they can do that there.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene.
The driver remained following the crash, and cooperated with investigators. Police do not believe that person was under the influence, while a toxicology report for the victim is pending.
There’s no word at this time whether the victim was riding in the traffic lanes or on the shoulder of the freeway. There’s also no information on why he was on the freeway, or whether it is legal in that area; generally, bicycles are prohibited from limited access highways in California if there is an alternate route, which would seem to be the case here.
Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP San Diego Area at 858/293-6000.
This is at least the 32nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
As if the news hasn’t been bad enough lately, now we’re learning that the grandson of a surf legend has died following an ebike crash.
According to the Daily Pilot, the victim, identified as 20-year old Huntington Beach resident Kolby Aipa, died three days after he was struck by a car that had been towing him on PCH.
Aipa was taken to UCI Medical Center suffering from critical injuries, where he was placed on life support. His family’s business posted online that he died Tuesday afternoon.
Following in his strong surfing lineage, Kolby was an up-and-coming surfer himself. He was sponsored by the clothing brand AVVA, Dakine, Cobian footwear, and others. He was a member of the Huntington Beach Board Riders club…
A memorial paddle-out for Kolby is being planned; stay tuned for more information.
There’s no word on why Aipa was being towed by a car, which was driven by people he knew. However, it’s possible that his ebike battery had died, and he was being towed rather than pedaling a heavy bike.
Kolby always had a way with touching the lives of whoever he met. His acts of kindness and caring was his gift of Aloha to friends and strangers alike. To everyone that reads this…pass his Aloha on. So, how Kolby treated you, treat others in that same way…
In this you are continuing his legacy of Aloha.
As of this writing, the campaign has raised nearly $69,000 of the $75,000 goal.
This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the just the third that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Update: According to My News LA, Aipa was holding onto a Toyota Tacoma pickup being driven south on PCH — a practice known as skitching — when the driver somehow lost control of the truck, leading to their collision.
There should be no need to point out how dangerous that can be.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kolby Aipa and his loved ones.
According to a witness, the victim was thrown “at least” seven or eight feet into the air by the impact of the crash. Afterwards, investigators focused on what appeared to be a backpack worn by the victim, as well as the shattered pieces of the bike.
There’s no word at this time about the identity of the victim, or whether the crossing gates were working at the time of the crash.
As the witness, Caleb Reyes, told San Diego’s NBC7, always look both ways before crossing any kind of street, pathway or railroad track.
And never, ever ignore railroad warning signals or ride around lowered crossing gates, regardless of whether you think the train has stopped or the danger has passed.
Because there’s a good chance you might be wrong.
This is at least the 30th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and their loved ones.
But he not only takes issue with including fat Black women in the bicycling community, but with the very idea of a bicycling community, period.
By Mike McDaniel’s perspective, unless you’re actively engaged in some form of competition, we’re all just a bunch of individuals riding bikes for our own personal reasons.
Just when you think this kind of manufactured nonsense is on its deathbed, Cycling Weekly resurrects it. We’ve been told “silence is violence,” and so is pretty much everything else. Now we learn unless the cycling “community” “centers” fat black women, that community is “participating in exclusion.” Do we need to buy bikes and other cycling gear for fat black women too? How about old white guys riding old recumbents? And fine, I’ll tell a story: I read about a fat black woman who started riding bikes. Good for her. The end.
That’s a leftist view of reality, where it’s all about one’s identity, which must not only be noticed, but praised. In real reality, one doesn’t join a bicycling “community” by riding a bike. There are people with shared biking interests, largely defined by their machines, abilities and participation in types of competition. Beyond that, no one much cares about anyone not in those particular, narrowly defined interest groups.
Then again, he also has something to say about breasts, which he claims to know something about — and Sydney Sweeney’s in particular.
Oh, and he’s not a Nazi.
Good to know.
Iresha Picot’s point isn’t wasn’t identity politics, though, or some sort of DEI for the bicycling community.
It wasn’t even about fat Black women. Or whether or not there really is some sort of bike community.
It’s that our streets — and our preferred form of recreation and transportation — has to be safe and welcoming for everyone, including those on the margins, who you don’t normally see descending at 30 mph on the club rides.
And if you’re not intentionally including everyone, you are by default excluding some, whether they’re fat and Black, poor and Latino, handicapped, old or just puttering along on an old cruiser bike.
It’s a fair point.
I’ve learned over the years that the biking community includes people of every shape, color and description.
Some who charge up and down hills on carbon racing bikes, and some who ride, well, trikes.
It’s not about politics, identity or otherwise.
And it sure as hell isn’t about Sydney Sweeney. Or her breasts.
Photo: Bikes belonging to the non-existent bike community line the street.
Suburban, provincial, old fashioned views often block progress on streets where people are dying from cars. soundcloud.com/biketalk/253… #bikesky @transalt.org@cycletoronto.bsky.social@mlongfield.bsky.social@lintonjoe.bsky.social@bikinginla.bsky.social@streetopia.bsky.social@openplans.org
No bias here. A motorist in Killarney, Ireland was “irked” to actually have to slow down for a few moments because a bicyclist was riding in the traffic lane, right next to a new raised bike lane that had been built “at enormous expense.” Even though a photo clearly shows several bike riders were already using it, and the only way to get around them was to take to the street — never mind that he was hugging the curb, and would have been easy to pass.
Life is cheap in Ireland, where an 82-year old woman got off with fine and lost her license for killing a 78-year old man riding a bicycle, once again raising the question of how old is too old to safely drive a car. And no, I don’t want to see an octogenarian go to the gaol, either. But still.
A bad month for bike riders in Southern California got worse today, when word broke that an Oxnard man died two weeks after he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle last month.
First responders found him lying in the entryway to the Grocery Outlet Store, following the apparent right hook collision as the woman turned into the parking lot from northbound Ventura.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office reported around 2:30 pm last Friday that the man, identified as Oxnard resident Salvador Lopez, had died from his injuries.
The driver, Hannah De La Cruz, remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. They don’t believe she was speeding or under the influence.
Anyone with information is urged to call Oxnard Police Corporal Manny Perez at 805/385-7749 or 805/200-5668, or email manuel.perez@oxnardpd.org.
This is at least the 29th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Salvador Lopez and his loved ones.
August 1, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on WeHo: It ain’t the drivers it’s the roads, bike rider busted for being nervous, and maybe LA is better than we think
Day 212 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
………
He gets it.
In a WeHo Times op-ed, 23-year old community organizer Nick Renteria argues that the city is one of the most dangerous in the state when it comes to traffic violence.
As evidenced by the recent hit-and-run deaths of Erica Edwards and Blake Ackerman on Sunset Blvd and Fountain Ave, respectively.
But not, he says, because there is something inherently worse about the city’s drivers, but because the streets are “designed facilitate high traffic flow at the cost of our safety.”
And what’s standing in the way of progress isn’t a lack of evidence, it’s inaction.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
As Renteria says,
Imagine a Sunset Boulevard where people stroll safely beneath the billboards. A Santa Monica Boulevard where outdoor dining isn’t drowned out by speeding cars. A Fountain Avenue where no one has to fear crossing the street or riding a bike.
Imagine a city where Erica and Blake’s deaths are the last. Where we finally say: enough.
We’ve imagined it for years. Now let’s do something about it.
After all, why would anyone look nervous when confronted by armed, masked men who may not have worn anything identifying themselves as officers.
The Mexican national now finds himself facing deportation, and charged with a misdemeanor count of assaulting, resisting or impeding officers, because he tried to run away and tried to break free from them.
I probably would have done exactly the same thing if I was confronted by a bunch of armed men in masks.
According to the site, Los Angeles is actively investing in innovations to reduce traffic congestion, ranging from subway expansions to new bikeways, including a new transcontinental high-speed rail expected to ope as soon as next year.
Which really would be a secret.
And speaking of secrets, here’s what they have to say about the state of bicycling in the City of Angeles.
Biking in L.A. is on the rise, with new bike trails and bike-friendly upgrades popping up across the city. From coastal paths to urban corridors like the new Rail-to-Rail route, it’s getting easier, safer, and more fun to explore L.A. on two wheels.
Which is kinda true, depending on just where you look.
Although the impression it gives doesn’t exactly align with the reality most of us experience on the streets.
Twenty-eight-year old Colden Kimber was waiting with his girlfriend when he saw a man harassing the group and stepped between them, only to be fatally stabbed in the neck in what was described as a “completely and utterly unprovoked” attack.
Kimber was a member of the city’s Dolce Vita Cycling team and was a skilled mechanic at American Cyclery, while studying kinesiology at San Francisco State University.
The suspect, 29-year old Sean Collins, has been charged with murder; he was already facing charges for vandalism and burglary, as well as resisting an officer.
Bedford, England has lifted its draconian ban on bike riding through the town center, but only after thousands of people were “aggressively” fined for the simple crime of riding a bicycle; new rules target “dangerous” bicycling rather than responsible riding.
………
Local
Pasadena police will conduct yet another of the region’s bicycle and pedestrian safety operations today; while the purpose is to improve safety for people walking or biking, police are required to enforce any violation that could put either group at risk, regardless of who commits it. So ride to the letter of the law until cross the city limits to make sure you’re not the one who gets written up.
Of course not. An English man denies he was responsible for killing a 54-year old woman competing in a cycling time trial while he was driving a commercial van, despite allegedly looking a photos of a family barbecue on his cellphone seconds before the crash, then telling police he never saw her because he was too busy looking for his drink bottle.
Momentum looks at Trondheim, Norway’s pavement-embedded bicycle lift that pushes bike riders uphill at a steady walking pace, and recommends a handful of hills in North America where it would help encourage more people to ride.
July 31, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 13 years for Santa Ana gang bike theft killing, bust made in deliberate Fullerton crash, and LADOT fills Imperial gap
Day 211 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
Jose Luis Salgado was sentenced after pleading guilty to felony voluntary manslaughter and misdemeanor street terrorism, along with sentencing enhancements for being a gang member.
He was convicted for being primarily responsible for the killing 31-year-old Pedro Morale Chocoj, as part of a gang attempting to take the victim’s bike.
Co-defendant Jesus Gonzalo Ibarra was sentenced to just a year behind bars after pleading guilty to multiple felonies for the same attack.
I don’t know how many times we have to say it — no bicycle is ever worth a human life.
LADOT has finally closed the long-missing link on Imperial Highway in what passes for a protected bike lane here in Los Angeles, even though it would be called a separated bike lane in any more rational locale.
Because those flimsy little plastic bollards ain’t gonna protect anyone.
LADOT has closed the bike lane gap on Imperial Highway! Thanks to a grant, we were able to redesign the road to make space for protected bike lanes to close the 1000-ft gap east of Pershing Dr., providing a stress-free connection all the way to Dockweiler Beach. pic.twitter.com/QebpX3D7us
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
There may be justice after all. An Ontario judge blocked the removal of a trio of Toronto bike lanes, ruling it was unconstitutional because “removal of the target bike lanes will put people at increased risk of harm and death, which engages the right to life and security of the person.”
A Hollywood cinematographer is planning to make a full-length documentary about Jose Yanez, inventor of the bicycle backflip, who spread the move across the country with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, before ending up homeless in Phoenix.
WeHo residents voiced their anger and concern over deadly Fountain Ave at the West Hollywood Public Safety Commission meeting, demanding action as the Sheriff’s Department offered an update on traffic safety on Fountain. Or rather, the lack thereof.
Bloomberg’s CityLab says we should all be biking along the beach, questioning why beachfront bike paths are so rare in the US when they help relieve beach traffic and mitigate the ill effects of over-tourism.
Life is cheap in Seattle, where a cop with an extensive history of preventable traffic collisions walked with a lousy written reprimand and additional training after lying about crashing into someone riding a bicycle, initially saying he came to a full stop before admitting he ran the stop while looking at his onboard computer.
This is the cost of traffic violence. Hundreds of people turned out for a memorial to remember a 37-year old mother of two who was killed by a Denver dump truck driver while riding in an unprotected bike lane six years ago; a protected was built there afterwards, too late to save her life.
A Great Lakes website takes a deep dive into why Americans don’t bike like the Dutch yet. Short answer, if more people felt safe riding a bike, we would. Longer answer, speeding, drunk and/or distracted drivers need to stop killing us, and traffic engineers need to stop loading the damn metaphorical gun for them, already.
That’s more like it. A Florida woman will spend the next 15 years behind bars for fleeing the scene after injuring a teenager riding a bicycle, and running from police — all with her kids in the car. Although it’s disconcerting that the state can only take her license away for a maximum of five years.
A new study in Nature compares the relative severity of ebike and e-scooter injuries, concluding that e-scooter crashes result in more and worse head injuries, particularly because so many riders are intoxicated.
