Police report the driver stopped, and cooperated with investigators.
Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time, including the identity — or even the sex — of the victim.
But that’s more information than the Desert Sun reported, which apparently thought the crash involved a zombie car, since they didn’t even mention the driver.
This is an area I also ride often. It’s mostly an agricultural area with many date trees. There are no bike lanes, but with a low level of traffic, it’s relatively safe as drivers usually just move over into the oncoming traffic lanes. I must mention that there are no street lights in that entire area and at night it’s not a place to ride. My guess is this person was perhaps homeless or poor, and a bike was the only form of transportation available to him or her.
This is at least the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
It’s also the third person killed riding a bike in Southern California in the past two days, following deaths in Irvine and San Diego on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his or her loved ones.
May 27, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Safe and beautiful bike lanes are possible, virtual Motherload film fest Saturday, and the war on bikes shows no sign of detent
It’s a relatively light news day, so let’s get right to it.
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Michael Wagner sends a photo of Claremont’s popular Foothill Boulevard separated bike lane in all its spring glory, proving protected bike lanes can be safe and beautiful.
You know as well as anyone to not hold your breath on any municipal improvements for cycling, but we can hope. Maybe seeing what has been done other places will inspire someone, somewhere.
We can only hope.
Unfortunately, the small photo doesn’t do Wagner’s photo justice. So I’ll include a bigger version down below, just because.
LA’s proposed new budget includes a $3.4 million cut to Vision Zero, which is already dramatically underfunded; CD4 city council candidate Nithya Ramen points out that two-thirds of the city’s $233 million in Covid-19 induced budget cuts could be avoided if LAPD officers simply agreed to put off a raise they negotiated last year.
An Oklahoma driver faces a first degree manslaughter charge for killing a bike rider while speeding and driving distracted. The police investigation also concluded that the driver didn’t give the victim the required three-foot passing distance. Which would seem obvious, since he ran into him.
There’s a special place in hell for the jerk who stole the bike a British man rode to Istanbul with his new wife; his best friend had inherited it following the man’s tragic death in an Egyptian boating accident, after he pushed his wife and several others to safety.
The driver then got out of his car and moved the victim back into the street, before fleeing the scene. Although why he moved him, and from where, is unclear.
It’s also not clear why the victim would have turned in front of the driver’s car when Alamo exits to the right off westbound University, rather than the left.
The victim died after being taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest; he’s described only as a man who appears to be in his late 40s.
The 15-year old Indian girl who carried her injured father over 700 miles back home on the back of her bicycle continued to make news over the weekend.
And Ivanka Trump took fire for praising the girl, instead of criticizing the transport shutdown that forced her, and countless others, to ride hundreds of miles to get back to their homes.
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The war on cars is a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
Speaking of Metro, they’re adding bus-only lanes on 5th Street, 6th Street, Grand Avenue, Olive Street and Aliso Street in DTLA. Bikes can use them too, as long as you don’t mind having a bus up your ass. Correction: In scanning this story, I missed author Joe Linton’s suggestion that bike lanes could be added or moved to the left side on one-way streets, or made protected on others, to avoid conflicts with buses.
And speaking of LA County, they’re moving forward with plans for a 2.5 mile bike path, and a 1.8 mile multi-use path, as well as two bike, walk and equestrian bridges, to connect with the San Gabriel River Trail through the cities of Southeast LA County.
BikinginLA sponsor Cohen Law Partners introduces Malibu’s launch of the new Go Safely California program to prevent pedestrian deaths. Although if they really want to prevent pedestrian deaths — as well as bike riders — they should do something about that killer highway that passes for the town’s Main Street.
Florida police have found the boy who was caught on camera stealing the bicycle that was an 88-year old woman’s only form of transportation; while they haven’t recovered her bike, kindhearted community members chipped in to buy her a new one.
It’s a pleasant and popular trail in Orange County that can be used to head to Laguna Beach and Dana Point or further south to San Clemente or Oceanside. It also is used to lead to trails that go to Newport Beach’s back bay.
He added,
I’ve been at that intersection probably hundreds of times, typically riding on Portola over the 261 to reach the trail on the other side.
Unfortunately the story doesn’t tell us if she was exiting the trail onto Portola (can be sketchy and you need to be very careful) or if she was trying to reach the trail via Portola as I usually do.
Hopefully we’ll learn more after the holiday.
Anyone with information is urged to call Motor Officer Mike Bergstrom at 949/724-7212, ext. 2046.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Still no word on how the crash occurred; however, Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin reports she was thrown 105 feet by the force of the impact, which suggests she was struck at a high rate of speed.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Linda Smythe and her loved ones.
Thanks to Victor Bale and Bill Sellin for the information.
It’s pretty remarkable that all three of this site’s primary sponsors stepped up and renewed their ads, despite the economic disaster wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
So if you get the chance, take a moment to thank those guys over there on the right. Because this site wouldn’t be possible without them.
And if you ever need a good lawyer, you know what to do.
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LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn put out the welcome mat for bicyclists on the county’s beachfront Marvin Braude bike path.
The paper notes that final approval has to come from the Los Angeles County of Department of Public Health, which hasn’t happened yet.
And they can’t do anything until the county’s Safer at Home order is amended.
So maybe it will be open when you ride to the beach this weekend. Or maybe not.
But considering how crowded it’s likely to be, maybe you’re better off waiting for next week, anyway.
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Add your voice to a call to keep the popular Rose Bowl Loop carfree.
Keep the Rose Bowl loop car free! Voice your support by contacting Pasadena City Council or by sending us a note of support at carfreeloop@gmail.com. Tell us why you want to keep the Rose Bowl loop car free – include name and zip code. @StreetsblogLA@bikinginla@ColoradoBlvdNetpic.twitter.com/uFOb4BDi3d
— Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition (@PasadenaCSC) May 21, 2020
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Patrick Pascal forward another view of the new 7th Street protected bike lane in Downtown Los Angeles.
Or as drivers call it, the only free parking zone in DTLA.
Photo by Patrick Pascal
Pascal also notes that there was some sort of obstruction on every block between Main and Figueroa when he rode it this week.
Which means LADOT needs to do better.
Because a protected bike lane does no damn good if we can’t ride it because it’s not protected enough.
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Today’s common theme is Slow Streets, pop-up bike lanes, and the need to provide alternatives to driving as the world reawakens from its pandemic slumber.
Even the conservative Washington Timesasks if cities will be ready for the boom in bike use, as people go out of their way to avoid transit when they go back to work. And tosses in a rebound in micromobility, for good measure.
The war on cars is a myth, but the war on bikes goes on.
No bias here. A Rhode Island letter writer says resistance to aggressive, narcissistic Lycra-clad bicyclists is futile. How the hell can you look at a bike rider speeding past and determine if he or she is a narcissist? Does she think we spend the whole time admiring ourselves in the reflections on the shiny jerseys of the riders in front of us?
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
This is who we share the roads with. Heartbreaking and infuriating story from San Jose, where a 26-year old man faces multiple counts of murder for the drunken crash that killed four passengers in his car, and injured another; Rabbi Kumar Khanna was subject to a murder charge after receiving a Watson warning for a previous DUI. Just one more example of officials keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until it’s too late. Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.
ZZ Top’s bearded Billy Gibbons is one of us, a sharp dressed man in cheap sunglasses with his tush on a bike seat and legs working the pedals, enjoying a Viva Las Vegas ride with a friend.
Idaho prosecutors learned the hard way that if you’re going to ticket a bike rider for violating the state’s Idaho Stop Law after she was struck by a driver, it helps to charge her under the right statute. And props to the victim for appealing a measly $90 fine.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the annual Ride of Silence was still held in some places, like this one in Abilene, Texas.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever rode a bikeshare bike up to a mentally disturbed New York woman, and chatted her up before viciously attacking and raping her. Seriously, there’s not a pit deep enough. Or a sentence long enough.
New Orleans kicks off an expansion of the city’s bike lanes, with plans to stripe another 75 miles over the next two years. Which is only about 75 miles more than Los Angeles has committed to.
May 21, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Covid-19 fuels inequitable urbanist fantasies, YouTube stars recovering from hit-and-run, and carry anything by bike
Instead, the virus is revealing the inequities that have long existed in our cities. And which need to be addressed if we’re going to make any real progress.
Even before the staggering impact of the novel coronavirus had been fully revealed, the people who write and think about cities were busy writing prescriptions for their recovery. But instead of bearing witness to mass death as a moment of reflection, many urbanists are using the coronavirus as an opportunity to accelerate their pre-pandemic agendas—agendas which ignore the issues that made COVID-19 more catastrophic than it should have been.
Police chased the suspect, but lost his car somewhere near Universal Studios.
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Yet more proof you can carry anything on a bike.
Loving the version of LA where goods can be delivered cleanly and safely on cargo bikes in protected bike lanes. Photo via friends inside 100 S Main St. pic.twitter.com/tNJeB8Uwmz
Long Beach approves an “open streets initiative,” allowing streets, sidewalks and parking lots to be repurposed for outdoor activities, including dining.
Davis police were able to quickly identify and arrest a thief who broke the window of a bike shop and made off with $1,600 bike. Note to CBS Sacramento — $1,600 is hardly “pricey” anymore. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
Britain’s bike industry is joining together to promote a new PR campaign, telling the public that Bike is Best. Which is true, even if it feels a little grammatically challenged.
Makes sense. Bicycling’s Selene Yeager says Everesting is having a moment right now because, as George Mallory famously said, it’s there. And nothing else is right now.
And the road worlds could be coming back to the US.
Axel Merckx plans to bring Road World Championships back to North America Portland, Oregon, a possible US candidate for UCI Road Worlds in 2025 or 2026https://t.co/MpHOGovZ0wpic.twitter.com/gQGpLbC5Sm
“When you have that many riders, it’s going to be unruly. I wouldn’t say rowdy,” said Vasquez.
Never mind that unruly ride violated every semblance of California’s Covid-19 lockdown rules.
Which currently prohibits groups of more than ten. Let alone the few hundred bike riders it drew from all over the state.
And never mind that they couldn’t do a better job of spreading the disease if they tried.
If only one of the riders had a symptom-free case of coronavirus without knowing it, they could have shared it with dozens of others on the ride, who would then take it home to their family and friends.
Not to mention putting innocent bystanders at risk along every inch of the ride route.
Irresponsible doesn’t begin to cover it.
According to the LA bicyclist — who I won’t name, even though the story does — the mass ride was sponsored by a group called Keep it Rolling.
Maybe they’ll think before they roll out again.
So maybe they next time we read or hear about them, it will be because they got it right.
The new protected bike lanes on 7th Street in DTLA have turned into one more example of free curbside parking for any drivers willing to squeeze through the bollards.
Just like what happened after every other protected bike lane in Downtown Los Angeles was opened.
Which makes you wonder why LADOT apparently hasn’t learned anything from the experience.
Although maybe someone should teach him how to fix a flat.
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Here’s your chance to sort-of ride with the world’s best — and only — all type 1 diabetic cycling team.
But only if you’re diabetic, too.
Do you dream of racing with the world’s top cyclists? We’re looking for young, active, elite cyclists with diabetes to take part in our 2020 virtual Talent ID Camp. For more info go to our website click the “Join” tab, follow the Talent ID link and fill out the application form. pic.twitter.com/iEWDmqZh3a
— Team Novo Nordisk (@teamnovonordisk) May 19, 2020
Chris Froome is threatening to jump ship midseason, leaving Ineos for a rival team after being overshadowed in recent years by fellow Tour de France winners Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal. Although it’s hard to call it midseason if there haven’t been any races.
A large group of San Diego bicyclists appeared to ignore any hint of physical distancing on a Sunday group ride.
Without a single face mask in sight.
Let alone anything remotely resembling common sense in the middle of a pandemic.
San Diego’s ABC10 reports that, despite reports the group was well behaved earlier on their ride, their behavior had deteriorated by the time they got to San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood.
Paen told 10News that the riders in PB were unruly and rowdy. “[They were] flipping their fingers at cars [and] spitting at people,” he told 10News and added, “They were just whizzing by stop signs and past pedestrians and cars. It just seemed like they had immunity to anything on the road that was against them.”
Never mind that members of the group apparently got into a fight with a woman who had gotten out of her car to chastise them, as shown in the video above.
“[A cyclist] starts to kick on her and picks on her and it just becomes this mob mentality of bikers on this one woman who was going to yell at this [cyclist] for basically running a red light,” he said and added, “There was literally no one wearing masks or any type of gloves [and they were] all within close proximity of each other.”
According to the station, San Diego police responded to the fight, but neither side wanted to press charges.
Obviously, there’s more than one side to the story. And there’s no discounting the obvious windshield bias in the witness report.
But the optics of holding this type of ride, at a time when even small groups are prohibited — let alone hundreds of unmasked, scofflaw bike riders — is pretty devastating.
Let alone the sheer stupidity of risking the spread of an often symptomless, potentially deadly disease to their family and loved ones.
Not to mention total strangers who have the misfortune of just being nearby.
We need to do better.
All of us.
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Once again, auto-centrism rears its ugly head in LA’s Westchester/Playa neighborhood, as a motion at tonight’s neighborhood council meeting opposes taking even an inch of space for Slow Streets.
A British bus driver vows to never ride a bicycle again after he was intentionally knocked off his bike by a couple of women after warning them he was passing; he suffered a fractured pelvis and spine, a dislocated shoulder and ruptured kidneys. And they just walked away.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
They weren’t the only bike-riding Santa Monica celebs, though as Joe Jonas took a spin through the city, while leaving pregnant wife Sophie Turner at home.
Apparently, bicycles really are the new toilet paper. The New York Timessays bike shop shelves are empty, too, with lower-end bicycles selling out and not enough new bikes in the supply chain.
No bias here. A Toronto columnist sees a not-so-secret anti-car agenda in the movement to provide street space for people during the coronavirus crisis. Because clearly, you can’t make room for anyone else on the streets without making some drivers feel threatened.
No bias here, either, as an official with London’s taxi drivers association calls the push for bike lanes a class war(scroll down). Because only elite, educated white “eco-caramel coconut latte” swilling males actually ride bicycles, evidently.
A new report says a proposal to allow New Zealanders to ride their bikes on sidewalks, with a nine-mile an hour speed limit, could result in savings of $24 million a year — but cost $14 million in pedestrian injuries, as well as one additional death, each year.
