He was taken to a hospital suffering from serious injuries, but died shortly later. He has not been publicly identified.
Police are looking for the driver of a gray four-door sedan, possibly a Nissan Altima or similar make and model.
There’s no word on the how the crash occurred, or any description of the driver at this time. However, there are sharrows in both direction on Monterey, which may have contributed to the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Pomona Police Department at 909/620-2156.
This is at least the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. This was also at least the seventh SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers since the first of the year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
The victim was reportedly carrying her bike in one arm as she crossed the railroad tracks near Seward Ave when her bicycle somehow got caught in the tracks, and was struck by a southbound Amtrak train as she was still holding it.
Her arm was located near the crash site, and was taken with her to the hospital; however, there’s no word on whether doctors were able to reattach it.
Anyone is urged to call the Ventura Police Department at 805/650-8010.
This is yet another tragic reminder to never attempt to cross railroad tracks when a train it approaching, or once a crossing gate closes and the warning lights start flashing.
More bad news, this time from Escondido, where someone riding a bicycle suffered “significant injuries” when they were struck by a driver.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was reportedly riding against a red light while crossing North Centre City Parkway at Mission Ave Friday evening.
And yes, the driver stuck around afterwards this time.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A San Diego letter writer calls on police to ticket lawbreaking bicyclists who ride through stop signs and red lights, while complaining about bicyclists riding two and three abreast in the traffic lane on the coast highway. Yet somehow fails to also call for ticketing all the speeding and/or distracted drivers who pose a far greater danger to the public.
An Irish city counselor who claims he was a “keen cyclist” before a recent injury now opposes a planned bike lane, claiming his opposition is evidence based, and he will defend it even if “cycling zealots bombard” him with emails. Proving once again that it’s always the ones who claim to be cyclists that you have to worry about.
The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department is planning another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation in West Hollywood this Thursday. The standard protocol applies, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. Thanks to David for the heads-up.
A Las Vegas man faces a murder charge for fatally shooting a 27-year old man in a dispute over a stolen bicycle; he was just released from prison in 2023 after serving a year behind bars for another alleged attempted murder, after pleading to a reduced charge for participating a double shooting.
A Nova Scotia woman wants answers about her father’s death days after hitting a culvert on his bicycle while possibly being chased by a pack of dogs; he managed to walk home, but no one realized how badly he was injured until hours later. A tragic reminder to always get checked out by a doctor after any hard crash, especially if you hit your head. And keep your damn dogs under control and on your property.
Taisha was riding on the sidewalk. There are no bike lanes along Vermont north of Gage Avenue. I asked her why she liked riding a bicycle around Los Angeles.
“You know, it’s quicker, it’s easy to get around,” she said. “It gives me peace of mind.”
“You ever been hit by a car?” I asked, keeping an eye on the evening mayhem in my periphery.
“Absolutely!” she exclaimed, laughing. “Yeah, everybody gets hit by cars. It’s always a victim of someone looking left and turning right. Always.”
Hale continues by pointing out that Metro is building bus rapid transit lanes on the corridor, without considering the need of people like her and others he spoke with.
And LA doesn’t seem to care.
The city of Los Angeles, meanwhile, has looked the other way, refusing to collaborate with Metro to build a truly multimodal transit corridor – even though the city is legally required to fund the project under Measure HLA. That’s why local activist Joe Linton has sued the city, alleging that Los Angeles has shirked its legal responsibility to make roadway improvements in accordance with its Mobility Plan 2035.
It’s more than worth a few minutes of your day to read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Dr. Grace Peng points out that it’s personal for her, too.
The Vermont protected bike lane through South LA to Del Amo is personal. It connects the J line Harbor Gateway Transit Center to 99 Ranch on Artesia. What places could you go on a Vermont Ave protected bike lane? @bikinginla.bsky.social
About damn time someone, anywhere, took a booby trap like that seriously, treating it the dangerous, potentially deadly assault it is, instead of just a harmless prank.
Thanks to Megan for the heads-up.
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Gravel Bike California celebrates its 6th anniversary by delving even deeper into the darkest dens of the Angeles Forest.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An 18-year old man with dual French and German citizenship disappeared while riding his bike through Iran on a 400-day bicycling trip across Europe and Asia; he went missing on the third day of the recent Israeli bombardment, and could be one of the estimated 20 foreigners being held by Iran on suspicion of spying.
This is the cost of traffic violence. An Australian race car driver described as a “extraordinary figure” in Australian motorsports, and who recently competed in the 24 Hours of La Mans, as well as backing the careers of several young racers, was killed by a bus driver while he was riding a bike with his wife near the local zoo.
The final day of the German Track Cycling Championships was cancelled when two cyclists crashed over the track barriers on final bend of the men’s keirin semi-finals, injuring seven spectators, two seriously enough to be airlifted to local hospitals; the two racers escaped with minor injuries.
Day 184 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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I’m dealing with a sick migraine as I finish this, so please excuse any mistakes this time since I’m not up to proofing it.
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Look, I don’t have to tell you that tomorrow is the 4th of July. Or that there’s no better way to get to or from the fireworks than riding your bike.
Unless you live in my neighborhood, where it already sounds like a war zone from all the illegal fireworks.
Just remember that drivers are more likely to be focused on their kids or finding a parking spot than they are to be looking for you on a bicycle.
And three-day weekends tend to bring out the worst in drivers, including making a beer or hot dog run after drinking all day. Or imbibing some other substance, legal or otherwise.
So whenever wherever you ride, do it defensively. Assume every driver you encounter is under the influence or otherwise distracted, and prepare in advance.
Twenty-seven-year old Kamille Agustin and 23-year old Anthony Phan turned themselves in to traffic investigators at the San Diego Police Department on Wednesday, accused of fleeing after they both struck the 31-year old victim in separate vehicles.
The victim still has not been publicly identified.
A New Hampshire public radio station offers tips on how bike riders can stay say on the road. Which mostly make sense as far as they go, although it’s hard to make eye contact with a speeding distracted driver.
According to a cryptic report from My News LA, the LAPD is looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a 30-year old man riding a bicycle in the Vermont-Slauson neighborhood of South Los Angeles.
Except there’s no time listed for when the crash occurred. Or a date, for that matter. Only that police asked for the public’s help on Wednesday, which doesn’t exactly narrow it down.
The crash also occurred in a manner that would seem to be physically impossible.
According to the story,
The crash occurred when the vehicle, which was speeding east on 67th Street toward Flower Street, hit the bicyclist as he rode east on Flower, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Except while 67th runs east and west, Flower runs north and south. Which means the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was apparently either rear-ended as he rode east on 67th, or struck as he rode on Flower.
He died after being taken to a hospital, which was also unidentified.
The driver was last seen fleeing east on 67th Street toward Grand Ave. No description of the driver or vehicle was given.
Anyone with information is urged to call Officer Lozada at the LAPD’s South Traffic Division. But apparently, you’re supposed to look it up yourself, since there’s no number given.
Okay, I’ll save you the trouble.
It’s 323/421-2577, unless it’s 323/421-2500, since one is listed on the LAPD’s website, while the other came from a previous South Traffic Division press release.
Although you’d think they might have told us if they really want our help.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles. Maybe they want you to tell them when and how the crash occurred to collect the reward.
This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; remarkably, it’s only the third we’ve learned about in the City of Los Angeles
This was also at least the sixth SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers since the first of the year.
Update: Police finally confirmed two weeks later that the victim, who still hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding a bicycle when he was killed.
The suspect vehicle is described as a black Tesla Model X. A still photo pulled from a security video appears to show a passenger in the right seat.
Anyone with information is urged to contact LAPD South Traffic Division Officer Lozada at 213/677-9791, or anonymously at 800/222-8477 or online.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Facchetti, who helps families recover after car accidents and injuries, says the giveaway is one of the most meaningful things his team does all year. “After seeing the struggles many of our clients go through, we wanted to create something that spreads joy.”
The event has grown steadily since its launch in 2021. Past winners included kids who helped care for siblings, stayed strong through medical challenges, or simply showed up every day with kindness. The firm invites the ten selected children to its Burbank office, where they receive their new bikes, helmets, and a round of applause…
“This community raised me,” Facchetti added. “This is one small way we can give back.”
Nominations are open for any child aged 6 to 17 who lives within ten miles of The Law Offices of Adrianos Facchetti at 4444 W. Riverside Drive, Suite 308, in Burbank. Submissions should explain how the child has gone “above and beyond” to help someone else, or positively impacted their siblings, classmates or community.
No bias here. A Santa Barbara grand jury examined complaints about bad behavior and near accidents involving young people on ebikes, concluding that better eduction and stricter enforcement were needed to rein them in — although the local paper doesn’t put it that nicely. And yes, some kids are out of control, with far too many e-motorbikes passed off as ebikes. But just wait until the jurors learn what drivers do out on the streets, as well the relative risk ebike riders pose compared to people in the big, dangerous machines.
The LA Country Sheriff’s Department will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation in West Hollywood on Thursday, ticketing anyone who commits a traffic violation that could endanger either group, regardless of who commits it. So as usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line to make sure you’re not the one who gets written up. Thanks to David for the heads-up.
Family and friends of a 12-year old girl killed this April in an Encinitas crosswalk call out a proposal to widen deadly Encinitas Blvd to add a third traffic lane in each direction, calling for bicycle and pedestrian improvements instead.
Hats off to Oakland’s Bay Area Bicycle Rescue, which collects unloved bikes from community members and repairs them to redistribute to people who need them, saving over 1,200 bikes from the landfill last year alone.
Singletrackstalks with the Calirado Kid, a Sacramento-based mountain bike content creator “known for posting hilarious bike-related videos on Instagram, TikTok and Youtube,” while working with a science group to encourage riders to help document biodiversity in California.
He gets it, too. Alaska writer Craig Medred complains that the public is usually kept in the dark about traffic violence, at a time when even AAA says only 35% of American drivers can be classified as “good,” and “only luck and the capabilities of modern medicine” keep the carnage from being worse.
More on the Toronto bike lane that Ontario officials want to rip out “because no one uses it” — even though it carries more rush hour traffic than the traffic lanes next to it. Maybe they should rip out one of the lanes drivers use to make more room for bikes, instead.
They get it. An Irish bike advocacy group says we try to rationalize traffic violence as freak accidents, when the roads are “still engineered, policed and legislated for in ways that accept, and sometimes even enable, lethal outcomes.”
Here’s your chance to own a new limited edition Swiss watch honoring cycling great Fabian Cancellara, for the low, low price of nearly $6,400. Although the only nod to Cancellara is a few touches of yellow, so it could honor anyone of your choice who has ever worn yellow, if Sparticus doesn’t do it for you.
Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a judge acquitted a semi driver for killing a longtime bike commuter in their equivalent of a right hook, blaming poor road markings for making it unclear who had the right-of-way, even though the driver admitted to never even seeing the victim.
After witnesses provided a description of the vehicle, police searching the area spotted the vehicle. The driver refused to stop, and led officers on a brief chase before being taken into custody.
Police said the driver, who has not been publicly identified at this time, appeared to be under the influence, and believe that may have been a factor in the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call Hemet Police Corporal Christian Coley at 951/765-2400.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
Lauer was also at least the sixth SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers since the first of the year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kenneth Lauer and his loved ones.
Although that amount drops a lot before they get to the “cleaner transportation” part. And even more before they get to the active kind of clean.
Nearly half of that 5 billion bucks is allocated for crumbling roadways, with another $1.45 billion to improve low-emission freight networks, while nearly $810 million goes to streamline freight movement to reduce truck idling and cut pollution.
You have to get all the way down to the bottom before bikes and pedestrians get a mention. Even then, it’s in the context of $483 million for passenger rail extensions, bike lanes and rapid transit bus systems, along with another $202 million for local rail, transit and pedestrian upgrades.
Which includes things $63 million to add a bridge and wildlife crossing for Riverside County’s Ramona Expressway — along with some bike lanes to help greenwash the project — as well $49 million for EV charging, and $28 million for ultra-fast vehicle chargers.
Oh, and there’s also a relatively minuscule $18 million to improve traffic safety near five Los Angeles schools, most of which will undoubtedly be spent to undo the damage caused by cars, rather than proactively improving biking and walking.
Even though that’s what kids do.
At least the ones who don’t get dropped off in big honking SUVs, pun intended.
She made a U-turn as bystanders yelled at her, before running down a second woman who heroically tried to use her bike to stop her.
Sheriff’s deputies working safety at the event finally brought the rampage to a halt, but had to bust out the car window to drag her out as she struggled and “became verbally abusive,” yelling racist statements at the cops.
No reason was given for the incident, and there’s no word on whether it was intentional.
But it sure as hell sounds like it.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Speaking of videos, an Edinburgh bike rider posted video of a run-in with a pedestrian that begins with the bicyclist running a red light, and ends with him repeatedly telling the other man to fuck off — then is surprised when commenters criticize him instead of the other guy.
Authorities in Montana are on the hunt for a killer grizzly bear who fatally mauled a 38-year old mountain biker on a trail trail just outside Glacier National Park after startling the bear, while his riding companion went for help.
A pair of New York women were both sentenced to six years behind bars for killing a 22-year old man riding a bicycle in New Jersey, even though only one woman actually hit him; both were driving separate cars up to 90 mph in a 50 mph zone, while passing other drivers on the shoulder of the roadway leading up to the crash.
A new survey shows half of Dutch bike riders have ridden after drinking, while half of those admit to riding drunk. Which may pose its own risks, but I still say it’s better than driving under the influence of anything.
Twenty-seven-year old French cyclist Eddy Finé was forced to give up the sport after the Cofidis team revealed he has an “abnormality in the iliac artery, a problem that is incompatible with top-level sport,” and had struggled to return despite three operations in six years with the team.
It’s probably happened to most of us at one time of another.
You catch a wheel in a rut, and fight to stay upright. Or go down, and walk away with road rash or a broken bone or two.
But you don’t die.
Yet that’s what happened yesterday, when a well-loved member of the LA riding community lost his life after hitting a rut on the popular, pro-level Montrose ride.
From what I’ve been told, Virgo Datu was riding with the group when his wheel caught a rut, then hit a curb and a light post. He was hospitalized with internal injuries, including a collapsed lung, and broken ribs that apparently punctured the other, and died this morning.
A Facebook post, which I can’t seem to embed or link to, mentions Datu’s family and fiancé, as well as numerous friends. I’m also told he was a very skilled and experienced bicyclist.
He’s clearly someone who will be very missed.
This is at least the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 6th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
This is a developing story, so please contact me with any additional information or corrections.
Update: A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to help cover the unexpected funeral and memorial arrangements.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Virgo Datu and all his family and loved ones.
Thanks to Zachary, Gary and Brett for their help putting this story together.
Good news for Angelenos for once, since Los Angeles doesn’t even show up on a list of the ten most dangerous California counties for bike riders, at least on a per capita basis; sparsely populated Plumas, Mono and Inyo counties lead the list, even though they have a combined total of just eight bike crashes.
The new head of British spy agency MI6 is one of us, after Blaise Metreweli chose to ride her bike to a last-minute meeting at a London Park before she was named to be the firs woman to lead the agency. Rather than borrowing 007’s iconic Aston Martin, evidently; we’ll forget that misguided foray into German BMWs.
