According to the LA Daily News, two people were struck by the driver of an SUV while riding their bikes in LA’s Valley Glen neighborhood Sunday evening.
One victim, identified only as a woman, died at the scene. Her riding companion, who I’m told was a man, was hospitalized with what was described only as a non-life threatening injury.
The 35-year old driver remained at the scene; she was not arrested.
There’s no official word on how the crash happened. However, I’m told the victim was run over by the SUV, while the other rider was knocked to the curb.
This is at least the 50th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 13th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Update: A ghost bike was installed for the victim on Wednesday, October 14th. I’m told she was named Ana, from Sun Valley, and the mother of four young children aged six months to 12 years.
All of whom will now have to now up without her.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ana and her loved ones.
Sadly, I’ve received an unconfirmed report that a woman was killed in a collision while riding her bike in the Valley Glen neighborhood of LA’s San Fernando Valley.
Unfortunately, while this comes from a reliable source, there was nothing in the news to confirm it before this was posted.
I’ll have more later if I’m able to get more information.
You can ask the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division about the above crash, as well as other San Fernando Valley bike safety issues, in a Zoom meeting on Wednesday.
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A Twitter meme looks at how our world got this way.
For better or worse.
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Thanks to Hap Dougherty for forwarding these two.
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This is how Raleigh marketed itself in the last days of the British Empire.
Again, for better or worse.
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Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.
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Great video from the son of British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid about his solo bike tour home after visiting the Giant bike factory Shanghai.
An Indian website says bicycling has become the country’s greatest Covid lockdown love affair, whether to ward off loneliness and claustrophobia, or to take advantage of the cleaner air. Enjoy it while they can; as we’ve seen in Los Angeles, the clean air won’t last once people get back in their cars.
The driver was apparently headed west on Rosecrans when she slammed into the victim, then crashed into a pair of parked cars, telling police she lost control after hitting “an unknown item in the roadway.”
An unknown item that turned out to be a man on a bicycle.
The driver suffered some sort of unspecified injury; police planned to arrest her once she was released from the hospital.
Unfortunately, there’s no other information available at this time.
This is at least the 49th 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.
October 9, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Soda pop cargo bike art in East LA, has Covid-19 affect your bike riding, and the war on bikes just keeps on going
Why does East LA get all the good art?
Aurelio Jose Barrera caught this soda pop delivery truck adorned with a Jariritos-selling cargo bike.
If they didn’t have so much sugar, that would be enough to get my dollars.
No bias here. A London paper gleefully reports that a popup bike lane will be removed after causing traffic congestion, leading to calls to remove others, as well. Although no one seems to consider that it’s all those cars that cause traffic congestion, not bike lanes or the people using them.
Bike-riding Downey city council candidate Alexandria Contreras will be on Bike Talk this evening. However, the link in the tweet is dead, but you can find the show here.
One app to rule them all, one app to find them. Lime takes a step towards world domination, or at least the world of micromobility, by offering Wheels scooters through their app, along with the usual Lime e-scooters and ebikes.
A new candidate to replace termed out Bill de Blasio as mayor of New York says bike lanes should be part of the city’s transportation network. But fails to mention that city law requires 50 miles of new protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes every year. Unlike Los Angeles, where city officials are legally required to build absolutely nothing. And too often don’t.
Maryland drivers will now be allowed to briefly cross a double yellow line to pass bike riders on narrow roads. California drivers would have the same privilege, except Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an early version of the three-foot passing law because it contained the same provision.
October 8, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hit-and-run driver crashes twice in 15 minutes, Union Station virtual open house tonight, and a relic of 1930’s planning
Austin, Texas is closing down its Healthy Streets program to provide safe, low-traffic areas for walking, running and bicycling during the coronavirus crisis. Apparently, the pandemic must be over down there, unlike everywhere else.
Good point. A Canadian letter writer complains that it’s apparently wrong to hit a pedestrian in a crosswalk, but perfectly okay if that person’s on a bike. And if the law is so confusing that even a cop gets it wrong, maybe it needs to be changed.
Maybe they should hold a bake sale. The Canadian capital says they know where they need to make safety improvements to protect bike riders, but don’t have the money to do it.
October 7, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bike-riding boy injured in Hawthorne hit-and-run, car ID’d in Palos Verdes bike crash, and driver busted in NY assault
He was charged with a single count assault and released on a desk appearance ticket.
Just one more example of police and prosecutors failing to take traffic crime seriously.
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Ted Faber forwards news of a newly protected bike lane on Manchester Blvd in LA’s Westchester neighborhood.
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Lime wants to help you scoot to the polls next month.
Lime, the global leader in micromobility, today announced it will provide free e-scooter rides on Election Day, November 3, in an effort to reduce transportation barriers to voting, such as cost, lack of car ownership or COVID-19-related fears over public transit in cities throughout the country. Riders will be able to use the promotional code LIMETOPOLLS2020 to receive two free rides up to 30 minutes on Election Day.
“This is the most important election of our lives,” said Wayne Ting, CEO of Lime. “Healthcare, climate change and the future of so many cities we serve are on the ballot in 2020. At Lime, we’re focused on doing all we can to register voters, ease access to polls, and encourage our riders to vote.”
Offering free rides to the polls is just once part of Lime’s Roll Call initiative to increase participation in this election. The company has partnered with When We All Vote to promote voter registration to riders via email and within the Lime app. They have also joined Power the Polls to encourage riders to become Poll Workers and ElectionDay.org to provide employees with time to cast their vote on or before November 3.
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GCN explains how to remove and fit bike wheels, calling it an essential skill.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
A road raging Portland driver took offense to a bike rider’s request to drive a little better because they both have a right to the road, firing two shots at the person on the bike. And apparently missed, fortunately.
An 18-year old British driver walked with community service despite spitting at a pedestrian, throwing soda at a female jogger then tossing the bottle at 15-year old boy, knocking him off his bike, and hurling an egg at a passerby during a six-month “spate of violence” after passing his driver’s test. But other than that, he was a prince, right?
Huntington Beach has followed Long Beach’s lead in attempting to ban bike chop shops by prohibiting the repair and sales of bikes and bike parts on city property(scroll down). Good intention, but that means you’d be breaking the law if you stop in a park or sidewalk to fix a flat or dropped chain.
Bicycling offers tips on how to save big on Amazon Prime Day. Although it looks like you’re on your own if you get blocked out by the magazine’s draconian paywall this time.
For once, it wasn’t a race moto that injured a cyclist in yesterday’s Giro — it was a low-flying helicopter that blew debris onto the course, resulting in serious injuries to Italy’s Luca Wackermann, including a possible fractured vertebrae.
