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.
