To be honest, Thursday was a rough day. From the collective emotions of 9/11, to being painfully poked and prodded in yet another attempt to figure out what the hell is going on with my body.
But mostly, it’s the realization that Friday marks seven years to the day since I encountered a massive swarm of bees while riding along the beach, and ended up spending the night in the ICU.
And in between, suffered what undoubtedly would have been the worst bicycling incident in memory, if only I could remember it. Let alone the most serious injuries of my riding career.
I even wrote about it for a leading magazine, only to have the manuscript returned to me, unread.
C’est la vie, mais non?
In retrospect, it changed the direction of my life. And led me to dedicate whatever time I have left on this planet to making it a safer place to ride a bike.
Even if there’s not a lot you can do about bees on the beach.
It also reminds me to be grateful for the men and women who dedicate their lives to helping others. Even if they’re just doing their jobs.
Because without them, I probably wouldn’t be here to write this.
Moving story from Pasadena City College about a woman biking across the country to raise awareness for victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse. Just ignore the inappropriate, victim-blaming headline.
Santa Clarita kids can get a free ice cream just for wearing their helmet when they ride a bike.
A crazed driver in a Range Rover speeds up and crosses onto the wrong side of the street just to try — and fail — to spit at Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson as he rode to the Milt Olin protest ride; he encourages everyone to write the DA to protest the decision not to file charges in the Olin case. And too bad he didn’t get video of the other jackass.
This is why you don’t respond physically to dangerous drivers. A Newport Beach rider faces a felony vandalism charge after allegedly throwing a water bottle at a woman’s car.
He gets it. US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx says a new bike/pedestrian initiative is critical for the future of the country.
Heartbreaking letter from the mother of a fallen Seattle area cyclist who did everything right — yet the driver who killed him was fined just $175 for a crosswalk violation.
Clearly, he doesn’t get it. A road raging Seattle driver shoots a bike rider in the arm as he tried to ride away following a traffic dispute; if the driver had just run him down with his truck instead, he probably wouldn’t face charges.
Is deadly force appropriate for salmon cycling? Quebec police reportedly pinned a badly injured bike rider to the ground after they ran him over attempting to make a traffic stop; he died later at a hospital.
Clearly, hit-and-run is not just an LA, or even an American, problem, as an Irish driver gets three years for fleeing the scene after running down a cyclist — without ever taking his foot off the accelerator.
No. Just, no. A Brit cyclist punches out a 75-year old man after exchanging words while riding on the sidewalk, leaving the victim with fractures to his face and collarbone. And an Ottawa driver is lucky to get off with a stern talking to after dooring the deputy police chief.
One of the primary tenets of the American justice system is that ignorance of the law is no excuse.
That is, you’re responsible for obeying it even if you don’t know something is illegal; it’s your responsibility to know the law.
But what if the one who doesn’t know the law is the person charged with enforcing it?
That’s what appears to have happened over the weekend, as cyclist Topher Mathers was forced off the road by a CHP motorcycle cop while riding downhill on Angeles Crest Highway.
Over the weekend I was cited for CVC 21202 as I was descending Angeles Crest Hwy by a CHP motorcycle officer. Before the officer pulled me over, he told me to get onto the shoulder to allow the cars behind me to pass. To note I was coming out of a series of turns and had yet been able to take my eyes off the road ahead of me to check for traffic behind me. Furthermore, the officer’s command was problematic because there is no real shoulder along the crest, just gravel, debris from car and motorcycle accidents and either the side of the San Gabriel Mountains or a cliff. The manner in which the officer engaged me not only startled me but it in fact endangered me. He did not use his siren or lights, he just pulled up alongside of me (well within in 3ft) and began giving commands. He informed me that my “delaying traffic time was over” and in the process forced me to process the situation and defend my actions all while actively descending a mountain. I informed him “I do not need to ride the shoulder.” Once he decided to pull me over he began forcing me onto the shoulder. He became angered, as he was not satisfied by my bicycle’s slowing speed, apparently not accounting for fact that I’m on a bicycle, not a motorcycle and that I am slowing down onto gravel. He initially indicated that he was going to cite me for impeding traffic but I guess he realized it was too hard to prove (less than 5 cars and they had all passed on by then) and ended up citing me for CVC 21202.
I attempted to question the officer once we came to a full stop but by this time I had my phone out and was filming, he became non-responsive.
I don’t even know where to start.
CVC 21202 does in fact require cyclists to ride as far to the right has practicable. However, nothing in California law requires cyclists to ride on the shoulder or to the right of the right limit line; the traffic lane is to the left of the line, and anything to the right is not legally considered part of the roadway.
In addition, if the officer had read a little further, he would have noticed a long list of exceptions under which CVC 21202 does not apply — including any traffic lane too narrow to safely share with a bike and a motor vehicle, which would include virtually every inch of Angeles Crest.
So much for that ticket.
And as Mather suggests, the standard for impeding traffic is a minimum of five vehicles stuck behind a slower vehicle and unable to pass. Again, if there are less than five cars behind, or if the cars can pass — even one at a time — the law does not apply.
Not to mention that common sense should come into play when a rider is busy negotiating a tricky descent.
More troubling than the officer’s ignorance of the law, however, was his use of a motor vehicle as a weapon to force Mather’s bike off the roadway — ignoring the fact that pushing the rider into gravel at speed could result in a potentially deadly fall, whether off the hillside or back into the path of the trailing traffic.
In fact, any use of a motor vehicle — any motor vehicle — to stop a cyclist should be considered deadly force, and its use banned by every department unless the officer’s life, or that of someone else, is in imminent danger. Which was hardly the case here.
Finally, there’s the officer’s ignorance of the physics of bicycling, as he somehow expected a bike rider going downhill at speed to instantly pull over and stop on a dime. Let alone conduct a conversation with a motorcycle rider violating the state’s new three-foot law.
All of which brings up a problem we’ve discussed many times before.
Virtually no law enforcement agency anywhere in the country trains its officers in bike law, and in how bikes operate.
The LAPD is one of the few that offers any training at all. And that only in the form of a interactive video session that all street level officers were required to view, and few remember.
To the best of my knowledge, the CHP doesn’t offer any bike training at all, either in the academy or after officers are on the streets.
The family of Alejandro Rendon, the unarmed bike rider killed by Indio police officers because he looked suspicious, have settled their lawsuit against the department for an undisclosed — but hopefully very large — amount.
Interesting appeals court ruling from Illinois says cities can be held responsible when snowplows block bike lanes and sidewalks, forcing cyclists and pedestrians into the street. Not a problem we often have here, though some parallels could apply.
New York’s Vision Zero plan gets $25 million in federal funding; to the best of my knowledge, no one in LA’s city government has even uttered the phrase yet.
International
A separated bike lane in a Vancouver suburb has to be removed after motorists rip out the bollards.
Unbelievable. A Louisiana jury acquits a driver in the death of a cyclist — even though he fled the scene, failed to render aid to the victim, was driving without a license or valid plates, and still had a BAC over the legal limit five hours after the collision.
And shockingly, a Salinas woman had yet another crash over the weekend while driving under the influence and on a suspended license. She had 12 prior collisions, including killing a pedestrian — and was found at fault for 11 of them — yet was still allowed to own a car, let alone drive it.
Based on that alert, Johnson Attorneys Group reports a rider in his 40s was killed in a Lawndale collision that occurred on Manhattan Beach Blvd near Cranbrook Ave in Lawndale at 7:14 this morning.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:30 am. No other details are available at this time.
Cranbrook does not actually intersect with Manhattan Beach Blvd; a satellite view shows a four lane, limited access street with a single crosswalk, suggesting the victim was most likely either hit from behind or crossing the street at the time of the collision.
However, the CHP reports indicate all lanes were blocked following the collision, which would most likely place the victim in the middle of the street when he was struck; El Camino College is located on the south side of Manhattan Beach Blvd, along with a golf course.
This is the 67th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 25th in Los Angeles County; that compares to 65 and 27, respectively, this time las year.
Update: According to the Daily Breeze, the victim, who has still not been publicly identified, was a man in his 60s. And as suggested above, he was riding his bike in the crosswalk when he was hit by a Hyundai sedan driving east on Manhattan Beach.
A CHP spokesman reports the driver did not see the victim, despite flashing warning lights on the crosswalk; a comment below suggests he may have been blinded by the sun.
Of course, the proper response when blinded is to pull over until you can see, rather than attempting to drive by braille, yet it is seldom prosecuted.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Monday morning the driver responsible for the violent death of Pasadena cyclist Phillip O’Neill accepted a plea deal that will put him behind bars, at least for awhile.
O’Neill was riding with a companion on a designated Class 3 bike route on Del Mar Blvd when he was hit from behind with enough force to throw him into a parked car on the opposite side of the street.
According to the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition, which was formed in response to O’Neill’s death, Jose Gonzales pled no contest to a charge of vehicular manslaughter. He will be sentenced at that end of the month to terms including:
90 days jail
45 days Cal Trans service work
3 years probation
Participation in HAM (Hospital and Morgue) program — a “scared straight” program for DUI offenders
$13,000 restitution
Although there is no true “justice” in a case like this, PasCSC would like to thank prosecuting attorney Joon Kim for his efforts to hold the operator of the motor vehicle responsible for this thoroughly preventable collision, especially in light of the failure to do so in other recent fatal collisions involving pedestrians and/or cyclists. Operating a motor vehicle while distracted or under the influence of alcohol or other drugs is never an accident. And it too often comes at too great a cost to innocent bystanders.
Clearly, it’s not enough.
The life of an innocent victim should be worth more than a mere three months in jail. But given the limitations in current laws, and considering how seldom drivers face any jail time at all — let alone prosecution — this is one we can all be grateful for.
In fact, O’Neill’s family, and the woman who was riding with him — who has asked not to be identified — have asked cyclists to write Pasadena Deputy City Prosecutor Joon Kim to thank him for his dogged persistence in prosecuting this case. As she put it,
He did not waver on sentencing, and felt strongly that taking a life through reckless driving be punished.
You can write Kim at:
Joon Kim
100 North Garfield Avenue, suite N 210
Pasadena, CA 91101
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We mentioned this one the other day, even though there were no bikes involved. Prosecutors announced that the North Dakota woman who killed an 89-year old North Dakota grandmother while scrolling through Facebook while driving at 85 mph will face a well-deserved charge of negligent homicide.
Just weeks after suffering major brain and facial injuries when he rear-ended a support vehicle during Colorado’s USA Pro Challenge, rookie pro cyclist Ian Crane is recovering and hopes to get back to racing.
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Now that was close.
BikinginLA sponsor AnyKicks made their $30,000 goal for funding on Kickstarter with just $66 to spare. Thanks to everyone here who helped push them over the top.
They get it. A Times editorial calls the new three-foot passing law, which takes effect next week, a smart first step in rational road-sharing, and part of a long, slow process in building a bike-friendly society.
Evidently, when you’re on meth, it’s hard to remember you don’t have to say yes when police ask to check your backpack.
Next City looks at AB 1193, recently passed by the state legislature to legalize protected bike lanes in California, which are technically banned under current regulations.
Who’s the real victim? The driver who injured a woman when he plowed into the Zombie Walk during San Diego’s Comic-Con has sued the San Diego Police Department for creating a “confusing and misleading situation for motorists.” Thanks to Richard Risemberg for the heads-up.
San Diego’s next CicloSDias rolls through the Hillcrest neighborhood in November.
Tragic news from Chicago, as local actress Molly Glynn died in a freak accident when a tree fell on her while she was riding during a storm; she had a recurring role in the TV show Chicago Fire. Note to the Chicago Tribune: Whether Glynn was wearing a helmet might have mattered if she was hit by a falling branch; a falling tree, not so much.
In a truly bizarre case, Muncie IN authorities try to inform a woman her brother was killed when his bike was hit by a car — only to discover she had evidently been undiscovered after dying late last week.
An 84-year old British man overcame two broken hips to set a new hour record for the 80 to 84 age group. Of course, it’s easier to set the record when no one that age has ever attempted it, but still.
The UK woman who called for assertive action to halt a pair of organized rides backed off when no one else came to her support.
For the second time in just five days, a bicyclist has been killed in a Huntington Beach collision.
According to the Orange County Breeze, the OC Coroner’s office has identified the victim as 61-year old William Rowland, Jr of Costa Mesa.
Rowland was hit by a car shortly after 7:30 pm Friday at the intersection of Yorktown Ave and Education Way in Huntington Beach. He was transported to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he died shortly after midnight the following day.
A satellite view shows a bike lane in each direction on Yorktown, with the three-way intersection controlled only by a stop sign on Education Way.
No other information is available at the time; the paper reports the collision is still under investigation.
This is the 66th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th in Orange County. And it’s the 6th cycling death this year in Huntington Beach, which has apparently become a very dangerous place to ride a bike.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for William Rowland, Jr and all his loved ones.
That seems to be what happened in Chula Vista, as a bike rider was killed in a collision Friday afternoon.
According to the Union-Tribune and othersources, the cyclist, who was identified only as a 60-year old man, was riding south on the 800 block of Hilltop Drive, near Telegraph Canyon Road, around 3:10 pm. According to witnesses, he was on the far right edge of the road when he suddenly made a sharp left turn directly in front of a pickup traveling in the same direction.
He was declared dead at the scene, after the driver was unable to avoid hitting him. No word on why the victim may have turned without warning, or apparently looking for traffic before turning.
This is the 65th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 7th in San Diego County. It’s also the 2nd cycling death in Chula Vista this year, and the 5th since 2012.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
As it turned out, I missed Wednesday night’s ride and vigil calling for justice for Milt Olin when complications from my diabetes once again knocked me on my ass.
Fortunately, a lot of riders didn’t.
According to Streetsblog, roughly 75 riders made the 30 mile journey from Calabasas, where Milt Olin was run down by an admittedly distracted sheriff’s deputy last December, to the District Attorney’s office in Downtown LA to demand justice for Olin after the DA refused to file charges. That number swelled to an estimated 125 as other voices joined in.
Meanwhile, you can read the full three-page letter from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition urging the DA to reconsider the decision not to file charges.
But perhaps more than anything else, this simple tweet from the Milt Olin Foundation says it best.
Over the past seven years, Jen has overseen the growth of the coalition from a single employee — herself — to 12, as well as the birth of a lucky 13 local chapters throughout the county. And helped make the LACBC Southern California’s dominant voice for cyclists; the boom in local bike-friendliness occurred, not just on her watch, but in large part thanks to her leadership.
I am heartbroken to see her go.
In the five years I’ve been involved with the coalition, Jen has always been a vital part of it, adding her warmth, insight and humor to whatever issues confronted the organization, and leading the group through all the many ups and down. Such an important part, in fact, that I can’t imagine the LACBC without her.
And yet, she leaves it positioned for even greater growth and success in the years to come.
The coalition will undoubtedly find a new Executive Director, one with the leadership skills to build it into one of the nation’s leading bicycle advocacy organizations, as it should be for a city this size, and with a ridership as vast and varied as we enjoy.
Full disclosure: I am a board member of the LACBC; however, I have been inactive for most of this year as I’ve dealt with health issues that have kept me largely incapacitated; I hope to return to my duties on the board before Jen leaves, and help with the transition to a new director.
Bicycling shocks everyone by naming New York the nation’s Best Bike City with Chicago second; Portland is demoted to number four while my hometown clocks in at number nine.
A bigger surprise is the city found at number 28 — yes, not only did Los Angeles actually make the list, we came in just five notches below Long Beach and five above Thousand Oaks. Surprisingly, bike friendly Santa Monica didn’t make the cut.
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Phillip Young, President of the San Diego Wheelmen, sends a reminder that cyclist Juan Carlos Viñolo and his family needs our help.
Viñolo suffered a severe spinal cord injury when he was hit, along with several other riders, by a drunken wrong way driver on San Diego’s Fiesta Island. In an act of bravery, he pushed another rider aside and took the full impact of the collision himself, leaving him paralyzed from the chest down.
The Juan Carlos Fund has raised over $172,000 for medical expenses and to support his family, but much more is needed. Your generosity could make all the difference.
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Lots of events and opportunities to learn how to ride, or ride better, coming up.
Join CicLAvia for an afternoon of open houses and events exploring the newly pedestrian friendly Broadway in DTLA this Saturday, followed by a screening of Mulholland Drive at the spectacular Million Dollar Theater.
Bike riders are invited to attend a party celebrating the launch of Eddi, a new mobile marketplace app that promises to change the way we buy and sell things. The free event takes place in Pasadena this Saturday, from 7 to 10 pm.
Seven suspects have now been arrested in a string of assaults on Santa Clarita bike paths; two have already been sent to juvenile camps.
State
CABO confusingly clarifies their opposition to AB 1193, the badly needed new law approving protected bike lanes currently awaiting Governor Brown’s signature.
The Orange County Register says this is the best time of the year. I couldn’t agree more; now that the tourists are gone, we can have the often overcrowded beachfront bike paths to ourselves.
It’s all the way down in the last sentence. But the Denver Broncos will be hosting a 500-space bike valet at their games this year.
Bike friendly Colorado continues to be the thinnest state in the Union; bike unfriendly West Virginia and Mississippi, not so much. Not surprisingly, people are healthier where more walk or bike to work.
In a truly heartbreaking story, a cyclist is fatally stabbed by a homeless man in Florida as he neared the finish of a cross-country ride to propose to his girlfriend.
And no bikes involved, fortunately, as a driver is arrested for a Santa Ana hit-and-run — by the same cop as he was for another hit-and-run at the same intersection 19 years earlier.
When a prosecutor really wants to file charges in a traffic case, they’ll tear the vehicle code apart until they find something that sticks.
So when the DA’s office examines a case and concludes there’s nothing there, it’s more often an indication that they don’t want to prosecute, for whatever reason.
Like when it’s a cop who ran down a cyclist, for instance.
When the LA County DA’s office announced last week they weren’t filing charges against the sheriff’s deputy who killed Milt Olin, they concluded (pdf) that he had not violated the state prohibition against texting while driving because police officers in the course of their duty are exempted from the law. Never mind that he’d also been texting — illegally — with his wife as recently as one minute prior to the wreck.
And yet, I’ve repeatedly been told by officers from a number of different police agencies that it’s not just the act of texting behind the wheel that’s against the law, but simply being distracted while driving. For whatever reason.
From putting on makeup or eating, to simply changing the stations on the radio. And yes, some people still listen to the radio when they drive.
Anything that takes the driver’s attention away from the road is distracted driving. Or as cited by the LA Times, “wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.”
By that standard, Deputy Wood was clearly distracted when he ran down Olin’s bike from behind.
In fact, by his own admission, he never even saw Olin or knew he was driving in the bike lane when he hit him at somewhere around 48 mph, which was his last recorded speed prior to the impact.
He could just as well have been charged with making an illegal lane change. Or driving in a bike lane.
Or even the catch-all violation when police can’t come up with anything else to charge a driver — or too often, a bike rider — with, violating CVC 22350, the state’s basic speed law.
After all, no speed is safe when you have no idea where you’re driving or what’s in the road directly in front of you.
And any or all of which could be used to support the sheriff’s investigator’s recommended charge of vehicular manslaughter.
So the question becomes one of why they’re not willing to file charges. Any charges.
It could, as many have speculated, be a case of looking out for their own; the District Attorney relies on police officers to build their cases, and may be reluctant to prosecute an officer as a result.
Or it could simply be that the death of a cyclist — even one as prominent as entertainment lawyer and former Napster executive Milt Olin — just isn’t worth their time.
Or it could be a cover-up.
By prosecuting Wood, the deputy could be forced to testify in his defense that, even though using the onboard computer while driving is officially against sheriff’s department policy, the unofficial policy encourages officers to do just the opposite.
Which would make higher-ups in the department complicit in Olin’s death. And could have led them to pressure the DA not to file.
Maybe there’s a more innocent explanation for the failure to charge the driver with something.
Anything.
But the official explanation doesn’t hold water.
And the fact that they’ve left themselves open to this kind of speculation shows just how wrong that decision was.
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If this case pisses you off as much as it does me, you’ll have your chance to demand justice for Milt Olin, and all of us, tonight.
The LACBC, Yield to Life and Ghost Bikes LA are hosting a ride and vigil for Milt Olin to call on the DA to revisit the case and press charges.
This is an all-hands-on-deck demand for justice.
If there’s any way you can be there for all or part of it, you owe it to yourself to attend. Because the more people who participate, and the more varied the riders who attend, the better our message will penetrate the insulated offices of the District Attorney.
I’m going to do my best to attend the vigil, at least. If you don’t see me there, it means my health has knocked me on my ass once again.
4:00 p.m. Meet at crash site (around 22532 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302)
4:15 p.m. Moment of silence
4:30 p.m. Start ride
6:30 p.m. Leave from the L.A. Zoo parking lot (5333 Zoo Dr, Griffith Park, CA 90027). Other riders can meet up here.
7:30-8:00 p.m. Arrive at District Attorney’s office (210 W Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012)
8:00 p.m. Candlelight vigil
The public is invited to join us at the beginning, ride with us, join us for the vigil, or meet us at any point along the way (exact route to be determined).
The route follows major streets through the San Fernando Valley and Griffith Park to Downtown Los Angeles. Riders will be expected to stay alert and follow all traffic laws. The ride is scheduled to arrive in Downtown just after sunset, therefore lights are required by law.
The route is 30 miles. Riders should come prepared with water and snacks to stay fueled.
Shorter options:
Start at the L.A. Zoo parking lot (5333 Zoo Dr, Griffith Park, CA 90027) for an approximately 10-mile ride into Downtown. Please arrive no later than 6:15 and be ready to ride by 6:30 p.m.
Start in Calabasas, ride 17 miles to the Universal City Red Line station (located at Lankershim Blvd and Campo de Cahuenga), and take the Red Line to Civic Center, where the D.A.’s office is located (210 W Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012). Riders who lag behind the main group will be asked to take this option.
Join us for the vigil. People are welcome to skip the ride and meet us at the D.A.’s office. The ride is expected to arrive between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m.
Meet us along the way. We will do our best to live-tweet our location with the hashtag #rideformilt. Follow us @lacbc.
Getting to the ride:
The start is on a suburban section of Mulholland Highway with little to no on-street parking (approximate address: 22532 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302). We recommend taking the Metro Orange Line or Orange Line Bike Path to De Soto or Canoga and riding from there. Free park-and-rides are available along the Orange Line.
Check out the Facebook event and feel free to post feeder rides there.
Getting from the ride:
The best option is always riding (with lights!) or taking transit.
If you parked at a Metro Orange Line park-and-ride, take the Red Line from Civic Center to North Hollywood. Then either transfer to the Orange Line (limit 3 bikes per bus) or ride along the Orange Line Bike Path to your car.
Questions? Post them in the Facebook event or call the office at 213-629-2142 and we’ll do our best to respond before the ride.
An interesting question came up on Monday, when someone asked me who to contact if a pothole on a city street damages a rim on your bike, or worse.
Fortunately, KNBC-4 answered that question earlier this year, if from an auto-centric perspective. And yes, it’s the same process if you were injured, as well.
Office of the City Clerk 200 North Spring St. Room 395, City Hall Los Angeles, CA 90012
The office will accept originals only. Don’t try to fax it or mail in a copy.
You can also deliver it in person to that same address anytime between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The phone number is 213-978-1133.
Be sure to document the damage to your bike, along with any resulting injuries, as well as possible. That means photos and receipts for repair work, parts and/or medical care, or at the very least, a signed estimate for the cost of repair if you can’t afford to have it done.
As the story implies, it can be a long and complicated process, and one that can often end in a rejection of your claim.
But by going through the process and documenting your claim, you at least set the stage for filing a case in small claims court if it’s denied.
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Sad news, as a La Habra cyclist is in a medically induced coma after suffering a major head injury when he somehow crashed into a street sign while riding on the sidewalk.
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Nice to see new bike racks in front of my favorite Mexican restaurant; evidently, they recognize bikes are good for business.
The Daily Breeze offers a detailed look at the state’s new three-foot passing law, even if they can’t quite manage to get all the facts straight. It was one governor who vetoed the law twice, not the other way around. And while the first version of the law would have allowed drivers to cross the center line to pass a cyclist, no version of the law ever required them to do so.
A memorial was held for Chula Vista randonneur Matthew O’Neill, who was killed while riding in Santa Maria by a son of former Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado.
A truck driver gets eight-and-a-half years for killing two cyclists who had just begun a cross-country tour of the UK when he fell asleep at the wheel. In the US, that would probably be written off as an “oops.” Thanks to Jim Pettipher for the heads-up.
A drunken Indian constable steals a police car and crashes into a bicyclist, pedestrian and an auto-rickshaw before he’s arrested. A reminder not to text and drive, as a Colorado motorist slams into a guard rail, which penetrates the car’s headlight and impales her butt cheek before jamming into the back seat.
And no, you can’t inject yourself with noble gasses any more. Although in my experience, ignoble gas emissions are more of a problem for most cyclists.
