A Good Samaritan performed CPR on the 62-year old Long Beach man until paramedics arrived to take him to a local hospital, where he died.
The paper reports he was riding north in the bike lane on Los Coyotes when he cut across at least four lanes of the roadway at Palo Verde Ave, and was struck by the 88-year old driver of a southbound car.
For a change, the driver remained at the scene. Whether a younger motorist would have been able to stop in time is something we may never know.
Photos from the scene show a badly mangled road bike.
And Los Coyotes has seen more than its share of fatal bike crashes, either on or just off the deadly corridor.
This is at least the sixth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; both of those deaths have been in Long Beach.
The driver fled the scene, but was arrested about a mile away in Aliso Viejo around 8:30 am, based on witness descriptions of the vehicle.
KCBS-2 places the time of the crash as 6:30 am, and reports the victim was crossing the street when he was struck, but does not say which street he or the driver was on.
A witness provided first aid until paramedics arrived.
Judging by the video, it appears he may have been riding an ebike with multiple rear lights and reflectors, and was wearing hi-viz.
At least she may have been able to be with him in his final moments.
The cowardly driver who fled the seen is not suspected of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714/647-7000.
This is at least the fifth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second I’m aware of in Orange County.
Meanwhile, the driver has been identified as 38-year old Rogelio Martinez Cuin of Lake Forest; he’s being held on suspicion of felony hit and run and vehicular manslaughter.
Rogelio Martinez-Cuin faces one count each of gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run with permanent and serious injury, both felonies, as well as a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended or revoked license due to a DUI, with a sentence-enhancing allegation of fleeing the scene of a vehicular manslaughter, according to court records.
The complaint against Martinez-Cuin alleges he ran a red light, was inattentive and was driving at an unsafe speed.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Michael David Tomlinson and all his loved ones.
Thanks to Mike Wilkinson and Bill Sellin for the heads-up.
January 30, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Garcetti skips White House run, bike riding bank robber, and Colville-Andersen thinks you’re lazy
It looks like we’ll have Eric Garcetti to kick around for the next few years.
Now maybe he’ll finally get back to fighting for his own policies like Vision Zero and the Great Streets program, which have suffered from a significant backlash while Garcetti has been crisscrossing the county testing tepid waters.
Or maybe just start fighting.
According to the article, Garcetti says he’s skipping a run for the White House because he wants to finish the work he stated.
Let’s hope he means it. And shows a lot more backbone than we’ve seen so far.
Photo shows LA Mayor Eric Garcetti signing the Vision Zero proclamation; photo from lamayor.org.
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From track cyclist, to French Foreign Legionnaire, to bank robber.
He’d throw the money in the trash, or leave it where homeless people would find it. At least until he developed a crack habit, and needed money to buy that bike.
His undoing came as he was making his latest getaway, when a cop wondered why a Lycra-clad roadie on an orange bike would be carrying a messenger bag.
Apparently, Mikael Colville-Andersen, the host of Copenhagenize and self-appointed ambassador of Danish bicycling, isn’t a fan of ebikes, or the people who ride them.
Sad news from Stallion Springs, where a Bakersfield woman was killed in a crash. The Bakersfield Californian felt the need to say she wasn’t wearing a helmet, but failed to note whether she died of a head injury or if her injuries could have been survivable with one.
A Florida driver spotted a bicyclist riding on the shoulder of a highway, towing his dog in a trailer, and moved over the the left lane to give him room. Except he cut off another driver, who swerved into the right lane, clipping the first car and spinning into the bike rider. At least the dog survived; his owner wasn’t so lucky.
An Israeli MD has developed a startup to collect data on the severity of car crashes, so emergency room physicians have a better idea of what to expect when a patient is brought in. Call me crazy, but wouldn’t it be better to just avoid crashes in the first place?
Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn ride among us, too, as they go for a spin on the Westside. Although judging by her frown, Goldie may not be a fan of riding in traffic. Then again, who is?
And Busy Phillips is no fan of e-scooters, especially after helping a woman who fell off one in WeHo on Sunday.Although it should be pointed out that the scooters are officially banned in West Hollywood, but good luck enforcing that.
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CiclaValley plays a guessing game with a careless driver.
Twitter post
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Sometimes, the dangers are people with guns instead of people in cars.
Two armed men bike-jacked a 19-year old man in New Orleans, one getting out of a Jeep with a handgun to demand the bike, while the other pointed a rifle at him from behind the wheel.
And a Florida man threatened three kids with a BB gun when they chased after him for stealing a bicycle. While the the TV report calls his weapon a toy, BBs can still cause serious injuries, as too many bike riders can attest.
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This is what Critical Mass looks like in Nairobi.
Twitter post
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Great Twitter thread calling out the ridiculously upscale Peloton ads and magazine placements.
Just click on the date and scroll down. And keep scrolling. And scrolling.
Metro is attempting to solve the first mile/last mile problem with a new app that will allow users to hail a shared car ride to one of three Metro rail stations for just $1.75. I’d much rather see improved bus and bikeshare service that would get more cars off the roads. Including shared ones.
In a study that should surprise absolutely no one who walks or rides a bike in California, researchers determined that cellphone use by drivers increased last year, with 4.5% of all drivers using their phones illegally at any given time. The only real surprise is that the figure is that low.
San Diego is honoring Somali immigrants in the City Heights neighborhood by installing a camel-shaped bike rack. Which hopefully isn’t as offensive at it sounds.
Unbelievable. A Las Vegas driver fled the scene after killing a bike rider was fleeing the scene after causing another crash; he ran into a casino and changed his clothes twice in an attempt to get away before he was caught. Sadly, the victim’s family lives here in Los Angeles; my sympathy and prayers go out to them.
Police in Victoria, British Columbia recover two of a bike shop owner’s three bikes just hours after they were stolen, after shifting priorities to recover hot bikes; they recovered five bicycles worth $10,000 the first day alone. So it can be done — if police are willing to devote sufficient resources to fight bike theft.
Last Friday, I had a very pleasant talk with Communications Director Dana Variano and new Executive Director Eli Akira Kaufman of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, aka LACBC.
I won’t go into details, since everything we discussed was off the record. But we had a very frank and open discussion about the state of bicycling in general, and the state of the LACBC in general.
Suffice it to say that Kaufman recognizes that he’s got a steep learning curve to get a firm grasp on LA bike culture and street safety.
And he’s well aware of the problems facing the LACBC after drifting far too long without effective leadership.
But he’s committed to listening and improving communications, which has been a major problem as long as I’ve been involved with the coalition, as a member and former board member.
And to making the hard decisions the LACBC will need to return to being an effective voice for LA bicyclists.
I left the meeting feeling like the LACBC is in good hands.
And with a little hope for the first time in a long time.
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Disappointing news from Seal Beach, where Eric Dalton reports the ghost bike for Paul Smith has already been removed, less than three weeks after he was killed.
“In this study of a case series, 249 patients presented to the emergency department with injuries associated with electric scooter use during a 1-year period, with 10.8% of patients younger than 18 years,” says the January 25 paper by Tarak K. Trivedi, Charles Liu, and Anna Liza M. Antonio.
“The most common injuries were fractures (31.7%), head injuries (40.2%), and soft-tissue injuries (27.7%).”
“Only 10 riders were documented as wearing a helmet, constituting 4.4% of all riders,” the report notes. “Twelve patients (4.8%) had physician-documented intoxication or a blood alcohol level greater than 0.05%
Not all of the injured patients had been riding scooters. Eleven had been hit by scooters, and five had tried to lift scooters. Another five had simply tripped over parked scooters, which is what can happen when there are Bird or Lime droppings on the sidewalk.
In other words, despite the panicked response to this study in the media, over 90% of the injuries were to the people riding them. So just like with bicyclists, even the most careless riders are a danger primarily to themselves.
Just wait until the study authors discover how many people get hurt by cars every day.
Which is not to say everyone shouldn’t ride safely, so they don’t pose a risk to themselves or anyone else.
And for chrissakes, don’t leave your damn scooter on the sidewalk, or anywhere else it can pose a danger to anyone.
Or the Japanese man who got a well-deserved 18 years for the road rage death of a motorbike rider, intentionally slamming into him after briefly chasing his bike. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.
If you haven’t already, mark your calendar for International Winter Bike to Work Day on February 8th. We should be able to show a good turnout here in Southern California, where Viking Biking means you might have to put fenders on your bike.
Sad news from New Zealand, where a 32-year old elite cyclist is dying of intestinal cancer, saying she should have pushed harder for a diagnosis after suffering from years of stomach pain.
The plan would provide funding to complete 28 transit projects in time for the 2028 LA Olympics. Metro’s CEO has also discussed using congestion pricing funds to provide free bus and train rides throughout the LA area.
LA’s ever-worsening traffic congestion means we have a choice between encouraging people to leave their cars behind by making it more convenient to ride a bike or use transit, or taking painful steps to force them to.
But the city’s ever-present NIMBYs, entitled drivers and traffic safety deniers have fought to block bike lanes, and too many spineless city officials have caved in to them.
So now congestion pricing is on the table. Whether they like it or not.
And both recommend FilmedByBike — Los Angeles at the Boomtown Brewery in Aliso Village on Sunday. Admission includes two movie screenings, a panel discussion, raffle and 25 exhibitors with bike demos. Correction: Earlier I wrote it was on Saturday; it’s actually Sunday. Thanks to Joe Linton for the correction.
Oh, well that’s okay, then. A hit-and-run driver who killed a bike rider in Salt Lake City told police he fled the scene because he was scared. Even if that was the case, he should have turned himself in the next day — after he sobered up, most likely.
A 62-year old Brooklyn bike rider was awarded $2.25 million after suing the city accusing a police detective of shoving him into a parked car, suffering permanent injuries; needless to say, the officer denied touching him, bur security video — hidden from the defense for four years — showed otherwise.
Georgia thieves steal a page from the Middle Ages and the Old West, laying a tree branch across a bridge to force a bike rider to stop; when he tried to move it, they popped out with guns and stole his cellphone. Although victims in the Middle Ages and Old West hardly ever carried cellphones with them.
