He was struck by a vehicle driven by 26-year old Andrew Scott Walters at the intersection of Van Buren Blvd and Limonite Ave around 11 pm Saturday. The force of the impact threw him to the far side of the road, where he died within a few minutes after impact.
Walters was arrested at his home after fleeing the scene, and booked on suspicion of hit-and-run resulting in death; he was released on $75,000 bond.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Rigoberto Guzman and his loved ones.
So turn on, tune in, drop out, and kick back while we take a look the day’s bike news.
Then get out and go for a ride yourself.
Preferably without the influence of any mind-altering substances.
………
They take traffic crime seriously in Orange County.
Victor Manuel Romero, the allegedly highly intoxicated hit-and-run driver who killed bike rider Ray MacDonald in Huntington Beach the day after his birthday, will be arraigned today on a single count of murder.
Which most likely means this isn’t his first DUI, since drunk and stoned drivers convicted in California are required to sign a letter indicating they could face a murder charge if they kill someone while driving under the influence in the future.
Although the actions of some drivers are so despicable that they should face a murder charge either way.
This is one of those cases.
And unlike Los Angeles, the charges are unlikely to be plea bargained down to a misdemeanor.
Delaware police add insult to injury — literally — by ticketing a woman for failing to yield after she was hospitalized when her bike was struck by a driver’s car.
That’s more like it. Drivers in the UK who block bike boxes could be subject to the equivalent of a $130 fine and three points against their licenses. If the police actually enforce it, that is. Note: I originally wrote they’d be subject to a three pint penalty, which would be much more likely to result in compliance.
A British man rode his bike around the world while stoned to prove that stoners aren’t lazy. No, just use poor judgement, and are willing violate DUI laws in countless countries.
A Spokane writer says Rebecca Twigg puts a new, relatable face on homelessness, noting that she’s turned down offers of help, preferring to focus on the half million people in the US who need help to put a roof over their heads.
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run is urged to call the LAPD at 877/527-3247. And as always, there is a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver in any fatal hit-and-run crash.
This is at least the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fourth in the City of Los Angeles.
Update: The LAPD is now saying the victim was a pedestrian who was walking across the street outside of a crosswalk. Still no ID on the victim, and no explanation for why witnesses said he was riding a bicycle.
Update 2: Family members have identified the victim as Samuel Hernandez; sadly, he won’t be there to witness his daughter’s graduation from Cal State Northridge next month.
They also clarified that he was walking his bike across the street when he was killed.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Samuel Hernandez and his loved ones.
Samuel Hernandez’ daughter at the ghost bike installation with Zachary Rynew; top photo: people attending ghost bike installation with finished ghost bike
Then again, so was just about other every straight male who knew a derailleur from domestique.
She won my heart, and so many others, when she claimed the ’83 Coors Classic stage race, followed by a silver medal in the road race at the ’84 Olympics, finishing second to her American teammate Connie Carpenter.
And followed that with a pursuit bronze medal in ’92.
Twigg, 56, agreed to share her story to convince the public that not all homeless people are addicted to drugs or alcohol; that there are many like her, who have struggled with employment and are “confused,” as she said she is, about what to do next with their lives. She did not want to discuss mental health but feels it should be treated more seriously in Washington.
“Some of the hard days are really painful when you’re training for racing,” Twigg said, “but being homeless, when you have little hope or knowledge of where the finish line is going to be, is just as hard.”
She ended up homeless after two failed marriages, and struggling to fit into a workplace where she felt she just didn’t belong.
It was a familiar position, after her mother had kicked her out at 14, and she settled into the nomadic life of a bike racer.
Sadly, it’s not unusual for athletes to struggle after retiring, having spent a lifetime training and competing in a highly structured world.
And the article hints at another possible reason, mentioning a Texas crash that resulted in 13 stitches to her head — and probably a concussion.
Likely not the first one either. Or the last, in those pre-helmet, leather hairnet days.
But the saddest part of all is that Rebecca Twigg been forgotten by the cycling world she sacrificed her youth for.
And allowed to fall through the cracks, and onto the streets.
Let’s hope this news wakes up women’s cycling and bike racing’s governing bodies. So that someone, somewhere gives her the hand up she needs to get her life back together, and off the streets, once and for all.
And gives her the job she deserves in the sport she used to love, and knows so well.
Photo from Wikipedia.
………
Once again, a bike rider was the hero.
An Anaheim man went on a wild crime rampage in Lake Forest on Wednesday, breaking into a home, stabbing a woman multiple times, jacking her car, crashing it into another woman walking on the sidewalk, threatening some Good Samaritans, and trying to jack a couple more cars.
All in just nine minutes.
It all came to a burning end when 56-year old bike rider Eric Young pepper sprayed the man after nearly getting run down by him and witnessing the crime spree.
After four or five doses of pepper spray, the one-man crime wave sat down on the curb and waited for police to take him into custody.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps going on.
Then again, people on bikes aren’t always the good guys. A New York woman was punched in the face by a man on a bike, who shouted “This is my bock, bitch!” before riding off. Shockingly, the NYPD didn’t seem to care, despite their usual policy of siding with anyone against people on bicycles.
The man who stole a $5,000 bicycle from Costa Mesa’s Cyclist bike shop returned it because his face had been plastered everywhere, and he was hoping to get the $1,000 reward.
In a bizarre ruling, a California appeals court barred the unacknowledged daughter of fallen OC cyclist Amine Britel from suing the woman who killed him, ruling she didn’t have standing because she wasn’t a legal heir since she didn’t establish paternity until after he died. And didn’t suffer a loss because she never knew him anyway. Thanks to Jeffrey Fylling for the heads-up.
A teenage boy is a key witness in the case against a Minneapolis cop accused of shooting a woman who had called police to report a possible sexual assault behind her home, although his credibility was questioned after admitting he had smoked weed and downed several shots of whiskey before getting on his bike.
Vision Zero appears to be working in Boston, where the crash rate has gone up, while fatalities were cut in half. People often misunderstand the purpose of Vision Zero, which isn’t to prevent crashes, but to redesign roadways so those crashes don’t kill anyone.
A New Orleans bike thief is caught on video entering an unlocked gate to steal an unlocked bicycle, then ghost riding the new bike away with his own in tow. But at least he had the courtesy to shut the gate after him.
Life is cheap in Ottawa, Canada, where a driver walked on charges of fleeing the scene after killing a man riding a bike, and covering up the crime by fixing his truck and hiding out at a motel. The judge bought his explanations that he 1) fell asleep while driving, 2) hadn’t been drinking, and 3) fled the scene, hid out from police and destroyed the evidence because he was afraid of racist cops. And no, the judge’s name wasn’t Gullible. But maybe it should be.
For once, the LA District Attorney’s office is taking a traffic death seriously, after an e-scooter user was killed in Hollywood early Saturday morning.
Jared Walter Anderson, 26, is facing a murder charge in addition to one felony count each for vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run driving resulting in death to another person with allegations of causing great bodily injury and fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle causing death, according to the LA County District Attorney’s Office.
Which sounds good, until you consider they’ll probably bargain it down and let him walk on careless driving, if prior history is any indication.
………
A new video shows just how disastrous the planned Temple Street road diet would have been if Councilmembers Mitch O’Farrell and Gil Cedillo hadn’t cancelled it.
Lyons founded the nonprofit group after his dream of becoming a firefighter was shattered by a distracted driver while riding his bike.
But let’s extend his call to include all those WiFi-enabled devices that carmakers are building into dashboards in an apparent effort to keep drivers distracted all the time to reduce the excess population.
………
Now this is what I call a beautiful bike.
This 1935 Dayton Safety Streamliner sold for nearly $9,500 at a recent auction, despite a pre-sale estimate topping out at five grand.
………
In case, like me, you’ve ever wondered how extreme tall bike riders get on and off their bikes.
The attorney for an alleged killer driver says a Sebastopol woman died when she crashed into her boyfriend as they were riding together — which ignores the black scuff mark on her jersey that appears to match the tread of the driver’s tire. He’s charged with vehicular manslaughter for causing the crash, whether or not he actually hit her.
April 16, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike the Vote LA endorses in CD12, Watch for Me in NC, and the war on bikes keeps going on
It’s a light news day, after today’s bike news apparently got crowded out by the tragic burning of Notre Dame Cathedral.
The good news is, however, until John Snow learns to ride a bicycle, or Cersei starts driving, this will continue to remain a Game of Thrones spoiler-free zone.
And before we move on, I hope you’ll join me in thanking Josh Cohen and Cohen Law Partners for renewing their sponsorship of this site for a sixth consecutive year.
626 Golden Streets looks forward to nine upcoming open streets events in the LA area. Unfortunately, I’ll have to miss this spring’s events, including the Wilmington CicLAvia at the end of this month, but should be back on my bike in time for the Hollywood/West Hollywood CicLAvia in my own backyard later this year.
State
A Bakersfield letter writer gets as proprietary as any privileged motorist, saying bike trails are for people on bicycles, not people walking or their dogs. Except under California law, any separated pathway without a parallel walkway is considered a multi-use path, regardless of what it’s called.
A new survey from the National Safety Council shows that most Americans support lowering speed limits slightly, installing speed and red light cameras, and conducting more sobriety checkpoints. All of which would save lives. And all of which entitled drivers will undoubtedly fight.
A Missouri man got his bike back after spotting it for sale on Craigslist. Except after arranging a sting, the cops got diverted to a domestic disturbance on the way — which just happened to be at the thief’s home, finding the man’s bike inside after the suspect ran away.
