After witnesses provided a description of the vehicle, police searching the area spotted the vehicle. The driver refused to stop, and led officers on a brief chase before being taken into custody.
Police said the driver, who has not been publicly identified at this time, appeared to be under the influence, and believe that may have been a factor in the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call Hemet Police Corporal Christian Coley at 951/765-2400.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
Lauer was also at least the sixth SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers since the first of the year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kenneth Lauer and his loved ones.
June 30, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on CTC approves $5 billion for transportation but pittance for bikes & peds, and we’re not even safe at open streets events
Day 181 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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When is $5 billion not $5 billion?
When it comes from the California Transportation Commission.
Although that amount drops a lot before they get to the “cleaner transportation” part. And even more before they get to the active kind of clean.
Nearly half of that 5 billion bucks is allocated for crumbling roadways, with another $1.45 billion to improve low-emission freight networks, while nearly $810 million goes to streamline freight movement to reduce truck idling and cut pollution.
You have to get all the way down to the bottom before bikes and pedestrians get a mention. Even then, it’s in the context of $483 million for passenger rail extensions, bike lanes and rapid transit bus systems, along with another $202 million for local rail, transit and pedestrian upgrades.
Which includes things $63 million to add a bridge and wildlife crossing for Riverside County’s Ramona Expressway — along with some bike lanes to help greenwash the project — as well $49 million for EV charging, and $28 million for ultra-fast vehicle chargers.
Oh, and there’s also a relatively minuscule $18 million to improve traffic safety near five Los Angeles schools, most of which will undoubtedly be spent to undo the damage caused by cars, rather than proactively improving biking and walking.
Even though that’s what kids do.
At least the ones who don’t get dropped off in big honking SUVs, pun intended.
She made a U-turn as bystanders yelled at her, before running down a second woman who heroically tried to use her bike to stop her.
Sheriff’s deputies working safety at the event finally brought the rampage to a halt, but had to bust out the car window to drag her out as she struggled and “became verbally abusive,” yelling racist statements at the cops.
No reason was given for the incident, and there’s no word on whether it was intentional.
But it sure as hell sounds like it.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Speaking of videos, an Edinburgh bike rider posted video of a run-in with a pedestrian that begins with the bicyclist running a red light, and ends with him repeatedly telling the other man to fuck off — then is surprised when commenters criticize him instead of the other guy.
Authorities in Montana are on the hunt for a killer grizzly bear who fatally mauled a 38-year old mountain biker on a trail trail just outside Glacier National Park after startling the bear, while his riding companion went for help.
A pair of New York women were both sentenced to six years behind bars for killing a 22-year old man riding a bicycle in New Jersey, even though only one woman actually hit him; both were driving separate cars up to 90 mph in a 50 mph zone, while passing other drivers on the shoulder of the roadway leading up to the crash.
A new survey shows half of Dutch bike riders have ridden after drinking, while half of those admit to riding drunk. Which may pose its own risks, but I still say it’s better than driving under the influence of anything.
Twenty-seven-year old French cyclist Eddy Finé was forced to give up the sport after the Cofidis team revealed he has an “abnormality in the iliac artery, a problem that is incompatible with top-level sport,” and had struggled to return despite three operations in six years with the team.
It’s probably happened to most of us at one time of another.
You catch a wheel in a rut, and fight to stay upright. Or go down, and walk away with road rash or a broken bone or two.
But you don’t die.
Yet that’s what happened yesterday, when a well-loved member of the LA riding community lost his life after hitting a rut on the popular, pro-level Montrose ride.
From what I’ve been told, Virgo Datu was riding with the group when his wheel caught a rut, then hit a curb and a light post. He was hospitalized with internal injuries, including a collapsed lung, and broken ribs that apparently punctured the other, and died this morning.
A Facebook post, which I can’t seem to embed or link to, mentions Datu’s family and fiancé, as well as numerous friends. I’m also told he was a very skilled and experienced bicyclist.
He’s clearly someone who will be very missed.
This is at least the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 6th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
This is a developing story, so please contact me with any additional information or corrections.
Update: A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to help cover the unexpected funeral and memorial arrangements.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Virgo Datu and all his family and loved ones.
Thanks to Zachary, Gary and Brett for their help putting this story together.
June 27, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Happy 17th anniversary to us, a raft of local bicycle lawsuits, and a preteen with better bike skills than both of us
Day 178 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Happy anniversary to, um, us?
It’s been 17 years since I started this site, back when I had no idea what the hell it was going to become.
And to be honest, I still don’t.
But I look forward to sharing another 17 years with you, and see where that will take us.
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Today’s common theme is bicycling lawsuits and the people who love them.
Good news for Angelenos for once, since Los Angeles doesn’t even show up on a list of the ten most dangerous California counties for bike riders, at least on a per capita basis; sparsely populated Plumas, Mono and Inyo counties lead the list, even though they have a combined total of just eight bike crashes.
The new head of British spy agency MI6 is one of us, after Blaise Metreweli chose to ride her bike to a last-minute meeting at a London Park before she was named to be the firs woman to lead the agency. Rather than borrowing 007’s iconic Aston Martin, evidently; we’ll forget that misguided foray into German BMWs.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, died after being taken to the hospital.
The driver, identified as 31-year old Gilbert Perez, was booked on suspicion of DUI causing bodily injury. Which will likely now be upgraded to a vehicular manslaughter charge, at the very least.
Or murder, if he has a previous DUI conviction.
This is at least the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
June 26, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LAPD slowly doles out more details on fatal South LA hit-and-run, and California leads nation in bicycle thefts
Day 177 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
Investigators now believe the driver may have been involved in one of several street takeovers that occurred in the area in the hours before the June 1st collision. One of which was broken up by police less than a mile from where Villalobos was killed at Century Blvd and San Pedro Street.
Surveillance video shows Villalobos being struck by a silver two-door Chevrolet Camaro with black racing stripes as he approached San Pedro on Century. The driver fled the scene, still dragging the bicycle beneath their vehicle as the car headed towards the 110 Freeway.
Police believe the driver was the same man who stopped at a nearby liquor store before the fatal crash.
So naturally, police used the press conference to deliver an important safety message, reminding drivers that street takeovers are illegal and that they are legally required to stop after a crash.
Right?
Guess again. According to LAPD Det. Ryan Moreno,
“Whether you’re a pedestrian, on a bicycle, on a scooter, skateboard, whatever it is, you have to also take your safety in your own hands. Don’t assume people see you. Don’t assume the public sees you. And if they do see you, don’t assume they’re going to stop,” he said.
Which may be good advice. But it’s the wrong message, delivered to the wrong people, when they should have been talking to the ones in the big, dangerous machines who have a bad habit of killing other people.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
That leads Texas on the first count, and Colorado on the second.
In fact, Colorado had an average value of nearly $2,000 per purloined bike, nearly a third more than California, at just under $1,500. And roughly two-and-a-half times the average value of Texas bike thefts.
Not surprisingly, Alaska had the least number of bicycles stolen.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A British town councilor complains about the “bullying and intimidation” from the “unelected” bike lobby over approval of a new pump track. Even though the only pressure a bike group can actually apply stems from their public support. And isn’t responding to the public what elected officials are supposed to do?
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Local
A California man is suing Amazon and Los Angeles-based ebike maker Actbest Technology Inc, alleging he suffered catastrophic injuries when he was thrown to the ground after the handlebars on his foldable ebike gave out. Then again, what would you expect from $369 electric foldie?
Sad news from Marin, where Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member and co-director Don Cook died from a heart attack while riding his mountain bike on Tuesday; the 66-year old Cook was inducted into the hall in 1989, in just the second class, and co-directed the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame with his wife, Kay Peterson Cook, who was inducted into the hall six years after her husband.
An Anchorage, Alaska woman learns the hard way that it takes more than a thousand bucks to bribe a cop into letting you go home from the drunken crash that killed a bike rider as he was on the phone with his mom in Baja California. And yes, we mentioned this one earlier in the week. But still.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that bikes have a right to the road and don’t have to automatically pull over to make room for motor vehicles; instead, road conditions should determine whether a bike rider needs to make way for faster vehicles in order not to impede traffic.
A man from the UK was sentenced to 12-years behind bars for hacking a 75-year old man to death with an axe after visiting Finland on a fundraising bike tour, telling police he had killed the man as he slept in his bed the morning after spending the night with him because the victim had drugged and raped him — even though police found “no evidence of illicit substances or materials that the elderly victim could use to restrain the young and physically fit aggressor.”
A new German documentary quotes an anonymous pro cyclist as saying it’s a joke to believe “nothing illegal has been taken at the Tour de France since 2015” — and not only is doping still going on, but as many as 14 people alleged to have been involved in a previous doping scandal are still involved in pro cycling.
