April 5, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 82-year old retired CA Bar judge dies two weeks after bicycling collision in Palos Verdes Estates
More sad news today.
Two weeks ago, we linked to a story saying an 82-year old man was hit by a car while riding in Palos Verdes Estates.
Today the Daily Breeze reported the victim has died.
Marina del Rey resident Peter Krichman was riding on the 100 block of Palos Verdes Drive West on Friday, March 18th when he was hit by a car at 11:45 am.
He was unresponsive following the wreck, and was taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where he passed away on April 2nd without regaining consciousness.
No word on how the collision occurred, or if the driver was cited.
A street view shows what appears to be a busy residential street with on lane headed north, and two lanes south once you pass an initial divider.
According to the Daily News, Krichman was a retired judge with the California State Bar, who was scheduled to be one of the first residents of the Los Angeles Jewish Home’s upcoming Fountainview at Gonda Westside.
In fact, he is featured on the website of the new retirement community, which pictures him in his riding gear, and says he typically rode at least 100 miles a week.
It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the Daily News piece by reporter Larry Altman; every fallen rider should be treated with that much respect.
Following today’s death in Studio City, this the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth in Los Angeles County. That compares with just 12 deaths in the seven-county SoCal region this time last year, and five in the county.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Peter Krichman and all his family.
Thanks to Jim Lyle and John McBrearty for the heads-up.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. No other information is available at this time.
Ventura Place is a short, four-lane commercial street running diagonally between Ventura and Laurel Canyon Boulevards.
This is the 30th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh in Los Angeles County; it’s the first fatality in the City of Los Angeles since the start of the year.
Update 2: The Daily News has identified the victim as 42-year old North Hollywood resident Cario Joseph Castaneda. The paper says he was riding west when he was struck by a private trash truck as he entered the intersection.
Other reports indicated the driver was traveling in the same direction, suggesting Castaneda may have been right hooked, possibly as he came off the sidewalk.
A comment from Alberto identifies Castaneda as his nephew, and says he was riding to work as he did every morning.
The AP finally gives a little on calling crashes accidents.
The latest edition of the press network’s new stylebook will advise reporters not to use the term when “negligence is claimed or proven,” since it could be interpreted as exonerating the person responsible.
Now we just have get them to flip that, and tell reporters and editors to never call a crash an accident unless it’s proven that no one’s at fault.
Yet like so many others, they also throw headphone-wearing bike riders into the distracted riding mix. Even though headphones only affect hearing, rather than focus.
Here in California, it’s legal to wear headphones or earpieces in one ear, illegal to use them in both.
But blaming them for distracting riders is like saying drivers are distracted when they have their windows rolled up and the radio on. It may keep them from hearing the fire truck blaring its siren next to them, but it doesn’t significantly distract their focus from the road.
Just as riders don’t suddenly lose their ability to concentrate on the road ahead of them when they plug the second earpiece in.
It may not be legal. And it may not always be smart.
But it’s time to stop the ridiculous narrative that equates it to distracted driving.
And why’s it’s necessary for healthy cities, and to make walking and bicycling viable options for most people.
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Local
The LACBC’s Eric Bruins says Metro wants to know how you’d slice the proposed $120 billion for transportation funding in LA County. Let’s start by not wasting it on widening any more freeways.
The Long Beach Grand Prix course is all yours for a whopping 75 minutes around noon today, as long as you’re biking, walking, skating or using some other form of non-motorized transport.
Northern California’s Caltrain is adding an additional bike car to their trains, increasing bike capacity from 48 to 72.
Tiburon residents worry that a new bike and pedestrian plan designed to improve accessibility could encourage more bike traffic. Which is kind of the point, isn’t it?
A Vacaville man faces a hit-and-run charge for a violent collision with a cyclist last August. Once again proving the inadequacy of current laws, as he faces a max of just four years for a needless wreck caused by overly aggressive driving that left a rider in a coma for two and a half weeks.
Who says bikeshare bikes are slow? A Hawaiian man riding one beats an experienced triathlete runner in a four mile uphill time trial. By four minutes, no less.
Caught on video: A Seattle bike rider narrowly avoids a collision with an SUV by turning hard to the left, though his momentum nearly throw him under the vehicle.
Police in St. Petersburg FL are cracking down on bicyclists and pedestrians to improve traffic safety. Probably because it’s easier than attempting to tame the people in the big, dangerous machines.
A Florida paper says it’s time for the state legislature to actually do something about bills to protect cyclists and pedestrians; one would require drivers to allow a bike rider to clear an intersection before turning.
It’s been a rough few days for dogs in the UK, as one pup barely survives a collision with a bike rider, while another was repeatedly kicked following an argument between its owner and a man on a bike. Seriously, no matter how pissed off you are at the owner, don’t take it out on the dog. Or anyone else, for that matter.
A business in the UK warns that cyclists who ride under the influence are ten times more likely to be injured than sober riders — then makes a blatant pitch for their roadside breathalyzer.
A South African man goes from stealing bikes to running his own bikeshare company. Let’s just hope he bought the bikes he’s using now.
Finally…
Okay, so maybe you shouldn’t blow your tax return on a new bike. Don’t try to lowball a bike seller, or you could end up at a brothel.
So get comfortable. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
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Evidently, bikeshare is safer than other forms of bicycling.
According to a new study, not one person has been killed while using a bikeshare bike anywhere in the US, with over 35 million rides in at least 94 systems.
And despite the overwhelming lack of helmet use.
That compares with an estimated fatality rate of 21 deaths per 100 million bicycling trips. Which means statistically, we could have expected at least seven bikeshare deaths so far. And there hasn’t been.
Among other factors, the study credits the heavy, slow bikes typical of bikeshare, and the fact that bikeshare trips are usually taken in urban areas where traffic tends to move slower.
My take is that in addition to being heavy, most bikeshare bikes are made with a step-through design, which makes them easy to jump off of in the event of danger or a fall.
Hopefully that track record will continue as bikeshare begins to spread through the LA area.
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Maybe we need a tape measure.
Streetsblog discovers a one-block long bike lane in Pleasanton that they say may be the shortest bike lane in California; a city official admits that yes, it’s short, but it’s a little better than nothing.
Don’t send the trophy up to the Bay Area yet, though.
It was just eight years ago when Slate declared a one-block long bike lane on Galey in Westwood the Stupidest Bike Lane in America.
A title it should hold on to, even if Pleasanton’s measures out a little shorter.
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My spies tell me the lane markers have all been stripped out on Washington Blvd between the Marina and Sepulveda Blvd, apparently so the lanes can be realigned, with the existing bike lanes extended all the way to Sepulveda.
Let’s hope the lanes are being moved to make room for a buffer. Or better yet, protected lanes.
After all, the new protected lanes on Venice look pretty comfy. Maybe once LA drivers get used to the ide, we can turn those bollards into planters.
Thanks to Margaret for the tip.
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In a piece that should be mandatory reading for everyone in the bicycle industry, British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid says if bike makers and sellers want the bicycle market to grow, spending on advocacy is an investment, not an expense.
Many of the current crop of unpaid promoters of our products are burning the candle at both ends, working tirelessly in their free time to get more people on bicycles. With substantial financial and moral support these advocates could truly work wonders. It’s shocking, really, that the industry stays largely aloof from such a passionate and committed volunteer army. (Bikes Belong in the US, and the Cycling Industry Club initiative from the European Cyclists’ Federation are stand-out examples of how the worlds of advocacy and the industry can meet in the middle.)
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April Fools Day came and went. And as usual, it didn’t leave the bike world out.
Streetsblog says LA’s Great Streets will now be named after the councilmembers whose districts they’re in, which means Koretz and Cedillo will have their names permanently attached to failed streets they’ve made. We could only wish that one was true.
Meanwhile, a team mechanic became the latest person to be struck by a race vehicle when he was run down by an Etixx-QuickStep team car; no word on whether he was injured.
A writer for the Guardian says the death of Belgian pro cyclist Antoine Demoitié in a collision with a race moto — 66 years after a French rider suffered the same fate — should be a wake-up call for pro cycling’s overly crowded races. This crap is going to continue until race vehicles are required to remain behind the peloton. If a rider suffers a mechanical, he — or she — can wait until the peloton has passed, or just fix himself like the great riders of the past.
British world champ Lizzie Armitstead won the women’s Tour of Flanders in a photo-finish sprint to claim her fourth major victory of the year.
Eleven-time British world champ Anna Meares still suffers pain, eight years after she went from a wheelchair to the Olympic podium in just eight months following a bad fall while competing in Los Angeles.
A Taiwanese amateur cyclist feels the need, the need for speed, while an Aussie woman prepares to compete in triathlon at the Rio Paralympics just 18 months after taking up the sport — and despite being born with just one hand.
No bias here. A Santa Monica paper says a cyclist was arrested riding salmon while carrying burglary tools in a hot spot for break-ins. Chances are, they would never refer to the alleged thief as a motorist or pedestrian in the headline under similar circumstances.
The blog post may have come out on April 1st, but it’s no joke that Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare is ready for the opening of the Expo Line and all the people it will bring looking for a way to explore the city or travel the last few blocks to their destination.
A self-righteous Clovis letter writer says cyclists have to stop being self-righteous and “assume responsibility for the proper use of their toys.” Yes, toys.
San Francisco’s People Behaving Badly reporter goes looking for bicyclists with earbuds in both ears. Nice to know they’ve solved all the other safety problems in Bagdad by the Bay.
A writer from New Jersey outs himself and his family as a few of those tourists on rental bikes that people in Sausalito claim are ruining their fair city; no such objections seem to have arisen from their ride through Yosemite, though.
A Fairfield driver faces DUI charges for running down a drunk salmon cyclist; he told police he’d supported his two-gram-a-day habit by using meth 30 times that day before getting behind the wheel.
The Christian Science Monitor explains the benefits of bicycling attire, especially for long rides. Seriously, you don’t need spandex to enjoy your ride, but it does make a difference.
After high-stakes gambler Dan Bilzerian won his $1.2 million bet by riding from LA to Vegas in less than 48 hours, the New York post calls him the biggest jerk on Instagram. Judging by the little I’ve seen of his fascination for guns and boobs, you won’t get any argument from me.
A Colorado city will vote Tuesday on whether to require bicyclists to ride single file through town, despite a state law allowing cyclists to ride two abreast.
In a horrifying hit-and-run reminiscent of the crash that nearly took the life of Finish the Ride founder Damian Kevitt, a Texas woman survives after being dragged several blocks under a truck as the driver fled the scene. But unlike the jerk who ran down Kevitt, this driver was found and arrested, held on a $100,000 bond and an immigration detainer. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.
Great piece from the Washington Post refuting five myths about bicycling. Although I’d quibble with the suggestion that it wouldn’t make much of a dent in congestion even if more people rode bikes.
A North Carolina cyclist thanks the driver who said her tire was flat, and drove home to get an air compressor to fix it.
An Australian website says the risk of riding in large cities is extremely low, while the individual and social benefits are high.
Finally…
When you crash your car while driving under the influence with a suspended license while carrying drug paraphernalia and prescription meds, “borrowing” a bike to make your getaway may not be the best idea. Now you can print your own parts for an ugly ass ebike.
Welcome to today’s hopefully April Fools-free Morning Links. I’ve done my best to sort out the fake news, but my apologies in advance if something manages to slip through.
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Nothing like a self-appointed expert on bike law to ruin your ride.
John Montgomery actually collided with a driver making an apparent punishment pass as he rode in Venice, who blamed him for the minor collision, and proceeded to chastise him for riding in the traffic lane instead of hugging the curb.
Then stopped a little further down the street and got out of the car, with a generous offer to kick Montgomery’s ass.
As police officers have explained to me, a motorist can be charged with assault the moment he gets out of his car to confront someone.
Never mind the obvious harassment and violation of the three-foot passing law.
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New York designer Lorenzo Martone will open a pop-up shop for his monochrome bicycles, as well as accessories and his favorite active wear brands near Third and Orlando for the month of April.
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Local
Councilmember David Ryu’s staff continues to study the Rowena Ave road diet.
Santa Clarita’s Golden Valley Road bridge over Hwy 14 is in the midst of a widening project that will add two lanes, a pedestrian walkway and a bike path.
BikeSGV invites you to ride with them along Pasadena’s proposed bike-friendly, traffic-calmed street to visit the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens this May as part of Metro’s bike month; admission is free, but limited to just 30 riders.
State
A Laguna Beach writer says put bikeshare kiosks everywhere to help solve the city’s traffic problems, and complete the city plan that calls for a bike and pedestrian friendly downtown while they’re at it.
A Fresno bike thief is busted shortly after threatening the victim by saying “It’s not worth dying over” as the man tried to get his bike back.
Police bust a San Jose bike thief the easy way, after discovering a $3,000 bike they impounded was stolen and the thief already in custody on other charges; he and his partner allegedly took four high-end bikes from an apartment complex.
Marin County sheriff’s deputies will use radar guns to monitor the speed of bicyclists; riders on unpaved trails are limited to a maximum speed of 15 mph, and must slow to 5 mph when passing. So, how do you pass a rider doing 10 mph if you have to slow down 5 mph to do it?
My hometown becomes the latest city to get bikeshare before Los Angeles; the new 13-station system kicks off today.
It’s a virtual ciclovía in Yellowstone for the next two weeks, as bike riders are allowed into the national park before cars are let in on the 15th. But if there isn’t anyone else on the road, why are cyclists required to ride single file? It’s not like the bears and bison care.
Wisconsin tries to reduce hit-and-run by requiring drivers who hit anything to stop and investigate, eliminating the all-too-common excuse that they thought they hit a log or a deer, or something else non-human.
A Pennsylvania conference looks at the possibility of installing speed cameras to combat speeding drivers. That’s something we desperately need here in California, where speed limits are merely suggestions. Not to mention the risk speeding motorists pose to anyone not wrapped in a couple tons of steel and glass.
Baltimore police are looking for a cyclist who collided with a four-year old child despite ringing his bike bell. He rode on after stopping to ask if the girl was okay; unfortunately, the child was seriously injured and is now in a body cast.
Evidently, London’s Daily Mail has never heard swearing before, as they are astonished at the very brief four-letter tirade unleashed by a cyclist when he has to swerve to avoid a car. Then again, their windshield perspective is pretty obvious; someone should tell them it’s not a dashcam video if the user isn’t in a car.
Britain’s prime minister is caught riding a bike with his daughter while on vacation, both sans helmet, after he pinky swore not to do that again.
A British driver is found not guilty of attempting to run down the cyclist who ended up on his hood, saying he was just trying to get away after the group of riders harassed him.
I won’t bore you again with my own thoughts; I offered them last month upon learning that Rosendahl was nearing the end.
But I will say that LA is a better city today than it was just a few short years ago, and he had a lot to do with that.
And we are a much poorer city today without him.
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Somehow I missed Calbike’s endorsements of candidates for the state legislature in the upcoming June primary, including several in the LA, OC and San Diego areas.
Specialized had already apologised for the PR stunt, with chief marketing officer Slate Olson saying the brand “stands strong with female riders and we do not support the objectification of women in any way, in any region.”
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A New Zealand PSA shows how to stop a texting driver, and maybe get a little closer at the same time. Although it would be a kind of awkward from the seat of your bike.
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Not only has gambler and Instagram idiot star Dan Bilzerian begun his ride to Las Vegas to win a $1.2 million bet, at last report, he was just 25 miles from the finish line.
Then again, give me two chefs, a masseuse, doctor, bike mechanic and a police escort, and I’ll do it for half of that.
More on the planned opening of the new Modern Times microbrewery in DTLA’s South Park neighborhood; the founder of the San Diego craft brew maker says he was drawn, in part, by Downtown’s expanding bike lane network.
Construction is nearing completion on a several major projects in downtown Santa Monica, including a number of bicycling improvements.
Whittier police warn bike thieves to beware of their sting. It would be nice to see LAPD fight bike theft with a bait bike or two of their own.
State
Remarkably, some Encinitas residents fear turning a dirt trail that runs along a railroad track through Cardiff into a paved bike path, which will eventually run 44 miles from Oceanside to downtown San Diego, will somehow ruin the character of the city.
Nice piece by a Bay Area bike writer, who says sometimes bikes slow down cars — and sometimes cars slow down cars — and that’s okay.
San Francisco’s Bicycle Advisory Committee works for better bicycling by the bay. LA has one, as well; although it usually gets ignored by city officials, and most councilmembers seldom, if ever, meet with their representatives on the committee. And the city won’t even give them an actual website.
Portland restripes a bike lane, just one day after the Department of DIY struck by placing orange cones to mark the fading lines.
A Portland woman gets her bike back five years after it was stolen, thanks to registering it with Bike Index. You have registered yours, right? They offer free lifetime registration right at the top of this page, so don’t wait until it’s too late.
Now that’s more like it. A proposal in the Illinois legislature would require drivers on a highway to yield the right-of-way to any person riding a bicycle.
Caught on video: A British driver compiles “shocking” dashcam video of scofflaw cyclists, saying this is how accidents happen. Except none of the riders he shows seem to cause any collisions, and few, if any, close calls.
UK police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who broke a three-year old boy’s leg while riding on the sidewalk. Seriously, in any collision with a pedestrian — or another rider — stick around until you know they’re okay. Especially a little kid.
A new carfree Amsterdam tunnel uses design and lighting to create separate spaces for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Twenty-five Pakistani women ride to reclaim their space on the roads in the face of harassment, cheered on by around 60 supporters.
A new Aussie bike helmet with built-in cams records a 320 degree view of everything around you while offering a live rear view.
