Morning Links: DUI killer gets off with 5 years probation, community service at the urging of the victim’s family

October 8, 2015 / / 4 comments
The ghost bike for James Rapley on Temescal Canyon

The ghost bike for James Rapley on Temescal Canyon

Sometimes the generosity of people astounds me.

Like the family and girlfriend of fallen cyclist James Rapley, and plea deal they requested for the driver who killed him.

As you may recall, Rapley was just visiting our city on an extended layover at LAX in December of 2013, leaving his girlfriend behind in Chicago to visit his family in Australia.

He never got there.

His love of bicycling inspired him to rent a bike and ride up the coast on a sunny winter morning, just days before Christmas.

Maybe he wanted more of a challenge, or a more sweeping view of the coast. We’ll never know why he left the beach to ride up the steep hill on Temescal Canyon.

Because that’s where he was run down from behind as he rode in the bike lane at 9 am on a Sunday morning, by Mohammed Kadri, then 19-year old and still high from the night before. Rapley died there, a visitor to our city, thousands of miles from the people he loved.

Kadri could have faced significant jail time if the case went to trial, although as a first-time offender in a county cramped for jail space, that was unlikely. Even though an OC lawyer got four years for an almost identical crime earlier this year.

Yet despite their obvious grief, Rapley’s loved ones saw no good in sending a young man to jail. Instead, they pushed for significant community service in the hopes that Kadri could turn his life around and be a benefit to others.

Last Friday, they got their wish, as Karen Scott, James Rapley’s long-time girlfriend who moved with him from Australia, explains.

Kadri pleaded no contest to the felony charge of vehicular manslaughter. “No contest” is legally equivalent to guilty however they don’t say the words “guilty”. No contest means they are admitting guilt because they believe it is in their best interest to do so.

• 5 years probation which cannot be reduced in length (the max probation period). 8 days credit from time served in prison (I wasn’t aware that’s he’d served time in jail)

• 150 days community service, 30 days per year min for duration of the probation.

• Proof of enrollment in community service to be submitted to the court by Dec 1st.

• He can’t ever carry a firearm and will be considered more harshly on any future criminal acts due to the felony charge.

• He was registered on probation straight after the hearing and it all goes into place straight away.

Myself and James family believed that community service was the best outcome as James would have wanted this and also there is some good that may come from this for the community and hopefully Kadri will grow from the work he does. I can’t see how anyone who will be doing community service every week (or once a fortnight) for 5 years couldn’t come out of this a better person. 150 days is one of the highest number anyone had seen for court mandated community service, usually its 100 days or less. If we had decided to go down the jail route, as he didn’t have a history, he would probably have been given a maximum of 16 months in jail, but because the jails in LA are so full, he’d only serve half that, at 8 months. And with jail that is it, he wouldn’t do anything in the community and we just didn’t see that outcome being what James would want. We did want to make sure however that he plead guilty to the felony charge as we wanted it to be on his record and clear that he take responsibility for his actions.

Scott also gave me permission to post the Victim Impact Statement she read to the court.

It is a beautiful, loving and heartbreaking document, and one that is difficult to read. But it offers a clear picture of harm caused by traffic violence and driving the influence. And the enormity of the loss she suffered, along with his family.

Over the course of this case, I’ve come to know Karen Scott, through emails and finally, meeting in person when she came to LA for a hearing.

She is a petite, charming and generous woman, with a gentle accent that belies her origins Down Under; her love for James still evident nearly two years later. Yet she has born the incredible weight of this case on her small shoulders, bearing witness for his family when they could not bear to set foot in the city where their son died.

I can’t say I would have made the same choices they did. I would have pushed for jail, and the revocation of Kadri’s license.

But I admire their charity, for lack of a better word. And, if not forgiveness, a willingness to release the need for revenge and craft a punishment designed to make the killer of the man they loved whole again.

They also have me wondering, not for the first time, if there might not be a better way to punish those who kill behind the wheel.

………

After winning the Vuelta, Italian rider Fabian Aru could get the green light to lead the Astana team in the 2016 Tour de France.

A 20-year old Indian track cyclist becomes the first from her country to medal in the women’s elite category, taking five medals at the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic.

The new head of USA Cycling takes pride in being one of the few ex-pros who didn’t dope, saying his instinct is to throw dopers under the bus. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part, there seems to be two kinds of pro cyclists from the past decade — those who doped, and those who didn’t get caught.

Speaking of which, banned doper doctor Michele Ferrari sues to halt distribution of Lance bio The Program.

………

Local

Streetsblog says Vancouver is a bicycling city with lessons for Los Angeles.

Explore site-specific art installations on the LA River bike path this Saturday with TEN FEET: Art Meets The River.

LAist looks forward to CicLAvia’s fifth anniversary on Sunday the 18th with a return to the Heart of LA route, where it all started on 10-10-10. And yes, I still have the T-shirt.

A writer for the Daily Trojan says bikes are an important part of campus life at USC, but the university needs to be made more bike friendly.

South Pasadena considers hosting a stage for next year’s the Amgen Tour of California. The anticipated $7,800 cost seems like a bargain; it should bring in far more than that in tax receipts from the additional sales local businesses will see.

Speaking of South Pas, a meeting will be held on October 20th to discuss traffic calming on Arroyo Drive. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

 

State

Jerry Brown signed AB 1096 clarifying the rules for e-bikes. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the tip.

The lawyer for a San Diego driver charged with driving head-on into a group of cyclists says yes, she had meth in her system but she wasn’t impaired by it. So evidently, she just drove the wrong way and crashed into them for fun.

The residents of Coronado react in the comments to the justified ridicule they received from the Late Late Show’s James Corden. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

A bike rider in her 60s suffered major injuries in a Palm Desert collision Tuesday evening; the second major collision involving a cyclist in that town in just three days.

The Capitola city council will decide whether the safety of bike-riding school children is worth removing 99 parking spaces.

Sad news from Hayward, as the body of a missing mountain biker was found 150 feet down a park hillside.

A Contra Costa writer looks at the arrival of bicycles in California in the 1800s, 20 years after they swept the rest of the country.

Six miles of San Jose streets will go car-free for the city’s first ciclovía.

There won’t be any tolls charged for bicyclists or pedestrians to cross the Golden Gate Bridge, for the next five years, anyway.

 

National

Bicycling offers tips on how to keep your makeup flawless on a ride. Which is apparently the biggest problem women riders face.

Yakima WA releases a draft $6 million bike plan in hopes of getting off the list of the country’s 10 fattest cities.

Grist tells the ghost bike origin story, tracing them back to a 2003 St. Louis art project.

Loss of parking rears its ugly head in Ithaca NY, as residents and councilmembers want to reopen discussion of bike lanes on a major street, even though it’s too late to stop the project.

The Department of DIY strikes in NYC, as someone created their own protected bike lane by placing orange cones and flowers along an existing bike lane; it took four people less than 20 minutes and $516 to install. Are you thinking what I’m thinking, LA?

Norfolk VA unveils a draft bike and pedestrian plan designed to improve 12 critical corridors.

Atlanta cyclists hope the city’s new CBO — that’s Chief Bicycling Officer — can lead it back to two-wheeled glory.

The parents of a Palm Beach boy will receive a $12 million check from a condominium association, four years after their son was killed while riding his bike by an elderly resident who couldn’t see over the building’s untrimmed hedges.

 

International

A review website compares the new SitGo e-bike foldie to a Transformer. Although it looks more like a Star Wars droid to me.

Canada’s Halifax cycling Coalition calls for protective side guards on trucks to keep bike riders and pedestrians from falling underneath. Actually, those should be required everywhere. Now.

The Guardian tries out anti-pollution masks to protect bike riders from bad air.

A cute new magnetic, 80-decible bike bell is detachable and small enough to carry in your pocket. No word on whether it will be available in the US.

A 75-year old British bicyclist now teaches CPR with the 37-year old woman who saved his life when he suffered a heart attack while riding six years earlier.

A Swedish cyclist who “technically” had the right-of-way engaged in a 10 minute stand-off with a truck driver coming in the opposite direction.

Aussie cyclists say upgrading roads without installing bike lanes will only mean more congestion.

An Australian website accuses Melbourne of unveiling a radical plan to make the city bike friendly, including — gasp! — reduced speeds and separating bikes from pedestrians along a popular promenade.

 

Finally…

Seriously? Solve a Rubik’s Cube while riding a bikeshare bike through a London park with a 5 mph speed limit, and get reported to the police for endangering the safety of others. Your next ride could be on a 3D printed open sourced bike.

And no matter how mad you are at the driver who honked at you, don’t bash his car — and him — with your U-lock.

Just… don’t.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Did Santa Barbara driver commit 2014 road rage, and bike lanes really are good for business

October 7, 2015 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Did Santa Barbara driver commit 2014 road rage, and bike lanes really are good for business

Maybe there’s more to the story.

Yesterday we mentioned the Santa Barbara bike collision that sent two-time Olympic gold medal volleyball player Craig Buck to the hospital with major head trauma.

Now Cyclelicious points out the similarities between the pickup involved in that collision, and one involved in a 2014 road rage assault on a pair of bicyclists.

In the earlier case, photographer Carson Blume reports the driver buzzed within inches of them as they rode along a road in coastal Santa Barbara County, then cut to the right, grazing Blume and knocking his companion over.

The driver then brake-checked Blume, and briefly shifted into reverse before driving away laughing. Then came back on the other side of the road, shouting profanities.

Yet despite the presence of an independent witness, police did nothing more than issue the driver a ticket for unsafe passing.

And yes, it certainly looks like the same truck was involved in both cases.

Which would call into question the CHP report that Buck “…cut the corner, driving (sic) on the wrong side of the roadway, while failing to stop at a posted stop sign…” where he hit the side of the pickup.

Unless there’s an independent witness who saw any of that, police may be relying on the testimony of a driver who is accused of using his truck as weapon to attack people riding bikes at least once before.

One who has every incentive to paint the victim’s actions in the worst possible light. And who I’m told is silver tongued when it comes to dealing with police.

The question is whether he did it again, and whether the police will once again let him get away with it.

………

A Chattanooga business owner gets it, saying new protected bike lanes are way better for the downtown area than a few extra parking spaces.

A study from Salt Lake City proves him right, as sales increased more than the citywide average after spaces were removed for protected lanes and other street improvements.

Which may be why streets with scarce auto parking are the best places to remove it, according to People for Bikes.

And unlike some cities we could name, Seattle’s mayor didn’t cave in the face of opposition, but carefully worked out a compromise to overcome a challenge from 300 businesses worried about losing parking spaces for a 1.7 mile protected lane. Thanks to David Atwell for the heads-up.

Which sounds sort of like what happened with the My Figueroa project that’s scheduled to break ground on South Figueroa next year.

………

The safety video prepared by the PCH Task Force has won a national award for Best Public Service Announcement.

You tell me. Maybe it’s better than I think it is.

………

Ian Crane, the pro cyclist who nearly died after going through the rear windshield of a support vehicle in last year’s USA Pro Challenge, turned down a chance to re-sign with the Jamis team for next year in order to focus on his recovery.

The owner of the world champion Velocio-SRAM pro team says the future looks bright for women’s cycling.

And Greg LeMond, America’s only remaining Tour de France winner, gets credit for the innovations that led pro cycling into the modern high-tech era.

………

Local

The editor of the Los Angeles Business Journal calls for an end to the mythical war on drivers; Streetsblog’s Damien Newton very politely suggests he’s full of it.

Turns out the most popular day in LA cycling history was the first-ever Valley CicLAvia back in March, according to Strava data. Pretty impressive when you consider that many CicLAvia attendees have probably never even heard of Strava.

Santa Monica’s two-to-three mile long Colorado Esplanade is on track for completion by spring of next year, including separated bike lanes and walkways. But serioualy, shouldn’t they know how long it’s going to be by now?

The New Urbanism Film Festival screens this weekend, from Thursday through Sunday. Vancouver’s Modacity will come to LA as part of the film fest, with additional engagements Thursday at the Echo Park Film Center and Sunday in Santa Monica.

 

State

An Orange County judge hears testimony from the victim’s relatives as he considers a plea deal for Dylan Thomas Randluby in the death of fallen rider John Greg Colvin in Laguna Beach last year.

Garden Grove’s Main Street goes car-free this Sunday with the seven-hour Re:Imagine Garden Grove By Day and By Night open streets festival.

Long-time Long Beach expats The Path Less Pedaled offer three reasons to attend the National Bicycle Tourism Conference in San Diego next month.

Horrifying case from Fresno, as two people are on trial for torturing a woman and forcing her to watch the murder of another man after she knocked on their door to look for her stolen bike.

City Lab’s Sarah Goodyear takes an in-depth look at San Francisco’s attempt to pass an Idaho Stop Law. What we really need is support to pass the law on the state level, which has authority over all traffic laws. On the other hand, I can’t imagine Jerry Brown actually signing it.

 

National

Denver CO plans to install the same sort of protected bike lanes nearby Boulder is ripping out.

A Kansas driver gets just one year in jail for killing a bike rider he never even saw because he was busy looking at the GPS on his cellphone.

An Albany NY man rides 200 miles with his daughter, retracing the route he took to Boston 20 years earlier to receive a heart transplant.

Gothamist looks at the practice of shoaling, wherein one rider cuts in front of others at a red light. And it’s usually a slower rider, which means having to move into traffic to pass them once the light changes.

New York considers adding bike and pedestrian lanes to the iconic Verrazano-Narrows Bridge.

Philadelphia bike riders shout the universal refrain about the dangers of cars parked in bike lanes, calling for greater enforcement so riders aren’t forced to ride in traffic.

The Wall Street Journal takes a luxe cycling journey along rail-to-trail paths through the Pennsylvania and Maryland rust belt.

An Atlanta musician is running and riding to New York to protest police brutality.

 

International

Advice on how to buy a used bike.

Pot, meet kettle. English cab drivers call cyclists reckless after one jumps a red light in front of Cambridge cops.

A road raging British driver is on trial for driving up on a sidewalk to hit a cyclist before crashing into a salon — with four kids in her car, no less.

No distraction here. A British rider catches a driver watching a movie behind the wheel, while claiming she was only listening to it.

An Irish paracyclist will attempt to set a new hour record this Saturday.

Ireland’s transport minister says it should be left up to individual bicyclists to decide whether or not to wear a helmet.

Huh? An Irish paper says spinal injuries due to bicycling tripled, from five in 2010 to 21 in 2014. Which looks more like it quadrupled, but maybe they do math differently over there. And maybe they use a different kind of bike helmet, since the ones we have don’t prevent spinal injuries.

An Indian writer says someone needs to save the cycling from the county’s cycling federation.

South African police are looking for a car full of white men who reached out to drag a black cyclist in a racial attack.

An award-winning New Zealand architect faces charges for running down a cyclist with his SUV, despite the rider’s lights and bright clothing.

Freestyle cyclist Vittorio Brumotti visits the Philippines, and declares Manilla one of the world’s best places for cycling; he was the victim of a viscous assault just two months ago.

 

Finally…

Anyone can ride a bikeshare bike; not everyone can solve a Rubik’s cube in 40 seconds with one hand while doing it. Cycling really is the new golf, unless maybe it’s running.

And today may be the end of the world, so you might as well skip work and go for a bike ride.

Otherwise, I’ll see you here tomorrow, assuming there is one.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Road Rage / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA BAC meets tonight, Los Feliz NC discusses LA mobility plan, and bike Metro’s Rideshare Week

October 6, 2015 / / 7 comments

Let’s catch up on a few events of immediate interest.

First up, the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee is meeting at 7 pm tonight in the LAPD Hollywood Division Community Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.

This month’s agenda includes discussion of the role of the committee in the city’s Vision Zero plan, and why we’re not going to see the planned Northvale Bike Path that was supposed to run parallel to the new Expo Line extension.

And yes, it matters.

The BAC is the only official voice bike riders have in city government. And in theory, at least, its members should have the ear of the councilmembers who appointed them.

………

The Los Feliz Neighborhood Council is hosting a community forum to discuss LA’s Mobility Plan 2035 from 7 to 9 pm tonight at 1965 N Hillhurst Ave.

The good folks retroactively fighting the Rowena road diet, along with those who want to Fix the City by keeping our streets dangerous, will undoubtedly be there. It might not hurt to have a few rational bike-friendly voices in attendance to balance the scales.

Thanks to BAC VP Glenn Bailey for the heads-up.

………

It’s Rideshare Week, when Metro encourages you to carpool, ride bikes, take public transit, walk and vanpool to your destination.

And how do they love you? Let them count the ways…

First among these new initiatives, Metro has launched a new Rideshare campaign to encourage Angelenos to bring a friend along for the ride as opposed to driving alone. Statistics show that in California 37.3% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions come from transportation, 71% of those emissions are from passenger vehicles, and 72% of commuters are driving alone. If every commuter were to involve one other person in their commute mode, then traffic would disappear and GHG emissions would greatly reduce. New campaign ads, titled “Friends don’t let friends drive alone” will appear online and on giveaway items available at events.

Second, Metro has collaborated with 3 community organizations to co-host creative ridesharing events:

  • Innovate LA with the Karaoke Rickshaw — Movable Parts, an artist collective of college professors, engineers, city employees and creatives, will construct and deploy a Karaoke Rickshaw. The bicycle powered machine will tour through various LA neighborhoods amplifying street sounds, interviews, and multi-lingual pop hits. The finale performance will take place at LA Innovation Week’s Innovate Pershing Square event on October 9.
  • Share the Ride to Ambulante Film Festival — Empact Communities, a grassroots bicycle advocacy group, has partnered with Metro to facilitate ridesharing to Ambulante Film Festival. Group bike rides led by Empact partners will bring attendants to several film screenings. All Ambulante events will be registered in www.Ridematch.info, a database website that facilitates carpooling with more than 300,000 users.
  • ¡Mobilizaté! Eastside Commuter Interviews — Multicultural Communities for Mobility (MCM) will convene along popular transit lines in East LA and Boyle Heights to engage ridesharers to share their street stories through a photo or short video. All stories will be captured through Twitter and Facebook and tracked by tagging @mcmhandles, @metrolosangeles and #SharetheRide.

Third, Metro is giving away prizes to commuters who register their rideshare trip using www.ridematch.info. Prizes include handbags from Brighton Collectables, Metro 7-Day TAP Passes, Barnes and Noble gift cards, Macy’s gift cards, gas cards, and more. Special thanks to Macy’s, Burbank TMO, AAA, VRide, Brighton Collectibles, and Enterprise Rideshare for the donations!

………

Bicycling recaps the Richmond world championships, concluding they were utterly unforgettable.

VeloNews asks if pro cycling’s WorldTour points championship really means anything. Be honest, did you even know there was a points championship, let alone that Alejandro Valverde won it? I didn’t think so.

Two-time Giro winner Ivan Basso retires at age 37, after successful treatment for testicular cancer. Sad to see Basso go out like that. In his prime, he made Lance work for every now-discredited victory.

………

Local

Another great, if difficult, read from Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman as she looks at the anniversaries of the hit-and-runs that took the lives of cyclists Andy Garcia and Benjamin Torres; the 21-year old drunk driver who killed Garcia and seriously injured two other riders is already out of jail after serving just 16 months of a 42 month sentence. Meanwhile, there will be a ride calling for justice for Torres on Saturday to mark the third anniversary of his still unsolved death.

Councilmember David Ryu’s office is amassing a database of broken sidewalks and cracked streets, and vise versa, that need repairs in the 4th council district. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the tip.

Tired of ticketing cyclists for riding salmon on a one-way street, UCLA responds by devoting half the street to what may be the LA area’s first contraflow bike lane. Update: Richard Risemberg points out there’s a contraflow bike lane on Marengo in Pasadena.

USC is now requiring all students, faculty and staff to register their bikes before parking them on campus, ostensibly to combat bike theft. However, mandatory bike registration programs can easily be used as an excuse to stop and search bike riders in the absence of probable cause, which is why LA’s registration program was repealed in 2009.

Continuing our school report, it’s Bike It! Walk It! Bus It! Week at Santa Monica public schools, while LA has 126 schools signed up for Wednesday’s Walk to School Day. Riding a bike to LA schools seems to be acceptable, as well; walking the last few steps after arriving in Mom’s massive SUV, not so much.

 

State

The anti-bike lane madness continues in San Diego-adjacent Coronado, where apparently any bikeway inspired, designed, assisted or implemented by anyone who doesn’t live on the island must be some sort of plot. And that goes for traffic lights, too. That town may be in more desperate need of a civic colonic than anywhere else on earth right now.

Temecula plans to put the fun in Fondo — just go with it — at the grammatically challenged first annual Temecula Spandex Stampede Cycling GranFundo on November 8th. It may be the first of what’s planned as an annual event, but can’t be called that until the second one. Hey, I don’t make the rules.

A former volleyball player who won a gold medal with the US team at the 1984 LA Olympics was seriously injured when he was hit by a pickup in Santa Barbara, after he reportedly ran a stop sign on his bike and rode on the wrong side of the street.

The San Francisco Chronicle looks at the Idaho stop law, which has become a political hot potato in the City by the Bay; a 2010 study shows it reduced bike collisions by about 30% without causing any known problems. But as everyone likes to say, San Francisco isn’t Idaho, and LA is Copenhagen. Which is just an excuse not to try something that has been proven effective somewhere else.

A former star of the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless was just two riders back when a rider in Sunday’s Levi’s GranFondo tragically rode off the roadway.

Still more bad news from NorCal, as a Dixon driver is under arrest for felony charges of DUI and voluntary manslaughter after fatally rear-ending a bike rider on Sunday.

 

National

Garmin has released a new rear-facing radar that tells you when cars are coming from behind; the unit also includes a taillight that dims to save battery life when there’s no one behind you, and brightens to save yours when there is.

Boulder CO begins undoing the right-sizing of a city street. Which would seem to be wrong-sizing, mais non?

A moving story from Kansas, as 32 cyclists from a four state area come together to help a five-year old boy suffering from life-threatening aneurisms go for his first bike ride.

An Illinois man gets 55 months in jail for killing a cyclist while driving aggressively under the influence.

A new under-two-minute film looks at a 49-year old Minnesota firefighter who is also a champion track cyclist.

Pittsburgh’s bikeshare system is exceeding projections by averaging 12,000 rides a month.

A handicapped Pennsylvania man was rescued after being trapped for two days in a 300-yard bike/pedestrian tunnel when his motorized wheelchair stalled.

An Albany NY writer says it’s time to stop the debate over a proposed road diet and just do it.

A New York city councilman wants to remove 400,000 cars from the city streets by 2030, in part by subsidizing the city’s bikeshare system. Think an LA councilmember would ever have the courage to call for removing nearly a third of the cars from our streets? Me neither.

Alec Baldwin goes for a rainy bike ride in the Big Apple. Riding with earbuds and sans helmet does not, however, make him a “two-wheeled terror.”

 

International

The New York Times looks at the efforts of São Paulo’s mayor to shake off the city’s dystopian sprawl and automotive hegemony by making room for bikes, buses and people on foot.

A bike advocacy group on Canada’s Prince Edward Island calls for mandatory use of flashing daytime bike lights to stop an apparently non-existent rash of bike wrecks; a police source says the island experiences a whopping seven to fourteen bike-involved collisions each year. The same group wants to take over a program to enforce helmet use, as well. Maybe they define bike advocacy a little differently up there in the Great White North. Thanks to Lester Walters for the link.

In a tale that will sound familiar to anyone who’s followed the debate over bikeways in New York, London or right here in LA — or just about anywhere else – residents and business owners in a British town are up in arms over plans to make the city center more walkable and bikeable, even though studies show they would actually benefit from plans to de-emphasize cars.

Irish police ticket 244 bicyclists after new rules went into effect allowing on-the-spot fines.

A new Irish study says bike helmets are effective protection in collisions up to 31 mph, and not much good above that.

Only 18% of bike-riding Amsterdam club goers use both front and back bike lights. On the other hand, if you’re going to go lightless, that’s probably the place to do it.

Sixty Mangalore, India cyclists rode to save the embattled Netravathi river.

Two South Korean women completed a 3,300 mile ride across the US to raise awareness of Korean comfort women forced into sexual servitude by Japan in WWII.

 

Finally…

Lots of people bike to work; not many do it on a Penny Farthing, though. Don’t express your anarchist leanings by jogging in a DC bike lane or you could face a whole $10 fine.

And who’s the criminal if you break into a home to steal back your stolen bike after spotting it on Craigslist?

Which is not to say I wouldn’t do the same damn thing.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: One year in jail for killer of OC cyclist Vinh Tran, LASD searching for Cudahy hit-and-run driver

October 5, 2015 / / 3 comments

Case closed.

Over the weekend, I received this email from a source in Orange County.

At 9:30am on Saturday, December 27th, 2014, William Joseph Klein was driving under the influence of prescription drugs when he killed Vinh Tran.

Friday morning, he pleaded guilty to one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He was sentenced to a year in jail and 3 years of formal probation. His driver’s license was suspended for three years. He must pay a whopping $390.00 in fines, plus unspecified restitution. Despite long-term abuse of drugs, he is required to attend a First Offender Alcohol Program. He is also required to “donate” an amount to the county’s Victim Witness Emergency Fund.

His victim remains dead.

Incidentally, Klein also pleaded guilty to a second set of charges against him, resulting from a drunken bar fight last summer. For disturbing the peace and resisting arrest, he was sentenced to 72 days in jail.

He is currently in custody.

………

Talk about late breaking — and inaccurate — news.

Sheriff’s investigators just now got around to releasing news that a Huntington Park cyclist was injured in a hit-and-run in Cudahy on September 20th. However, the report on KTLA-5 says the 20th was a Wednesday, even though it was Sunday.

So that date may or may not be accurate.

It also gives the time of the collision as about 9:02, but fails to indicate if it was AM or PM.

The victim was riding east on Ardine Street when he was struck by an SUV traveling north on Salt Lake Avenue. The driver reportedly stopped after traveling a half block north of the impact site, then drove away without calling 911 or attempting to help the victim.

He remained hospitalized as of this past Thursday, though his condition was unknown.

Deputies are looking for middle-aged Asian woman with wavy black hair, average height and weight. The vehicle was described as a newer white or light-colored SUV with a tinted rear window and possible damage to the front grille and right quarter-panel.

Anyone with information is urged to call the East L.A. Traffic Investigation Unit at 323/981-5020.

………

The first black African to wear the polka dot jersey in the Tour de France predicts a black African will win the tour in 5 to 10 years; impressively, he didn’t start riding until he was 14, after being orphaned at 10.

The new head of USA cycling vows to keep fighting doping, even though he says it will always be with us; he compares the effort to an alcoholic’s struggle to stay sober.

………

Local

A bike rider in his 70s was critically injured when he fell off his bike in Pacific Palisades.

It’s not the bike lanes we were promised, but LA’s 6th street will soon see traffic calming measures at Irving Blvd. Although in this case, it really does appear to be the least they can do; thanks to Richard Risemberg for the heads-up.

Burbank rejects a plan requiring two new bridges to build a new bike path, despite the opposition of local homeowners to the alternate route that would run near their homes.

A Pasadena resident calls for a driver’s bill of rights to take back the streets and keep traffic moving faster. Note to the clueless: The only way to make traffic move faster is to have less of it.

A 17-year old Long Beach boy was shot while riding his bike Saturday night; he was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The free Santa Monica Bike Expo returns to the pier this weekend.

 

State

A teenage bike rider was killed, and his companion grazed in a Santa Ana gang shooting.

A San Diego cyclist is in critical condition after being hit by a car in the city’s Pacific Beach neighborhood; he reportedly was crossing illegally near a freeway off ramp. Note to San Diego police and media: even if the victim had been wearing a helmet, it would not have prevented his broken back and arm.

A San Diego TV station gets it, saying cars take up a lot of space and creating alternatives can free up public space for the public.

An OpEd by a member of the Palm Desert city council says cities in the Coachella Valley should drop their opposition to the planned 50-mile CV link bikeway for the health of its residents.

A Palo Alto duathlon champ makes a comeback to the world championships at age 54, after surviving a near fatal collision with a pickup while riding his bike.

It’s been a rough weekend for cyclists in Northern California.

 

National

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske says lights are required after dark and in other low light situations. And they’re insurance against getting screwed — my words, not his — by insurance companies.

A Portland cyclist gets his bike back nine months after it was stolen, in part by registering it with the free BikeIndex stolen bike listings.

Seattle plans to take over and expand the city’s less-than-successful bikeshare system, while adding e-bikes to address the many hills in the area. Although if they really want it to succeed, they should consider repealing the city’s mandatory helmet law.

A South Dakota county commissioner is in a panic over bike lanes cropping up on the streets of Sioux Falls, and blames a small cabal of officials that he says are making the streets more dangerous by painting stripes on them. Sounds like he has relatives in Catalina. And maybe he should read this piece from the author of Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, who says bike lanes don’t encroach on space reserved for cars, but return our roads to shared spaces.

A Wisconsin rider completes a 180 day, 11,750 mile journey to watch a baseball game in each of the major league stadiums.

A New York father whose three-year old daughter was killed while walking hand-in-hand with her grandmother — with the right-of-way, no less — says stop calling her death a car accident. And explains the meaning behind the #CrashNotAccident campaign.

NPR looks at DC’s second grade bike education classes.

More on the battle over a nearly 10-year old bike lane in Baton Rouge LA, which boils down to a fight over parking, as usual. Then again, many people who insist on the right to park for free on the street have garages too full of other crap to pull a car into.

A proposed 76-mile bike path through the Everglades draws a wide range of opponents. None of whom seem to object to the highway it would run next to, though.

 

International

Canadian adventure Ben Shillington plans to ride a fat tire Salsa bike 60 miles to the South Pole, before leading 30 riders through the Antarctic tundra next year.

A British cyclist explains why he kept going on a round-the-world ride, despite the death of his wife in a Bolivian collision; he’s traveled 27,050 miles, with 12,000 to go to get to Alaska.

The UK’s new bike-riding but fashion challenged Labour Party leader goes for a spin with his wife.

Britain’s cycling minister — yes, they have one — explains why he doesn’t wear a helmet while riding in London.

London cyclists win a fight with Ronald McDonald, after the company wanted drive-through access across one of the city’s vaunted cycling superhighways.

An outer London borough plans to install protected bike lanes and dramatically reduce private car access in an attempt to revitalize the town center.

A pair of Welsh cyclists jump into a canal to help save the life of a 65-year old man who’d fallen in with his mobility scooter.

A Scottish advocacy group says insurance companies are anti-cyclist. Actually, insurance companies are anti-settlement, regardless of mode of travel; they make their money by denying claims and settling for as little as possible.

The recent car-free day in Paris proved so successful in cutting noise and pollution that the mayor may recommend doing it every month.

A 17-year old Indian girl shares her passion for bicycling by collecting new and repaired bikes to give to underprivileged children. Meanwhile, an Indian cyclist inspired a bicycle club whose 40 members ride daily in search of a warm cup of tea.

London’s Independent rides with the Iraqi women’s cycling team just 25 miles from ISIS territory, on some of the world’s most dangerous roads. And despite the country’s conservative society.

New Zealand riders join other international cycling teams in condemning the BMX track for the Rio Olympics, saying it’s too dangerous.

Australia’s New South Wales state is considering requiring licenses and insurance to ride a bike. Bicycling is already depressed Down Under due to the country’s mandatory helmet law, so they might as well do what they can to kill it entirely, right?

 

Finally…

A UK paper bizarrely says a man attacked two boys who laughed at him when he fell off his bike — but then describes him getting off his bike to attack the kids after accusing them of lying, instead. It looks like pedestrians are starting to fight back, as a New York man shoots a driver who came too close while making a U-turn.

And apparently, if you ride with your dog on your bike, you’re a bad, bad person.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , , , ,

Update: Bicyclist found dead in Cathedral City hit-and-run Saturday night

October 4, 2015 / / 6 comments

The local TV station calls it an accident.

A better description would be the actions of a heartless coward with a callous indifference to human life.

Or maybe just murder.

According to the Desert Sun, the body of an unidentified bicyclist was found lying in the roadway on Dinah Shore Drive in Cathedral City around 9 pm Saturday. It was clear he had been hit by a car.

KESQ-TV reports that the victim, identified only as a man in his late 30s or early 40s, was found on the westbound side of Dinah Shore just west of Whispering Palms on the Dinah Shore Bridge. His bike was found 50 feet away in the median on the eastbound side of the road.

There were no apparent witnesses, and no description of the car or driver at this time.

A satellite view shows a four lane roadway with a center divider west of Whispering Palms. Based on the limited description, there’s no way to tell which direction the victim was riding, whether he was on Dinah Shore or attempting to cross it.

There’s no speed limit sign visible in the street view; however, the distance his body was apparently thrown would suggest he was hit at a high rate of speed.

There’s also no way of knowing whether he might have survived if the driver had stopped and called for help as the law, and basic human decency, requires.

This is the 55th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth in Riverside County. That compares with 69 in Southern California this time last year, and six in the county.

Update: The victim has been identified as 37-year old Sergio Reynoso; a gofundme account has been established to help pay funeral expenses. The driver reportedly turned himself in on Tuesday, which would have given him or her plenty of time to sober up.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sergio Reynoso and his loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , ,

Weekend Links: Bikes vs Cars, weekend events, a dangerous intersection and good news from Newport Beach

October 3, 2015 / / Comments Off on Weekend Links: Bikes vs Cars, weekend events, a dangerous intersection and good news from Newport Beach

You really don’t want to drive to see Bikes vs Cars, do you?

The documentary is screening in a free outdoor showing Sunday night at the Bowtie Project as part of the Ambulante Film Festival.

There will be a free bike valet, and at least three feeder rides, starting from North Hollywood, Exposition Park/USC, Glendale and El Sereno Parkett.

………

A few other notable events this weekend.

The SoCalCross Prestige Series: SCOS2 Krosstoberfest cyclocross races roll in Long Beach’s El Dorado Park today.

Update: Bike SGV is hosting a free, family-friendly Ride to the Twenties Festival at the Workman Homestead Museum Saturday afternoon. My apologies for not mentioning this earlier.

The LACBC’s Sunday Funday Ride rolls through Pasadena this Sunday.

Metro’s Rideshare Week starts Sunday.

And on the 10th, women are invited to join Hrach and the Velo Studio crew for a gentle road ride through Griffith Park.

………

Margaret Wehbi sends word of a dangerous intersection at 135th St and La Cienega Blvd in the Wiseburn section of unincorporated LA County, near Hawthorne, where a young girl was hit by a car while riding to school.

She adds that the person who posted the notice dictated her comments, and apologized for the errors.

Screen Shot 2015-09-30 at September 30, 2015 15.25.00

Apparently, the girl suffered a broken growth plate, and will be in a sling for awhile. And both she and her mother have been traumatized by the incident.

………

Good news from Newport Beach, as a 14-year old girl who was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding her bike has made a full recovery.

Meanwhile, the driver turned himself in, and could face up to a year in jail and a fine of as much as $10,000.

Although I always question whether hit-and-run drivers who come forward a day or two later just gave themselves enough time to sober up.

Thanks to Amy Senk for the heads-up.

………

A writer for Sky News celebrates Peter Sagan’s victory at the world’s last week, saying the people’s champion is now the world champion.

World cyclocross champ Mathieu van der Poel is out for the foreseeable future after surgery for a knee injury suffered in an August crash.

And a car racing tour steals a page from bike racing’s book by introducing a team time trial.

………

Local

Better Bike’s Mark Elliot calls for traffic mitigation to protect the safety of bicyclists during the reconstruction of Santa Monica Blvd.

A letter writer in the Times says while 11-year old Matty Grossman wants a safe place to ride his bike, her son can’t walk home from school because of the cut-through traffic caused by the Rowena road diet.

LADOT Bike Blog looks at the new California laws to establish traffic diversion schools for bicyclists and a hit-and-run yellow alert system.

Caught on video: CiclaValley watches the owner of H & S bike shops climb the Hollywood Hills wheelie well.

Campus police bust a bike thief at Cal State Northridge on Friday.

Santa Monica’s new Breeze bikeshare system is still on track for a November rollout; the initial test system has proved popular enough that it will be extended past the planned October 1st end date.

Any Hermosa Beach city council candidate who poses for a campaign photo on a fat tire beach bike can’t be all bad.

Get your resume ready. Bike-friendly Long Beach is looking for an assistant city traffic engineer.

 

State

A writer for the Contra Costa Times says too much blood of bicyclists has been spilled on Mt. Diablo. Apparently, drivers have to receive a verbal warning because they don’t have enough sense not to pass on blind curves.

A Palo Alto road diet has won over the city’s skeptics, and will be made permanent after a successful trial phase. Installing road diets on streets like Rowena and North Figueroa on a trial basis could help overcome opposition here, while identifying issues that need to be addressed.

Modesto will conduct a year-long, nearly $300,000 traffic safety campaign, including a focus on bike and pedestrian safety.

 

National

Census data shows bike commuting continues to rise across the US as city’s build more bikeways; Los Angeles is up to 1.3%. However, census data dramatically undercounts the number of transportation cyclists, since it doesn’t include multi-modal commuters who bike part way or people who bike to shop or other destinations.

Talk about a miraculous recovery. A Wisconsin woman turned up at a police station to ask for her bike back after she had been declared brain dead and sent to another hospital as an organ donor.

A Minnesota writer rides with a bike messenger and learns being late is the cardinal sin of the business, even if that means getting back on your bike with a broken hand after flying over the car that cut you off.

Battle Creek MI police conclude no one was at fault for the wreck that killed a cyclist. Except for whoever was responsible for maintaining the crumbling asphalt that caused him to fall in front of a 15-year old driver.

A Harlem bicyclist sues UPS for repeatedly parking in the bike lanes. The same suit could be filed over delivery trucks blocking the bike lanes on Ocean and San Vicente in Santa Monica.

A 25-year old New York teacher who worked with disadvantaged children is honored as a Hometown Hero in Education; sadly, the award came two months after he was killed while riding cross country to raise money for the charity Bike and Build.

A New York writer says NYC cyclists might not have Boulder CO’s 300 miles of off-road pathways, but they enjoy the excitement of riding in the city. And instead of signs warning about puma attacks, they might have to dodge a rat or two.

City Lab looks at the benefits of slower traffic as measured in terms of both money and lives; a New Jersey road diet penciled out at a net benefit of between $2.6 million and $37 million over the 20-year lifespan of the project.

Maybe someone’s trying to tell them something. After a 7,000 rider strong charity ride was pushed back by the papal visit, it’s cancelled after heavy rains and fears of Hurricane Joaquin result in a state of emergency.

Nice. A Pennsylvania sheriff is placing signs reminding drivers of the state’s four-foot passing law on popular bicycling routes.

 

International

Not every cyclist wants a carb-burning workout; a new Brit route planner currently under development promises to get you to your destination with the least amount of effort.

Now you, too, can ride the same bikes that carried the Royal Mail, albeit in a more elephant friendly hue.

Belfast will hold its first ciclovía on Sunday.

The husband of a fallen Dubai cyclist and elephant polo champ leads her former teammates in climbing 100 French passes in 10 days in her honor.

In the latest example of wealthy Arabs behaving badly, a Mercedes driver is wanted in his native United Arab Emirates for a massive, choke-inducing burnout after arguing with a London cyclist.

 

Finally…

It’s never too soon to learn the ABCs of bicycling. Who needs an e-bike when your dogs can do all the work for you?

And the next time you rob a gas station, try using a mask instead of a trash bag over your head before making your escape by bike.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Events, Car vs Bike, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,
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