Mandy Marie Benn reportedly had been prescribed Aderall and Suboxone, and had prescription bottles for Benzodiazepine in her car at the time of the crash.
Suboxone is used to treat opioid addiction.
The prosecuting attorney in her case described her as so stoned that she “had slow and slurred speech, lack of balance and couldn’t follow instructions,” and told police the jumble of mangled bikes and bodies “almost looks real.”
She had previously been arrested on a charge of operating a vehicle while visibly impaired back five years earlier.
However, there’s no word on a conviction. Which suggests the charge was dropped or bargained away, allowing her to keep driving until she killed someone.
And she did.
Allegedly.
Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.
The bill from California Senator Anthony Portantino, and sponsored by Streets for All and Calbike, requires local governments to include provisions to make streets safer for people biking, walking, using scooters and taking public transit in the circulation elements of their general plans.
And it includes deadlines for starting and finishing construction of the new facilities, so cities have to actually build them.
Santa Monica is planning another bike and pedestrian safety operation for today, ticketing any traffic violations that could put bike riders or pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them. Which means the standard protocol applies — ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.
August 1, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Alleged DUI Michigan driver kills 2 fundraising riders and injures 3 others, and Culver City remakes Culver Blvd bike path
Once again, a motor vehicle in the wrong hands has become a weapon of mass destruction.
Now, for the first time, the Militant is asking you to send a little much-deserved love his way, in the form of a PayPal donation.
So I hope you’ll join me in opening your heart and wallet to support one of the city’s most loved personalities.
The Militant Angeleno has been doin' his thang as a strictly volunteer endeavor since 2007. But it's time to take things to another level! If you're inclined, show some love & support his future Militant adventures, maps, posts & #EpicCicLAviaTour guides!https://t.co/Y928GPssFmpic.twitter.com/wagVtnCs66
lost two people in my circle to vehicular violence this weekend in separate incidents. one crossing the street. one riding a scooter. that shouldn't be possible.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
They clearly don’t get it. A Staten Island website complains about plans for a road diet and removing parking spaces, saying bike lanes aren’t the answer to speeding drivers. Except that’s exactly what road diets are for, and bike lanes are just a tool to narrow traffic lanes and force drivers to slow down.
You’ve got to be kidding. A New Jersey columnist sides with a Jersey City councilmember who fled the scene after crashing into a bike rider, saying the crash shows bicyclists think they’re above the law. I’d say hit-and-run is just a tad more serious than mistakenly thinking you’ve got the green light, as the rider claimed. But that’s just me.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Two Minnesota bike riders were collateral damage when a driver’s SUV rolled over following a collision, and crashed into them as they waited at an intersection; both victims were hospitalized with serious injuries.
When you’re riding your bike with a joint and a couple stolen social security cards, put a damn light on it. Or when you’ve got an open beer, meth and three ounces of weed on your bike, maybe try riding with traffic, instead.
The California Highway Patrol confirms that at least one person was killed, but doesn’t identify the victim. And bizarrely doesn’t say whether it was the person on the bike, the driver or someone else.
Although chances are, we can figure that part out ourselves.
It looks like we got screwed in the new climate and energy bill agree upon this week by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and recalcitrant West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
After months of going back and forth on how much of a rebate ebike buyers would receive in last year’s failed Build Back Better bill, the two raised a new proposal out of its ashes.
"The climate- and energy-focused Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 misses a massive opportunity by neglecting to invest in an electric bicycle tax credit and other critical initiatives to promote biking for transportation."
The House-backed E-BIKE Act (check out PeopleForBikes’ coverage of the act here and here), would offer many Americans a low-cost, emissionless, active transportation choice and show a serious commitment from the federal government to a mode shift towards a low-carbon, multimodal future. Also already approved in the House is the bipartisan Bicycle Commuter Act, which would put money back into commuters’ pockets for choosing to bike to work. Both policies are popular, simple and effective tools our nation could leverage for emissions reductions, but were deprioritized to make more room for cars.
But if they’re not included as part of the reconciliation package along with the Inflation Reduction Act, their chances of passage in divided Senate are something less than zero.
And without significantly reducing the number of cars on the road, electric or otherwise, the chances of staving off climate disaster are pretty much the same.
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Speaking of getting screwed, we may be about to get screwed once again courtesy of CD13 Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell.
No bias here. A Minnesota letter writer says maybe the city should focus more on crime than bike lanes, after his catalytic converter was stolen for the second time in three months. Never mind that police have nothing to do with striping streets.
Unbelievable. Police in the UK blame a bike rider for a road raging driver, saying the rider’s shout of “watch out” contributed to the driver slamming on his brakes and backing towards the bicyclist — and running over a dog in the process. Schmuck.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The Los Angeles City Council Public Works Committee approved a proposal to provide an additional $706,000 to remove graffiti and provide other maintenance on the new Sixth Street Viaduct; that’s in addition to the nearly $600 million already spent to build it — almost none of which went towards protecting people on bicycles or slowing speeding drivers.
Christian music icon Amy Grant is one of us; the singer was hospitalized for a couple nights in Nashville’s Vanderbilt Hospital after suffering cuts and abrasions falling off her bicycle earlier this week. And yes, if it matters, she was wearing a helmet. Although it’s hard to believe she was kept overnight — let alone two nights — just to be treated for cuts and abrasions, no matter how good her insurance is. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
The Guardianquestions why so many bicycles end up in a watery grave, noting that more bicycles are found during the decennial draining of Paris’ Canal Saint-Martin than anything, other than wine bottles and mobile phones.
The New York Times says there’s a long way to go for women cyclists to achieve parity with the men; not only is the Tour de France Femmes two weeks shorter than the Tour de France, with abbreviated stages, but the women will divide a little more than a tenth of the prize money enjoyed by the men.
Cities are being hollowed out by pedestrian precincts, with commerce for residents moving outside the centers of town, leaving the quaint city streets for tourists. Locals need not visit.
American transportation policy is mistakenly copying Europe, and it’s not only the higher gas prices and smaller planned electric vehicles. Bike lanes are proliferating and parking spaces vanishing. One example: the District Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C., is planning to reconfigure Connecticut Avenue, one of the major arteries into the city, by removing two major lanes of traffic and replacing them with bike lanes. The plan doesn’t account for fire engines pulling out of their stations or existing right-turn lanes. Other bike lanes in Washington see minimal commuter traffic.
With regard to parking spaces, the motto among U.S. transportation planners seems to be “if you don’t build them, they won’t come.” A planned reconfiguration of Union Station in Washington, D.C., will result in the loss of hundreds of parking spaces. Restaurants are taking over valuable curbside spaces for dining.
She goes on to decry city centers filled with pedestrians and thriving merchants, as well as areas where driving is actively discouraged in favor of more beneficial forms of transportation.
Which is a good thing, actually.
And which makes it kind of frightening that someone like her was helping to form transportation policy in the Trump administration.
Then again, that explains a lot.
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No, it’s not just your imagination.
There really is more anger out there on the streets. And more people willing to act on it.
From Jan. 1–June 30 there were 459 reports of road rage in the city, according to publicly available Los Angeles Police Department data. That is a 32.7% increase over the same period last year, and almost 140 more incidents than were tallied in the first half of 2019.
Never mind that most road rage incidents never get reported to the police, making those record figures just the tip of the iceberg.
So be careful out there. Drivers don’t need a weapon when they’re already in one.
— Seattle Department of Transportation (@seattledot) July 27, 2022
BREAKING: The best civil servant in the City of L.A. is heading to Seattle to head up their DOT. Congrats to @seattledot for their big get and to @Spottnik for his new post. https://t.co/CI3kaWKaPd
Spotts is, or was, one of the few Los Angeles department heads who really seemed to get it, and will be sorely missed.
Besides, he’s one of us. And it made sense to have a bike rider in charge of LA streets for a change.
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The LAPD’s official Twitter account shares a great story, as their officers pitched in with other organizations for LA’s first Bike Safety Camp Day, including a new bike for 30 lucky kids.
LAPD Motorcade joined community organizations to provide safety tips and information at the first Bike Safety Camp Day. Everyone went home better educated about riding and bike safety. And 30 kids rolled away with a free new bike! pic.twitter.com/wnDYXa0xPi
Road closures keep coming on the new 6th Street Viaduct as police struggle to halt bad driver behavior, with speed bumps likely coming to the new bridge. Which couldn’t be better proof of a bad road design.
Paracyclist and Air Force vet Dustin Baker’s hopes of competing in next month’s Para-cycling Road World Championships were dashed when a driver read-ended his bike on a North Carolina training ride, leaving him with broken ribs, a damaged rotator cuff, a concussion and road rash. Not to mention a shattered bike.
Danish fans seemed kind of happy to see Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard in his first post-race appearance back home.
The good news is I’m feeling a little better tonight, thanks to the wonders of modern pharmaceuticals.
The bad is that this helps happening far too often. That tells me there may be something more going on than just migraines, which really shouldn’t happen on a near daily basis.
Photo of North Spring Street Bridge by Joe Linton for Streetsblog.
Moore placed some of the blame on commercials for high-end cars which show spinouts that are not safe for a city street.
“I ask all of us, including manufacturers of high-end, high- performance vehicles to exercise corporate responsibility in how they go about their work and what they promote,” Moore said. “We see the antics of people trying to replicate this, resulting in serious injuries and deaths and violence.”
And yes, he’s talking to you, Dodge.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GouegyoQK8Y
Although apparently, closed doesn’t always mean closed if you’re on two wheels.
Hundreds of cyclists rode past the barriers onto the closed 6th street bridge initiating a large response by LAPD. One cyclist I spoke with said the group is from San Diego & didn’t know the bridge was closed. @lapd#6thstreetBridge#losangelespic.twitter.com/ef3yQg9Qi0
Government Technology says even major car-dependent cities like Los Angeles and Houston are serious about auto traffic on highways. Although you’d be hard pressed to find any sign of it here.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. The 29-year old driver who killed a Utah man and injured his 17-year old daughter as they were riding bikes was allegedly high on heroin at the time of the crash, and had four previous drug convictions, as well as convictions for burglary, theft and forgery. Just one more example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.
Unbelievable. A Chicago bike rider was awarded $2.25 million after he was the victim of a hit-and-run on-duty cop, who didn’t bother to stick around or report the crash to his supervisors. How the hell can we expect cops to do something about hit-and-run when they do it, too? Thanks to OC bike lawyer Edward Rubinstein for the link.
He gets it. A writer for Chicago Streetsblog says education, infrastructure and driver accountability trump bike helmets for keeping bicyclists safe. And before anyone complains, I never ride without a helmet. But they should always be considered the last resort when all else fails, not the first.
A froid j'ai beaucoup de mal à comprendre comment Nicole Frain peut estimer que ça va passer sans ralentir… Le choc avec Marta Cavalli est glaçant #TDFFpic.twitter.com/6oUoPhqKCo
July 25, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bicyclist says giving pedestrians right-of-way is “stupid,” and San Diego TV station blames homeless for rampant bike thefts
Although he still wants drivers to give way to him.
What I’m not all for, is the decision to put pedestrians at the top of the hierarchy as the ‘road user’ everyone else has to give way to. For a start, this is the Highway Code – it should be about people who use the highway, and pedestrians just don’t. Ok – yes – they have to cross it – but that’s as far as their involvement goes. And, if you’re a pedestrian, you already know how to cross a road, like everyone does, because it was drummed into us all by the Green Cross Code man (or whatever the equivalent was for your generation). Look both ways, listen, and only cross when it’s safe to do so while continuing to look both ways. Ideally, that will be at a pedestrian crossing – and definitely not from a position between two parked cars – you know the drill, I’m sure.
What the Highway code ‘Hierarchy of Road Users’ changes have done, however, is kind of make like none of that common sense ever existed. Instead, it has been replaced by confusion and doubt. Drivers always knew they should give cyclists room – the ones who never did will probably carry on not doing. But I can’t argue with the decision to make all that a little clearer in the Highway Code. Drivers and cyclists, however, especially on urban roads, are often going not massively dissimilar speeds – and there’s a shared history there. Pedestrians, however, have always been separate, never sharing the same space as those on wheels, except to cross the road.
Now, they have been emboldened. Suddenly, they are no longer just kings and queens of the pavement, but the road too!
He goes on.
Of course he does, complaining about having to brake for pedestrians, when he’d rather just force them to jump back onto the curb and stay the hell out of his way.
So, we like to go fast. If we have to amble along so we’re able to stop on a 50p piece should a pedestrian decide to exercise their hierarchical right to randomly step out in front of us, then it just wouldn’t be road cycling. Drivers aren’t forced to travel at 5mph or less ‘just in case’ so why should we be forced to curtail our speed any more than the traffic laws and conditions on a particular road allow.
It paints a picture of a spoiled, entitled cyclist who can’t be bothered to help keep another person safe.
Just like all those spoiled, entitled drivers we’ve been dealing with for decades.
A 31-year old woman has been charged with 2nd degree murder for the alleged drunken that killed a 60-year old man riding a bicycle in San Mateo County, before continuing on and hitting another car head-on. Thanks to Jim for the heads-up.
San Francisco continues to run urbanist laps around Los Angeles, building a 14-acre park topping a pair of freeway tunnels. LA has talked about capping the 101 Freeway through Hollywood, as well as other highways. But as usual, talk is as far as it’s gone.
Thirty-one-year old Victor Valencia was erratically waving a bike part, which witnesses had mistaken for a gun. He was shot when he reportedly pointed the object at the officer.
However, a witness to the shooting claimed Valencia had his arms over his shoulders, and never pointed towards the cop.
Although I would have thought it was a gun, too, regardless of where it was pointed.
Then again, I’m not a cop. Or trained not to shoot unless a suspect is armed or someone’s life is actually in danger.
But we’ll all get to pay for it, anyway.
Photo from LAPD.
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Metro Bike is hosting a free and easy three-mile ride through DTLA tomorrow.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Unbelievable. A Memphis man riding a bike was run down by a driver leaving a parking lot, then intentionally run down again as he tried to ride away — after he swung his bike at the driver’s car, who repeatedly gunned the engine and lurched the car at him. All of it caught on camera, in front of witnesses, yet somehow, no arrest has been made.
A Georgia man faces felony charges for intentionally running down a man on a bicycle, after buzzing the bike rider just minutes earlier; he then tried to fight a witness trying to calm him down as the two men argued afterwards. Note to The Newnan Times-Herald — No, the truck didn’t ram someone on a bike, the driver did. And never mind that “Dodge Ram” is a brand name, while “Dodge rams” is an action.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Neighborhood activists in Santa Barbara are fighting a proposed 14-foot wide bike path that would run through the 25-acre Modoc Road Preserve, potentially removing up to 63 mature trees in a preserve that’s home to three species of hawks, hooded orioles, coyotes, bobcats, skunks, possum and raccoons. Although most of the trees scheduled for removal are invasive, non-native palm and eucalyptus trees.
St. Paul, Minnesota residents are fighting a proposed bike path, fearing it will result in the removal of majestic trees and change the character of the historic street — even though they haven’t see any plans yet. Apparently, all those cars haven’t changed the neighborhood’s historic character at all.
Raise your hand if you knew it was against the rules for a pro cyclist to get a boost by pushing off race moto. And if you know that, why the hell didn’t Nairo Quintana, who was penalized 10 seconds, 200 Swiss francs and four points for the stunt in Thursday’s stage.
