The driver fled following the crash; no description was given of the suspect or their vehicle.
Anyone with information is urged to call 877/527-3247.
This is at least the 72nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 23rd that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; he’s also the 13th person killed riding a bike in the City of Los Angeles.
Twenty-three of those SoCal victims have been killed by hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Before we get started, a quick reminder that Daylight Savings ends this weekend, and it’s time to set your clocks back on Sunday.
Which means it will get dark earlier, and you could find yourself riding in it more.
So pack lights with you, even if you don’t plan to be out that light; I’ve found myself riding in the dark more than once because of a flat or some other mechanical.
And don’t forget that even an extra hour of sleep is enough to throw drivers off their already negligible game. So ride defensively and use extra care for the next week or so.
I don’t want to write about you because some fool couldn’t manage to concentrate behind the wheel.
The US underperformance in road safety is especially dramatical: 11.4 Americans per 100,000 died in crashes in 2020, a number that dwarfs countries including Spain (2.9), Israel (3.3) and New Zealand (6.3). And unlike most developed nations, US roadways have grown more deadly during the last two decades (including during the pandemic), especially for those outside of cars. Last year saw the most pedestrians killed in the US in 40 years, and deaths among those biking rose 44% from 2010 to 2020…
The closer you look, the clearer it becomes that the US traffic safety crisis is not a reflection of geography or culture. It is the result of policy decisions that elevated fast car travel and automaker profits over roadway safety. Other countries made different choices, and they’ve saved lives as a result.
He goes on to add that the US has fallen behind other countries to the point that we hit a 16-year high for traffic fatalities last year, at the same time Japan and Norway posted their lowest fatality rates since the 1940s, when both countries were recovering from the devastation of WWII.
Not surprisingly, there are some pretty obvious reasons for that.
Europe, for example, has created many more car-free and car-light urban neighborhoods than the US. Since motor vehicles play a role in virtually all roadway deaths, their removal from the urban core is a big boost for safety. Meanwhile, countries like Canada and France have embraced automatic traffic cameras — devices that are banned in many US states — to deter speeding and running red lights. Likewise, safe infrastructure enhancements like roundabouts and road diets have been adopted more enthusiastically in other countries.
A widening gap is also visible in car regulations, which have grown relatively stricter abroad. A case in point: The European Union added pedestrian safety tests to NCAP crash ratings over two decades ago, and Japan, China and Australia now conduct them as well. The US still does not.
He also notes that when famed urban planner Jan Gehl first proposed that Copenhagen remake its streets in favor of bicycles to reduce reliance on motor vehicles, he was told they were Danes, not Italians.
Sort of like we’re constantly told this isn’t Copenhagen. Or Amsterdam. Or any other bike-centric city local NIMBYs have vaguely heard of.
It’s worth a few minutes of your day to read the whole thing.
But if you’re short on time today, just commit every word of this to memory —
For the US, this may be the most important road safety lesson from abroad: Many of the best solutions are quite simple. Build slower streets. Penalize reckless drivers quickly and reliably. Use regulations and taxes — on vehicle weight as well as fuel — to nudge the car industry toward smaller, safer models.
Seriously.
Thanks to Molly Timmons for the heads-up.
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We missed this one somehow.
Probably because we weren’t invited, which is apparently what happens when you’re critical of city leaders.
But still.
Los Angeles officials celebrated the completion of the long-planned Chandler Bicycle Connection yesterday, providing a low-stress, protected bikeway connecting the Orange Line Bike Path with Burbank’s popular Chandler Bike Path.
Join us for the celebration of the full funding and opening of next phase in completing the “cyclists’ highway” from Burbank to the West Valley! pic.twitter.com/Rw92woGPRt
Former pro Elliot Jackson offers a progress report on the Grow Cycling Foundation, a two-year old program to “provide opportunities for underserved communities to experience all that the bike has to offer” — starting with offering bike training at Inglewood elementary schools and building an Inglewood pump track.
That’s more like it. An Aussie driver gets a minimum of five years behind bars for the “despicable and cowardly” hit-and-run death of a 60-year old man riding a bike. Then again, every hit-and-run fits that description.
An Australian man is challenging the settlement he received in 2013, when he was struck while riding his bike when he was just 15 by the man who would become the premier of Australia’s Victoria state a year later; he claims he was ordered to stay quiet and never got a copy of the settlement.
Hernandez leadership promises a sea change in the district, where the councilmember she defeated, “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo, earned his sobriquet by blocking virtually every major safety improvement and bike lane in the district, including deadly North Figueroa.
Meanwhile, Linton also offers updates on a handful of new bike lanes in Central Los Angeles, including:
Sixth Street Bridge connection in Skid Row and the Arts District
Ramirez Street/Center Street/Santa Fe Ave in the Arts District
Avenue 19 in Lincoln Heights
He also points out the missed opportunity on North Spring Street in Chinatown, where the street, which is scheduled for a bike lane in the city’s mobility plan, was recently resurfaced.
The proposal would force the city to build out the mobility plan whenever a section of street contained in the plan is resurfaced.
Meanwhile, the city’s alternative proposal, which is based on Healthy Streets but likely to lack the enforcement mechanism of the ballot measure, is due back for a vote of the city council in the next few weeks.
Never mind that it’s the opposite of the fare-free transit they promised to study.
The LA Metro Community Advisory Council has prepared this draft letter regarding the impending fare increase proposal, for ratification at executive committee Friday (the framework had already passed at last week's general meeting). pic.twitter.com/6EfywCYDYI
Join us THIS SATURDAY for Pasadena's 4th annual Adaptive Sports Festival! People of all abilities are invited to enjoy this FREE, fun-filled day of activities, including handcycling, archery, wheelchair rugby, pickleball, power soccer, tennis & more: https://t.co/w1Nph61YLcpic.twitter.com/Q0Y7WDJPiP
Why settle for a mere bicycle, when you could have had an early velomobile prototype?
"September 1928: A man cycling a ‘One-Man Car Cycle’ in a street in the West End of London. (Photo by Crouch/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)" pic.twitter.com/qTz5Z1023q
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. An Arizona letter writer suggests charging anyone over 16 a $150 annual fee to register a bicycle, with a licensing fee for the rider that oddly declines with age. Because licensing and vehicle registration has worked so well to keep motorists in line, evidently.
No bias here, either. One in three Brits wants bikes banned entirely from public roads, while seven in ten think bike riders would be required to carry liability insurance. Apparently because it costs so much to hose our blood off their hoods.
Once again, authorities have managed to keep a deadly driver on the streets until it’s too late. A Virginia man struck and killed a man riding his bike across the street, 11 years after he was arrested for his third DUI for killing a bike-riding woman. But at least he was apparently sober this time.
The complaint says, among other things, that the Metro Board of directors violated the state’s open meeting law by failing to follow proper procedures before holding a public meeting on April 28 by teleconference instead of in person. At that meeting, the transit agency’s board approved the rapid-transit bus line between North Hollywood and Pasadena, which would pass through Eagle Rock.
The lead petitioner also accuses Metro of failing to notify him of the meeting. Because apparently, the transportation agency is required to reach out to every single person in the county who might somehow miss the public meeting notice the rest of us seem somehow seemed to find.
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Oh, nothing.
Just a rush hour race between a bike rider on a foldie and a dinosaur on a monorail.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Market Watch says South Dakota is the perfect place to use as a home base if you’re planning to ride your bikes all over after you retire. Because you wouldn’t have to, you know, actually live there if you’re always on the road, evidently.
A writer for Streets MN says Minnesota drivers are usually happy to share the road, unless you want to turn left.
More heartbreaking and horrifying details about the Ohio woman who lost a leg when she was attacked by dogs; she fought the dogs off alone for 20 minutes after she was separated from her group and got a flat on her bike, before succumbing to the attack. Sadly, it’s the dogs who are likely to be punished, rather than the owner who let them run loose in the first place.
The head of British Cycling was forced to step down, three weeks after announcing a misguided greenwashing sponsorship by Shell Oil, as well as advising people not ride a bike during the queen’s funeral, which was later rescinded.
Except the short curb cut isn’t a bike lane, and probably never will be.
A short half-block long, it took about 18 months to complete and cost roughly $2 million, and yet it is not marked as a bike lane and does not connect to one.
“It’s a bike lane to nowhere,” said Stephen Burn, general manager of building services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which was required to complete and pay for the project as a condition of approval.
Burn apologized for calling it a stupid waste of time and money that delayed the opening of badly needed supportive housing and social services, but no apology was necessary. He said he honestly wanted to pull his hair out at times when dealing with various government agencies, and after he shared the details, I wanted to pull my hair out.
And needless to say, the story is already being used by bike lane opponents.
A $2 million 150-foot "bike lane to nowhere" symbolizes L.A.'s outrageous dysfunction: "A short half-block long, it took about 18 months to complete" & "is not marked as a bike lane & does not connect to one." https://t.co/LvVv3Dzz4H
But longtime advocate Alissa Walker clarifies that, regardless of what Burn was told, the added space was created for cars as the result of a longstanding city policy.
If you look at new buildings all over the city you’ll see developers forced to do the same type of road widening projects. It has nothing to do with bike lanes. @LATstevelopez, come walk Barrington to see some of the most egregious examples https://t.co/W4FVUPPk6o
I also wish it was true that Caltrans actually had the power to force the city to add bike lanes on state routes but Gavin Newsom killed the best version of that in 2019. There’s a different complete streets policy in place now but it’s brand new https://t.co/AYNSIB0I4P
I’ve been biking more to get out of the house, exercise, and just enjoy the city. But literally each time I’ve gone into the street a driver has yelled at me!
I try to avoid riding in the streets, but the bike lanes are few and far in between and aren’t that much better. You often have trash cans in the bike lanes, people leaving their car doors open, random debris, and when you don’t have to deal with that you still have cars speeding past you with the closest thing protecting you being a thin line of paint that couldn’t even stop an ant from crossing it! I don’t even have to get into how bumpy and packed the sidewalks can be.
So when I do get in the streets it’s because that is unfortunately the best route. Yet no matter how much I ride on the shoulder, check behind, in front, on the sides, above me, etc… I always have a driver either honking or yelling at me for going too slow.
I’m worried that someone might get really angry with me one day and try and run me off the road…
I’m just frustrated and wish biking in this city was safer. We have the perfect weather to bike in. Why isn’t L.A a bikeable city?
Item #3 (22-1072) – Sunset4All To call dial 669-254-5252, meeting code 161 750 5079, #, #, and then hit *9 to raise your hand. Here are Talking Points. If you’re not able to call in, then use the links below to make public comment on the council file in advance at the buttons below.
Horrible news from Ohio, where a popular local bicyclist lost a leg when she was mauled by dogs.
A reminder that you could end up with more than just a simple bite on the leg from that dog that chases you whenever you ride by.
An AWFUL dog attack in Ohio today… a well known cyclist, Eva Simons, lost her leg after being attacked by 3 pit bulls. This occurred out in the country in, we believe, Vinton County, OH- a very rural area. She was mauled, and lost her left leg below the knee. More details later
Save this one for future reference. Streets For All founder Michael Schneider lists the common complaints we’ve all heard from people opposed to bike lanes, and details effective arguments to overcome them.
This is who we share the courtrooms with. A woman received a more than $4 million judgement after she was struck by a driver while walking in a Santa Monica crosswalk four years ago, suffering permanent injuries; the defense shamefully argued she threw herself in front of the car in a suicide attempt — which might have been more credible if the driver was doing more than 25 mph. Thanks to Andrew Goldstein for the link.
That’s more like it. A 65-year old Ohio man was sentenced to a mandatory 14 years behind bars, with the possibility of another four years, for the hit-and-run death of a 13-year old boy; he claimed the damage to his truck was from hitting a mailbox, and that he only ran over the boy’s bike after someone else knocked the kid off it.
A UK safety expect calls it “a bit daft” for bicyclists to ride in the middle of the traffic lane, despite recently changes to the country’s Highway Code allowing them to do just that, when there’s a perfectly good bike lane they could be using. Of course, the problem is that the “perfectly good” bike lane usually isn’t.
Sadly, those predictions have now come true. Unfortunately, though, we don’t have many details at this time.
All we know is that Sergio M. Cordova was killed Wednesday, October 26th, while riding his bike near 6th Street and Mateo, just two blocks west of the bridge.
No word yet on Cordova’s age or residence, or how the crash happened.
If you knew Sergio, you knew he absolutely loved cycling through all parts of LA, discovering new sights and routes as well as spending time with family. A fan of Batman, The Dodgers, and most recently the Packers. He loved his niece and nephews so much. He took great pride at his work and was beloved by so so many.
The campaign to pay Cordova’s funeral expenses has raised over $4,100 of the modest $5,000 goal in just one day.
Meanwhile, his death screams out the need for protected bike lanes in both directions leading to the popular bridge. Or we can expect this to keep happening in the days and years to come.
A ghost bike will be placed soon.
This is at least the 71st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 22nd that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Cordova is also the 12th person killed riding a bike in the City of Los Angeles in 2022.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Sergio M. Cordova and all his loved ones.
October 28, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Possible serious injury crash in Malibu, LADOT and BSS work together at last, and battered Finneas is one of us
The section from Heathercliff to Bonsall was shut down after the driver of a vehicle transport carrier hit someone riding a bicycle yesterday afternoon.
Closing the entire roadway in both directions for a crash investigation suggests the victim may have suffered serious, potentially life-threatening injuries; police usually don’t close the road entirely unless there’s a death or possibly fatal injuries.
Let’s hope that’s wrong in this case and they’re okay, whoever it is.
If you can call a flimsy plastic bollard protection.
New bike lanes on San Vicente Blvd are ready thanks to the hard work of @LADOTofficial, @BSSLosAngeles, @Midcitywest, & @PICONC2. The BLAST program, a new City project, will develop new bike lanes with street resurfacing––making it easier & faster to expand our bike lane network. pic.twitter.com/GtguUqKEtY
The program marks a new effort to coordinate operations of the Bureau of Street Services with LADOT, which both bike and government advocates have been demanding for years, if not decades.
It appears to mimic Healthy Streets LA by implementing bikeway projects as streets are resurfaced, though it lacks the initiative’s enforcement mechanism to require implementation after resurfacing.
It also doesn’t necessarily follow the city’s mobility plan, let alone the 2010 bike plan.
LADOT provided this plan for the BLAST project for Windward Circle in Venice – impressive! Two-way protected bikeways, painted curb extensions and more! pic.twitter.com/l6da11aN6w
Streetsblog also notes that these projects will happen after termed-out LA Mayor Eric Garcetti leaves office at the end of this year, after overseeing a dramatic drop in implementing bike lanes.
Though the next 24 bikeway projects sound like they will be great, note also that Garcetti presided over a precipitous decline in new and upgraded bikeway mileage pic.twitter.com/xe2sKZAO7E
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A Berkeley letter writer trots out the usual town versus gown conflict, complaining that a new bike lane supported by university students will kill local businesses, to the detriment of longtime residents. Never mind that studies show bike lanes are good for business, even if they require removing parking spaces. And chances are, the university was there long before she lived there, and will be there long after she’s gone.
San Jose reached a 25-year high for pedestrian deaths, with 29 people killed walking the city’s streets; no word on how many of the 54 people overall killed in traffic collisions were riding bikes.
An Oakland website asks candidates for mayor how they would improve street safety, after 11 people were killed on city streets this summer; one councilmember is calling for increased police enforcement — despite his own DUI arrest — and turned down funds for a seven-mile bikeway.
An Oklahoma man was sentenced to ten years behind bars for the shooting death of a man riding a bicycle; he was driving the car when the victim was shot by another man, who was sentenced to life last week.
Misdemeanor charges have been filed against a white Milwaukee man who was caught on video grabbing a young Black man by the neck after accusing him of stealing his friend’s bikes; the 25-year old victim reportedly has the mental capacity of a five-year old. Although it appears the man may have been right about the stolen bikes.
There’s a special place in hell for anyone who could flee the scene after killing a 13-year old Ohio kid riding his bike; a suspect is on trial for hit-and-run and vehicular homicide, as well as possessing coke when he was arrested the next day.
Miami is lowering the speed limit on the city’s deadly Rickenbacker Causeway to improve safety for bike riders, after several fatal crashes in recent years. Although lowering the limit just 5 mph, from 45 mph to 40 mph, may not make as big a difference as they might hope. Particularly when so many drivers ignore it anyway.
October 27, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on New CA law threatens to kill bikeshare, new protected bike lane in South LA, and little protection on 6th Street Bridge
The new law imposes a draconian requirement on providers of shared micromobility devices — like bikes, ebikes and e-scooters — to provide liability insurance covering the behavior of their users.
The requirement could force existing providers like Bird and Lyft to shut down their operations in the state. Or at the very least, raise their rates to unaffordable levels to cover the added insurance costs.
Exactly the opposite of what’s needed right now to shift people to cleaner forms of transportation in order to confront the rising climate emergency.
Let alone get people out of their cars to reduce crushing traffic congestion.
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Nice to see LADOT continuing to build new bike lanes in South LA.
Although as this photo shows, parking protected bike lanes aren’t very protected when no one is parking there.
Because those plastic posts aren’t going to stop anyone.
Check out the new parking-protected bike lane installed from Florence Ave to Gage Ave in #AvalonBlvd! This design protects cyclists and improves the area's bicycle network. #LADOT#BikeLApic.twitter.com/dKozuqlkQM
A reminder that Los Angeles officials didn’t think it was worth protecting bike riders on the new 6th Street Bridge, choosing to protect pedestrians with a concrete barrier while leaving bike riders at risk.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you could have survived this crash riding in the bike lane.
Because those plastic bollards and low rubber curbs clearly didn’t prevent it.
Reminder: flimsy, flexible bollards are NOT features of actual protected bike lanes. pic.twitter.com/RsWguparwA
— Livable Communities Initiative Burbank (@LCI_Burbank) October 27, 2022
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Clear your schedule for December 3rd, when Walk ‘n Rollers will host a fundraising Donut Ride to mark my sister’s birthday.
Metro funding has been approved for a 5.3 mile on-street bikeway through Rosemead, unincorporated South San Gabriel, Montebello and Monterey Park, although at least some of it will be just a class 3 bike route. In other words, sharrows.
An Irish writer sings the praise of cargo bikes, but argues that we need to end the love affair between men and their cars if they’re going to catch on. I broke up with my car a couple years back after a nearly 20 year relationship. But like most relationships, it went on long after the love was gone.
Not one of, but THE nicest person you would ever meet. He pioneered pro cycling for GB. If the World had been represented by Brian, then all would be OK. https://t.co/EJGYti1MfT
Under the proposal, Metro’s basic fare will increase from the current $1.75 to $2, with a daily max of $6, and a weekly cap of $20.
While that will benefit people who make multiple trips in a single day, or over 12 trips each week, it will nearly double the cost for a typical two-way commute with a transfer in each direction, from the current $3.50 roundtrip fare to $6.
Which is exactly how I use Metro in most cases.
A single roundtrip with no transfers will increase slightly, from $3.50 to $4. Meanwhile, weekly costs will jump from the current $12.50 for a weekly pass to a max of $20, while the current $50 monthly pass will be replaced with a max of $80 for four weeks.
That doesn’t exactly sound like a good deal to me, but your mileage may vary.
And it’s definitely not the no-fare transit system Metro promised to study and report back on.
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ActiveSGV shares the update to Pasadena’s 2015 Bicycle Transportation Action Plan we discussed yesterday, which was rolled out at last night’s Municipal Services Committee meeting.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A San Diego TV station insists a bike counter on a North Park bike lane is double-counting some bike riders, even though the city insists it’s been double-checked for accuracy while explaining that ridership naturally decreases in the fall when weather cools and school is back in session.
There is speculation that he may have suffered a medical emergency behind the wheel, although it’s also possible that he may have swerved into the building attempting to avoid someone or something in the roadway.
Either way, we’ve lost yet another shining light to the high cost of traffic violence.
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We already know protected bike lanes improve safety for all road users.
The report, from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, shows protected bike lane networks “reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower transport costs, and prevent premature fatalities in a highly cost-effective way.”
One highlight of the report is the conclusion that Bogota’s 368-mile protected bike lane network eliminates roughly 22,000 metric tons of CO2 every year, equivalent to the carbon capture potential of planting 300,000 to 400,000 new trees.
As outlined in 2015, the Bicycle Transportation Action Plan includes the designation of nine dedicated bicycle facilities along with several Roseways, which is a network of low-speed, low-traffic neighborhood streets that are ideal for comfortable bicycling.
The plan includes a pair of projects that are currently underway, the Union Street Cycletrack from Hill Ave to Arroyo Parkway, slated for completion in late spring, and the Cordova Street Enhancements, expected to begin construction winter of 2023.
Proposed dedicated bicycle facilities and Roseways are:
Roadway reconfiguration and Class II bike lanes on Cordova Street from Arroyo Parkway to Hill Street
Roadway reconfiguration and Class II buffered bike lanes on Colorado Blvd East from Holliston Ave to the east city limit
Roadway reconfiguration and Class II bike lanes on Orange Grove Blvd
A two-way cycle track on Union Street from Arroyo Parkway to Hill Street
Bike boulevards with traffic calming enhancements on:
Wilson Ave Greenway
El Molino Ave Greenway
Craig Ave Greenway
Sierra Bonita Ave Greenway
Villa Street Greenway
Roseways are planned for:
Howard Street
Mountain Street
Villa Street
San Pasqual Street
Bellefontaine Street
Fillmore Street
Arden Road
Lombardy Road
Arroyo Blvd
Raymond Ave
However, just like in Los Angeles, where we quickly learned the unanimously approved bike plan was merely “aspirational,” inclusion in the plan doesn’t mean any planning or design has been done, or that anything will actually get built.
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Culver City continues to show Los Angeles how its done by eliminating parking minimums everywhere in the city.
this is YEARS in the making. thank you to every advocate who worked towards this moment and to Councilmembers @AlexFischCC@YasmineMcMorrin@danielwaynelee0 for never letting up!
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The owner of a Berkeley organic deli says the city has declared war on “cars, street parking and small businesses” by planning for a two-way barrier and parking protected bike lane on the street in front of the business, apparently unaware that such projects usually result in higher retail sales. Or maybe they just prefer parking spaces to money.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Cal State Northridge held its inaugural BikeFest on Sunday, bookended by a pair of bike rides; no word on turnout for the free event.
A San Francisco park ranger ran a group of bike mechanics out of Golden Gate Park because they didn’t have a permit to offer free bike repairas a fundraiser for abortion rights, though he didn’t seem concerned about other groups in the park; the leader of the group was ticketed for refusing to show his ID, though it’s questionable whether park rangers actually have the authority to do that.
A Portland volunteer group calling themselves the Sith Lord Vader Squadron Timberwolves are taking the search and recovery of stolen bikes into their own hands. The story says there’s a Los Angeles chapter; I’d like to hear from them if anyone wants to reach out to me.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a killer hit-and-run driver walked without a day behind bars for leaving an innocent bike rider to die on the side of the road — on Christmas Day, no less — after playing the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by saying he just didn’t see the victim.
Just got home from racing world champs in Paris representing CANADA flying on WestJet who have just destroyed my bike. really disappointed with the lack handling and care taken . @WestJet@CyclingCanada@cdncyclistpic.twitter.com/YgbCvDwpiu
