Tag Archive for Anisha Marie Lockhart

Protest calls for safer streets, more on death of masters track cycling champ, and not guilty plea in San Pedro hit-and-run

April 10, 2023 / / Comments Off on Protest calls for safer streets, more on death of masters track cycling champ, and not guilty plea in San Pedro hit-and-run

Dozens of people turned out on Saturday to demand safer streets and justice for Josh Mora, who lost his right knee when he was run down by a motorcyclist as he was walking in a Boyle Heights crosswalk March 30th.

According to KCBS-2,

Mora’s injury is far from the first to happen on the one-mile stretch of Whittier Boulevard between South Boyle Avenue and South Lorena Street. According to the Transportation Injury Mapping System, between 2013 and 2022 there were 225 crashes resulting in injury or death.

“Enough is enough,” said Damian Kevitt, the founder of the non-profit organization Streets are for Everyone. “People need to slow down.”

Kevitt went on to add that local residents have been pleading for safety improvements at the crosswalk for years, including safety cameras and other security devices.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s KRON-4 reports there were calls to pass AB-645, which would legalize speed cams around schools and dangerous streets.

Like in Boyle Heights, where the traffic fatality rate is 53 percent higher than the overall city, with more traffic deaths than any other L.A. neighborhood over the past five years.

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More on the needless killing of masters cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes in San Francisco. Boyes was hit head-on by a speeding driver who swerved onto the wrong side of the road in the Presidio National Park last week.

CNN reports Boyes was a 10-time national champion and held the world record in the 1,000-meter time trial for the men’s 35-39 age group at the time of his death.

San Francisco police are working with federal prosecutors on the investigation, since Boyes was killed in a national park.

A San Jose velodrome said Boyes would be remembered as a wonderfully kind human being on and off the bike, who always had a smile on his face and never failed to make people laugh. We could all do worse than to be remembered that way.

The New York Times considers Boyes death in the context of the city’s failing Vision Zero program, saying the crash occurred on a narrow and curvy stretch along a heavily used bicycling route that has been a safety concern for years.

Local bike advocates demand safety improvements in the wake of Boyes death, as one man says he shouldn’t have to feel like he’s risking his life just riding to school with his three-year old son.

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Twenty-seven-year old Anisha Lockhart pled not guilty to the hit-and-run death of Oscar Montoya as he rode his bike in San Pedro early last month.

The 51-year old Montoya had just picked up a meal from a food when he was allegedly run down by Lockhart’s speeding car. Police arrested Montoya five days after the crash, based on tips from the public.

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In case you ever wondered why those plastic car-tickler bendy posts aren’t protection.

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A new video refutes the myth that no one uses New York’s bike lanes, with 321 people on bikes passing through a single intersection in a single half hour during rush hour, compared to a little more than 500 motor vehicles.

And it notes that no one rode salmon, despite the city’s reputation for wrong-way bicyclists.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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North Carolina Public Television offers a feature on Charlotte CyclingSavvy Instructor Pamela Murray, calling her a local bike hero.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

No bias here. A London website reports that bicycling trip segments have tripled in the city over the past 20 years — but then goes on to question whether concerns about road safety, “though perfectly right and proper,” have taken undue precedence, and been overly influenced by campaigners and “misplaced public opinion.”

No bias here, either. London’s Daily Mail tries to stir up controversy by sharing photos of 19 bike riders rolling through a floating bus stop as passengers are getting on or off. Buried in the story is the fact it took place over five hours at multiple locations, along with the fact that the bus stops are new and it will take everyone time to adjust to them.

An Edinburgh, Scotland bike rider is justifiably angry after police refuse to do anything about a dangerously close pass by a bus driver, because “everyone was in their own lanes.”

But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.

When a Zimbabwe man applies for a job as a postman, the only requirement is knowing how to ride a bicycle, which he’s never done. So he says he does anyway; needless to say, it does not go well.

A Sydney, Australia bicyclist “went berserk” and repeatedly smashed the window of a packed bus, leaving it shattered, as one person commented the city is becoming totally lawless “like San Francisco.” No word on what set him off like that, but we can all probably guess. But nothing justifies violence, no matter how deserved it may seem in the moment.

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Local 

A new coalition of Westwood Village and UCLA groups unveiled the new Westwood Connected campaign, which calls for a rail stop on the UCLA campus, pedestrian improvements, and protected bike lanes on Galey and Wilshire, as well as the long fought for bike lanes on Westwood Blvd. And it actually has a chance now that anti-bike lane former Councilmember Paul Koretz is gone.

Prolific character actor Michael Lerner passed away over the weekend at 81; the Oscar-nominated performer appeared in films ranging from Barton Fink, Elf and The Candidate, to Harlem Nights and Eight Men Out. Although the highlight of his career was undoubtedly playing a bicycle salesman in The Brady Bunch.

 

State

Two people were killed, and a pedestrian and a man riding a bicycle were injured, in an apparent street racing crash involving a motorcyclist and the driver of an Audi, who crashed into a minivan in Fullerton.

Ojai votes to move forward with a $6.2 million makeover of the city’s Maricopa Highway, including two-way sidewalk level bike lanes in front of the high school.

The CHP reports a man riding a bicycle in Oakhurst made a suicide swerve Saturday afternoon, striking the side of a large pickup as he allegedly began to make a U-turn. Which is probably bullshit; most alleged suicide swerves are likely the result of overly close passes, rather than careless bicyclists.

A kindhearted Stockton school supervisor bought a new bike for one of his middle school students, after the boy’s bike was stolen from the school’s campus.

This is who we share the road with. A 13-year old boy took the family car out for a joyride, causing a three-car crash near Sacramento that killed one woman and injured nine other people.

Bad news from Northern California, where a hit-and-run driver was arrested for killing the 59-year old finance director and treasurer for the town of Loomis as he was riding his bike to train for an ultramarathon.

 

National

Salon says yes, it’s possible to transition humanity to a carfree — or at least, car-lite, future, without compromising quality of life.

USA Today offers tips on how to resurrect your bike for spring riding if it’s been sitting in your garage all year.

Fortune talks with Forward health systems CEO Adrian Aoun, who rides his bike for mental clarity, calling it his meditation. I’ve long considered bicycling to be a moving meditation, allowing you to get out of your head and become one with the world around you. 

Washington state’s Complete Streets law is starting to show results, with any state highway project over $500,000 now required to evaluate whether fix any gaps in existing bicycle and pedestrian networks. California could have had a similar requirement, if it wasn’t for Gavin Newsom’s veto pen. 

Two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers teamed with the owner of the Anchorage Trek bike shop to ride the Iditarod Trail on fat tire bikes, pedaling 1,000 miles across the frozen tundra to finish in 18 days and four hours.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a custom adaptive wheelchair bike from an athlete in my ostensibly bike-friendly hometown.

The workers at a Little Rock, Arkansas Trek bike shop were lucky to survive after they were forced to take shelter underneath a moveable metal staircase when a tornado tore the roof off the building last week.

Bighearted Flint, Michigan women’s light middleweight boxing champ Claressa Shields hosted an Easter egg hunt and bike giveaway on Saturday.

Jalopnik reports on the NYPD’s ongoing failure to ticket drivers who park in bike lanes, with less than 2% of complaints resulting in citations. Thanks again to Victor Bale.

A Malaysian newspaper recommends touring New York by bike, saying it’s safer than you think. And offers safety advice that goes beyond the usual admonitions to wear a helmet.

The head of the New York Civil Liberties Union is one of us, as the civil rights advocate rides her bike to the farmer’s market on Sundays while her husband walks alongside.

She gets it. A North Carolina letter writer complains about impatient drivers who “have little time to pay much attention to that pesky cyclist who is in their way.”

 

International

Bike Radar considers the lifestyle changes you can make to keep riding into your 70s.

If Shimano has their way, you may soon ride with cleats that move automatically to adapt to riding conditions.

Four international cities are showing how to rethink mobility and put people first.

A former British Columbia city council candidate blamed a curb-protected bike lane after his car got high centered on it, while local bike riders blamed the man behind the wheel.

Owen Wilson is one of us, going for a London ride on a Brompton foldie.

Sad news from Ukraine, where 28-year old cyclist Kostya Deneka was killed in a Russian bombing while fighting for his country near Bakhmut.

A Kenyan writer considers why a bike’s drivetrain is always on the right.

Now that bike helmets are required for all bike riders in Japan, people are having trouble finding them.

The Philippines commemorated the 81st anniversary of the infamous Bataan Death March with a fundraising bike ride for the upkeep of Bataan Death March markers and other World War 2 historic sites.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Mathieu van der Poel swept to victory at Paris-Roubaix, claiming three of the five Monuments so far this spring, with Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia still to come.

Belgium’s Wout van Aert made the podium at Paris-Roubaix, but had to settle for second after a late puncture forced him to watch Mathieu van der Poel ride past on the way to victory.

What was likely Peter Sagan’s final Paris-Roubaix came to an early end when he was caught up in a crash with several other cyclists with around 100 miles still to go.

Canada’s Alison Jackson won the women’s Paris-Roubaix on Saturday with a sprint through the Velodrome, following a major crash that left most of the favorites behind.

Cycling News considers the concussion protocol for pro cycling.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re planning to ride through 11 countries on a $125 tandem. Or when you really, really want to look stylish and glam on your bike.

And when you’re carrying meth and fentanyl and weed on your bike, put a damn light on it already.

The bike, that is, not the drugs.

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Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Arrest made in San Pedro hit-and-run, memorial ride for Dr. Mammone, and CD5’s Yaroslavsky joins Metro board

March 16, 2023 / / Comments Off on Arrest made in San Pedro hit-and-run, memorial ride for Dr. Mammone, and CD5’s Yaroslavsky joins Metro board

Too often, hit-and-run drivers get away with their crimes.

But not this time, apparently.

The LAPD announced the arrest of 27-year old Anisha Marie Lockhart, accusing her of being the heartless coward driver who killed Oscar Montoya as he was riding his bike in San Pedro early in the morning on Sunday, March 5th.

A statement from the department reported that citizen tips led them Lockhart’s car two days after the crash, and additional tips helped them take Lockhart into custody two days later.

She was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash, and on her way to another bar when she slammed into Montoya, who was just picking up an order from a food truck.

Lockhart was being held on $100,000 bond on a charge of felony hit-and-run; it’s not clear if she’s still in custody.

Meanwhile, it’s likely that multiple people will split the $50,000 reward if she’s is convicted.

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The Big Bear Cycling Association has more information on Saturday’s memorial ride for Dr. Michael Mammone, who was murdered while riding his bike on PCH in Laguna Beach last month, by a man apparently suffering from mental illness.

The cycling community has rallied in an effort to honor the life and contribution of Dr. Michael Mammone.

With support from Providence Mission Hospital Foundation a celebration of life and ride has been organized on Saturday March 18th, 2023 at the Leonard Cancer Institute at Mission Hospital 27799 Medical Center Road Mission Viejo.

All cycling groups small and large are encouraged to ride to the event. We ask that your ride does not “start” or “end” at the hospital but instead “STOP” at the event no later than 11:00 A.M. Groups should plan their own independent rides and converge at the event.

Armbands (optional/free) to be worn on the ride may be picked up at Rock n Road Cyclery, at all 4 Orange County locations and Specialized of Costa Mesa, any time prior to the day of the event and worn on your group rides that day.

For those individuals and families wishing to attend without riding to the event, free parking will be provided on the first three levels with the rooftop level reserved for standing room only attendance.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up. 

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Los Angeles CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky will take former Councilmember Mike Biden’s place on the Metro board, which should be good news for active transportation.

https://twitter.com/DavidZahniser/status/1636180907685195776

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Costa Mesa could use someone who bikes for their new Energy/Sustainability Manager.

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The San Diego Bike Coalition is teaming with Families for Safe Streets San Diego for a hard-hitting new poster campaign calling attention to the record number of traffic deaths in the county.

The group is looking for volunteers to help put up posters around the city this Saturday. You can learn more and RSVP here.

Sadly, they’ll need another one in Oceanside after a man riding a bike was killed by a driver high on heroin yesterday.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the tip.

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The war on cares may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.

He gets it. A writer for The Spectator calls on everyone to stop demonizing bike riders, and give colleagues a pass for showing up in the office in a bit of Lycra, because more people on bicycles benefits everyone.

But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A Scranton, Pennsylvania man walked without a day behind bars for groping four women as he rode by on his bicycle, after the judge sentenced him to four months home vacation confinement.

An assistant to a Baton Rouge, Louisiana judge was lucky to escape unscathed after she nearly hit a pair of teenaged bike riders, who responded by shooting her in the arm; the same suspects reportedly stole a running pickup minutes later, then repeatedly shot the driver when he tried to reclaim it after they crashed into a stop sign with their bikes in the truck bed.

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Local 

The UCLA Sustainable LA Grand Challenge will spend the next two years examining transportation issues with local stakeholders through their new TRACtion program, short for Transformative Research and Collaboration.

Chris Hemsworth is one of us, riding barefoot on an ebike made by Los Angeles-based Super73.

 

State

The UCI Health system will host the 7th Annual UCI Anti-Cancer Challenge this October, featuring bike routes of 14, 35, 60 or 100 miles, as well as a new mountain bike route, and 5K and 10K run/walks.

She gets it. A Solano Beach letter writer says that the increase in bicycling collisions isn’t because bicyclists are riding in an unsafe manner, but rather, “due to the explosion in popularity of ebikes, more people are biking on our unsafe roads.”

San Jose will use a $2 million federal grant to fund a design study on how to transform a six lane highway into a boulevard with dedicated transit lanes and protected bike lanes; nicknamed Blood Alley, Monterey Road has long been the city’s deadliest roadway, with 42 deaths and severe injuries in less than four years. Maybe Malibu could take a few notes on how to transform PCH from SoCal’s deadliest highway into the Main Street it should be.

San Francisco opened a two-way bikeway on Battery Street, which Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick bitingly describes as “just more paint, plastic, and prayers masquerading as ‘protection.'”

 

National

Men’s Journal offers their choices for the year’s best road bikes, with prices starting at around $800 and going up — a lot.

A mountain biker discusses three things that can kill your confidence on the trail.

Surprising news from bike-friendly Portland, where bicycling rates have dropped to a 17 year low, including a 45% drop in bicycling in the central city from nine years earlier.

A Wyoming paper talks with Michael “Mac” McCoy, the father of the 2,700-mile Great Divide Trail, which follows the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico.

Chicago approved a plan to use cameras to ticket drivers who park in bus and bike lanes, employing a combination of cams mounted on poles and on buses and other city vehicles. LA Metro approved a similar program to use bus-mounted cameras to ticket drivers who park in bus lanes.

The Washington Post reports on the battle to make pandemic era Slow Streets permanent, as some drivers refuse to give up without a fight.

 

International

Undefeated UFC fighter Lerone Murphy is preparing to return to the ring, 18 months after surviving a near-fatal bicycling collision in London.

London-based luxury fashion and lifestyle magazine Salon Privé examines the physical health benefits of riding a bicycle. Although the mental health benefits are equally, uh, beneficial. 

A Dublin, Ireland man filed a multi-million euro lawsuit alleging he suffered a catastrophic brain injury slamming his head into a series of bollards, despite wearing a helmet, after losing control of his ebike hitting a low curb on a protected bike lane.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a former bus driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a man riding a bicycle, after playing the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by claiming the sun was in his eyes. Which may or may not be true, but the correct response to being blinded by the sun is to stop until you can see, not keep going until you run over someone.

Belgium is creating a voluntary national bicycle registry to combat bike theft.

Germany’s bicycle industry quadrupled in just a decade, rising to a combined total of seven billion euros, the equivalent of roughly $7.5 billion, while every second bicycle sold in the country is an ebike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-three-year old British cyclist Tom Pidcock is out of Saturday’s Milan-San Remo after he showed mild concussion symptoms following a crash in the final stage of last Sunday’s Tirreno-Adriatico.

Belgian cyclist Lotte Kopecky won the country’s Nokere Koerse bike race on Wednesday, just four days after the unexpected death of her brother; Belgian national champ Tim Merlier successfully defended his win in last year’s men’s race.

 

Finally…

Seriously, who wouldn’t ride a bicycle to get ice cream in the middle of a blizzard? If you’re going to steal a cargo bike worth over $2,600 in a petty crime spree, it might raise fewer red flags if you tried to sell it for more than 60 bucks.

And it’s that time of year when mountain bikers emerge from their winter hibernation.

https://www.tiktok.com/@thecaliradokid/video/7203741560847060270?embed_source=121331973%2C120811592%2C120810756%3Bnull%3Bembed_blank&refer=embed&referer_url=www.bikemag.com%2Ftrending-news%2Fmountain-bikers-spring&referer_video_id=7203741560847060270

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update: Hit-and-run driver kills man on bicycle in early morning San Pedro collision, few details available

March 5, 2023 / / One comment

A nearly three-week streak without a bicycling death in Southern California ended early Saturday morning.

And once again, a hit-and-run driver was to blame.

According to My News LA, the victim was riding north on Pacific Avenue in Venice when he was run down from behind at 12:40 am.

The victim died at the scene.

The site puts the location at just south of Channel Street; however, that address doesn’t seem to exist. Those two streets actually meet in San Pedro, several miles south near Long Beach.

There is a Channel Pointe in Venice, but that doesn’t intersect with Pacific, so it’s unclear just where the crash occurred.

There was no ID or description given for the male victim.

According to police, the driver did not stop or identify themself before fleeing the scene. The only description of the suspect vehicle is a small, light-colored vehicle, which doesn’t give much to go on.

And as usual, the LAPD did not use either the city or state hit-and-run alert system to ask for the public’s help in finding and identifying the victim’s killer.

However, they did urge anyone with information to call the LAPD South Traffic Division Detectives Moreno and Flannery at 323/421-2500 between 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday, or 1-877/527-3247 any other time.

Which is far from the same thing.

This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it also appears to be the first in the City of Los Angeles.

Four of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Update: The victim has been identified by the Daily Bulletin as 51-year old Oscar Montoya, no city of residence given. 

The paper also clarifies that the crash occurred on Pacific Avenue, just south of Channel Street, in San Pedro, not Venice. 

Update 2: The LAPD has provided security cam video from the scene, showing the suspect vehicle as the driver briefly paused before speeding away. The car is described only as a light colored vehicle, possibly a Toyota Scion, although it looks more like a Kia Soul to me. 

A Good Samaritan attempted to provide aid, but to no avail. 

This is how Montoya’s adult son described him. 

“He was a loving man. If you ask anybody, they’ll say he was this big teddy bear. He was, like, this big man that you could run up into and give him a big hug and he would embrace you with open arms,” Joshua told KTLA. “He was a family man, he was my father.”

Meanwhile, Twitter user Guy Paddock reports that he frequently rides that route, even though he finds the gap in the bike lane on Pacific terrifying.

Update 3: Police arrested 27-year old Anisha Marie Lockhart, accusing her of being the driver who killed Montoya. 

According to KCAL News, 

“On March 7 … citizens provided tips that led detectives to the suspect’s vehicle, a 2009 Scion XB, which was taken into custody,” police said. “On March 9 … South Traffic Division Detectives utilizing department
resources and other tips from citizens apprehended the driver, Anisha Lockhart.” 

She was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash, and on her way to another bar when she slammed into Montoya, who was just picking up an order from a food truck. 

Lockhart was being held on $100,000 bond, on a charge of felony hit-and-run. 

Meanwhile, it’s likely that someone will receive the $50,000 reward if Lockhart is convicted. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Oscar Montoya and all his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , ,
 
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