The victim, identified only as a man, was taken to a local hospital suffering from major injuries, where he died.
There’s no word at this time whether the driver stayed at the scene, or fled. Or if there even was a driver, for that matter.
There’s also no word on how the crash happened, or what kind of vehicle was involved. It could have been an aircraft, for all we know.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Azusa Police Department’s Traffic Bureau at 626/812-3200.
This is the 37th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the 12th we know about in Los Angeles County.
Those numbers could be higher or lower, depending on how many of the people killed riding ebikes were actually on electric bicycles, or were riding e-motos or electric dirt bikes, since the police and media don’t seem to know the difference.
February 4, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bike-riding victim ID’d in Azusa motorcycle cop crash, Angeles NF crashes, and murder charges in 2020 Venice shooting
The officer remains hospitalized in stable condition.
However, there’s no explanation for why the crash happened. Or why Li’s age had been estimated as anything from his 40s or 50s, or why he was originally identified as a pedestrian.
The collision remains under investigation by the CHP. Anyone with information is urged to call the Southern Division Investigative Services Unit at 323/644-9550.
He was lucky to escape without serious injuries, somehow scrambling to safety as the driver crushed his bicycle.
We couldn’t embed video of the crash at the time, instead including stills from a dashcam video from a driver who captured the whole thing.
But the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division solved that problem, tweeting a hit-and-run alert yesterday that not only included a link to video of the crash, but also the dashcam driver chasing the hit-and-run suspect as he fled the scene.
As usual, be sure you really want to see the crash before you click on the first video, because many people may find it disturbing.
The LAPD report indicates there’s a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver, which is the standing amount for any hit-nd-run involving property damage in the City of Los Angeles.
However, the driver is being sought on a charge of felony hit-and-run, even though the victim wasn’t seriously injured.
Usually, any hit-and-run just involving property damage would be considered a misdemeanor under California law, but it can be charged as a felony if the amount of damage exceeds a certain level.
And no, I haven’t been able to find out just what that level is. But apparently, the damages in this case exceed it.
Meanwhile, Wesley Burt forwards a Nextdoor exchange from a couple of women who can’t seem to conceive of someone driving around with a dashcam, without some nefarious purpose.
Naturally, they blame the victim for being up to no good.
And Streets For All founder Michael Schneider points out this rash didn’t have to happen in the first place, if the city had taken its own mobility plan seriously.
The suspect vehicle is described as a 2012 to 2016 Hyundai Elantra, with likely right front-end damage and a missing right front hubcap.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Juan Campos at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online. You can remain anonymous by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800/222-TIPS (8477), or going online at LA Crime Stoppers.
Thanks to Jeff Vaughn and Thomas Riebs for the heads-up.
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The popular Rose Bowl Loop is getting a new coat of asphalt.
No bias here, either. After a British bike rider posts video of a Range Rover driver buzzing a little girl riding her bike as evidence of why people on bicycles should take the lane, the Daily Mail calls him a cycling zealot and drivers complain she wasn’t wearing a helmet. As if a little bit of plastic would protect her from a three and a half ton vehicle.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
San Francisco Streetsblogcalls on Caltrans to build “incomplete streets” by banning cars from off-road bicycle highways, physically separated lanes, bridges, and pedestrian paths and plazas.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Maui driver is being held on half a million dollars bail for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a 73-year old man riding a bicycle, just a week after he plead guilty to DUI in another case. Which is exactly when his keys should have been taken away, and car impounded.
Sad news from Portland, where Bud Clark, the bike-riding mayor who set the city on its bike-friendly course, passed away Tuesday at 90 years old.
Two-time Grand Tour winner Egan Bernal faces a second operation on his spine, as he remains in intensive care after nearly losing his life crashing into a poorly parked bus while training in Colombia.
According to the station, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was stuck by a motorcycle cop at the intersection of Cienega and Sunflower Avenues around 9:10 pm.
Both the victim and the officer were taken to local trauma centers, where the bike rider died of their injuries.
The motorcycle officer is expected to recover.
Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.
There’s no word on how the collision occurred or who had the right-of-way, or if the officer was using lights and siren or responding to a call at the time of the crash.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more later.
This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Update: Three days later, the victim has still only been publicly identified as a man. No further details about the crash have been provided.
The officer remains hospitalized in stable condition.
The collision remains under investigation by the CHP. Anyone with information is urged to call the Southern Division Investigative Services Unit at 323/644-9550.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Xueqi Li and his loved ones.
A press release from the Azusa Police Department says the driver doesn’t even know when he hit the cyclist, telling the police it happened at an unknown time and location, sometime between Saturday night and Monday morning.
The driver reportedly said the victim’s friends laughed about it, and that he drove off after talking with the rider he hit, who also left the scene. Which seems improbable, given the major damage to his windshield, suggesting a significant impact.
Never mind that someone would have to be pretty wasted to crash into someone and not even know when it happened, let alone where.
Police don’t know if a crime actually occurred, but are asking anyone with information to call the Azusa Police Department at 626/812-3200.
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This is who we share the roads with.
Bike commuter weshigh was the victim of not one, but two dangerous passes from the same driver — the last one just a foot away, in clear violation of California’s three foot passing law.
And adding insult to injury, the driver yelled at him to “get a car, bitch!” when he caught up to him at a red light.
A better solution would be if the driver wasn’t allowed to use one anymore.
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Congratulations to the LACBC’s Tamika Butler on her well-deserved award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals for 2016 Professional of the Year – Nonprofit Sector.
“Los Angeles and the entire region are really important right now, not just to the many people that live there but as a national example,” Roberts explained. “What is in the city’s Mobility Plan demonstrates where our nation needs to go, where active transportation is not an after-thought, but a core strategy…LACBC and Tamika are part of writing that important story.”
Then there’s this from another committee member.
“Tamika has challenged the pedestrian and bicycle professional community to grapple with the ways that privilege and structural inequality are embedded in our transportation system and our profession,” wrote Sarah Fine, a member of the APBP awards committee and a planner with the City of Oakland. “We’re all better for it.”
The Hollywood Reporter offers a detailed look at the terrifying attack on a Beverly Hills surgeon, which started when three people in Venice claimed he damaged a bicycle and demanded $150 on the spot.
That’s more like it. An Oregon man gets six years and loses his driver’s license for life for killing a teenage bike rider while visibly drunk. Any conviction for killing another human being while driving should result in the automatic loss of license. Period.
The Detroit News writes about fallen cyclist Karen McKeachie, saying the champion triathlete died doing what she loved. Seriously, if anyone says that about me, I’ll come back and haunt them and their descendants for all eternity.
A Pennsylvania man says he shouldn’t have been driving after using heroin, cocaine and marijuana before getting behind the wheel; unfortunately, it came a little too late for the bicyclist he killed.
Buried in the 3,721 page records of Hillary Clinton’s schedules at the State Department is news that she dedicated a basement shower for employees who wanted to bike or run to work.
Caught on video too: Celebrity is clearly no protection from road raging drivers, as a BBC presenter suffers the wrath of a driver who assaults him and threatens to knock him out for the crime of riding his bike outside the door zone.
Aussie cyclists call for repealing the country’s mandatory bike helmet law, while physicians warn the rate of head injuries could go up. Of course, the only way to find out is repeal, or at least suspend, the law and study the outcome.
A Beijing blog list 16 things that need banning more than the just banned e-scooters, including cyclists who ignore road regulations, and elderly riders who kick their legs over their bikes without looking first to see if other riders are passing.
