As noted at the end of last night’s story about the heartbreaking death of a 13-year old bike rider in Boyle Heights, bicycling fatalities are down significantly compared to this time last year.
Through March 11th, just eight bike riders have been killed in the seven-county Southern California region. That compares to 25 in 2014 — over three times as many — in what turned out to be a very bad year, with 85 bike riders losing their lives.
Although I hesitate to use the word “just” when even one death is one too many.
Yet even last year was an improvement over 2013, when 89 people died riding their bikes in Southern California — the highest total since at least 2005.
Which raises the question of whether California’s new three-foot passing law making a difference.
Maybe.
Though it’s too early to tell.
There has been a significant reduction in bicycling fatalities since the law took effect in September of last year.
From September, 2014 through February of this year, 29 bicyclist lost their lives, all as a result of traffic collisions.
In the same period through the fall and winter of 2013-14, 45 bike riders were killed, all but three in crashes with motor vehicles.
However, the reduction wasn’t instant; as the chart below shows, it wasn’t until December that any improvement in bicycling fatalities became apparent.
Which suggests that it may have taken a few months for drivers to adjust to the new rules and start passing bikes more safely.
On the other hand, there’s no difference compared to September 2013 through February 2014, with 29 deaths in the same five month period.
So the jury’s still out.
A lot will depend on what happens from here, when spring and summer weather bring more riders, and more less experienced riders, onto the streets.
But it’s looking good so far.
Update: As Serge points out in the comments below — and I should have noted — correlation is not causation. While deaths are down since the implementation of the three-foot law, that does not necessarily mean it is responsible for the decrease.
The three-foot law won’t have any impact on left-cross collisions, for instance, or wrecks due to right-of-way violations.
The data simply isn’t there yet to tell what, if anything, is responsible for the decrease in fatalities; it may be just a temporary lull, as we’ve seen before.
But it’s a question worth asking, and one we’ll want to keep an eye on.
February 3, 2015 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: January was a good month for SoCal cyclists, walkability survey and still more bike events
Good news for a change.
To the best of my knowledge, only one bike rider was killed anywhere in Southern California last month.
One.
That’s ten less than lost their lives in the seven county region last January. And significantly less than the average of 7.25 deaths in the month of January over the previous four years. In fact, it’s the first time since March of 2012 that only one bicyclist has been killed in any month.
It could be a statistical fluke.
Or it could be that improvements in infrastructure, education and enforcement, as well as the much-touted safety in numbers effect, are finally beginning to pay off.
Lets keep our fingers crossed. And hope this soon leads to a month, or even more, with zero deaths. Something that has never happened since I began tracking SoCal bicycling fatalities in mid-2010.
Maybe, just maybe, we’ve finally turned the corner. And are on our way to safer streets, not just for cyclists, but for everyone.
We can hope.
……….
If you’ve got a few minutes, CSUN sociology master’s student Elizabeth Bogumil could use your help answering a few questions on walkability and livability.
The anonymous survey is designed to examine the relationship between the ability to walk in a community and its quality of life.
Here’s my short answer. If you can’t walk — or bike — safely and enjoyably wherever you are, there’s no point in living there.
The LACBC is hosting a Northeast LA organizing workshop on Wednesday to discuss options, including bike lanes, for a five block stretch of North Figueroa.
Join Multicultural Communities for Mobility and the East LA Community Corporation this Saturday for the extensively named Equity in Motion Bici Tour: A Look at Transit Oriented Development in Boyle Heights.
Head down to San Diego County on March 7th for the St. Paddy’s Palomor Punishment ride up the area’s favorite hill climb.
Or head north on April 25th for the Wildflower Century through northeastern San Luis Obispo County, sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Bicycle Club.
………
Local
The Times says the 3.5 pound, foldable Foldylock is serious about securing your bike. Then again, lock up your bike like they show in the photo, and you could kiss your wheels goodbye.
Better Bike says file Beverly Hills’ dangerous Crescent Drive sharrows under C for crap facilities. Then again, that’s my take on most sharrows, anywhere.
The Glendale News-Press says not so fast on those ridiculous pedestrian crossing flags. Next they’ll expect us to wave a flag while we ride down the street.
Great idea. A San Diego program gives bikes refurbished by prison inmates to ex-offenders so they have reliable transportation while they transition back into society.
A petition calling for a three-foot passing distance in Wyoming gains over 1,000 signatures in just two days; the organization sponsoring it is named for one of the state’s fallen riders.
A Delaware website calls for boycotting the conservative Koch brothers over their opposition to funding active transportation and transit projects. Unfortunately, given the huge size and reach of their holdings, that would be almost impossible; a better tactic would be to pick one Koch company to target.
A US sailor chases her Olympic dreams in Miami, just months after suffering serious injuries while bicycling; thanks to Michael Eisenberg for the heads-up.
International
Bike riders Tweet about how they got into cycling. My origin story begins with a matinee showing of Breaking Away in a nearly empty theater, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
Famed Italian automotive designer Pininfarina jumps on the bike bandwagon. Nice try, but it doesn’t even come close to the world’s most beautiful bike, at least not in my humble opinion.
FC Barcelona looks back at the first great Spanish cycling champion, who wore the football (aka soccer) club’s colors when they had a bike team early in the last century.
A young South African cyclist offers bike tours through one of Johannesburg’s oldest townships; after less than five years, his company is now rated as one of the top five activities in the city.
Here’s how LA can close its budget deficit; an Australian city collects nearly $50,000 in just four months by fining drivers who park in bike lanes. A Canadian cyclist uses his bike to fend off a charging cougar; I’ve used a similar technique to defend against angry drivers.
The results are eye opening, and should give insight on how safety efforts should be directed for the greatest impact.
Or better yet, no impact between cyclists and motor vehicles.
But let’s be clear about one thing.
As impressive as Hindman’s study is, it shouldn’t be up to a single person, or organization, to analyze how collisions occur on our streets.
It should be the responsibility of our city government. Because if they don’t know how these collisions happen, they have no idea how to prevent them.
And traffic safety shouldn’t be left to guesswork.
……..
I have finally completed a list of all the types of 2,421 bicycle involved collisions that were reported by the LAPD in 2013. This was mainly done by just manually counting them. All of these collisions involved injuries.
There were 2,597 pedestrian involved collisions with motor vehicles and 2,277 for bicyclists (some of the reported 2,421 bicycle collisions for the year did not involve motor vehicles). Eighty of those pedestrian involved collisions were fatalities and fifteen were fatalities for bicyclists. There was one bicyclist collision with a train that was fatal. That brings the total reported collision fatalities for bicyclists reported by the LAPD at 16 for 2013.
Bicyclists riding the wrong way are 569 of the collisions. Drivers turning right were involved in 239 (42%) of these collisions. I did not count all the different ways the collisions occurred in this case since the bicyclists were not traveling in the correct direction. Its rather obvious from the raw data that the main danger when riding the wrong way is motor vehicles turning right.
A bicyclist will sometimes ride through a crosswalk in the opposite direction of motor vehicle traffic. From what I have observed, a motorist turning right will frequently just look to their left to see if a motor vehicle is coming and not to their right before proceeding.
Subtracting the wrong way riders from the total leaves 1,852 bicycle involved collisions.
From experience I know that the vast majority of bicyclists are riding between the parked motor vehicles and the front right quarter panel of moving vehicles. Few are riding directly in front of moving motor vehicles in the middle of the moving lane. Since that’s where most of the bicyclists are riding, then it would make sense that most of the collisions would involve cyclists riding in that position on the road. That does not necessarily mean that it is much more dangerous to be riding this way.
The following information does not include the raw collision data of wrong way bicycle riders.
According to some bicycle riders, the danger of being right hooked by drivers is greatly increased when you ride between the parked vehicles and moving vehicles because drivers are much less likely to see you there compared to riding directly in front of them in the middle of the motor vehicle lane. I counted almost as many collisions for bicyclists with motor vehicles turning left (326), as there were for motor vehicles turning right (337). It would appear that drivers tend to not see the bicyclist when turning in either direction before colliding with them.
Parked cars are also sighted as a major hazard by those advocating riding in the middle of motor vehicle lanes. I counted 155 collisions involving bicyclists and parked motor vehicles. I don’t know how many of these involved doors swinging open in front of the bicyclists.
If that sounds particularly hazardous, there were also 55 bicycle collisions with motor vehicles stopped, 125 sideswipes, 16 collisions involving drivers backing up, 7 drivers slowing and the bicyclist hitting them, 6 improper passes by drivers, 5 drivers parking, 17 unsafe driving speed, 72 rear end collisions, 23 lane changes by drivers and 20 lane changes by a bicyclist. That’s 346 collisions. Well over double the amount of bicycle collisions involving parked motor vehicles.
Another argument against riding to the right of moving vehicles and next to parked vehicles is the danger from cars exiting driveways. There were 78 bicycle involved collisions with motor vehicles entering traffic. I presume those to have mainly occurred due to vehicles pulling away from the curb, exiting driveways and freeway off-ramps. Adding this to the parked vehicle collisions still doesn’t come close to the amount of other types of collisions I mentioned above.
There were also 20 head-on collisions where the direction of travel was either E/W or N/S and 367 collisions where both driver and bicyclist were heading straight (typically intersections) but in different directions (not head-on).
Drivers making a U-turn collided with bicyclists 12 times and 3 U-turns by bicyclists involved a collision with a motor vehicle.
Four collisions involved bicycles passing motorists and 6 were unsafe turns by bicyclists.
Right turns by bicyclists were 25 of the collisions and left turns 47.
LAPD reported 29 pedestrian collisions with bicycles. No pedestrian was killed.
Bicyclists hitting an unknown object, slipping and falling or hitting a pothole involved 39 injury reported collisions.
Bicyclist involved in a collision with another bicyclist was reported 7 times.
There were 12 collisions where the primary factor was unknown.
There was one case where a bicyclist hit the driver and the driver (88 years old) was the only one with an injury and also one collision where the passenger of the vehicle was the only one who had an injury when it involved a bicycle rider.
Lastly, a bicyclist injury occurred from colliding with an animal.
My total count is larger than the 2,421 bicycle involved collisions due to counting such things as entering traffic, turning by bicycles and motorists separately for each collision. Each collision could involve a turn by both bicycle and motorist or entering traffic and a turn.
The variety of types of collisions reinforces to me that the Dutch safety principle of separation by mass, speed and direction when possible is the way to go to improve safety. Bicycle riders should not be mixed with motor vehicles that have a much greater mass and are going at a much greater average speed than the bicyclist.
Having more than one motor vehicle lane in each direction on a street increases the likelihood of a higher motorist speed, increases the chance of lane change and also increases the possibility that the driver will get distracted by all of the different actions going on around them. That’s why the Dutch national Crow manual for bicycle infrastructure advises to have a cycle track or bike path built if there is more than one motor vehicle lane in each direction on a street.
……..
Hindman followed-up with a look at the bicycling fatalities reported to the state for 2013 in the city of LA.
Here’s a list of the 16 reported bicycle collision fatalities by the LAPD in 2013 and the primary factors for the collisions:
1-bicyclist unsafe speed
1-driver unsafe speed. Both driver and bicyclist headed west. Hit and run driver.
1-train
2-parked vehicle
1-driver alcohol/drugs. Both driver and bicyclists headed east. Three bicyclists involved.
1-driver alcohol/drugs. Both driver and bicyclist headed east.
1-driver headed east/bicyclist headed north.
1-stop sign/signal. Driver moving south/bicyclist headed west. Hit and run driver.
1-stop sign/signal. Driver headed west/bicyclist headed south. Hit and run driver.
This shows some of the wide variables in collisions. A bicyclist cannot avoid all of these situations. A barrier between the bicyclist and driver would decrease the potential for drivers and bicyclist to hit each other when changing lanes, rear-end collisions or merging. Removing the parked vehicles from arterial streets or a buffer between the bicyclist and parked vehicles would reduce some of the conflicts. Different signal phases for bicyclists/pedestrians and drivers at the intersections would decrease the potential conflicts further.
……..
Thanks to Dennis Hindman for caring enough about your safety and mine to assume this responsibility himself.
The problem is, the study presents the bare stats without the necessary context for them to have any real meaning or usefulness.
For instance, they note that 69% of bicycling fatalities occur in urban areas, which correlates to a 62% increase in bike commuting since 2000. But fail to note that the 16% increase in overall bicycling fatalities no doubt corresponds to an increase in overall bicycling rates.
In fact, it’s entirely possible that bicycling is actually getting safer, since no one has any clue how much ridership has increased in that same three-year period, since virtually no one bothers to count it.
They also say that California has the highest number of bicycling fatalities, with Florida coming in second. However, they fail to mention that California has the largest population of any state, so it could be reasonably expected to have the most fatalities.
They repeat the same mistake in observing that six states — California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Michigan and Texas — represent 54% of all bicycling fatalities. Yet don’t bother to point out that those are also the five most populated states, with Michigan coming in at a close ninth, representing over a third of the US population and most of the major urban centers.
Far more meaningful is the fact that bicycling deaths represent just over 4% of all traffic fatalities in California, twice the national average. At least that figure is in context, and clearly sends a message that far too many bike riders are dying here in the late, great Golden State.
Now that’s something we can work with to demand safer streets.
Unfortunately, it goes on.
The study observes that two-thirds of fatally injured bike riders weren’t wearing helmets in 2012. Which sounds significant, until you consider that nowhere do they attempt to determine how many of those fatal injuries resulted from head wounds.
Helmets are useful items — I never ride without mine — but they are designed to protect against relatively slow speed impacts, not high speed traffic collisions. And they don’t do anything to protect against internal injuries or bleeding.
It is worth nothing that 28% of the bike riders over the age of 16 that were killed in 2012 were over the legal limit for drunk driving. A clear indication that booze and bikes don’t mix, since it impairs your judgment and slows your reflexes — exactly the opposite of the skills you need to survive on the streets.
On the other hand, I would much rather see drunks ride their bikes, where they are a danger primarily to themselves, than get behind the wheel of a car and pose a danger to everyone around them.
Finally, the study correctly notes that our current roadway system was not designed with bicyclists and pedestrians in mind, and that integrating the streets poses challenges. They conclude that cyclists are safest on separated cycle paths, but note that such separated facilities are rarely feasible.
That’s true.
But only because our current leadership doesn’t have the courage or political will to make it happen.
It hasn’t proven to be a problem in places with strong leaders committed to improving safety on our streets, like New York and Chicago, which have somehow found a way to shoehorn those “infeasible” bikeways onto the streets, for the benefit of everyone — cyclists and drivers alike.
I’m not saying the study has no value. It clearly points out that too many of us are dying on American — and Californian — streets.
Then again, one is one too many.
And it’s long past time we did something about it.
……..
A new PSA gets people across LA to promise not to text and drive. Or at least to lie about it, anyway.
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Local
LA Bike Trains helps Los Angeles bike riders get to work safely while inspiring similar programs around the country.
The LAPD and USC’s DPS take victim blaming to a new level, attempting to protect bike riders and pedestrians by — wait for it — ticketing bike riders and pedestrians, rather than the people in the big, dangerous machines. And bizarrely, they ticket a cyclist for entering an intersection while the red Don’t Walk hand is flashing, which is just as legal for bicyclists as it is for motorists.
A new UCLA study points out the many public health and economic benefits of pathways along LA’s rivers; improving health and fitness is a lot cheaper than treating diseases like obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
A Vancouverite goes bicycling on some of the best bikeways the City of Angels has to offer, and not surprisingly, finds it not to her liking.
New York cuts speed limits to 25 mph in all five boroughs to improve safety; needless to say, not everyone approves. If LA’s leaders had the courage to do that and actually enforce it — which they don’t — it would not only improve safety but most likely, traffic flow as well.
Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber ride through New York on their family-sized Dutch bike.
In an OpEd piece for the Washington Post, a cyclist asks why people who don’t drive have to subsidize parking for those who do. Maybe we deserve a discount on rent and shopping.
The Guardian asks if it’s possible to look stylish while riding to work; not to spoil the surprise, but it would be a very short story if the answer was no.
Once again, saying they just didn’t see a cyclist proves to be the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, as not one, but two Brit drivers get off after claiming the sun was in their eyes.
Two years after a Kiwi cyclist warned about the installation of bollards on a bike path, they’re being removed after his wife was seriously injured falling on them.
For at least the third time this month, a bike rider traveling in a designated bike lane has killed in an apparent rear-end collision, this time in Claremont.
According to KTLA-5, the victim was riding east on Baseline Rd at or near Bonnie Brae Ave around 10 am today when he — or possibly she — was hit by a vehicle traveling in the same direction. While road position is not mentioned, the story notes the presence of a bike lane; a wide, curbside lane is clearly visible in Google’s street view.
The victim was declared dead at the scene. The driver remained at the scene and is reportedly cooperating with police.
This is at least the 86th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, compared to 74 last year, and the 37th in Los Angeles County — 13 more than each of the last two years.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his or her loved ones.
Thanks to Michael Wagner, Erik Griswold and Danny Gamboa for the heads-up.
Update 2: KTLA-5 reports the victim is 76-year old La Verne resident Ali Mirage. The driver, a 54-year old woman whose name was not released, has not been charged pending the outcome of the investigation.
Update 3: The Daily Bulletin reports Mirage was honored with a ghost bike on Tuesday. Family members remember him as a fearless free spirit who loved nature, life and exercising.
It’s a devastating total for a city that, like Los Angeles, has made great strides in accommodating cyclists in recent years, and has seen an accompanying jump in ridership.
Or maybe it’s the other way around, as an increasing number of riders have demanded better infrastructure.
Los Angeles, with less than half the population of the British capital, has suffered just one less death this year.
Thirteen Angelenos have lost their lives on the city’s streets since the first of the year. All in traffic collisions.
And shockingly, nine of those 13 deaths have been hit-and-runs, as heartless drivers have fled the scene, leaving their victims to bleed out in the street.
Yet unlike London, there is no outrage on the streets of LA.
There are no protests. There are no die-ins. There are no calls in the press for urgent action to keep our two-wheeled citizens safe as they ride, whether for transportation or recreation.
In fact, as far as I can tell, no one in the press has even noticed.
It’s just accepted as the cost of sharing our streets. Maybe there’s brief outpouring of shock and grief in some cases, near total silence in others. But in the long run, as the late Phil Ochs sang, it doesn’t seem to interest anyone outside of a small circle of friends.
And no one in the media or government ever does the math to come up with the horrifying total.
Thirteen.
Some might say it’s only 12, as one victim — Markeis Vonreece Parish — was walking his bike when he was run down by a cowardly killer in a speeding Mercedes who didn’t even slow down after blasting through another human being.
Technically, Parish was a pedestrian when he was hit. But the fact that he was holding his bike as he walked with friends implied he’d ridden it there, and would likely get back on it to return home.
And that makes him one of us.
Then again, I don’t see where 12 victims is any less tragic than 13. Especially when the city saw just five fallen cyclists in each of the last two years.
There’s no demand for action from our advocacy groups as the death toll mounts; no mass protests at city hall.
And no reaction at all from city hall. No calls from the mayor to halt the bloodshed, no action from the city council to help keep bike riders alive, no demands, unlike other cities, for an end to traffic deaths, let alone those of more vulnerable cyclists and pedestrians.
In fact, in this bloody year of 2013, with nearly three times the bicycling deaths of recent years — and still six weeks left to go — supposedly bike-friendly councilmembers like Tom LaBonge and Paul Koretz have gone on record as opposing bike lanes on Lankershim and Westwood. And had the mayor’s support in gutting the green lanes on Spring Street.
When we need a hand up, we get a knife in the back.
But what’s a few more dead cyclists in the grand scheme of things, if that means drivers — and Hollywood — can continue to maintain their hegemony on our streets?
Greene’s piece isn’t bad.
He suggests the need for protected bike lanes, though noting that we’re unlikely to get them everywhere they’re needed. And he calls for greater enforcement against law-breaking drivers, even though he can’t resist the false equivalency of headphone-wearing bike riders.
But where is the outrage over the blood that’s being spilled on our own streets, as too many Angelenos lose their lives on the hoods and bumpers of cars? And the angels that watch over this city silently scream at the indifference we show to the deaths of our brothers and sisters.
Thirteen.
It’s just accepted as the cost of transportation, the desperately high price we pay for getting from here to there.
Needless to say, none of the responses took drivers to task for failing to pay attention, observing the speed limit or putting down their damn phones.
No, the comments she highlighted blamed the victims, placing full responsibility for avoiding collisions squarely on the shoulders of those not driving the big, dangerous machines capable of killing other road users.
As in, I don’t want to kill you. So it’s your responsibility to get the hell out of my way.
Like this one, for instance.
“I know that there are plenty of inconsiderate drivers, but I see just as many inconsiderate pedestrians that need to take some personal responsibility for their own safety,” wrote Wayne Pedersen.
His drive along busy Foothill Boulevard resembles a dangerous game of chicken, with pedestrians oblivious to stoplights, crosswalks and even corners, he said. “Not a month goes by that I do not have a close call, [almost] hitting someone.”
Call me crazy, but if I almost hit someone at least once a month, I’d take a long, hard look at my own driving, rather than pointing the finger at others.
On the other hand, I won’t waste your time pointing out all the problems with this piece. Streetsblog’s Damien Newton did that already.
And as usual, did it well.
I don’t think Banks is anti-pedestrian, or even anti-bike anymore. Her heart seems to be in the right place, even if she’s looking at the problem from the wrong angle.
My problem comes with the LAPD traffic officer who pointed her in the wrong direction.
“Many, if not most, of the pedestrians and bicyclists that get hit (and often die) are the cause of their own demise,” wrote reader Kurt Smith. “They are not obeying the laws, and/or not paying attention.”
Smith ought to know; he’s a traffic cop. A sergeant in the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division, he deals “with the aftermath of poor choices” made by people who are struck while walking, running and riding bikes.
Yes, Sgt. Smith ought to know. But evidently, doesn’t.
Whether it’s a case of windshield perspective, police bias or selective amnesia, he gets it dangerously wrong. At least as a far as fatal collisions involving cyclists are concerned.
Take Christopher Spychala, the 49-year old cyclist killed when the driver of a parked car threw her door open in his path. He was, by all accounts, obeying the law; if he is to be faulted at all, it’s for riding in the door zone and not wearing a helmet to protect himself from a careless driver.
Or David Granatos, the 18-year old bike rider killed by a speeding, red light-running hit-and-run driver while riding in the presumed safety of a crosswalk.
Yes, 90-year old Joo Yoon was riding against the light when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver. But most likely because he couldn’t ride fast enough to get across the street before the light changed.
Then there’s the rider, to the best of my knowledge never publicly identified, who was the victim of a driver who deliberately ran him over in Downtown LA before fleeing the scene; kind of hard to blame a murder victim for the actions of his killer.
The limited information contained in the LAPD press release doesn’t explain how or why 44-year old Max De La Cruz was hit by the car that killed him. But since the driver fled the scene, I know who I’d blame.
You’d be hard-pressed to blame the publicly unidentified rider who was collateral damage when a driver slammed into his bike, killing him, while attempting to flee after shooting into his girlfriend’s car.
Yes, Jose Cuellar was probably responsible for his own death, since he died in a solo fall, although there were reports of screeching tires before witnesses saw him wobbling on his bike.
Forty-seven year old Samuel Martinez reportedly ran a red light when he was hit and killed by a car last July, making him at fault for his own death.
Eighteen-year old Markeis Vonreece Parish was walking his bike across an intersection when he was hit by a speeding car that fled the scene, leaving him to die in the street.
There is no suggestion that 39-year old Victor Awad was doing anything wrong when he was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Chatsworth last August.
There is also no suggestion that the publicly unidentified rider killed by a turning car in Tarzana in August broke the law in any way.
Luis “Andy” Garcia certainly wasn’t at fault in any way when he and two other riders were run down by a drunk driver who fled the scene, leaving him lying in the roadway where he was hit and killed by a second vehicle.
You’d be hard-pressed to blame 20-something cyclist Billy Martinez, who was killed when a driver turned left directly in front of him as he rode home from his job in Sunland.
Thirteen cyclists killed in the City of Los Angeles since the first of this year; several of them in the same San Fernando Valley district Sgt. Smith patrols.
Of those, there’s no indication that 10 were in any way responsible for the collisions that took their lives, while only three could be clearly blamed for actions that resulted in their own deaths.
Or looking at it another way, seven of the riders were clearly not at fault, three were, and for another three, we don’t have enough information to point the finger one way or the other.
Either way, that’s far from the “many, if not most,” who cause their deaths through their own carelessness, as Sgt. Smith suggested.
I can’t speak for riders who have been injured, rather than killed; there are far too many for any one person to keep up with.
And I leave it to someone else to track pedestrian deaths. While my heart goes out to all traffic victims, this blog is about bicycling, and it’s all I can do just to track the bike riders who lose their lives on our streets.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure Sgt. Smith’s heart is in the right place. And he’s speaking based on his own perceptions, in an attempt to keep cyclists and pedestrians in one piece.
But any suggestion that bike riders are responsible for their own deaths just doesn’t stand up to even the slightest scrutiny.
And it is irresponsible for anyone to suggest otherwise.
………
There’s one important though I forgot to add when I wrote this.
It is true, as Banks said, that some cyclists and pedestrians put their own safety at risk through carelessness or distraction when they ride or walk, just as some drivers are careless, distracted or overly aggressive behind the wheel.
The difference is, even the worst rider or walker is a danger primarily to him or herself, while bad drivers are a danger to everyone around them.
However, there is nothing you can do to control the actions of others.
All you can do is control your own behavior.
And ride, walk or drive defensively, in a way that protects your own safety and doesn’t pose a danger to those around you.
………
One other quick note.
I got an email today from Mark Elliot, author of Better Bike and one of the area’s leading bike advocates, almost single-handedly taking on the challenge of making the former Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills a little more bike friendly.
He writes to let us know that meetings are starting this Thursday to discuss the planned remake of Santa Monica Boulevard through the city. And the need for bike riders to be heard to ensure there’s space for us when the work is finished.
I wanted to give you a heads-up that City of Beverly Hills this fall will be developing design options for tomorrow’s SM Blvd as part of our reconstruction of the corridor. As you know, much-needed bicycle lanes must be on the table, but there is some public (and City Hall) opposition to be overcome.
To facilitate public input, the city recently created a ‘blue-ribbon’ committee. I’ve been appointed; I’ll be representing cycling interests. More important, this presents an opening for the cycling community to be heard. Anyone with an interest in plugging the SM Blvd bike lane gap in Beverly Hills should be aware of the process and the opportunity for comment.
The first meeting is this Thursday, November 7th at 6pm in Beverly Hills (in the library). The 2nd meeting follows in December with a third (and final) meeting in early January. Design recommendations will go to Council in late January, most likely, and we want to be sure that the recommended option(s) includes Class II bike lanes.
I’m not sure I can make there it this time; if not, you’ll see me at one of the other meetings.
But if you can make it on Thursday, I urge you to show up and make you voice heard to close the dangerous gap between the bike lanes on the boulevard through West Hollywood and Century City.
Last week I wrote about a Redlands bike rider who tragically died months after she was critically injured in an October hit-and-run.
Laura Lee Jones was reportedly hit from behind by a car traveling at an estimated 45 to 55 miles an hour; police asked the public to be on the alert for a newer black sedan with damage to the front bumper, windshield and roof.
Now they say it didn’t happen.
I’ll let a Redlands resident take up the story in an email I received Tuesday evening.
Thought I should send this your way as a follow up to your Feb 19 post about Laura Lee Jones, who passed away after an apparent hit-and-run in Redlands last October. This is from the Redlands Police Department Facebook update this afternoon.
Fatal October accident determined not to be hit-and-runAn October traffic collision that resulted in the death of woman earlier this month was determined not to be a hit-and-run accident as initially believed.The collision occurred in the eastbound lanes of Lugonia Avenue at Grove Street at about 6:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26. The victim, 51-year-old Laura Lee Jones, was critically injured. She died Feb. 3 of injuries sustained in the accident. Early witness reports described a black vehicle that initially struck Jones and left the scene before she was struck by another vehicle which did stop. Police conducted an investigation, examining physical evidence at the scene and reinterviewing witnesses, and determined that the first vehicle was not involved in the accident. The driver of the vehicle that struck Jones was determined not at fault and no charges have been filed.Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Redlands Police Dispatch at (909) 798-7681. Anonymous tips can be provided by texting 274637 using the keyword “REDTIP.” Certain non-emergency crimes may also be reported online using the Redlands Police Department’s CopLogic reporting system at
I’m really trying to be reasonable here. This accident happened less than 2 miles from my home. Yes, it is a busy street, and yes, it was dark.
Initial reports stated that witnesses reported that a black vehicle had hit the victim and fled east toward Mentone without stopping. I didn’t ever see a report that talked about the second car hitting her at that time. Now that she’s dead, they re-interview witnesses and decide that the black car didn’t hit her after all? The car that supposedly had front end, windshield and roof damage didn’t even hit her? Did the second car that stopped have damage, because if it’s the only car that hit her, it should have. The second car isn’t even mentioned until updates this month after the vigil her friends held for her at the site where she was hit.
Regardless of who hit her, she was nailed from behind and she died. Some driver should face a charge of some sort. Name the driver that hit her so there is at least a squinch of accountability.
Funny how the story changes completely only after the victim died.
Suddenly she was killed by a second car that hadn’t existed in the press or police reports in more than three months before Jones died. And the first car, which supposedly sustained extensive front end damage, never touched her.
Not that that strains credibility or anything.
It’s possible, of course. By now, we should all know that a speeding car can cause a rider to fall without ever actually making contact. Yet that doesn’t make the driver any less at fault.
In this case, though, police apparently ignore witness statements to conclude it’s just another case of harm, but no foul.
So maybe it’s just a case of exceptionally bad PR.
Maybe if the Redlands police had updated the investigation as they went on, rather than doing a complete 180 after Jones death, it might not strain their credibility to such a degree.
Maybe if they’d announced publicly that they’d found the driver and determined he wasn’t at fault months ago, it might be more believable.
Or maybe if they’d even mentioned the mere existence of the second vehicle, it might not seem like they’d pulled it out of their… well, hats.
Maybe they’ve just done an incredibly bad job of keeping the public informed. Or maybe there’s something else going on here.
Speaking strictly for myself, I’d like to know who was driving that black sedan.
Because something certainly seems rotten in the state of Redlands.
The 50-year old Redlands resident, who did not own a car, was riding her mountain bike east on Lugonia Avenue near Grove Street around 6:45 pm on Friday, October 26th when she was hit from behind by a car traveling at an estimated 45 to 55 miles per hour. The car, described as a newer black 4-door sedan with tinted windows, fled the scene without stopping; the vehicle reportedly suffered damage to the front bumper, windshield and roof.
The road narrows at that intersection, with the eastbound side going from two lanes to one just before Grove Ave. However, there’s no word on whether that may have contributed to the wreck.
Jones was in a coma for a month following the collision, and was unable to move or speak for weeks afterward. The paper does not give a cause of death, but says it is unclear if her death was directly linked to the collision.
According to the Sun, the collision is still under investigation; anyone with information is urged to call Redlands Police Dispatch at 909-798-7681.
If the death can be tied to the injuries Jones suffered as a result of the collision, the driver could face substantially increased penalties for the hit-and-run.
If he or she is ever caught.
Simply put, there is never, ever any excuse for fleeing the scene of a collision. Those who do should face mandatory homicide charges if their victim dies, since they callously and knowingly left their victim to die on the streets. And they should automatically lose their drivers licenses for life, since they have shown themselves unfit to be behind the wheel.
Jones’ death increases the final total of 2012 cycling fatalities in Southern California to 75, 10 of which occurred in San Bernardino County — which is about 75 and 10 too many, respectively. Fourteen of those resulted from hit-and-run collisions, with three in San Bernardino County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Laura Lee Jones and all her family and loved ones.
While no official word has been released regarding the cause of the collision, cyclists have been quick to blame bad road design that forces riders going straight to cross over an exit lane leading to a freeway onramp — just as they did in the death of David Ortiz last year.
In response, riders are prepared to take on, not just a city famed for turning a blind eye to cycling fatalities, but what may be the state’s most bureaucratic and unresponsive agency.
There’s still time to join in and call Caltrans District Director Laurie Berman to demand that she appear at tomorrow’s San Diego City Council meeting to defend the city’s high-speed killer streets, and Caltrans’ apparent refusal to do anything to make them safer for cyclists and pedestrians. Or motorists, for that matter.
And to attend tomorrow’s council meeting yourself to demand both immediate and long-term action to prevent more needless deaths on the city’s streets.
Because far too many people have died on San Diego streets already.
……..
Our anonymous South Bay/Orange County correspondent reports another collision at the exact same site where a car went off PCH in Huntington Beach and nearly killed cyclist Richard Lauwers as he rode on the bike path below.
No cyclist involved
By 10pm, when I rode past, the totaled car had been righted and was facing north, in the exact location of the incident that put Richard Lauwers in the ICU for days.
The tow truck driver was the only one still on the scene, using power tools to try to get the mangled car roll-able. He said he’d arrived just as the ambulance left Code 3 for UCI. “The kid fell asleep,” is what HBFD told him, and he added that the car had rolled and then came to rest upside down, half on the path & half on the sand. He also said the cops don’t suspect alcohol or drugs (of course, if the tox results disagree, there’ll be charges.)
I hope all the pretty sparkly bits of glass are swept off the path for the Sunday morning cyclists.
I hope a mom isn’t signing Consent to Harvest papers tonight.
Ride safe out there!
Two serious collisions that sent drivers off the road in exactly the same spot indicates a serious safety problem that has to be addressed on the roadway.
And should serve as a warning to cyclists that they may not be safe riding the bike path there.
………
Finally, I stumbled on something I found heartbreaking over the weekend.
Yes, it’s a good thing that bicycling has become so mainstream that it’s now used to sell everything from pharmaceuticals to fashion.
But it’s a sad day when a once proud Pashley is relegated to serving out its remaining days as a flat-tired retail display in a Santa Monica Banana Republic.
