He was taken to a local hospital, where he died sometime later.
The Camarillo Police Department reports he was wearing a helmet. However, they didn’t say whether he suffered a head injury, which is the only reason that would be relevant.
Anyone with information is urged to call Camarillo Police Traffic Investigator Anthony Zacarias at 805/388-5126.
This is at least the 52nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and just the second that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
August 25, 2017 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Camarillo hit-and-run driver, more on Governors’ bike safety study, and a bicycle bike workstand
Another day, another heartless hit-and-run coward.
An Aussie Olympic track cyclist was arrested and charged with six counts of selling ecstacy; Jack Bobridge had retired from racing last year after winning silver in team pursuit in the 2012 and 2016 games.
A coming bike industry report says ebikes are the industry’s fasted growing category, older Americans account for 1/3 of all new bicyclists, Latinos ride more than any other racial group and low-income people ride more than anyone else. So much for the myth of the rich, elite cyclists.
Oregon police arrested the woman who fled the scene after demanding the bike rider she hit pay for the damages to her car. But not until she returned to the scene of the crime, crashed into a tree and ran over her passenger.
A Canadian bike rider has his journey across the country halted when someone stole his locked bike and all his gear in front of a Winnipeg Walmart; however, local residents have been contributing to replace it.
The husband of the London woman killed by a brakeless fixie rider calls for changes in the law to treat bike riders like motorists when someone is killed or injured by a cyclist. Someone should tell him most killer drivers walk away with just a light caress on the wrist.
An Australian driver claimed he was blinded by the sun when he plowed into a dozen cyclists while making a U-turn, injuring five riders, one critically. So why couldn’t he see the riders before he made his turn? Or if he was already blinded, why the hell would he make a U-turn when he can’t see where he was going?
Update: the cyclist has been identified as 76-year old John H. Dillingham Jr. of Camarillo.
According to the Star, Dillingham was attempting to turn onto Freedom Park Drive from Pleasant Valley Road when when he was hit by a car driven by 63-year old Eva Labrador of Oxnard. Yet the paper also says he “accidently” veered into the eastbound lane in front of Labrador’s SUV; she was reportedly driving at 55 mph and unable to avoid him.
Unfortunately, the story does not explain which direction Dillingham was riding, or what the speed limit is on that stretch of roadway. Reading between the lines, it sounds as if he was riding east on the shoulder of the road, and moved into the traffic lane to make his turn; however, that is pure supposition based on the minimal description and the satellite photo of the scene.
It is important to remember is that, unless the police have other witnesses, the only description of how the collision unfolded could be coming from the driver.
Unfortunately, Dillingham isn’t around to defend his actions or explain his version of events.
My condolences to his family and friends.
Update: TQ reports that Dillingham was riding with a friend, so hopefully the investigators are getting both sides of the story. And Will Campbell does what I didn’t, checking Google’s street view to discover a speed limit sign indicating the limit near the park is 50 mph.
Update: Rapp not only completed the race today, he nearly made the podium by finishing fourth — capping an amazing comeback over the past eight months. I may just have a new hero.
A champion triathlete was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in near CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo Tuesday night.
According to CHP officials, the incident occurred as Jordan Rapp was riding north on Lewis Road near University Drive when an unknown vehicle made a left turn directly in front of him. The driver fled after Rapp collided with the left side of the vehicle, shattering a window.
When he failed to return home, his wife called the Ventura County Sherriff’s department to report him missing, where dispatchers made the connection with the hit-and-run.
Rapp is the reigning Subaru Ironman Canada and Ironman Arizona champion, as well as the winner of the Vancouver International Half-Ironman and Coronado’s Superseal triathlon, and was scheduled to compete in the 70.3 Oceanside triathlon this weekend. He also worked with World Bicycle Relief, raising $22,541 to provide bikes for school children in Zambia.
He remains sedated on a ventilator in the intensive care unit of a local hospital, with significant blood loss, contusions and lacerations about the head and neck, and numerous fractures including a broken clavicle and scapula. However, Slowtwitch.com reports that his brain function is normal, with no indication of nerve or spinal cord injury.
Authorities are looking for a vehicle with a shattered left window and possible damage to the left side; they suspect the driver could have been a worker leaving a nearby farm which closed minutes earlier. Anyone with information is asked to call CHP Lt. Casey Cronin at 805/477-4100
Finally, an Oklahoma man is convicted of stealing medical equipment and posing as an off-duty fireman in the aftermath of a tragic collision, in which a drunk hit-and-run driver ran down three cyclists, killing two. And yes, he did attempt to render aid to at least one of the victims.
