Although, as always these days, the question is whether these scofflaw victims, who haven’t been publicly identified, were riding electric motorbikes or ped-assist bicycles.
Because police reports and the press don’t seem to be able to distinguish between them.
That’s even though pavement cracks and pot holes can pose a significant risk to bike riders, especially after dark when they can be almost impossible to see.
Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys, the two formerly teenage suspects accused of recording themselves laughing as they intentionally ran down and killed former Bell police chief Andreas Probst as he rode a bike in Las Vegas, are now scheduled to go on trial November 3rd.
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This is what the Vermont Corridor could look like, if Metro continues to refuse to comply with Measure HLA, which requires bike lanes, as well.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
You’ve got to be kidding. An Illinois county board member was cited for a lousy crosswalk violation, despite leaving the scene after hitting a little kid riding a bicycle with the walk signal; she ended up driving herself to the police station, claiming she was confused and didn’t know what to do. Seriously, if you don’t know that you’re supposed to stick around after a crash — especially after hitting a little kid — you shouldn’t be driving. Or in office, for that matter.
A Kiwi website credits the extensive bike lane network Christchurch built after the city was devastated by a 2011 earthquake for its high rate of bike riding, using the damage as an opportunity to re-envision its streets. Something else a certain SoCal megapolis could learn from after the recent fires.
January 20, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on High wind warnings and fire danger return to LA, man dies riding Simi Valley trail, and denouement to bizarre Scottish hit-and-run
Day 20 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Well, this ain’t good.
The National Weather Service is calling for a return of Santa Ana winds up to 100 mph starting this afternoon — the same conditions that fueled the deadly wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena exactly two weeks ago.
So beware of dangerous wind gusts that can rise suddenly, keep an eye out for any sign of fire or smoke, and keep your phone handy for any wind or evacuation alerts.
After last time, we’ve all seen what could happen. So if you smell smoke, wear a mask. And if there’s a fire anywhere around you, get the hell out.
Please.
⚠️POWERFUL & DAMAGING SANTA ANA WINDSTORM INCOMING!!⚠️
Take action now to prepare your home and loved ones for another round of EXTREME WIND and FIRE WEATHER, staring tomorrow afternoon! Worst winds Mon afternoon – Tue morning. #CAwx#SantaAnaWindspic.twitter.com/CuhRHgOTjF
Tony Parsons died after the driver drove away, leaving him propped against a fence overnight. The driver came back with his brother the next day and buried Parsons in an unmarked grave in the woods, along with his bike and belongings, where his body wasn’t found for another three years.
Alexander “Sandy” McKellar was sentenced to 12 years behind bars, while his twin brother Robert got five years and three months.
They probably would have gotten away with it if Sandy McKeller hadn’t taken his girlfriend to the burial site in 2020, and confessed the whole crime to her.
She promptly reported it to the police. Yet it wasn’t until the next year that the grave was finally discovered and the McKellers arrested.
It’s questionable whether most drivers will ever grasp the concept that riding abreast and controlling the lane makes us safer, while making it easier for them. It just requires a little patience.
Spot on by the cyclists. The camera looks to be from an HGV.
Needs at least 1.5m to pass. Going side by side the cyclists make their line shorter. A clear piece of road appeared, pass to the offside is safe.
Police in Spartanburg, South Carolina are on the lookout for two suspects, after the passenger in a car threw a drink cup at a man riding a bicycle; the cops were able to find the cup, so it’s conceivable they may be able to lift prints. That happened to me so often riding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that I could have opened my own convenience store. Although it must not have been illegal there, because I eventually gave up on trying to get a cop to take a report.
One last bike-friendly federal bill before the new administration takes over, with the signing of the Biking On Long Distance Trails (BOLT) Act, which will require the feds to build at least 10 long-distance bicycle routes throughout the US, and identify potential routes 10 more using existing roads and trails.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. Heartbreaking news from Florida, where a 53-year old man without a license was busted for his third DUI — but not until he ran a stop sign and killed six-year old kid riding a bike. Just one more example of why it’s not enough to suspend the driver’s license after a second DUI. The driver’s car should have been impounded for the full term of his license suspension.
A pair of Aussie bicyclists were seriously injured, and their bikes significantly damaged, when they were run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver. Raising the obvious question of how anyone fails to see not one, but two grown men on bicycles directly in front of them.
Two-time Tour de France camp Jonas Vingegaard calls for an immediate end to carbon monoxide doping, the latest not-yet-illegal fad among the pro racing crowd. Which raises the question of whether LA cyclists would fail a CO test simply for breathing the air around here these days.
The former sports director for Belgian women’s cycling team Proximus-Cyclis, now Team Velopro–Alphamotorhomes, was banned for five years on Friday after being accused of inappropriate psychological and sexual harassment; the team manager was banned for 18 months and fined the equivalent of $5,500 for failing to report it. Is there really such a thing as appropriate psychological and/or sexual harassment?
Once again, someone riding a bicycle was killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver in Southern California, and we didn’t learn about until weeks later.
Except this time there was a cop involved.
Allegedly.
According to the Los Angeles Times— the only source currently reporting the story — 38-year old Chino resident Fabio Cebreros was riding his bike on Bon View Ave in Ontario on Christmas Eve, when he was struck by an off-duty cop around 7:37 pm.
The driver was identified as 39-year old Aaron Kleibacker, a rookie officer with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division.
Cebreros was taken to a hospital, where he died from his injuries,
Kleibacker initially fled the scene before returning, although it isn’t clear if he turned himself in, or if he was recognized by a witness or identified some other way.
He reportedly cooperated with investigators, but failed a sobriety test, testing at over twice the legal limit.
Kleibacker was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, and released the next day. Charges are pending.
The Times reports Kleibacker appears to have joined the LAPD after serving with the Marines. An LAPD spokesperson confirmed that he still works for the department, although probationary officers can be fired outright for alleged misconduct.
There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or where it happened on Bon View; there’s also no information on how long Cebreros was hospitalized before he died.
We also don’t know how long it took Kleibacker to return following the crash, which could have an impact on whether he faces hit-and-run charges, in addition to vehicular manslaughter and — presumably — DUI counts.
This was at least the 56th bicycling fatality in Southern California last year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
Twenty of those deaths last year involved hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Fabio Cebreros and his loved ones.
December 17, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on CA ebike incentive program launches tomorrow — no, really — and El Segundo bike lanes leave something lacking
Just 14 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb.
Yet no city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it.
Thanks to Terese E for her generous, if somewhat lonely, donation keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way from around the corner, and around the world.
But time is rapidly running out for this year’s fund drive. So what are you waiting for?
Let’s just hope they’re up to the task and have everything ready for the launch after this interminable delay.
We’re counting down the days to our official application launch on December 18, 2024 at 6pm PST — just a few days away!
To help you get ready, here’s a quick checklist of documents you’ll need to have ready when you apply. Documents need to be in a digital format to be uploaded. Digital file types include, but are not limited to PDF files, scans, JPEG or PNG file formats.
Proof of California Residency – California Driver’s License, AB 60 License, or California ID card. The document must be current/valid and issued by the California DMV. If the address on the identification is not up to date, this is a listof documents you can submit.
Proof of Income Eligibility – Provide documents to verify that your annual gross household income is at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The easiest form to submit is a Federal Tax Transcript, easily downloaded or requested by mail from: tax records and transcripts. If you don’t file taxes, refer to this list of acceptable documents.
Taking a few minutes now to gather these documents will help streamline your application so you’re all set to apply as soon as the window opens.
WHAT CAN I DO NOW TO GET READY?
With just a few days until the launch of our electric bike incentives, let’s make sure you’re prepared.
Here’s what you need to focus on:
1) Check your eligibility – Click HERE to learn more about eligibility.
2) Watch our how-to apply video – Click HERE to watch our step by step application process video.
3) Prepare your income verification documents – Click HERE to learn more about income verification.
4) Have your current/valid California ID ready and ensure your ID is up to date to avoid any delays.
5) Watch our 2 online training videos – Click the links below to watch our training videos prior to applying.
6) Check out our FAQ’s – Click HERE to review our FAQ page.
A 35-year old man in Boca Raton, Florida faces charges for killing a 41-year old man riding a bicycle, seven hours after he took Adderall, Vyvanse and Gabapentin, despite telling investigators he’s in rehab.
And just moments after he passed another man riding in the same bike lane “so closely (the bike rider) could touch the vehicle.”
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Once again, a UK bike lane has been intentionally sabotaged by “anti-bike psychos” who covered it with caltrops, a multi-spiked weapon dating back to the Roman era, resulting in crashes that caused at least one victim to suffer hearing loss; adding insult to literal injury, victims complained that Scottish police just “didn’t give a shit” when informed of the crime. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
A Colorado woman pled guilty to tampering with evidence for deleting a text proving she was driving while distracted when she killed a ten-year old boy riding a bicycle; she’s also being tried this week on a second misdemeanor charge, careless driving resulting in death. The crash occurred just an easy nine mile ride from where I grew up.
According to a new lawsuit, a “deeply religious” business owner is dead because a driver high on “Galaxy Gas,” aka nitrous oxide, killed him in a collision as he rode his ebike on an Atlanta sidewalk; the driver bought a canister of the gas labeled for food and beverage use only at a local smoke shop an hour earlier, and allegedly drove around doing “whippets” to get high.
My apologies for last night, when I suffered from an embarrassing case of premature publication, mistakenly hitting the Publish button long before today’s post was ready.
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Just 19 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb.
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it.
According to The Columbus Dispatch, aggravated manslaughter is defined in the New Jersey’s criminal code as “when a person ‘recklessly causes death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.'”
The brothers were in New Jersey for their sister’s wedding, and were riding their bikes on the night of August 29th, when Higgins allegedly tried to pass another car on the right and slammed into the two men on the shoulder of the highway.
Higgins could be sentenced to 10 to 30 behind bars years for each manslaughter count; he also faces additional charges for DUI, hit-and-run, tampering with physical evidence, and reckless driving.
Bicycle Highways — Creating a pilot program to establish numbered highways for bicycles in two major metro areas, allowing for speeds up to 25 mph
Shared Streets — Develop a new roadway classification where vulnerable road users would have the right of way at all locations
Quick-Build Pilot Program — A program to expedite development and implementation of safe, protected bikeways on the state highway system
Bike Omnibus Bill — Including clarifying that bike riders wouldn’t need to signal if they need both hands to control their bicycle
Bicycle Safety Stop — Otherwise known as an Idaho Stop, allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields
New Bikeway Classification — Create a new Class 5 category for bicycle boulevards
Clarifying Ebike Policies — Including making it clear that illegal electric motorcycles aren’t ebikes
Now if they’d just try to do something about the state’s unacceptably high rate of hit-and-run drivers.
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The Glendale City Council followed Culver City’s lead by overruling staff recommendations, and voting to remove the city’s only protected bike lane — an ill-advised action likely to make them liable for any bicyclist who gets injured on the street after it’s removed.
Although to be honest, I’ve kind of lost interest in the whole damn thing.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Utah man faces charges for allegedly ramming into a bike rider during a road rage confrontation; the driver swears he was just trying to politely tell the victim to stay in the bike lane when the rider became enraged and broke his side mirror, and he didn’t mean to hit him — even though witnesses say it appeared to be intentional.
No bias here. A New York councilmember called for mandatory ebike registration to combat “The scourge of e-bikes in our streets, on our sidewalks, and even inside our buildings (that) continues to wreak chaos, injure and maim people, and, tragically, take lives,” resulting in 47 deaths in five years; even the Department of Transportation says it’s a bad idea. And even though most victims were killed in battery fires or by drivers while riding ebikes, rather than caused by them. And they continue to lump ped-assist ebikes together with mo-peds and high-speed, throttle-controlled virtual motorcycles.
Brussels, Belgium is banning bicycles and scooters from the city center, known as the Anspachlaan; a bike advocacy group says all bicyclists are being punished for the anti-social behavior of a very few. Which is exactly how it usually works.
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Local
Metro is finally moving forward with plans to improve transportation for the upcoming LA Olympics, including 14 miles of bus priority lanes, 23 miles of bus corridor enhancements and 60 new Metro Bike Share stations, as well as a number of new first mile/last mile improvements, including new protected bike lanes. Although three and a half years isn’t exactly a lot of lead time to make a number of major changes to the streets.
Sad news from Bakersfield, where a man was killed when he fell off his bicycle, and oncoming “vehicle…failed to avoid colliding with” him. Hats off to the Bakersfield Californian for somehow managing to absolve the driver of any agency and responsibility for killing him.
Speaking of Bakersfield, a cop with a strong case of windshield bias responded to a traffic calming project by blaming the victims, arguing that even though it succeeded in slowing traffic, that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer crashes because it doesn’t account for pedestrians who step out ten feet in front of drivers, leaving “literally no time for the driver to do anything,” or bike riders “with no lights, wearing black clothing, riding the wrong direction in the bicycle lane.”
National
Streetsblog has more on the new handlebar-mounted “dashcam” for bikes being developed by a pair of Arizona universities, which are designed to automatically capture images, location data, and other critical evidence when a vehicle passes dangerously to someone on a bicycle.
A pair of Oklahoma men face charges of 1st-degree murder for shooting a man in the back, after accusing him of stealing a bicycle belonging to one of the men’s 10-year old daughter; witnesses never bothered to call 911 because they didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t want to get involved. As we’ve said many times before, no bicycle is worth a human life. Just let it go, for God’s sake.
Cycling Weeklytalks with American adventurer Neal Bayly, cofounder of the Wellspring International Outreach, who recounts memorable rides through Ukraine and Peru, as well as Bhutan’s Tour of the Dragon, described as the world’s toughest single-day mountain bike race; Bayly says he bikes so much his motorcycle buddies are getting pissed off.
A Melbourne, Australia radio station considers the eternal question of what if bicycles had to be registered, as the head of a driver’s organization says all road users should pay for the road — even though bike riders already pay for more than our fair share of the roadway, and studies have shown bike registration costs more to operate than it would bring in.
October 28, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 50-year old man killed in DUI collateral damage crash while walking bicycle in Rialto; 2-year old boy suffers minor injuries
“Preliminary information indicates the female driver of the Dodge Caravan was driving southbound on Riverside Avenue and was turning left to go east on Etiwanda and failed to yield, [leading] the black Audi to collide with the Caravan,” Sgt. Smith confirmed to KTLA. “[The collision] caused the Caravan to go onto the northeast corner of the sidewalk, striking the pedestrian.”
The victim, identified only as a 50-year old man, died after being taken to a hospital.
A two-year old boy who was riding in the Audi with his father was taken to the hospital with minor injuries, as was the 32-year old driver of the other vehicle; police planned to arrest her for DUI upon her release.
The station oddly notes that the victim’s bicycle did not appear to have suffered significant damage.
Just the person who had been walking it.
This is at least the 45th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
The driver fled the scene, but police arrested 68-year old Elias Madriz Gutierrez shortly later. He was booked on suspicion of hit-and-run and driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, along with second-degree murder.
According to My News LA, Gutierrez was convicted of DUI twice before, in January 2009 and April 2018. Which means he would have been required to sign a Watson advisement, stating he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving under the influence any time in the future.
As a result, he could be looking at 15-to-life for the murder charge alone, as opposed to up to six years for vehicular manslaughter.
This is at least the 42nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 10th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Fifteen of those SoCal deaths have now been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kristin Bellovich and her loved ones.
September 16, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on City Council unanimously orders report on cleaning protected bike lanes, and killer of Gaudreau brothers had .087 BAC
Just 106 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
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I neglected to thank Erik G and Robert L last week for their generous donations to help out with my shoulder issues, and keep this site coming your way now that I’m back to work.
Which doesn’t mean they’ll ever actually do it, of course.
The motion, which was passed unanimously, requires them to report on both the equipment and staffing required to sweep the city’s protected bike lanes every other week. The agencies were also ordered to report on the best practices to maintain protected bike lanes, and what the city does now.
Which clearly ain’t much.
In fact, the city has just two street sweepers designed for protected bike lanes, and only uses them on a quarterly basis — as anyone who rides them regularly can probably tell.
If that sounds cynical, it’s because we’ve been here before. The city has a habit of ordering reports that never come back, and never get acted on if they do.
In fact, we’re still waiting for the city’s “much better” version of Measure HLA, which was supposed to come back to the council long before HLA was overwhelmingly passed by the voters.
So it’s a positive step forward — but only if we stay on top of them and make sure the city follows through on it.
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The driver who killed the hockey playing Gaudreau brothers as they rode their bikes on a rural New Jersey highway was legally drunk after the crash. But not as drunk as he made it sound.
Higgins is being held without bail, charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
He faces up to 20 years if he’s convicted, and would have to serve at least 85% of his sentence.
Yet the original article inexplicably ends with a section on the rising rate of ebike injuries — even though his injuries had nothing to do with the kind of bicycle he was riding.
The co-captain of the WeHo East Neighborhood Watch Association is denying that a letter purporting to come from his organization, which was used to obtain more than $8 million in funding to fix sidewalks and install protected bike lanes on Fountain Ave from the California Air Resources Board, was actually written by the group and represented their wishes.
And still more sad news, this time from Sacramento, where a woman riding a bicycle died in the hospital after she was found lying in the roadway; police don’t know yet if she fell or was the victim of a hit-and-run.
About damn time. Sacramento is considering declaring a road safety state of emergency to free up more resources to confront the rise in pedestrian and bike rider deaths. Meanwhile, here in Los Angeles, we had a record level of pedestrian and bicycling deaths last year, and no one in city government seems to give a damn.
The leader of a London borough council is tired of abandoned dockless ebikes littering the streets and teenagers zooming along the sidewalks, and wants to have all Lime bikes crushed. Just wait until he learns about all the cars blocking sidewalks and bike lanes, and drivers zooming down the streets.
A Welsh woman will spend a well-deserved 45 months behind bars for fleeing the scene after running a bike-riding man down from behind, and selling her car days later to cover up the crime; the victim had to have his leg amputated due to his injuries. And yes, that sentence should have been a hell of a lot longer.
Samoa named its first-ever national cycling team, with a goal of competing in the 2027 Pacific Games in Tahiti; the country’s new riders range in age from 17 to 53. Yes, 53.
I’ve been out for over a month after surgery to replace two tendon and fix a number of tears in my right shoulder. I’m now looking at a long recovery, with six months of rehab before I’m back to normal, let alone get back on a bike.
Or whatever passes for normal at my age.
I’ll do my best to keep this site going on a regular basis, but may face some issues going forward depending on how well rehab goes.
Before we move on, though, let’s take a moment to consider that the new tendons holding my shoulder together came from caring people who donated their bodies after death.
We tend to think of organ donation as involving hearts and lungs, livers and kidneys. But corneas, skin, bones and yes, tendons, also stem from that same kindness.
And I couldn’t be more grateful for them.
So if you haven’t signed your organ donor card, what the hell are you waiting for?
Now let’s catch up on some of the bigger stories we missed over the past 34 days, before we get back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
The brothers were run down on a rural road in Oldmans Township on Thursday, August 30th, the night before they were supposed to be groomsmen in their sister’s wedding.
Needless to say, the wedding is off for now.
They were run down from behind after the driver, identified as 43-year old Sean Higgins, passed one car on the left, then attempted to pass an SUV on the right when it moved left to go around the Gaudreaus.
Higgins failed a field sobriety test, telling police he had five or six beers before the crash, and that his drinking probably contributed to “his impatience and reckless driving.”
He was arrested at the scene, and charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
SB 960 requires Caltrans to follow their own Complete Streets policies
SB 961 is a severely watered-down version of the bill which would have forced automakers to prevent drivers from speeding more than ten miles over the speed limit; the law now just requires an audible warning
SB 1297 extends the states speed cam pilot program to PCH in Malibu
SB 1261 limits the placement of sharrows to streets with speed limits of 30 mph or less
SB 689 eliminates the need for a separate Coastal Commission study in order to convert a traffic lane to a bike or transit lane
SB 1271 requires that only ebikes with UL or EU certification can be sold in the state
In 2021 the City began a high-level study which envisioned the Wash as a nine mile green space from its confluence with the LA River up to Crescenta Valley Park. It includes bike and pedestrian trails with access to business and entertainment venues, and connects several important city centers, services and a multitude of neighborhoods that make up a large core of Glendale.
Walk Bike Glendale urges you to attend or call into the meeting, or email the individual council members in advance.
Once again, the Los Angeles County Sheriff department demonstrated how little their deputies know about bike law, when former LA-based pro Phil Gaimon — star of the Worst Retirement Ever videos on YouTube — had to educate one on why the ticket he was about to get was against the law.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
After a 14-year old boy was seriously injured by a garbage truck driver while riding to school in La Mesa, California, the city’s NBC station demonstrated how to get the story wrong, with a headline suggesting the boy collided with the truck, rather than the other way around. Nope, no bias there.
Police in Dublin, Ireland are investigating an apparent road rage attack by a driver who pushed a bicyclist up against a barrier and repeatedly hit him with his fists as bystanders tried to stop the attack.
Caltrans is still conducting its Pacific Coast Highway Master Plan Feasibility Study to determine just what safety improvements people want — or rather, are willing to tolerate. So if you bike, walk or drive along PCH in Malibu, you owe it to yourself and everyone else to take part.
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton examines the first six months since Measure HLA passed with overwhelming support, mandating the city to build out the eight-year old mobility plan whenever a street gets resurfaced. So far the news isn’t good, with work on Reseda Blvd moving forward while everything else stalled out — including the city’s workaround on Vermont Ave in South LA to avoid triggering HLA.
A man riding his bike on Highway 1 suffered several injuries — and got a couple traffic tickets — after falling over 100 feet when he ignored “road closed” signs and a warning that he would probably die by attempting to ride across a rock slide that shut down the highway. And he nearly did.
Apple TV+ premiered Ghost Bike, a short film about a mother who meets a stranger in a Greek diner, who may hold the key to solving her son’s untimely death — apparently on a bicycle.
A writer for BuzzFeed offers 22 very tongue-in-cheek reasons why wearing a helmet is “literally one of the absolute worst decisions a person can make.”
A new German report says distracted bicycling is on the rise, blaming it for a significant, but undetermined, increase in crash risk. Never mind that many of the 10 to 17% of bicyclists who use their smartphones while riding are probably just using navigation or bike apps.
July 19, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Ramos faces up to 20 years for killing five-year old in drunken hit-and-run, and wannabe Trump assassin was one of us
Just 165 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
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A few people have volunteered to write guest posts to help keep this site from going dark when I’m out next month for surgery on my torn rotator cuff.
So if you’re interested in filling in here for a few days, or joining them in submitting a guest post or two, just email me at the address on the About page above.
Ramos, who had a blood alcohol content of .22% at the time of his arrest, now faces a charge of vehicular manslaughter, as well as felony counts of driving under the influence of alcohol causing bodily injury, driving with blood alcohol of .08% or more causing bodily injury, and hit and run with injury, with sentencing enhancements for leaving a victim comatose or paralyzed and inflicting great bodily injury.
If he is convicted on all counts, Ramos could spend the next two decades behind bars. But the most likely result is that the DA will allow him to plead to a reduced sentence in order to guarantee a conviction.
The lack of a murder charge indicates this is probably Ramos’ first DUI arrest, or he at least hasn’t been convicted before.
The good news, if there is any in this mess, is that Jacob’s six-year-old sister has been released from the hospital after undergoing surgery for her injuries. However, the children’s father is still in a coma due to a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain.
Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will install a ghost bike for Jacob Ramirez later today.
He then ditched his bike in full view of cops and crowds of people before climbing onto to warehouse roof and opening fire on the former president.
Which kinda raises the question of why no one noticed a man riding a bicycle while carrying a rifle at a political rally, whether it was in or out of a case.
And he bizarrely says bicyclists should slow and come to a complete stop at any intersection without a green light, which would mean pissing off drivers by stopping at every uncontrolled intersection.
Then again, we seem to piss off drivers if we stop for stop signs, as well as when we roll through them.
And God help you if you find yourself blocking a driver’s turn because you stopped for a red light.
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Gravel Bike California marks their 5th Anniversary by revisiting their favorite LA Area route.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
The solemnity of a poignant Birmingham, England slow ride in memory of a fallen bicyclist was interrupted by angry drivers blaring on their horns over the momentary inconvenience of having to slow down to go around them. Which kinda made the bicyclist’ point for them.
But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Once again, cops and the news media conflate electric motorcycles and ebikes as if they’re the same thing, with sheriff’s deputies complaining about kids on illegal off-road electric motorcycles — not electric bicycles — terrorizing customers at an Orange County mall with air-soft guns.
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Local
LAistreports on the health effects of chronic noise, as the US Department of Transportation says Los Angeles is one of the country’s loudest counties, thanks largely to our incessant traffic.
Writing for Streetsblog, former Southland resident Melissa Balmer says it’s time to revive the 1990’s Bikes Belong campaign to help deliver needed funds for active transportation infrastructure, and stop killing people.
Emergency responders were caught off guard when they found themselves in the middle of a Colorado gravel race as they responded to a bicyclist injured in a multi-rider crash, with competitors reportedly swerving in front of the ambulance. Seriously guys, give emergency vehicles a wide berth, regardless of whether you’re competing in a race or just riding to the corner market. Someone’s life could depend on it.
