Tag Archive for DUI

Detailed update on court cases and killer drivers; deciphering a new study about, um, something; and reduced Metro Bike fares

July 2, 2026 / / 3 comments

As I mentioned yesterday, I plan to take tomorrow off to observe the legal holiday, and maybe even get a little sleep to make up for this past week. 

If SoCal’s semi-feral drivers let me, anyway. 

So get out there and enjoy the holiday. If you plan to attend the fireworks in person, a bike is the best way to get there and get back home without spending hours stuck in traffic. 

Personally, I plan to observe my usual 4th of July tradition, and spend the next few nights in the closet trying to comfort a cowering corgi as bombs burst in midair and everywhere else when Hollywood creates its own version of shock & awe. 

Just remember that a lot of people will be drinking and/or imbibing in various mind-altering substances before getting behind the wheel. And the World Cup viewing parties won’t help. 

Assume that every driver you encounter on the road this weekend is under the influence of something. And chances are, you won’t be far off. 

So ride carefully and defensively. I expect to see you back here bright and early Monday morning. 

And I don’t want to write about you or anyone else this weekend.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

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I promised you an update on some outstanding court cases from our anonymous courthouse correspondent.

Make that outstanding, in the sense of yet to be concluded, as well as some of SoCal’s most unwanted. And yes, even I had to look some of these up to refresh my memory.

Fortunately, you have a three-day weekend to get through it all.

It seems updates on court cases are rather past due, so here’s a few. You might note that an inordinate number involve severe mental illness. If you’ve ever yelled, “Are you fucking insane?” at a driver, well, its highly likely they meet the DSM-5 (Ed. note: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition) criteria.

Buckle up, buckaroo! Gonna be a long ride email.

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Since February 2023, when he ran down and then stabbed Dr. Michael Mammone to death on PCH in broad daylight, Vanroy Evan Smith has spent a lengthy, medicated stretch in a psychiatric hospital. This past January, he was ruled mentally competent to stand trial. Before you rage against his racist comments at the scene, remember that he is also Jesus, or at least he’s reiterated this claim several times while unmedicated. His next hearing is July 24th.

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Six years ago, speeding in a stolen vehicle, Moises Iscaya ran down father Jorge Guerra & his young daughters as they rode their bikes; the injured kids survived. Naturally he fled the scene. Since his apprehension three months later, he has been held as a patient at the Metropolitan State Hospital, undergoing mental health evaluations on a regular basis, and showing little improvement.

On May 28th, all charges were dismissed due to lack of a speedy trial in violation of Isacya’s Constitutional rights.

The DA immediately refiled, and the case remains active.

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Speeding down Arrow Highway a stolen vehicle on July 9th, 2024, Jonathan del Carmen Calixto killed Raul Casteñeda in the crosswalk at the intersection of the San Gabriel River Bike Path, just in front of the Sante Fe Dam. He, too, is being evaluated, at Paxton State Hospital, pending yet another six-month mental health report; the next one is due in November.

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At Neil Storm Stephany‘s victim impact hearing, Shaun Eagleson’s mom told him that she will be present at every parole hearing he ever has. On Thursday, February 13th, 2025, he was denied parole, and Eagleson’s mama can rest until 2030.

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Unrepentant Becki Lee James is now going by the name Rebecca Gadberry. Rebecca Gadberry, formerly known as Becki Lee James,https://bikinginla.com/2012/07/28/breaking-news-cyclist-killed-by-suspected-drunk-driver-in-sunset-beach/ killed Kenneth Deryl Prevatte on PCH in Sunset Beach. Rebecca Gadberry somehow managed to hit Prevatte, who was riding in the door zone of a 23-foot wide lane on PCH. Although Rebecca Gadberry had at least 12 feet of available lane space to his left that she could’ve utilized to pass safely, she instead hit Prevatte with her car. Rebecca Gadberry stayed next to her car as others ran to her bloody victim to offer help. Rebecca Gadberry was arrested at the scene for impaired driving; this charge was dropped, and I question whether a large amount of money was dropped to make this charge go away, perhaps as much as Rebecca Gadberry has spent to scrub her previous alias Becki Lee James off the internet. Rebecca Gadberry killed an innocent human being whose son is growing up without a father. Rebecca Gadberry created a widow. Rebecca Gadberry, formerly known as Becki Lee James, is a killer.

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L’il Dylan Rand-Luby is also living a very private life. (Ed. note: Rand-Luby got a lousy one year behind bars for killing 55-year old John Greg Colvin in Laguna Beach in 2014.)

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Tommi Jo Meyer has another arraignment this morning. I expect she’ll double down on the ignorance defense (which has already been blown out of the water by bodycam video, showing the extremely humorless officer specifically informing her of the pertinent laws.) (Ed. Note: Meyer is the OC mom charged after her 14-year old son killed 81-year-old Vietnam vet Ed Ashman while riding an illegal ebike earlier this year.)

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Hit-and-runner Edjan Edit Rocha has been arrested for killing UCI Professor Dr. Francois Primeau in Santa Ana on June 19th. He’ll be arraigned on July 9th for vehicular manslaughter, hit and run, and destruction of evidence.

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Last October, Ahkeyajanique Owens was arrested and charged with reckless driving for slamming in to bicyclist Raul Augustin Gallopa on Fourth St. in Long Beach. He died two weeks later, and she was charged with manslaughter. In early January, her speeding ass slammed into two vehicles, killing two innocent people and and hospitalizing three. She fled on foot, turning herself in later. For this, the DA added two counts of murder one, reckless driving, and hit & run. And at least she’s stayin’ locked up this time.

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Like Mr. Rogers’ mama said, “Look for the helpers.”

(Ed. note: My mom never said that.)

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September 11th, 2022. A gorgeous California morning. Randon Cintron was riding in the bike lane on Jamboree Rd in Newport Beach when impaired driver Adriana Bernal launched him quite a distance into bushes on the far side of the sidewalk. His bike was snapped in half.

As Bernal’s tire struck the curb, she might’ve been recalling the Watson advisement issued to her by the Monterey County DA years ago. The tire disintegrated as she continued, sparks shooting off the exposed rim. Eventually she made a right turn and clunked to a stop. She & her passenger abandoned the dented car (and its new decoration of what the investigator described as “biological matter”) to make their way to the bleachers at Corona Del Mar High School, where they were detained shortly thereafter. They told the first officer to make contact that they’d walked to the location, but officers took a set of keys they spotted mere yards from the couple back to the damaged car, where the keys fit the locks & ignition.

A witness had attempted to follow a vehicle with suspicious damage and a “panicked” female driver, but lost sight. When the witness saw a black-and-white responding with lights & sirens, he pulled alongside and alerted the officer. Just seconds later, the officer saw several Good Samaritans performing CPR on the victim’s lifeless body. (One Good Sam is a former trauma center nurse, currently a PA at Mission Hospital. The same hospital where Shaun Eagleson died. The same hospital where Dr. Michael Mammone practiced, and perished.)

Interviewed by the Newport Beach investigators, Bernal’s detained-but-never-charged accomplice/passenger sang like a canary, with unprompted rapid-fire rambling, telling the investigator that he once had a friend who’d died in a DUI crash. He & Bernal had discussed the friend, and acknowledged to each other that driving drugged is dangerous.

In her interrogation, Bernal said she’d smoked heroin about 3am that morning, but had given up IV use several months earlier— a statement contradicted by fresh tracks sprinkled among years of scarring.

The preliminary hearing had such delightful questions as, “How far from the bicycle was the location of the blood?” (A hundred feet south, by the investigator’s measurements.)

The speed limit along this stretch of Jamboree Road is 55mph. At this location, the Google StreetView bicycle is riding on the sidewalk.

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Amber Kristine Calderon slaughtered Pastor Eric Williams on PCH in Huntington Beach last October. His friends Michael & Steve were hospitalized for weeks. Calderon pulled off PCH and blew past a Huntington State Beach parking kiosk before she was pinned in by a horrified Good Samaritan who’d followed her. The parking attendant radioed the state park rangers, but HBPD was already on the way.

That stretch of PCH has a 55mph speed limit and a bike lane frequently halved in width by the constant encroachment of sand.

Calderon bonded out, but in December the OCDA amended charges to reflect her lack of sobriety, which has more than doubled her potential prison sentence.

At his memorial service, with hundreds in attendance and his bike stage right, his daughter Alice read from a class assignment she’d written the previous year. The topic was “Best Relative Award,” and she was required to name three specific reasons for the award and describe how to emulate that relative. She chose her dad for the award: “To honor my dad being athletic, I’m going to be more into riding.”

Naturally, his widow also spoke: ”He discipled to people around him, both on and off the bike. He never feared death.  Whatever Eric was to you — comfort, strength, laughter, or simply a steady presence — go and offer that to someone else. Walk, or ride, alongside of them, through their joy and pain, and do it without judgement.”

(The lack of any mention of forgiveness makes me wonder whether the victim impact statements will be as gut-wrenching as the ones presented by Fire Captain Mike Kreza’s little daughters, whose angelic faces spewed anger and resentment.) (Ed. note: Kreza’s killer Stephen Taylor Scarpa received 15-to-life behind bars.)

The whole family’s in their front yard on Google StreetView, on a sunny January Wednesday morning. Having noticed the Googly-mobile, Eric is standing with his arms raised in a strongman pose. Kids in helmets. Bikes everywhere. Great big smiles behind the Google corporation’s privacy blurs.

……

Also, the asshat who drove through that morning’s very clearly demarcated investigation scene was FTA (Ed note: Failure to Appear) for his arraignment.

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Douglas Morton Adams left Blake Ackerman’s bloody body lying on Fountain Ave in WeHo, and he clearly remains completely unperturbed by his single count of hit-and-run, which is must be a profound relief to him, since an accurate charge would be manslaughter. He was in the courtroom for a couple of boring hours on May 12th, chatting with a pal about Hitchcock’s delightful body of work. Clearly, expounding upon the aesthetic mastery of North By Northwest is of more importance than the opportunity to reflect on the somber reason for his presence in the courtroom, and a much better use of his time than contrition. His lawyer is disturbingly confident. (Ed. note: We’re just eight days from the first anniversary of Blake’s July 10th, 2025 death.)

(Also appearing before the same judge that very morning: Alex Kristopher Earl Kirksey)

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Road rager Christian Diaz, who’d had to get his (now impounded) sexy red muscle car co-signed by his abuelita, remains charged with attempted murder, despite the defense’s attempt last month to have the charge reduced to assault with a deadly weapon. Porque no los dos, Mr. Spitzer?

One day last July, Mr. Diaz was engaged in something of a lover’s spat with his girlfriend/passenger, who disembarked at a red light. He was still yelling at her when the light turned green, so the bicyclist behind him smacked his trunk and bellowed, “Get the fuck out of the way!” Since Diaz did not, in fact, get the fuck out of the way, the bicyclist yelled again as he went around the vehicle. At this point, Diaz chose to focus his rage on the cyclist instead of his girlfriend.

When the cyclist realized he was being followed by an angry man operating two tons of deadly weapon, he attempted to evade, but Diaz maneuvered  across the roadway to hit him head-on. The defense argued that this was not possibly an attempt to murder, but the unconvinced judge allowed the charge to stand. The case continues.

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Road rager Samir Weiss attempted to kill professional racers Luke Fetzer and Ben Byra on PCH in Corona del Mar last March, yelling during the assault that he was going to kill them. After his failure to do so, he stalked Fetzer on social media to challenge him to a fight. He also bragged about his expensive weapon sports car, which has since been impounded as evidence.

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Last February, Christopher Bryant blasted his rental car through a stop sign in a sleepy residential neighborhood, and slaughtered pediatric occupational therapist Lori Ann Carreon as she rode her bike home from work. The next morning, his first call was to the rental car company; they towed the evidence away from his dtla apartment. Later that day, he called the police to make arrangements to turn himself in with an attorney present.

A few days later, I took flowers for the ghost bike, and rolled into a small crowd awaiting the media’s arrival. Under an overcast sky, emotional neighbors and friends spoke at length — but so little of it made the news at all. Less than snippets, frankly. But there were multiple speakers, and uncontained grief, and tears, and impassioned pleas to the powers that be for better infrastructure, for more accountability, for consequences. For change.

So now that intersection has fresh, bright crosswalks, which magically prevent speeding, unlike that useless stop sign right there. Lori Ann’s ghost bike is almost invisible under dozens of bouquets. Velodoras still burn nightly.

At the scene, after shooting b-roll from catercorner, KTLA’s cameraman survived his walk back to the ghost bike, even though he was nearly mowed down by not one but two impatient southbound drivers. Yes, right in front of a goddamn ghost bike, other media members & a dozen witnesses.

The eastern terminus of this month’s Beach Streets is a short block away from Lori Ann’s ghost bike.

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On November 22, 2024, rager Jonathan Antonio Rodriguez slaughtered 16-year-old Jonathan “Junior” Flores, who was left to die in the middle of MLK Jr Blvd. The cops located and impounded the murder weapon, but Rodriguez remains on the lam.

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Speaking of fugitives, Juli Ann Brown (now Juli Ann Britton) is currently fugitive for a 2020 DUI. In 2013, after her impaired hit-and-run against Long Beach’s Lightning Velo, she’d been sentenced to 15 years in state prison, which of course she did not serve in full.

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Repeat drunk driver 68-year-old Elias Madriz Gutierrez ran down Kristin Bellovich on Beach Bl. in Huntington Beach. It was just after midnight, and she had no helmet, no hi viz, no lights. No memorial went up for her in the days that followed, so I assume perhaps she was unhoused. I put up a little cross which disappeared quickly. Gutierrez was arrested in Fountain Valley, and he was driving after only having “a couple of beers,” which would’ve had to have been a couple of kegs, given his BAC. He’s facing charges of second degree murder and hit & run.

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Unlicensed Kaleah Beasley killed 12-year-old Michael Kejuan Ramaun James Smith on 83rd Street last July. Kaleah’s passenger/boyfriend-at-the-time told an officer at the scene that Immediately prior to popping a wheelie, Michael had waved her to pass him, and then swerved right in front of her Charger.

A witness (a former Metro coach operator) barbecuing in her front yard told investigators she’d heard Beasley’s Charger accelerate, and then saw Michael’s body fly up in the air. A 12-year-old witness told an officer that ”the car didn’t want to stop” after hitting Michael. Beasley didn’t hit the brakes immediately, but the distance she traveled after removing her foot from the gas pedal was most likely due to her excessive speed of approximately 45mph, which is “only” about 20mph above the speed limit according to an LAPD investigator at the preliminary hearing, not the 75mph as reported by multiple news sources.

Beasley passed a field sobriety test, which was administered because her vehicle (which had her baby in the back seat) smelled like pot. She certainly dotes on that little boy of hers, who, during her preliminary hearing, threw a tantrum out the hallway; the judge had to order her to remain in the courtroom as she attempted to dash out, protesting to His Honor, “Bro, my baby out there!”

I hurt for Michael’s mama thinking about her baby out there, bloody and face down in the street, surrounded by panicked neighbor kids.

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Since  Reddit’s r/bikeLA  had asked a few weeks ago: On May 27th, a swerving speeding asshat flew off the 5 North and into the LA River at half past 1am, taking out that protective k-rail by the shoulder & the equally protective chainlink fence, and then the bike path railing as well. Didn’t leave too much debris on the actual bike path as it flew over, so no harm, no foul, right? Unfortunately, the driver survived.

Just hours later, puffed-with-pride officials held a presser & bike ride to showcase the new bike infrastructure on Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park.

Thanks for the flimsy plastic bollards, LADOT! Surely they would’ve stopped alleged murderer Jairo Martinez, who’s still locked up awaiting trial, and has his next hearing on July 14th (Ed. note: Martinez is accused of the speeding, hit-and-run death. of 77-year old Andrew Jelmert on Crystal Springs Drive.)

No, really. I’m not crying, you’re crying.

Okay, it’s me. Even my hard heart weeps after reading all of that.

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A new study published in Nature clearly shows that “context-sensitive shared space design can harmonize perceptions across diverse road users, with implications for transport policy and urban design.”

Hopefully, we can get that translated into English sometime so we have an idea what the fuck they’re talking about.

But as near as I can figure out, they’re trying to say that removing visual clutter and clearly marking shared spaces resulted in more positive responses from pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.

Or something like that.

Seriously, I used to get paid to translate scientific gibberish into English. And even I can’t make it out.

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Amidst all their World Cup viewing promotions, Metro Bike’s latest email also offers reduced fares for students, seniors and riders with a disability, among others.

Do You Qualify For Reduced Fare?

It’s easier than ever to get verified and enroll in a Reduced Fare pass for Metro Bike Share. There are 5 ways to confirm your eligibility:

  1. Senior (62+)
  2. Student
  3. Disability
  4. Golden State Advantage
  5. Reduced Fare TAP card

Eligible persons can get the Metro Bike Share 30-Day Pass for $5 and the 365-Day Pass for $50. Registered TAP card holders can select a Metro Bike Share 30-Day or 365-Day pass on taptogo.net/metrobikeshare.

Apply for Reduced Fare

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Local 

Santa Monica started automated AI enforcement of drivers blocking bike lanes yesterday, with violators subject to a $93 fine.

 

State

Escondido has gone back to the drawing board, after residents complained the city’s proposed ebike ordinance was too restrictive.

A Bakersfield bike rider is in critical condition after being shot by a suspect who fled the scene Tuesday evening. Because most shooters just stick around until the cops show up. 

San Francisco-based dockless micromobility company Lime went public yesterday, with shares priced at $25. That was followed by immediate complaints about shares being left randomly blocking sidewalks.

He gets it. The ebike program manager for the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates says ebike panic is distracting California from legitimate discussions by not making a distinction between e-bicycles and electric motorbikes.

 

National

Bike Retailer’s Rick Vosper floats the idea of a Federal excise tax-funded campaign to encourage more people to ride bicycles, similar to the nearly 30-year old Take Me Fishing campaign, funded by an excise tax on fishing tackle and motorboat fuel.

A Missouri man is riding across the US 50 years after his father rode from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia on the Adventure Cycling Association’s coast-to-coast bicycle ride, but going in reverse, from east to west.

Aerial footage shows a bike thief fleeing from a cop on foot after being caught stealing one of those Oregon bait bikes we mentioned yesterday. Maybe that’s why the LAPD won’t use bait bikes — they don’t want to pay for new sneakers so their cops can outrun the evildoers. 

The former state treasurer of the New Mexico Republican Party is being held without bail after her arrest for the hit-and-run death of a man riding a bicycle last month, then changing license plate on her car on hiding it at another property in an attempted coverup; naturally, the political party disavows any current connection with her. Meanwhile, the victim’s family has filed a lawsuit against her for the death of the devoted father.

Tragic news from Denver, where a 13-year old boy was killed by a driver while riding a Veo bikeshare ebike, just six days after the company launched in the city; company policy prohibits minors from renting the bikes, but they rely on the honor system for age verification.

A 500-mile bike route developed by the Adventure Cycling Association takes you through Western Wyoming, from the spectacular Teton Mountains and Teton National Park, along the National Elk Refuge, through the Wind River Reservation and Sinks Canyon State Park, to the Saratoga Hot Springs and the Colorado border. We visited every one of those when I was a kid, and frequently camped on the Wind River Reservation, home to the Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho tribes.

A Madison, Wisconsin magazine traces the city’s bicycling culture all the way back to the 1970’s, when “6-year old Andy Hampsten and a friend” drove to the city for the summer, and quickly found himself on Eric Heiden’s wheel. Precocious though he may have been, I think they meant Hampsten was 16-years old. Because it’s very hard to get a driver’s license at six, even in North Dakota. 

A 13-year old Wisconsin boy was cited for crossing the center line on his non-street-legal minibike and hitting a bike rider head-on; fortunately, neither the bike rider or the kid was seriously injured.

Opponents of a Chicago bike lane appear to have given up, after counter-protesters supporting the bike lane overwhelmed them.

A Massachusetts man faces multiple charges after running down a bike rider while under the influence of multiple drugs, including stimulants and narcotic analgesics, then backing up and driving over the victim’s bicycle, before abandoning the car and fleeing on foot; fortunately, the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

The 70-year old great-great-great-great-grandson of flag maker Betsy Ross is in the midst of a 3,600-mile bike trip through the country’s original 13 colonies, repeating a ride he took 50 years ago.

 

International

Spike Fearn is one of us, as Interview Magazine talks with the rising English actor and star of the upcoming Finding Emily, who’d rather just ride his bike.

No shit. According to his step-daughters, a former contestant on the British survival show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! has anger issues, after he admitted to once kicking over an entire row of Lime bikes outside his London home — even though he uses them himself.

Shades of California’s ebike incentive program, as an Irish plan to encourage drivers to scrap their infernal combustion engine vehicles in favor of EVs, including ebikes, closed in just two hours after all 2,000 vouchers were claimed.

Cycling Weekly says the Tour de France isn’t the toughest ride in France, it’s Paris-Brest-Paris, which has been “humbling cyclists since 1891.”

A German company has built a bike path with embedded sensors to provide city engineers with “near real-time dashboards showing where bicycling peaks at rush hour, how fast riders are moving, and where the pavement starts to vibrate more, indicating roughness or early-stage cracking.” Los Angeles expects to adopt the technology sometime after hell freezes over.

Life goes on in Ukraine, even in the midst of the ongoing Russian bombardment, as nearly 2,800 bike mentors across the country continue to teach children to travel safely and responsibly on bicycles, scooters and other micromobility devices.

This is who we share the earth with. An Indian motorcyclist was lucky to survive when an entire rain-soaked mountainside collapsed onto the roadway he was riding on; he somehow managed to leap off his bike moments before the road was engulfed.

Chinese ebike brand Luyuan Group was forced to issue an apology after releasing a series of highly sexualized promotional videos depicting women in short skirts and stockings in suggestive poses. They should also apologize for calling their e-motorscooters bicycles, despite the Vespa-style design and apparent lack of pedals.  

 

Competitive Cycling

Six Americans will be among the 184 cyclists lining up for the start of the Tour de France on Saturday, all serving as domestiques for the stars of their teams, with little or no chance of making the podium.

Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel admits that time is catching up to him, and suggests he might retire after the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics. So get your tickets while you can, because it may be your last chance to see one of the great riders of our time. 

 

Finally…

You don’t have to ride your unicycle alone anymore. You won’t be getting your bikes from L.L.Bean anymore.

And your next bicycle may be half off.

The back half.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

West Hollywood named one of 8 to Watch, fallen Ventura County bicyclists ID’d on Instagram, and Macron gives Trump a bike

June 17, 2026 / / No comments

Just a quick update today. 

I have an early commitment in the morning, and I’m still having trouble seeing after having my eyes dilated yesterday. 

On the plus side, though, I haven’t had to get a shot for retinal bleeding for over two years now. 

Photo from PeopleForBikes.

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So much for that embargo.

For more than a week, PeopleForBikes has provided me with information on the release of their new 2026 City Ratings, particularly West Hollywood being named one of their Eight Cities to Watch, on the condition that I keep it quiet until after 7 am today.

Then they posted it online themselves yesterday afternoon.

Go figure.

And yes, I would have held it if they did. But they didn’t, so let’s start with the good news.

While WeHo only rated a 37 out of a possible 100, ranking 1022 out of 3019 American cities, they think it’s worth keeping an eye on as the city continues to improve.

West Hollywood has been making big moves for better biking in recent years. In April 2025, the city council unanimously committed to building only protected bike infrastructure on future street projects — the first city in the Los Angeles area to do so — and followed it up by painting all existing bike lanes green on Fairfax Avenue, San Vicente Boulevard, and Santa Monica Boulevard for improved visibility. With the 2028 LA Olympics on the horizon, West Hollywood’s premier location in LA positions it as a key corridor for the broader active transportation push underway across Los Angeles ahead of the Games.

One reason they give is the future extension of the K Line, nee Crenshaw Line, into the city. Another will be the Complete Streets remake of Fountain Ave, although it’s questionable which of those will actually be completed first, given a lack of federal funding and the inevitable lawsuits.

On the other hand, WeHo compared very favorably to LA’s subpar rating of 32 compared to the national average of 36, ranking us 1350th in the US, and barely in the top 200 California cities at 195.

And no, Los Angeles is not a city to watch. Even if we have climbed from the nadir of 2023, when we scored a whopping 19.

Among other cities in LA County,

I guess Culver City shouldn’t have ripped out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes, after all.

There’s a lot I could quibble with on that list, but you can check out their methodology in the video below and decide for yourself.

And if your city isn’t on that list, you can click here for more California cities.

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In response to yesterday’s post, thanks to David for pointing me to an Instagram post identifying the two victims killed by an alleged speeding, drunken driver in Ventura County last Thursday.

However, they still haven’t been publicly identified by any official source, so I won’t name them here. But reading what others had to say about them, it sounds like we lost some very exceptional people.

Then again, we’re all exceptional in some way, to someone.

There’s also no word yet on the name of the accused driver, who should have appeared in court by now, which raises the question of why they’re holding back his identification.

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Finally, someone in France must have a hell of a sense of humor.

To promote the 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships, which will be held in France’s Haute Savoie region, French President Emmanuel Macron gave every leader attending the G7 conference at Lake Geneva a personalized Look bicycle.

Yes, even Donald Trump.

As Fortune wryly observed,

There was no hot mic moment to detect the reaction of Trump, who is not known to bike and has joked about doing minimal exercise beyond regular golf outings.

Despite being called — or calling himself — the fittest, healthiest president in recent history, Trump has said he will never, ever ride a bicycle, and has mocked Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and John Kerry for their two wheeled exploits.

Although I’d pay good money to see him try.

Maybe they didn’t have enough FIFA Peace Prizes for everyone.

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

No ID on victims or suspect in PCH DUI crash, LA’s most dangerous intersections, and grand jury says San Diego bikeways ain’t cutting it

June 16, 2026 / / No comments

Still no ID on the two people killed by a suspected drunk driver on PCH in Ventura County on Thursday.

The victims were riding in the bike lane on SoCal’s killer highway, just north of Ventura, when they were run down from behind.

There’s also no word on why investigators concluded the unnamed 24-year old Oxnard man was under the influence. Or why he was arrested on suspicion of murder.

It seems odd that we haven’t learned anymore by now, particularly since he was scheduled for an initial court appearance yesterday.

Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.

But in the meantime, at least Hoodline showed the good taste to reference me.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

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We finally have a little news from the City of Angels, as the LAPD says crashes are up 5% with a nice round 750-crashes so far this year, largely due to distracted drivers.

Although they also blame people on ebikes and e-scooters for blowing through red lights, and illegally using sidewalks. And, of course, they warn pedestrians to stay alert, rather than telling scooter riders to stay the hell off the sidewalk.

KABC-7 reports the the most dangerous intersections this year have been:

  • Figueroa Street and 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles – 11 crashes so far in 2026
  • Highland Avenue and Pat Moore Way, near the Hollywood Bowl – 6 crashes so far in 2026
  • Century Boulevard and Main Street in South L.A. – 5 crashes so far in 2026
  • Sherman Way at the 170 Freeway entrance in the San Fernando Valley – 5 crashes so far in 2026

No word on where the most dangerous sidewalks are.

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In a hard-hitting report, a San Diego grand jury says the city is not meeting its own ambitious climate goals.

Shocking, I know.

According to Streetsblog,

The new report, Shifting Gears, arrives at a moment when San Diego is trying to reconcile two competing realities. On one hand, the city has adopted ambitious goals. The Climate Action Plan calls for 10% of all daily trips to be made by bicycle by 2035. Vision Zero commits San Diego to eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries. The Bicycle Master Plan Update is meant to create a safer and more connected network. On the other hand, San Diego remains a city where the automobile remains king. While the report itself is not binding nor enforceable, it validates San Diegans’ concerns and recommends a path forward.

Safety and connectivity remain the two biggest barriers preventing more people from choosing to bike. A recent city survey of more than 2,000 riders found that “traffic safety concerns” and “gaps in the bike network” were the first and second most frequently cited barriers to bicycling.

The report cites a disconnect bike network, where bike lanes suddenly start and stop, leaving bicyclists to confront freeway on and off-ramps on their own.

Something I can attest to from my time there four decades ago. Apparently, some things never change.

They also cite a lack of maintenance, particularly on the city’s protected bike lanes.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read, at least the Streetsblog summary, if not the full grand jury report. Because San Diego may have its issues.

But they’re lightyears ahead of Los Angeles.

……….

Seriously?

The head of the Luxembourg Police National Road Traffic and Safety Service warns that bicycling injuries continue to climb in the Duchy. So bicyclists should be careful around cars.

Drivers, as you were.

In fact, the only advice he has for drivers is to look before you open the door to avoid dooring bike riders. But it’s still the bike rider’s fault, even when the driver is at fault.

Motorists can prevent this by looking over their shoulder as they open the car door. But Faber believes that cyclists also share the responsibility to avoid this type of accident.

“Of course, if there’s a collision, the driver is actually to blame,” he said. “But to prevent it from happening in the first place, the cyclist must remain alert at all times and allow for the possibility that other road users might make mistakes,” he said. In practical terms, this means reducing speed and increasing their distance from parked cars passing parked cars.

And of course, he tells bicyclists to wear hi-viz and a helmet. Drivers, just look over your shoulder when you open the door to make sure there’s not someone wearing a helmet and dressed like a reflective clown riding too close to your door.

Because you don’t want to hurt someone, even if it’s their fault.

………

French TV talks with American activist Shannon Galpin, who played a key role in exfiltrating the Afghan women’s cycling team following the return of the Taliban.

Which, translated from politese, means she had to get the women, and some men, out herself after UCI stopped helping with the mission, which has been ongoing since 2021.

Thanks to Megan for the heads-up.

………

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

Residents of England’s Northumberland County make the same complaints about a new protected bike lane you could hear in any American city, from “it makes the road more dangerous,” to the work came “out of the blue” and “the money should have been spent on something more important,” because “it was never that dangerous for bicyclists, anyway.”

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

Ohio lawmakers are considering revising the law to close a loophole, and make it possible to charge someone with vehicular homicide if they kill someone while riding an ebike.

A New Jersey woman is recovering from a concussion, cuts and bruises, and a man is facing criminal charges, after she told the man and his girlfriend to slow their ebikes down, and he responded by getting off his bike and punching her in the head. Even though the bikes look like electric motorbikes, it looks like his bike has pedals, so they may actually be ebikes. Or not.

………

Local 

The US House Appropriations Committee approved less than half of the $2 billion in transportation funding LA officials are requesting for the ’28 Olympics, all of which Metro plans to use for buses, with no crumbs left over for active transportation, apparently.

A writer for the Los Angeles Times joined a group of people walking 28 miles from Alhambra to Long Beach, passing through Monterey Park, Commerce, Vernon, Maywood, Bell, Cudahy, South Gate, Lynwood, Compton and Los Angeles along the way.

LADOT wants to know what you think about alternatives to building a gondola to Dodgers Stadium that might actually work.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. Even a coyote joined in as police chased an ebike rider across multiple cities in Orange County, before police busted the rider in Santa Ana. And even though the suspect was clearly riding an e-moto, we still got the blame.

A newspaper in Davis makes the argument that bicyclists roll through stop signs because of road design, rather than lawlessness, questioning whether traffic control signs designed for motorists really make sense for people on bicycles.

 

National

Sixty-six-year old ultracyclist Joe Barr set a provisional world record for riding the full length of Route 66, covering 2,448 miles, along with a whopping 68,897 feet of climbing in 10 days, 12 hours and three minutes.

A local Utah celebrity known as “Bicycle Brent” is back on his stuffed-animal festooned bicycle, despite being struck by the driver of a semi-truck, which dragged him a short distance; remarkably, the 70-year old man with cerebral palsy was conscious and breathing when first responders got to him.

Yeah, maybe it’s time. Bicyclists in Duluth, Minnesota are invited to “Bike for Science” to gather real-world riding data to update the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s bicycle facilities design guide, which is based on data collected in the 1980s. Which, for anyone unclear on the concept, is, like, a really long time ago, okay?

The best friend of a fallen New York bicyclist demands action against illegal vehicles on the street after he was killed by a man on stand-up electric scooter, arguing that “better street design” is not “some kind of mystery.”

Four young men who have overcome problems like substance abuse, legal troubles and emotional struggles are planning to ride 500 miles across Georgia to honor the founder of their youth home, who road 1,200 miles from Vidalia, Georgia to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1961 to help raise awareness and support for the newly established youth home.

 

International

Life is cheap in England, where a tree surgeon got a whole 16 months behind bars for dumping a load of asbestos in the middle of a narrow lane after being turned away from the local landfill; a 66-year old grandfather lost a quarter of his skull when his bicycle hit the debris and punctured a tire. And no, you don’t want to see the pictures.  

London Penny Farthing riders set four Guinness World Records, including for the largest and smallest rideable big wheelers. Although I initially left out the “h” in “Farthing,” which would have made for a much more interesting set of records. 

Londoners are worried that the bikeshare system wasn’t properly disinfected after some of the bikes may have been used in the city’s World Naked Bike Ride. Don’t click on the second link if you don’t want to see male genitalia hanging out. 

The Daily Mail says a Freedom of Information request shows the UK’s first bicycle street is being used by just half the 3,000 daily riders Cambridge city leaders suggested.

Bicyclists in Manilla are calling for the city to build more bikeways as more people are riding due to limited public transportation.

 

Competitive Cycling

A German cycling race was disrupted when an elderly woman on a mobility scooter rode into the peloton, sending riders flying and causing a massive pileup.

Road.cc features a stunning photo of Belgian Liam Slock sliding foot-first across the finish line at Switzerland’s GP Gippingen, after suffering from premature celebration.

 

Finally…

Seriously, don’t flee from the cops when they try to pull your bike over for multiple vehicle code violations — and don’t try to punch them out when they finally stop you. Whacking a cop with a bike pump is not one of the recommended uses for it, even if you are 86-years old.

And that feeling when you pedal “America’s Weirdest Bike” 2,000 miles — to highlight a tax form.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Update: Two dead, one injured when alleged drunk driver plowed into three bicyclists on PCH north of Ventura; driver held for DUI and murder

June 13, 2026 / / No comments

Two people are dead, and another injured, just because some guy felt the need to get behind the wheel after drinking.

Allegedly.

According to reports from KTLA-5 and Ventura’s News Channel 12-3-11, three people were riding their bicycles north in the bike lane on PCH in Ventura County when a pickup driver plowed into them from behind at 50 to 55 mph.

A Facebook commenter said the posted speed limit in the area is 45 mph. According to AAA, the risk of death for a pedestrian at 42 mph is 50%, jumping to 75% at 50 mph, and 90% at 58 mph.

One of the victims died at the scene, while another died after being taken to Ventura County Medical Center; the third victim was transported to the hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The CHP places the crash around 7:08 pm Thursday, on PCH near Solimar Beach Road, just outside the City of Ventura.

A paywalled story from the Ventura County Star says a 33-year old woman from Bend, Oregon died at the scene, while a 39-year old Ventura man died at the hospital. The injured victim was identified only as a woman.

It’s not clear if they were riding together, or just had the misfortune of all being in the driver’s way. Several witnesses stopped to assist the victims before paramedics arrived.

It’s not known why the driver, identified only as a 24-year old Oxnard man, veered his pickup into the bike lane. He continued north until crashing into a guardrail, coming to rest on the right shoulder.

CHP investigators arrested the driver at the scene on suspicion of felony DUI causing injury, murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. He’s being held at the Ventura County jail in lieu of $1 million bail, and scheduled for a June 15th hearing in Ventura County Superior Court.

The murder charge suggests this may not be his first DUI offense.

Anyone with information is urged to call the CHP’s Ventura Area Office at 805/662-2640, and reference CAD Log 260611VT0384.

These are the 33rd and 34th bicycling fatalities that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the sixth and seventh we know about in Ventura County already this year.

Update: Ventura County’s Rolling Cerros Run Club identified the victims on Instagram as Kellie Standish and Colby Tucker. 

Other Instagram accounts remember two, while another video, which I can’t embed, shows the many signatures on their ghost bike, as well as their friends coming together; it sounds like their deaths are a real loss to the community. 

However, they still have not been officially identified by police, the medical examiner’s office or the media five days later. And there has been no public identification of the driver. 

Instagram post

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Update 2: A preliminary obituary for Colby Tucker has been posted online. A memorial for the 39-year old will be held in the Boston area on Tuesday, with a live link to posted online later; a celebration of life will be held in Ventura in the coming months. 

According to the obituary, 

Donations in celebration of Colby’s life may be made to organizations working to conserve places he loved: The Green Mountain Club, protecting the Long Trail in Vermont (donation page here), and The Nature Conservancy, protecting Santa Cruz Island in the Channel Islands off the coast of Ventura (memorial donation page here).  Livestream link to follow.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kellie Standish and Colby Tucker, and all their loved ones.  

Thanks to David for the heads-up. 

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

Survivor finishes the ride to mark 10th anniversary of Kalamazoo massacre, and 8 years behind bars for Point Loma DUI driver

June 8, 2026 / / No comments

Evidently, the concept of finishing the ride is spreading eastward.

As hard as it is to believe, it’s been ten years since the infamous Kalamazoo, Michigan massacre, when a speeding, stoned driver plowed into a group ride, killing five people and seriously injuring four others.

Now one of those injured victims, who woke up in the hospital with no memory of the crash, intends to finish the ride they all started a decade ago.

The 75-year old man now rides a bike with the names of all the victims on the crossbar of his bike. Those who survived, and those who didn’t.

The other survivors plan to join him for a ceremony on Wednesday’s 10th anniversary to remember the five riders who lost their lives, then join him to finish the ride, or meet them afterwards.

The driver, Charles Pickett Jr., was sentenced to a well-deserved 40 to 75 years in prison.

He was reportedly doing 20 miles per hour over the speed limit, and had taken a large amount of muscle relaxers and pain pills before getting behind the wheel; toxicology reports found meth, hydrocodone (aka Vicodin or Norco), tramadol, ketamine, and cyclobenzaprine, a muscle relaxant.

Pickett was convicted on all counts, including operating while intoxicated causing death, operating while intoxicated causing serious injury and second-degree murder.

He’ll be at least 90 years old before he’s eligible for release, which still seems like too soon.

The survivors turned to advocacy following the crash, successfully pushing Kalamazoo and other local town into passing a five-foot passing law, as well as convincing the state legislature to pass a hands-free law.

They’re working now to get the state to expand the definition of a vulnerable road user, which currently doesn’t include bicyclists or horse-drawn buggies.

The first formal Finish the Ride I’m aware of was in 2014, when Damian Kevitt invited the community to join him in finishing the bike ride he and his wife had started a year earlier, before he was run down by a hit-and-run driver on Zoo Drive and dragged onto the 5 Freeway.

The crash cost him his leg, and nearly his life, before he was able to free himself.

But it’s a concept I’m very familiar with.

The first ride I took when I was finally allowed back on my bike following the infamous beachfront bee incident was to go right back to the spot where I had crashed, and finish the ride I had planned to take.

Something tells me I wasn’t the first to do that.

And chances are, we’ll be far from the last.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A 22-year old San Diego woman was sentenced to a well-deserved eight years and four months behind bars for a drunken crash that critically injured a five-year old girl.

The victim was riding a scooter on a bike path in the Point Loma neighborhood when Savannah Monique Taylor crashed into her, dragging the girl with her car until crashing into a steel bench.

Police found an almost empty bottle of booze inside her car.

According to the Peninsula Beacon, the victim’s father brought the girl, Olive Tomasevic, into the courtroom in a stroller so the judge could see her.

“She came close to dying several times because of the defendant’s actions,” said Alex Tomasevic. “This is what life is like for her today. She can’t walk. She can’t use the toilet. She uses diapers. She cannot eat on her own. She has a feeding tube. She can’t bathe herself. She can’t attend regular school. She can’t talk. She can’t crawl into bed…”

“I see a tenacious little girl,” said (Olive’s mother) Leeann Tomasevic. “She gets hours and hours of physical therapy. I watched the toughest of nurses cry when she was not looking.”

Taylor was ironically residing in a sober living facility at the time of the crash.

There’s no word on what she was doing driving on the bike path.

………

My dad landed on Normandy Beach 82 year ago today, beginning an odyssey that would take him through France, into Belgium, skirting the Battle of Bulge and helping liberate a concentration camp, before ending the war Germany with Patton’s troops.

Then they sent him to Okinawa to prepare for D-Day Japan. He would have been one of the first to land, and was told his unit could expect 100% casualties. If the war hadn’t ended, I probably wouldn’t be here.

Although the only time he ever rode a bike in Europe, he borrowed it after getting separated from his unit.

And no, I don’t know if he ever returned it.

Bluesky post

………

Giving a whole new definition to mountain biking.

Bluesky post

………

Always pull over to the side of the road if you’re falling asleep behind the wheel.

Twitter post

………

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

A new protected bike lane in Philadelphia’s Old City brings out all the same complaints from the same people as every other bike lane in any other city. So if you’ve ever read a story about reactions to any new bike lane, you can probably skip this one and recite the arguments from memory.

London’s not-exactly bike-friendly Telegraph blames a new bike lane for a 500% — actually 600% — increase in serious bicycling crashes after a the two-way protected lane was installed, even though that represents a jump from just five to 30 over a five-year period. And even that is meaningless without putting it in context of the increase in ridership from the beginning of the first period to the end of the last.

A British bike rider was lucky to escape with minor injuries after he was kicked off his bike by the passenger on a passing motorcycle.

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

A 17-year old Florida boy was hospitalized after he allegedly blew through a stop sign on his ebike and crashed to a driver’s car because he was “vibing.” Maybe they meant “vaping,” unless he was just moovin’ to the groovin’, and gettin’ into the vibes. It could happen. 

………

Local 

No bias here. The Santa Clarita Signal reports a man was hospitalized following an ebike crash — but fails to mention in the headline that there was a car involved, or say anywhere that the car presumably had a driver. 

 

State

Both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center are disavowing any connection to a new six-day Joy Ride CA from San Francisco to Los Angeles, accusing it of riding on the popularity of the former AIDS/LifeCycle Ride.

No, a Chula Vista man riding an ebike didn’t “collide with a vehicle,” he was injured when he was struck by the motorist.

A trio of Ventura bike shops sponsored a Pride Ride in the city, with several bike routes depending on the riders bicycling skills

 

National

American Lael Wilcox is attempting to break her own record as the fastest woman to ride around the world, and set a new record as the fast human to do it by completing the ride in less than 80 days.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 73-year old man is riding across the US to raise awareness of childhood hunger, and hopes to raise $1 million for No Kid Hungry.

Bicycling may be great for your overall health, but your bones are another matter.

Members of Seattle’s Critical Mass fanned out to set a number of informal road blocks, giving the family of a fallen bike rider room to grieve as over hundred bicyclists installed a ghost bike for the popular elementary school teacher.

A trio of Denverites raced to the city’s famed Red Rocks amphitheater by car, bikeshare and public transit; the driver won after the bikeshare bike refused to leave the city, and the transit took forever. Never mind that the public transit system bizarrely won’t be available for showtimes.

A Texas driver turned himself in for a hit-and-run crash, a day after the victim was found in a ditch after going for a bike ride the night before. Giving the driver plenty of time to sober up if he was under the influence, or come up with an excuse if he wasn’t.

An eight-year old Oklahoma boy’s mountain biking crash turned out to be a blessing in disguise when a brain scan revealed a mass in his brain, giving him a chance of survival he might not have otherwise found; video of the crash while he was riding with his dad and younger brother has been viewed over 62 million times.

Tragic news from Chicago, where a 35-year old man was killed in a dooring when someone exiting a car hit him with a car door while he was riding in a painted bike lane, and knocked him into the path of a semi truck; the victim was a planner for the city’s Complete Streets program, responsible for redesigning roads to make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to make it safer for himself.

A New York op-ed writer tries to find common ground between bike advocates and anti-ebike forces, but Streetsblog editors remain unconvinced that said common ground exists.

Trump’s plans to redevelop a popular Washington DC public golf course into an upscale “championship-level” course also threatens the city’s iconic Noon Ride, a daily bike ride that brings “wealthy riders perched on $15,000 bikes riding alongside restaurant workers just getting into the sport,” as well as federal workers, law enforcement officers, political operatives and several fitness professionals; L39ION of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams joins in when he’s in town.

Speaking of DC, 300 second graders got matching new blue bicycles after completing a bicycle safety course.

 

International

It’s easier to keep your KOM when it’s on a remote Atlantic island no one can get to without major difficulty.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 83-year old man is attempting to ride across Canada in what’s being called the “Octogenarian Odyssey;” he’ll turn 84 before the ride is finished.

She gets it. A British Columbia woman writes that bike lanes are not a luxury, as a previous op-ed writer suggested, but a necessity for her family, who rely on bicycles for all the destinations of their daily life, from work and daycare to school, shopping and all their other activities.

An awkward Toronto intersection is being closed to motor vehicles, using diverters including flex posts, planters and Muskoka — aka Adirondack — chairs, to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Um, no. A London borough council apologizes after saying ebikes help women “perform their traditional domestic responsibilities” and “stay looking nice.” Maybe someone can send them a link to join the current century. 

A writer the UK says he’ll skip a new shared-use pathway thanks to rippled pavement, debris from trees and difficulty accessing it without crossing a busy roadway. But other than that, it’s just fine, apparently. 

An Irish advocacy group says the problem isn’t that bike lanes are too wide, like the critics say, but that most bike lanes in the country are too narrow to safely ride side by side, as well as to meet EU standards.

The Guardian shares the best new bike and ebike trails surrounding Melbourne, Australia, for your next trip down under.

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI rules that current screens are big enough, and bans any bike computers bigger than the biggest one currently available — and you can kiss jersey pockets goodbye, too.

Sad news from New Hampshire, where American road racing and mountain bike pioneer Andy Bishop died after battling stomach cancer; Bishop competed in four editions of the Tour de France in the late ’80s and early ’90s, including for the old 7-Eleven team. He was just 61.

Apparently #1 is the #1 problem in professional cycling this year, as Pee-gate hits the women’s peloton, too.

 

Finally…

Close encounters of the bear kind — and now the coyotes are out to get us, too. Bike dates aren’t just for “Bicycle Boys” anymore.

And seriously, if you’re going to do crime, don’t ride a distinctive pink bicycle.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Alleged killer Playa driver faces 2 prior DUIs, Bass works to keep Forest Lawn deadly, and “tyrannical bike kings” overtake NYC

May 18, 2026 / / No comments

I may be wrong. 

But somehow, I don’t think this plate I spotted yesterday on motor scooter is an official DMV-issued license plate.

And thanks to everyone who sent items in over the weekend. I’m holding most of it over until tomorrow because of the epic length of today’s post, and my own short attention span. 

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Police identified the man who ran away from a fatal Playa del Rey collision as 28-year old Moises Santiago Rodriguez Leiva of Canyon Country.

Leiva was arrested three days after the May 3rd crash that killed a one-year old boy and his 25-year old uncle, and injured three others — one critically.

Survivors alleged that Leiva crashed into them in an act of road rage, while driving on the wrong side of the road at a high rate of speed.

The Los Angeles Times reports he was already facing two counts of DUI at the time of the crash, one from June of last year, and another from July, 2024. A judge had issued a bench warrant this January for failing to appear.

His arrest after three days on the run gave him plenty of time to sober up if he had been drinking again prior to the Playa crash. He is currently being held on $200,000 bond as prosecutors ponder charges.

This case raises the question of why drivers are allowed to remain on the road after they’ve been arrested for DUI.

A single arrest should result in the automatic suspension of a driver’s license, at least until the driver appears in court to respond to charges.

If they receive a second DUI before the first case is adjudicated, their license should be physically removed by the judge, and their vehicle impounded until such time as they are acquitted, or complete the sentence from both crimes.

That would have kept Leiva off the road. And chances are, one-year old Roger Sandoval and 25-year old Oswaldo Sandoval would still be alive.

Meanwhile, Streets Are For Everyone offers a guide to the state of DUI in the state of California, as well as the 16 DUI-related bills currently under consideration in the California legislature.

Yes, 16.

I say pass them all, and let the courts figure it out.

I’ve already lost a cousin and a childhood friend to drunk drivers. And I’ll be damned if I’m going to lose another one.

And speaking of drunk drivers, a New York driver plowed into a car while traveling at 108 mph, allegedly under the influence, then continued on into a group of pedestrians, killing two people and leaving three others in critical condition.

But sure, let’s let this guy stay on the road once he makes bail.

………

Streets For All alleges Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has intervened to pause, if not halt, the safety work scheduled for Forest Lawn Drive.

According to the traffic safety PAC, Bass reached out to StreetsLA to order a delay in the project at the request of Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries, as they apparently attempt to increase their business by killing more of us off.

This project has already been debated for years, and multiple city agencies have concluded that will not only improve safety on Forest Lawn Drive, but won’t significantly interfere with funerals or people going to and from the cemeteries.

And people wonder why nothing ever gets done in this city.

………

No bias here.

A New York writer apparently doesn’t like bike lanes.

Or the people who do.

In a New York Post op-ed, the founding president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York and adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute, insists that “tyrannical ‘bike kings'” are taking over the city.

And demanding New Yorkers give up their precious traffic lanes and parking spaces.

New York City is dealing with elevated crime and disorder, failing and emptying schools, taxpayer flight and a fiscally crunched City Hall.

But our ruling class is targeting the “real” emergency: not enough bike lanes.

Cycling activists and their friends at the Department of Transportation have stepped up their crusade against the existential threat of the four-wheeled vehicle, imposing street-redesign plans on neighborhoods, whether residents want them or not.

It gets worse.

The bike kings go to communities with glossy presentations stuffed with buzzwords — “traffic-calming redesign,” “rebalancing public space,” “reimagined corridors.”

Translation: Your car, delivery truck or Access-A-Ride van  — no longer welcome…

And if residents object? Dismiss them as backward, selfish or (worse) suburban-minded.

Face it.

We’re all overprivileged corporate types who don’t care if grandma makes it to her doctor appointment because there’s no parking space for her car. All we care about is reducing traffic lanes to reduce the number of cars.

Never mind that maybe the 81-year old woman with a walker she cites probably shouldn’t be driving in the first place.

Because apparently, bike riders aren’t bus boys. Or college students. Or seniors trying to keep their weight and blood pressure down.

Or maybe just people who don’t want to get killed or maimed riding from here to there. And no self-respecting Chinese American would ever be caught dead on a bicycle.

Right?

But that’s the problem when you see the world in terms of stereotypes. You don’t see people. You see two-dimensional cardboard cutouts who can’t possibly understand your problems, or your perspective.

And you end up talking past one another, instead of with one another.

New York doesn’t need streets designed to conform to the cyclist ideology. It needs streets that make possible greater circulation, commerce and access.

Residents should say no to senseless bike-lane expansion.

Because a city that can’t move and accommodate the people who actually live and work in it isn’t “reimagined.”

It’s just stuck.

Yet somehow, the people going by in the bike lane aren’t “stuck.”

They’re moving. They’re breathing.

They’re living.

And they’re your neighbors.

You know, like us.

………

No bias here, either.

According to the London Telegraph — a bike friendly publication once upon a time — the medieval town on Windsor, home to the famous castle that’s home to the royal family, is being overrun with cyclists.

Make that middle-aged men in Lycra, aka MAMILS.

They are drawn on the 62-mile round trip ride from London because a Windsor cafe is offering a whopping ten percent discount on all drinks and food for anyone who arrives in Lycra, otherwise known as spandex on this side of the Atlantic.

But what some might see as a smart special to draw visitors to town, is somehow an invasion of law-breaking scofflaws who never met a red light they liked.

The paper somehow found a 79-year old woman who apparently doesn’t think it’s fair that bicyclists pay just 90% of the menu price. Never mind that locals get the same deal, Lycra or not, while tourists pay full freight.

However, the growing number of cyclists has coincided with a spate of rule-breaking on London’s roads. Traffic lights and zebra crossings are frequently ignored by some cyclists, leading police to consider tougher penalties for those who break the law…

Meanwhile, councils have been accused of waging a war on motorists in an effort to promote cycling, walking and other forms of “active travel” as part of efforts to tackle climate change…

In Windsor, though, the cyclists keep on coming – not for the castle but for cut-price coffee.

All that, because some local cafe came up with a successful promotion.

And chances are, a few of the people on bicycles may happen to notice the castle while they’re there.

………

A 37-year old Santa Monica woman was arrested for suspicion of bicycling under the influence after she allegedly kept riding after colliding with a car, causing minor damage.

Demonstrating once again that a) it is against the law to bike while drunk or stoned, even if the penalty is less than it is for DUI, and b) you are required to stop after a collision, just like drivers are.

………

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

You’ve got to be kidding. A North Carolina bike rider was handcuffed when cops arrived on the scene and assumed he was an aggressor — even though he was actually the victim of a collision; police swore he was actively resisting. I’d be actively resisting, too, if I got handcuffed for getting hit by a driver.

You’ve got to be kidding, part two. A bike rider in Edinburgh, Scotland was held 50% responsible for getting doored by the driver’s insurance company, which ruled he should have been riding further away from the car.

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

A Redditor complains that her bicyclist boyfriend encouraged her to buy a bike, then came up with reasons why it was impossible to ride together. Hint: Dump the guy, keep the bike. 

A 24-year old Cincinnati man was busted for grabbing ass as he rode by women on his ebike, including local comedian Kelly Collette.

………

Local 

Streetsblog will host the great D-Line Dash tomorrow, pitting a bike rider against people driving and taking the subway from Beverly Hills to DTLA. My money’s on the subway, followed by the bicycle. 

The LAPD busted a suspected shooter after a ten-minute chase that began near Fountain and Formosa avenues, then crossed over into West Hollywood as the suspect jumped on a bicycle — which may or may not have been his — and ended in WeHo’s Plummer Park.

South Pasadena approved a Complete Streets concept for South Huntington Drive, but council members were unable to reach a consensus on how to improve Fremont Ave.

Pasadena residents gathered Saturday to build more than 100 bicycles for the twice-yearly Eva Lin Team’s Charity Bike Build to ensure every child who wants a bicycle can have one.

That doesn’t sound good. A Saugus bicyclist was seriously injured after landing a jump at the Haskell Canyon Bike Park neck first.

This is who we share the road with. Two Valencia teenagers were arrested for an intentional assault on a peace officer when one of the teens swerved his dirt bike into the deputy’s motorcycle, causing the cop to crash.

Harrison Ford is one of us, taking to mountain biking in the Santa Monica Mountains following his 2015 plane crash.

 

State

The Orange County Transportation Authority and the City of Mission Viejo teamed up to host the “Pedal La Paz Road” Bikeway Demonstration Event on Saturday, demonstrating how cities can rethink wide arterial roads to prioritize safety, accessibility, and mobility for everyone, even as nearby Fullerton continues to struggle with disconnected bikeways.

The Cyclovia Encinitas returned to the coast highway for the 6th consecutive year.

This is who we share the road with, too. A driver was arrested after plowing through a group of people standing outside an Oakland market, killing three people and injuring five others; the juvenile alleged killer attempted to flee the scene, but was captured by witnesses.

After a 1,550-mile bike ride from Venice to Athens, a couple who originally met in San Francisco realizes that getting married probably won’t be the hardest thing they do. Although based on 27 years of matrimonial hindsight, I’d say the bike ride is way easier. 

Sacramento bike riders decorated their bikes with bright lights and loudspeakers, and wore colorful outfits, Friday night for the monthly Big Party Sacramento.

Davis residents were warned to be careful riding after a mountain lion was spotted near a popular bike path. If you encounter a mountain lion, or any kind of wild cat, remember you can’t outrun it. So stay still, try to make yourself look as large as possible, yell loudly, and if you have anything you can throw at it, do it. 

 

National

Redditors say wiggle your handlebars, or maybe your butt, to add an air of unpredictability and encourage drivers to give you a little more space on the road.

Life is cheap in Las Vegas, where a man is looking for answers after the driver who killed his bike-riding wife two years ago walked without a day behind bars, and a lousy 100 hours of community service and a $1,140 fine, despite an original charge of manslaughter.

A Detroit man learns the hard way that if you’re going to lead a life of crime, leave your distinctive ebike at home.

The New York Times Wirecutter newsletter offers tips to make bicycling less intimidating. Although what could be less intimidating than just getting on a bike and turning the pedals?

Amazon is using big box ebikes for last-mile deliveries in DC. And yes, they do actually have to be pedaled, albeit with a pedal-by-wire drivetrain.

Savannah, Georgia cops finally got their man — or woman, in this case — nearly two years after a hit-and-run driver killed a 37-year old man riding a bicycle; the 29-year old driver was charged with vehicular homicide, as well as attempting to coverup evidence of the crime.

At a time when our government is kicking refugees from “shithole” countries out of ours, a former competitive cyclist is helping Georgia refugees get on a bicycle by refurbishing donated bikes to provide them with reliable transportation.

A Florida triathlete is recovering after she was sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike, suffering an extensive list of serious injuries, but credits her helmet with saving her life; a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $52,000, topping the $50,000 goal.

 

International

Just in time for Metro’s not Bike to Work Day, Road.cc offers tips on how to avoid common bike commuting mistakes.

Bike lock manufacturer Litelok is offering a real-time look at where bike thefts are occurring so you can avoid hotspots. That’s easy. Everywhere. 

Road.cc guides you through the weird, wacky and wonderful world of alternative bike seats.

While US cities are cracking down on ebikes, a UK petition is calling for raising speeds for ped-assist ebikes to 20 mph.

LA bike riders have to worry about car horns, while British riders are concerned with cow horns in the countryside this time of year.

An Irish couple shares the lessons they learned by bicycling 7,500 miles around the world, including “don’t camp with bears” and “it really is all in your mind.” Not to mention your thighs. And butt. And calves. And back. And…

France is offering the equivalent of $4,600 to trade in your car for an ebike.

Spanish bicyclists will continue to be expected to use the shoulder, but only when it’s passable and never if there’s a separated bikeway — and they’ll be fined if they ride the shoulder when there is a bike path

Bicyclists in Jerusalem are pushing for a more bike-friendly city, as a massive annual event drew bicyclists out to the streets.

Israel is set to mandate license plates for all e-scooter and ebike riders, but the plates will apply to the rider, not the bike, so you could apparently transfer your license from one vehicle to another.

China is starting to leave the Western bicycle industry behind, just like the country is doing with electric vehicles.

An 81-year old San Francisco man is now leading Tokyo bike rides of up to 35 miles on behalf of the fittingly named Half-Fast Cycling.

Frustrations are growing over Japan’s new policy of fining bicyclists for a host of violations, with some people believing the fines go too far and others who think they don’t go far enough, even though most people think they’re about right. Meanwhile, bicyclists also have to deal with fake cops fining riders on the spot.

Aussie bike shops faces fines up to $1.1 million for selling fixies without front and rear brakes, as well as meeting a host of other standards.

 

Competitive Cycling

Good for them. Two Cycling Canada board members resigned from the national sport organization in response to the decision to not field a women’s team pursuit squad in the world championships or the upcoming ’28 Olympics.

Seven-time-ex-Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong is helping to design the mountain biking course for the LA Olympics, after the LA Olympic Committee was apparently unable to find any non-dopers willing to do the job.

Nineteen-year old Danish wunderkind Albert Withen Philipsen was lucky to escape without major injuries following a training crash at 50 mph, even if he’s been left “mummified” in bandages.

Once again, stupid, idiotic, no-good “fans” have interfered with the peloton, as two 19- and 20-year old men were arrested for stepping onto the roadway during the Giro, and reaching out towards the riders.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can take a biking vacay just like Richard Branson. Now you, too, can help a bike rider through cartoon traffic, even if the situation is anything but funny.

And you, too, could have had a painting of a bike rider being abducted by aliens.

But you’re too damn late, because someone already bought it.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Alleged speeding drunk driver kills two peds in NoHo, e-motos ain’t ebikes, and an alien abduction on 4th Street Bridge

April 13, 2026 / / Comments Off on Alleged speeding drunk driver kills two peds in NoHo, e-motos ain’t ebikes, and an alien abduction on 4th Street Bridge

This is who we share the road with.

An alleged speeding and drunk driver killed two people in North Hollywood who had just gotten out of a parked car around 2:25 am Sunday, then careened down the street before striking multiple parked cars and slamming through the wall of a house blocks away.

The victims were identified only as a man in his 30s, and a woman in her 50s. Three people who remained in the car suffered minor injuries.

Thirty-two-year old Pacoima resident Vidal Cruz Jr. was booked on two counts of murder, and being held on $4 million bond.

The murder charges suggest that Cruz may have received a Watson advisement after a previous DUI.

Yet he was still behind the wheel and on the streets until he managed to kill someone.

………

Here’s the ebike problem in a nutshell.

Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado got in hot water when they spotted a group riding dirt bikes, e-motos and four-wheelers popping wheelies, weaving through traffic, and ignoring traffic signals before fleeing from the cops.

They only managed to capture a single 30-year old rider, as all the others slipped away.

The problem came when they talked about it on social media and described the vehicles as ebikes, even though none would have met the definition of an ebike under Colorado law.

Or most other states, including California.

Yet the cops, the media and most of the public somehow lump all forms of two and three-wheeled electric vehicles together as ebikes.

Never mind how powerful or fast they are, whether they have functional pedals, or have been illegally modified to exceed legal speed limitations.

As far as they’re concerned, they’re all ebikes, whether you’re talking about a ped-assist road bike with a barely noticeable battery, or something that looks, rides and feels like a motorcycle.

And so we end up with laws like the one recently passed in New Jersey that requires a license and registration for any bike with an electric motor, without distinguishing one from another.

Or in California beach towns, which restrict where and how fast ebikes can be ridden, banning ped-assist bikes from bike trails along with electric motorbikes.

Meanwhile, Fortune looks at a new bike that’s technically a Class 2 ebike — except it rides like a moped, has barely functional pedals, and weighs 176 pounds.

And looks like a damn Cybertruck.

………

He gets it.

In a column that seemingly has little to do with bicycles, the LA Times’ Steve Lopez takes a walking tour of the blight surrounding City Hall, from an abandoned memorial out front to the largely derelict Los Angeles Mall across the street.

And has this to say.

Nobody wants to hear about budget constraints from people who helped create them, or that’s it’s someone else’s responsibility, or that making improvements is complicated.

It’s really that simple.

Whether you’re talking about the blight at City Hall, or potholes in the streets, bike lane “barriers” in need of replacement, or a mobility plan that never seems to get built.

The leaders of this city have put us on the brink of bankruptcy, and then complain about a lack of funding to get anything done.

Either fix the damn city, or get the hell out of the way and let someone else do it.

………

The early bird may not get the worm.

But you could get the tickets, in this case.

Twitter post

………

This appears to be the 4th Street Bridge over the 101 Freeway in DTLA.

Even most alien abductions seem to take place in the Valley.

https://bsky.app/profile/coolbikeart1.bsky.social/post/3mj62qzh6uk2n

………

Local 

I’m not sure if it’s a benefit for the Los Angeles budget or a reflection of just how bad our drivers are, but Streetsblog reports camera citations for bus lane violations in the city generated nearly $20 million last year. Although I kinda prefer the Toronto approach. 

Streets For All follows their endorsement of Nithya Raman for LA Mayor with a list of mostly expected endorsements for other city offices.

Not only is RJ Decker star Scott Speedman one of us, he can also ride with both hands on his helmetless head.

 

State

A San Diego woman learns to ride a bike at 65.

Sad news from Calistoga, where a bike rider was killed after being rear-ended by a driver when they allegedly crossed in front of the oncoming car. As always, the question is whether there were any independent witnesses, since the driver has an inherent interest in seeing their own action in the best possible light. 

 

National

Popular Science digs into the eternal question of why you never forget how to ride a bike, because the brain stores skills differently than facts, making them easier to remember.

A writer for Business Insider started letting her kids bike around the neighborhood with friends when they were eight years old, and says, despite her worries, it’s taught them responsibility and independence.

Self-driving cars Waymo and Waze are teaming up to map America’s potholes so they can be fixed.

A new report from the Transportation Research Board urges airports to make room for travelers and employees to bike to the airport, and park their bikes once they get there.

A 66-year old grandfather’s life changed when he ignored a diagnosis of aortic stenosis and continued to ride — until the day he fainted on his bike and woke up in the emergency room.

A woman learns by doing that 57 is not too old to ride a tandem across the US with her new husband. Then again, 75 isn’t too old, either. 

Hundreds of Salt Lake City bike riders turned out for the city’s weekly 999 Thursday night rides, which seem to be officially tolerated, if not sanctioned.

Speaking of Aurora, Colorado, a local bike shop fights to stay in business after being burglarized nine times in just three years.

A Denver attorney shares the story of ripping her leg open in a harrowing mountain bike crash in the Colorado backcountry, and relying on the satellite feature on her iPhone to call for help.

A team of people with Parkinson’s will marked the centenary of America’s iconic Route 66 by riding the 1,600 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles, in part to show how physical activity can fight off the effects of the disease.

Declining bike sales haven’t place a damper on Detroit bicycling groups.

 

International

A British Columbia writer says he gave up his road bike and took up gravel riding because he wants to keep riding as he gets older.

Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher is one of us, too, riding his bike through the British countryside up to four times a week — yet a British tabloid still tries to draw him into the wrong side of a battle over a bike lane in wealthy St. John’s Wood.

Dozens of bicyclists turned out in Donegal, Ireland to call for more respect on the roads after four bike riders were injured when they were struck by a driver.

A 59-year old Irish naval officer is now in a coma, one of the four bicyclists seriously injured when they were struck by a driver shortly after arriving on the coast of Spain.

A British expat makes the case for why she loves the long distance bike paths of France.

An Indian man risked death more than once to photograph the country, while riding his bicycle nearly 12,000 miles across all 28 Indian states.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wout van Aert edged out Tadej Pogačar to win Paris-Roubaix and claim his first cobbled Monument victory; Mathieu van der Poel was dropped when he tried to swap bikes with a teammate after a double puncture, and couldn’t clip in because of incompatible pedals, while Tadej Pogačar lost time because suffered a flat and had to accept a neutral wheel from a race moto.

On the women’s side, Germany’s Franziska Koch outsprinted Marianne Vos to win just the sixth Paris-Roubaix Femmes, as Escape Collective explains how the Visma-Lease a Bike team could ride a perfect race and still lose on the cobbles.

Just stop pilfering the Paris-Roubaix cobbles, already.

Forget the airbag bike helmet. French bike brand Van Rysel is launching a full-body airbag skinsuit for the pro tour that can deploy is 60 milliseconds in the event of a crash.

San Diego’s velodrome is now hosting USA Cycling sanctioned bike races that exclude trans women.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the first rule of the festive century relay is don’t be a dick. If there’s no snow, build mountain bike trails — and make ’em adaptive from Day 1.

And nothing like having a furry stoker upfront.

Reddit post

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

2nd lawsuit filed over LA HLA failures, changing “accident” on death certificates, and 14-year old DUI driver kills bike rider

April 9, 2026 / / 2 comments

No surprise here.

The Los Angeles City Board of Public Works heard another three Measure HLA appeals filed by Joe Linton.

And all three were denied, naturally.

Here’s is how Linton described the appeals.

  1. Hyperion Avenue – As part of installing speed tables, LADOT reconfigured striping making Hyperion Avenue. This moved cars a couple feet further to the right, where cyclists ride, making the street even less safe for bicycling. I content that this reconfiguration triggers bike lanes and accessibility improvements approved in the city’s 2015 Mobility Plan. The city contends [staff report] that the reconfiguration was “restriping without other improvements” and therefore did not trigger HLA.
  2. Vernon Avenue – As part of a peak-hour lane removal project (my reporting on similar projects), the city added more than a mile of new parking on Vernon Avenue. I contend that this project triggered HLA bus/walk/access upgrades. The city contends [staff report] the reconfiguration was “restriping without other improvements” and therefore did not trigger HLA.
  3. Terra Bella Street – As part of a Metro-L.A. City light rail project, the city is working with Metro to remove Van Nuys Boulevard bike lanes and add partial bike lanes on Terra Bella Street as a replacement. The city plans omit the block of bike lanes closest to the new light rail station. I contend that the Terra Bella bike lanes trigger HLA, and that the city should proceed with the full planned extent, not dropping the bike lanes next to the station. The city contends [staff report] that the Terra Bella bike lanes do not trigger HLA because the city plans to slurry seal the street before making modifications.

The denial of the appeals means Linton can, at his discretion, file a lawsuit to force the city to comply.

He has already filed one lawsuit against Metro for failing to include the bike lanes required by HLA in the Vermont Avenue Bus Lane project; HLA requires the city to build out projects included in the city’s mobility plan whenever significant road work takes place.

And reworking the entire Vermont corridor would seem to be significant.

Or rather, make that two.

Because Linton filed a second HLA lawsuit yesterday.

This time he’s going after the city for using numerous loopholes to avoid complying with the requirements of HLA — including LA Street Services ridiculous invention of the term “Large Asphalt Repair.”

That’s the city’s term for avoiding repaving projects that would trigger HLA, as well as requiring the installation of curb cuts to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

To the best of my knowledge, no other city in the world uses the term Large Asphalt Repair. Or would have the temerity to.

The new lawsuit alleges a number of violations, including, according to Linton,

  1. Cesar Chavez Avenue/Sunset Boulevard (Figueroa Street to Alameda Street): Announced city project would follow a community plan updated after HLA cut-off; the announced version includes unprotected bike lanes, but the project triggers protected bike lanes.
  2. Eagle Rock Boulevard (Avenue 32 to York Boulevard) – Late 2025 “large asphalt repair” projects over 660 feet long trigger protected bike lanes and pedestrian enhancements.
  3. Hollywood Boulevard (Gower Street to Virgil Avenue) – 2024 “large asphalt repair” and reconfiguration triggers adding one missing curb ramp.
  4. Ohio Avenue (Centinela Avenue to Bundy Drive) – 2026 slurry seal project triggers protected bike lanes.
  5. Victory Boulevard (Lankershim Boulevard to Clybourn Avenue) – 2025 peak hour lane removal project triggers adding bike lanes.
  6. Western Avenue (Washington Boulevard to Cambridge Street): 2025 and 2026 “large asphalt repair” projects totaling over 660 feet trigger bus lanes and pedestrian enhancements.
  7. The fact that city leaders are going so far out of its way just to avoid building the mobility plan they already approved demonstrates why we need new leadership, in my relatively humble opinion.

Mayor Bass, and the majority of the city council, seem to be doing anything and everything they can not to make the streets of this city any safer, or any more welcoming to anyone not encased in a couple tons of steel and glass.

Nor do we even hear them talk about it, even when the mayor is urged to declare a state of emergency to deal with traffic violence, let alone implement Vision Zero.

Bass frequently ties herself in knots patting herself on the back for how much crime has dropped, while failing to mention that crime has dropped nationwide, in cities she’s never been to, let alone led.

But it has not gotten any safer on city streets for bike riders and pedestrians, who continue to die at record rates.

In fact, the city has gone out of its way to hide the effects of traffic violence, no longer updating Vision Zero maps or releasing information about traffic deaths and injuries.

I don’t know who would make a better mayor for this city at this point.

Streets For All has endorsed Nithya Raman. And while I trust their judgement, I want her to show commitment to safer streets, and finding the funding to implement them.

But in the meantime, count me in the Anyone But Bass camp. And Linton’s lawsuits just scratch the surface of why I’m pitching my tent there.

Apropos of nothing, today’s photo is a corgi celebrating her 6th birthday by barely fitting into a Metro Bike basket. 

………

Speaking of Joe Linton, while his lawsuits and appeals have been filed in his personal capacity, here he takes a tour of the coming curb-protected bike lane on Colorado and Broadway in Santa Monica in his role as editor of Streetsblog LA.

And frankly, I had no idea he could ride that fast.

Bluesky post

………

An interesting bill in the state legislature would allow families to change death certificates after a driver is convicted of a crime.

When someone is killed in a collision, the death certificate typically lists cause of death as “accident.” But SB 1071 would allow the cause of death to be amended to “homicide” if the driver is convicted of felony DUI, hit-and-run, or other felony charges.

However, in this case, homicide isn’t synonymous with murder. It simply means that the death was directly caused by the actions of another person, without implying intent.

But it does make clear that a death resulting from a traffic crime isn’t an accident.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

A Texas woman will spend the next two years behind bars for child endangerment after letting her drunk 14-year old son drive her car, and killing someone riding a bicycle

And that after he was already stopped by police while driving her car two other times. The only reason she wasn’t charged with manslaughter prosecutors couldn’t prove she knew the boy was under the influence.

Although you’d think authorities might have done something the first time the kid was stopped by the cops, instead of waiting until he actually killed someone.

But, you know, Texas.

………

Streets Are For Everyone recaps a recent webinar on completing the LA River Bike Path before the 2028 Olympics.

That was originally part of former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Twenty-eight by ’28 list of transportation projects that were to be finished before the Games, until Los Angeles and Metro moved the goalposts by taking out the projects that were just too hard.

Because evidently, trying harder to accomplish the hard things just isn’t in our playbook.

………

They’ve got a point.

Those little white car-tickler plastic bendy posts just ain’t gonna protect anyone from anything.

Twitter post

………

Local 

Public radio’s Marketplace visits LA’s Bike Oven co-op, calling it bike repair shop dedicated to giving you everything you need to learn how to fix your bike yourself.

Temporary bus and bike lane detours are in effect on Sepulveda Blvd for the next year and a half while Metro builds a new bridge for the G (Expo) Line, with work expected to be completed in December, 2027.

La Verne approved building a short two-way protected bike lane to connect to a longer lane in Pomona, providing bike access to the Pomona North Metro Station.

 

State

A bill from Encinitas State Senator Catherine Blakespear to redefine ebikes and create a new class of electric motorbikes unanimously passed the Senate Transportation Committee; SB 1167 would require that ebikes have operable pedals and a maximum engine output of 750 watts or less, the same limit required under European Union rules.

This is who we share the road with. A 69-year old Apple Valley man faces a charge of assault with a deadly weapon after first attempting to push a kid off his dirt bike, then getting in his car and attempting to run him down when the boy went to his father to tell him what the man had done.

Santa Barbara reopened the Maria Ignacio Bike Path after a temporary bridge was installed to repair storm damage from earlier this year.

Police in Manteca cracked down on road takeovers by wheelie-popping kids on bikes, impounding 18 bicycles under a new city ordinance allowing their seizure and slapping 25 teenaged riders with $200 tickets.

 

National

The Minnesota state Senate is considering three ebike-related bills, including a bill that would redefine ebikes and e-motos, similar to California’s SB 1167.

Tennessee is adding more than 1,000 miles of gravel trails to the state’s bike network, in addition to 52 paved routes for bicyclists.

Megan forwards news that the National Park Service is still semi-functioning, opening up a seven-mile segment of the historic Colonial Parkway in Virginia’s Colonial National Historical Park for a carfree open streets event. 

Huntsville, Alabama is preparing to host its 17th annual Mayor’s Bike Ride, led by the city’s sitting mayor. Los Angeles hasn’t had a bike ride led by the mayor since Richard Riordan was mayor back in the ’90s. Which is also the last time a Republican held the office. 

 

International

Police in Waterloo, Ontario charged a driver with making an unsafe turn and driving with an obstructed view after he hit a 12-year old girl riding a bicycle, sending the girl to the hospital with serious injuries — then slapped her parents with a ticket for allowing their daughter to ride without a bike helmet.

A Welsh bicyclist complains that it costs twice as much to rent a bike locker in Cardiff as it does in most London neighborhoods; prices for bike storage in the UK range from the equivalent of $160 a year in Cardiff, to as little as $15 in Scotland.

Ultra cyclist Justyna Jarczok somehow got her stolen bike back, albeit looking somewhat worse for wear, days after it was stolen with all of her belongings from a British gas station; her other things were found later in a nearby park.

An addendum to yesterday’s mention of the new DuoBell bike bell from Czech carmaker Škoda, which is actually just vaporware at the moment; designed to defeat noise cancelling headphones, the bell is a prototype, and may or may not make it into actual production.

A Philippine bicyclist says he felt weird wearing his bike helmet on a visit to Taiwan, where bicycling is so normalized it feels more like walking.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mexico’s Isaac del Toro was forced to abandon the Itzulia Basque Country after he tore his right thigh muscle in a bad crash in stage 3 of the race; there’s no prognosis on his recovery and return to racing at this time.

The driver of the official Itzulia Basque Country race doctor’s car was unceremoniously kicked out of the race and fined the equivalent of $632 for causing local star Mikel Landa to abandon the race after he collided with the car and fell heavily on a high speed descent; but apparently, bike racing means never having to say you’re sorry.

 

Finally…

Your old bike frame could have a second life as a hotel chair. When a night at the pub leads to a 525-mile bike ride to watch a soccer match, it might be time to cut back on drinking just a tad.

And that feeling when the “sadistic” coverage of a bike racing crash beats the hell out of any horror flick.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: 73-year old woman dies after apparent right-hook hit-and-run in Koreatown Monday; suspected DUI driver arrested

March 14, 2026 / / Comments Off on Update: 73-year old woman dies after apparent right-hook hit-and-run in Koreatown Monday; suspected DUI driver arrested

Seriously, this has got to stop.

For the fourth time just this week, someone has died riding a bicycle in Southern California.

Multiple sources are reporting that a 73-year old woman was killed by the driver of a pickup in a Koreatown crosswalk Monday morning.

The driver stopped briefly, then backed up and fled the scene.

The crash occurred around 6:40 am at Olympic Blvd and Vermont Ave, as the pickup was headed east on Olympic. The driver attempted to turn right onto Vermont, and apparently right hooked the victim as she rode east across Vermont.

Although that part isn’t exactly clear, because the reports say she was in the crosswalk on Olympic when she was struck; only My News LA says she was headed east, which would put her in the crosswalk on Vermont.

The driver stopped for a moment, then backed up onto Olympic and fled east.

The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was taken to a hospital, where she died sometime later.

Police found a white Dodge Ram pickup matching the description of the suspect vehicle nearby and took the driver into custody. Investigators note that drug use “may” have played a role in the crash, though it’s unknown if alcohol may have also been a factor.

The crash is still under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call detectives with the LAPD’s West Traffic Division at 213/473-0234 or 1-877/527-3247.

This the 21st bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the ninth already in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fourth we know about in the City of Los Angeles.

Six of those SoCal deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers.

Update: The victim has been identified as 73-year old Kum Soon Lee-Kim. 

However, someone should tell My News LA that once a driver flees the scene, it’s not a “suspected” hit-and-run driver, it is a hit-and-run. The driver is only suspected once they’re accused.

However, there also seems to be some question whether the accused driver was taken into custody; KTLA-5 says an arrest was made, but My News LA says police are still looking for the driver, with the usual standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones. 

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

Hit-and-run victim left in Boyle Heights, Westchester/Playa NC talks Pershing Drive safety, and CA legislature talks DUI

March 3, 2026 / / Comments Off on Hit-and-run victim left in Boyle Heights, Westchester/Playa NC talks Pershing Drive safety, and CA legislature talks DUI

Not again.

For the second time in just over a month, someone has been found down next to a bicycle in a Boyle Heights intersection after an apparent hit-and-run.

But this time, the victim was still alive, though severely injured.

According to KTLA-5, the victim was discovered at Cesar Chavez Ave and Fickett Street around 11:18 Sunday night, just two miles from where a man was found dead at 7th Street and Boyle Ave on January 29th.

There’s no information at this time on the identity of the victim, or any description of the suspect vehicle or the driver.

A photo from the scene shows a dark colored bicycle with flat handlebars, with a plastic shopping bag hanging from the left handgrip.

Let’s hope the victim makes a full and fast recovery.

And that police find the heartless coward who left them there.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

The Westchester Playa del Rey Neighborhood Council is hosting a special meeting tonight to discuss traffic safety improvements around Pershing and Manchester.

Apparently, it only took the death of a 36-year old mother and her unborn baby to spur them into action, and consider re-reversing the Complete Streets improvements that were installed in 2017, then ripped out later that same year to appease angry motorists.

Not to mention business owners who somehow thought they’d get more sales from drivers zooming past, usually without stopping, than from people who could safely walk or bike to their establishments.

But hey, if I sound disgusted, it’s only because I am.

So if you live, work, walk or bike in the area, or know anyone who does, you owe it to yourself to be there tonight. Or at the very least, take the survey from CD11’s Traci Park.

Twitter post

………

We’ve recently featured Calmatters‘ excellent License to Kill series discussing California’s lax DUI laws, and how the state seemingly goes out of its way to keep dangerous drivers on the streets.

So I thought I’d share a legislative update I received yesterday from CalMatters Investigative Editor Andrew Donohue.

 

Really quick:

The Legislature has planned a number of hearings in the coming days that I thought you might want to know about.

Tomorrow (March 3): The Assembly Public Safety Committee will take up discussion on a bill to tighten punishments for repeat drunk drivers and another bill to close a diversion loophole that allows people charged with vehicular manslaughter to avoid having the case on their driving record.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. You can attend in person (room 126 of the State Capitol) or remotely. The bills are two of many issues on the agenda.

The bills address two issues we’ve covered in our investigation: the state’s weak DUI laws and how the diversion program means you can face more consequences for a speeding ticket than a deadly crash.

(The committee is also slated to tackle two more related bills the following week.)

March 10: The Senate Transportation Committee will hold an informational hearing titled “Examining California’s DUI and Traffic Safety Laws.” It’s the first such hearing in well over a decade.

We don’t yet know who will be speaking, but it will begin at 1:30 pm at 1021 O Street, Room 1200. You can also stream the live video or audio.

If you can’t make these hearings but would love to watch or read what happened after, we’ll also have access to recordings and a transcript. If you’d like me to send those to you when they become available, reply to this email and let me know.

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Streetsblog reports LADOT will host a couple meetings to discuss the long overdue safety changes to Westwood Blvd.

Starting Thursday 3/5 – The L.A. City Transportation Department (LADOT) will host two Westwood Boulevard Safety and Mobility Project public input meetings. The in-person meeting will be Thursday 3/5 from 6-8 p.m. at Westwood’s Village Square at 1109 Westwood Boulevard. The virtual meeting will take place on Thursday 3/19 from 6-8 p.m. via Zoom. Details at LADOT newsletter.

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Ask, and ye shall be answered.

https://twitter.com/BikeLanesLA/status/2028576525478732036

https://twitter.com/BikeLanesLA/status/2028720401321537541

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Is Ed Sheeran one of us, or is it just AI?

Instagram post

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

The decision to reverse an Encinitas CA Complete Streets project means the city will rip out a protected bike lane in front of a public high school with more than two thousand students.

Middlesbrough, England is removing what’s been called the UK’s “most hated” bike lane, after it was criticized for causing injuries and offering a “clear getaway” for shoplifters and drug dealers — never mind that it will cost over a million dollars more to remove the four-year old bikeway than it cost to put in.

Someone in the UK seems to be responsible for an epic screwup, after a 13-year old girl was injured falling off a scooter on a new bike lane, where the red grit surface somehow wasn’t bonded to the roadway.

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Local 

Culver City is creating a weekly bike bus starting at 8 am today, and continuing every Tuesday going forward.

West Hollywood is responding to a rash of residential burglaries by putting sheriff’s deputies on bicycles, which gives them the ability to respond quickly, go where patrol cars can’t, and roll up silently on suspects and crime scenes.

Burbank will post a table on the Chandler Bikeway from 9 am to 12:30 pm this Saturday to answer questions and solicit input about planned bicycle infrastructure in the city, focusing on the upcoming extension of the Chandler Bikeway; you’ll find them at the east end of the bike path at Chandler Blvd and Mariposa Street.

 

State

Sad news from bike-friendly Davis, where a woman riding a bicycle was killed in a collision with a teen ebike rider on a popular bike path.

 

National

He gets it. A writer for Mountain Bike Action pens an open letter to the bike industry, saying we need to stop calling anything with an electric motor an ebike, and create clear distinctions between electric bicycles, electric mopeds and electric motorcycles.

A surprising new mural in the Downtown Las Vegas Arts District celebrates the Southern Nevada Bicycle Coalition’s “Let’s Get There Together” safety campaign. I mean, who knew Las Vegas even had an arts district?

They get it, too. Police in St. George, Utah cited a driver for hitting a bike-riding boy in a right-hook crash, leaving the kid with minor injuries; she was cited even though a cop said utility boxes and the position of the sun could have obscured her view of the boy, adding “Regardless, you still have to yield the right of way, especially when you’re at stop signs.” Can we hire that guy to be our LAPD police chief? Pretty please?

A Sioux Falls software engineer has ridden his bicycle to work every day for the past ten years, continuing a streak that began in 2016. Which isn’t easy to do through a single South Dakota winter, let alone ten.

That’s more like it. A 69-year old Louisiana man was sentenced to 9 years behind bars for the hit-and-run that killed a 67-year old man riding a bicycle, along with six months for driving while intoxicated, to be served consecutively. Or concurrently. Or maybe both.

A 30-year old Greensboro, North Carolina man has pled guilty to scamming bicycle companies out of tens of thousands of dollars worth of high-end bikes by posing as a North Carolina-based bicyclist and YouTuber with nearly 4 million followers on his two channels.

Nope, no bias here. A Florida county discusses “essential safety protocols and the legal responsibilities shared by all road users” with a huge graphic listing a dozen safety accessories for people on bicycles, along with advice to use that safety equipment, wear a properly fitting bike helmet and replace it after a crash, and follow the same laws as drivers and use hand signals — then tells drivers to just remain vigilant and give bike riders at least three feet passing distance.

 

International

Momentum says London’s annual Tweed Run could be the quirkiest bike ride on the planet, as participants dress in their finest early 20th Century attire.

Dubliners make over half a million journeys by bike and foot every day, after investing the equivalent of nearly $700 million in active transportation over just the past five years, in a metro area with a population of less than 1.4 million.

South African seniors are taking advantage of the coastal climate and the health benefits of bicycling by taking up gravel riding.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Rick Pluimers proves hockey players aren’t the only ones who sacrifice teeth for their sport, after landing face first on the cobbles of Omloop Nieuwsblad. I sacrificed mine to diabetes, so same thing, right?

 

Finally…

That feeling when you finish first in a race after a nearly 40-mile solo breakaway, then get DQ’d for illegal brakes that were legal when you started. Or when your wheel blows up because you didn’t fix a damn flat.

And nothing like a purported eco website apparently using AI to say bike lanes make traffic worse — without apparently knowing there’s a difference between New York City and New York State.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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