The rider was found lying unresponsive in the roadway when first responders arrived, and died after being transported to a similarly unidentified hospital.
The driver reportedly remained at the scene, and was cooperating with investigators; no word on whether police suspect distraction or intoxication played a role in the crash.
Video from the scene shows a mangled road bike off to the side of the road.
This is at least the 36th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eleventh that I’m aware of already this year in San Diego County, which seems to be rushing to keep up with Los Angeles County, with roughly three times the population.
There is a regionally planned bikeway project on that same stretch that was supposed to begin construction in early 2020, which still hasn't https://t.co/1E9HvxX7ES
According to the paper, Shinn was a prominent architect and planner who regularly commuted to her work at San Diego State University, where she oversaw the planning and design of several campus facilities.
Laura Shinn worked as SDSU’s director of facilities planning and was serving as the 2021 president of the board of directors of the American Institute of Architects’ San Diego chapter. She also was a founding member of the Women in Architecture group in San Diego.
In a statement, SDSU described Shinn as “an incredibly talented architect who helped oversee much of our university’s development and growth.”
Shinn was run down from behind as she rode north on Pershing, which the paper says does have a bike lane.
Thirty-eight-year old Adam Milavetz was arrested on suspicion of DUI after allegedly drifting into the bike lane to strike Shinn.
The paper reports he was jailed on “suspicion of murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs.” The murder count suggests this was not his first DUI, and he had likely signed a Watson advisement as a condition of a previous conviction.
He’s expected to be arraigned Thursday.
Yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Laura Shinn and all her loved ones.
June 30, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Justice grinds slowly in SoCal bike cases, reward in previously unknown hit-and-run, and DUI driver injures man on bike path
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from our anonymous legal correspondent.
She’s back today with a long list of cases that are slowly working their way through the court system.
Along with a few killer drivers scheduled to get out from behind bars too damn soon.
………
Mariah Kandise Banks, charged in the hit-and-run death of Frederick “Woon” Frazier, has yet another prelim reset date coming up on July 13th. This case is just so long and drawn out, and meanwhile, Banks continues to drive and has not ceased her harassment of Woon’s family, in violation of Judge Hobbs’ repeated reminders,
On April 10th, I attended a group march from Woon’s mama’s house to the site of his slaughter, where a new ghost bike was installed. It is really horrible to have to see his mama right there at the scene where a stranger held her son as he died.
In speaking to our group, she told us all she was thankful that so many people showed up and are still fighting to make things safer.
The DA’s office has not been very communicative. I feel that the DA’s office is in violation Marsy’s Law. My understanding is that the clerk has even outright hung up on Miz Beverly. I spoke with Edin (Chief Lunes) at the event, and suggested that perhaps a calm, independent liaison would be helpful in exchanging information. Naturally he volunteered. I spoke to Miz Beverly about this and I think it is a relief to her that she doesn’t have to pick up that phone herself to harangue the prosecutor, who’s really dropping the ball.
Scuzzy Andrea Dorothy Chan Reyes, who told the mechanics who cleaned the blood off her dented car that she’d hit a dog, and subsequently fled to another continent, is eligible for parole in October. Yes, October 2021.
(Chan Reyes was sentenced to seven years just three months ago for the 2017 hit-and-run death of Agustin Rodriguez, after dragging Rodriguez the length of two football fields under her car as she sped away — then fleeing to Hong Kong and Australia in an ultimately vain attempt to avoid prosecution. Evidently, seven years doesn’t last as long as it used to.)
Stephen Taylor Scarpa, who left Costa Mesa Fire Captain Mike Kreza’s three little girls fatherless, is still set for a jury trial in August. Scarpa is charged with murder for allegedly driving while stoned when he killed Kreza as the popular firefighter was training for a triathlon while riding in Mission Viejo.
A commenter on your blog said that the crosswalk on the south side of that intersection had been removed, but I remember being surprised that one wasn’t intstalled after the new development went in, given the great increase in pedestrian activity it’s brought to that location.
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Ronald Earl Kenebrew, Jr., who was already locked up awaiting a court date on charges of robbery & indecent exposure, was arraigned yesterday on charges of murder, carjacking, and hit & run in the death of Branden Finley as he rode to the Ride For Black Lives in Downtown Los Angeles last year. The court website hasn’t been updated, so I dunno the outcome of his hearing.
LA Superior Court opens back up this week, and I’ll be there to do some digging into a backlog of cases.
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School teacher Molly Jane Hoene had a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 21st, and no further hearings scheduled as yet, but her bail still stands, so I don’t think the charges were dropped. Hoene was arrested for the 2019 hit-and-run death of a homeless bike rider in Silver Lake that was caught on security cam.
On a separate not, last month, on Friday, May 14th, I was waiting for the bus at Fig & Pico about 11am, and a ride rolled by… and rolled and rolled and rolled… I thought the river of bikes was never going to end. I honestly started wondering whether they had just looped a few blocks and were going around in a circle. A young man yelled an invitation, so I jumped in and followed a guy riding backwards for at least a half mile. To this day I still don’t know what this ride was!!!!! All ages. Guys, gals. Fixie trash. Insta-girls. Geezers on trikes. BMX kids. Dogs in backpacks, dogs in baskets. Spandex, cargo shorts, hot pants, and a skirt or two… everybody and all their neighbors. Just an amazing encounter. Los Angeles, 2021. Wow.
Unfortunately, this is the first we’ve heard of the fatal crash. It shouldn’t take nearly three weeks for the police to inform the public that an innocent person has been killed. Let alone ask for our help in apprehending a heartless, cowardly, killer driver.
I’ll have a more detailed story later today.
………
Once again, a driver has gotten onto a supposedly carfree bike trail — this time with tragic results.
For the first time since the 1980s, Los Angeles doesn’t has the worst traffic in the US. The Los Angeles/Long Beach/Anaheim region was number two last year, behind the New York-Newark area. Which, oddly, is exactly what it feels like to ride a bike here.
Streetsblog offers an update on key issues that passed out of the Senate Transportation Committee yesterday, including a bill allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, a bill legalizing jaywalking, and a third allowing cameras on buses to capture bus lane violations. So we can have cameras on buses, but no speed cams in school zones. Got it.
Okay, so they weren’t on a bicycle. It’s still worth mentioning two Indian men sharing a motorcycle who escaped a charging leopard by feeding him cake. Although something tells me the big cat will be waiting to blow to the candles when they come back.
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, 75-year old San Diego resident Allen Hunter was the victim of a hit-and-run last Tuesday — one week ago today.
He was riding on the South Coast Highway 101 near Lomas Santa Fe Drive around 10:35 am on June 22nd when he was run down from behind by vehicle allegedly driven by 21-year-old Lucas Beau Morgans of Solana Beach.
Hunter was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in nearby La Jolla, where he died of multiple blunt force trauma around 6:30 that evening.
Morgans was arrested later the same day, about six miles from the crash scene, on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, felony hit and run resulting in death or injury and felony DUI causing great bodily injury.
He was released after posting bail, and isn’t due back in court until October.
This is at least the 30th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in San Diego County already this year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Allen Hunter and all his loved ones.
The AP reports Chock has a long criminal record, dating back to a 2007, when he pled guilty to a reduced charge after being indicted for aggravated assault, followed by disorderly conduct with a weapon a few months later.
Three years later, Chock was allowed to walk with probation after prosecutors dropped three DUI charges, allowing him to plead to a single count of felony aggravated DUI, as well as shoplifting and another aggravated assault.
He ended up serving 19 months behind bars anyway, after violating his probation.
Chock himself is in critical condition after he was shot by police during a standoff following the crash.
Maybe someday our courts will take driving under the influence seriously, and put the public’s right to safety on the roads above the privilege — not right — of driving.
Lentz was just below the entrance to the Daley Ranch Recreation Area when Connor rounded a blind curve at a high rate of speed, slamming into him head-on.
Yet despite a well-deserved sentence of 29 years and ten months, Connor could be out in just six years due to a quirk in California law, Prop 57, passed by voters in 2016, allows a prisoner to be considered for parole after completing the sentence for the primary offense if it was a nonviolent crime
Remarkably, Connor’s primary sentence of vehicular homicide is not considered a violent crime.
Although I’m sure Lentz and his loved ones would disagree.
The Transport Workers Union of America reports that Metro Bike workers are trying to unionize.
Workers always deserve a strong voice on the job. Glad to see that @BikeMetro workers are exercising their right to form a union with @transportworker. Together, we will grow the LA Metro Bike Share system and make sure that bike share jobs are good-paying, long-term career jobs. pic.twitter.com/AstPCcshej
Apparently this was done by the construction crew so they could lay the new concrete without disturbing the bicycle.
They seem to have wired the bike to the rack—see the highlights in these two pictures—to suspend it above nominal ground level, without disturbing the lock. pic.twitter.com/ZaWzTabEie
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. Oklahoma residents are fighting plans for a bike path through their neighborhood, trotting out the trope that bicycles and pedestrians don’t mix — even though they’d be on separate pathways — and fears that people on motorcycles or small cars would use the pathway. Which says a lot more about the mentality of Oklahoma residents and drivers than it does about bicycles.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The San Diego Reader accuses scooter companies of bullying, and says the tragic death of actress Lisa Banes raises safety concerns for the San Diego area, after she was killed by a hit-and-run e-scooter rider in New York. If they’re that worried about a single death caused by a scooter rider, just wait until they learn about cars and the people who drive them.
I want to be like him when I grow up. An 83-year old British man is back on his bike, just two weeks after a major endo left him a “bloody mess.” I mean, aside from the endo and bloody mess, that is.
June 10, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Killer meth-fueled Vegas driver gets 16-40 years, misguided recall for CD4’s Raman, and $20 million for LAC transport projects
That was fast.
Almost seven months to the day after five Las Vegas bicyclists were killed by a truck driver, their killer copped a plea to two counts of DUI causing death.
DUI is right.
Arizona resident Jordan Barson had nine times the amount of meth in his system required to be considered legally impaired.
Fifty-eight-year old California resident Normand Cloutier is accused of killing a 29-year old woman and injuring five other riders in the crash.
Of course, as several peoplepointed outon Twitter, the correct course of action when you can’t see what the hell is directly in front of you is to pull over to the side of the road until you can.
Not that that matters in today’s political environment.
Let’s hope this one doesn’t get any further than the idiotic attempt to recall Mike Bonin a few years, driven by conservative KFI anger meisters Jon and Ken.
Who will probably be happy to get behind this one, too.
In addition to traffic and pedestrian projects, the list also includes sharrows in Glendale, and pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements on Melrose in West Hollywood.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Clearly, he doesn’t get it, either After a community board in New York’s Upper West Side calls for banning ebikes from protected bike lanes, the city’s outgoing mayor quickly refused — because he doesn’t think they belong in traffic lanes.
Drivers in Auckland, New Zealand, are plotting to invade the city’s bike lanes on a busy Saturday morning — this Saturday, in fact — and drive on the bike lanes when they’re likely to be full of people on bicycles. Which seems to be the point. One hundred drivers have confirmed so far, so if it’s like very other Facebook event, maybe three might actually show up.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A bike-riding Singapore man got off with a $5,600 fine for punching a truck driver who had tried to run him down during a mutual road rage incident; the driver had already been sentenced to a week behind bars.
Departing Metro CEO Phil Washington pens a letter to the community in support of the 18-mile NoHo to Pasadena bus rapid transit line, which includes the proposed Beautiful Boulevard plan through Eagle Rock.
Seriously? Consumer Reportsdiscovers the “hidden danger” of big pickup trucks, which are increasing in size with virtually every model year. Never mind that the risk to others should be pretty damn obvious to anyone who has ever walked, ridden or just stood next to one.
In Style shows women what to wear to look cute on four types of bike rides. Because as we all know, looking cute is what really matters, and no woman would ever want to put on spandex and get all sweaty or anything. Right?
St. Louis is installing zebra lane delineators to separate bicycles and motor vehicles along a protected bike lane; the small bumps — often called armadillos in other cities — promise to be more effective at keeping drivers out than the usual thin plastic car ticklers. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.
June 1, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on “Elderly” Venice man killed by drunken e-scooter user, white woman orders Black prof off “her” road, and ebike bias in CO
Tragic news from Venice, where an “elderly” man was killed when he was struck by an e-scooter user.
Make that an allegedly drunk scooter user.
The crash occurred around 9:45 pm Saturday on Lincoln Blvd at East Marco Court.
According to a report for KABC-7, the scooter rider was allegedly 1) illegally riding on the sidewalk, while 2) illegally carrying a woman passenger on the back, and while 3) wasted.
The victim, who was described only as elderly, or by other accounts, older — which could mean just about anything — died at the scene after hitting his head on the sidewalk.
Both people on the scooter suffered minor injuries, while the man operating it was arrested at the scene for DUI.
It’s unclear whether he can be charged under the state law prohibiting driving under the influence, or the statute prohibiting biking under the influence, which carries a much lower penalty.
This serves as yet another tragic reminder that sidewalks are intended for pedestrians.
While it’s legal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in some California cities, you’re required to operated it safely, without posing an undue risk to people on foot. And basic human decency demands that you give as much space as possible and warn people before passing.
On the other hand, it is always illegal to ride an electric scooter on the sidewalk, or with a passenger.
And never while drunk or stoned.
Although I’d much rather see someone ride a bike or scooter while under the influence of anything than get behind the wheel of a car, which posses a much greater risk to everyone on the road.
But as this crash tragically shows, you can still pose a needless — and potentially fatal — risk to others.
Black University of Washington med school professor Edwin Lindo went out for a bike ride while on vacation, and ran into a white woman — aka a “Becky” — who literally told him he couldn’t ride his bicycle on the road she paid for with her property taxes.
Although this comment from an Aspen mountain bike instructor totally misses the mark.
“This is a framework of why it’s so important for e-bikers to have etiquette because they are now powered up with a weapon, really, that goes 20 miles an hour,” he said. “I say ‘weapon’ because now they can hurt themselves and others pretty easily.”
Never mind that it’s pretty easy to do 20 mph on a road bike, without a motor. And not that unusual on a mountain bike.
And while there’s no shortage of rude and/or inexperienced bike riders, no bicycle is a weapon, unless someone — like a cop, for instance — picks it up and uses it that way.
There’s there’s this bit of advice, which they apparently think is so important that it was repeated verbatim in a caption.
Though you may be tempted to ride side-by-side with your friends or family members so you can chat on your e-bikes, always ride single file and as far to the right as possible, unless you’re passing. This gives other cyclists and cars an opportunity to pass you safely.
Where do we even start?
This is sort-of decent advice for trail riders, but horrible for those riding on the road.
Yes, try to keep to the right on trails so faster riders can pass you. Unless you’re the faster rider, in which case you should pass politely.
And try not to ride abreast if it means clogging up the trail so others can’t enjoy it.
But on the road, riding like a gutter bunny puts you a greater risk of unsafe passes.
Most authorities, like the League of American Bicyclists and Cycling Savvy — and even Caltrans, for those of us in California — tell you to ride in the center of the lane, unless there’s a shoulder wide enough and clean enough to ride safely.
Riding two or more abreast in a single traffic lane can also increase your visibility and help hold the lane by forcing drivers to move into the next lane to pass you.
It’s also legal to ride abreast in many states, but check the law where you ride before trying it.
Like here in California, where police sometimes misapply the requirement ti right to the right to ticket people who ride abreast, even though there’s not one word prohibiting it under California law.
And they may not get it right where you are, either.
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Meet what may be LA County’s first protected bike lane.
A group of Black women rode from Harlem to DC, covering 250 miles in 65 hours to replicate a ride taken by another group of Black women 93 years earlier, while raising funds to provide good used bikes to people in need.
You’ve got to be kidding. An Irish driver walked when he was acquitted of dangerous driving for slamming into a group of bicyclists, and killing a 34-year old woman — despite coming around a blind curve at high speed on the wrong side of road — in part because the victim may have fallen off her bike before the impact. Never mind that she was probably just trying to get the hell out of his way to avoid getting killed.
Police respondeding to the crash found a man lying unresponsive on the north side of the road.
Witnesses reported the driver was headed west on Oceanside when he or she slammed into the victim, who has not been publicly identified. That was corroborated by physical evidence.
There’s no word on which direction the victim was traveling or where he was positioned on the roadway. However, there is a bike lane in both directions on Oceanside, with the intersection controlled with a traffic signal.
There’s also no word on whether he had lights on his bike at that hour.
The driver was arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence, with police also seizing their car.
Anyone with information is urged to call Oceanside Police Collision Investigator Clint Bussey at 760/435-4412.
This is at least the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
May 18, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on National masters road champ killed in DUI crash, CA still dangerous place to ride, and Bike Index helps recover SaMo bike
Forty-six-year old Gwen Inglis was riding in the foothills west of Denver, most likely headed home after an early morning ride, when a 29-year old driver drifted into the bike lane and slammed into her from behind.
The Bicycle Racing Association of Colorado, part of USA Cycling, released a statement mourning the loss of Inglis.
“Colorado cycling lost one of their best yesterday,” the organization said. “There are few words that can express the feeling of loss for any of our cycling community, and Gwen was a particularly special person. She was a multiple National and State Champion on the bike and very well known across the cycling community in Colorado. Even more impressive was her character off the bike. Knowing Gwen, you would immediately be aware of her strongest qualities. She consistently brought joy into all her relationships, and she openly accepted everyone.”
The paper reported that her killer had previously been arrested on multiple drug-related offenses, including DUI.
Just one more example of officials keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late. Every one of whom should be held responsible for her death.
When comparing the old list from NHTSA, that use per capita data, to the revised list from StreetLight Data, the top 10 most dangerous states have been mostly shuffled around—particularly the top four, which list the same states in both but in a different order. New Mexico ranks the same in both, in fifth place. And California makes both the old NHTSA list and the new StreetLight Data list, but it ranks sixth on the former and tenth on the latter.
Delaware, South Carolina and Florida top the list of dangerous states, followed by Louisiana and New Mexico, while Massachusetts, New York, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Utah rank as the safest.
Streetsblog California’s Melanie Curry picks up last week’s bizarre story about respected bike safety advocate Pat Hines’ opposition to California’s AB 122, the proposed Stop As Yield law.
As recently as a few weeks ago, Race Across America posted the supposed origin story on Facebook, writing that Hines and her friend, Sue Latham, were “riding together when Latham was struck by a car and killed. They were training for the 1984 Olympics. This heartbreaking event propelled Hines into public service. She became one of the nation’s most vocal and best-recognized activists in the area of traffic and bicycle safety.”
BIKE RECOVERY: "Santa Monica Police did a fantastic job by being quick, effective, and on point. Registering with Bike Index and keeping the serial number were instrumental in retrieving the bike." @bikinginla@TrekBikespic.twitter.com/WMc6tRCLeh
Yes, you can recharge your bike through the kickstand while you’re parked. But unless it offers a lot more security, it’ll never fly on this side of the pond.
No bias here. A San Jose letter writer complains that road diets are inconveniencing drivers for the sake of bicyclists, while a columnist explains that they’re installed to improve safety on dangerous streets, and bicyclists and pedestrians benefit from the improvements. Just like drivers who want to get home in one piece.
A San Antonio councilmember is accused of inappropriate conduct by attempting to influence the judge and DA, sending a letter asking them to refuse any plea deal that doesn’t include a meaningful prison sentence for an accused drunk driver who killed a popular bike rider.
Sometimes the needless death of an innocent person doesn’t merit even a few inches in the local paper.
Let alone a passing comment on the nightly news.
On Monday, I started hearing reports of someone killed in a collision while riding a bicycle in Costa Mesa, based on posts from the notoriously unreliable Nextdoor app.
By Tuesday morning, the location had shifted to nearby Newport Beach, along with comments suggesting the driver had been arrested. But still no confirmation from the coroner’s office or any of the local news outlets.
The coroner reported that 80-year old Ernest Adams died at a Santa Ana medical center early Monday morning, following a collision somewhere in Newport Beach Sunday afternoon.
According to the site, multiple witnesses reported seeing the suspect blow through a stop sign before slamming into Adam’s bike; a street view shows a residential street controlled by a four-way stop, with bike lanes in three directions, next to Newport Harbor High School.
Twenty-year old Norwalk resident Alexis Garcialopez was reportedly arrested for DUI causing serious injury after failing a roadside sobriety test.
Hopefully, that will be upgraded to vehicular homicide in the wake of Adams’ death. Because after 80 years on this earth, he definitely deserved a better ending.
This is at least the 17th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ernest Adams and all his family and loved ones.
March 28, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Irwindale woman killed in drunken hit-and-run early Saturday; 8th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year
Yet another Southern California bike rider has been killed by a cowardly drunken driver who lacked the basic human decency to stick around after the crash.
There’s no word on how the crash happened, or whether she had lights or reflectors on her bike in the late night darkness.
Twenty-one-year-old La Puente resident Adrian Ortega was arrested by West Covina cops shortly afterwards in the area of Francisquito and Sunset Avenues, after officers spotted evidence connecting him to the crime.
At last report, he was still being held on $100,000 bond, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving and hit-and-run.
A street view shows a four lane roadway with no bike lanes or shoulder, with the San Gabriel River Trail visible in the background.
At that hour, it’s unlikely there would have been anything to keep drivers from exceeding the posted speed limit.
This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Shamefully, over half of those deaths have been hit-and-runs — as have all three bicycling deaths in LA County.
