The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was struck as some sort of vehicle was turning right from westbound Leucadia Boulevard onto Moonstone Court around 11:50 am.
He died after he was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, despite the efforts of bystanders to revive him before paramedics arrived.
The closest any of the stories came to mentioning that the vehicle even had a driver was a brief reference that police investigators don’t think alcohol played a role in the crash.
That determination also implies that the driver remained at the scene.
San Diego’s Phillip Young has been kind enough to include me in a series of emails with Encinitas city leaders about the dangers of a new and apparently not-so-much improved protected bike lane along the coast highway through the city.
I asked him to explain just what the problem is, and what could be done to fix it.
The City of Encinitas has created a narrow Class 4 protected bikeway/cycletrack with too much going on in a confined space with no escape routes. This stretch of Coast Hyw 101 has recorded no bicycle accidents from 2016 until a week ago. The wheel stops / berms were added a week ago and now the accident count are 3 serious crashes requiring cyclists to be taken away by ambulances. The third accident was today. The Encinitas Mayor and officials ignored input for the public and experienced cyclists at multiple public meetings prior to final design.
Possible factors:
Mix flow of high and low speed cyclists
Many travel modes and stuff: bicycles, eBikes, walkers, runners, baby strollers, three wheelers, inline skates, skateboards, kids in tow by moms, old people, couples, surfboards, beach stuff
Mix of ages and abilities from world class triateletes to first time riders
Two-way traffic possible for all the above types. Only bicycles are allowed but the city design does not accommodate the others travelers elsewhere – no sidewalks.
Too narrow to accommodate the traffic as validated by 3-accidents in a week and the wheel stops / berms have only been installed for 1-week.
Northbound is higher speed due to a descending slope – the three accidents are northbound events
Signage needs improvement but that creates more road furniture to run over
The wheel stops / berms are the problem and offer no true protection from cars and create a maintenance problems because machinery can’t get in to clean and resurface the bikeway with more safety issues
The best solution would be to shift the Coast Hyw 101 roadway from 2-car lanes each way to 1-car lane each way. The old #2 car lane for each direction could be turned into a Class 1 Bikeway with K-rails for separation from vehicular traffic. The old Class 4 protected bikeway / cycletrack with wheel stops / berms could be turned into a sidewalk for non-bicycle use.
Second best solution is to add sharrows to the tarmac in the #2-car lane each way plus pole mounted signage.
These are just a few of my thoughts that come to mind. Riders with more experience may have some better ideas.
We are working to get the word out to the cycling community to be made aware of the new road hazards on the Coast Hwy 101 in Cardiff.
One more example of why bike riders should always be included in bikeway plans. Or at the very least, why they should turn the job over to an engineer who actually rides a bike.
Hopefully, Encinitas will get this fixed before there’s any more blood on the pavement.
Today’s photo was taken from the email chain; I’m not sure who should be credited.
……..
Today’s common theme is finding space on our streets for people, instead of just cars.
A San Diego man will muster out of the Navy today, and embark on a cross-country bike ride on Saturday to raise funds for wounded vets. Which should be interesting with half the country shut down right now.
A San Jose website offers advice on how to buy a new bike during the pandemic. Pro tip: Always get your bike from, or at least through, a local bike shop. It may cost a little more, but it will more than pay off in service down the road.
A health website comes up with a list of bike safety tips “you’ve definitely forgotten about since childhood,” none of which you’ve probably forgotten about. Any list that starts with “always wear a helmet” reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how to stay safe on a bike, anyway. A bike helmet should always be considered the last line of defense when all else fails, not the first.
Milton Keynes is full of parks. Maybe not such nice sheep in Campbell Park who appear to prefer cyclists to grass (from earlier this year) #LoveMK@scenesfromMKpic.twitter.com/wqaL7f7j0d
Thanks to Matthew Robertson for his monthly donation to help support this site, and bring you the latest bike news every morning.
On a related note, some people have asked for an alternative to PayPal or Zelle to donate to this site. Does anyone have a favorite free or low-cost online resource you can recommend?
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
Forty-six-year old Carlsbad resident Joseph Ricardo Fernandez was ordered to stand trial July 11 on a single count of hit-and-run causing death. Although I wouldn’t count on that; this early in the process, trials seldom take place on the date originally scheduled.
Fernandez had his bail cut in half, from $100,000 to $50,000. As it now stands, he faces a maximum of just four years in prison if convicted.
Someone will have to explain to me why he is only charged with hit-and-run, rather than facing trial for actually killing another human being, whether through drunkenness, distraction or carelessness.
San Diego’s 10News, which has offered the most in-depth coverage to date, quotes Swarzman’s fiancée Nicole Honda testifying that she saw a flash of light before hearing what she described as an explosion.
“I saw something orange flying from behind me across to the side of the road,” said Honda.
Honda said a few seconds later she realized it was her fiancé being thrown into the air….
“I dropped my bike and started screaming and ran over to him and called 911,” said Honda. “He was struggling to breathe. I heard him trying to breathe.”
Swarzman died several hours later; Fernandez turned himself in the next day, saying he thought he might have hit something. However, every description and detail I’ve heard suggests a collision so violent it would have been impossible not to know he’d struck Swarzman.
Fernandez next court appearance is a readiness conference scheduled for June 6th.
………
On a brighter note, Jim Lyle reports that Richard Schlickman, critically injured last March when his bike hit new unmarked speed bumps in Palos Verdes Estates, is showing significant improvement.
The word isn’t as good for Adam Rybicki, hit head-on by an alleged underage drunk driver last month. He has been moved to a sub-acute care facility, though his condition remains unchanged.
