Enrique Barajas deserved better.
Then again, anyone who still rides a bicycle at 80 years old deserves better than to be killed by a cowardly hit-and-run driver.
According to investigators, Barajas was riding north on Atlantic Ave near Pleasant Street around 12:15 pm Monday, when he attempted to merge from the bike lane into the traffic lane. He was sideswiped by the driver of an SUV traveling in the same direction, who continued on without stopping.
The Long Beach native was taken to a local hospital where he died the next day.
The crash could have occurred where the bike lane ends as the road bed narrows under a railroad underpass, forcing anyone using it to move into the right lane.
However, some of the news reports indicate that Barajas was merging into the left lane when he was sideswiped by the SUV driver, who was traveling in the right lane. That suggests that Barajas may have been attempting to merge into the left lane to make a turn when he was struck on the right side, rather than the left.
Meanwhile, a Long Beach website raises the possibility that the driver may not have known that they struck Barajas. However, they should have known they hit something after seeing damage to the side of the vehicle.
Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach Police Detective Johnson at 562/570-7355, or anonymously at 800/222-8477 or lacrimestoppers.org.
This was at least the fourth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
It also appears to be the first caused by a hit-and-run driver.
Update: James forwarded the following information about the location of the crash.
This area is essentially a highway with narrow bike lanes, on street parking which puts all or most of the bike lane in the door zone as well as intersection designs that assume bicycle riders can and will mingle with high speed car traffic at intersections. It’s basically Huntington Beach but with on-street parking and narrower bike lanes. He apparently was hit while moving into the “number one lane” in an area where a parked car could conceivably force you into traffic.
