Tag Archive for hit-and-run alert system

Colorado solves hit-and-runs while LAPD keeps public in dark, and CARB pinky swears they’re really ready this time

May 22, 2025 / / No comments
Day 142 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Funny how that works.

Just one day after the Colorado Highway Patrol asked for the public’s help finding the hit-and-run driver who killed a man riding a bicycle outside Boulder, a suspect was arrested.

Imagine that.

Denver, Colorado developed the hit-and-run alert system, later adopted by the state, that the ones in Los Angeles and California are patterned on.

The difference is, they actually use them. We don’t.

Which might be why the CHP solves nearly two-thirds of felony hit-and-run cases in the state. No, the other CHP, in Colorado.

In California, that number is about 20%, while in Los Angeles, it’s less than 10%.

But here’s a crazy idea.

Maybe those numbers would go up if they didn’t wait weeks, or months — or never — to even let the public know there was a hit-and-run, let alone ask for our help solving it. Never mind actually use the hit-and-run alert systems we fought so hard to give them.

The City of Los Angeles also offers an automatic $50,000 reward for information that helps the cops solve a fatal hit-and-run, with rewards ranging up to $25,000 for less severe crashes. But no one stands a chance of collecting if we don’t even know about it.

And maybe that’s the idea, trying to save the severely over-strapped city a few bucks so the cops can buy more helicopters.

They should be ashamed.

Or maybe sued.

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay.

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The California Air Resources Board promises that the state’s ebike voucher program is really, honest-to-gosh ready for the anticipated demand this time, after two mostly failed attempts.

Pinky swear.

Then again, they’ve only had two attempts. And you know what they say about the third time.

The first distributed somewhere around 1,500 vouchers, but deliberately throttling the applications left more than 100,000 frustrated and angry Californians waiting at the gates, blocked from even getting a chance to apply.

The second attempt was even worse, when the system crashed as soon as it opened as potential applicants once again exceeded the system’s limited capacity, and the whole damn thing was shut down with just minutes remaining in the application window, frustrating the lucky few who had somehow managed to get in.

Myself included.

The Los Angeles Times quotes CARB spokesperson Lisa Macumber defending the total clown show, citing the heavy demand.

“As a result, automatic security measures were activated and the website operated and controlled by California Air Resources Board’s third party administrator Pedal Ahead was temporarily unavailable,” said Lisa Macumber, spokesperson for the state agency.

The technology is never 100% certain and it could have happened under any administrator running a program like this, Macumber said.

Sure it could.

But here’s a thought. If each teeny, tiny application window has more than 150,000 presumably qualified people desperately trying to somehow squeeze themselves in, maybe offer more than a few thousand measly vouchers at a time, and give us a much larger window to get those applications in.

And if that many people are willing to suffer this much indignation just for a chance to get a voucher, maybe go back to the state and ask for enough money to actually meet the damn demand.

But have no fear.

Macumber promises they’ll be ready this time.

No, really.

“It’s like getting tickets to a Taylor Swift concert, it can be really hard to get through the technology, and then at the end of the day, find out whether or not you’re successful,” she said. “So we really understand the frustration.”

The agency has rescheduled the second application window for May 29 and says this time it’s ready for droves of prospective applicants.

To ensure they don’t have the same problems this time, they’ve hired the same people who failed so badly last time to do it again, hoping for different results.

And you know what they call that.

So get your documents ready. Mark your calendar for 6 pm on May 29th.

And keep your fingers crossed.

No, all of them.

You can read the Times story on Yahoo if the paper’s paywall shuts you out.

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About damn time.

CD13 Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez introduced a motion to explore using cameras to catch drivers who block bike lanes, starting with a pilot on Hollywood Blvd.

This follows a successful test in Santa Monica, where automated cams captured 1,700 violations in six weeks.

Which, based on my own observations, suggests they weren’t trying very hard.

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Thanks to our old friend Megan Lynch for forwarding this TV news story highlighting a San Francisco bike center as a “pillar of the community” for fixing bikes for free to get people riding.

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

A San Diego letter writer complains about the new traffic configuration at the city’s Balboa Park, warning that one lane for buses, a lane for bicycles, and a single lane for cars causes traffic to back up on busy weekends, calling it “another problem dreamed up by the city traffic engineers.” Apparently, it’s never occurred to him to use one of those other lanes by taking the bus. Or maybe even riding a bike. Because it’s a damn park, already. 

No bias here. London’s Telegraph says new safety data shows that bike advocates are wrong about cars being a bigger problem in the city’s parks, even though the data actually highlights the dangers of serious injuries caused by cars and the people in them.

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

London is now filing criminal charges and imposing fines equivalent to more than $500 for bicycling violations like running red lights and blowing through crosswalks.

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Local 

Luxury Travel Magazine examines why Los Angeles is the best last-minute summer vacation spot. Because all the other cities were already booked?

Beverly Hills police will conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation today, targeting violations that could put either group at risk, regardless of who commits them. So once again, ride to the letter of the law until you pass the city limits sign today, so you don’t celebrate bike month by getting a ticket. 

 

State

Out Sports talks with openly gay pro skier and Olympic medalist Gus Kenworthy about why he’s taking part in the final San Francisco to LA AIDS/LifeCycle Ride next month.

Huntington Beach police and the OC Sheriff’s Department will host a free ebike training session at a Huntington Beach middle school on the last day of the month.

Sad news from Tulare County, where a man was killed when a driver rear-ended the bicycle he was riding; unsurprisingly, the driver was uninjured.

San Francisco “activists” called on the city to recommit to Vision Zero, after six pedestrians have been killed there already this year. Los Angeles officials can’t recommit to Vision Zero, because they never committed to it in the first place. And maybe those “activists” are just people who don’t want to get killed crossing the street.

 

National

Former Calbike chief Dave Snyder assures bike advocates we’re doing the right thing, saying local bike advocacy is good resistance. So make like Andor, and join the rebellion, already. 

No surprise here. In a survey of how 75,000 Seattle commuters actually feel about how they get to work, bike commuting came out on top by a wide margin.

Police in Greeley, Colorado are looking for the ebike-riding asshole who shot a dog last month. But at least the dog survived, even if the person’s last remaining shred of human decency didn’t.

BLM — no, the Bureau of Land Management — will determine whether ebikes are allowed on federal trails in western Colorado, after 64% expressed an interest in using them in a recent survey.

Bicycling crashes in Wisconsin were up nearly 25% over a five-year average last year. It would be nice if someone, anyone, could tell us how many there were in California last year. But keeping actual running stats on traffic deaths would just be too much work, apparently. 

 

International

The leaders of many of the top bikeshare providers called on cities to “move beyond pilot thinking and treat shared bicycles as a permanent, integrated part of the public transport system,” arguing that it’s not an optional add-on or a “climate gadget.”

Once again, a man was killed after a fight over a bicycle. A 34-year old man in Middlesborough, England was convicted of murder for fatally stabbing a man who had borrowed his bike to ride to a pub for a drink. Yet another reminder that no bicycle is worth a human life. Seriously, just let it go.

The “best sommelier in Catalonia, Spain” recommends her favorite route for a meditative bike ride through the region’s Llémena Valley.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly examines the journeys of five champion paracyclists, from initial injury or disability to victory.

 

Finally…

If you find a small snake lying in the bike path, just leave him the hell alone, already. That feeling when that cute little Norwegian e-pedalcar company goes belly-up before you even get a chance to buy one.

And that feeling when you can finally get the 12-foot high banana seat bike of your childhood dreams.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Bike rider killed in South LA hit-and-run last month; LAPD just now bothering to tell us and ask for our help

May 8, 2025 / / No comments

Once again, someone riding a bicycle was killed by a hit-and-run driver weeks ago.

Yet somehow, we’re only learning about it now.

The LAPD is just now getting around to asking for the public’s help in finding the driver, nearly three weeks later.

The victim, who still has not been publicly identified, was riding their bike north on Central Avenue near 120th Street in South LA around 10 pm on Sunday, April 20th, when they were run down from behind by a speeding driver.

The victim died after being rushed to the hospital.

And that’s all we know.

There’s no description of the suspect vehicle or the driver, or not even the age or sex of the victim. We don’t even know whether the victim has been identified, and if so, why the identification is being withheld.

Which gives us absolutely nothing to go on, other than the time and location, after the police inexplicably waited to release any information until the trail was so cold you could almost see your breath.

And didn’t bother to use the hit-and-run alert systems approved by the city and state a decade ago to try to reduce the epidemic of fleeing drivers.

It also raises the question of how many other people have been killed riding a bicycle — or walking or driving — that they haven’t bothered to tell us about.

And just who decided to keep us in the dark, and why.

Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD’s South Traffic Division at 213/677-9791, or 877/527-3247 evening or weekends.

As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles. Although it’s unlikely anyone will collect, given the dearth of information and such an extensive delay in asking for the public’s health.

This was at least the 13th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and just the second that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. And it’s the first we know of in the City LA, which seems highly unlikely this far into the year.

This is also the fourth SoCal bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver since the first of the year.

Someone needs to investigate this crap to find out what the hell is going on here.

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

29-year old bike rider murdered by driver in intentional crash, 2nd bike rider killed in Long Beach hit-and-run this month

July 28, 2023 / / One comment

Go ahead and call it murder.

The Long Beach Police Department is.

According to multiple reports, 29-year old Long Beach resident Leobardo Cervantes died last Saturday, after he was intentionally run down by a hit-and-run driver earlier this month.

Cervantes was riding his bike near California Ave and Harding Street in Long Beach just before 8 am on Sunday, July 9, when police say he was struck by a speeding driver traveling east on Harding.

He was rushed to a local hospital with severe injuries, where he died 13 days later.

There’s no word on just how or where the crash occurred, or why LBPD investigators concluded the driver deliberately struck Cervantes.

Police are looking for the driver of a dark-colored sedan, who fled east on Harding. Unfortunately, there’s no description of the driver, or any other information about the suspect vehicle at this time.

Nor is there any word on a motive for the crash.

Anyone with information is urged to contact LBPD Homicide Detectives Donald Collier or Chasen Contreras at 562/570-7244, or anonymously through Los Angeles Regional Crime Stoppers at 800/222-8477.

It’s worth noting that Long Beach police could have issued a hit-and-run alert using California’s Yellow Alert system within minutes of the crash, rather than waiting for more than two weeks until the victim dies, and trail went cold.

And despite what the CHP states, the system is not limited to fatal crashes.

This is at least the 27th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third fatal hit-and-run involving someone on a bicycle in Long Beach since the first of the year — and the second just this month.

And it’s at least the tenth fatal hit-and-run involving a SoCal bike rider this year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Leobardo Cervantes and all his loved ones.

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

37-year old father killed riding bike in South Los Angeles hit-and-run; once again, public not informed for weeks

July 25, 2020 / / 3 comments

Once again, a man has died following a violent hit-and-run while riding his bike in South Los Angeles.

And once again, the LAPD doesn’t seem to think the public needed to know about it.

According to KCBS-2/KCAL-9, 37-year old South LA resident Jorge Guerra was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding home from the park with his two young children on July 8th.

Fortunately, his two-year old son Nathan and four-year old daughter Madelyn weren’t seriously injured; their father wasn’t so lucky.

Guerra was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, but lapsed into a coma after arriving; he died of organ failure on July 16th.

The LAPD places the crash on northbound Wadsworth Ave north of 88th Street at 8:40 pm, when a speeding driver slammed into the bike they were riding after turning onto the narrow residential street.

The driver continued north on Wadsworth, crashing into several parked cars before stopping just south of Manchester Blvd. He ran off, leaving the damaged car behind.

Police are still looking for the suspect, who hasn’t been identified; unsurprisingly, the car he was driving was stolen. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver.

Now Guerra’s wife is faced with raising her kids as a grieving single mother while in the middle of a pandemic.

A crowdfunding campaign to help defray Guerra’s funeral expenses has raised just under $6,000, far short of the $25,000 goal.

Unfortunately, like the death of Melvin “Peanut” Frye last month, the LAPD apparently failed to inform the public at the time of the crash — or alert them to a dangerous car thief hiding in their midst. Even though both Los Angeles and California have Yellow Alert systems to get the word out as quickly as possible.

There’s no explanation for why the LAPD continually refuses to use them; evidently, they’d rather wait until the trail goes cold and people have forgotten key details before asking for their help. Which could be one reason why hit-and-run drivers continue to get away with it here.

Even though similar systems have been used successfully in other cities to bring hit-and-run drivers to justice.

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. Over half of those deaths in the county have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jorge Guerra and all his family and loved ones.

Category: Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LAPD wants your help to solve hit-and-run, and bike/ped safety crackdowns in SaMo & Santa Barbara

May 23, 2019 / / 2 comments

My apologies to anyone who commented on here recently.

A user error on my part kept me from getting notified about new comments; hopefully I’ve fixed it so I can keep up with them from here on.

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LAPD detectives have asked for the public’s help in finding the hit-and-run driver who left a bike rider with a broken leg near MacArthur Park earlier this month.

Although the question remains why the LAPD still refuses to use the hit-and-run alert systems approved by both the city and the state to a notify the public in a timely manner while their memories are still fresh.

Let alone mention more often that there’s a standing Los Angeles reward of $25,000 for any hit-and-run driver that seriously injures someone, and $50,000 if someone is killed, with lesser amounts for property damage and less serious injuries.

Our elected leaders have given them the tools to help reduce the hit-and-run epidemic.

But it’s up to the LAPD to actually use them.

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Santa Barbara will is just the latest city to conduct a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation this Sunday.

Meanwhile, Santa Monica will try to ruin someone’s three-day weekend by holding one today, tomorrow and Monday.

The usual protocols apply; ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city limits that day.

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Chances are, your bike commute doesn’t go through an underground limestone cave.

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How to save space by hanging your bike on the wall.

Thanks to David Wolfberg for the last two videos.

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Local

He gets it. The LA Time’s Steve Lopez calls for greater density and even & odd driving days to fight congestion and climate change.

A bike rider was shot in the leg in an East Hollywood drive-by after he was challenged by a passenger in the car about what gang he was from. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any good answer to that question that will keep you from getting shot.

Meanwhile, another bike rider was injured in a Pico Rivera shooting that followed almost the exact same script.

Altadena Councilwoman Dorothy Wong expressed concern for vulnerable road users being sandwiched between 50-foot long trucks, cones and cars as work begins on removing sediment from the Devil’s Gate Dam, putting 400 dump trucks on the streets of the San Gabriel Valley every day.

Not everyone agrees with the recent criticism of the new Broadway protected bike lanes in Long Beach.

 

State

Sad news from Costa Mesa, where a 34-year old woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was struck by a truck driver Wednesday morning; a comment from James suggests the city had unwisely removed the crosswalk at that intersection. Let’s send our prayers and best wishes for a full and fast recovery; thanks to Lois for the heads-up.

A San Diego weekly says the coming protected bike lanes on 30th Street in North Park will be good for the neighborhood.

Sacramento is planning to use eminent domain to seize private property to extend the city’s riverfront bike trail.

A Santa Rosa driver was booked for DUI and felony hit-and-run for fleeing the scene after crashing into a woman on her bike; fortunately, she was not seriously injured.

 

National

A Salt Lake City columnist tells everyone to relax, because it’s possible to support both birds and bike trails if you do it right.

Denver-area bike shops brace for price increases in the wake of Trump’s trade war with China. Which means that ultimately, we’ll all pay for it.

A 76-year old Wyoming man and his wife will ride the 363-mile Erie Canal Trail in upstate New York on ped-assist bikes — even though he’s dependent on oxygen for COPD.

Bighearted Indianapolis police surprise a coffee shop worker with a refurbished bike and helmet after he asked where he could find one.

A New York state ebike rider says he’s being singled out for having too much fun, not breaking the long-standing prohibition against using them on trails.

No, NYPD, seizing ebikes doesn’t improve safety for anyone.

Evidently, cars blocking bike lanes is thing even in the deep South, like this new bike lane in Charlotte NC.

Once again, a foreign tourist has been killed bicycling across the US. A Danish man was fatally shot in an apparent robbery blocks from the hotel he was staying in during a stop in New Orleans.

 

International

Don’t bother driving, Uber data shows it’s no faster than walking in many cities around the world.

After her best friend was killed riding a bike, a Chilean woman developed an app to help riders find the best route through their city.

A Kansas man rode his bike a thousand miles to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in just ten days, only to have it stolen off the back of his truck. But raised over $33,000 to fight eating disorders along the way.

Calgary debates adopting the Idaho Stop Law.

A British Olympic triathlete learned the hard way that deer are apparently out to get us.

An English man demonstrates that bikeshare is good for commuting and errands, as well as fleeing the scene after murdering the wealthy widow he befriended.

A new film premiering at Cannes follows two two friends as they turn a difficult bike ride into a dark comedy.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks at what it’s like to ride the fabled cobbles of Paris-Roubaix.

UCI tested 117 cyclists for the drug after banning tramadol; so far, all the tests have been negative

 

Finally…

Why settle for rubber when the dandelions can meet the road. If you don’t want to have a panic attack while getting busted, maybe don’t steal a bike in the first place.

And your mountain bike is a threat to grizzly bears, not the other way around.

Although I know someone who might argue.

If he still could.

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

Update: Hit-and-run driver critically injures Hyde Park bike rider; LAPD fails to send hit-and-run alert or mention reward

December 28, 2016 / / Comments Off on Update: Hit-and-run driver critically injures Hyde Park bike rider; LAPD fails to send hit-and-run alert or mention reward

Once again, a heartless coward has left a South LA bike rider bleeding in the street.

According to press release from the LAPD, a 35-year old man was riding some sort of motorized bicycle on 48th Street at Ninth Ave in the Hype Park neighborhood around 3:40 Monday afternoon when he was struck by a car driven by an unidentified driver.

The driver had been parked at the eastbound curb when he suddenly pulled out, turning left across the traffic lanes and into the path of the westbound bike rider, in a crash captured by a security cam.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

There are bike lanes in both direction on 48th, though it appears he was traveling in the through lane at or near the speed of traffic.

Police are looking for a burgundy or red late 1990s Oldsmobile Cutlass four door sedan. The department reports the two people in the car had just left Kenny’s Liquor, where they were captured on security footage.

The driver is described as a male Hispanic, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, between 180 and 200 pounds with dark hair. He was seen wearing a gray baseball cap, a gray jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans.

The passenger is described as a male Hispanic, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, with black hair and a mustache. He was seen wearing a red long sleeve shirt, black pants, and brown shoes.

Anyone with information urged to call LAPD South Traffic Division at 323/421-2500.

Oddly, the press release does not mention the city’s standing reward program providing up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of hit-and-run drivers; in this case, it provides an automatic $25,000 reward for a collision resulting in a severe injury.

It’s also strange that the LAPD did not use LA’s hit-and-run alert system that was approved by the city council early last year alerting the public to be on the lookout for suspect vehicles. For some reason, the department seems reluctant to use the program, even though it was created for cases exactly like this.

There is also a statewide program that was signed into law last year allowing hit-and-run alerts on state highway signs.

Maybe someday the LAPD will actually use some of the tools available to them to enlist the public’s help to catch people like this.

We can dream, right?

Update: Police have made an arrest in the case.

Update 2: In an LAPD press conference, South LA detectives identified the victim as 36-year old Los Angeles resident Gabrail Hasan, the father of nine kids under 15. 

The tattoo artist and vice president of the LA DTM (Doing the Most) Motorized Bike Club remains in critical condition in the ICU following emergency surgery for a crushed aorta.

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
 
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