hit-and-run Archives

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Driver killed on Forest Lawn after Bass killed Raman safety project, and LAPD never asked for security video after bike rider injured in hit-and-run

August 14, 2026 / bikinginla / No comments

The good news is, for the first time this week, we didn’t learn about anyone killed riding a bicycle yesterday.

Unfortunately, after this long, though there’s no way I can catch up on everything we missed this week. So let’s just see how much I can get in before the sun rises today.

As for the bad news, it starts below.

And buy a new T-shirt, already. You’ll thank me later.

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Go ahead and get mad. Lord knows, I am.

Because KABC-7 is reporting that one person was killed in a fiery single-car crash on Forest Lawn Drive, near Griffith Park and the eponymous cemetery early Thursday morning.

That’s the same cemetery that called on the mayor to halt a fully funded and shovel-ready safety project sponsored by CD4 Councilmember — and mayoral candidate — Nithya Raman, including a lane reduction and improved bike lanes, that had somehow made it through the city’s endless series of public meetings.

Needless to say, our mayor couldn’t bend over fast enough.

As Streets For All put it, Karen Bass set an awful precedent by personally intervening to keep the street dangerous and deadly.

Back to Mayor Bass. In her letter she directs the departments to revise their plan to preserve all current travel lanes while protecting the bike lane – defeating nearly all the safety improvements the project was meant to bring.

And the worst part? The Mayor is setting an awful precedent here. By siding with cemeteries’ unfounded concerns and giving in to state legislators interfering with the project, she’s setting LA up for this to happen again and again. In her letter, Mayor Bass directs the departments to conduct “essential, immediate outreach to gather feedback on the new plan and achieve a resolution for all partners.” More outreach! Apparently, three years wasn’t enough. But this isn’t general public outreach – reading between the lines, this is outreach to two parties only – Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai. The Mayor is directing city departments to waste taxpayer dollars coming up with a plan that doesn’t solve the safety concerns, and is giving the cemeteries equal footing to city departments, by insisting they sign off on the plan before it moves forward.

Whoever this person was, his or her blood is on the mayor’s hands. Not to mention the cemetery managers who fought so hard to keep the street just the way it is, in an apparent attempt to drum up more business.

In that, they succeeded.

November can’t come soon enough.

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You’ve got to be kidding.

A homeless man says he was the bike rider seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in LA’s Pico-Union neighborhood in June, suffering a broken leg.

And he says the driver “was gunning” for him, and went out of their way to run him down.

Yet despite that, no one from the LAPD has canvassed local businesses for their security cam videos — even though the shop owner across the street says they’re welcome to it.

Evidently, intentionally running down a homeless man is just no big deal to them. Or maybe it’s just because he was on a bicycle.

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Streets Are For Everyone offers a legislative update on all the bills they are sponsoring and supporting this legislative session.

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A writer for a British Columbia website gets it right — the real danger is cars, not kids on scooters or ebikes.

All the outrage we feel about teens weaving on e-bikes and scooters would be better spent figuring out how to keep massive motorized vehicles away from all other road users.

My apologies and thanks to whoever sent this to my attention.

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Yesterday, I got a very nice email from the Marketing Director for B&D Law Group, APLC.

While they make the serious tactical error of not advertising over there on the right, they have created a list of California bicycling laws, including ebike regulations, updated for 2026. Along with a list of commonly asked questions, which they actually get right.

And yes, that is surprising, because I usually don’t link to pages from lawyers who don’t sponsor this site, because they usually get something wrong. Sometimes a lot of things.

So check it out if you want a refresher on what you can or can’t do on two wheels in this state.

And thanks to Alex for reading this site.

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A Redditor posted a photo of much-needed concrete barriers on Imperial Highway, which Reddit somehow considers adult content.

Maybe because half of the bikeway is in the gutter.

Reddit post

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This is what we could be doing in Los Angeles, which has a hell of a lot better weather than London.

Bluesky post

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Thanks to Megan for forwarding a video of a Chicago cargo bike rider making sure a stranger didn’t miss his bus.

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Normally, I wouldn’t offer a company free advertising like this.

But I was surprised to get the following email from Oofas, the maker of cushioned recovery slides I wear because of the neuropathy pain my feet. And yes, I recommend them, as does my podiatrist.

But not only is this about bicycling, it’s also about a cause I can get behind wholeheartedly.

Meanwhile, a writer for Sports Business Journal shares his own experienced on the ride.

If they want to thank me, I’m a size 11.

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

Let’s hope this is a mistake. The superintendent of the Las Virgenes Unified School District announces a ban on ebikes on campus, except for high school students with a valid California driver’s license — but also says “Elementary and middle school students, as well as high school students without a driver’s license, may not possess or ride a bike on campus.” Hopefully, he meant an ebike; otherwise, no one can ride any bicycle to school.

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

Bakersfield cops are looking for a 13-year old hit-and-run bike rider who crashed into a pedestrian outside the city’s Valley Plaza Mall. Someday I may tell you about the award-winning ad I wrote for that mall back in the day. But today is not that day, my friend.

A Philadelphia woman calls on her fellow bicyclists to show some decorum after witnessing a case of bike path rage, when “a woman in a Lycra onesie sped by at top speed” yelling for a bike-riding little boy’s parents to get him the hell out of her way.

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Local

Writing for Golden State Report, Mona Field, professor emeritus of political science of Glendale Community College, etc, shares my disappointment that the Los Angeles charter reforms on the November ballot don’t go further, by offering police reform, ethics reform, expanding the council or ranked-choice voting. My gut reaction was to vote down everything as a result, but she says maybe we should rethink that. I subscribe to Golden State, so my apologies if this is behind a paywall.

He gets it. A Los Angeles writer says not so fast on claims that teens on ebikes are the new Hells Angels, arguing that “experts say better regulation is needed but that bad press about ‘motorized menaces’ puts the wider ebike revolution at risk.” Amen, brother.

Streetsblog checks out above grade G Line bridges, nee Orange Line, new shade structure at the NoHo Red Line station, and hard plastic curbs protecting center-running section of the Chandler Bikeway.

State

Irvine has a new bike and pedestrian bridge over the 5 Freeway, but the Orange County Register doesn’t think you should know about it unless you’re willing to pay them.

You only have to wait a few more days to place an order for Irvine-based Rivian’s new ebike. Although when you’ll actually get it could be another matter.

San Diego’s crackdown on ebike riders under 12 kicked in yesterday, although cops are just giving out warnings, for now.

A 15-year old Menifee boy was killed in a hit-and-run while riding an offroad e-moto; the driver was seen leaving the scene with a bike still lodged under his car.

Police in Valdosta are pushing back against videos on social media saying a bike rider was killed in a hit-and-run, insisting the victim died of natural causes.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition says a 32-year old woman was killed when the e-scooter she was riding got caught in a rail track, and she was hit by a delivery truck driver illegally driving in the transit lane, who fled the scene, although he was caught a few blocks away.

Hats off to Kyle and Jessica Aster, who donated a quarter of a million dollars to build a five-mile singletrack trail near Lake Tahoe, completing an iconic 12-mile loop around the lake.

National

If you ride with a Ritchey Carbon Fiber Bicycle Fork, don’t; they’re being recalled due to a “risk of serious injury or death.”

A Colorado couple discovers that riding 50 centuries in 50 states on a tandem bike may soon fill a blank page in the Guinness World Records book.

Um, no. A San Antonio TV station says a man was stabbed several times “during (a) fight over a bicycle,” but the description sounds more like he was stabbed by someone trying to steal his bike.

An Illinois man was arrested two years after a 56-year old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle; the investigation showed the driver and his wife had gone to two bars, but they played the old “Oh, I thought we just hit a deer” card when finally caught.

A 73-year old Cornell University researcher and former sponsored cyclist has turned his garage into a word-of-mouth bike shop, and a bicycling community.

The New York city council has wisely backed off a plan to require ebike registration, after witnessing the messy rollout of New Jersey’s crackdown just across the river.

No surprise here, as DC finds building bike and bus lanes reduces crashes a lot.

Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins offers a “crash course in ebike helmets,” arguing that faster bikes means a bigger risk.

The kindhearted folks at a Tampa, Florida nonprofit will soon give away their 3,000th donated and refurbished bicycle, just three-and-a-half years after it was founded.

International

A new study from the University of Duh finds that bicycling infrastructure really can boost bike commuting.

Road.cc recommends six of the best British designed bicycles, starting at the equivalent of around 950 bucks. Although something actually made in the UK is another matter.

A British woman and her boyfriend completed a nearly 800-day trip from Europe through Africa — and he even had to push her about 80 miles when her bike broke down.

Irish police have conducted ten raids and arrested two teens, following a series of attacks, robberies and bike thefts by masked men on a popular bike path

That Chopper bike floating belly-up in the bathtub is a Raleigh, after Dutch parent company Accell declared bankruptcy, also sounding the death knell for the Lapierre, Batavus, Sparta, Koga, Haibike, Winora, Ghost, Babboe and XLC brands; however, there may be hope, as an Irish investment firm has expressed an interest in buying the entire lot.

New bike sales in France dropped 6% in 2025, while ebike sales fell 16%; however, sales remained 23% up from those heady pre-Covid days of 2019.

Competitive Cycling

LA endurance cyclist Isabel King completed the 207-mile Unbound Gravel race in 12 hours while pumping milk for her breastfeeding baby.

A writer for Men’s Journal rides a Tour de France bike through the Alps, and discovers that aero matters more than weight.

Finally…

That feeling when renting an e-bikeshare feels more like highway robbery. Writing the memo you wish the local DOT director would write.

And apropos of nothing, CNN ranks my bike friendly hometown #5 on their list of places to visit — and yes, it really did serve as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Main Street.

Although I don’t recall ever seeing a large pantless duck or talking mouse when I was growing up.

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And seriously, you need one of these. Like, now.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, bike lanes, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Forest Lawn Drive, hit-and-run, Karen Bass, lane reductions, LAPD, Los Angeles, Nithya Raman

Road rage driver in Rapp death had 13 prior arrests in 14 years, and elderly Hollywood musician badly injured in SaMo hit-and-run

July 29, 2026 / bikinginla / No comments

Charles Eric Medina, the Texas driver accused of the alleged road rage killing of 26-year old boxer Hannah Rapp, was scheduled for a bond hearing yesterday.

Medina faces three charges, including manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal mischief, after passing Rapp and her boyfriend too closely at a high rate of speed. When Rapp’s boyfriend shouted and gestured in complaint, Medina allegedly slammed on his brakes, then sped into the couple in reverse, killing Rapp.

He is currently being held on a total bond of $1,229,000. Medina has an extensive history of criminal charges, including deadly conduct, reckless driving, assault and evading arrest, with at least 13 arrests since 2012 — an average of nearly one arrest per year.

The bond total appears to include priors for “evading arrest” on March 17, 2025, and “deadly conduct” on February 14, 2024.

Seems like a real prince.

Meanwhile, a petition for “Hannah’s Law,” started by Rapp’s mother, has garnered nearly 11,000 signatures to give Texas judges more freedom to order defendants with a documented pattern of dangerous behavior held without bond, which is very difficult under current Texas law.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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Hollywood and session musician Stanley Behrens, aka “The Baron,” is recovering from serious injuries he received when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle in Santa Monica last month.

Behrens had just performed at the Summer Solstice street festival on Main Street in Santa Monica, and was hit by a driver who turned left into the bike lane he was riding in, while less than a mile from his Venice Beach home.

The crash left him with “multiple broken bones, including his orbital bone, nose, clavicle, scapula, C7 vertebra, ribs and ankle, and a serious brain injury that required emergency surgery on Father’s Day to address a significant bleed,” and has resulted in ongoing fever, delirium and confusion.

There’s no information provided about the driver or suspect vehicle.

According to CBS News,

The accident has halted Behrens’ active, music-filled life and independent routine. As a career musician with a wide-ranging résumé, he has contributed harmonica, saxophone and flute work to television soundtracks (“The Rockford Files,” “Quantum Leap,” “My Name Is Earl”), films including “The Rum Diary,” and albums by artists such as Willie Dixon, Jimmy Smith, Alice Cooper and Canned Heat, with whom he toured worldwide in the early 2000s.

A crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses has raised over $22,000 of the $50,000 goal.

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Writing for Cycling West, Peter Abraham, former head of marketing for the Los Angeles Marathon, who helped develop the popular “Stadium to the Sea” course, questions whether the upcoming Olympics will do for Los Angeles bicycling what it did in London and Paris.

The Olympics are a rare opportunity for a city to expand its bike infrastructure. I have spent time speaking with the people who led bike ridership initiatives in both Paris and London around the 2024 and 2012 Olympics. They were very strategic about how they thought about building infrastructure. It was not just “let’s build some bike lanes.” Careful thought was put into motivating people to get out on bikes, to ride to work and participate in cycling events. Big urban bike share systems were built into the plan as well as extensive investments in infrastructure. And importantly there was true leadership around bikes from the mayor of each city. Read former London mayor Boris Johnson’s 30-page manifesto on bike infrastructure, or the story of Anne Hidalgo’s leadership in Paris around bikes. We’re two years out from the LA Olympics, and I don’t see this kind of leadership from either the Governor Newsom or Mayor Karen Bass. That’s a shame. I realize there are many challenging things going on in Los Angeles right now: recovering from the devastating fires we had last year, ICE raids, the FIFA World Cup and elections this year for both LA mayor and California governor. But I would love to see some of our political leaders prioritize safe streets for pedestrians, bikes and cars.

He’s right.

Despite multiple promises made as part of former Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Twenty-Eight by ’28 program of bike, pedestrian and transit projects that were to be completed in time for the LA Olympics, there’s been virtually no progress, and a lot of backsliding, in the short four years since he left office.

It would take a massive commitment from the city and state to make anywhere near the progress the other two former host cities made, something I don’t see happening under the current Los Angeles and California leadership.

Whether anything at all will be done in time for the games depends a lot on the coming November election.

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

Chicago Streetsblog “degreases” an anti-bike lane screed from a local writer.

No bias here. The anti-bike New York Post says New York Mayor “Mamdani loves the hipsters who love their bikes,” so they’re attempting to speed up the process of building bike lanes by cutting complaints out of the process. Considering most complaints can be summed up as “parking,” that’s not a bad idea.

A London woman was the victim of a “terrifying” road rage assault after her shoe grazed the side of a car as she was squeezing by on her bike in crowded traffic, despite her attempts to apologize profusely.

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

A four-year old Denver dog is recovering after he was struck by a hit-and-run ebike rider who zoomed by on the sidewalk, then told his owner “to ‘F’ myself and to ‘F’ off, and that it was my fault, and he had the right-of-way, and he was glad my dog was hit.” Nice guy. From the photos, it’s hard to tell if he was on a ped-assist ebike or an e-moto.

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Local

An attorney says a “high-end” Manhattan Beach store could be held responsible for the theft of a customer’s ebike, if it can be shown that there was a history of previous thefts, and they knew or should have known about the risk of theft.

A 27-year old old Dutch woman bicycling across the US on the Bikecentennial route started her trip in Los Angeles, and decided to bike down to Disneyland for the 4th of July fireworks — but didn’t realize it was 80 miles away, and arrived too tired to visit the park.

State

Seal Beach city leaders were due to meet at the Rotary Club last night to discuss the problem of ebikes in the city, which is better defined as a problem with mostly underaged riders on illegal e-motorbikes and electric dirt bikes, as well as on legal ped-assist bicycles that have been illegally modified to exceed speed and power limitations; it benefits no one to tar legal ebike riders with the same broad brush.

San Diego bicyclists will have to continue to practice potty training, after the city’s mayor rejected a proposal to reopen a number of closed restrooms along the popular Mission Bay bike route.

A proposed Berkeley protected bike lane is pitting neighbor against neighbor, brother against brother in the fight for and against it.

National

The American College of Surgeons says it’s leading the conversation on ebike safety, but once again fails to make clear that the problem stems from illegal e-motorbikes and electric dirt bikes, rather than relatively sedate ped-assist ebikes. Shouldn’t identifying the actual problem be the first step in actually solving it?

A Seattle woman was killed when she struck a bridge gate on her bicycle.

San Antonio, Texas will hold a community celebration on Thursday to mark the completion of the city’s first protected bike lane, providing a safe route along one of the city’s busiest corridors, while supporting the city’s Vision Zero plan.

August 5th marks opening day for bicyclists and pedestrians on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.

Massive Maine-based appliance maker Whirlpool delayed its quarterly earnings reports after the company CEO was injured in a “minor bicycle accident.” No, a minor bike crash is when you show up at work the next day with a little road rash and a gnarly story to tell; missing a required earnings report hints at something more significant.

Vermont will build a bike and pedestrian bridge across the state’s busiest highway interchange. That compares favorably to Southern California, where bike riders are expected to play Frogger across highway entrances and exits, and cross only on automobile and smog-choked overpasses.

New York is planning to build 500 secure bike-parking locations across the city, capable of holding 6 to 80 bicycles, depending on size.

The Orange County school board approved a ban on ebikes at county schools; no, the one in Florida.

International

The UK’s somewhat less than bike friendly The Sun says new research shows that half of ebike riders in Glasgow run red lights, before making it clear that the problem riders are mostly delivery riders on illegally modified e-motorbikes.

A British man rented a Lime bike to follow the motorcade of Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara on a visit to London this past March, in a quest to find justice for his jailed, then murdered, father, and compensation for the seizure of their home by a government official.

Speaking of Lime Bikes, the Daily Mail tested the handlebars of the London bikeshare ebikes, and found “high levels of biological residue from skin cells, sweat, saliva, food residue – and in some cases, fecal matter.” No shit.

A German man says he feels “embarrassed” and “naïve” after his bike was stolen from a Newcastle, England metro station just days after completing a 1,000-mile ride down the length of the UK.

Sad news from Germany, where bike touring pioneer Heinz Stücke, who spent over 50 years exploring the world by bicycle, has passed away in his hometown of Hövelhof at age 86; Stücke rode more than 378,000 miles, visiting nearly every country on earth.

A Durban, South African bicyclist was killed when he was hit head-on by an alleged drunk driver on the wrong side of the roadway, on a three-mile beachfront circuit where riders train.

Johannesburg, South Africa’s Girls on Bikes turns heads with their bright pink helmets, in a movement built on friendship, confidence and proving that women belong on the road.

An op-ed in the South China Post considers how Hong Kong can embrace bicycling as a means of transportation, improving residents health while reducing road congestion and contributing to sustainability goals.

Sad news from Tokyo, where stunt cyclist Lilly Yokoi died at her Tokyo home at age 96; Yokoi gained fame riding her gold-plated bicycle at the halftime of Harlem Globetrotters games, as well as at Radio City Music Hall, the London Palladium and the Lido in Paris, and on television programs like “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Hollywood Palace,” and in the 1966 circus film “Rings Around the World.” And yes, I’m old enough to remember her on the Ed Sullivan Show — or “Shoe,” as he pronounced it.

Competitive Cycling

Velo says the Tour de France’s Montmartre circuit finally gave the race the ending it always needed.

Finally…

Your next race-ready kit could come with built-in crash protection. Wining fans and influencing people, Ricky Bobby style.

And how to tell when your tire is screwed.

Literally.

Reddit post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: 2028 Olympics, Charles Medina, crowdfunding, Hannah Rapp, Hannah's Law, hit-and-run, OLy, road rage, Santa Monica, Stanley Behrens, Texas, Twenty-Eight By '28

Fatal bike and ped hit-and-run rates rise, 45 years in random fatal beating of Florida bike rider, and a look at SoCal’s killer highway

July 14, 2026 / bikinginla / One comment

Happy Bastille Day to all who celebrate! Although how happy will be determined by today’s le Mondial, mais non?

We’re going to do something a little different today. Too many important stories have involved too much work on my part, leaving no time for the links that usually follow. At least not if I want to get any sleep at all tonight.

So we’ll discuss the big stuff today, and circle back to the more extraneous links tomorrow, if that works for you.

Besides, my internet connection is starting to feel like molasses, so I want to get this up before it goes down.

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It’s not your imagination. Or mine, in this case.

According to a press release from a bicycle legal group, bicyclists and pedestrians are far more likely than drivers to be the victims of a hit-and-run.

Cyclists are increasingly being struck by drivers who flee the scene, according to a 2026 analysis of federal crash data released today by Bicycle Accident Lawyers Group (BALG). In 2023, 1 in 5 U.S. cyclists injured in traffic was hit by a driver who left the scene, and more than 70% of everyone killed in a hit-and-run that year was a pedestrian or cyclist. Hit-and-runs reached an all-time high that year, and many injured cyclists have no identified at-fault driver to hold liable, according to the firm’s review of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

The trend is moving against cyclists even as U.S. roads overall grow safer. Fatal bicycle hit-and-runs rose 63% between 2017 and 2023, from 168 to 274 deaths, outpacing the 45% increase in overall cycling fatalities, the BALG analysis found. After 2020, total traffic deaths began to fall while bicyclist hit-and-run deaths kept climbing, a sign that safety gains reached drivers inside vehicles first.

The scale is significant. More than 919,000 hit-and-run crashes were reported in 2023, about 15% of all collisions. Cyclists are among the most exposed: nearly 1 in 4 cyclists killed in traffic that year died in a hit-and-run, up from 1 in 5 in 2017.

That corresponds with what I’ve found writing about bicycling deaths, consistently finding that somewhere between a quarter and a third of all fatal bicycling crashes each year involve a hit-and-run driver.

It’s clear that drivers are far more likely to flee in a collision after hitting something soft, like a human being, than they are after hitting something hard, like another motor vehicle. If only because their car or truck is more likely to be disabled after striking another motor vehicle.

Which could explain why there is so little urgency around the issue, and why so little is being done about it. Because if it’s not a problem affecting the great mass of people in their big, dangerous machines, then it’s not really a problem at all.

At least not for the people who could do something about it.

Then there’s this little bit of information.

Accountability remains rare even in fatal cases. A large share of hit-and-run drivers are never identified, and in New York City police solved just 324 of 6,652 nonfatal hit-and-run cases in 2020, about 1 in 20, according to NYPD figures.

That’s some damned impressive detective work, at least compared to Los Angeles, where the rate of drivers identified and convicted of nonfatal hit-and-run crimes is reportedly somewhere south of 1%.

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Talk about gut-wrenching.

A 21-year old Florida man was sentenced to a well-deserved 45-years behind bars for a random crime spree that included beating a bike rider to death with a tire iron when he was just 17-years old.

Savonne Morrison was convicted of manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder, for driving the getaway car in a 2022 crime spree that started when his nextdoor neighbor recruited his help to beat up the new boyfriend of the neighbor’s ex-girlfriend.

But she wasn’t home, so his neighbor, Jermaine Bennett, started drinking and using coke, then set off on a vandalism spree by smashing random cars with a tire iron.

That continued until they spotted an 82-year old man walking alone in front of a St. Petersburg carpet store. Bennett got out of the car on a pretext of asking the man for directions, then repeatedly hit him with the tire iron, knocking him out with the first blow. Fortunately, he survived the attack.

That can’t be said for their next victim. Forty-nine-year old Jeffrey Chapman was riding his bike when Bennett again jumped out of the car and knocked Chapman on his bike with the tire iron. They then took turns beating Chapman to death, before driving off with his wallet.

Bennett eventually pled guilty to murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

For whatever reason, the jury didn’t convict Morrison on a 1st degree murder charge, instead convicting him of manslaughter.

However, Morrison was on probation at the time of the attack for a violent carjacking when he was just 15 years old, when he and a group of friend used a girl they were both dating to lure another boy to come meet her. But when he arrived, Morrison and the others pistol-whipped the boy, forcing him out of the car, then driving over him as they took off in his car.

As a result, the judge gave Morrison the maximum of 15 years for manslaughter, and another 30 for violating his parole on the carjacking charge, to be served consecutively.

Florida law requires serving a minimum of 85% of a prison sentence in most cases, meaning Morrison will be at least 59-years old when he gets out.

Somehow, that doesn’t seem like enough.

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She gets it.

Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian took a look at the Malibu section of Southern California’s killer highway on Sunday.

The stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that spans the length of Malibu is one of the most storied roads in the world and also, tragically, one of the bloodiest. As someone who frequently drives PCH between Santa Monica and Trancas, I often hold my breath for fear that some spacey tourist or distracted teenager will wander off the beach and into my path. Or that a car will back out of a driveway right into me. Or that a driver ahead of me will spot an open space on the shoulder and slam on the brakes to back into the spot. I am in awe of the brave cyclists willing to risk their lives for the sake of a beautiful ride.

Me too, sadly.

She goes on to discuss the 2023 documentary 21 Miles in Malibu made by Hollywood producer Michael Shane, whose 13-year old daughter Emily was killed in 2010 “by a reckless, suicidal motorist” as she walked to meet him after a sleepover.

Three years ago, Shane, a film producer best known for “Catch Me if You Can” and “I, Robot” made “21 Miles” to shine a light on the extraordinary dangers of having a five-lane state highway running through what is essentially a residential neighborhood. The hour-long documentary, which won several film festival awards, aired Thursday on PBS SoCal and will be available on the PBS app and website.

“Being on this roadway,” says Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. David Huelsen in the film, “is probably the single most dangerous thing you’re gonna do on your vacation.”

Or any other time, for that matter.

After years — okay, decades — of work by safety advocates of all stripes, Caltrans is finally making improvements to the deadly highway, retiming traffic lights and adding roundabouts to deter speeding. And ten automated speed cams will come online this fall, part of a pilot program authorizing them in Malibu, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Glendale, as well as three cities in Northern California.

But as Abcarian points out, the fines are way too low.

Shane thinks the fines are ludicrously low, and I agree.

“If you got a $1,500 ticket instead of a $200 ticket, you might think twice about going fast, because it’s going to cost you,” he said.

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As long as we’re discussing the LA Times, I saw one opinion piece that went the news equivalent of viral, as former Times opinion editor Paul Thornton’s smartly thought-out column from the Golden State newsletter was picked up by news sites across the country, including CalMatters.

Thornton argues that making ebikes safer is smart. But smothering them isn’t.

Electric bikes are powering an urban transportation revolution. They flatten hills, haul cargo and people, and offer an alternative to driving that doesn’t involve breaking much of a sweat or waiting for a bus.

I’ve experienced these wonders firsthand. For the last three years, I have used an e-bike — an electric-motor assisted bicycle — to do everything from commuting 23 miles across Los Angeles for work to meeting up with friends at places where finding a parking spot takes longer than the drive over. In a city choked by traffic and pollution, calling these machines liberating isn’t an overstatement…

Lawmakers in Sacramento have introduced at least eight bills this year targeting e-bike safety. One would have added licensing and registration requirements for most e-bikes; anotherwould have rewritten the state’s classification system, making most e-bikes already rolling on California streets illegal.

Thankfully, those bills died, and with them a level of regulation that could throttle an efficient, clean and fun transportation option in California, and hamper a technology that is already driving the majority of revenue growth in the bicycle industry.

He goes on to make the case that Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s Senate Bill 1167 hits the the right notes, with the right restrictions to improve safety without killing the golden e-goose.

Done intelligently, safety regulations do not have to curtail e-bike adoption and all the upsides these joyous devices bring to cities clogged by traffic. Policies crafted using data instead of panic might actually lure more people out of their cars and onto two wheels.

It’s more than worth taking the time to read it. Because he’s right.

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They get it.

In an extensive letter to the editor that’s really more of an op-ed, a pair of Edmonton, Alberta physicians make the case for maintaining a connected bike network, in the face of rumored provincial legislation that would restrict current and future urban bike lanes.

They argue that bike lanes make the city healthier for everyone, not just the people who choose to ride.

I won’t get into all their arguments here, though it is worth a few minutes to read the entire letter.

But they close with this.

As with public policy in any area, the devil is in the details of implementation: Any change could have negative impacts for some citizens. This reality underscores the critical importance of local involvement in decision-making that balances the pros and cons of any specific policy proposal, in order to arrive at the best possible solution for the people who are most impacted. Neighbourhood and municipal policies imposed by higher levels of government do not make sense.

As physicians, we advocate strongly for the development and maintenance of infrastructure to support and encourage active transport by bicycle, including a connected network of protected bike lanes. We support the right of Edmontonians to make the decisions that best meet our needs.

………

I learned a long time ago not to trust social media. So does anyone know how accurate this video is?

Twitter post

According to the Daily Dot website, commenters go on to criticize California for having the nation’s highest tax rate, which is true. Although the overall tax burden places it lower, somewhere in the top ten states.

One even calls the pathway a death trap. But as unsightly as it is, graffiti does not a death trap make. For that, you usually need motor vehicles

Which are absent from this video, anyway.

………

Calbike says a Lathrop woman made a simple request for the city to hold a free community bike and traffic safety education event at City Hall during National Bicycle Safety Month. It was her attempt to be proactive before something bad happened, after her family had too many close calls while riding their bikes.

Which then became a reality when the driver of a city vehicle cut off her seven-year old daughter as she was riding her bike in a crosswalk, forcing her to crash into the side of the vehicle.

Camryn was not seriously hurt, which is fortunate. But that does not mean the incident should be brushed aside. A child should not have to be badly injured before a city takes repeated warnings seriously. For Cortez, the crash was terrifying and enraging because it felt like the very scenario she had been trying to prevent. For months, she had been telling officials that children biking and walking in Lathrop were at risk.

What followed, Cortez says, has been its own kind of burden. She wants to know what happened. She wants records preserved. She wants clarity about whether the driver was working at the time. But more than anything, she wants the city to stop treating a preventable safety failure like an isolated incident.

“I can sue them all I want,” she told CalBike, “but then I would just be a rich person in an unsafe neighborhood.”

………

Speaking of Calbike, the statewide bicycle advocacy group made a statement yesterday opposing Proposition 45 on the November ballot, even though at first blush it would seem to benefit bikes.

The measure would accelerate review for a broad category of projects, including transportation. It would impose stricter deadlines, limit the alternatives agencies must consider, and restrict judicial review. But the same reduced friction available to a bikeway or transit project would also be available to a highway expansion, and in a state that often seems more eager to widen a doomed highway than expand transit, it is not hard to imagine this will result in more sprawling freeways than verdant bikeways. That is why CalBike opposes Proposition 45…

The initiative’s central mistake is treating transportation as a single public good. A bus lane, a protected bikeway, and a freeway widening can all be described as infrastructure, but they do not produce the same future. Yet, Proposition 45 would place both in the same expedited category, blind to induced demand or driving alternatives. Reduced friction does not operate in a vacuum. California’s highway-building institutions already have money, plans, political allies, and decades of momentum. Open the gates equally and the results will not be as lopsided as they have always been.

As much as we need new bikeways, and would benefit from a faster review process, the last thing we need is more and bigger highways.

And as Calbike points out, it’s the people who build highways who have all the money and lobbyists.

………

I was halfway through a story from a Michigan public radio station about a Los Angeles actor who rode his bike 3,500 miles to his hometown of Lansing, Michigan, to deliver a letter from his daughter to his 101-year old father, before I realized I knew him.

“I was looking for a way to kind of connect my family,” Nichols said. “My two daughters, I was such a part of their upbringing, and with my dad…he was so involved with my upbringing, and I sort of wanted to connect them.”

Nichols started his journey on May 15, where he rode across the Golden Gate Bridge through a path that took him through Oregon. His weeks have been spent travelling bike trails through Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

On Monday, he arrived in Michigan through the SS Badger, where he will be biking from Ludington to the finish line, East Lansing. He said he plans to be back to his dad on Monday.

The original plan was to go through the Upper Peninsula and over the Mackinac Bridge, but his trip was interrupted.

“I did have to take a short break in the middle to go home to Los Angeles to shoot a movie, and then I flew right back and got back on the bike, and kept going,” Nichols said.

I admit, I didn’t pay any attention to the guy’s name until I got further down, and read this.

Nichols settled in Los Angeles years later after starting his acting career in New York.

But outside of his acting career, Nichols cohosts BikeTalk, a radio show advocating for safer spaces for people to travel on bikes. Nichols has documented his entire journey through the show.

“Our audience is following Taylor’s journey after maybe having listened to Taylor as a co-host on Bike Talk for several years, now he’s up and moving around the country,” Nick Richert, BikeTalk co-host, said. “He’s embodying everything that we’ve been talking about on the show.”

It was only then that I realized they were talking about our own BikeTalk’s Taylor Nichols, someone I’ve traded emails with for years about various bike stories. And I’ve spoken with Taylor and Nick on BikeTalk many times over the years, until my health problems and the assorted meds I take for them made me stop doing live interviews.

Because I can control and edit what I say on here, so I don’t usually make too much of a fool out of myself. But live, I’m prone to memory losses and misspeaking, making TV and radio too much of a minefield for me.

I also confess it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to the program, even though I remain a fan, and host a free public service ad for them over there on the right.

So I wasn’t aware of Taylor’s journey. And confess to being gobsmacked when I realized who they were talking about. Which is a word I don’t use often.

Or ever, even.

But I’ll let Taylor have today’s last words.

“I decided that I would just do it as a way of showing that the bicycle is not just a toy, but is an actual tool of transportation,” he said. “And that if we can create safe places for people to bike, we can break our dependency on oil and automobiles and things like that.”

Amen to that.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, bicycling deaths, Bike Talk, Calbike, Catherine Blakespear, ebikes, Florida, hit-and-run, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Malibu, murder, Paul Thornton, PCH, Robin Abcarian, SoCal's killer highway, violence against bicyclists

Livability versus yelling at kids on your lawn, Calbike urges SB 1167 support, and one year since Ackerman killed in WeHo hit-and-run

July 9, 2026 / bikinginla / No comments

Okay, so let me start with a (relatively) brief rant. And don’t worry, I’ll get to the point eventually.

Because I now find myself at that golden age when I metaphorically yell at kids to get off my lawn.

I did that this afternoon, when I spotted — and heard — someone setting off extremely large and extremely illegal fireworks from the roof of the building next door.

And yelled loudly off the balcony regarding where they could put their explosives, assuming they were the same jerks who set off two literal bombs at 4 am Wednesday night, shaking our windows, waking my wife and terrifying the corgi, who ran off to hide in the closet for the rest of the night.

Bombs so loud, my phone lit up with people on Citizen and Ring Chat complaining about the noise half up to a mile away. Although some people assumed it was gunshots, because Los Angeles.

But that’s the problem. Because the past few years, we’ve been dealing with noise from illegal fireworks any and every time of the day and night, virtually every day of the fricking year.

While I didn’t agree with Spencer Pratt about much during his brief run as a national political celebrity, he was right about the quality of life here in Los Angeles being in the toilet.

Streetlights are out all over town. Trash piles up everywhere, and God forbid you should try to find a trashcan to throw something away. Storefronts sit empty on every block. Our streets are so rutted and potholed, many are virtually impassible.

Seriously, take North Fairfax. Please.

I could go on…and on. But you undoubtedly have your own complaints. And yet no one seems to be doing anything about it.

In fact, our elected leaders seem dedicated to doing exactly nothing.

Like quashing police reform and proposals for ranked choice voting and expanding the city council, despite overwhelming public demand. And actively blocking Measure HLA, which passed by a two-thirds majority.

See, I said I’d get to the point.

The things that could improve the safety, vitality and livability of this city are the very things no one in our elected city leadership seems to give a damn about.

We’re now down to two candidates for Mayor of Los Angeles, and 16 people running for city council.

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. But when you mark your ballot this November, don’t just bike the vote. It should be a given by now to vote for someone who will support your right to ride a bicycle comfortably, and return home safely.

But more than that, vote for someone with a commitment to make this city more livable — and tells you exactly how they plan to do it.

Because I’m done with promises. We’ve had over 20 years of promises, and things haven’t gotten any better. It’s long past time when our leaders acted in our interest, and not theirs. And I’d really like to see Los Angeles make this damn list while I’m still around to enjoy it.

And I don’t want to be that guy shaking my fist and yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.

Okay, rant over.

Today’s photo of the rockets red glare doesn’t begin to capture the sound of bombs bursting midair at 4 am.

………

Speaking of livability, the ready availability of electric motorbikes sold under the guise of ebikes, and the underaged hooligans on them, seem to be at or near the top of everyone’s list these days.

Encinitas State Senator Catherine Blakespear’s SB 1167 is designed to address that problem without throwing the ped-assist ebike baby out with the bathwater.

Here’s is what Calbike had to say about it in an email I received yesterday

This year, California lawmakers considered a wave of proposals responding to concerns about electric devices. The most burdensome approaches, including new license plates and registration systems for legal e-bikes, have fallen away.

There is a reason why SB 1167, the Truth in Biking Bill is still moving, and passing every benchmark in decisive fashion. Because it takes the simpler approach: make companies tell people the truth about what they are buying, because an honest, fair marketplace is better for all involved.

Ask Speaker Rivas & Chair Wicks to Advance SB 1167

SB 1167 does not ask the DMV to build a new registration system. It does not impose new licenses, plates, or fees on people who ride legal e-bikes. Instead, it relies on definitions California already has. Devices that are too powerful or fast to qualify as legal e-bikes must be accurately marketed, labeled, and disclosed to buyers. That is easier for the state to maintain, easier for responsible businesses to follow, and easier for families to understand.

This practical approach has earned unanimous support at every major vote, including a 15–0 vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee. SB 1167 is now before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Please ask Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, and Chair Buffy Wicks to advance SB 1167 to the Assembly floor.

Send your message

California does not need to build an expensive new system around legal e-bikes. It needs clear rules and honest information at the point of sale.

Thank you for your support,

Kendra Ramsey

Executive Director

………

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the hit-and-run that took the life of Blake Ackerman as he rode his bike home from work on Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood.

Maybe it hit me harder than most because it was so close to my apartment. Someplace I’ve walked, biked and driven by countless times since moving to Hollywood a decade ago.

Or maybe it’s because we’ve fought so long to improve safety on Fountain, and finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

Or maybe just because it was all such a fucking needless waste of a young man’s life.

Or maybe just all of the above.

I’ve placed flowers on his ghost bike several times over the past year to let his loved ones know we still remember, and care.

I plan to walk over tomorrow and place artificial tropical flowers on his ghost bike — tropical because he loved Hawaii, and artificial because they last longer. And say a prayer to tell him how just how very, very sorry I am.

Nothing would make me happier than to walk over and find his bike already covered with flowers, real, fake or otherwise.

But I’ll still do it, even if I’m the only one.

………

A European ski instructor and bicycling fan ranks the top five mountain passes in the Alps, for your next two-wheeled journey for fame and glory.

………

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

No bias here. An op-ed in the Tennessee Conservative — already a bad sign — argues that the best way to piss off bike riders is to criticize them, then goes on to do exactly that, taking riders to task for legally exercising their right to ride on the roadway. Which means he’s undoubtedly right by pissing off bicyclists for criticizing them when he’s undoubtedly wrong.

Bike riders in the Scottish Highlands are complaining about a “daft and dangerous” decision to remove an important stretch of bike lane near the city center, arguing that it will hit disabled bicyclists the hardest. Even if American drivers don’t believe disabled bike riders even exist.

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

Two Vermont men were fined $35,000 and ordered to remove any remaining trace of an illegal bike trail they built in a state forest over a five-year period, chopping down 350 trees and drilling into rocks to make the trails. Let’s hope that includes replanting the trees, and at least giving the rocks a nice apology.

Police in Western Australia are looking for a 53-year old hit-and-run bike rider who plowed into a 64-year old woman while riding on the wrong side of the road, leaving her with a “difficult journey ahead” after she was taken off life support; the bike rider stopped to assist the victim, but left before police and paramedics arrived.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls on bicyclists to provide input in an online survey about Carson’s ambitious Bicycle Action Plan. Although if it’s actually ambitious, I like it already.

State

San Diego avoided disastrous cuts to transportation in the city budget, with a modest half-million dollars to fix the city’s 15 most dangerous intersections, while avoiding the mayor’s plan to cut the Department of Transportation’s entire Multi-Modal Team.

San Diego’s new ebike restrictions will go into effect next month, banning anyone under the age of 12 from riding an ebike, and reinforcing helmet requirements and prohibiting a second rider without a seat built to accommodate two people. Which strikes me as decidedly underwhelming, but what the hell do I know?

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, aka SBCAG, is asking bike riders to review an AI-generated bike map. Apparently, they want to confirm it doesn’t have any extraneous legs or fingers, or any other added AI generated errors or hallucinations.

A Bakersfield woman was driving at three times the legal alcohol limit and with a driver’s license that expired two-and-a-half years ago when she hit and killed a 66-year old man riding a bicycle last month.

A new study from a San Francisco professor shows that only protected bike lanes actually cause an increase in bike ridership, unlike sharrows or painted bike lanes.

Sacramento police issued 31 traffic citations during a four-hour bike and pedestrian safety operation, apparently all to drivers.

Bike co-op Sacramento Bike Kitchen will mark their 20th anniversary this weekend with free music, bike polo and beer. And no, the beer isn’t free, or I’d be on my way already.

National

Oregon is considering a proposal to link an existing 20-mile bike path to the famed Rogue Valley wine country.

A Eugene, Oregon middle school teacher rode his bike 1,650 miles down the Left Coast from Canada to Mexico in just seven days, but missed in his effort to set a new world record by a day and a half.

Denver bike riders are fundraising to collect $4,500 to buy a bike-towed street sweeper to clean debris from the city’s bike lanes.

There’s some good news from Detroit today, as the five-year old boy shot by a stray bullet while riding his bike with his father is recovering from his injuries.

An Ohio writer says yes, it matters to see Black riders on the state’s trails.

The NYPD marked the 4th of July by diverting pedestrians from a walkway onto a bike path, with no explanation for where people on bicycles were expected to go; Streetsblog complains it’s another example of the city treating cars like transportation but bicycles like toys.

Streetsblog says it only took New York the deaths of two bike riders to update the pavement markings on the Queensboro Bridge bike lane to reflect a new a pedestrian-only path on the opposite side of the bridge, calling the move “too little, too late.”

Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, are both one of us, riding bikeshare bikes together through the streets of New York, where they bumped into convicted musical plagiarist Robin Thicke. But hopefully not literally.

Heartbreaking news from Tennessee, where an 86-year old man was booked for last month’s fatal hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman lying badly injured in a ditch. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, and who should make that decision in a society built around the need to drive.

A DC writer issues a “coward’s guide” to bicycling around the city.

International

If you build it, they will come. A new study in the Journal of Transport & Health shows that building a bike lane or park within about 550 yards of residents’ homes in São Paulo, Brazil was a key factor in keeping them active and encouraging cycling. To which LA drivers shout in unison, “But Los Angeles isn’t São Paulo!”

Cycling Electric says a new cargo bike may be the most advanced one yet. Then again, it should be with a $9,300 price tag.

Road.cc joins the fight over media descriptions of illegal electric motorcycles as ebikes, after police seize “ebikes” that can reach 72 mph.

A writer for Streetsblog says if you want safer roads, all you have to do is take a European vacation.

Three Indian men face charges for stabbing a 30-year old man to death in a petty dispute over whether he had hidden one of the men’s bicycle. As we’ve said before, no bike is worth a human life. Just walk away, for god’s sake.

A Norwegian artist and adventurer is nearing the end of her 300-day epic bike tour through the African continent.

Japanese soccer star Kaoru Mitoma injured a woman riding a bicycle, after both he and the victim allegedly went through a four-way red light on the walk signal.

Competitive Cycling

No charge among the favorites for this year’s Tour de France, as a late bike change allowed Jonas Vingegaard to finish with the same time as Tadej Pogačar, thanks to the Tour’s three-second rule, which oddly has nothing to do with eating something that fell to the tarmac within three seconds; Norway’s Torstein Træen continued his unlikely stint in the yellow jersey with an eight-minute lead over Vingegaard and Pogačar.

British Paralympic cycling star Dame Sarah Storey is calling it a career at age 48, as her 74 world and Paralympic medals make her the most successful British athlete, disabled or otherwise.

Finally…

Blocking an unofficial bike trail with a bolder Boulder boulder. That feeling when bike lanes are “DEI.”

But at least we aren’t tied for dead last in the new City Ratings.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, Blake Ackerman, Catherine Blakespear, e-motorbikes, ebikes, elected officials, ghost bikes, hit-and-run, livability, Los Angeles, Mayor of Los Angeles, safety, SB 1167, WeHo

It’s not even safe to have lunch anymore, fleeing a crash is no big deal anymore, and the Hollywoods won’t be separate much longer

July 8, 2026 / bikinginla / One comment

This is who we share the road with.

Even people dining on a restaurant patio aren’t safe from cars, after a driver plowed into tables on the sidewalk outside a Boyle Heights restaurant.

At least ~~two~~ three people were injured when a motorist somehow lost control of their SUV and drove onto the sidewalk at Los 5 Puntos near Lorena Street and Cesar Chavez Ave around 3 pm Tuesday.

A woman dining at the restaurant suffered severe leg injuries, while her daughter was shaken but not seriously hurt; a passerby was also injured when the SUV shoved a trash can into him.

Local residents said the intersection is prone to crashes, yet, typically for Los Angeles, nothing seems to have been done about it.

………

Apparently, fleeing the scene of a fatal crash is just no big deal anymore.

Consider Kansas, where a 21-year old man walked without a day behind bars for killing a 57-year old man riding a bicycle, after a judge sentenced him to a lousy 36 months probation.

Then there’s Minnesota, where the 70-year old former owner of a popular Minneapolis area restaurant walked without a day behind bars for killing a bike rider with his catering truck, despite getting out to check on the victim, then getting back in his SUV and driving away, leaving his dying victim in the middle of the road.

Which raises the question of why wouldn’t you just drive off after a crash, if the worst you’re going to face isn’t even a slap on the wrist?

Especially here in Los Angeles, where you have a 99% chance of getting away with it, and most non-fatal hit-and-runs don’t even get investigated.

………

West Hollywood offers a reminder about next weekend’s Meet the Hollywoods CicLAvia on Sunday, the 19th.

………

Encinitas State Senator Catherine Blakespear has posted video of her recent webinar examining the challenges and solutions for ebike safety — which starts with her bill to clearly define ebikes, and prohibits the wink-wink selling of electric motorbikes mislabeled as ebikes.

………

Now you, too, can get a real, honest-to-gosh Tour de France bicycle at a discount.

Maybe.

………

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

Lime has refused to take any responsibility after an underaged boy illegally riding one of their dockless ebikes crashed into a woman in her 60s walking in a pedestrianized London square, resulting in 36 days in a hospital and 18 months learning how to walk again.

………

Local

The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, invites public feedback on the six-county regional transportation plan. That’s easy. Stop wasting taxpayer money on highways, and invest it all in transit, biking and walking projects that will do more good.

Los Angeles DA Nathan Hochman warns parents that Orange County isn’t the only place where they could face criminal charges for knowingly allowing their kids to ride an ebike in an unsafe or illegal way that leads to a serious crash.

LA drivers could now get fined a whopping $63 for violating the state’s daylighting law by parking too close to the corner.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton examines the nearly completed La Crescenta Ave. Bikeway in Glendale. Which looks good, although those white plastic bollards won’t keep anyone or anything out.

Burbank lawyer Adrianos Facchetti is once again asking for nominations for his law firm’s Kids for Bikes program, looking ten local kids between the ages of 6 and 17 who deserved to be honored with a new bicycle, helmet and a t-shirt; they must live within ten miles of the firm’s office at 4444 W Riverside Drive in Burbank.

A South Pas website examines the city’s popular bike bus.

CBS LA, nee KCBS-2, says Santa Clarita’s new $7 million Haskell Canyon Bike Park is already becoming one of the leading mountain bike destinations in Southern California.

State

The family of 6-year old fallen bicyclist Hudson O’Laughlin has filed a claim against San Diego, arguing the city should have known that the Pacific Beach sidewalk and street where he was killed by a hit-and-run driver was dangerous.

Bad news from Hesperia, where a 67-year-old man suffered major injuries when he allegedly swerved his bicycle into the side of a pickup driven by an 84-year old Apple Valley man. As usual, a lot depends on whether there were any independent witnesses who observed the crash, because “bicyclists swerving into vehicles” usually means the elderly driver drifted into the bike rider.

Albany approved an active transportation plan Monday evening, featuring a protected bike lane on one side of the city’s main merchant corridor.

The Napa Valley Register explains when and why bicyclists can take the lane, which even the DMV recognizes is often the safest thing for riders to do. And it’s legal to do in any lane that’s a substandard width, which is most of the right traffic lanes in Southern California, particularly when they allow parking on the right side.

A Reno TV station reports an ebike rider is in critical condition after a crash in Mammoth Lakes, even though the victim was struck by a driver, and what kind of bicycle they were on didn’t seem to have anything to do with it.

National

The American Discovery 250 Relay kicked off on July 4th, with hikers and bike riders passing batons containing a copy of the Declaration of Independence as they traverse the 6,800-mile American Discovery Trail from Point Reyes, California to Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware.

Members of my college fraternity are biking across the US in both directions for the 33rd straight year to call attention to people with disabilities, with separate teams riding east to west and west to east. Although not my chapter, which was dissolved by the Supreme Chapter a few years after I left, for reasons that were never publicly explained, and which I hopefully had nothing to do with.

Apparently, platinum level status is not guarantee of safety, as a woman riding a bicycle was killed by the driver of a semi while she was trying to get around a street repaving project, on a street in my bicycle friendly Colorado hometown where I used to walk, bike and drive on a regular basis.

A pair of Texas teens have now been arrested for the hit-and-run crash that killed a 43-year old man riding a bicycle — one for fleeing the scene, and the other for lying to the cops to protect the kid behind the wheel.

San Antonio, Texas will open a second round of $1,000 ebike vouchers for lower-income residents. Which compares favorably to LA’s voucher program, which doesn’t exist.

Northwest Arkansas’ Tri-Region E-Bike Incentive Program intends to distribute 5,800 vouchers worth up to $1,200 off the price of an ebike. Which compares favorably to California’s Ebike Incentive Program, which no longer exists because electric cars are more important.

Sad news from St. Paul, Minnesota where a 67-year old man riding a bicycle was killed in a dooring, yet the driver wasn’t ticketed or arrested. No matter what state you’re in, drivers are required to make sure there’s no one in their way before opening a car door, yet police too often treat it as just another “oopsie.”

There’s a special place in hell for whoever shot a five-year old Detroit boy as he rode his bicycle outside his home.

Anne Hathaway’s production company plans to flip the script, and produce a movie about four young women competing in Indiana University’s famed Little 500 bike race, made famous in Breaking Away, and still the best bike movie of all time. Go ahead. Take my money now.

Vermont mountain bikers are building an ambitious 485-mile multi-use trail known as the Velomont that will span the entire length of the state, and is designed to be accessible to anyone, regardless of disabilities.

A Washington DC website looks back at the cross-country Bikecentennial bike rides in 1976, as several hundred small groups rode across the US in both directions to mark the nation’s bicentennial.

A Virginia news anchor rode his bike across the state to mark the country’s 250th birthday.

International

In kind of a strange move, bicyclists and local residents in Edmonton, Alberta came together to protest a plan for a road diet and protected bike lanes, in favor of retaining street parking and settling for painted bike lanes.

Residents of Exeter, England want to reopen a road that was closed to vehicular traffic six years ago, while continuing to retain a “low speed environment” that prioritizes “walking, wheeling and cycling whilst retaining access for two way traffic.” Which could be difficult considering how narrow the street is.

Wales intends to become a bicycling destination, a goal they think will be helped by hosting the final leg of next year’s UK Grand Depart for the Tour de France. Although it would help if anyone could pronounce the names of the local towns.

An Irish man is on a 2,200-mile fundraising ride around Ireland, in hopes of raising £2,200 — the equivalent of $2938 — or a pound a mile.

A Wisconsin man is riding 8,000 miles across Asia to raise awareness for cancer and transplant treatments.

Competitive Cycling

It looks like you’ll see the Russian cycling team compete in the ’28 LA Olympics, after the International Olympic Committee lifted the country’s suspension for invading Ukraine, even though they’re still bombarding Ukraine on a daily basis. Russia, that is. Not the IOC.

Mads Pedersen sprinted to victory on stage 4 of the Tour de France, leading a strong breakaway that survived to the finish line, and put Norway’s Torstein Træen into the yellow jersey with a nearly eight-minute margin over previous leaders Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard, four years after Træen was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Road.cc examines how Tour de France bikes have changed over the past 32 years. I’ll take that steel frame ’94 Pinarello, thank you.

Visma-Lease a Bike’s black kits demonstrate that fabric matters more than color when it comes to keeping riders cooler in Europe’s excessive heat.

Twenty-two-year old Mexican star Isaac del Toro’s win in stage two of the Tour has his fellow countrymen continuing to think “¿Y si sí?”, or “What if he did?” win the entire race. Although the chances of that happening this year aren’t much better than their World Cup team, unless something drastic happens to team leader Pogačar.

Cycling News considers the eternal question of why do cyclists shave their legs. Maybe they’re all secretly sponsored by Gillette.

Finally…

Yellow cards aren’t just for soccer players anymore. Your next ebike could actually be one.

And how to breathe life into a formerly fucked-up bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, cicLAvia, hit-and-run, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Stupid Driver Tricks, this is who we share the roads with, traffic violence, West Hollywood

Update: Man killed riding bicycle in Long Beach hit-and-run early Monday, 3rd Long Beach bicycling death this year

July 6, 2026 / bikinginla / No comments

For the third time this year, someone has been killed riding a bicycle in Long Beach.

According to a press release from the Long Beach Police Department, a man riding a bicycle was struck by a driver on Cowles Street near Santa Fe Ave around 2:38 Monday morning.

Police investigators concluded the victim, who has not been identified, was riding west on Cowles Street when he was apparently hit head-on by a driver turning east on Cowles from southbound Sante Fe.

He died at the scene, despite the effort of paramedics.

The driver fled in an unknown direction. There’s no description of the driver or the suspect vehicle at this time.

It’s not clear from the description whether the victim was riding on the wrong side of the roadway, or if the driver turned onto the wrong side. West Cowles is a relatively narrow, two lane street, so either one is possible.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Collision Investigation Detail of the Long Beach Police Department at 562/570-7355. Anonymous tips can be submitted through “LA Crime Stoppers” by calling 1-800/222-TIPS (8477), or visiting the LA Crime Stoppers Website.

This is the 36th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the 11th we know about in Los Angeles County.

Which means that drivers have fled the scene in just under one third of those SoCal bicycling deaths, and just under a third have been in LA County.

And about three too many have been in Long Beach.

Update: The victim still has not be identified, but now we know he was in his 50s, anyway.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: bicycling fatality, hit-and-run, Long Beach, Los Angeles County

Trial set for accused hit-and-run killer of 6-year old Hudson O’Loughlin, and a call for less parking and more options at UCLA

June 30, 2026 / bikinginla / No comments

Mark your calendar for September 8th, when the hit-and-run driver accused of killing 6-year-old Hudson O’Loughlin is scheduled to stand trial.

The boy was riding bikes with his family in Pacific Beach in January when he was allegedly struck by 33-year old Tiffany Sanchez as she turned into an alley. Sanchez reportedly knocked the boy off his bike, then paused briefly before stepping on the gas and driving over Hudson as he was trying to get back on his feet.

She faces 12 years behind bars on charges of gross vehicular manslaughter, hit and run with death, and driving without a license in the Jan. 17 incident.

Sanchez has pled not guilty to all charges, and is free on bond.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

………

He gets it.

An op-ed from a UCLA law student refutes the idea that the school should provide more student parking and reduce costs, arguing that Westwood is well served with other transportation options, and only 25% of off-campus students drive to their classes.

Rather than subsidize driving, UCLA should invest in better means of transportation. Coordinated policies between the university, Westwood Village and city and regional governments have reduced and can continue to reduce car dependency in this eminently walkable, bikeable and scooter-friendly area that is well-served by public transit. Bruin U-Pass is a perfect example of that coordination. Metro Bike Share is similarly a good idea, but it needs investment and expansion.

The goal in Westwood should not be more parking or more permits, but less driving and fewer cars.

He’s going to make a damn good lawyer.

………

Streets For All is hosting a webinar on July 9th to discuss the status of their bills in the state legislature.

………

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

No bias here. An op-ed writer for the very anti-bike New York Post argues that ebike riders and their bikes must be licensed and registered, and commercial ebikes should be geofenced to keep them off sidewalks and pedestrian paths, and prevent them from speeding, arguing that “disorganized cyclists are just as fed up as pedestrians with the reckless e-bike takeover of bike lanes.” Except she makes the common mistake of lumping all ebikes together, when the problems are caused by people on e-motos and motor scooters, not people on ped-assist ebikes. And the problem isn’t caused by bike organizations, either.

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

A video appeared to show a group of teenage boys assaulting a man in Maine, after they had allegedly ridden their bikes through a stop sign and forced him to brake suddenly, to which he responded by getting out of his car and tossing one of their bikes into a pond.

………

Local

No bias here. LA Reported says Los Angeles has finally resumed resurfacing streets, but have focused on the wealthy community of Bel Air over less advantaged areas like Boyle Heights — not because of the political power of the ultra rich, but because the streets need less work and don’t require conforming to Measure HLA or the Americans with Disabilities Act, significantly lowering the cost of repairs.

Participation in the Culver City Pride Ride has gotten bigger in each of the last six years, despite “the algorithms of billionaires…making us all feel smaller and less important.”

ActiveSGV will host a free, family-friendly Tour de Arroyo bike ride on Sunday, July 12th, providing participants with a behind-the-scenes look at existing and proposed water projects in the Arroyo Seco.

Talk about bad timing. Long Beach’s Beach Streets open streets event will return with Beach Streets Kickin’ It Downtown on July 19th; unfortunately, that’s the same day CicLAvia returns to Hollywood and West Hollywood, forcing a difficult choice over which one to attend. Unless they are both taking place in honor of my wife’s birthday, in which case, carry on.

State

No news is good news, right?

National

WTF? A Portland man faces charges for trying to kidnap a three-year old boy following an argument over a bicycle; the boy’s father was in the park with his kids when a stranger tried to make off with his ten-year old daughter’s bike, then tried to snatch the kid when he couldn’t get away with the bike.

Relatives of an 85-year old Arizona man believe he was attacked while on a routine morning bike ride, after he woke up in the hospital with around a dozen broken bones, including a neck fracture, and no memory of what happened. Although I still don’t have any memory of how I ended up in the hospital after the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, and that was almost two decades ago.

A 23-year old Texas man faces charges for the hit-and-run death of two men training for an Ironman triathlon near Denton, Texas last year; Eliseo Mauala was allegedly speeding and not paying attention to the road when he slammed into the two men from behind as they were riding their bikes, and refused to take a drug and alcohol test after returning to the crash scene.

A Cincinnati area man is repairing a thousand discarded bikes to donate to people in need this year.

Sad news from Illinois, where a 29-year old man riding a bicycle was killed in a collision with a car, which apparently did not have a driver.

An 18-year old New Jersey man faces two murder counts for killing two young women sharing an ebike last year; he is accused of intentionally slamming into the two 17-year old girls while doing at least 70 mph in a 25 mph, before fleeing on foot. He will be charged as an adult after relatives accused him of persistently harassing one of the girls, who had reportedly sought a restraining order against him.

Electrek says Florida Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed a bipartisan ebike bill for “the most Florida reason ever,” because it could lead to increase government surveillance of civilians; leaders in Florida’s Orange County are working on their own ebike bill as a result of the governor’s veto.

International

Canada appears to be going the wrong way, as a new report shows both children and adults over 65 were constantly more likely to live further from bicycling infrastructure than just a decade ago.

More than a thousand London bike riders took place in a mass trespass when the latest Critical Mass ride went around road closure signs to ride on a highway where bikes aren’t allowed, which is currently closed for repair work.

The London borough of Brent finally got around to publishing its annual monitoring report for 2025, showing car ownership and injuries from traffic violence continued to rise, despite local targets calling for a drop in both.

Cyclist talks with the CEO of iconic British bike brand Pashley.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 83-year old British man hopes to set a new Guinness World Record as the fastest octogenarian to ride the length of the UK; if all goes well, he expect to beat the existing 14-day record by a whopping four days.

A 27-year old Irish man fulfilled his dream of riding a bicycle back into his hometown, over two years after losing his sight due to a rare health condition.

Road.cc looks at the unreleased aero gravel bike prototypes and concept bikes from the recent Eurobike trade show.

Spanish bike riders face fines ranging from the equivalent of $228 for using a handheld phone, to over $1,100 for biking under the influence.

Forget Mallorca and the Canary Islands; the new Cycle Tourism Index says Croatia’s Adriatic Coast is the place to be for bicyclists this summer.

Tragic news from Poland, where the heat wave gripping Europe claimed the lives of two men, ages 71 and 30, participating in a mass mountain biking event. Although the “blistering heat” the competitors faced was just under 97° Fahrenheit, which wouldn’t bat an eyelid in most of the US.

Taiwanese bikemakers are moving to reimburse migrant workers following accusations of forced labor and human trafficking.

Competitive Cycling

The Olympics website offers tips on who to watch in this year’s Tour de France, and how; you can watch live on live on NBC Sports and streaming the race on Peacock.

Finally…

That feeling when you have to remind drivers that bike riders are people, too. Or when you spot a giant octopus along the local bike path.

And your next really, really expensive watch could be a homage to classic Tour de France winning bikes.

And not just because of the tiny motor hidden inside.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, California legislature, hit-and-run, Hudson Stephen O'Loughlin, Los Angeles, Pacific Beach, parking, Streets For All, Tiffany Sanchez, traffic violence, UCLA, vehicular manslaughter, Westwood

Santa Ana hit-and-run victim leading UC Irvine oceanographer, and Chicago shows bike lanes don’t hurt local businesses

June 24, 2026 / bikinginla / 2 comments

This is the cost of traffic violence.

Road.cc has revealed that Francois Primeau, the 60-year old man killed by a hit-and-run driver in Santa Ana Thursday evening, was a leading oceanographer whose work helped scientists better predict the effects of climate change.

A statement from Kieron Burke, the Interim Dean of School of Physical Sciences at UC Irvine reads, in part,

Francois joined the UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science in 2001 and quickly became an indispensable member of our community. He served as Chair of the department from 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, he helped the school navigate the aftermath of COVID-19 and worked to minimize disruptions for students and faculty members.

He was an internationally recognized leader in physical oceanography and ocean biogeochemistry, whose work helped deepen our understanding of global ocean circulation and global carbon and nutrient cycles. His research yielded foundational insights into the ocean’s role in regulating climate, including landmark studies on ocean ventilation, the global nitrogen budget, and the strength of the biological carbon pump. His work has equipped scientists with the tools to make more accurate climate predictions—a legacy that will benefit generations to come.

Francois was a dedicated leader, researcher, mentor, colleague, and friend. He will be remembered for his excitement in sharing mathematical insights and his enthusiasm for Bayesian statistics. His smile was always warm, and his door was always open. We were all fortunate to know him and to count him among our community. We have lost one of our best.

He is survived by his wife, Juno, and their son, Louis

However, that makes his death, not just a loss for his family and friends, but for all of us and the planet we call home. Not just for the research he will no longer conduct and the warming climate he will no longer work to forestall, but for the future scientists who won’t benefit from his teaching and guidance.

Primeau was killed while riding his bike at Standard and Warner avenues in Santa Ana around 6:15 pm Thursday.

Thirty-eight-year old Edjan Rocha turned himself in to Santa Ana police over the weekend, after investigators had discovered and impounded the vehicle he was allegedly driving. At last report, the Santa Ana resident was being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.

Photo courtesy of UC Irvine School Of Physical Sciences.

………

Well, they don’t hurt, anyway.

According to Book Club Chicago, a new report from the City of Chicago examined six distinct economic corridors, comparing streets with bike lanes with those without.

And while they were unable to conclude that the bike lanes help businesses, due to the number of uncontrolled factors, they concluded that at the very least, the bike lanes don’t hurt business.

Despite what business owners everywhere will try to tell you.

The Chicago Department of Transportation last month published a report on the economic impacts of bike lanes that examined six commercial corridors with different types of bike lane projects. Researchers analyzed data as well as surveys and interviews with local businesses, residents and real estate developers.

The case studies compared the surveyed areas with “control” corridors nearby, and looked at the change in sales tax revenue, commercial property vacancy and employment, as well as safety and bike usage data since the lanes were installed…

According to the survey results and data gathered in the report, however, the six bike lane projects have not hurt business activity after their installation, although the study does not assert that the lanes themselves improved an area’s economic outlook.

The study found improved economic activity in most of the areas studied, although in some cases the control group outperformed the studied corridor on some metrics.

But there was no case where the bike lanes, whether painted or protected, made things any worse.

The city’s transportation department did not provide someone behind the report for an interview. In a statement, spokesperson Erica Schroeder said the studies show that bike lanes contributed to either “positive or neutral” trends along most of studied areas — and that the report “complements” the city’s analysis of improved and safer street design.

“Although it is not possible to isolate the effects of bike lanes from broader economic factors, the case studies show no evidence that bike lanes negatively impacted retail sales, commercial property values, or employment,” she said.

To which we can all anticipate a chorus of voices shouting “But they didn’t study my street, in my town, which is somehow unique from every other street in every other town.”

Because as we’ve learned, there is no way to convince some people unless you conduct a study on their exact street, under the exact same conditions under which they do business.

And even if you do, they won’t believe the results unless it confirms their preconceived bias.

Because, people.

……….

It’s Prime Day, uh Days.

Which is Amazon’s self-proclaimed shopping frenzy holiday, for anyone who chose this particular week to hide under a rock. And if you did, I don’t blame you.

But for those of you willing to wade into the online frenzy, credit card in hand —

Singletracks recommends the best Prime deals for mountain bikers.

Velo highlights Prime deals on gear they’ve actually tested, as well as competing offers at Competitive Cyclist and Backcountry.

Road.cc offers links to their choices for all the best UK bike deals, though those may or may not translate to the same savings on this side of the Atlantic.

………

Streets For All is holding a July members drive.

………

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

A local Scottish council resists demands to rip out a bike lane, but decides to build more parking so maybe all the damn drivers will stop parking in it.

An Irish woman is calling for a ban on angry honking after a school bus driver blasted his horn for 40 seconds as he followed her, incensed that he couldn’t pass as she rode her bike home from visiting her brother’s grave. It’s illegal here in California to use your horn for anything other than an emergency warning, not that it’s ever stopped anyone.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports Culver City’s Elenda Street is getting an upgrade to curb-protected bike lanes, replacing the armadillos installed in 2021.

State

The state senate is poised to approve scaled-back legislation that would make it easier to get approval for bike and pedestrian projects in coastal zones, including in Santa Monica, after it was watered down to something everyone could live with. Legislation by committee is never a good idea, because you end up with a law that is acceptable to everyone, but barely for anyone.

San Diego passed a ban on any type of ebike for riders under 12 years old, as well as banning passengers on ebikes without a permanent second seat, although it will need to pass a second vote at the end of the month. I’m actually good with a ban on ebikes for kids that young, although I’d rather see the age limit raised to 14.

A 68-year old Bakersfield man is competing in the iconic Race Across America, aka RAAM, for the 20th time, with his team leaving Oceanside this past Saturday on their way to Atlantic City, New Jersey. Seriously, the next great cycling movie would be about a solo rider competing against all odds just to finish the race. You don’t have to thank me; an “Idea by…” title in the credits will suffice.

Fresno’s Blackstone Ave, described as the “spine” of the city, is getting a 6-to-4 road diet to make room for bike lanes, wider sidewalks and elevated bus platforms.

Oakland has begun work on installing a protected bike lane on a one-mile segment of Lakeshore Drive, scheduled to open early next year.

National

Cycling Weekly says a female design engineer at Salsa Cycles is the first person to figure out how to make 32″ wheels work for everyone, including those with her petite 5’2″ frame.

Apparently, you now need 21 separate products to teach your kid how to ride a bike. Because a just bicycle just isn’t enough anymore.

A new Anchorage, Alaska bike park honors a local fallen bicycle advocate who was killed by a driver in 2014.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Massachusetts man is celebrating his 80th birthday by riding 80 miles. I rode my age every year on my birthday until I was 51, and fresh out of the ICU following the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident.

I want to be like him when I grow up, too. An 81-year old elite cycling coach from Connecticut has no plans to give up riding, despite recent heart surgery; Bill Humphreys developed his love of bicycling in his 20s after a judge threatened to take his driver’s license away if he got any more speeding tickets.

International

Canyon’s newest ebike incorporates vehicle-to-everything technology, for all those drivers who are inexplicably drawn to bicycles.

Bike riders in Canada’s Yukon Territory say things aren’t getting any safer, and harassment from drivers is getting worse, as they held the second annual memorial ride for a man who was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle in 2024.

British extreme endurance cyclist Lael Wilcox has given up her attempt to set a new record for riding around the world, after suffering nausea and heat exhaustion during the European heatwave.

Spanish F1 driver Fernando Alonso makes an unexpected walk-on cameo in a music video promoting this year’s La Vuelta a España, aka the Vuelta, “delivering an absolutely flawless ‘what am I even doing here?’ shrug to the camera,” against a blurry Monaco backdrop.

A Melbourne, Australia bicyclist discovers a fake bike shop scam when he spots his face all over its website.

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from France, where former pro Saïd Haddou, a two-time winner of the Breton gravel classic Tro-Bro Léon, was killed in a traffic collision while riding his motorcycle on Monday.

A new video re-examines the motor doping scare of the last decade or so.

Finally…

Well I, for one, think it’s about damn time someone built a bicycle with front and rear handbrakes, complete with butt-powered steering. If you steal an ebike, probably not the best idea to ride it back to the same store you took it from.

And, uh, no. Just…no.

Credit, or discredit, goes to Google AI. Although “prominent local cycling news site” I can live with.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, bike lanes, bikes are good for business, Chicago, climate emergency, Edjan Rocha, Francois Primeau, hit-and-run, Los Angeles, Prime Day, Santa Ana, the cost of traffic violence, UC Irvine

Murder grills — how today’s pickups and SUVs are literally built kill, and alleged driver turns himself in for fatal Santa Ana hit-and-run

June 23, 2026 / bikinginla / 2 comments

We’re going to take a little different approach today by focusing on a single story, with another quick note at the end, due to the importance of this issue and the time required to put it together.

Barring anything unexpected, we should be back tomorrow for our usual links and hijinks.

………

Don’t take my word for it.

For some time now, I’ve been a voice crying in the wilderness about the dangers of the flat design and ever-increasing height of today’s grills, as pickups and SUVs continue to get bigger, and designs more aggressive.

Make that aggressive, as in dangerous.

I’ve come under a lot of criticism for calling them murder grills, because they are literally designed to kill. Maybe not intentionally, but the design of their grills and extensive blindspots dramatically increase the lethality of these increasingly popular vehicles.

And no one is doing a damn thing about it.

The design of a typical sedan, with a lower hood and a more rounded grill, means pedestrian in a low speed crash is likely to land on the hood, absorbing much of the impact. Although at higher speeds the victim can be thrown into the windshield or even over the car, greatly increasing the risk of serious injury or death.

However, the same crash involving a vehicle with a high, flat grill means the pedestrian will likely be knocked forward on the the roadway, and can easily be run over before the driver has time to react to the crash.

But as I said, don’t take my word for it.

According to a story published by The New York Times over the weekend,

“We see a lot of devastating collisions even at lower speeds because the pedestrian gets punted forward,” said Shawn Harrington, whose company, Forensic Rock, conducted crash tests for us. “Before the driver knows what’s happened, the pedestrian’s head is under the wheel.”

More vehicles than ever have hoods that exceed the average American’s center of gravity, which is generally around the belly button.

The hood of an average passenger vehicle today is about three feet high. Anyone shorter than 5-foot-6 — about half of American adults — would frequently be rammed to the pavement. So would most children.

, who is

, is likely to be knocked down by about 39 percent of vehicles today. In 2002, that number would have been 29 percent.

They even offer an interactive graphic comparing the difference when someone in a smaller passenger vehicle hits a pedestrian compared to a large truck, making the impact crystal clear.

Pun intended.

In fact, researchers for The Times found that approximately 10% of the increase in pedestrian deaths over the past quarter century could be attributed to the sheer size of today’s vehicles, compared to just 25 years ago.

That’s 200 to 400 people each year who might not have had to die, if they hadn’t been sacrificed to the greed of American automakers. Not to mention the vanity of American car buyers, who gladly pay for oversized vehicles with excess capacity most will never use.

Then complain about gas prices.

In fact, The Times cites the excess growth in American vehicles as at least one factor explaining why traffic deaths in the US aren’t declining like they are in most of Europe — particularly for people outside of the vehicle.

Like those of us on bicycles, for instance. And others who just happen to be in the street — or even on the sidewalk — in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for whatever reason.

Then take the increase in blind spots.

Please.

To analyze how these blind zones have changed, we used a three-dimensional scanner to compare sightlines in four of the most common pickups today — the Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, GMC Sierra and Toyota Tacoma — with their counterparts from the 1990s or early 2000s.

The Silverado’s blind zones have nearly doubled.

The Sierra’s and the Tacoma’s grew by about 60 percent.

The smallest increase was the F-150’s. Its blind zones grew by about 25 percent.

Our overall findings match what we found in court records and heard from dozens of experts who reconstruct crashes for police and lawyers.

I have never forgotten about a young Anaheim boy who was killed while riding his bike home from school in 2009.

Nicholas Vela, a 4th grade student at Alexander J. Stoddard Elementary School, did everything he was supposed to do. He waited patiently at the corner for the oncoming truck to stop, then rode his bike out into the crosswalk.

The driver proceeded to roll forward and over the boy and his bicycle, later telling police he never saw the kid on the corner because of his large wing mirror. And didn’t see him riding right in front on him because of the height of his jacked-up truck.

Here is how I described it at the time.

According to the driver, he never saw the boy, and he was not cited by police. Evidently, California drivers are no longer required to be cautious, alert and aware of their surroundings when behind the wheel.

I’m sure the driver is devastated. Lord knows I would be.

But somehow, I don’t think “Oops” should be a universal Get Out Of Jail Free card for someone who kills another human being. Especially not an innocent child who, by all accounts, was riding in a safe and legal manner.

I’ve been haunted by Nicholas’ death for 17 years now.

And how the sheer size and height of a jacked-up truck could hide a boy on a bicycle from the driver’s view. Although I doubt his truck was any larger or higher than some you can drive off the showroom floor today.

Murder grills.

The Times goes on to explain that vehicle design is not the only factor affecting rising pedestrian death, citing road design in particular.

Like America’s wide, straight urban streets and rural highways designed and built with excess capacity that virtually encourages speeding. Along with this country’s many cramped intersections with restricted sightlines, and our penchant for red lights and stop signs instead of roundabouts.

Automatic obstacle detection and braking systems are the miracle that’s supposed to save us.

And they do help. In fact, The Times reports that one study found that GM vehicles with so-called front pedestrian braking reduced the frequency of injuries by 35 percent.

Which ain’t nothing.

But they aren’t always reliable under variable conditions. And relying on them, rather than actually seeing what’s in the roadway in front of and beside you, invites needless collisions, injuries and deaths.

But let’s get back to that question of automakers appealing to the vanity of our fellow Americans.

Again, according to The New York Times,

What used to be utilitarian vehicles for construction workers are now marketed to the American masses, with messages tailored to specific audiences.

One common pitch centers on machismo. Automakers trumpet how some of their trucks have an “aggressive appearance” or a “piercing glare.”

Other approaches emphasize the perceived safety of being the biggest vehicle around. “You’re the king of the road,” said Frank Hanley, a director at the automotive research firm JD Power.

At Ford, Nicole Gayney’s job was to identify specific social and psychological groups to target.

One was men who hoped to be seen as the neighborhood’s hero, keeping everyone safe, said Dr. Gayney, who left Ford in 2022. Another group was women who viewed a roomy S.U.V. as a way to be the community’s caregiver, taking the soccer team out for ice cream.

Yet the problem didn’t go unnoticed.

The ever-growing size of vehicles, and increasing rollover requirements resulting in ever-larger windshield support columns, or A-pillars, reduced visibility to such a degree that researchers at the US Department of Transportation became concerned, meeting with regulators four years ago.

That November, the researchers met with leaders at the department and N.H.T.S.A. They delivered a stark message: Large vehicles, with their big blind zones, were increasingly deadly. They were killing hundreds of pedestrians and cyclists every year and injuring thousands more, the researchers estimated, according to attendees and meeting materials we reviewed.

The researchers hoped that their warning would spur regulators to consider how to address the problem.

But a single senior official disputed the data, and argued that new pedestrian-sensing systems were already solving the problem. So in typical American fashion, the answer was to do nothing.

As you were, boys and girls. Nothing to see here. Pay no attention to that pedestrian or bike rider writhing in pain over there.

Never mind that higher grills — more than 50″ tall for pickups like the Ford F-250 and Chevrolet Silverado 2500, and luxury SUVs like the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade — are becoming significantly more common, and more lethal.

Murder grills.

The Times built a complex statistical model to estimate the effects, while noting the inherent difficulties in calculating all the factors, and predicting an alternate reality in which vehicle sizes had remained the same.

But based on the best available data, the model reached a sobering estimate: The shift toward vehicles with higher hoods caused about 3,000 deaths from 2016 to 2024.

The estimate is conservative in many ways…

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, for example, found last year that vehicles with larger blind zones were substantially more likely to hit pedestrians when turning left.

And yes, once again, they clearly illustrate it, with side-by-side comparisons of a Chevy ’98 Silverado and the ’22 version of the same make and model.

In one, a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk to the left of the vehicle is clearly visible as the driver turns. In the other, they’re not. I’ll let you conclude which one is safer.

I strongly encourage you to read the full article, because it’s a remarkable piece of work, and I have only begun to do it justice. (I’ve used a gift link for the article, so you should be able to read it without a subscription.)

And as bicyclists, and humans, our lives are literally on the line.

……….

One other quick note before we go.

A 38-year old Santa Ana man has been arrested for the hit-and-run death of Francois Primeau on Friday.

According to KTLA-5, Edjan Rocha turned himself in to Santa Ana police after they had located the vehicle he had allegedly been driving, and impounded it as evidence. He was booked into the Santa Ana Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run for killing the 60-year old bike rider.

No word yet on whether he has made bail or is still being held.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: bicycling, bicycling fatalities, designed to kill, Edjan Rocha, Francois Primeau, hit-and-run, Los Angeles, murder grill, New York Times, Santa Ana, SUVs, traffic deaths, traffic violence, trucks

Update: 60-year old Irvine man killed in Santa Ana hit-and-run Thursday; 3rd fatal bicycling crash in Santa Ana in just 6 weeks

June 20, 2026 / bikinginla / 6 comments

A 60-year old Irvine man has become the latest victim of a hit-and-run driver in Southern California.

This time in Santa Ana Thursday evening.

Multiple sources are reporting that the victim, identified as Francois Primeau, was riding his bicycle through the intersection of Standard and Warner avenues around 6:15 pm yesterday, when he was struck by a driver headed west on Warner.

The driver sped away without stopping, leaving Primeau with significant injuries. He died at the scene.

There’s no description of the driver or suspect vehicle at this time.

According to New Santa Ana,

Santa Ana Context: Data reveals over 100 annual bicycle injuries or fatalities within city limits, placing Santa Ana 6th worst out of 15 comparable California cities for cyclist safety. Hit-and-run incidents are remarkably prevalent, with the city averaging 174 injury-causing hit-and-runs annually.

Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana Police Detective K. Briley at 714/245-8215 or the Traffic Division of the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8200.

This is the 35th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, the fifth we know about in Orange County this year, and the third in Santa Ana in less than six weeks.

It was also the 10th fatal hit-and-run involving a bike rider in Southern California this year.

Update: KTLA-5 reports that 38-year old Edjan Rocha turned himself in to Santa Ana police over the weekend, after investigators had discovered and impounded the vehicle he was allegedly driving.

At last report, the Santa Ana resident was being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.

According to Road.cc, Primeau was a leading oceanographer whose work helped scientists better predict the effects of climate change.

A statement from Kieron Burke, the Interim Dean of School of Physical Sciences at UC Irvine reads, in part,

Francois joined the UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science in 2001 and quickly became an indispensable member of our community. He served as Chair of the department from 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, he helped the school navigate the aftermath of COVID-19 and worked to minimize disruptions for students and faculty members.

He was an internationally recognized leader in physical oceanography and ocean biogeochemistry, whose work helped deepen our understanding of global ocean circulation and global carbon and nutrient cycles. His research yielded foundational insights into the ocean’s role in regulating climate, including landmark studies on ocean ventilation, the global nitrogen budget, and the strength of the biological carbon pump. His work has equipped scientists with the tools to make more accurate climate predictions—a legacy that will benefit generations to come.

Francois was a dedicated leader, researcher, mentor, colleague, and friend. He will be remembered for his excitement in sharing mathematical insights and his enthusiasm for Bayesian statistics. His smile was always warm, and his door was always open. We were all fortunate to know him and to count him among our community. We have lost one of our best.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Francois Primeau and all his loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: bicycling fatality, Department of Earth System Science, Edjan Rocha, Francois Primeau, hit-and-run, Oceanography, Orange County, Santa Ana, UC Irvine

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

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

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

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

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

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Finally…

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

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

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