The victim, identified only as a man who appeared to be in his 50s, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver fled the scene, apparently without stopping.
There’s no word on whether the victim had lights on his bike in the early morning darkness. Then again, there’s no word on whether the driver was using his.
The fact that the victim was riding his bike in this weather suggests he had no other option, possibly just trying to get to work in the rain.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Pomona Police Department at 909/802-7741 or 909/620-2048.
This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Six of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.
Sadly, the overwhelming majority of hit-and-run drivers get away with it. But in the unlikely event they do catch the driver, California’s lenient hit-and-run laws mean they will likely face just four years behind bars, at most.
Even then, prosecutors usually bargain down from that low level in order to get a guilty plea.
Which means most drivers just get a slap on the wrist for making the conscious decision to flee the scene, and leave an innocent victim to die alone in the street.
You may notice that each of those people have a “D” after their names.
That doesn’t bode well in the newly Republican controlled House, where any environmental or bicycle bill is likely to be met with extreme skepticism, to put it mildly.
Let alone a financial incentive to buy one.
So unless they can get a few Republicans to co-sponsor the bill, it’s likely to be dead in the water.
Yesenia Bibriesca pled guilty to felony hit-and-run causing death, as well as misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence, and destroying evidence in the death of 43-year old Christopher Jones as he rode his bike in July, 2020.
Police were able to track down her damaged Lexus sedan, and take her into custody within days.
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Back around the turn of the century, I was brought on board to help save one of the most innovative company’s in the music industry, a company that literally invented home studio recording.
I worked 80 hour weeks for over four months to develop a marketing campaign to would reposition the company, and introduce a number of groundbreaking new products, in an effort to save them from bankruptcy after years of mismanagement.
It was a huge success. We brought in over $6 million in new sales in just three days after the new products dropped and the ad campaign broke.
But it wasn’t enough. The banks cut off funding, the brand and patents were sold off to another company, and they shut down in a matter of days, putting over a hundred people out of work.
The company I was with was a victim of the dot.com crash, when banks retrenched and stopped lending money.
Kitsbow appears to be one of the first victims of today’s financial retrenchment, as higher interest rates and financial instability lead investors to become more conservative with who they fund, and how much they’re willing to risk.
It's a very sad story that Kitsbow is going out of business. Hard to think of a brand that treated employees better. Just noting that EVERYTHING is on sale on kits https://t.co/1cGVbMInon and you wind up helping them and getting some very sweet kit.https://t.co/vqFvgRNBa5
A man with a history of DUIs faces 15 years to life behind bars, after he was convicted of killing a 76-year old man while driving on a Sacramento bike path with a BAC over three times the legal limit; Armondo Moreno-Rodriguez drove four miles on the American River pathway before slamming into the victim, who would have had no reason to watch out for someone drunk enough, and foolish enough, to drive on a bikeway.
A British Columbia woman learned the hard way not to try to reclaim your stolen bike yourself, when she had a gun pointed at her after she spotted her bike on the street and tried to walk off with it; the man who threatened her was released the next day on just $500 bond, despite being a career criminal
Bicycling reports that there will be a women’s edition of Milan-San Remo starting next year, although it will be much shorter than the men’s race; UCI limits women’s races to a maximum of 170 kilometers, or just 105 miles, compared to the men’s 186 mile course. Just one more example of pro cycling assuming women are the weaker sex, and couldn’t possibly manage the same courses the men ride. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.
A year and a half after Matt Keenan was killed while riding his bike in Mission Valley, Melissa Gonzalez was sentenced for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.
Not the felony she should have been charged with for driving on the wrong side of the street around a blind curve. Let alone the distracted driving charge she likely deserved.
The kindhearted judge took pity — not on Keenan’s widow, or even his toddler son who will grow up without father, but on the woman who killed him.
In addition to four lousy days in jail, Gonzalez received a single year probation, 150 hours of community service, and had her license suspended for three years, as the judge bizarrely ruled she didn’t deserve a punishment that would wreck her life.
Never mind that she wrecked the lives of Keenan’s friends and family. Let alone literally wrecking, and ending, Matt Keenan’s.
If you ever wonder why people keep dying on our streets, this is exhibit A.
We can only hope San Diego voters will remember this one when the judge comes up for re-election.
Police are looking for a flatbed truck with a white cab, and a distinctive yellow logo on the passenger door. Not to mention the heartless coward behind the wheel.
As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
Thanks to KCAL-9 anchor Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.
You must assert your voice when you are talking to someone who approaches you in sketchy areas, because strangers don’t really come up to you to have a friendly conversation about the weather like we do in Australia. In America some people might come up to you to try to come up. #streetsmart#streetsmarts#safety#safetyfirst
Always helps to have co-workers nearby if you get run down by a drunk driver. Especially when they’re paramedics.
A Denver paramedic who was struck by a suspected DUI driver while riding his bike home from work says two of his co-workers happened to be responding to a call nearby and saved his life. @DenverChannelpic.twitter.com/I8aDO8MSNh
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police arrested a Denver man who rode his bicycle into a car wash to fatally shoot a driver who had just pulled onto the lot, and injuring the car’s passenger; he fled the scene on his bike before changing clothes twice in a homeless camp, hacking off his hair, and hiding in a hole under the train tracks.
More on the Florida crash that critically injured Dartmouth football coach Eugene “Buddy” Teevens, who was run down by a driver while riding home from a restaurant with his wife in St. Augustine; police reports blamed the victim, saying he didn’t appear to have lights on his cruiser bike, and was crossing the state’s coast highway outside of a crosswalk or designated crossing area. Even though bike riders aren’t expected, let alone required, to use crosswalks.
March 20, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 15 to life in HB DUI hit-and-run, MI cops accused of beating bike rider, and CA Sen. Portantino buzzed on bike by driver
Happy first day of Spring, even if it doesn’t look or feel like it here in Los Angeles today.
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An Orange County man could spend the rest of his life behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run death of a man on a bicycle.
The wreck that killed MacDonald, a homeless resident of Huntington Beach, was just the second of three crashes in an alcohol-soaked crime spree that night.
Romero started off with a bar fight outside a local nightclub, following by crashing into the bar owner’s Caddy on his way out of the parking lot. He then slammed into MacDonald, before crashing into a tree, all without stopping until the tree stopped him.
He still had a blood alcohol content of .18 — over two times the legal limit — when he was tested hours after the crash.
Romero was subject to the murder charge after signing a Watson advisement following a 2012 DUI conviction, and admitted to police that he remembered signing it when he was arrested after running off from the last crash — after trying to claim that he’d been carjacked.
All three have been charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, while one of the officers also faces a felony count of misconduct in office for the incident that began with a simple traffic stop, for not having lights on the victim’s bike.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, attempted to flee by riding off on his bike on the sidewalk after officers approached him, likely because he allegedly had a small amount of suspected fentanyl and/or heroin on him.
A traffic stop was then conducted and the bicyclist was placed in to custody after “several physical strikes, taser deployment and OC spray deployment,” according to the report…
As the head of the state police said, excessive force against anyone by a police officer is “unacceptable and inexcusable.”
Especially for not having lights on a damn bicycle.
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Clearly, state senators — and Congressional candidates — aren’t any safer out there than the rest of us.
Had a SUV cut me off on Los Feliz Blvd today. He was getting on the freeway – although the lane to my right was free he needlessly passed me on my left and came within inches of my bike. https://t.co/1v2qPogF6E
We've all been there: in a rush, only to be slowed down by traffic slower than us. But vulnerable road users are worth bring patient for. Let's slow down and share the road!
After years of talk and wishes, extending the Ballona Creek bike path eastward from the current terminus at Syd Kronenthal Park could be on verge of becoming a reality.
The war on cares may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
No bias here. A Menlo Park columnist says bike-riding councilmembers display their own bias through an unwillingness to preserve parking in a bike lane project intended to improve safety for school kids, arguing that there’s very little risk of a kid getting doored or hit by a driver backing out of a parking space.
No bias here, either. A Florida columnist and retired paramedic says no kid needs a $2,000 ebike, because he once saw a kid riding one roll through a stop sign while looking at his cellphone. And somehow uses the tragic 40-year old case of boy who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt to illustrate the dangers of ebikes.
A bike rider on the Isle of Man was stopped by police three times and ordered to put his bike in their van after drivers complained about being unable to see him in foggy conditions. Which means they should slow down and drive more carefully due to the conditions — not have someone on a bike kicked off the road.
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Local
A suspect could face charges for shooting a man who was riding his bicycle on the Expo Line bike path near the Sepulveda E Line Metro station, nee Expo Line. Police detained the bike-riding suspect after he was spotted by fire fighters responding to the scene; no word on what may have led up to the incident.
State
Calbike calls for passing AB 825 in the state legislature, which would legalize sidewalk riding anywhere in the state on streets and highways that don’t include a Class I, Class II, or Class IV bikeway.
Oregon’s ebike rebate bill received an extreme makeover in the state legislature, making the rebate program an extension of Oregon’s existing Clean Vehicle Rebate Program while modeling it after Denver’s highly successful program; general residents will now receive just a $400 rebate, while low-income residents will be eligible for up to $1,200 on the purchase of a new ebike.
There’s no word yet on the identity of the victim, or how the crash occurred.
The only description of the suspect vehicle is a possible GMC truck, no year or model given. And no word on the heartless coward behind the wheel, who left an innocent victim to die alone in the street.
Anyone with information is urged to call 877-LAPD-247, 877/527-3247.
This is at least the 13th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it also appears to be the second in the City of Los Angeles.
Five of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.
Yet no one in any level of government seems concerned about the mounting toll from hit-and-run drivers, or the increasing frequency of drivers fleeing crash scenes.
Let alone willing to do anything about it.
Update: The LAPD has released security video of Friday morning’s fatal crash.
The bike rider, who still has not been publicly identified, was the victim of a left-cross crash from the truck driver turning from Lankershim onto Tuxford while riding in the crosswalk on Tuxford.
Police are looking for a work truck with a white cab, and a distinctive yellow logo on the passenger door.
As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
Thanks to Johnson Attorneys Group and KCAL-9 anchor Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.
March 16, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Arrest made in San Pedro hit-and-run, memorial ride for Dr. Mammone, and CD5’s Yaroslavsky joins Metro board
Too often, hit-and-run drivers get away with their crimes.
She was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash, and on her way to another bar when she slammed into Montoya, who was just picking up an order from a food truck.
Lockhart was being held on $100,000 bond on a charge of felony hit-and-run; it’s not clear if she’s still in custody.
The Big Bear Cycling Association has more information on Saturday’s memorial ride for Dr. Michael Mammone, who was murdered while riding his bike on PCH in Laguna Beach last month, by a man apparently suffering from mental illness.
The cycling community has rallied in an effort to honor the life and contribution of Dr. Michael Mammone.
With support from Providence Mission Hospital Foundation a celebration of life and ride has been organized on Saturday March 18th, 2023 at the Leonard Cancer Institute at Mission Hospital 27799 Medical Center Road Mission Viejo.
All cycling groups small and large are encouraged to ride to the event. We ask that your ride does not “start” or “end” at the hospital but instead “STOP” at the event no later than 11:00 A.M. Groups should plan their own independent rides and converge at the event.
Armbands (optional/free) to be worn on the ride may be picked up at Rock n Road Cyclery, at all 4 Orange County locations and Specialized of Costa Mesa, any time prior to the day of the event and worn on your group rides that day.
For those individuals and families wishing to attend without riding to the event, free parking will be provided on the first three levels with the rooftop level reserved for standing room only attendance.
Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.
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Los Angeles CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky will take former Councilmember Mike Biden’s place on the Metro board, which should be good news for active transportation.
The San Diego Bike Coalition is teaming with Families for Safe Streets San Diego for a hard-hitting new poster campaign calling attention to the record number of traffic deaths in the county.
The group is looking for volunteers to help put up posters around the city this Saturday. You can learn more and RSVP here.
The war on cares may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
He gets it. A writer for The Spectatorcalls on everyone to stop demonizing bike riders, and give colleagues a pass for showing up in the office in a bit of Lycra, because more people on bicycles benefits everyone.
But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.
An assistant to a Baton Rouge, Louisiana judge was lucky to escape unscathed after she nearly hit a pair of teenaged bike riders, who responded by shooting her in the arm; the same suspects reportedly stole a running pickup minutes later, then repeatedly shot the driver when he tried to reclaim it after they crashed into a stop sign with their bikes in the truck bed.
She gets it. A Solano Beach letter writer says that the increase in bicycling collisions isn’t because bicyclists are riding in an unsafe manner, but rather, “due to the explosion in popularity of ebikes, more people are biking on our unsafe roads.”
San Jose will use a $2 million federal grant to fund a design study on how to transform a six lane highway into a boulevard with dedicated transit lanes and protected bike lanes; nicknamed Blood Alley, Monterey Road has long been the city’s deadliest roadway, with 42 deaths and severe injuries in less than four years. Maybe Malibu could take a few notes on how to transform PCH from SoCal’s deadliest highway into the Main Street it should be.
San Francisco opened a two-way bikeway on Battery Street, which Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick bitingly describes as “just more paint, plastic, and prayers masquerading as ‘protection.'”
A Dublin, Ireland man filed a multi-million euro lawsuit alleging he suffered a catastrophic brain injury slamming his head into a series of bollards, despite wearing a helmet, after losing control of his ebike hitting a low curb on a protected bike lane.
Life is cheap in Ireland, where a former bus driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a man riding a bicycle, after playing the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by claiming the sun was in his eyes. Which may or may not be true, but the correct response to being blinded by the sun is to stop until you can see, not keep going until you run over someone.
Twenty-three-year old British cyclist Tom Pidcock is out of Saturday’s Milan-San Remo after he showed mild concussion symptoms following a crash in the final stage of last Sunday’s Tirreno-Adriatico.
Catcott died at the scene, while both people on the motorcycle suffered serious injuries.
With good behavior, Burns will be out in less than two years. Meanwhile, Catcott received the death penalty, and his loved ones have been sentenced to a lifetime without him.
A similar crime in some other states could result in a decade or more of hard time.
But California’s too lenient traffic laws too often allow killer drivers to escape with a relative slap on the wrist.
In the same story, The Union-Tribune reports that ebike injuries have dropped considerably since Carlsbad declared a state of emergency last year, allowing city officials to “expedite increased attention and expenditures for enhanced enforcement efforts, new traffic safety measures and safe driving education programs.”
There were just two ebike-related injuries reported last month, compared with ten the previous February.
The victim suffered a skull fracture, concussion and several broken teeth while riding her ebike on Carlsbad’s Tamarack Ave, near where Christine Embree was killed by a driver while riding an ebike with her 16-month old daughter last August.
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LADOT installed a sign honoring Monique Muñoz, who was killed by a teenage driver in an overpowered Lamborghini SUV traveling at over 100 mph.
Yesterday we joined @CD5LosAngeles in unveiling a memorial sign at Olympic and Overland to honor Monique Muñoz, whose life was taken too soon by an act of speeding on our streets. This sign serves as a reminder to drivers to slow down and practice safe driving behavior. pic.twitter.com/DYpk8rpKp2
But as others have noted today, a far better memorial would be to fix the streets so drivers can’t travel at speeds that would be illegal on any highway in the state.
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The LAPD released security cam video showing the car that killed 51-year old Oscar Montoya in San Pedro shortly after midnight Saturday morning, although initial reports mistakenly located the collision several miles away in Venice.
Police describe it as a possible light-colored Toyota Scion, though it looks more like a Kia Soul to me.
The driver reportedly paused briefly after the crash before hitting the gas and disappearing out of view.
Meanwhile, Guy Piddock described the terror he feels riding the less than one-third mile gap in the bike lane on Pacific Ave where Montoya was killed.
https://t.co/d8IUcJi9oP video just released by local news with an interview with the family after.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A San Diego TV station reports that a new protected bike lane and dedicated bus lane on Park Blvd will improve safety and connectivity, while opening the street up to all road users. But all they seem to care about is the loss of hundreds of parking spaces.
But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Montana man faces charges for using his bicycle as a weapon to attack a truck driver, after allegedly crashing his bike into the truck, then striking the victim several time before slamming the bike over his head. Three witnesses reported the victim, who apparently has major anger management issues, crashed his bike into the side of the passing truck, even though it’s more likely the driver passed too close.
Streetsblog’s Roger Rudick argues that a planned $200 million bike and pedestrian bridge connecting an 800-foot gap over an estuary between Oakland’s Jack London Square and Western Alameda is just too damn complicated; the plans call for a drawbridge mechanism to make room for passing boats, but Rudick says just build a higher bridge with elevator access.
A Boise public radio station examines the origin of the Idaho Stop Law, which has been rapidly spreading across the country in recent years. Except in California, where our governor vetoed it.
A woman in the UK has filed an appeal over her three-year sentence for knocking a 77-year woman off her bike and into traffic, where she was killed, for the crime of riding her bike on the sidewalk to avoid a dangerous street. But the British press is trying to paint her as the victim, stressing the dificulty she’ll have in prison while suffering from partial blindness, cerebral palsy and a deformed right foot — even though none of that kept her from pushing the victim off her bike.
The site puts the location at just south of Channel Street; however, that address doesn’t seem to exist. Those two streets actually meet in San Pedro, several miles south near Long Beach.
There is a Channel Pointe in Venice, but that doesn’t intersect with Pacific, so it’s unclear just where the crash occurred.
There was no ID or description given for the male victim.
According to police, the driver did not stop or identify themself before fleeing the scene. The only description of the suspect vehicle is a small, light-colored vehicle, which doesn’t give much to go on.
However, they did urge anyone with information to call the LAPD South Traffic Division Detectives Moreno and Flannery at 323/421-2500 between 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday, or 1-877/527-3247 any other time.
Which is far from the same thing.
This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it also appears to be the first in the City of Los Angeles.
Update 2: The LAPD has provided security cam video from the scene, showing the suspect vehicle as the driver briefly paused before speeding away. The car is described only as a light colored vehicle, possibly a Toyota Scion, although it looks more like a Kia Soul to me.
A Good Samaritan attempted to provide aid, but to no avail.
This is how Montoya’s adult son described him.
“He was a loving man. If you ask anybody, they’ll say he was this big teddy bear. He was, like, this big man that you could run up into and give him a big hug and he would embrace you with open arms,” Joshua told KTLA. “He was a family man, he was my father.”
Meanwhile, Twitter user Guy Paddock reports that he frequently rides that route, even though he finds the gap in the bike lane on Pacific terrifying.
“On March 7 … citizens provided tips that led detectives to the suspect’s vehicle, a 2009 Scion XB, which was taken into custody,” police said. “On March 9 … South Traffic Division Detectives utilizing department resources and other tips from citizens apprehended the driver, Anisha Lockhart.”
She was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash, and on her way to another bar when she slammed into Montoya, who was just picking up an order from a food truck.
Lockhart was being held on $100,000 bond, on a charge of felony hit-and-run.
A nice three day weekend with my wife was, if not ruined, at least darkened by a road raging woman who nearly ran us down making a left turn as we crossed the street, less than a block from our home.
She somehow took offense when I objected to the way my wife, dog and I nearly became roadkill, screaming that it was our fault because we hadn’t been paying attention.
Which was true for the dog, anyway.
Never mind that a) we had the right-of-way, b) she started her turn after we were already crossing the street, and c) she neglected to use her turn signal, which might have tipped us off.
But in her mind, we were 100% at fault.
Just another reminder that cars can turn people into monsters.
And that we’ll never have safe streets until our elected leaders have the courage and political will to actually do something about it.
To qualify, participants can make no more than 300% of the federal poverty level (FPL).
The base incentive will be $1,000.
Participants can get an additional $750 toward the purchase of a cargo bike or adaptive bike.
People whose income is below 225% of FPL or who live in a disadvantaged community can qualify for an additional $250, so the maximum incentive amount is $2,000.
Incentives can be applied toward sales tax, as well as the purchase price.
Incentives will be applied at the point of sale.
All three classes of e-bikes can qualify for incentives.
Used bikes will not be eligible.
Incentives can be used to buy e-bikes from local bike shops or online retailers with a business location in California.
Adaptive bikes can include tricycles. CARB plans to keep the definition of adaptive e-bikes as broad as possible.
Keenan was riding his bike to the movies in Mission Valley when the driver, who hasn’t been publicly named, let alone shamed, rounded a corner on the wrong side of the road and hit him head-on.
His confessed killer is copping a plea to misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter with Gross Negligence, with a three-year license suspension and not one day behind bars.
Let me repeat.
A lousy license suspension — not even revocation — and no jail time at all. For needlessly killing another human being, while likely driving distracted.
According to the organization, Keenan’s wife Laura has become one of the leading voices for safer streets in the nearly year and a half since his death, and deserves the support of the entire bicycling community in calling for the judge to add additional penalties, like community service and probation, at the sentencing hearing.
According to the BBC, the protestors based their LTN complaints on the difficulties they could pose for motorists who could be unable to drive directly through the city. Not to mention some major climate change denial, as well as baseless claims that it would result in a “climate lockdown,” with residents required to stay at home to protect the environment.
Meanwhile, 15-minute city proposals were bizarrely accused of being a front for a dystopian concentration camp-like lockdown, with gates locking residents inside their zone, allowed to leave just 100 days a year. Along with the creation of an Orwellian surveillance state to enforce climate goals.
Consider, for instance, this speech by a 12-year old anti-Greta Thuneburg, which has been circulating in rightwing circles for the past few days. Even if it, like the rest of the opposition, is based almost entirely on baseless conspiracy theories.
And none of which actually have a damn thing to do with it, of course.
A 15-minute city simply means that everything you need for daily life should be located within 15 minutes of your home — preferably by walking, biking or taking transit.
Meanwhile, LTNs are simply designed to discourage driving through a neighborhood, to increase the safety and livability of the community.
Neither one is intended to force anyone out of their cars. And they certainly have nothing to do with a dystopian surveillance state.
Here’s how British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid debunks the conspiracies in under a minute.
Unfortunately for us monolingual types, though, it’s in French.
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The legendary Nina Simone was one of us.
Born on this day, February 21: Nina Simone, musician (1933-2003), seen here riding with producer Mike Hurst near Buckingham Palace in 1965. Happy #BicycleBirthday, Nina!#BOTDpic.twitter.com/jeTSWJ4kPI
No bias here, either. A Florida letter writer says bicyclists are a danger to themselves and others on the road because it’s a fact that we can’t keep up with traffic flow, and it’s our fault drivers get mad about it because we shouldn’t be there into first place. Then again, it’s also a fact that people on bikes are often faster than congested traffic. And we’re not responsible for how drivers, or anyone else, reacts.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
SoCal Cycling discusses how to get back into bicycling after a long layoff. Kind of like the one I’ve gone through with one diabetes-related health problem after another, which has resulted in a bike that’s virtually unrideable at this point. And a rider who can’t either.
Unbelievable. Metro’s board Planning and Programming Committee rejected calls for pedestrian crosswalk improvements in Pasadena, as part of a package of multimodal projects using leftover funds from the cancelled 710 Freeway extension; advocates hope the full board will overturn the decision this week. Apparently they’ve forgotten the urgent need to improve walkability and bikeability in the face of a climate emergency.
CNN highlights ten of the world’s best cities to explore by bicycle; unfortunately, San Francisco is the only US city on the list. And needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t. Thanks to Steve Fujinaka for the tip.
The LBPD’s description of the crash is based on security cam video that apparently depicted the impact, although they don’t clarify whether the victim rear-ended the truck or somehow backed into it.
Or maybe, just maybe, the driver passed too closely, in violation of California’s three-foot passing law, as well as the new requirement to change lanes when possible to pass a bike rider, and somehow sideswiped the victim, or cause him to fall under it.
We may never know.
The cops were also quick to absolve the driver of any responsibility to stop after the crash, saying he or she may not have known it happened.
Because apparently, drivers aren’t required to be aware of what happens with their massive vehicles, or any damage or deaths they may cause.
Let’s hope they clarify things at some point.
A street view shows a four lane highway with center turn lane, and right turn lanes in each direction.
This is at least the eighth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
The Long Beach Post describes him as someone who was always willing to help others, despite his own situation.
More than 20 years ago, Evans grew tired of the stresses of having to pay a mortgage and utilities, so he decided to leave that behind to pursue a “camping” lifestyle, his friends said.
Eventually, with the support of Care Closet Long Beach, Evans was able to use his experiences to help others, especially homeless residents, going through tough situations, Given said.
He died just three days short of his 60th birthday.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
