Tag Archive for hit-and-run

California brothers killed by stoned driver while riding in Utah, and 74-year old man missing after Long Beach bike ride

April 11, 2022 / / 4 comments

A couple quick notes before we get started. 

First, thanks for all the kind words and well wishes following my surgery. Things seem to have gone well and are progressing nicely; I have nearly full use of my left hand again, which is more than I could say before the operation. 

We have a lot to catch up on. I’ll get through as much as I can today, and try to finish up over the next few days. Including the failed rollout of an innovative San Diego street design. 

And my sincere thanks to everyone who sent in tips while I was out, especially for the story below. There’s just too many people to thank everyone individually this time, let alone keep track of.

But I’m truly grateful for all your help.

Fractured bike helmet photo by WikimediaImages from Pixabay.

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Heartbreaking and infuriating news from Utah, where two California brothers riding in the Spring Tour of St. George were killed Saturday when an allegedly stoned woman drove into the bike lane they were riding in.

The woman reportedly failed all the field sobriety tests and admitted to being on a cocktail of medications, including fentanyl, after being admitted  to the hospital the day before.

However, she claimed she lost control because she was “uncontrollably” shitting her pants as she was driving. And continued driving after striking the victims because she couldn’t get the car to stop until the badly damaged engine gave out several hundred yards away.

Sure. That could happen.

The victims were found unresponsive, and died later at a local hospital.

There’s no information on their names, or where they’re from in California. However, rumors are circulating that at least one was a popular rider from the Los Angeles area.

Let’s pray it isn’t true.

Forty-seven-year old Julie Ann Budge faces two counts of negligent vehicular homicide, as well as double hit-and-run and DUI charges for the two needless deaths. Hopefully they hosed her down before booking her.

It’s also worth noting that this is the same Utah town where NBA star Shawn Bradley was paralyzed when he was rear-ended on his bike by a driver rushing to pick up their kids at school.

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Family members are asking for help finding an elderly Mexican man who disappeared while riding a bicycle in Long Beach nearly two weeks ago.

Manuel Aboyte was last seen stopping for lottery tickets at a Circle K gas station in North Long Beach on March 30th.

The 74-year old resident of Sinaloa de Leyva was in the city visiting his sister, who was suffering from illness, and was hospitalized just before he disappeared.

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Noted media critic Eric Boehlert was one of us.

Sadly though, Boehlert was killed when he was struck by a train while riding his bike in Montclair, New Jersey last Monday evening.

The 57-year old made a career out of calling out right-wing misinformation while writing for Media Matters for America, Salon, Daily Kos and as the founder of the Press Run website.

He was also the author of Lapdogs: How The Press Rolled Over For Bush, and Bloggers on the Bus: How The Internet Changed Politics and the Press.

There’s no word on whether he rode around a railroad crossing barrier, or if it was an uncontrolled crossing or if the crash happened some other way.

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Buena Park needs your input on a proposed Complete Streets project this Thursday.

https://twitter.com/mikeocbike/status/1512506209336659968

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Costa Mesa wants a minute of your time — no, literally — to introduce a new bollard-protected bike lane, as they work to install “high-quality bicycling facilities” throughout the city.

Although as we’ve seen in Los Angeles, a bike lane isn’t really protected if the bollards are spaced widely enough for drivers to park in it.

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This seems like a good time for a reminder that yellow traffic signs are advisory, and don’t carry the force of law.

Although you’ll definitely get blamed if something goes wrong after you ignore one.

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1513205968649089024

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Well, it’s true.

https://twitter.com/thejoshhare/status/1511791294774972424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1511791294774972424%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-8-april-2022-291777

You can get yours here. I did.

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

There’s a warrant out for a Milwaukee woman who pulled off a rare double flight from justice, first by fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider, then disappearing while out on bail after her arrest.

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

A 32-year old Milwaukee bike rider was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for fatally shooting another man in front of the victim’s wife during a road rage incident, after first punching him in the face; he claimed the driver had hit him with his car and called him a racial slur. He was arrested in Kentucky after fleeing the state for six months following the shooting.

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Local

Fallen bicyclist Jeff Knopp was honored with LA’s first Yellow Bike Project sculpture; the permanent memorial will hopefully call attention to the risks people face walking and biking in the city The Marine Corps vet was killed when a driver slammed into him as he rode hid bike on Foothill Boulevard in in Sunland-Tujunga.

You only have until the end of this month to apply for a Go Human Mini-Grant to improve traffic safety, assuming you’re a nonprofit or community-based organization.

Streets For All is hosting a Zoom mobility debate between CD 9 Councilmember Curren Price and challenger Dulce Vasquez on April 24th.

Lancaster received a $5 million grant for the two-mile Amargosa Recreational Trail Project, complete with protected bike and pedestrian trails, as well as public art, along Amargosa Creek.

 

State 

A San Diego man suffered a fractured collarbone and left wrist when he “collided with” a minivan driven by an 80-year old woman in an apparent left-cross crash while riding his bike.

Road.cc offers a look at “ten stunning road bikes” from last week’s Sea Otter Classic in Monterey.

Sad news from Modesto, where a 62-year old man was killed riding his bike in a hit-and-run Saturday night; police are looking for the drivers of two pickups who appeared to be traveling together.

A 38-year old Oakland bike rider suffered severe head trauma when he was struck by the driver of a Cadillac Escalade who ran the red light, when fled the scene following the crash.

 

National

The new owner of the Denver Broncos could be one of us; 77-year old Walmart heir Rob Walton is reportedly preparing a $4 billion bid for the team, nearly 40 years after competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii.

A broadcaster for NHL’s Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team is one of us, after suffering “significant injuries” in a bicycling crash. However, it’s not clear if he was struck by a motorist or fell off his bike.

Colorado’s state legislature has approved a true Idaho Stop Law, allowing riders to treat stop signs as yields and red lights as stop signs; the bill is now on the governor’s desk awaiting his signature. Hopefully it won’t suffer the same fate as California’s attempt to allow bicyclists to treat stop signs like yields, which was vetoed by Governor Newsom last year.

This is the cost of traffic violence. Twenty-four-year old Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins was killed when he was run down by the driver of a dump truck as he attempted to walk across a Florida highway.

Former Olympic figure skating gold medalist Scott Hamilton is planning to ride 444 miles along the Natchez Trace Parkway through Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee in hopes of raising $1.25 million to help fight glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive form of brain cancer.

 

International

A British Columbia man is fighting back after the provincial driver’s insurance agency billed him $3,700 for damage to the Mercedes-Benz that ran him down as he pedaled through an intersection, somehow concluding he was 50% at fault for the crash — even though the driver ran the stop sign.

This is who we share the road with. In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a 22-year old British man will spend 30 years behind bars for using a stolen car as a weapon to run down another man outside a pub, dragging him under his car; he was accused of using a vehicle as a weapon twice before, yet somehow kept driving until he killed someone.

Heartbreaking photo of a man walking his bicycle past the ruins of a building destroyed by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine.

A 26-year old Kenyan man is riding his bicycle to campaign for governor of the country’s Nakura County.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former cycling scion Taylor Phinney sheds light on his unexpected retirement from the WorldTour, saying pro cycling is “fucked up,” due to a culture of drug abuse and silence.

Polish pro Michal Kwiatkowski was declared winner of Sunday’s Amstel Gold classic in a photo finish with France’s Benoit Cosnefroy, who had initially been awarded first place until photos confirmed Kwiatkowski crossed the finish line just in front of him.

Dutch pro Milan Vader was reportedly in stable condition following a major crash on a descent during last week’s Tour of the Basque Country, suffering a broken collarbone, vertebrae and shoulder blade, as well as having stents placed in his carotid artery. Aussie Lucas Hamilton was a lot luckier, walking away with a bloody nose after frightening flip over a guard rail. 

I was today years old when I learned that WorldTour cycling teams face relegation, just like soccer teams.

Former German great Jan Ulrich raised the equivalent of over $43,700 for children in Ukraine by auctioning his custom yellow Pinarello from the 1998 Tour de France; the never-used bike was created for him to ride into Paris for what would have been his second consecutive Tour win, until he was upset by Marco Pantani.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re afraid a new protected bike lane will offer a getaway route for criminals. When you can’t ride your bike because a bird built a nest in it.

And who wants to leave your dog at home, anyway?

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Hit-and-run driver busted in death of 15-year old Riverside boy, and Metro active transportation virtual meeting next week

March 25, 2022 / / Comments Off on Hit-and-run driver busted in death of 15-year old Riverside boy, and Metro active transportation virtual meeting next week

Maybe there will be justice for Javier Gonzales after all.

Police in Riverside arrested 37-year old Rosendo Morales Caldera for the hit-and-run death of the 15-year old bike rider, who was killed on the first of this month.

Gonzales was riding salmon with a group of friends when he was run down by by the driver of a large black pickup, who kept going without slowing or stopping.

Caldera is currently being held behind bars in lieu of bail.

Police impounded his black Chevy truck as evidence, which should happen in every alleged hit-and-run.

But too often doesn’t.

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Here’s your chance to tell Metro what you need to be safer in your commute and community.

And maybe mention it’s time to stop wasting money on highway projects in the middle of a climate emergency.

https://twitter.com/MaverickMPA/status/1507238721891889153

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SoCal’s killer highway continues to claim new victims.

I’m told the victim works at the Getty Villa, which leaves no viable option to commute by bike other than PCH, which continues to operate as a cut-through highway when it should be Malibu’s Main Street.

https://twitter.com/KendallCaroline/status/1507034282799161360

Thanks to Todd Munson for the heads-up. 

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Slow roll Adams Blvd on Sunday to check out LADOT’s safety improvements on the formerly dangerous corridor.

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LACBC invites you to attend their first-ever Bike Salon on Thursday, which will actually be held in person, rather than virtually.

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OC bike advocate Mike Wilkinson is parting ways with his lovingly used tandem.

https://twitter.com/mikeocbike/status/1507128123044687873

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Apparently, even a five-year old can beat rush hour traffic on his way to school Britain. Even without decent bikeways.

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

In a prime example of too little, if not too late, Las Vegas area cops clamped down on drivers who endanger bike riders, enforcing traffic laws and educating motorists on how to share the road — for a whole four hours. Now they just need to do something the other 8,756 hours in the year.

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

Police busted a man who robbed a Kansas gas station, then made his getaway by bicycle. Maybe he was really just an anti-car freedom fighter raising funds for the rebellion. It could happen. 

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Local

No bias here. The Hancock Park Homeowners Association hosted a candidate forum for the people running to replace Paul Koretz in CD5 — but notably excluded former Mid City West Neighborhood Council chair Scott Epstein, a longtime supporter of a bike-friendly street on 4th Street opposed by the wealthy neighborhood.

 

State 

A 58-year old Rancho Bernardo man is planning to ride 3,400 miles across the US to raise funds for diabetic research, inspired by his 25-year old daughter, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was just eight months old.

A 32-year old Fresno man was stabbed when he tried to defend himself from a group of men who demanded his bike; fortunately, he’s expected to make a full recovery.

Sad news from Eureka, where someone on a bicycle was killed when they were run down by the driver of a pickup.

 

National

PeopleForBikes celebrates the removal of Trump’s 25% tariffs on Chinese-made bicycles and parts.

USA Today says you need an ebike to cope with rising gas prices. Meanwhile, CleanTechnica provides a primer on the proper care and feeding of your ebike.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission issued a recall for Ninebot Children’s Bicycle Helmets for failing to meet minimum federal safety standards.

Black and brown Colorado bike riders say the state’s proposed Stop As Yield law, aka the stop sign part of the Idaho Stop Law, would keep them safer from both cars and cops, reducing the risk of Biking While Black or Brown stops that target people of color, as well as reducing potentially dangerous interactions with police. Maybe that argument that would finally get a California bill past Newsom’s veto pen.

Hurry up to Yellowstone, where you can enjoy 49 miles of blissfully carfree roads for the next three weeks, before the national park is opened to motor vehicles. Although you still need to keep an eye peeled for bears and bison, among other potentially unfriendly fauna.

Even in Iowa, people are biking to work instead of driving, while a writer for the University of Iowa student newspaper says now is the perfect time to start bicycling.

A Memphis man is turning old car and truck tires into decorative barriers to protect people on bicycles.

Boston bike advocates point out the benefits of bicycling while calling for safer conditions on the streets.

A Louisiana driver who killed a bike rider last month tested positive for narcotics following the crash, though there’s no mention of what he was allegedly on.

A Florida man was convicted — again — of killing a teenaged boy over a stolen bicycle when he was just 15 years old. The victim had purchased the boy’s stolen bicycle, not knowing it was hot, then offered to sell it back to him for just $10; he returned with a gun after riding the bike home because he felt disrespected. The original conviction had been overturned because police had questioned him after he requested a lawyer. We’ve said it before — no bike is worth taking or sacrificing a life. Period.

 

International

Bike Radar offers a buyers guide to bike trailers, while confessing that yes, they do change how you have to ride and the way your bike feels

Bizarre case from Wales, where a woman played doctor — literally — by treating the victim of an ebike crash, despite having no medical background. Yet she somehow walked with the equivalent of a lousy $790 fine.

Oops. Scofflaw drivers who parked in an English shared bus and bike lane will get their fines refunded, after the city discovered the authorization for the lane had expired and they hadn’t bothered to renew it.

Life is cheap in Jersey, where a 67-year old driver walked with the equivalent of a $6,500 fine for the right-cross crash — the equivalent of a left-cross in the US — that likely left a bike-riding woman with lifelong pain from a broken back, fractured rib and collapsed lung.

A new study from a UC Berkeley researcher looks at the remarkably rapid Parisian bike boom, as the city transformed itself during the Covid pandemic.

Add this one to your bike bucket list. British bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid rides the 75-mile car-free Vennbahn rail-trail through Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg, which remains a 30-foot wide swath of Belgium even as it passes through the other countries.

 

Competitive Cycling

Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohorič says it wasn’t just the dropper post that delivered his victory, he also used oversized disc rotors and new, secret wheel bearings.

 

Finally…

Maybe God is out to get us, too. People are more likely to bike commute when slower drivers are less likely to kill them.

And that feeling when you try to break an iPhone by riding your bike off a phone booth.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Bike-riding man killed in El Monte hit-and-run; fourth fatal SoCal bike hit-and-run in three weeks

March 23, 2022 / / 4 comments

Another day, another bike rider murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

According to My News LA, El Monte police are searching for a driver who didn’t have the basic human decency to stick around after running down a man riding a bicycle.

The victim, identified as 59-year old El Monte resident Ruben Vicario, was struck at Lower Azusa Road and El Monte Ave around 9 pm Tuesday.

He died at the scene.

The suspect vehicle was described as a red or burgundy 2019-2021 Toyota sedan; no description was given for the driver.

There’s no word on how the collision occurred.

Anyone with information is urged to call the El Monte Police Department at 626/580-2100.

This is at least the 25th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Ten of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs, including the last four in a row.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ruben Vicario and his loved ones. 

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

Bike-riding man left to die by hit-and-run driver in Cypress Park; 9th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year

March 22, 2022 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding man left to die by hit-and-run driver in Cypress Park; 9th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year

Yet another bike rider has been murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

The Eastsider is reporting that a man was killed riding his bike in LA’s Cypress Park neighborhood Saturday evening.

According to the LAPD, the victim was riding east on San Fernando Road near Pepper Street when he was rear-ended by an unknown driver around 7:15 pm.

The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was described only as a man in his 50s or older, which suggests that he has still not been identified three days after his death.

Police investigators have been unable to find any witnesses to the crash, but are attempting to identify the suspect vehicle from debris left at the scene.

The crash occurred somewhere near the park. It happened just minutes after sunset, so victim should have still been visible, with or without lights.

Anyone with information is urged to contact LAPD Detective Berdin at 213/833-3713 or email 31958@lapd.online.

This is at least the 24th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. It’s also the fourth that has been publicly reported in the City of Los Angeles.

Nine of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

Thanks to Streetsblog’s Joe Linton for the heads-up. 

 

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

Driver leaves bike-riding woman to die alone in violent Riverside crash; 8th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year

March 17, 2022 / / Comments Off on Driver leaves bike-riding woman to die alone in violent Riverside crash; 8th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year

It never stops.

Yet another Southern California bike rider has been murdered by a hit-and-run driver.

According to LA’s FOX-11, Riverside police found a woman lying dead on the side of the roadway early Wednesday morning, her bike and belongings strewn for a full block behind her.

The officers discovered the victim, who has not been publicly identified, while responding to a call at Orange and Center streets in Riverside a few minutes before 2 am.

There was no sign of the driver, and no description of the suspect vehicle. It’s not clear if she was riding or walking the bike at the time of the crash.

The lengthy debris field suggests she was either struck at high speed, or she and her bike were dragged under the vehicle for at least a block.

There’s no way of knowing at this time how long she had been there, or if she could have survived if the driver had stopped and called for help, as both the law and basic human decency requires.

When and if the driver is found, they’ll face a maximum of just four years for felony hit-and-run resulting in death under California’s overly lenient hit-and-run statute.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the Riverside Police Department.

This is at least the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

Eight of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones.

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Gas rebate plan excludes non-drivers, arrest in Otay Mesa hit-and-run murder, and bike helmet blamed for Ukraine war

March 9, 2022 / / One comment

Let’s start with a look at the soaring price of gas in the Golden State.

With the state average now well over $5 a gallon — and approaching $7 in some areas — Governor Gavin Newsom is proposing a tax rebate to refund some of that pain at the pump.

The advantage of a rebate, rather than suspending the state gas tax, is that it won’t affect critical funding for road repair and improvements, according to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.

However, a rebate targeting only people who own motor vehicles will miss everyone who choses not to contribute to the problem, by riding transit, riding a bike or walking. Even though everyone pays higher gas prices in the form of climbing prices for food, and everything else that’s transported by truck.

Particularly when LA Metro just made drastic cuts in bus and train service.

A tweet from David Weiskopf offers the best suggestion, recommending that the rebate take the form of a general transportation credit, which can be applied to transit, bicycles, ebikes, bikeshare, electric vehicles or just “pissed away on gasoline.”

As he suggests, it would be interesting to see just what people actually choose. And getting people out of their cars would reduce some of the demand forcing prices up.

Although I want to see who people blame for high gas prices when oil companies start reporting record profits in a few months.

Meanwhile, blame once again falls on LA’s failed leadership, or the lack thereof.

Los Angeles has had a full decade to build out the city’s bike and mobility plans, which should have been 40% complete by now if city leaders plan on meeting their self-imposed deadline of 2035.

Instead, both plans are gathering dust in some dark corner of the city servers, instead of providing the safe, convenient alternatives to driving that Angelenos were promised a decade ago.

So if you or your loved ones feel like you don’t have any practical alternative to driving, despite the rising prices, you know who to thank.

Evidently trees are out to get us, too, with today’s photo of fallen tree limbs attacking the Metro Bike dock at Runyon Canyon. And a dog, too.

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Maybe Octavio Mendoza will see justice, after all.

The 40-year old father was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Otay Mesa this past November, in an attack that police investigators believe was intentional.

Now 51-year-old Fernando Salazar faces a murder charge, after he was arrested for the killing while coming back into the country at the San Ysidro Port of Entry on Monday.

It’s not yet clear whether this was a random case of road rage, or if the men knew one another.

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Apparently, if Obama hadn’t worn a bike helmet, Ukraine might not be under attack today.

BoingBoing looks back to the good old days of 2014, when Fox News blamed the then-president for Putin’s invasion of Crimea and the Donbas by insisting his bike helmet made him look weak.

No, really.

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For some reason, I still can’t embed tweets on here, so we’ll have to settle for a few semi-decent descriptions.

First up, Dr. Grace Peng asks us to join her in requesting that the Redondo Beach Police not to lump mopeds and high-powered ebikes capable of traveling over 25 mph in with other bikes and ebikes, after a huge jump in bicycle citations due to bike riders exceeding the 25 mph speed limit on residential streets.

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A Denver bike owner got their stolen bicycle back when bike shop workers checked Bike Index when someone tried to sell it to them.

Yet another reminder to register your bike, for free.

Now.

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Really disappointing that we can’t embed this one, since it features a really cool short video of a 1956 handcycle, with the hand crank awkwardly mounted on the crossbar of a standard bicycle frame.

More modern handcycles are a tad more practical, however.

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

Continuing this week’s theme of dangerous drivers from across the pond, a British motorist deliberately swerved into a bike rider after shouting abuse for not riding in a bike lane.

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

Mountain View police are looking for a suspect who slapped a pair of women on the butt as he rode past them on his bike, while making suggestive comments. And for anyone unclear on the concept, that’s not flirting, it’s not a prank, and it’s definitely not funny. It’s sexual assault. Period.

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Local

Streetsblog officially endorsed the Healthy Streets LA initiative, which would require the city to build out the mobility plan when streets in the plan get resurfaced.

The Mid City West neighborhood council is hosting a CD5 virtual candidate forum at 7 pm tonight; click here for the zoom link.

Streets For All is hosting a mobility debate on March 28th with at least four of the candidates to replace the resigning Mike Bonin in CD11.

British TV star Michelle Keegan is one of us, taking a bike ride on Venice Beach with her husband.

Your next ride along the San Gabriel River Trail could be a lot more pleasant, after the US Army Corps of Engineers removed 128 tons of trash and debris from the riverbed.

 

State 

Someone stole a teenage boy’s ebike in a strong-arm robbery on a La Jolla bike path, shoving the victim off his bike and taking off with it; police are looking for multiple high school-aged kids, including the primary suspect who rode off on the victim’s bike wearing a full motorcycle helmet and moto goggles.

 

National

Cycling Tips‘ James Huang says the new line of carbon fiber ebikes from America’s only remaining Tour de France winner looks intriguing, but he has a lot of questions. Like why the website is short on photos and specs just four months out from the projected delivery date.

Wired talks with the woman who was behind the wheel, but allegedly watching videos on her phone, when a self-driving car prototype killed a bike-riding woman in Tempe, Arizona four years ago.

Seriously disappointing news from Denver, where my former LBS is going out of business after 51 years; Turin Bike Shop was a victim of rising rents and supply chain problems, as well as the owner’s pending retirement.

A Kansas City columnist reacts to news of a 60-something couple riding a tandem across the US by suggesting that too much togetherness means a “bicycle built for doom.” There’s no better test for the strength of any relationship than riding a tandem. Let alone across the country.

Texas officials are asking for the public’s help to rename and brand a more than 60-mile bike and pedestrian trail connecting Fort Worth and Dallas. How about the Better Than Anything Here In Southern California Trail.

Cambridge, Massachusetts will intentionally miss a deadline to build out quick-build separated bike lanes by May 1st, saying they need more time to engage local stakeholders. Evidently, they don’t understand the concept of “quick-build.” And somehow couldn’t manage to engage those stakeholders in the six years since a bike rider was killed there. 

A group of 25 people riding from Florida to Texas stopped in Hammond, Louisiana to help repair homes damaged in Hurricane Ida.

Police in Daytona, Florida are searching for a person of interest in the horrific murder of a married couple, whose throats were cut while they were out riding their bikes last weekend.

 

International

Momentum offers a beginners guide to learning to ride a bike after middle age.

Next City profiles World Bicycle Relief and their work to provide inexpensive, reliable transportation for thousands of people around the world every year, calling bicycles one of the cheapest and easiest ways to lift people out of poverty. They have the same effect in this country, too.

Someone called out Oxford, England for a pair of recent bicycling deaths, crossing out “Cycling City” on the city’s welcome sign and writing in “One month, two dead cyclists.”

The British government wisely rejected a call for bike riders to be required to use a bell when they ride, saying there are other ways foe people on bicycles to make their presence known.

After thieves stole $153,000 worth of bikes and frames from a family-owned Irish bike shop, the owner has been overwhelmed by the support from the local community.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Tips examines the greatest rivalries in the modern women’s peloton.

In an all-too familiar story, the Colorado Classic women’s stage race is on life support, unless a sponsor steps up with $3 million to keep the race alive; otherwise, it will follow the late, lamented Tour of California, Tour of Utah, and the USA Pro Challenge into the “ever-growing graveyard of American pro cycling races.”

 

Finally…

Always use a coaster brake when riding at the beach, even if your bike doesn’t have one. Your next bike could have all-wheel drive, no hubs, a minimalist frame and wheels that run the full length of the bike.

And maybe there’s a loophole in the bicycle ban on LA’s Runyon Canyon.

Like just use one wheel instead of two.

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

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

Fullerton man riding DIY ebike killed in possible hit-and-run; 5th Southern California bike death this week

March 5, 2022 / / Comments Off on Fullerton man riding DIY ebike killed in possible hit-and-run; 5th Southern California bike death this week

Please make it stop.

After a terrible start to the year — and one of the worst weeks in memory — yet another bike rider has lost his life on the mean streets of Southern California.

And once again, it may have been a hit-and-run.

My News LA is reporting that 58-year old Fullerton resident Ivars Borsteins was found lying in the street at Malvern Ave and Basque Ave in Fullerton around 9:30 pm Thursday.

Borstens was discovered suffering from serious injuries, next to a mountain bike that had been converted to an ebike.

He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police are investigating the crash as a possible hit-and-run, but acknowledge it’s possible that Borstens may have fallen off his bike for some reason.

Officers stressed that Borstens’ bike had been modified to add an electric engine, rather than manufactured as an ebike. There are any number of conversion kits on the market that can turn any bike into an ebike.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Fullerton Police Department at 714/738-6812.

This is at least the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Orange County. It’s also the fifth SoCal bicycling death in just the last week.

If this turns out to have been a hit-and-run, it would be the eight fatal bike hit-and-run since the first of the year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ivars Borsteins and all his lived ones.

 

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

15-year old boy riding salmon killed in Riverside hit-and-run; 22nd SoCal bike death this year, 7th fatal hit-and-run

March 3, 2022 / / 6 comments

The carnage continues on Southern California streets, as yet another person riding a bicycle has been killed by a heartless hit-and-run driver.

This time, the victim was just 15-years old.

According to multiple sources, he was struck by a driver while riding in the 2200 block of Main Street in Riverside, near Poplar Avenue, around 9:30 pm Tuesday.

The victim, identified as Colton resident Javier Gonzales, died at the scene less than 25 minutes later, after suffering major injuries.

Security cam video acquired by KCBS2/KCAL9 shows Gonzales was riding against traffic with three other boys when he was struck by the driver of a speeding pickup, who kept going without slowing down.

His friends immediately dropped their bikes and chased after the driver, but weren’t able to catch him or get the license plate.

Police are looking for a black or dark-colored full size pickup. Anyone with information is urged to call Riverside Police Department Traffic Detective Jeff Derouin at 951/826-8722, or email Jderouin@riversideca.gov.

They note that this is the fifth fatal crash in the city in just six days. But the other drivers at least had the basic human decency to remain at the scene.

Ironically, the driver would have been unlikely to face charges in this case if he or she had simply stopped after the crash. Now they face up to four years behind bars for felony hit-and-run.

This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

Seven of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Update: Police have arrested a 37-year old man as the hit-and-run driver who killed Javier Gonzales. As of March 24th, Rosendo Morales Caldera was being held without bail. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Javier Gonzales and all his family and loved ones.

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

Bike rider killed in horrific Arkansas hit-and-run, Bike Talk talks Healthy Streets LA initiate, and Taylor Yard Bridge opening off

February 22, 2022 / / 2 comments

Unbelievable.

In one of the most horrifying examples of traffic violence in recent memory, police in Fort Smith, Arkansas discovered a hit-and-run had taken place when someone found a severed leg lying in the street Saturday morning.

They found the rest of the 57-year old victim’s body in the back of a man’s pickup, where it had been since the driver had crashed into his bike around 12 hours earlier.

The driver claimed he didn’t know the victim’s body was there until he got home — and then apparently just went inside and left him there to die once he did.

Graphics by tomexploresla

Which presumably would have given the man plenty of time to sober up before the cops found the body in his truck.

And how anyone could do something like that without being drunk or stoned is beyond me.

The crash is reminiscent of the infamous 2014 case in which a hit-and-run driver drove home with a bike rider embedded in his windshield, and didn’t notice until he came back out the next morning.

Fortunately, that one had a happier ending.

Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

………

Bike Talk talks with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider about the organization’s Healthy Streets LA initiative to force Los Angeles to build out the city’s mobility plan when streets get repaved.

That’s followed by a segment with Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss discussing the Idaho Stop Law, which allows bike riders to treat stop signs like yields, and — at least in Idaho’s original version — treat red lights like stop signs.

A version of which was vetoed by California Governor Newsom last year.

………

Remember what we said yesterday about the new Taylor Yard Bridge opening next month?

Yeah, not so much.

LA officials say the official opening has been cancelled. No reason or makeup date has been announced.

………

British singer, songwriter and producer James Blunt is one of us.

………

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

A road-raging British driver walked without a single day behind bars for chasing down and ramming a bike rider who damaged his wing mirror; adding insult to injury, the driver was ordered to pay the equivalent of just $1,359 in compensation, despite totaling the victim’s $9,500 bicycle.

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

Police in London busted a sexual assault suspect who used a bikeshare bike in the attack, which allowed police to identify him from his credit card.

………

Local

Momentum Magazine asks if Los Angeles can shake its anti-bicycling reputation, and seems to conclude, “maybe.”

On a similar note, a graduate student at Northwestern examines LA’s Vision Zero program, saying it brings both hope and skepticism to the city. Which most Los Angeles bike riders can relate to.

 

State 

No surprise here. San Diego’s KPBS says families of traffic violence victims often feel let down by the criminal justice system.

A 32-year old man was injured when he was struck by a driver in Santa Rosa after allegedly riding his bike through a red light while under the influence.

 

National

A Las Vegas optician may need his own eyes examined, after confessing that he was one of the bike riders charged by a bull captured on a viral video during the recent Rock Cobbler offroad race.

An Ohio mayor is oddly up in arms over a former rival’s donation of a $3,600 police bike to the local police department, as well as giving her late firefighter husband’s rescue gear to the fire department, calling them ethics violations; opponents call the ethics flap just an effort to keep her off the city council.

A paper in Worcester, Massachusetts marks Black History Month by tracing several key sites in the adopted hometown of legendary cyclist Major Taylor, as well as historic locations relating to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, among others.

After a 15-year old boy accidentally ride his bike off a bridge, a Massachusetts cop is credited with his rescue.

New York’s legislature is considering a package of bike and pedestrian safety bills that would give cities more control over speed limits, encourage them to build safer sidewalks and bike lanes, and require drivers to study more safety topics for their license test.

You know you have a problem when two people on bicycles are run down by hit-and-run drivers on the same stretch of a Florida street, the same time of day, just one mile and three days apart. Or when four people have been killed at the same Orlando intersection in four months, the latest victim was a 15-year old boy right-hooked while riding in a crosswalk.

 

International

Bike Radar’s podcast considers how to make this your best year yet on your bike. That’s easy. 1) Just ride, and 2) just ride more. And don’t take it so damn seriously.

Bike riders debate the relative merits of daytime running lights, after Road.cc reposts a 2015 article about their use.

A writer for Jalopnik says the “Freedom Convoy” that paralyzed Ottawa, Canada in recent weeks shows why cars and trucks should be banned from cities.

Canadian bicyclists are mourning the loss of longtime Toronto bike advocate Robert “Bicycle Bob” Silverman, who fought for bike lanes long before the city had any, and helped set it on its current bike-friendly course; Silverman passed away Sunday at age 88.

Good news on the bike theft front, as reports from more than 40 British police agencies indicate the crime fell over 11% last year.

A delivery rider in the UK says he’s never more than one crash away from financial disaster, after his earnings have dropped almost in half over the past few years.

A self-described die-hard Indian cyclist writes in defense of the humble bicycle, after the country’s prime minister cast aspersions on bikes in attacking another political party that uses one as its symbol; the head of that party calls the prime minister’s comments “an insult to the nation.”

 

Competitive Cycling

UCI may be ditching Red Bull for coverage of the Mountain Bike World Cup after this season, entering into exclusive negotiations with Discovery Sports.

Colombian cyclist Daniel Martínez calls injured countryman Egan Bernal a champion on and off the bike, as Martínez opens the European campaign with a third-place finish in the Volta ao Algarve.

Dutch pro Tom Dumoulin says he’s happy to be back on the WorldTour after walking away from the sport for several months last year.

 

Finally…

Go ahead and ride straight, even if the bike path isn’t. And sometimes you have to pedal upstream in life.

………

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

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

Hit-and-run drivers critically injure bike riders in San Dimas and Carlsbad, LA begins process to lower some speed limits

February 17, 2022 / / One comment

Breaking news: The Citizen app is reporting that a man on a bicycle was killed by a driver in Highland Park. 

The crash occurred at South Ave 60 and the offramp to the 110 Freeway around 12:20 am. 

Hopefully we’ll get more news later. 

………

LA County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for the hit-and-run driver who severely injured a man on a bicycle in San Dimas late last month.

The 37-year old victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding along the curb on Fifth Street west of Eucla Ave around 6:30 pm on January 27, when he was run down from behind by the driver of a dark colored Dodge Ram pickup.

The driver briefly stopped a short distance away before driving off, leaving his victim bleeding in the street.

Investigators ask anyone who lives in the area to check their surveillance cameras for any video that might show the crash or the suspect.

Something sheriff’s investigators should have done themselves in the first few days, if not hours, following the crash, before any video would be deleted or recorded over.

But maybe they were, like, busy or something.

Anyone with information is urged to call San Dimas Traffic Detective Christopher Bronowicki at 909/859-2818.

The video is difficult to watch, so make sure you really want to see the crash and its aftermath before you click play, because you can’t unsee it once you do. 

………

A San Diego County family is looking for answers five days after a retired Los Angeles firefighter was found unconscious and badly injured next to his bike in the middle of El Camino Real in Carlsbad.

Seventy-four-year old John Burgan is in a coma in critical condition with internal injuries, as well as fractures all around his skull, face, ribs and right femur, after an apparent hit-and-run.

The location and condition of his undamaged bicycle suggest he may have been struck by the wing mirror of a driver’s vehicle while making his way to the left turn lane at Hosp Way.

Anyone with information is urged to call Carlsbad Police Officer Adam Bentley at 760/931-2288 or email adam.bentley@carlsbadca.gov.

………

Finally, a little good news from LA City Hall.

Streetsblog is reporting that the City Council Transportation Committee has taken the unprecedented step of — wait for it — actually lowering speed limits in the City of Angels, in hopes of maybe making a fewer of them.

Angels, that is.

The city’s hands have long been tied by the deadly 85th Percentile Law, which worked in conjunction with speeding drivers to push limits ever higher, regardless of whether the new speeds were actually safe.

It took a new state law, sponsored by Burbank Assemblymember Laura Friedman, to reform, but not repeal, the 85th Percentile Law to allow the city to begin reducing speeds on city streets.

However, the committee’s action covers just 177 miles out of LA’s more than 6,500 miles of streets.

But it’s a start.

………

It looks like New Yorkers overwhelmingly support safer streets, and using automated traffic cams to do it.

Even if their efforts are hindered by the state legislature, which should sound familiar to anyone in California.

New Yorkers want these changes to make streets safe. An Emerson College poll found that 68% of city residents support lowering the speed limit to 20 mph, and 72% want the city to have authority to set its own speed limits. A Siena College poll found that 85% of New York City voters, including 84% of car-owners, support red light enforcement cameras. More than three-quarters of New York City voters, including just about the same share of car owners, support automated speed safety cameras.

Not only are the speed and red light cams popular, they’re also effective.

As one example of the consequences, consider New York City’s speed safety camera program, which is currently only permitted by Albany to operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday. In effect, Albany forces cameras to be off for more than half of the hours in any given week. Speed safety cameras are wildly effective: A 55% drop in all traffic fatalities and a 72%decline in speeding followed the launch of the program. Speed safety cameras also avoid racial biases that may be present in armed police stops and avoid risks of stops turning violent or deadly. However, in 2020, nearly 40% of people killed in fatal traffic crashes died in speed safety camera zones, but when the cameras were forced to be off. Speeding doesn’t sleep, but state law forces our speed safety cameras to get plenty of shut-eye.

Let’s hope California legislators are paying attention.

Not to mention the LA City Council, which cancelled the city’s red light camera program, for reasons that mostly boiled down to angry drivers who didn’t like getting tickets for breaking the law.

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I wouldn’t count on plastic bollards to keep you safer. Even if these are better than the flimsy car-tickler plastic bendy posts.

https://twitter.com/gatodejazz/status/1494014664346259457

Personally, I consider anything marked by plastic bollards to be a separated bike lane, rather than a protected bike lane.

Because those little posts don’t protect anyone.

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Burbank police will be offering bicycle registration next Wednesday afternoon.

And cookies, too.

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A new movie documents a woman’s efforts to get back on her mountain bike after struggling with Crohn’s disease.

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

No bias here. A Cincinnati op-ed calls bike lanes a “misappropriation of funds,” calling for the money to be spent fixing potholes rather than catering “to a small group of citizens that happen to bicycle.” Never mind that potholes are more dangerous for people on bikes than those safely ensconced in a couple tons of steel and glass.

You’ve got to be kidding. Residents of an Ontario, Canada city claim proposed bike lanes would violate Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of the person. Because the bike lanes will have to be built over their dead bodies, evidently.

………

Local

A Metro committee approved a five-year, $6.1 million contract for new keyless bike lockers at a number of Metro stations, replacing the much derided keyed lockers currently in use.

Bicycling rides through Malibu Creek State Park with volunteers from the National Park Service’s Mountain Bike Unit, which helps introduce kids to mountain biking while making the trails more inclusive. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

State 

PeopleForBikes released the schedule for next months 2022 Bicycle Leadership Conference in Dana Point.

Riverside County prosecutors rejected a hit-and-run charge against a man who killed a 62-year old bike rider outside of Hemet last week, as well as a charge of driving without a license, sending the case against Carlos Arturo Acosta back to the CHP for further investigation.

Three San Luis Obispo men pled guilty to killing a man riding a bicycle in a 2019 gang shooting.

San Francisco Strava artist Lenny Maughan marked the Year of the Tiger by using his bike to sketch the prowling cat atop the city map, riding 90 miles in four days to create the intricate artwork.

 

National

A Seattle website calls for the repeal of the county’s bike helmet mandate, saying it leads to biased enforcement against the homeless and people of color, while a local public radio station considers the hopefully soon to be repealed law.

The owners of a Dolores, Colorado bike shop do the right thing, applying for state historical funds to restore the 116-year old building they call home in the town of less than 900 people.

A new report shows Austin, Texas leads the nation in building bike lanes, with nearly 100% of the spending devoted to protected bike lanes. That compares with Los Angeles, where less than 40% of our already paltry efforts goes to protected lanes.

After Chicago bike riders complained about the removal of a bike lane, the city painted sharrows on the sidewalk and said “ride there.”

A Long Island legal columnist offers advice on what to do if you’re struck by a driver while riding your bike. Although he gets the order wrong; contacting your insurance company can wait until you preserve the evidence and get your ass to a doctor.

Sad news from New York, where an ebike rider died nearly a month after he was doored by a taxi passenger; naturally, the NYPD blamed the victim, allowing the driver and his passenger to go their merry way.

 

International

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a man got a lousy 30 months for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle, then tried to blame an innocent co-worker for the crash. Never mind that it was the third time in six years he’d been accused of DUI. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until they kill someone.

Popular BBC presenter Jeremy Vine was knocked unconscious when he hit a pothole while riding a Penny Farthing over the weekend, and was thrown over the handlebars; he was lucky to escape with just a black eye. And from that height, it’s long damn way down.

A 93-year old South African man got his stolen bike back after neighborhood watch members spotted a man walking it down the street; he was given the bike by his parents for his 21st birthday, and has ridden it for more than 70 years.

 

Competitive Cycling

Egan Bernal continues his recovery from a near-fatal training crash by riding a stationary bike for the first time since he was injured over three weeks ago in Colombia.

Belgian ‘cross star Toon Aerts professes his innocence after testing positive for a banned drug before his sixth place finish in the worlds. Although it’s kind of hard to explain why a healthy cyclist would have a breast cancer drug in his system if he wasn’t doping.

 

Finally…

How to ride a six-legged tandem. If you’re going to bust out a bike shop window to steal a $7,000 e-mountain bike, maybe try riding off instead of walking it down the street.

And maybe make sure the paint is dry first before riding through it.

………

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

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