One victim, described only as a teenage boy, died after being taken to a local hospital.
Another boy was hospitalized in critical condition with what was described only as major injuries, while a third suffered significant lower body injuries.
Twenty-eight-year old Port Hueneme resident Samuel Rocha turned himself in to police sometime overnight. He was still being processed at 9:30 this morning.
KABC-7 reports Rocha has been booked on one count of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide, in a story that hasn’t been posted online yet.
Let’s hope they’re right, and authorities are taking this crime seriously for a change.
This is at least the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
That matches the county’s total for all of last year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victims and all their loved ones.
If you are the cyclist who was hit by a white BMW today at Abbot Kinney and Westminster, I have a photo of the plate.
You had just fallen off your bike when I approached the intersection so I didn’t see the incident, but based on the way you and a couple of other folks gestured towards the car, it seemed like that driver may have hit you and run.
The car turned in front of me from Westminster onto Abbot Kinney and I snapped a photo once we came to a stop down the road.
I can send it to you if you like.
Update: Thanks for the advice, I called it in to LAPD. They didn’t have an incident report for the time/location but they will share the information with the traffic cops in that area in case anything comes up with that vehicle description.
If you were the victim, or know someone who was, click on the link about and reply to the original post, since they didn’t leave contact information.
And always report a hit-and-run to the police, even if you aren’t seriously injured.
You never know who else they might do it to next time.
Thanks to Bean and David Wolfberg for the heads-up.
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Keith Johnson forwards news of what could be yet another contentious public meeting in Hancock Park, as local residents continue to fight changes that would improve safety for bike riders on 4th Street.
Even though the improvements would benefit their neighborhood, as well. Whether or not they ride a bike.
Neighborhood Traffic Changes! Hancock Park and Windsor Sq. will host a Transportation Town Hall on April 14, at 6:00 PM. We expect the LA Department of Transportation to explain their reasoning behind their recently posted survey regarding Bike Lights and Restricted Turns on 4th Street at Highland and Rossmore. Make your voice heard! AGAIN!Join the meeting at this Zoom link. https://zoom.us/j/96677001434
Local residents have a long history of fighting what was once called the 4th Street Bike Boulevard, over mistaken fears of increased traffic and difficulty of emergency vehicles getting through.
The reality is that the changes would eliminate cut-through traffic, while allowing continued emergency access.
And likely increase property values, too.
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Pasadena is looking for input on safety improvements for the segment of North Lake Ave directly above the 210 Freeway, which can certainly use it.
Twitter post
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.
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Leimert Park talks electric mobility, including ebikes, on Thursday.
Twitter post
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Nice to see some overdue attention to a long marginalized segment of the bicycling community.
I’ve heard far too many tales of people size shamed at their local bike shop or by other riders.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Las Gatos police are looking for the racist bike rider who shoved a 40-year-old Filipina medical worker to the ground without warning as she walked along a sidewalk, then shouted “Go back to (expletive) China.” Seriously, there’s no excuse for that. Ever. And not just mistaking someone from the Philippines for a person from China.
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Local
The Los Angeles City Council will consider resolutions in support of state legislation allowing bicyclists to treat stops as yields, and state and federal bills to provide up to $1,500 in ebike tax credits at Tuesday’s virtual council meeting.
This is who we share the road with. A Portland man faces a hate crime charge, as well as attempted assault, reckless driving and unlawful use of a weapon charges, for attempting to run down another driver after yelling a racist slur, in what may or may not have started as a road rage incident.
In Florida, drivers don’t even have to be alive to hurt a bike rider. A speeding driver was killed after losing control and smashing into a tree; the car then careened on to hit someone riding a bike, who had to be flown for emergency care.
French pro Nacer Bouhanni insists he’s not a thug after slamming Britain’s Jake Stewart into the barriers during a mad sprint to the finish at the one-day Cholet-Pays de la Loire last week, even though he faces a potential ban for dangerous sprinting. Is it just me, or does his “I’m not a thug!” sound a little too reminiscent of Nixon’s “I am not a crook!”?
March 29, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Fugitive driver cops plea for 7 years in 2017 hit-and-run, and drugged driver busted in Moorpark hit-and-run
Chan had to be extradited from Australia to face charges after originally fleeing to Hong Kong, and having her badly damaged car repaired and stored in Idaho in an attempted coverup.
Rodriguez died at the scene after he was dragged 600 feet — the length of two city blocks — underneath Chan’s car.
Seven years isn’t anywhere near enough for a cruel and heartless crime like that. Especially since she’ll likely do less than half of that before being released.
But it’s the max she could get under California’s weak hit-and-run laws.
Marco Martinez was being held in Ventura County jail on suspicion of felony hit and run, and DUI, as well as possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia.
Although the unnamed victim may have been more seriously injured than the story suggests, since minor injuries would only merit a misdemeanor hit-and-run charge under California’s weak hit-and-run laws.
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If you’ve never had the chance to meet, or at least listen to, CicLAvia’s Tafarai Bayne, you’re missing out on one of Southern California’s leading voices for bicycle and social equity.
Sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
One of America’s most wanted men is one of us. US Marshals believe Lester Eubanks, aka Victor Young, may still be living in Los Angeles nearly 50 years after the convicted child killer escaped from an Ohio penitentiary; his ex-boss says he rode his bike to work every day when he worked at a Gardena waterbed factory.
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Local
Pez Cycling Newstalks with LA’s Phil Gaimon, whose cycling career has flourished after he retired from the pro tour. Which is usually not the way it works.
Life is really cheap in Milwaukee, where a killer driver walked with two years probation for taking the life of a man riding his bike — while driving with a suspended license, no less. What the hell is wrong with the judge and prosecutor when they can’t even manage a slap on the wrist for someone who wasn’t even supposed to be on the damn road in the first place?
More on the Montauk NY woman who faces up to 25 years behind bars after pleading guilty to running down a man riding his bike home from work, while she was drunk and speeding at nearly twice the legal limit, with coke in her system.
A Florida TV station showed an incredible lack of basic human decency by posting security cam video of a bike rider getting run over a driver, which left the victim severely injured. I’m only linking to this to condemn the station for showing the full video without editing or blurring out the crash. I can’t recommend watching the video because you can’t unsee it; I wish I hadn’t. And I can only imagine the pain it will cause friends and family members of the victim.
Two-thirds of the Bora-Hansgrohe team was quarantined when British cyclist Matt Walls was diagnosed with Covid-19, meaning the team will miss out on both the Ghent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen one-day classics; needless to say, the team manager was not pleased.
Cycling Tipsremembers Belgian pro Antoine Demoitié five years after he was killed in a collision with a motorbike rider, just six months after he married a woman he’d known since they were both 14.
March 28, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Irwindale woman killed in drunken hit-and-run early Saturday; 8th fatal SoCal bicycling hit-and-run this year
Yet another Southern California bike rider has been killed by a cowardly drunken driver who lacked the basic human decency to stick around after the crash.
There’s no word on how the crash happened, or whether she had lights or reflectors on her bike in the late night darkness.
Twenty-one-year-old La Puente resident Adrian Ortega was arrested by West Covina cops shortly afterwards in the area of Francisquito and Sunset Avenues, after officers spotted evidence connecting him to the crime.
At last report, he was still being held on $100,000 bond, on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving and hit-and-run.
A street view shows a four lane roadway with no bike lanes or shoulder, with the San Gabriel River Trail visible in the background.
At that hour, it’s unlikely there would have been anything to keep drivers from exceeding the posted speed limit.
This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Shamefully, over half of those deaths have been hit-and-runs — as have all three bicycling deaths in LA County.
March 11, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Street racing drivers walk in death of bike rider, video of fatal North Hills hit-and-run, and killer Lambo driver’s dad says sorry
Apparently, life is still cheap in the Inland Empire.
Sadly, the life of a Mexican immigrant who came to this country to fulfill his dream of becoming a pro cyclist didn’t seem to matter compared to that of the politically connected high school student who ended his.
His killer got away with just 90 days behind bars, and went on to play college soccer, thanks to a judge and DA who didn’t seem to want to jeopardize a promising young life just because he carelessly snuffed out another.
Now another judge, in nearby Riverside County, said hold my beer, and let a second pair of killer road-racing drivers walk without a single day behind bars.
The drivers, both in their early 20s, were allegedly street racing when Quiroz swerved into the Cathedral City bike lane Campbell was riding in, sending him cartwheeling 150 feet through the air in what was initially reported as a case of road rage.
Never mind that neither driver seemed to think the crash was worth sticking around for afterwards.
For reasons known only to them, Riverside County prosecutors alleged it was a case of hit-and-run, but never bothered to file the appropriate charges for fleeing the scene.
Which allowed both men to walk with just two years probation and 180 days work release, courtesy of an overly lenient judge.
But at least they won’t be allowed to drive for those two years.
And in a case of poetic, if not actual, justice, they’ll have to complete 180 hours of community service building bike paths in the Coachella Valley.
None of which will bring Campbell back to his friends and loved ones.
And all of which should serve as a warning to bike riders not to expect anything resembling justice in the Inland Empire.
Thanks to Victor Bale and Phillip Young for the heads-up.
The video shows him crossing with the light, with his killer appearing to turn left off Sepulveda directly into him, then continuing on without stopping.
Regardless of what investigators originally implied about Vera possibly riding the wrong way, he clearly rode off the sidewalk into the crosswalk.
The actual impact on this video is hidden by a car stopped waiting for the light. But as always, be sure you really want to see it before you click play.
Twitter post
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On Tuesday, we reposted a comment from a Reddit user accusing a wealthy father of using his money and influence to protect his Lamborghini-driving son, who was allegedly driving at a high rate of speed when he slammed into a woman’s car in LA’s Westwood neighborhood last month.
Thirty-two-year old Monique Munoz died when her car was totaled by the 17-year old driver; her father questioned why anyone would trust someone so young with a sports car capable of doing 190 mph.
His father, James Khuri, released this statement on Instagram yesterday.
“I am aware that the time it has taken me to communicate this has caused further pain for everyone affected. Knowing that this will never do justice for the family of Monique Munoz, I want to apologize to the Munoz family for the tragic loss of their daughter. There are no words I can say to alleviate the pain that you are experiencing. And I realize none of my words or actions will be able to bring back your daughter.
Still, I want to offer my support in any way you will allow me to. My family and I pray for the Munoz family.”
He certainly said the right things. But what happens next will tell how sincere he really is.
Making matters worse, after an hours-long standoff in which sheriff’s deputies fired numerous pepper balls into the car, a door finally opened, only to see the woman’s nine-year old daughter ran to the safety of a deputy deployed nearby.
Which raises the question of what kind of mother would do any of that with her child in the car, let alone what kind of driver.
Thanks to Larry Kawalec for the link.
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Stop wasting parking lots on cars.
Twitter post
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Why settle for a Slow Street when it can be an art exhibit, too?
Santa Monica is fighting the trend of bike-banning Orange County beach cities by approving the use of ebikes on the beach bike path; the city is also requesting bids for a second shared mobility provider.
The victim was riding south in the crosswalk on Sepulveda Blvd at Roscoe Blvd when he was struck by a driver headed east on Roscoe.
He died at the scene before paramedics could arrive.
The driver continued without stopping, leaving his victim to die in the street.
There’s no word on who had the right-of-way on the signalized intersection or how fast the driver was going. Or whether the victim had the required lights and reflectors on his bike in the early morning darkness.
Police are looking for a dark-colored 2007-2011 Toyota Camry; there’s no description given for the heartless coward behind the wheel.
Anyone with information is urged to call 818/644-8022. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
This is at least the 13th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County, as well as the second in the City of LA.
Shamefully, seven of those 13 deaths have been hit-and-runs — as have both of the bicycling deaths in Los Angeles.
He was rushed to a local hospital, where he died just 35 minutes later.
No word on whether the crash was reported right away, or how long he may have been lying there before he was discovered. Or if any delay in receiving treatment may have contributed to his death.
However, no one ordered a similar review when a 32-year old homeless man, identified as Jonathan Valbuena, was killed in a hit-and-run a few miles north on the same deadly corridor.
America’s first congestion pricing plan could get the go ahead now that the former Mayor Pete is heading the Department of Transportation, clearing the way for New York’s proposed program. Which could bode well for Los Angeles — if local leaders have the courage to move forward with Metro’s congestion pricing proposal.
Duran died at the scene. There’s no word on just how long he had to lay there, alone and bleeding, before someone saw him.
Police arrested 28-year old Mark Bravo of Indio on Wednesday; he’s being held on $75,000 bond on a single count of felony hit-and-run.
If there was any justice, he’d face a second degree murder charge for allegedly leaving his victim there to die; there’s no way of knowing if Duran could have survived if he’d gotten help sooner.
This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
February 1, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 2nd driver charged in double hit-and-run death of two young brothers, and US bike deaths may have dropped in 2020
One quick note before we get started.
Almost a year ago, just before the world went to hell, the LA Times did a story about the foster corgi we took in to help a homeless man get back on his feet.
This weekend they did a followup story, with an update how man and dog are doing and the ripple effect it had on everyone, my wife and I included.
Along with the corgi puppy we adopted last summer.
Eleven-year old Mark Iskander and his eight-year old brother Jacob were crossing the street with their parents in a marked and well-lighted crosswalk when they were run down, one on his bicycle and the other on a scooter.
It easily could have been worse. Their parents were able to jump back with the boys’ younger siblings at the last second, barely sparing the family from being wiped out entirely.
And yet the 51-year old Erickson, who had a one-year stint with the Dodgers, faces a single lousy count of misdemeanor reckless driving.
Did I mention that both drivers are in their 50s, and should have effing known better?
Maybe prosecutors can explain their charging decision in this one, because it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense to me.
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The good news is bicycling deaths may — repeat, may — have dropped last year, from an obscene 857 in 2018, and 846 in 2019, to 697 last year.
Or rather, all the deaths they’re aware of; there are undoubtedly more that never crossed their radar, for whatever reason.
Of those, slightly more than 80% were men, and over a quarter of the victims were killed in hit-and-runs.
No surprise on either count. Especially not the latter, which tracks very closely with what we’ve seen here in Southern California.
And sadly, no surprise that far too many of those deaths occurred here in California.
Louisiana, New York, California, Florida, and Texas were the five deadliest states for cyclists in terms of total fatalities. The latter three have been the most deadly states for cyclists for years, and New York’s fatalities have been on the rise as well—in 2019, it reported 46 cyclist deaths, with 29 in New York City alone. While these three states are also the most populous in the country, Florida and California have among the most cycling deaths per million people, as well. And Louisiana recorded 7.3 cycling deaths per million people, the most of any state. Louisiana’s total fatal crash numbers have remained in the twenties and thirties for the past five years, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
No surprise that those deaths may have been driven in part by last year’s bike boom, either.
Though it’s too early to be certain, the cycling boom that took place after the COVID-19 lockdown orders may have contributed to the summer death rate. From January through November, $4.9 billion worth of bikes were sold in the U.S., according to the NPD Group. In Los Angelesand Houston alone, Strava found approximately a 100 percent increase in cycling trips in both cities in May 2020 compared to May 2019. More cyclists on the road seemed to correlate with more people on bikes being killed by drivers.
You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in the UK, where a road raging driver was fined the equivalent of a lousy $549 for a fist-shaking punishment pass that caused a 68-year old man to fall off his bike, suffering life-changing injuries. But hey, at least he won’t be able to drive for a whole six months.
But sometimes, it’s the person on two wheels behaving badly.
Carlsbad police busted a suspected drunken hit-and-run driver who ran down a bike-riding woman from Arizona; at last report, the 65-year old woman was unconscious with serious injuries.
He gets it. A Salt Lake City columnist says bike riders have a right to be safe in traffic. And that’s why he supports a bill that would legalize the Idaho Stop in Utah, even if people on bicycles will still have to be alert, because too many drivers aren’t.
No bias here. Florida cops fall over themselves to absolve a killer hit-and-run driver of responsibility, saying he knew he hit something, but didn’t know it was a person on a bicycle. Because apparently, it’s just too much to expect someone to get out of his car to see what the hell he hit hard enough to cause front end damage.
More on the British man who responded to the death of his brother and a diagnosis of stage 4 cancer by riding from the UK to Beijing on a tandem, sharing the other seat with people he met along the way.
I want to be like him when I grow up. After getting tired of people laughing at him, an 83-year old Pakistani man rode his bike over 1,100 miles to prove age is just a number; he’s been riding since buying his first bicycle 66 years ago.
An enterprising 15-year old Indian boy is too young to legally ride a Vespa-style scooter, so he turned his bicycle into one.
Fortune favored the Dutch in this year’s cyclocross worlds, as 31-year old Lucinda Brand and 26-year old Mathieu Van der Poel took the women’s and men’s elite titles. Riders from the Netherlands took four of the top five places in the women’s race, and two of the top five on the men’s side; the only American to finish in the top five in either race was Clara Honsinger, who placed 4th in the women’s race.
