Tag Archive for hit-and-run

Morning Links: More NTSB bike helmet fallout, OC bike rider dies after hit-and-run, and the wise really do ride bikes

November 11, 2019 / / 3 comments

Let’s start by wishing a happy Veterans Day to everyone who has served their country to help keep the rest of us safe.

Cycling Weekly considers how military training can make you a better bicyclist.

And hundreds of bike-riding military vets, many disabled, were expected to roll through Las Vegas this Veterans Day weekend as part of Project Hero to call attention to the problem of suicide among veterans.

Let’s hope that one day veterans will finally get the care they need to come all the way home.

Artwork by VintageBlue from Pixabay.

………

The fallout over the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for mandatory helmet laws continued over the weekend.

NACTO told the NTSB not so fast on calling for mandatory helmet laws, saying building safe places to ride a bike will keep people safer than making everyone wear a helmet; you can read their full statement here.

Sonoma’s Press Democrat begged to differ, however, saying requiring helmets for all bike riders of any age would save lives. Although more than a few studies have suggested the opposite is true.

An automotive website notes that not one state currently mandates all bicyclists have to wear helmets.

And bike riders aren’t sold on the idea, either.

………

Just learned that OC bike rider Virgil Lemus Garcia died last month, two days after being critically injured by a hit-and-run driver.

Unfortunately, there was no follow-up story in the news, and no coroner’s report since he died in the hospital.

We’ll post our story later today.

Thanks to Bill Sellin for the heads-up.

………

Don’t give drivers the bird.

Especially it’s on your handlebars.

https://twitter.com/Hoshikazu123/status/1192350304123015168

Clearly, any owl that rides a bike really is wise.

………

Cute video from pro stunt cyclist Cam McCaul, as he goes for a bike ride with his adorable daughters, and takes a spin around a bike park with his three-year old on his bike.

But thankfully saves the back flips for when he’s riding solo.

………

When a bike gets too old to ride, you can still use it to hold your burger and beer.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A Stanford student was the victim of a hate crime when a white woman pushed a woman of Asian descent off her bicycle, then stood over her on the street and called her an ethnic slur before walking away.

The owners of a Portland bikini coffee shop face charges after a road rage incident involving a group of bicyclists in front of their shop; after one of the riders didn’t take kindly to being yelled at, one the men got out of their car carrying a hammer, punched one man, then knocked a phone out of a woman’s hand before punching her out cold.

The New York Post claims that in four years, the city’s war on cars has claimed 6,100 parking spaces. On the other hand, it’s also claimed the live of 39 people riding bicycles over the same period. So which side is losing?

Yet another British man has been pushed off his bicycle by someone in a passing vehicle; this time the victim was a 72-year old grandfather.

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

A man on a bicycle could face attempted murder charges for shooting two homeless people with a bow and arrow in the East Bay city of Richmond CA; the victims are in stable condition following surgery.

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Local

Michael over at CLR Effect questions whether officials on La Verne are just yanking our chains by failing to paint the promised bike lanes after Baseline Road was repaved, and restriped for every other purpose. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

 

State

The former mayor of Encinitas wears her windshield bias on her sleeve, concluding that a road diet on the coast highway is a bad idea because only around 300 people in the city ride their bikes to work. So apparently, all those people who ride their bikes to school, for errands or shopping, or for recreation and exercise through the city don’t exist. Or maybe just don’t count in her book.

Horrible story from Mead Valley, where a woman was mauled by a pair of pit bulls as she walked her bicycle; police also found the badly decomposed body of the dogs’ owner when they checked their home.

Bad news from San Francisco, where a woman suffered life-threatening injuries when she was collateral damage after another driver hit a car and swerved into her. Note to KRON-4 — yes, the vehicles stayed at the scene. But only because the people driving them did.

A Bay Area pedestrian advocacy group has started a Slow Our Streets campaign to call for reduced speed limits, speed bumps and better traffic enforcement to protect the lives of people walking or riding a bike.

This is who we share the roads with. A Marin County woman will face a handful of charges for killing a woman on a bicycle last year, after investigators presented evidence that she was drunk and possibly impaired by cannabis and a medication to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder, and had been texting moments before the crash.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a man was killed when he was run down from behind by an SUV. Yet somehow, the city’s CBS station manages to get through the entire story without mentioning that the SUV may have had a driver.

 

National

Good advice. Bike Snob says don’t try to fix your bike when there’s nothing wrong with it.

A new study from BYU says yes, an ebike gives you a real workout, but it doesn’t feel like one.

Skip the recovery drink after your next ride, and just grab a cold one.

A New Mexico man looks back on earning ride patches in the early days of the League of American Wheelmen, long before the group changed its name to the League of American Bicyclists and transformed in to the advocacy group better known as the Bike League.

An Arkansas man is likely to go away for a very long time; in addition to a felony bike theft charge, he faces ten years for violating probation for burning down a barn, and another ten for not updating his registration as a sex offender after getting kicked out of a halfway house.

Wouldn’t a better term for an “interactive live mannequin” pedaling in the window of a Wisconsin bike shop be a person riding a stationary bike?

After Chicago suffers its third bicycling death of the year, the Chicago Tribune calls on the city’s drivers to start seeing people on bicycles.

A Illinois man has earned the title Bike Man by saving over 3,000 broken bikes from the junk heap and repairing them to give to people in need.

A new sculpture in Auburn NY will honor former slave and Underground Railroad founder Harriet Tubman with bicycles depicting different aspects of her life.

Evidently, public shaming motivates police departments, too. Streetsblog reports the NYPD was motivated to hold a reckless driver who crashed into a bike rider accountable, but only after they asked cops about a viral video showing the crash.

The carnage continues on the streets of New York, where 25-year old professional wrestler Matt Travis became the 28th person to be killed riding a bike in the city this year when he was struck by a dump truck driver making an illegal turn.

We already knew New Orleans Saints QB Teddy Bridgewater is one of us; now he’s thanking the people who unexpectedly fixed his bike so he didn’t have to walk to Sunday’s game.

 

International

The Financial Post considers how former Microsoft star J Allard developed the 529 Garage app, and worked with police in Vancouver to cut bike theft by 40% in four years.

Toronto’s Globe and Mail wants to know what Canadian officials are doing about distracted driving, calling it as dangerous as DUI was decades ago.

This is who we share the roads with, part two. Police in Ontario fined a semi driver $615 for weaving all over the road while he was watching TV behind the wheel.

A London cartoonist offers his view of bicycling in the city. I particularly like his take on the urban peloton and the reality of city cycling.

The New York Times takes a deep dive in the bicycling world of Copenhagen, where the only traffic congestion is on two wheels, and even the dead ride bikes.

A Ugandan-born man won Sweden’s 2019 Environmental Innovator of the Year Award for offering tours of Stockholm on Greek-made wooden bicycles.

While most of Europe is moving forward with creating bike lanes and space for people, Madrid is in retreat.

An Aussie teacher and mother of two has traded her car for a bicycle and pledged not to even set foot in a car for the next year.

 

Competitive Cycling

It was a close call for 52-year old Italian great Mario Cipollini, who was lucky to survive a major heart problem thanks to a five hour surgery; now he faces charges for pointing a gun at his ex-wife.

Another trans woman has been subjected to online harassment after winning a bike race; fixed-gear racer Evelyn Sifton said no one cared when she finished in 20th or 30th place, but only when she finally won one.

 

Finally…

Using a bicycle as an anchor to weigh down a body may not be its best use. Any bike cartoons that feature Santa Claus and a corgi can’t be all bad.

And James Bond is one of us. No, not that one. Not him, either. Nope, not that guy. Or the other guy, for that matter.

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Thanks to Felicia G for being the first person to donate to this year’s BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, before it even started. 

The annual fund drive won’t officially launch until Thanksgiving, but the page is already active in case anyone else wants to get a head start on it. 

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

Morning Links: $25,000 reward as hit-and-run epidemic claims another victim, and the war on bikes just keeps on going

November 7, 2019 / / 2 comments

One quick note.

A number of people have forwarded stories this week after they were already mentioned on here. 

So if you don’t see them here, that’s the reason why. 

But thank you all anyway.

I’d much rather get stories we’ve already discussed than risk missing out on some good ones we haven’t. 

Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels.

………

The hit-and-run epidemic just keeps claiming more victims.

This time it’s a pedestrian in DTLA, who was run down by a speeding, red light-running driver who plowed right into him as he was crossing the street in a crosswalk.

Fortunately, the victim, a 27-year old man, survived.

As always, there is a standing reward for any hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1192267851744169984

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1192268128291409920

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A New York bike rider says he was chased onto a park path by a driver who intentionally tried to run him over and drove off with the bikeshare bike he had been riding. Then the cops took an hour and a half to get there — and refused to take the incident seriously once they did.

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Local

Santa Monica says over the past year, nearly half of the bikeshare and dockless scooter trips taken in the city replaced car trips.

 

State

California legislators are looking into what the state’s role should in in regulating micromobility and bikeshare. It would certainly help speed the growth of both if providers didn’t have to deal with a mishmash of regulations that vary drastically from one city to another.

The San Luis Obispo sheriff’s department is looking for unused or unloved bicycles that can be refurbished for their annual Christmas bike giveaway.

A writer for a Fresno college newspaper says the only downside to riding a bike is the risk of getting killed by a distracted driver.

Streetsblog says the problem isn’t that San Francisco isn’t working on street safety improvements, it’s that the improvements aren’t working.

More sad news from Santa Rosa, where a 79-year old man was killed when his bike was rear-ended by a 74-year old driver; he’s the second bike rider killed in the city in just two days.

Sacramento is planning to triple the amount of parking-protected bike lanes in the downtown area, up to 93 blocks from the current 29.

 

National

An investigative news site takes a dive into the state of bicycling in the US, and concludes it’s stuck in first gear. Or maybe we only have one gear over here.

Strava’s move to a new web-based platform makes their urban riding data more available to smaller cities.

A Canadian paper wonders whether Seattle’s dockless ebike system could represent the future of bikeshare systems.

A mistrial was called in the case of a 64-year old charged with killing a 75-year old bike rider while driving stoned, after he attempted to kill himself the first day he was scheduled to appear in court.

A pair of Idaho men decided they wanted to learn more about the environment around Yellowstone National Park, so they spent two weeks riding 1,200 miles in a loop around the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.

New laws in Oklahoma require a driver to move into the left lane to pass a bike rider, or give a three-foot passing distance on two lane roads; another allows bicyclists to ride through a red light after stopping if the light doesn’t change.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Michigan man plans to mark his 80th birthday by riding his bike across the US for the fifth time; he previously took the journey when he was 38, 50, 60 and 70.

This is who we share the roads with. A Rhode Island driver was still stoned and over two and a half times the legal alcohol limit several hours after running down two separate bike riders; one of his victims is still in a rehab facility over five weeks after the crash.

The New York Times provides a very belated obituary for the legendary Annie Kopchovsky, aka Annie Londonderry, who left her husband and three children behind in Boston to become, more or less, the first woman to ride a bicycle around the world in the 1890s.

New York’s incoming police commissioner likes the idea of mandating bike helmet use, though the city’s mayor is less sure, even though he called for that himself earlier this year. And even though he doesn’t wear one himself.

A Virginia business executive says lessons learned from bicycling will make you a better leader and colleague.

Charleston SC bike riders will soon get a standalone bike and pedestrian bridge over the Ashley River after the city received an $18.1 million federal grant.

 

International

Pink Bike rides and rates ten of the best handlebar-mounted bike lights, while British Cycling suggests grabbing a good one and going trail riding in the dark.

I want to be like him when I grow up, too. An 82-year old man is the first person in Britain known to have ridden his bike one million miles in his lifetime, and has the records to prove it; he still rides 25 miles every other day. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

An Australian court was told a Dutch couple’s dreams were shattered when a stoned driver traveling at twice the speed limit in a stolen SUV slammed into the young woman as she rode her bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

American national road champ Ruth Winder nearly didn’t make it to this year’s race after developing an eating disorder that resulted in low energy availability and menstrual dysfunction.

American Peter Stetina is walking away from the WorldTour to focus on gravel racing and ultra-endurance mountain biking.

VeloNews says the great thing about the Amgen Tour of California was the way it allowed domestic riders to battle against the sports biggest stars.

Who needs the Tour of California when you’ve got brakeless, foot-dragging, single-speed racing on a short, flat dirt track, and sponsored by a distillery?

A Canadian woman broke her own record in a 24-hour time trial in Borrego Springs, California, covering 460 miles; the top men’s finisher managed 540 miles.

 

Finally…

At last, an ebike that doesn’t look like one. If you’re out to egg cop cars, maybe not wearing a mask would make the police less suspicious.

And nothing like riding nearly 600 miles in 24 hours without going anywhere.

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

Santa Ana man killed by hit-and-run driver — ninth fatal SoCal bike hit-and-run in past two months

November 4, 2019 / / 3 comments

Enough!

Southern California bike riders are being left to die in the streets by heartless, murderous drivers at an ever increasing rate.

Nearly half of the twenty people who’ve died riding bicycles in the past two months have been killed by cowardly hit-and-run drivers, who refused to stop and render aid as required by law.

Or had the basic human decency to call for help, rather than leave another person suffering alone in the last moments of their life.

The latest hit-and-run victim lost his life early this morning in Santa Ana.

According to multiple sources, a man was found lying in the street next to a heavily damaged bicycle on the 300 block of Newhope Street near the Iglesia De La Comunidad chapel around three this morning.

KTLA-5 reports the victim, identified only as a 52-year old man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The street has buffered bike lanes in both directions, though it’s not clear if the victim was riding in them. Police say alcohol played a factor, suggesting they believe he victim was under the influence, since the driver remains unknown.

There’s no description of the suspect vehicle, except that should have front-end damage.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8208 or 714/245-8200.

This is at least the 64 bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Twenty-one of those deaths have been the result of hit-and-runs, including nine of the 20 bike riders killed since September 3rd.

Update: The Orange County Coroner has identified the victim as 52-year old Santa Ana resident Daniel Martinez. 

Thanks to Bill Sellin for the heads-up.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Daniel Martinez and his loved ones.

 

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

Morning Links: Owner of Silver Lake hit-and-run car not talking, Solis honors fallen riders, and Ramona hit-and-run prelim

November 4, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Owner of Silver Lake hit-and-run car not talking, Solis honors fallen riders, and Ramona hit-and-run prelim

We mentioned this last week, but it’s worth a reminder. 

The first Monday after Daylight Savings Time ends is often among the most dangerous traffic days of the year. 

Drivers are still adjusting to the time change and the early darkness on their drive home. 

So ride with extra care today, and for the next few days.

And if you’re riding home after dark, put some damn lights on your bike, already.

………

The car that was allegedly used in the Silver Lake hit-and-run that left a homeless bike rider severely injured is owned by a woman who works for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

The owner of a Glendale auto body shop saw video of the crash, and contacted police after recognizing the car as one he had in his shop; the owner had brought it in claiming she found it vandalized when she got up the next morning.

Unfortunately, she refuses to cooperate with investigators and tell them who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

Which means the investigation could be stymied unless police can find a witness or other evidence to show who was driving.

That’s just one more way the law needs to be changed.

In the event of a crash or some other event, the owner of the car should be presumed to be driving, unless they can show that someone else was behind the wheel.

………

She gets it.

Thanks to LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis for recognizing the victims of traffic violence with a Dia de los Muertos altar and ghost bike at Grand Park over the weekend.

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A preliminary hearing will be held tomorrow for the alleged hit-and-run driver who critically injured a Ramona woman riding her bike to work last month.

Thirty-four-year old Ramona resident Chase Richard faces up to nine years behind bars on charges of hit-and-run with death or permanent serious injury, and hit-and-run with injury.

He’s currently being held on $2.5 million bail.

His alleged victim, 53-year-old Ramona resident Michelle Scott, remains in a coma with few signs of brain activity over a month after the crash, although she is breathing on her own after being taken off a ventilator.

………

Evidently, Orson Welles wasn’t a big fan of cars.

https://twitter.com/BrooklynSpoke/status/1190361787134283777

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A road raging Irish driver was fined the equivalent of $500 and banned from driving for two years for crushing a bicycle with his car, then backing up and driving over it again, because the rider asked politely to get past him at a red light.

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Local

One bit of very good news today. Roberto Diaz, the then-15-year old South LA boy who was critically injured when he was struck on his bike by a red light-running driver, and dragged 1,500 feet under his car, was finally released from the hospital after three months and a dozen surgeries.

A new street safety group will meet on Saturday the 16th to discuss how to pedestrianize Hollywood Blvd, starting from La Brea to Highland.

Justin Bieber is one of us, as he flashes his tatts riding his bike through Beverly Hills, with an IV still attached.

 

State

A San Diego man will spend the next six years behind bars for beating a 57-year old man to death, who tried using a bicycle to defend himself.

The San Diego Padres — the only major San Diego pro sport team that hasn’t moved to LA yet — will host their annual Pedal for the Cause bike ride to raise funds for local cancer research.

Sad news from Santa Cruz, where a man was killed after his bike somehow went off a cliff.

A San Francisco op-ed says a proposed tax on Uber and Lyft rides won’t work, and will only justify their drivers bad behavior. Like blocking bike lanes.

No bias here. A Marin columnist calls a new protected bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge a boondoggle even before it opens, saying his paper will be counting rush hour bike riders to prove it doesn’t work.

 

National

No, riding an ebike isn’t cheating. But it could put your car out of work.

Omaha, Nebraska considers changing the law to clarify that bike lanes aren’t parking lanes.

A San Antonio, Texas op-ed says it may seem counterintuitive, but if you want less gridlock, reduce road capacity.

They get it, too. Bike riders in Stillwater OK complain that a driver who injured a bicyclist wasn’t ticket for violating the three-foot passing law, saying it would be nice if the city recognized “bicyclists as people that are trying to get from point A to point B just like people in the car.”

A 38-year old Illinois woman with cerebral palsy is still enjoying her freedom on the adult tricycle her uncle built for her 26 years ago.

New York’s bicycle death toll rises to 27 — nearly three times the ten riders killed last year — when an 87-year old man died a day after he was hit by a speeding driver; naturally, the NYPD blamed the victim, even though witnesses said he wasn’t at fault. Some accounts put the city’s bike death toll at 25, after bizarrely excluding two people killed riding ebikes.

Evidently, those “virtually theft-proof” Van Moof ebikes aren’t so theft-proof after all, as New York police are looking for the owner after recovering one a thief was using an electric grinder to make off with.

Gothamist says this could be the beginning of the end for free parking in NYC.

Baton Rouge LA opens a key link in a planned 13-mile bike and pedestrian trail around the city.

A pair of Florida bike riders say they were arrested for running stop signs, although the local sheriff insists that’s not the whole story.

 

International

Road.cc looks at the stats, and concludes we’re not the demons some drivers insist on insisting we are.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a ghost bike for a fallen Canadian bike rider.

A British police investigator somehow concluded that a bike rider who collided with a 79-year old pedestrian as he stepped into the street was doing a remarkable 38 mph at the moment of impact. Even though his Strava account says he was just doing 18.

A ten-year old Edinburgh boy starts an anti-bullying campaign after he was attacked and beaten by a group of older boys, who stole his bicycle.

Evidently, bike thieves start young in Scotland, where a toddler makes off with a balance bike from his daycare, then tries to convince his grandmother he bought it on Amazon.

Cycling Tips offers advice from a Melbourne, Australia psychologist on how to keep riding your bike after you become a father. Or a mother, presumably.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says there were a lot of problems that led to the demise of next year’s Amgen Tour of California, but a new state law requiring gender pay equity wasn’t one of them.

American pro Peter Stetina says everyone wanted to compete in the AToC, just to race in California. But the race won’t be finishing at the Rose Bowl again any time soon.

 

Finally…

Remember, only one person on a bike. If you’re going for a bike ride, don’t forget your shades — no matter how many legs you have.

And nothing says fall like a jack-o-lantern protected bike lane.

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

Morning Links: Molina Silver Lake hit-and-run car found, biking the civil rights road, and LADOT rolls out the unwelcome mat

October 31, 2019 / / One comment

The search goes on.

KCBS-2/KCAL-9 talks with 57-year old David Molina, the homeless man who was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver in Silver Lake last week.

Molina remains hospitalized with a broken leg, broken arm and fractured spine.

Meanwhile, the LAPD is still looking for the heartless coward who sped away without stopping, leaving Molina bleeding in the street.

They have found the car, but need to identify who was behind the wheel. And the owner isn’t helping.

Which doesn’t seem suspicious at all, does it?

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1189681943597596673

And yes, the $25,000 reward remains outstanding. So if you know anything, it could pay to come forward.

Literally.

Screen grab of LAPD security video via KCBS-2/KCAL-9.

………

Here’s today’s must read.

A white Baptist minister takes part in a 150-mile bike ride from Montgomery to Birmingham “through some of the most hallowed and blood-soaked ground of the Civil Rights Movement.”

On the way, he contemplates civil rights and white privilege, and the necessity of moving “from not-racist to anti-racist.”

It’s a troubling and powerful piece.

And must have been even more powerful to experience.

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Let’s do better, folks.

People with limited eyesight and other physical disabilities need clear sidewalks to get around safely.

And almost out of the way just isn’t good enough.

https://twitter.com/may_gun/status/1189622499429900288

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

UK police are looking for a pair of motorists who forced a bike rider off the road by passing too close.

After a close pass from a driver forces a bicyclist into the back of a car parked in a Malta bike lane, leaving him fighting for his life, all some callous people cared about was whether he was going to pay for damage to the car.

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

A Vancouver bike rider gets offended when another rider runs a stop sign, so he tweets that he hates cyclists and wishes the guy had gotten clipped by a car. Then gets offended when people who ride bikes get offended.

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Local

Once again, LADOT rolls out the unwelcome mat for people on bikes.

 

State

An opinion piece in the New York Times says the refusal of Californians to live sustainably means the end of the state as we know it.

San Diego County creates a program allowing low-income residents to dump their gas guzzlers for cleaner options, including an ebike. Almost makes it worth moving down there again.

Speaking of San Diego, they’re considering becoming the latest city to ban cars from a busy street by converting eight blocks of Fifth Ave in the popular Gaslamp District to a pedestrian plaza. Your move, LA.

A Belmont hit-and-run victim reminds drivers to give bicyclists the three-foot passing distance required by law (scroll down).

An annual Los Altos event aims to keep used bikes out of landfills by asking residents to drop off their unloved bikes so volunteers can clean and fix them, and pass them on to people who need one.

 

National

A writer for Slate says self-driving cars and hyperloops aren’t the future of transportation, but bicycles and buses are. And elevators.

Scientific American says a few algorithms could make bikeshare more efficient.

Fox Business takes a look at five smart locks to help you hold onto your bike.

Outside recommends gear to make a cold bike commute more bearable. Most of which has little or nothing to do with the temperature outside.

Sad story, as a survivor of the New York bike path terrorist attack says she still feels lost and guilty for surviving when others died, two years after the Halloween attack. 

DC bike riders spread out across the river, and use an app to count over 300 bike lane violations by Arlington VA drivers in just five hours.

Tampa FL officials promise a new crosstown cycle track will transform transportation in the city once it’s finished.

 

International

Now that’s a close call. A Scottish driver is caught on bike cam pulling away from the curb without looking, barely missing the bike rider next to him.

Slovakia bans handheld cellphones, and limits bicyclists to a BAC of .05.

There’s something seriously wrong with people who find amusement in watching a Singapore bike rider slam into the back of a car, whose driver stopped short in front of him.

 

Competitive Cycling

More on next year’s “hiatus” of the Amgen Tour of California.

Britain’s looking for more success in Olympic track cycling next year with a new bike built by Lotus to be as light and aero as possible.

 

Finally…

Fleeing from police when riding your bike drunk only makes you look more suspicious.

 

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

Guest Post: Hit-and-run driver Mehta walks despite showing no remorse, plus updates on other recent stories

October 30, 2019 / / 5 comments

We’re going to give our anonymous courtroom correspondent her own platform today.

Starting with an update in the case of 34-year old Medium contributor and author Pratiti Renee Mehta, who was re-sentenced for last year’s hit-and-run that left a bike rider seriously injured.

And yet another reminder of why people keep dying on our streets.

Two years.

Suspended, of course. ‘Cause she’s learned her lesson.

Upon her July conviction for all counts, Judge Julan Baliley sentenced Mehta to 3 years in State Prison. She left for her Chowchilla vacation almost immediately and was bussed back for her re-sentencing last week.

His Honor informed her that he’d sent her up the river in the hope that exposure to the element that fills our prisons would allow her to reflect on the person she wished to be. She did just that, observing her ilk from what little distance she could keep in such close quarters. According to her diagnostic assessment, she was a “model inmate” who did not create any disruptions during her brief stay.

She was allowed to address the court, and, through tears, expressed regret that she was unable to be present with her family, who experienced two deaths during her absence. She stated that she never wishes to experience incarceration again.

It is telling that she did not state that she never wants to harm an innocent human being with her car ever again, nor did she express regret for the permanent injury inflicted on that “bum” (direct quote from the post-collision texts collected as evidence).

Yup, she intimated that prison was unpleasant for her, but she never once referenced the extensive medical bills, physical pain, PTSD, permanent scars, loss of income, and limp she inflicted on her victim. Not to mention damaging the Peugeot her victim had bought in 1984.

Mehta’s assessment by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation psychologist  concludes that she is unlikely to reoffend. I agree, because she doesn’t wanna experience the hassle of mandatory court appearances, restitution, and incarceration. She won’t deliberately slam her Mercedes against another bum again, not because she gives a damn that others may suffer. Just because she might be affected by the repercussions, and it’s already been such a headache.

Frankly, Mehta lacks empathy. She’s not sorry for her victim; she’s just sorry she got caught.

Typically infuriating for these cases, she is required to sign away her Constitutionally protected right to possess firearms. Yet she is still allowed to drive. In fact, the Judge stated unambiguously that “I am taking no action against your driving privilege.” A driver who fails to use a turn signal will be sentenced to traffic school. But, gosh, all Mehta did was leave a guy lying in the street with his bone sticking out of his leg, and that’s not substantial enough to warrant remedial driver’s education. It might have been helpful if Judge Bailey had used his discretion to order Mehta to comlpete a Savvy Cycling class before returning her privilege to drive.

Also infuriating: Some hideous person left a comment on your blog about how horrible it is that poor li’l Pratiti’s career has been derailed because of all this inconvenience. Well, Mehta’s victim is a stage hand, a manual laborer whose ability to labor manually was taken away from him by her violent assault. To this day, he walks with a limp, and will probably never be 100% again. Although he’s working now, he lost lucrative, prestigious opportunities (plural) because he was unable to work during his physical rehabilitation. The commenter’s ignorance in suggesting that the victim shared fault is terrifying, and it’s disgusting to consider that Mehta associates with those who think this way and who might be able to influence her thoughts, especially since she is still allowed to continue to drive without any education.

In addition to time served (with credits for good behavior), the Judge sentenced Miss Mehta to 2 years in State Prison, suspended, for the felony hit and run count; 6 months in County Jail for the misdemeanor lyin’-to-the-cops count; and fines for the infraction of CVC 21070, “unsafe operation of a motor vehicle causing injury.” Count 4, CVC 21107 (“unsafe turn”), was dismissed.

Mehta will be on formal probation for the next three years. She will probably drive to report in for every appointment.

………

I recently wondered why a driver had been charged with murder for killing someone, which almost never done except in the case of repeated DUIs.

Here’s what she had to say.

Regarding murder charges. I spoke briefly with a random attorney in the courthouse hallway, and “implied malice” (the reasonable knowledge that an act is dangerous) is sufficient to file a charge of murder. “Express malice”  (“I’M GONNA KILL YOU, BITCH!”) makes it a lot easier to prosecute, but if you get reasonable jurors, a murder conviction is not just possible but likely.

This should be a giant duh, but murder is rarely sought in cases involving motor vehicles. Unless, of course, the driver is impaired, or if a threat has been expressed.

And conviction is never a sure bet, as in this case, which ended in acquittal, probably because of the, uh, questionable sobriety of one of the pilots. (This case was actually referenced by DA Cornwell in one of his filings in a vehicular manslaughter case a few years ago, which is why I looked it up.)

………

Yet another reason why people keep getting killed on our streets.

If nobody’s pointed it out yet: 10.4 miles of Vanowen Street is gettin’ a speed limit increase.

Not at the same Vanowen High Injury Network location where a crossing guard was killed at a yellow crosswalk and a HAWK beacon was installed last month. West of there. 10.4 miles, the longest stretch designated for an increase, all within a half mile or less of over twenty preschool and K-12 facilities. But at least those 10.4 miles don’t have many of those useless HAWK beacons. And only about 3 of the 10.4 miles are on the High Injury Network.

Good job, Vision Zero team!

………

That “wipeout” video you posted.

I recognized that Starbucks (and hideous Wells Fargo) instantly. That was my commute route for nearly 10 years.

Also, right where the video began, that’s where Michael Bastien was killed. (His killer’s already out, fwiw.) And that Starbucks is in the same strip mall where another Huntington Beach statistic worked, at Valentino’s Pizza. The dough slinger saw Bastien’s ghost bike every day, just meters from his work; he was hit on October 13th, 2015, and died in the hospital on the 19th, on the anniversary of Shaun Eagleson’s murder. If I’m marking dates, Wednesday would’ve been AJ Brumback’s 17th birthday. (Note: The killer of the then-eight-year old boy didn’t spend a day behind bars.)

A simple right-hook video shouldn’t create a cascade of these associations.

………

She also addressed last week’s response to a column by OC Register columnist David Whiting calling for a mandatory bike helmet law.

David Whiting’s friend Pete Tomaino was wearing a helmet when he was killed while riding his bike. Look, there’s a picture of Pete in the newspaper, wearing his holy, all-protective helmet!

Orange County bicyclists Joey Robinson, Roger Lippman, Shaun Eagleson, former Olympian Amine Britel, Sara Leaf, Debra Deem, Fire Captain Mike Kreza, all wearing helmets when they were killed.

The human brain can shut down permanently as a result of trauma not inflicted by a direct blow to the head. Even if you’re wearing a motorcycle helmet, damage to your rain not inflicted by a direct blow can kill you. No helmet will prevent trauma-induced hypoxia or rhabdomyolysis.

………

And she ends on a personal note.

Sunday night I was nearly killed by a creep who ran a red (not orange; very, very red) at a blind corner at 50 mph. I am still shook.

You know how your brain replays everything over and over and over in these situations, all the scenarios with variable timelines could have resulted in a different outcome. Yeah, that’s what my head’s been doing. For days.

Also, I had the plate, driver’s description, and location, and damn right I called it in, and the Sheriff will do nothing about the piddly little infraction that nearly killed me and the other driver with the same green light.

I won’t rant, but I am still shook. If I weren’t the type to look for cross traffic, if I hadn’t been on my slow janky bike while my Kilo TT’s in the shop, if I hadn’t yielded a block before for a turning driver, I wouldn’t be writing this.

If, if, if.

If, indeed.

Category: Guest Columns, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Big Easy drunk driver gets 91 years, Cathedral City bike rider critically injured, and safety in numbers real

October 30, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Big Easy drunk driver gets 91 years, Cathedral City bike rider critically injured, and safety in numbers real

Come back after 10 am today for a guest post from our anonymous courtroom correspondent, as she updates a number of recent stories — including the case of hit-and-run driver Pratiti Renee Mehta, who walked despite showing no remorse for her crime, or any sympathy for her victim. 

………

Now that’s taking traffic violence seriously.

A New Orleans judge sentenced the drunk driver who killed two bike riders and injured seven others when he plowed through them at 80 mph during a Mardi Gras parade to 30 years for each death, plus 30 years and six months for the injured riders — and added another six months for also crashing into parked cars.

Then ordered the sentences to run consecutively, for a total of 91 years behind bars.

As others have noted, that’s a life sentence for the 32-year old man.

………

More bad news from the Coachella Valley, where a 50-something bike rider was critically injured in a Cathedral City crash; he was hit by an SUV driver while in a crosswalk.

Meanwhile, a ghost bike will be installed a week from today for Raymundo Jaime, killed by a heartless hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Palm Springs.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

………

Seriously. Turn yourself in, already.

Because there’s a $25,000 reward if you don’t.

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1189417517371969536

………

A new Rutgers University study confirms the safety in numbers effect, even while injuries are rising, especially among riders 55 to 64.

Although the latter stat is probably explained by the jump in ridership among older people.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A witness got involved when a road raging DC driver got out of his car and pushed him off his bike, for the crime of taking up too much of the roadway while trying to make a left turn.

………

Local

Today’s must read is great look at the failure of LA’s Vision Zero program due to the refusal of city leaders to implement it. Or as the author calls it, Vision Non-Zero.

More homeless people are dying on the streets of Los Angeles than ever before, with over 1,000 deaths last year alone; 9% of those deaths were due to bicycle and pedestrian crashes.

You may not see Uber’s Jump Bikes on the streets of Los Angeles soon, as the company files suit against LA after refusing to share bikeshare data with the city.

A Santa Clarita bike rider was hospitalized after getting hit by a motorist backing out of a driveway; no word on his or her condition.

A Long Beach-area paper profiles a Signal Hill bike shop dedicated to helping bike riders navigate their choices. Sort of like any good LBS.

 

State

Your next ebike could be a California bikemaker’s 36 mph bicycle made to look look like a vintage motorcycle, and designed by the grandson of the legendary Carrol Shelby. Although the 36 mph top end means it will require a helmet and a motorcycle license. And can’t be ridden in bike lanes or pathways.

 

National

The new HBO documentary Any One of Us focuses on the severe spinal cord injury suffered by professional mountain biker Paul Basagoitia at the 2015 Red Bull Rampage and his fight to recover from the injury.

A bipartisan bill in the US Senate would require automakers to build alcohol breath or touch sensors into all light vehicles by 2024, to keep intoxicated drivers off the road. Although I’d like to see some sort of cognitive test to detect any form of impairment. And include trucks and commercial vehicles, too.

Zwift wants you to help raise $25,000 for Movember to help fight prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health struggles and suicide prevention by riding your bike indoors.

Once again, Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss nails it, saying smart helmets won’t save bicyclists when the real problem is drivers who won’t put down their phones.

Cosmo says yes, the bizarre crash in this week’s episode of 9-1-1, where a driver hit a bike rider, the drove home and parked overnight with the victim embedded in her windshield, really happened; it was based on this equally strange 2014 crash. And yes, both the real and fictional victims survived.

Kindhearted Utah cops and school officials give a new bike and helmet to a teenaged girl after she was hit by a driver on her bike while leaving school.

Once again, authorities keep a dangerous motorist on the road until it’s too late, as an Ohio motorcycle rider faces vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter charges for killing a 15-year old boy riding his bike; he was riding on a on a suspended license and had several outstanding warrants for traffic violations.

We’ve seen a few bicyclists ride every street in their city or county lately. But how many do it pedaling an ice cream bike?

The New York Times explains why the city has committed to spending $1.7 billion — yes, with a B — to build 250 miles of protected bike lanes over the next ten years.

The New York Daily News says blame policymakers for the nationwide jump in pedestrian and bicyclist deaths.

 

International

Bike Mag reviews the updated Camelbak Podium bottle, and flips over now being able to disassemble the lid to clean it. However, the insulated Podium Ice water bottle remains the best bike bottle ever in my book.

Here’s a few more trips for your bike bucket list, as Travel & Leisure recommends 12 unforgettable vacations that are best done by bike, even for beginners.

No surprise here, as the family of the British man killed by an American diplomat’s wife while riding his motorcycle, who fled the country after claiming diplomatic immunity, is suing the Trump administration for its handling of the case.

A South African man made seven calls to his wife after he was knocked off his bike by a hit-and-run driver, saying the same thing each time, because a brain injury meant he couldn’t remember he’d already called her.

 

Competitive Cycling

So much for that. AEG has pulled the plug on next year’s Amgen Tour of California, saying they need to take a year off to figure out a business model that works better. Which is another way of saying we probably won’t see it again.

https://twitter.com/AmgenTOC/status/1189288363884503041

 

Finally…

Nothing like a fat tire Surly for surly weather. Lots of classical buildings have statues atop the dome; not many have bikeshare bikes there.

And seriously, don’t punch your foreign bus passengers when they have trouble with their bikes.

 

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

Morning Links: $25,000 reward for heartless hit-and-run driver, LA chef dies after cycling heart attack, and Gatto gets it

October 28, 2019 / / One comment

Once again, a heartless coward has fled the scene after slamming into someone on a bicycle.

But this time, it was caught on security cam.

And yes, it’s every bit as hard to watch as you might think, so be forewarned.

Remarkably, the victim survived the crash, but is hospitalized with severe injuries.

The wreck took place around 11:45 pm in the 3000 block of Berkeley Avenue in Silver Lake as the hit-and-run driver rounded a curve, and slams into the victim head-on.

Then keeps going without even slowing down.

And this time, there’s no arguing that the driver may not have known it happened.

https://twitter.com/LAPDCTD24/status/1188217458429005824

I’m told the victim may be a homeless man who lives in the area.

Police suspect the hit-and-run driver may live in the neighborhood; they’re looking for a late model red Mini Cooper with a white roof and sunroof, with probable damage to the front-end and windshield.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Juan Campos at 213/833-3713. As always, there is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injury to the victim.

Let’s find the jerk.

………

A surprising number of chefs in the Los Angeles area ride bikes.

Sadly, it may have cost one his life last week, as famed LA chef Joe Miller died weeks after suffering a heart attack while riding his bike.

Family members announced the Michelin star-winning chef behind the groundbreaking Joe’s on Abbot Kinney lost his battle to survive on Wednesday, due to complications from a cardiac arrest on a September cycling trip.

This is a tragic reminder that while bicycling provides exceptional cardio-pulmonary benefits, it can also trigger underlying medical conditions.

It’s vital to see your doctor on a regular basis to make sure you’re up to the stresses you put on your body, especially those of us who like to ride hard.

It’s natural to think you’re bulletproof and avoid seeing a physician when you’re strong on a bike.

It’s also a mistake.

For nearly two decades after I started riding, the only time I saw a doctor was in the ER when they were patching me up after my latest two-wheeled wipeout.

If I had, it’s possible someone may have caught my diabetes before it did so much damage.

If you see a doctor regularly, good for you. Just push him or her to look a little harder and make sure everything’s okay under that muscular physique.

Well, muscular from the waist down, anyway.

If you don’t, what the hell are you waiting for? Stop reading, pick up the phone and make an appointment.

We’ll wait.

………

Now that everyone is back, today’s must read comes from former Burbank state representative Mike Gatto, as he makes the case for establishing a walkable, shopable and carfree retail district in each of LA’s 15 council districts.

………

Once again, the business community gets it wrong, insisting that plans to eliminate street parking on San Diego’s 30th street will harm businesses and won’t save the climate.

Studies have shown that business owners consistently overestimate the percentage of their business that comes from motorists, and underestimate how much comes from bicyclists, pedestrians and transit users — let alone how much more would if customers had more complete, livable streets.

Those same studies show that bike lanes are good for business, increasing sales, reducing vacancy rates and increasing property values in the surrounding area.

But who would want that?

As for the climate, we have to start somewhere.

And the best place to start is reducing the number of motor vehicles on the streets. Which means creating walkable, bikeable, transit-rich communities so people don’t have to drive.

If that also benefits businesses and residents, everyone wins.

………

This is who we share the roads with.

A Phoenix family is alive today because a crash saved them from a red light-running driver.

………

This is the difference a single bicycle can make to someone in need.

Thanks to the One Bicycle Foundation for the link.

You can help make a difference in someone’s life for as little as $25. Or donate a bike yourself for just $170.

………

And this is just a practice session.

Meanwhile, Bike Mag offers some very cool photos of death-defying aerials from the actual Red Bull Rampage on Friday.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A Victorville man faces charges for pistol whipping a 16-year old boy with a semi-automatic handgun for the crime of simply riding a bicycle in the area. Apparently he did it with the gun loaded and the safety off — and it went off while he was beating the boy with it. Let’s hope they find a very deep pit to drop him in.

………

Local

The long-discussed Red Car Pedestrian Bridge is slowly taking shape over the Los Angeles River, using trusses from the old Red Cars to give bicyclists and pedestrians a less-convenient alternative to the soon-to-be-rebuilt Glendale-Hyperion Bridge.

The Southern California Association of Governments’ popular Go Human safety campaign will go on, after receiving a $1 million grant from the state.

Metro wants your comments on proposals to close the DTLA-Vernon gap in the LA River bike path to create a single route from the San Fernando Valley to Long Beach.

Burbank is moving forward with plans to complete a protected bike lane connecting with the city’s Metrolink station, and building out a bike network that will connect with other cities in the region.

 

State

A writer for the LA Times tagged along with the eight-day, 525-mile California Coast Classic; the 195 riders raised $1.1 million to fight arthritis.

A Carlsbad street will get new bike lanes, sidewalks and landscaping for an underpass crossing I-5.

The California Public Utilities Commission signed off on plans to build a bike and pedestrian underpass to provide a safe route across a rail line in Encinitas.

A 51-year old Bonita man suffered “major but not life-threatening” injuries when he was right hooked by the driver of a cement truck while riding his bike.

San Diego streets shut down on Sunday — or rather, opened up — for that city’s CiclaSDias open streets celebration.

More bad news from Palm Desert, where an 82-year old man suffered major injuries when he was left crossed on his bike by a 77-year old driver. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

Once again, the threat of a recall is enough to get city officials to rip out a protected bike lane, after residents of Grover Beach couldn’t figure out that you have to step over the curb on a new curb-protected bike lane. And can’t drive over it, either. Sort of like every other curb, anywhere else.

Sad news from Fresno, where a man on a bicycle was killed by a stoned driver who got high in her car on her lunch break.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Berkeley woman walks without a single day behind bars after she left crossed a 69-year old man on a bike, dragging him under her car for several seconds, then got out, yanked his bike out from underneath her car, and drove off as the victim and a witness tried to stop her. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Sad news from Petaluma, where someone on a bicycle was killed in a collision with a semi driver.

 

National

Fast Company questions whether SUVs should be banned, at least in cities. New York’s DOT commissioner appears to agree, blaming SUVs for the city’s alarming jump in bicycle fatalities this year.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a Portland ghost bike after twelve years.

Aspen CO resident Lance Armstrong pitched in along with a former Colorado governor to build over one hundred bicycles to offer to every second grader at a local elementary school.

Forget the bikes; check out the speaker on that Victrola in this turn of the century Colorado bike shop.

Kindhearted Colorado sheriff’s deputies pitched in to buy a new bicycle for an autistic high school student who had outgrown his.

A Tulsa, Oklahoma man faces a first-degree murder charge for repeatedly stabbing another man in a fight over a bicycle.

Outside says frozen Minnesota is an ideal year-round bicycling spot.

Providence RI will rip out a brand new two-way cycle track after just six weeks because the city failed to consult residents before putting it in.

New York’s senior senator, the Democratic leader in the US Senate, calls for a plan to replace all gas-powered motor vehicles with electric ones by 2040. Great idea, except that until the US achieves 100% renewable power, it just exchanges one form of carbon-burning power for another, and doesn’t take a single car or truck off the road.

Heartbreaking news from Brooklyn, where boy got a new bicycle for his eighth birthday. And was killed riding it just two years later.

New York City considers adopting a three-foot passing law to pre-empt the state’s requirement for a safe passing distance. But will only fine drivers a lousy fifty bucks for breaking it.

Good news for Gotham bike riders, as a judge tosses a lawsuit from wealthy NIMBY condo owners trying to have the popular Central Park West protected bike lanes ripped out, calling the lawsuit meritless.

They get it. An editorial in an upstate New York paper calls for a new law to penalize drivers who injure or kill another person.

The DC City Council responds to bike and pedestrian deaths with proposals to lower speed limits, ban right turns on red lights and allow private citizens to ticket drivers blocking crosswalks and bike lanes, as well as require protected bike lanes anytime a street in the bike plan gets overhauled. Maybe we could get them to come teach their LA peers what to do to make Vision Zero work.

Tampa FL police say they’re getting a handle on the problem of biking while black, saying they’re stopping and ticketing fewer African American bike riders, though black riders are still more likely to get a ticket or warning than a white person.

 

International

Road.cc offers inexpensive hacks to help keep you on your bike this winter.

A writer for Bike Radar offers five common quotes guaranteed to deflate the mood on your next group ride.

You know ebikes have officially arrived when they’re featured on a Trump-less British version of The Apprentice. And sell a combined $2.2 million worth.

An English woman in her 70s was knocked cold by a hit-and-run bike rider. Seriously, don’t be like people in cars. Just stop, already.

Always hit the back brakes first. A UK bike cop pulls a major endo in the middle of the street while chasing a suspect.

I want to be like her when I grow up, too. A 72-year old grandmother in the UK battled it out with a suspected bike thief when the man tried to reclaim it from her son’s shop after being told it was stolen.

A British woman starts her own bikeshare company after dropping out of Oxford to study design; what initially began as a school project is now available on the streets in three cities.

An Irish pedestrian group says you should have to wear an identity badge anytime you ride your bike. How about one of those convention badges that read “Hi, my name is ….”?

Egyptian women are overcoming societal restrictions to claim space on Cairo streets for them and their bicycles.

In a highly questionable Qatari study, not one single bicyclist who was admitted to a hospital with a serious head injury was wearing a helmet, and only 3% of riders admitted with any kind of traumatic injury during the six-year study had a skid lid on.

Former Aussie rugby player and current CrossFit star James Newbury is one of us, even if he won’t be riding for awhile after hitting gravel and pulling an endo, then hitting a tree and fracturing his back.

This is who we share the roads with. Five people are dead and nine injured after a Shanghai driver went on a hit-and-run rampage, starting by hitting a taxi and an ebike rider, followed by crashing into an SUV after running a red light, and wrapping it all up by slamming into three non-motorized vehicles and several pedestrians. And yet, Xinhua still calls it an accident. Let’s hope that’s just a bad translation.

What if you built a state-of-the-art automated bicycle parking garage in Singapore and nobody came?

Tokyo wants to force bicyclists to carry liability insurance when they ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

Forget doping. Just zap your brain, instead.

Peter Sagan announces he’ll ride both the Giro and the Tour de France next year, forgoing the Amgen Tour of California.

Rouleur selects this year’s inductees for their Cycling Hall of Fame, selecting America’s only remaining Tour de France winner, as well as Marianne Vos, and Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin.

The US team finished seventh in the men’s road cycling race at the World Military Games, with the top individual finisher crossing the finish line in 11th place.

How to ride a bike at 183.9 mph. Which is very similar to my cruising speed these days, as long as you remove the one and the eight.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to tell the cops you were injured in a hit-and-run after cutting your hands breaking into a store, get rid of the damn merchandise you took, first. Apparently, we’re not even safe from golf cart drivers.

And as long as your dog has a license, might as well let him use it.

https://twitter.com/klara_sjo/status/1188078803660226561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1188078803660226561&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.hindustantimes.com%2Fit-s-viral%2Fvideo-of-dog-driving-a-bike-with-two-pillion-riders-goes-viral-watch%2Fstory-l8o52XoT3EI8Lqp7L9vvPI.html

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

Update: Woman riding bike killed in Hollywood hit-and-run; third fatal LA bicycling hit-and-run in past week

October 25, 2019 / / 2 comments

Unbelievable.

For the fourth time in just the past week, a Southern California bike rider has been run down and left to die by a hit-and-run driver.

Three of those in Los Angeles.

Early this morning, a 49-year old woman riding her bike in Hollywood became just the latest victim of those heartless cowards behind the wheels.

According to KTLA-5, the victim was riding north on Orange Drive above Hollywood Blvd around 2:25 am Friday when she run down by a northbound driver, who continued without stopping.

She died at the scene.

Unfortunately, no other information is available at this time.

But this time, it happened in my own neighborhood.

Orange Drive is just around the corner from Madame Tussauds and the Chinese Theater. The street has a dog-leg to the left at Hollywood Blvd, and connects with westbound Hollywood at a narrow 90° angle, both of which serve to slow traffic.

However, drivers can be heard racing through the streets of Hollywood all night, and frequently make the left turn off eastbound Hollywood Blvd without slowing.

Anyone with information was urged to call the LAPD at 213/527-3247. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of LA.

This is at least the 63rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 28th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also 14th bicyclist killed in the City of Los Angeles this year.

Update: The Beverly Press has identified the victim as a homeless woman, whose name is being withheld until they can notify her family. 

Police say she was run down from behind, and was doing nothing wrong before  she was cruelly left to die in the street. 

Police are looking for a four-door, silver sedan with likely front end damage, of undetermined make and model. 

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

 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Breaking News: Koreatown crash kills 23-year old man; Armando Felipe Ignacio died two days after hit-and-run collision

October 25, 2019 / / 2 comments

Too often, collisions that take the life of an innocent person never make the news.

Particularly if the victim passes away days later.

Sadly, that’s what happened with Armando Felipe Ignacio, who died in the hospital two days after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

According to a crowdfunding page, he was riding his bike in front of 2830 W Eight Street in Koreatown around 10:30 pm this past Sunday when he suffered a major head injury in the crash.

After being rushed into surgery Sunday night, Ignacio suffered a pair of heart attacks Tuesday morning; the second one was fatal. He died without ever waking up.

He was just 23.

The crowdfunding page says the investigation is ongoing, which means there is now an automatic $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the heartless coward who left him there to die.

At this time, the fund to pay his funeral expenses has raised nearly $2,600 of the $11,000 goal, in less than 24 hours.

This is at least the 62nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 27th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; Ignacio is also 13th bicyclist killed in the City of Los Angeles this year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers Armando Felipe Ignacio and his loved ones.

Thanks to Jane Voodikon for the heads-up.

 

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