Tag Archive for Imperial Highway

Alleged red light running cyclist killed in Hawthorne collision

A bicyclist has lost his life after allegedly running a red light in Hawthorne Friday evening.

According to the Press-Telegram, 49-year old Los Angeles resident Fernando Gamboa was struck by a car while riding on Imperial Highway east of Sundale Avenue, in the shadow of the 105 Freeway, around 6:58 pm Friday.

The CHP reports he was riding against the light when he rode out in front of a 2015 Camaro, and was thrown 20 feet through the air. He was pronounced dead at the scene just minutes later.

Sadly, family members somehow arrived on the scene, and were informed of Gamboa’s death.

No one should ever have to see a loved one like that, or live with that kind of memory.

Unfortunately, the satellite view of the street is obscured by the highway overhead. However, based on the limited description, it would appear Gamboa was trying to cross the busy street at some point east of Sundale Ave, and was struck by a car that continued through the intersection.

As always, the question is whether independent witnesses saw him crossing against the light, or if the driver is the only surviving witness.

This is 35th confirmed bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th in Los Angeles County. That compares with 53 in SoCal last year, and 20 in the county.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Fernando Gamboa and all his loved ones.

Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

Guest post from Howard Krepack, a cycling CC Council Member, and a San Diego Memorial Ride

There are lots of ways to be a leader in the cycling community.

Howard Krepack has forged his own way, as a long time L.A. cyclist as well as a major supporter of local cycling organizations. As a partner in Geklaw, he’s also one of the area’s leading bike lawyers, fighting for the rights of riders.

And along with some of the other names you’ll find over there on the right, one of the first people I’d personally recommend calling if you need help.

Today, he offers his thoughts on how to be seen — and not be a victim — when you ride your bike.

When It Comes to Bike Safety, Think on the Bright Side

By Howard Krepack, Esq.
Partner, Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP

“I never saw him. I didn’t know where he came from. All of a sudden he was just there.” These remarks are all too common when we read accident reports or are taking statements from motorists involved in a bicycle accident.

Being aware of your environment—road conditions, side streets, driveways, distracted motorists—and, therefore, bicycling intelligently, is only part of the safety equation. An equally important part is making sure you are visible by wearing brightly colored clothing while bicycling during the day. The whole idea is to stand out from your surroundings. Motorists subconsciously expect to see blues and greens (the natural environment) and grays and blacks (streets and highways). By wearing a canary yellow, neon orange or fluorescent green jersey, you are changing the “natural order of things” in the mind’s eye of a motorist. If your bicycle is your main mode of transportation and you don’t want to be sporting a shirt that screams “see me” while running errands or going to work, simply wear a bright vest over your clothes; you can remove it when you reach your destination.

Visibility takes on different dimensions when bicycling at night. Statistics show that half of all bicycling fatalities occur between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. even though there is relatively little cycling done during that 12-hour period. However, that same fluorescent jersey or vest that helped keep you safe during the day might not do the trick at night. According to a study in Bicycling Magazine, “When cyclists wear fluorescent clothing, a driver’s perception distance (when the driver first spots something on the road) increases from 400 feet to 2,200 feet during the day and from 150 feet to 560 feet at night.” That’s quite a difference in perception distance.

So, how do you keep yourself as safe as possible when bicycling at night? One study from Australia found that although fluorescent vests were not a significant improvement on black clothing at night, reflective strips attached to ankles and knees were more effective than wearing a “less static” bright jacket. The thought being that the constant movement of the reflective strip caught the motorists’ attention.

Lights are also an effective way to keep yourself visible while riding at night. They are also required by law when riding after dusk and before dawn. According to California’s Motor Vehicle Code, when riding at night, your bike must have (or you must be wearing) a front white light that is visible from 300 feet. In addition, your bike must have a rear red reflector, pedal reflectors and side reflectors. Keep in mind that wearing a helmet light may be problematic if it is your only front light source as the light is directed in the direction you’re facing. Make sure if you’re riding with others that you don’t inadvertently shine the light in their eyes. Also, the combination of a constant beam and a flashing light is a great attention getter.

Lights are also effective during daylight hours. A powerful blinking white light in the front of your bike—even during the day—can make you more visible to oncoming motorists making left turns.

Keep in mind that even though bicyclists share the same rights and responsibilities as motorists, the road is never an even playing field. Savvy bicyclists are constantly on the lookout for motorists (helmet-mounted rear-view mirrors are very helpful), but that attentiveness is not generally reciprocated. There are too many things—the radio, passengers, phones—that are possible distractions for drivers. Plus, there is the whole bicyclist vs. two-ton machine reality that can spell disaster for the cyclists involved in an accident.

Making yourself as visible as possible can go a long way toward ensuring many safe and enjoyable rides. It is not, however, an insurance policy against getting into an accident. Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security because you’re wearing something bright. Even though motorists should be looking out for you, don’t count on it. Always make sure you are looking out for yourself.

(The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is dedicated to protecting the rights of those who have suffered serious injuries on or off the job. Partner Howard Krepack leads the firm’s bicycle accident practice. For more information about our firm, call us at 213-739-7000 or visit our website: www.geklaw.com.)

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In case you missed it, Culver City now has a new bicycling City Council Member.

Congratulations to Meghan Sahli-Wells, one of the founding members of LACBC-affiliate Culver City Bicycle Coalition, who was sworn in as a Council Member Monday evening.

We can look forward to a more bike-friendly Culver City government as she gives a voice to the two-wheeled community that has long been missing from that city’s decision making.

Not to put any pressure on her or anything.

Thanks to CCBC member Steve Herbert for the heads-up.

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Good news from the LAX area.

Last year, Margaret Wehbi wrote to complain about the crumbling, glass-strewn and sand-blocked condition of the bike lanes on Imperial Highway south and west of the airport. I followed up by riding the lanes myself, only to discover the single worst bike lanes I’ve yet ridden in Southern California.

No more.

Wehbi now reports that the roadway has finally been repaved, and is much more ridable than before. As she put it, even without being restriped yet, “It was as if I had my own private CicLAvia.”

Now that sounds smooth.

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San Diego cyclists are hosting a Memorial Ride on Wednesday for Chuck Gilbreth, the rider killed near San Diego State University last Wednesday. The ride will assemble at the large fountain in Balboa Park at 4 pm, then ride to City Hall at 4:30.

Our message for this ride will be: “The people who are dying on our streets are not inexperienced or reckless bicyclists, they are careful, experienced riders who are dying from no fault of their own and we demand immediate action toward to goal of safer roads for all users”

This one is highly recommended if you find yourself near our neighbor to the south on Wednesday.

With 12 cyclists killed in San Diego County last year — 13 if you count Jordon Hickey, who was murdered by gunfire while riding blocks from his home — and four already this year, it’s clear that far too many of our fellow cyclists are dying on San Diego’s poorly designed, high-speed and unforgiving streets.

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A few other quick notes.

LADOT may pick up responsibility for the innovative, crowd-sourced MyFigueroa project, bringing it back to life after the state shut down the Community Redevelopment Agency behind it — including the city’s first separated cycle track.

Looks like you’ll find more cars in the green Spring Street bike lane than bikes.

Steven Box says bike share sounds great, but why Bike Nation?

The League of American Bicyclists has honored the new Santa Monica Bike Center as a Silver Bicycle Friendly Business, the first in Santa Monica and the only Bike Friendly Business in the L.A. area.

Finally, here’s your chance to discover what’s happening in the Asian bike world, as Gavin Dixon and Byron Kidd — author of the always fascinating Tokyo By Bike and the man behind the dramatic bike reports following last year’s earthquake — bring you the new Pedal Asia Podcast. If nothing else, give a listen to the first segment offering an intriguing overview of bicycling throughout Asia from two men who clearly know what they’re talking about. The free weekly podcast is available on iTunes, as well.

A special thanks to attorney Daniel F. Jimenez for his help today.

Yet another L.A. bikeway fail; CHP steps up to catch a hit-and-run driver

Los Angeles recently approved a widely praised bike plan; now the county is holding a series of workshops on their new plan.

And countless other cities around the greater L.A. area are currently somewhere in the development or approval process on plans of their own. Yet one thing that often seems to be forgotten is the need to maintain those bikeways once they’re built.

We’ve discussed it before, from Westwood’s long abandoned and barely ridable bike path, to bikeways blocked by everything from sand to trash cans.

Yesterday, Margaret Wehbi copied me on an email she sent to County Bikeway Coordinator Abu Yusuf, complaining about the condition of bike lanes on Imperial Highway just south of LAX.

In it, Webhi describes her typical ride, in which she pedals up the beachfront Marvin Braude bikeway from Manhattan Beach to Dockweiler, then heads east on the bike lane along Imperial Highway.

And that’s where the problem starts.

Aside from the same broken and pitted pavement faced by riders throughout the L.A. area, she reports that the lane has never been swept, resulting in lots of broken glass, as well as ice plant growing into the bike lane.

Then there’s this:

As you can see, sand has washed out from the embankment onto the bike lane, blocking it entirely and forcing riders out into often unforgiving traffic. According to Wehbi, it’s not a new problem; the photo she took in January would look the same as one taken today — and the same as it would have last year.

Yet it wouldn’t take much to fix the problem.

Just a few scoops from a front loader, and a passby from a street sweeper — making sure to move all the way to the right to get the full bike lane, rather than just cleaning the motor vehicle lanes and leaving cyclists on their own. Then doing it again on a semi-regular basis to keep it that way.

My experience working with Yusuf tells me he’s one of the good ones — an all-too-rare government official who genuinely cares and is committed to doing what he can to improve bicycling in the county. Even if he is sometimes hamstrung by limited budgets and government bureaucracy.

Unfortunately, though, the problem isn’t in his jurisdiction. As I was writing this, I received a response from Yusuf indicating that he had forwarded Webhi’s email to Tim Fremaux and Nate Baird at LADOT Bicycle Services.

Hopefully, they can track down whoever is responsible for not maintaining the bike path into its present condition.

And that’s a big part of the problem, because it’s often almost impossible to discover who is responsible for any given street in the jumbled mishmash of city and county jurisdictions that make up the greater L.A. area. Webhi reports being bounced from the City of El Segundo, to the City of Los Angeles, to L.A. County, and now back to the city in a so far vain attempt to get someone, anyone, to just fix it, already.

But it also serves as a reminder to all of us.

It doesn’t matter what’s in the bike plan, or how many bike paths, lanes and bike friendly streets end up being built, if we can’t ride the ones we’ve got.

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I can’t say I’m always a fan of the California Highway Patrol’s investigation of bicycle collisions.

Too often, they’ve appeared to show a bias against cyclists, concluding that we’re at fault in most wrecks involving cyclists.

Even though many other authorities disagree with that conclusion.

Of course, who is at fault too often depends on who is investigating, and the quality of training they received.

However, Lois points us to a recent case in which the CHP appears to have gotten it right, and went out of their way to capture a hit-and-run driver.

A writer on the SoCal Trail Riders forum related the story of a recent hit-and-run in which he was rear-ended by a passing car on Live Oak Canyon Road near Cooks Corner. At first he thought the car clipped his bike beneath the seat. But once he got home and removed his bike shorts, he discovered the clear imprint of a car mirror on his ass.

And as it turned out, the mirror from a gold Nissan was left at the scene after the driver fled.

The CHP arrived, took the report and collected the mirror.

But rather than just file it away, as too often happens when a rider isn’t seriously injured, the CHP officer who took the report went back the next day to look for the driver. And just happened to spot a gold Infinity — made by Nissan — which was missing its right mirror.

Of course, the driver denied any knowledge of hitting a cyclist, claiming that he had been in a collision with an unidentified truck the previous day. But all the authorities have to do to make their case is to match the mirror to the car, and match the bruise on the rider’s butt to the mirror.

Case closed.

The cyclist reports that the officer will be forwarding details to the DA. And that he’s now a big fan of the CHP.

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Just a few more quick notes:

A new organization claims to represent the Beleaguered British Driver, politely and automatically  — if involuntarily — enrolling all 30,000,000 of the nation’s drivers. And claims that politicians who support cycling are mentally ill, offering as proof the “fact” that riding a bike requires putting “oneself in the path of rather heavy fast moving machinery,” and asks “Would any sane and right minded person do that?”

The RACF has really commissioned an anti car anti driver report and that is because there is no level playing field. Cycling is done by a tiny minority RACF. Whereas everyone depends on the 30 million drivers of this country and the economy would collapse without them, no-one would miss cyclists at all. The push bike is a political menace simply because any politician who rides one is in a minority and as I have demonstrated, has to be mad.

Someone seems crazy alright. But something tells me it’s not the ones he’s complaining about.

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The UCLA Bicycle Academy points out that the school may have been honored as a Bike Friendly University, but there’s still a lot of work to do. And invites you to join them tomorrow at their monthly lunchtime meeting.

And in light of yesterday’s post touching on the Mary Poppins Effect, Travelin’ Local’s Lisa Newton forwards a link to an older study showing a blonde wig could do more to keep you safe than a helmet.

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