While the rest of Los Angeles was celebrating Independence Day, a young man in Baldwin Park became just the latest bike rider to lose his life on our mean streets.
He was struck by the driver of a car traveling on Los Angeles; it’s not clear whether Perez was struck from behind, or if the car was traveling in the other direction.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver remained at the scene; police don’t suspect drug or alcohol use played a factor.
There’s no word on whether Perez had lights or reflectors on his bike, which should have made him visible to others on the street.
Given the hour and location, there’s a good chance the victim was homeless. Which doesn’t reduce the tragedy, or the severity of the crime, in any way.
Anyone with information is urged to call CHP Officer J. Vargas at 323/980-4600.
This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Two years after state lawmakers boosted the gas tax with a promise to improve California streets, some cities have raised the ire of drivers by spending millions of the new dollars on “road diet” projects that reduce the number and size of lanes for motor vehicles.
Projects have touched off a debate as taxpayer advocates and motorists complain that the higher gas taxes they are paying for smoother trips will actually fund projects that increase traffic congestion.
Especially if those funds go towards reducing excess road capacity for motor vehicles, which increasing overall capacity by installing bike lanes.
Also known as the dreaded — to them — road diet.
Not to mention knee-jerk opposition from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn, which never met a tax they liked.
Gas tax money can legally go to such projects, but that does not mean it should, said David Wolfe, legislative director for the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which opposed the original gas tax increase and supported an unsuccessful statewide ballot measure last year to repeal it.It has since continued to watch and criticize how state and local governments are spending the money.
“When Proposition 6 was on the ballot, all voters heard was money would go to road repair and maintenance,” Wolfe said. “They want roads to be repaired. They don’t want roads to be taken away with their taxpayer dollars.”
Never mind that road diets have been shown to reduce overall crashes by 19% in the Golden State, and as much as 47% elsewhere.
So they’re complaining about using gas tax funds to save their own lives and repair bills.
Smart. Real smart.
Never mind also that $2.27 billion of the gas tax increase went to repair and maintain roads, while $750 million a year was set aside for transit projects.
And a paltry $100 million went to bike and pedestrian projects. Most of which benefit drivers, as well.
But try telling that to angry motorists and traffic safety deniers while they light their torches and sharpen their pitchforks.
“It’s creating gridlock on Venice Boulevard, which is then causing cut-through traffic into our neighborhoods,” said Selena Inouye, board president of the Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network, a group formed in response to the project…
Inouye, a retired social worker, said having motorists pay higher gas taxes so the money can be used to reduce the capacity of roads is contradictory.
She and her husband are paying more than $4 a gallon for gas at her local service station, she said, a price that has been increased by the state gas tax.
“The money should be used to help with congestion overall, and I don’t think that road diets help congestion. I think they cause congestion,” Inouye said.
Even though no one else seems to be able to find that gridlock they keep complaining about. Or that only 12 cents of that $4-plus for a gallon of gas is due to the gas tax increase.
But those are just facts.
And facts just get in the way when you’re insisting on having yours.
………
Malibu Hills resident Chris Willig forwards his observations on the absurd, and possibly illegal, attempts by LA County to force bike riders to walk over the newly reopened Troutdale bridge.
Mulholland Highway had been closed in Cornell for about 6-months since the Woolsey Fire which caused the Troutdale Bridge to melt. The catastrophe has vexed cyclists. They’ve been forced to use a detour of about 6 miles on Kanan Road to go around the closure. And that route is plagued by increased traffic particularly 1,000’s of heavy debris laden trucks hauling the remains of burned out houses.
A temporary one-lane bridge opened Wednesday afternoon, but the celebration from the cycling community has been short lived. Cyclists have been banned from the main road bed with LA County officials trying to force people to walk their bikes on a pedestrian sidepath. This strange traffic configuration can been seen in the photo (viewing north from the south bank of Triunfo Creek) with all of the signage required to direct traffic. It seems ridiculous since the crossing is now controlled by a traffic light system to allow only oneway passage at a posted 10 MPH. As cyclists using this route are normally in road shoes, walking the 230 feet required seems dangerous. More importantly, if many cyclists take the detour trudging across the bridge as instructed, it is clear traffic will be interrupted by all the dismounting and remounting in the street, especially at the south terminus (pictured).
The safest and most convenient routing for road cyclists would be using exactly the same rules for auto traffic. Ironically, the only change from pre-fire norm would be we’d have to cut our speed in half to accommodate the cars slowed by the new speed limit.
After a Glasgow woman is killed riding her bike, a man does some soul searching, wondering whether bicycling is worth the risk. And concluding he may keep riding, but can’t recommend it to a friend.
I sort of want to be like him when I grow up. A Michigan man gave up his comfy retirement to ride his bike across the US, and in countries around the world. And spent New Years Day riding a fat tire bike on the ice and snow of Antarctica. No offense to our southernmost continent, but I’d prefer a more temperate climate. Which Antartica will probably be in a few years, if we all keep burning fossil fuels.
Sadly, the recent rash of bicycling deaths continued over the weekend, with yet another victim lost to our streets.
According to the Santa Clarita Signal, 22-year old Castaic resident Kori Sue Peters was riding on Rye Canyon Road at Beale Court in Valencia just after midnight Sunday when the driver of street sweeper hit her from behind.
She was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The driver cooperated with investigators, and did not appear to be under the influence drugs or alcohol.
According to Nina Moskol, Chairperson of the Santa Clarita Valley Bicycle Coalition, Rye Canyon is one of just two viable bike routes between Castaic and Valencia.
Sheriff’s investigators determined that she didn’t have lights on her bike, and also blamed her dark clothing for apparently making herself invisible to the driver of the street sweeper.
While bike riders are required to use lights after dark and have reflectors on their bikes, there is no requirement to wear light colored clothing, even though it’s probably a good idea after dark, though not always practical.
And drivers are expected, if not required, to notice whatever or whoever is in the road directly in front of them.
I’m told that Peters leaves behind two children, and may have recently returned home to work on a substance abuse problem without her kids.
In other words, she was trying to turn her life around.
And now she’ll never get the chance.
This is at least the 31st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Kori Sue Peters and all her family and loved ones.
The northbound driver lost control when he hit the railroad tracks and smashed into the victim at high speed, then slammed him into a utility pole.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was deemed beyond medical help when firefighters arrived, and died at the scene.
For once the driver stuck around. Probably because he was trapped inside his overturned car with minor injuries, and he had to be removed by the firefighters.
Witnesses reported that he was driving at least 50 mph before the crash, and appeared to be racing another driver.
Police took him into custody on suspicion of negligent manslaughter. Which sounds like the bare minimum he should be charged with.
Anyone with information is urged to call the LAPD at 877/527-3247.
This is at least the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the sixth in the City of Los Angeles.
Sadly, I was told today that he passed away after he was disconnected from a ventilator Thursday morning.
Don Hernandez was on a club ride from the Rose Bowl to Duarte on Saturday morning when the group passed through a parking lot at Santa Fe Dam. Hernandez somehow hit a parking curb and went over his handlebars, landing on his face.
Even though he was riding at slow speed, he suffered a number of severe injuries, including a fractured skull and breaks to his neck and spine.
And yes, he was wearing a helmet, but it offered little protection the way he landed.
He was placed in a medically induced coma; however, a neurologist found no brain activity just days after his fall, making this ending virtually inevitable.
The only good to come out of this is that Hernandez was an organ donor, so his death will bring life to others.
This is at least the 24th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the tenth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Correction: I originally placed the site of Hernandez’ cash in the parking lot at Hanson Dam; as the story now reads, it was actually at Santa Fe Dam. I apologize for any confusion.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Don Hernandez and all his family and loved ones.
The victim, identified as 57-year old Lynwood resident Vicente Lopez, was struck by a driver around 10:10 Friday night as he was leaving a 7-11 parking lot at Alameda Street and Firestone Boulevard.
Lopez allegedly rode out into the path of a large pickup headed south on Alameda.
He was taken to Lynwood’s St. Francis Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead an hour and a half later.
As always, the question is whether there were independent witnesses to the crash, and why he wouldn’t have seen a big truck before he rode into the street.
This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Vicente Lopez and all his loved ones.
According to a press release from the LAPD, a man was killed while riding along westbound Foothill Blvd east of Commerce Ave in Tujunga at 10:50 Thursday morning.
He was pronounced dead at the scene, and identified only as white man in his 30s.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the eighth I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fifth in the City of Los Angeles.
And it’s another reminder that riding on the sidewalk is more dangerous than it seems.
Update 2: Family members have identified the victim as Steve Jensen.
I’m told Jensen was actually riding downhill in the street, and swerved to avoid a car stopped in the lane. He crashed into a sign for a smog test center that was in the street illegally, and hit a tree on the sidewalk.
The badly dented sign is still there, visible inside the fence for the smog test center.
The question is whether they’ve learned anything, or if the sign will go back out in the street in the morning.
Update 3: Apparently bad bike infrastructure played a significant roll in this crash, as well. LA’s typical disappearing bike lane design at intersections may have helped cost Jensen his life, forcing him into the traffic lane after gaining speed on his descent.
I now have a ghost bike in my neighborhood. I ride this section of Foothill often. Westbound is full of dangers. The hill his steep. Speed gathers quickly going down, and just then the road narrows, the bike lane vanishes, and your out 'in the lane' like it or not. https://t.co/ebkNl1uvfd
A street view shows a four-lane road with a single left turn lane and wide parking lanes on Railroad; 15th ends at Railroad with a signalized intersection.
This is at least the tenth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth I’m aware of in Los Angeles County
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all her loved ones.
The victim, who appeared to be on a knobby-tired bicycle, died at the scene. The impact was hard enough that a witness described finding his shoes on opposite sides of the wide, four lane street.
Unfortunately, there is no description of the suspect or his or her vehicle.
An infuriating report by KCAL-9 says the victim was riding in the street despite the presence of a wide sidewalk, implying that’s where he should have been.
This is the second fatal hit-and-run involving a bicycle rider on Manchester Blvd in less than a year, following the death of Frederick “Woon” Frazer at less that a mile away at Manchester and Normandie last April.
Which makes you wonder just what it takes to get the DA to file charges.
In addition, no action has been taken to improve the deadly street that has now taken the lives of two bike riders in recent months, despite the presence of both Manchester and Normandie on the city’s High Injury Network.
As with any fatal hit-and-run in LA, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction.
This is at least the tenth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third in the City of Los Angeles.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
