Friday was a bad day for Southern California bike riders — starting with a deadly pre-dawn wreck in Long Beach.
According to My News LA, the victim was riding east on 7th Street at Bellflower Blvd around 5:05 am, when he was run down from behind by a driver traveling in the same direction.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene before paramedics arrived.
The driver stopped after the crash. Police don’t believe that speeding, distracted driving, or driving under the influence were factors in the crash.
There’s no word on whether the victim had lights on his bike in the pre-dawn hour, or why the driver was apparently unable to see him riding directly in front of their vehicle.
According to reports, the victim was riding in the right traffic lane when he struck by the driver, who also has not been publicly identified.
However, there is a bike lane on 7th, which the victim would likely have been riding in unless it was blocked, or he was moving across the roadway to make a turn.
Since his body was found on the sidewalk, it seems more likely that the driver drifted into the bike lane, knocking him to the right, than the other way around.
Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach Police Detective Joseph Johnson at 562/570-7355, or Crime Stoppers at 800/222-TIPS.
This is at least the 23rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’re still stuck on 1,131 signatures, so don’t stop now! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until she meets with us!
Photo by Darren Graves.
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Seriously?
LA County is apparently planning to zero out funding for Vision Zero. But you’ll have to hurry, because the County Board of Supervisors is meeting at 9:30 today to discuss the proposed budget.
Tell LA County Board of Supervisors to protect Vision Zero's budget! @LACountyCEO's recommended budget doesn't include the $75 million needed to fund the Vision Zero plan. Tell the Board of Supervisors: no more traffic deaths!https://t.co/3hsqQR3fEhpic.twitter.com/ArN9L9Kg9w
May 13-17 is Bike Week on @Metrolink with free rides on all lines with your bike in tow. Last year, we took advantage doing a fun point to point ride from Acton to San Fernando across Mendenhall Ridge:@bikinginlahttps://t.co/ixwrsQluS7
— Gravel Bike California (@GravelBikeCal) May 14, 2024
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. KTLA-5 examines the stop sign cams operated by the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the public entity overseeing over 75,000 acres of Southern California parklands. But they do if from the perspective of an aggrieved father whose son rolled a stop sign and considers it an unfair money grab, rather than a program designed to save lives by keeping drivers from breaking one of the most basic traffic laws.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Evidently, a headline writer for the Daily Mail has never seen a bicycle — or just can’t shake that windshield perspective — writing that the husband of a woman who was mowed down by ‘anti social’ teen called for harsher sentences for reckless riders, after a “spate of accidents behind the wheel.”
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Local
This is who we share the road with. An alleged speeding drunk driver killed a home in Garden Grove. And the woman who was sleeping in it with her husband. Thanks to How the West Was Saved for the link.
The Santa Monica City Council considers a quintet of bike motions, including what would be LA County’s second bicyclist anti-harassment ordinance, after Los Angeles passed a similar measure in 2011, as well as examining what improvements are necessary to make Neilson Way a “safer and more attractive place to walk or ride a bicycle.”
Tragic news from Hayward, where a student from India’s Telugu region studying for his master’s at Cal State East Bay is in extremely critical condition and not expected to survive after he was struck by a driver while riding his ebike to see his family; family members are trying to raise funds to send his body back to India.
Strava responded to calls to remove a popular section of London’s Regent’s Park where a speeding bike rider killed an elderly pedestrian, urging bicyclists to prioritize everyone’s safety, instead.
KNBC-4 is reporting that a man was killed by a hit-and-run driver in the Sepulveda Basin Friday night.
According to the station, the man was riding south on a dark stretch of Woodley Ave near Victory Blvd when he was struck by a motorist shorty after 8 pm, and thrown roughly 45 to 50 feet from the point of impact.
The victim, identified only as 45-year old man, died at the scene.
The suspect vehicle is described only as a silver SUV with likely front end damage; there’s no description yet of the heartless coward who left him to die alone in the street.
Hopefully we’ll learn more in the morning.
This is at least the 16th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fourth in the City of Los Angeles.
Six of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs, as have four of the five deaths in LA County.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the driver in any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division Investigator Hansen at 818/644-8115 or Investigator Reyes at 818/644-8022.
April 24, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Innocent bike rider becomes collateral damage in South LA police chase; victim identified as Colombian man
It was bound to happen sooner or later.
We’ve seen a number of police chases in recent years that resulted in close calls with people riding bicycles, with riders nearly struck by fleeing drivers.
The incident began when the suspect allegedly tried to break into a vehicle near East 48th and Central Streets in South LA, and attempted to flee in his car with the owner of the vehicle in close pursuit.
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was sent flying through the air, landing next to his badly damaged bicycle. A witness description suggests that he likely died instantly upon impact.
The driver lost control after the crash, smashing into eight other vehicles before rolling his car, coming to rest upside down in the street. He reportedly attempted to flee on foot before being taken into custody.
He will likely face yet to be determined felony charges, according to police.
One of which should be murder.
This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third in the City of Los Angeles.
And yet another tragic reminder of the dangers police chases pose to innocent bystanders.
A GoFundMe page set up by loved ones describes Monsalve Rojas as a father of five who left Colombia in search of a better life and had a dream, they said, of curing his daughter’s liver disease.
“Imagine, a regular morning now turned into a day we’ll never forget,” the campaign organizer wrote. “David touched lives in ways that words can barely capture. A soul so deeply devoted to his children.”
So far, the crowdfunding page has raised less than $700 of the modest $5,000 goal.
Meanwhile, the speeding driver who struck Rojas with her Chevrolet Suburban SUV was ID’d as 23-year old Germaine Smith.
Smith is being held on $327,000 bond after being booked for felony evading causing death, as well as additional outstanding warrants,
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Traffic Group Detectives at 213/486-0690; information can be provided anonymously online or by calling 800/222-8477.
My deepest sympathy for Jose David Monsalve Rojas and all his loved ones.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’re now up to 1,066 signatures, so keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!
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Color me livid.
Including last night’s fatal crash in Wilmington, we’ve learned about three bicycling deaths in Los Angeles County this year, two in the City of Los Angeles.
And all three have involved at least one hit-and-run driver.
In one case, in South LA, the victim was struck by two drivers, one of whom fled the scene. In the other two, including one in Lennox, the victims were struck by a single driver who fled the scene afterwards.
Which means if you get killed right now riding your bike in the City of LA, there’s a 66.6% probability the driver will flee.
And 75% in the county as a whole.
Then again, the odds may not be as bad as it seems, since the chances that we’ve learned about every fatal bike crash in the county this year is practically nil.
Because no one is bothering to tell us anymore.
The LAPD has stopped informing the public about most fatal crashes, and detectives now sit on news of fatal hit-and-runs for weeks, if not months — making the city’s hit-and-run alert system and standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run virtually worthless.
Meanwhile, LADOT long ago stopped updating its Vision Zero map, which they once promised would allow anyone to track traffic deaths in near real time, apparently concluding that we have no right to know how deadly our streets really are. Because then we might demand they actually do something about it.
And the Sheriff’s Department has always been a lost cause when it comes to releasing information of any kind, traffic or otherwise.
So if a crash doesn’t make the news, we’re unlikely to ever learn about it. And they usually don’t.
Which would be a damn good topic to take up with the mayor if she ever reads that petition and actually meets with us.
The first, SB 1297, would add Malibu to the six perviously announced cities allowed to install speed cams under a pilot program, permitting five speed cams along PCH.
The second, SB 1509, would make a conviction for driving 26 mph or more over the speed limit a two-point violation, slightly increasing the chances that the driver’s license could be suspended.
I mean, they wouldn’t want to do something rash, or anything.
Traffic violations are usually pled down making, magically turning a two-point violation into one point, or shaving a few miles off the driver’s speed to get them under that threshold.
Especially if they can afford a good lawyer.
It also requires a conviction, which means the cop who wrote the ticket actually has to show up at the hearing, which they often don’t if you’re not a complete ass when they pull you over.
And as we’ve learned from hard-earned experience, too many drivers will just keep on driving, even after their license is suspended.
Maybe if we treated excessive speeds like the deadly crime they are, comparable to shooting a gun on a public street, they might manage to come up with something that might actually work to reduce speeding.
Like slapping a set of cuffs on anyone doing more that 20 mph over the speed limit, and/or revoking their license on the spot. And impound their fucking cars until they get their license back.
Harsh?
Maybe.
But so is informing someone their loved ones will never come home again.
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This is how to make an effective public comment.
Seriously, watch this short video. To see how to effectively make the case for protected bike-lanes, and particularly how they’re good for business. Or just as a great example of how to speak to any city council.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A Newport, Rhode Island letter writer argues that narrowing a main road to make room for bike lanes is just “politically correct silliness that exalts the interests of the 0.1 percent of the population who would actually ride bicycles on a main thoroughfare over the 99.9 percent of us who use motor vehicles to go about our business.”
No bias here, either. Seventy-seven-year old British actress Patricia Hodge accused bicyclists of thinking they’re the center of the universe, because one “unforgivably rude but also dangerous” bicyclist almost hit her as she crossed a street, adding, “The only reason they’re angry is because they know I’m right.” Which is wrong in so many ways. Starting with the very large brush she seems to have stuck up her…oh, never mind.
Riverside County approved the 2024 Traffic Relief Plan calling for improving pedestrian walkways and bicycle paths, but also widening traffic corridors in an apparent effort to make them more dangerous.
Four more establishments have joined the lawsuit accusing San Francisco’s Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane of destroying their businesses by diverting traffic and eliminating parking.
A city council candidate in Malta set out to demonstrate how easy it is to bike to work instead of driving. And ended up with two broken arms after drivers squeezed him off the road.
An Aussie car site says “technically” a driver isn’t allowed to enter a crosswalk until a pedestrian completely crosses the street, although “the law is open to interpretation.”If something is technically prohibited, it’s prohibited, period. But sure, tell us how bike riders are “technically” required to stop for stop signs.
And our corgi would like to apologize on behalf of all members of her breed for the actions of the small sheepdog and corgi that darted in front of an Irish bike club, causing two members to fall.
Because if we’re going to keep blaming all bike riders for the actions of a few, we should probably extend that same collective blame to every other group, as well.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
April 11, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Young man riding bicycle killed in Wilmington hit-and-run — 3rd fatal LA County bike hit-and-run this year
News is just coming in that a bike rider was killed in a Wilmington hit-and-run Thursday night.
This is at least the 12th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of already this year in Los Angeles County; it’s also the second in the City of Los Angeles.
Five of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs, as have all of the deaths in LA County.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the driver in any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
April 8, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Longtime La Grange club member Edgar Burcksen died after suffering a heart attack; he was 76.
More bad news.
This time, it could hit close to home for many LA bicyclists.
According to an email from Velo Club La Grange, longtime club member Edgar Burcksen died Sunday morning, five days after he was injured while riding on San Vicente Blvd this past Tuesday.
Unfortunately, there’s no information at this time on whether Burcksen was struck by a driver or injured in fall, or where it occurred on San Vicente, which runs from South LA to Santa Monica. (Note: See Update 2 below for more information.)
Here’s how the email to club members described Burcksen.
Edgar was a long time LaGrange member who was a dependable, hardworking wheel just as he was in his life as an accomplished film editor, husband, father and friend. Well into his seventies, Edgar continued to ride numerous double centuries and participated in many club events including the LaGrange cup races. In 2006 Edgar edited the documentary about club founder Raymond Fouquet and Velo Club LaGrange early days called “The Gift”. Edgar’s cheerful smile and laugh will be missed.
Edgar is survived by his wife Jana, his son Branko and daughter Romaika.
According to IMDB, Burksen had a long career in Hollywood as a film editor after moving here from his native Netherlands, working on projects ranging from The Hunt for Red October and Die Hard 2 to award-winning TV series and documentaries.
Here’s how they end their bio.
Edgar Burcksen is an avid cyclist who rides100 miles every week with his Brentwood cycling club LaGrange, he is a member of the Editors Guild, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, he served the Board of Directors of ACE for many years and was the Editor in Chief of ACE’s magazine CinemaEditor for more than 17 years. For his contributions during his tenure as Editor in Chief of CinemaEditor he received the prestigious Robert Wise Award during the 2011 ACE Eddie Awards. He is fluent in English, German, French and of course Dutch.
Update 2: I’m told that Burcksen’s heart attack had nothing to do with the fact that he was riding a bike at the time, and was not caused by bicycling. He actually passed 12 days after the initial incident.
As a result, I am removing his death from the fatality totals for both Southern California and Los Angeles.
I also initially spelled his name as Burksen, rather than Burcksen, based on other reports, and apologize for the mistake.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Edgar Burcksen and all his family and loved ones.
Photo from Velo Club La Grange
Thanks to Mitchell Guzik, Aaron A. Thomas and ChrisByBike for the heads-up.
January 19, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 58-year old man struck and killed by two drivers on Crenshaw Blvd in South LA; one driver fled the scene
Now they’re ganging up on us.
A man was killed trying to cross Crenshaw Blvd on his bicycle Wednesday night when he was struck by two drivers in rapid succession — one of whom fled the scene.
He was flung into the air, and was struck by a speeding driver, also heading north on Crenshaw, after hitting the pavement.
The first driver had the basic human decency to remain at the scene and attempt to aid the victim.
The second one didn’t.
The victim, identified only as a 59-year old man, died at the scene.
The story notes that he was crossing outside of a marked crosswalk, even though there is no requirement, or even an expectation, for people on bicycles to use one.
Police are looking for the driver of what witnesses described only as a sedan, which would likely have some front end damage. That doesn’t exactly give them a lot to go on.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Traffic Detective Ryan Moreno at 323/421-2500, or the South Traffic Watch Commander at 323/421-2577 or 1-877/527-3247.
This is at least the third bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the first in the City of Los Angeles.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
January 15, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 40-year old bike rider Alex Zavala died two months after October hit-and-run; 20th fatal SoCal bike hit-and-run last year
The page said Alex Zavala had died weeks after he was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding his bicycle.
But there were no details. No date for the crash, no location, no word on whether there was an arrest in the case.
It turns out that was because his family has no idea what happened or where.
According to a story from La Opinion, Zavala worked at a bicycle warehouse — likely meaning a bike co-op — and rode his bike everywhere, even spurning the car his mom bought for him.
But when Zavala didn’t come home one October night, his family searched for him everywhere, before eventually finding him lying in a coma in the intensive care unit of Los Angeles General Medical Center, suffering from head injuries, a broken his hip and missing his left eye.
His brother had to identify him, because he had come to the hospital with no identification.
It took a month for Alex Zavala to regain consciousness after the crash — then was somehow discharged despite bizarre ranting and speaking incoherently.
Then his mother came home from work one day in late December to find Zavala convulsing and bleeding from the ear; he died from a brain hemorrhage on December 20th.
If that was the end of it, that would be bad enough.
But the tragedy has been compounded because his family can’t conduct a funeral or bury Alex Zavala because they haven’t been able to get a death certificate, because the Medical Examiner’s office says they’re too backed up.
But I’m sure they’ll get around to it eventually.
To make matters even worse, the crowdfunding account was hacked, leaving Alex Zavala’s mother $25,000 in debt for his funeral expenses and burial plot.
A new crowdfunding campaign currently stands at a little more than $7,000 of the modest $8,500 goal. If you have a few extra bucks lying around, I can’t think of a better cause.
This was at least the 74th bicycling fatality in Southern California last year, and the 34th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it may or may not have occurred in the City of Los Angeles.
At least 20 of those SoCal deaths have been at the hands of hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Alex Zavala and all his loved ones.
The driver fled following the crash. The suspect vehicle was described as red Dodge Ram pickup truck; there’s no description of the driver at this time.
This is the first confirmed bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
It’s also the first fatal hit-and-run of the year.
Let’s hope the local media reports the next one, since they didn’t this time.
