Another day, another bike rider murdered by a hit-and-run driver.
According to My News LA, El Monte police are searching for a driver who didn’t have the basic human decency to stick around after running down a man riding a bicycle.
The victim, identified as 59-year old El Monte resident Ruben Vicario, was struck at Lower Azusa Road and El Monte Ave around 9 pm Tuesday.
He died at the scene.
The suspect vehicle was described as a red or burgundy 2019-2021 Toyota sedan; no description was given for the driver.
There’s no word on how the collision occurred.
Anyone with information is urged to call the El Monte Police Department at 626/580-2100.
This is at least the 25th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the eighth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Ten of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs, including the last four in a row.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ruben Vicario and his loved ones.
This time in Long Beach, at the hands of a city employee.
According to the Long Beach Post, the victim was struck by a city worker, driving a city-owned pickup, when the man on the bike allegedly ran a stop sign at 17th Street and Oregon Ave around 7:40 Friday morning.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports the driver was headed south on Oregon, which would suggest the victim, who has not been identified, was traveling on 17th when he was struck in the middle of the intersection.
The crash was reportedly witnessed by another city employee, who remained at the scene with the driver. Police do not believe the driver was under the influence, speeding or driving distracted.
There’s no word on why the victim would have run the stop sign directly in front of an oncoming truck, which did not have a stop sign.
This is at least the 15th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County, in what has been a very bloody start to the year.
The victim, publicly identified only as a 37-year old man, died at the scene. The driver apparently remained at the scene following the crash.
There’s no explanation for why the victim was riding on the freeway, where bicycles are prohibited, as they are on all freeways in the Los Angeles area. Let alone why he would have been riding in the traffic lanes.
This is at least the 14th bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. It also appears to be the third in the City of Los Angeles.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
February 8, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Man killed riding bike in Lancaster hit-and-run; heartless killer got out to look at victim before driving off and leaving him to die
Once again, someone on a bicycle has been left to die in the street by a heartless coward.
The driver actually got out of his truck to examine his victim lying bleeding in the roadway, before simply getting back in his truck and driving away without attempting to aid the victim or call for help.
The driver is described as a Hispanic man wearing a reflective vest and construction boots, while the suspect vehicle is described as a 1994-2000, dark colored GMC Sierra or Chevrolet Silverado, possibly red or green, with front end collision damage.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station traffic investigators at 661/948-8466.
This is at least the tenth bicycling fatality in Southern California already this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Shamefully, drivers have fled the scene in four of those ten deaths.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
According to the station, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was stuck by a motorcycle cop at the intersection of Cienega and Sunflower Avenues around 9:10 pm.
Both the victim and the officer were taken to local trauma centers, where the bike rider died of their injuries.
The motorcycle officer is expected to recover.
Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.
There’s no word on how the collision occurred or who had the right-of-way, or if the officer was using lights and siren or responding to a call at the time of the crash.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more later.
This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
Update: Three days later, the victim has still only been publicly identified as a man. No further details about the crash have been provided.
So far, the victim killed in a collision with the Azusa motorcycle officer was identified as a man, possibly in his 40s, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
The officer remains hospitalized in stable condition.
The collision remains under investigation by the CHP. Anyone with information is urged to call the Southern Division Investigative Services Unit at 323/644-9550.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Xueqi Li and his loved ones.
Traffic signals were upgraded at the intersection in 2014 to improve safety; clearly, it didn’t work.
Unfortunately, there’s no further information at this time. No word on which way the victim and his killer where going, or how the crash occurred.
This is at least the seventh bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
It’s also the fourth person killed riding a bike on PCH in Malibu in just the last none months. Just more evidence of a serious traffic safety problem in the beachfront city.
Correction: I originally misidentified the cross street as Black Rock, rather than Big Rock, for reasons that will forever escape me. Thanks to Andrew Goldstein for the heads-up.
January 11, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on At least 83 people killed riding bikes in SoCal last year, no more “car oopsies,” and Sartre and Hackman are one of us
As we noted, 18 people were killed riding bicycles in Los Angeles last year, a 20% jump over the year before. And ten more than the eight we had counted.
That news confirmed that running total of bicycling deaths maintained on this site was a dramatic undercount. Because too many tragedies on our streets never make the news, and the LAPD is often too slow in releasing reports of bicycling deaths.
If they ever get around to it at all.
Adding those 10 extra deaths to our totals comes out to 35 bicycling deaths in Los Angeles County last year, which compares to 34 in 2019, and around 30 in 2020, when we saw a similar problem confirming bicycling fatalities.
Orange County showed just seven deaths last year, which again seems like an undercount compared to 15 in 2020, and 13 in 2019.
San Diego County suffered through a horrible year, with 17 bicycling deaths, compared to just seven in 2020 and four in 2019.
The nine deaths in Riverside County fell in line with previous years, with ten in 2020 and eight in 2019.
The same is true for San Bernardino County, where seven people lost their lives riding bikes last year, compared to five in 2020 and eight the year before.
Ventura County showed a significant jump, with eight deaths in 2021, double the total of four for 2020, and six in 2019.
Finally, there appeared to be no bicycling deaths in Imperial County last year or the year before, compared to two in 2019. Although it’s easier to get light out of a black hole than news from Imperial County, so take that with a grain of salt.
But bear in mind these are only rough estimates, based strictly on reports in the press or announced by the police, the coroner or some other credible source.
Each death included here has been confirmed, eliminating any risk of an overcount; if anything, this is more likely to be an undercount. I’ve heard of several bicycling deaths over the past year that I haven’t been able to confirm, and so haven’t included them in these totals.
That leaves us with at least 83 people killed riding bicycles in the seven county Southern California region last year.
Eighty-three mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and loved ones who were not here to greet the new year.
Had fun on the new ice cycles from @icecycleswpg. Easy to ride, a great winter activity. They will be available for rent Saturdays and Sundays on the Assiniboine River near @bourkevale community centre pic.twitter.com/NK3thfqGiT
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. And apparently, no sense of irony either, as a proposed new Virginia law would would charge people on bicycles twice as much as motor vehicle drivers for rolling a stop sign, despite the people in the big, dangerous machines posing a much great risk to others. And just try impounding people’s cars for a simple traffic violation.
At least they’re honest about it. The BBC backtracks on an earlier story claiming new bike lanes are responsible for making London the world’s most congested city, correcting it to lay blame on a number of factors; a reporter admits that the “anti-cycling angle ‘gets more readers.'”
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
San Francisco Streetsblog says a fix to the formerly unprotected bike lane used by an SUV driver to bypass stalled traffic last year, killing a pedestrian in the process, still wouldn’t stop anyone with its new car-tickler plastic bendie posts. Although that may not be quite the way they phrased it.
A German sociologist concludes that bicycles are becoming status symbols, since poorer people are more likely to drive to show they can afford it, while bike riders tend to be wealthier and more educated, and more likely to send a message by choosing to ride. Methinks he’s full of scheisse.
An Indian man learns the hard way that if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is, as he orders a $600 bicycle from a discount site for just $155 — and gets a box full of scrap.
No surprise here. A Singapore report shows an average of 560 serious crashes involving bicyclists in each of the past five years, compared to just 90 a year on bike paths and park connectors. Meanwhile, the island city-state requires ebike and e-scooter user to pass an online test and carry a certificate with them when they ride. And no, I don’t know what a park connector is, either.
This is still the undefeated, greatest clip of bollard strength you will EVER see. The bollard doesn’t even flinch and the lights never stop twinkling. Enjoy. PS – it’s an Audi.#WorldBollardAssociationpic.twitter.com/MLMerj6Nqx
Both streets have painted bike lanes in both directions, which clearly didn’t offer any benefit to the victim in this case.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD West Traffic Division Officer Twycross at 213/473-0235.
This is at least the 65th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. It’s also at least the 8th bicycling death in the City of Los Angeles since the first of the year.
Twenty of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
December 21, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Breaking News: Bike rider killed in PCH collision near Big Rock Drive in Malibu; 3rd PCH bicycling death this year
It looks like LA County’s killer highway has claimed yet another victim.
Video from the scene appears to place the crash on the westbound side of the roadway, where riders are forced to either share the lane with impatient drivers, or use the poor quality shoulder, which varies in width and is frequently blocked by debris and parked cars.
Malibu State Senator Henry Stern had this to say after driving by the aftermath of the crash.
A coat. A book. A toothbrush. A can of beans split open. A few other cans that weren’t. He has a name. He was once a baby boy to a mom and dad. Every life, even those among us who sleep in the dust and have no one, is of equal and immeasurable value.
She was speeding on the 25 mph roadway, after turning the wrong way on the narrow, one-lane road, when she rounded a blind corner and smashed into the group of riders.
Six of the victims were seriously injured, with Juan Carlos Vinolo ending up paralyzed from the chest down, as well as suffering a long list of other injuries.
They held the city responsible for 27% of the damages, while state law required the city to pay 100% of Vinolo’s past and future medical bills and lost earnings.
The Times found that the overwhelming majority of bicycle traffic stops conducted by deputies were in areas where people of color make up the majority of the population, and with limited bike infrastructure.
Seven out of ten of those stops involved Latino riders, and 85 percent of the riders stopped were searched by deputies — even though those searches only turned up illegal items eight percent of the time.
Just imagine the outcry if drivers were routinely placed in the back of a squad car while police searched their belongings following a simple traffic stop.
Developing a diversion program allowing bike traffic school in lieu of fines for traffic tickets, which was approved by the state a few years ago, and
Drafting a change to county code to legalize riding a bicycle on the sidewalk in unincorporated areas, although only on non-residential streets without bike lanes.
In addition, the supervisors ordered a review of biased policing of bike riders by the sheriff’s department.
Not surprisingly, though, the sheriff’s department, which has attempted to stonewall virtually every other effort at oversight, had no response.
Granted, these are just proposal to develop new rules, so far. But it’s a big step in the right direction.
………
Newly bike-friendly Culver City officially kicks off Move Culver City this Saturday, featuring three new quick-build bus-bike lanes in the downtown area.
Mayor Fisch introduces #CulverCity's new transportation initiative to create safe and sustainable mobility options. Join us on Saturday, November 20 at 10 AM for a kickoff celebration of the project. #MOVECulverCity – It's how we get there. pic.twitter.com/ylNEdSD8cE
Quite a change from the not-too-distant past when Culver City cops would meet group rides at the city limits, and ticket riders for every real and imagined violation they could find, while they escorted them out of town.
………
Streets For All has posted video of last night’s mobility debate between the candidates for LA’s CD13, currently held by two-term incumbent Mitch O’Farrell.
This is who we share the road with. A London woman mistakenly stepped on the gas instead of the brakes, jumped the curb and killed a man walking on the sidewalk, then lied to investigators by saying the man stepped out into the street in front of her. So naturally, the court let her walk without a day behind bars, and took her license away for a whole year.
A member of the UK Parliament says the country’s lax hit-and-run laws give drivers an incentive to flee the scene rather than stick around and get tested for DUI. We have exactly the same problem in California, where lax penalties and minimal enforcement encourage drivers to flee, knowing they’re unlikely to ever get caught, or seriously punished if they are.
