He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was described only as male, which could be an indication that police weren’t able to immediately identify him.
The driver continued north on Main without stopping; the suspect vehicle is described only as a dark-colored sedan.
There’s no other information available at this time. No word on how the crash happened, or whether the victim had lights on after dark.
Or if the driver did, for that matter.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Flannery or Officer Mitchell at 323/421-2500.
As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in Los Angeles, despite mention of just half that amount in the KTLA report.
This is at least the 59th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
At least seven of those deaths in LA County have been hit-and-runs.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his love ones.
If you live in the San Gabriel Vally or the South Bay, the LACBC is urging you to ask your local Council of Government representatives to support a proposal allowing Metro to repurpose highway funds for active transportation projects.
Instead of just flushing it down the toilet on more projects that will just induce more induced demand.
As we shared in our recent News Cycle, Metro has proposed a change that would open up the funding available for the highway program to be used by local jurisdictions for active transportation projects. We have been made aware that despite there being support from members of the Metro Board of Directors, they will not push to support this change so long as the Council of Governments, which represent the nine sub-regions, offer strong pushback.
If you live, work, or play in the San Gabriel Valley or the South Bay Cities, we are calling on you to take action now!
To show a groundswell of support for the motion, which would make funds more flexible and increase availability of funding for city active transportation projects, LACBC is asking you to reach out to your local COG representatives and share your support for the motion during each meeting’s public comment period.
This urgent action tomorrow could make all the difference in reducing pushback from COG leaders and help to make it possible for this change to be made.
We will have additional information for other COG meetings taking place in the coming weeks. Keep an eye on your email or our social media to recieve those updates.
In solidarity,
Team LACBC
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Zachary Rynew, aka CiclaValley, declares victory in a long running battle to halt a dangerous street widening project on Magnolia Blvd.
Bicyclingoffers tips on how to clean your chain like a pro. You can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling’s site blocks you. Seriously is it just me, or is it a tad absurd for the magazine to hide their stories behind a paywall, while allowing another site to repost them with no restrictions?
A missing Colorado mother who reportedly disappeared during a Mother’s Day bike ride is listed as presumed dead in her father’s obituary, who died of cancer following her disappearance.
Bicyclists in a Delaware town are accused of riding like it’s the Wild West by flouting traffic laws. Seriously, have they ever observed how people drive? It makes bike riders seem positively tame by comparison. And it’s not the people on two wheels who pose a real risk to others.
November 18, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Great achievements in bad reporting, New Yorkers brawl over parking, and whether we’re better off with Garcetti in DC
Let’s start off today with the latest edition of Great Achievements in Bad Reporting.
A New York thief who apparently doesn’t know how to wear a face mask walked out of a Queens bike shop with an $11,400 Trek Domane SLRQ, after posing as a customer taking it for a test ride. Seriously, Covid-19 aside, if you’re planning to commit a crime, keep your damn mask on. And even if you’re not.
A South Carolina columnist explains what the hell sharrows are. But fails to mention that they are pretty much useless, except to help angry drivers improve their aim.
November 17, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on After Pasadena NIMBYs shouted down safety improvements, deadly Orange Grove Blvd claims two more victims
Never put it past OC to mark the World Day of Remembrance for victims of traffic violence by adding to them.
Then wonder what the hell is going on down there, as the county suffers its 15th bicycling death of the year — the same as Los Angeles County, with over three times the population of OC.
Two more people died on our streets this weekend. One was walking and the other was driving. Both were on Orange Grove which is currently being repaved and re-striped without the safety improvements that were proposed in 2018. Read our statement here: https://t.co/81JSD42hUUpic.twitter.com/hkmEOQfTXm
— Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition (@PasadenaCSC) November 16, 2020
Peter Flax points the finger directly at Keep LA Moving and its founder, as well as local chapter Keep Pasadena Moving.
If you want to know who to blame for two deaths on Orange Grove Blvd in Pasadena—which was slated for safety improvements until John Russo, Ken Carey and these folks bullied the city to back down in 2018. pic.twitter.com/WdJ0AwTXvK
This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Memphis is pushing for ways to improve a deadly intersection after a bike rider was killed and another seriously injured in a crash; both were collateral damage in a collision between two motorists as they were waiting on the red light.
The British government continues to promote bicycling as an alternative to driving and transit during the pandemic, with a second round of bike repair vouchers to help people get their bikes in ridable condition.
Police officials in a British town say they’ve taken action against drivers on 80% of close pass videos sent to them by bike riders. We need to change the law so that can happen here; currently police in California are unable to use video for traffic violations and misdemeanor infractions.
November 16, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Remembering traffic victims and the failure of Vision Zero in LA, fatal hit-and-run in DTLA, and Joe Biden is one of us
Members of SAFE — Streets Are For Everyone — turned out in South LA yesterday to mark the World Day of Remembrance for traffic victims.
The group demonstrated at the intersection of Slauson and Western, one of the deadliest locations in all of Los Angeles, according to the city’s High Injury Network.
And one that has yet to see any significant attempt to make it safer.
In other words, pretty much like the rest of LA’s seemingly forgotten Vision Zero program.
…police say there has been a staggering 29% increase in traffic-caused fatalities and injuries in South L.A. this year so far in 2020 compared to 2019.
Additionally, there have been close to 5,000 hit-and-run collisions in 2020, police said.
There are few people who haven’t been touched by traffic violence in some way.
I’ve lost two people close to me, both at the hands of drunk drivers.
A friend I’d known since kindergarten was killed just weeks before our senior year of high school when a drunk woman somehow jumped the wide median on an interstate highway, and hit his car head-on, killing him and a friend instantly.
She walked away unharmed, with just a slap on the wrist for murdering two strangers.
The other was my cousin, who was killed when she was thrown from her own father’s car, and was run over by him.
And once again, there were no real consequences. Unless you consider the guilt and self-loathing he lived with for the rest of his life.
That’s not counting the hundred of people I’ve written about here who have needlessly lost their lives on the mean streets of Southern California — most at the hands and on the bumpers of drivers.
But then it got hard when the city ran into resistance from auto-centric NIMBYs. And LA’s mayor got distracted by the shiny object of national ambitions, with far too many Wormtongues whispering in his ear.
And so Vision Zero was shoved onto a cold back burner, just another page on the LADOT website, with a handful of piecemeal projects here and there, rather than the massive road safety overhaul we were promised.
Never mind the now laughable goal of eliminating traffic deaths in the city by 2025.
Less than five years from now.
Which leaves us waiting for the mayor and the city’s recalcitrant councilmembers to be termed out, so we can finally replace them with leaders who will hopefully have the courage and political will to make the hard decisions necessary to save lives.
And not just talk about it, for a change.
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LA Bike Dad offers photos from the demonstration at Slauson and Western.
The LAPD’s looking for the heartless coward who ran down a pedestrian in DTLA while driving on the wrong side of the road, then got out to check his own car for damage before driving away, ignoring the victim.
There’s a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest and conviction.
Warning — The video is graphic, so be sure you really want to see it before you click the link because you can’t unsee it.
President Elect Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden take a bike ride in Rehoboth Beach, DE. He told us he’s closer to selecting a cabinet. pic.twitter.com/J9f0z0MrKe
A pedestrian was killed last night on Pasadena's Orange Grove Blvd. An effort to create a traffic-calming road diet there was killed by NIMBYs aligned with Keep LA Moving. This death is on John Russo and his team. https://t.co/NxsoJ9HZ8Xpic.twitter.com/36o3F9np5c
CALLING ALL LOS ANGELES AREA BIKE SHOPS! Did you know we are now partnering with LAPD? You can provide your customers the extra security of a bike registration in case of theft. And it's free. https://t.co/3FcwQjvDr3
Dallas-area residents mourn yet another victim of traffic violence after a paletero was killed by a driver as he pedaled his cart, following two decades of selling ice cream and chicharrones. Thanks to John Clary for the link.
This is who we share the road with. An Oklahoma state senator faces a first-degree manslaughter charge after she skidded off a rain-slicked road while driving nearly 100 mph, and killed a man whose car was stalled on the side of the road. Thanks to Robert Leone for the tip.
Life is cheap in Ohio, where a 73-year old woman got a whole 30 days behind bars for killing a local Teacher of the Year as he was riding his bike. But at least she’ll lose her license for five years. Although at her age, that should be permanently.
Happy Diwali to everyone celebrating this year. May the divine light spread into your life and bring peace, prosperity, happiness, good health and grand success.
Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
It’s hard to call 16 years in state prison a slap on the wrist. But this one feels wrong for a couple reasons.
If Wicksted really was suffering from psychiatric problems, she need treatment, not jail; too often we warehouse the mentally ill in jail, which doesn’t benefit anyone.
If not, a 16-year sentence for what amounts to first degree murder is ridiculously low. She could easily be out in half that time, or possibly less under current circumstances.
Either way, it’s yet another example of the outgoing DA’s repeated failure to take traffic crimes seriously.
A 49-year old mother of two remains missing six months after she reportedly rode her bike away from her Southern Colorado home last Mother’s Day, despite massive search efforts.
After a Kansas appeals court threw out his original two-year sentence as too lenient, a driver convicted of using his car to murder a bike-riding man following an argument between the two was resentenced to a still too low ten years and a month behind bars.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A Toronto-area man got a slap on the wrist for jumping the curb and killing a woman as she rode her bike on the sidewalk, while he was allegedly street racing with another driver who fled the scene; the judge said he hoped the paltry 26-month sentence would serve as a deterrent. Not bloody likely.
Something that would have been easy for the former motorcycle racer better known as Pinkyracer, but nearly impossible under the circumstances on her bicycle — especially since her bike computer showed a more modest 18 mph.
We got to know each other as she underwent a painful rehab program to rebuild her shattered body, and resumed her fierce advocacy for safer streets for everyone on two wheels.
She fought for the environment and social welfare, working with homeless children, people suffering from addiction, and the down and out on Skid Row.
She had recently moved to Barcelona with her boyfriend, reveling in the city’s newfound bikeability. Yet even from that distance, continued to argue online for street safety in the City of Angels.
According to her obituary, Susanna “Pinkyracer” Schick died of heart failure in Barcelona less than two weeks ago, on October 30th.
A motorcycle racing magazine adds a little more detail, explaining that she was hospitalized with a bacterial infection, then contracted pneumonia. She was finally released after several weeks in the hospital, but collapsed and stopped breathing just a day later.
She was just 50 years old.
To say I’m stunned and heartbroken is putting it mildly. And judging from the reaction I’ve seen online, I’m not alone.
Schick was one of those rare people who lived life to the fullest, and made this world a little better and brighter for everyone around her.
Photo from the obituary for Susanna “Pinkyracer” Schick.
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Los Angeles unveiled a cute little electric street sweeper for protected bike lanes.
Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen got a nine month ban for forcing Fabio Jakobsen into a horrific crash with a roadside barrier in the final sprint on the first stage of the Tour of Poland, resulting in a medically induced coma and reconstructive surgery on Jakobsen’s face and jaw. But at least Jakobsen was given the stage win.
Sixty-three-year old Sandra Marie Wicksted agreed to a deal to plead no contest after prosecutors took a murder charge off the table for intentionally running down 54-year old Leslie Pray as she was riding her bike in Claremont two years ago.
She was also charged with swerving her car at two other people riding bikes in separate incidents before slamming into Pray.
Wicksted copped to one count each of voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon, along with two counts of attempted murder.
What remains unanswered, however, is the most basic question of all.
Why?
What could possibly have convinced Wicksted to try to kill not one, not two, but three total strangers for no other reason than they were riding bicycles?
We’ll probably never know.
But now an innocent woman is dead because of it.
And Wicksted has thrown away what’s left of her own life.
San Diego adopts a new Complete Communities plan, including fees for developers in the city’s most car-dependent areas, which will be used to build bike and pedestrian projects in denser urban areas.
Next time you’re in Seattle, hop the ferry to the Bainbridge Island Cycle Museum, where you can see exhibits like a rare three-wheeled lawnmower bike and a signed yellow jersey worn by He Who Must Not Be Named.
Primož Roglič’s victory in the Vuelta has pulled it out at the wire, beating Tour de France champ and fellow Slovenian Tadej Pogačar for the #1 spot in the UCI World Ranking for 2020, while Anna van der Breggen topped the women’s list. No American made the top ten on either list.
Seriously, just slow the hell down around slower or less experienced bicyclists and pedestrians. Never a good idea to punch a traffic cop, even if they did just door you.
What’s more surprising is that’s also reflected in the dramatic drop in bicycling deaths in LA County this year, at less than half of last year’s total — 14 so far this year, compared to 34 for all of last year.
Now if we could just keep it that way, as traffic creeps back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Today’s photo comes courtesy of David Drexler, combining two of my favorite things — bikes and coffee.
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Your periodic reminder that some people can live forever, and still be gone too soon.
The Bike League is looking for speakers for their upcoming virtual Bike Summit.
Our virtual #BikeSummit21 in March will celebrate the power of bicycling to move us forward, even in the most challenging of times. For the next week, we're accepting proposals from individuals and organizations who want to present at our virtual Summit. https://t.co/MNHilhFZpMpic.twitter.com/NPC7MROvbU
November 9, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Photo released in Long Beach hit-and-run, Biden endorses bike/ped infrastructure, and no end to bike shortage soon
The good news is, my new carpal tunnel wrist braces are helping with the pain.
The bad news is, they’re really slowing down my workflow by restricting my usually flying fingers.
Both retailers and manufacturers say they haven’t seen such demand for bikes in several decades. Revard said that despite manufacturers significantly ramping up production, his industry contacts estimate the pandemic-fueled bike and part shortage will continue into 2021 and—based on what brands are quietly telling their retailers—may even last until 2022.
The magazine adds the lower-end bikes are in higher demand, so you may have better luck if you’re willing to spend more. Or consider buying a used bike.
Just be sure to check with Bike Index and 529 Garage to make sure you aren’t buying someone else’s stolen wheels.
No bias here. The same London paper that hosted Farage’s diatribe insists it’s time to end the bike lane madness, accusing bike infrastructure of being the cause of traffic congestion, while ignoring the role played by all those people in cars, trucks and SUVs.
When Canadian musician Adrian House’s car-based tour of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in support of his latest album was blocked by Covid-19, he bought a special pannier for his guitar and did it by bike. And no, you can’t find his music on iTunes, I tried.
Chris Froome pulled the plug on his career with Team Ineos, nee Team Sky, after 11 years and four Tour de France titles; he’ll ride for Israel Start-Up Nation as he seeks a record-tying fifth win next year. Even though He Who Must Not Be Named won seven, but everyone is pretending he didn’t. So there’s that.
