Richard served two years of a 44-month sentence after accepting a plea, and is now free on supervised probation, and still must serve 200 hours of community service.
Scott was initially hospitalized with a severe brain injury, and spent the next three years in various long-term care facilities. At best he was able to gesture with her thumb, and struggled to say the name of her husband of 35 years.
She died November 27 when she was disconnected from life support after developing an infection.
Michelle Scott will be buried at Miramar National Cemetery, thanks to her husband Don’s military service; a celebration of life is planned for January 4th.
This is at least the 81st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
Scott is also at least the 26th bike rider to die as a result of a hit-and-run in Southern California since the first of the year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Michelle Scott and all her family and loved ones.
Due to rising #COVID19 cases all @CountyofLA beaches will be closing again temporarily this weekend, July 3rd through 6th. We had almost 3,000 reported cases just today. We cannot risk having crowds at the beach this holiday weekend.
As Hahn’s tweet states, the beach and bike path closures go into effect this Friday, and are scheduled to last through the following Monday, at least for now.
Although the sheriff says he won’t bother to enforce it.
BREAKING: L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva tells me he will NOT enforce the beach closure order for 4th of July weekend. Says LASD was not consulted, and they'll only enforce closing parking lots/traffic on PCH. Says "We are Care First, Jail Last" in shot at county. @FOXLA
As you can imagine, though not everyone is pleased. This is what one person, who asked to remain anonymous, had to say.
You don’t see me shoot profanities very often, but a re-closure of the bike path is pure bullshit!
Cyclists on a path are not the cause of increasing virus cases.
It’s bars, restaurant sit-ins, people socializing at people homes without masks, people I saw paying at parks together with no mask, people at the beach I saw often playing volleyball with no mask, it’s just stupid people who think they know better and don’t want to be told what to do along with a President that is not wearing a mask as an example of what everyone should do. Why is the President not on TV everyday with a mask telling people I wear mask and you should too.
We live in a country of A-holes and ignorants and that is why the virus is spreading.
Forgive my outburst — I can’t believe they need to punish cyclists and I needed someone to bitch to
That’s what I’m here for.
But make no mistake. The idea that Covid-19 would go away without severe restrictions has clearly revealed itself as the fairy tale it is.
And we’re likely in for a long, deadly battle that will touch most of us in some way before it’s over.
Photo of recent bike path closure by David Drexler
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That wasn’t the only email I received from a concerned bike rider yesterday.
Another person who asked to remain anonymous said he was attacked by a stoned homeless man over the weekend.
Just a brief heads up for your readers — watch out at those underpasses on the San Gabriel bike path, especially the one at Imperial Blvd in Norwalk. Regular riders of that bike path know Imperial Blvd because of all of the graffiti.
I was riding early Sunday morning and had a transient try to knock me off my bike as I came up from the underpass (with a kick). Presume they may have been after my bike. Not too smart as they chose someone much larger than they.
I’m fine, no worse for wear, knocked off balance but not off my bike. I reported to 911, so hopefully, the sheriff will keep an eye out, too.
Crazy times.
Attacks like that aren’t common, but they do happen. So just be careful anytime you find yourself isolated and hidden from public view.
Riverside’s mayor invites you to join a family friendly, socially distanced 4th of July bike ride.
Hey Riversiders! Dust off those bikes & gear up in your patriotic best for a bike ride on July 4th. This will be a smooth socially distanced ride with a contest for the best decorated bike & most patriotic family.
— Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson (@MayorLockDawson) June 29, 2020
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LADOT will host a webinar tomorrow to discuss what will be South LA’s first protected bike lane.
Join us for a webinar this Wednesday as we discuss how we're getting to work on Broadway. The Broadway safety project prioritizes human life by implementing improvements that will reduce speed and save lives. Visit the link to register https://t.co/JJVulDQvDapic.twitter.com/xDr7rJyL5I
— LADOT Livable Streets (@LADOTlivable) June 29, 2020
No bias here. The British lawyer who calls himself Mr. Loophole for his ability to get dangerous drivers off the hook is back with yet another anti-bike rant. (Scroll down to second item)
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A US Army Band member rode his bike 500 miles in 33 hours to raise funds for a startup organization to mentor high school students to get into college; it took 250 laps around a two-mile Baltimore circuit to complete the ride.
Once again, an English pedestrian has died in a collision with a bike rider as he was crossing a bike lane. This time, the man on the bike stayed at the scene, but probably doesn’t know the 51-year old victim died later; police were never called to the scene, so they want to talk with him.
Minnesota relief groups are fighting soaring food insecurity with pop-up distribution sites to make access easier for those in need. https://t.co/EkpT6wXTSy
June 25, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on “Slight recovery” for Ramona’s Michelle Scott in 2019 hit-and-run, NYPD blames victim, and Tamika talks bikes & racism
The news on Ramona bike rider Michelle Scott is heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time.
The driver who put her there, 35-year old Chase Richard, faces trial on multiple charges next month, including two felony hit-and-run counts, and remains in custody on a $2 million bond.
But even if Richard is found guilty, he likely faces just four years behind bars.
Yet another example of the failure of our society to take traffic violence seriously.
And never stopped, despite witness reports that he had to know he’d hit someone.
Not surprisingly, the decidedly bike-unfriendly NYPD blamed the victim for the crash, even though the 20-year old bike messenger was an experienced bicyclist, and a New York bike lawyer says Hightman was probably doing everything right.
Which sadly doesn’t count for much in the auto-centric city.
Document Journalexamines the New York social justice cycling collective that brought 10,000 bike riders out to the streets of Gotham to support Black Lives Matter. Which is about 9,900 more than have ever turned out in Los Angeles, with the exception of Critical Mass.
She gets it. A Canadian columnist says if a Toronto woman is convicted of DUI, while already on parole and a ten-year driving ban for the drunken hit-and-run that took the life of a bike-riding man, she should never be allowed to drive again. Then again, she wasn’t supposed to be driving now, so the question is what are they willing to do to stop her.
I’ve received reports about a possible bicycling fatality on Barrington Ave in West LA Monday night.
According to a post on Nextdoor, a bike rider was hit by a driver around 10 pm, between Olympic and Pico Blvds.
Meanwhile, a report on the Citizen app showed police investigating a fatal collision at Barrington and Exposition around the same time.
So far, I haven’t been able to find any confirmation of the crash, or that someone was killed. The county medical examiner’s website shows just two people killed on the streets somewhere in LA County, but doesn’t indicate where or how they were traveling.
I’ll keep looking, and tell you if I learn more. Or if you have any information about this, please let me know.
And in the meantime, let’s just hope it turns out to be a mistake. Which isn’t uncommon where Nextdoor is concerned.
Thanks to Howard Valai and Nick Hooper for the tips.
Somehow, my frozen Colorado hometown manages to have a Winter Bike to Work Day, even if it is a week early. But Los Angeles, where it sometimes gets all the way down to the 60s, can’t manage to pull it off.
A New Jersey op-ed says the state has the money to improve safety on the streets, but what’s lacking is the political will. Which Los Angeles can certainly relate to.
November 4, 2019 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Owner of Silver Lake hit-and-run car not talking, Solis honors fallen riders, and Ramona hit-and-run prelim
Unfortunately, she refuses to cooperate with investigators and tell them who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash.
Which means the investigation could be stymied unless police can find a witness or other evidence to show who was driving.
That’s just one more way the law needs to be changed.
In the event of a crash or some other event, the owner of the car should be presumed to be driving, unless they can show that someone else was behind the wheel.
………
She gets it.
Thanks to LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis for recognizing the victims of traffic violence with a Dia de los Muertos altar and ghost bike at Grand Park over the weekend.
Thirty-four-year old Ramona resident Chase Richard faces up to nine years behind bars on charges of hit-and-run with death or permanent serious injury, and hit-and-run with injury.
He’s currently being held on $2.5 million bail.
His alleged victim, 53-year-old Ramona resident Michelle Scott, remains in a coma with few signs of brain activity over a month after the crash, although she is breathing on her own after being taken off a ventilator.
A British police investigator somehow concluded that a bike rider who collided with a 79-year old pedestrian as he stepped into the street was doing a remarkable 38 mph at the moment of impact. Even though his Strava account says he was just doing 18.
