Police investigators concluded that the victim, identified only as a man in his late 30s, rode into the back of a truck parked illegally in a no-stopping zone, and fell off his bike.
He died at the scene, despite the efforts of firefighters.
The first said the victim was struck by a hit-and-run driver directly in front of a friend’s house, and that local residents provided CPR until first responders finally arrived 30 minutes later.
Meanwhile, more than one person suggested it was more likely that the victim was struck by a driver while trying to pass the truck, while others suggested that a slight rise and clear sight lines make the official version unlikely.
Hopefully someone saw it, and can tell police investigators what really happened. Anyone with information is urged to Fullerton Police Traffic Accident Investigator Manes at 714/738-6815.
This is at least the sixth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Orange County.
It follows other fatal crashes in Yucaipa and Pomona.
Update: The victim has been identified by family members as Robert C. Galvin. A crowdfunding campaign has raised a little more than half of the modest $12,000 goal.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Robert C. Galvin and his loved ones.
At least until you reach the bottom of the story, by which time most Times readers have already moved on to Marmaduke.
Instead of reporting objectively, the paper settles for reprinting the long list of complaints from Orange County’s anti-ebike crowd, who seem to consider them the worst tech advance since Elon Musk bought Twitter.
Here’s how the paper frames the story, starting with a longtime Newport Beach resident who compares the local boardwalk to the 405 Freeway.
Three decades ago, Levine moved to what some refer to as the city’s “war zone,” a nickname given not because of crime but for the reputation of summertime rowdiness along the boardwalk, which now includes an abundance of electric bicycles. The strip’s 8 mph speed limit means nothing to some of these people, he said.
He’s watched people get mowed down, dogs hit and too many near misses to count, he said. City leaders for years have studied how to manage the proliferation of e-bikes along the route but have stopped short of banning them.
It’s been a war zone for decades. But ebikes have somehow ruined everything.
Sure, that makes sense.
Then the paper moves on to repeating the same tired and previously discredited stats we’ve been hearing for months from PR staffers at the local hospital trying to fan the flames of an anti-ebike pyre.
During the first 10 months of last year, staffers at Providence Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo documented 198 e-bike injuries. Doctors saw 113 injuries in 2021 and just 34 in 2020, according to data provided by the hospital.
Between January and October of last year, 78 of the 198 people who suffered an injury on an e-bike were not wearing helmets and 99 suffered some type of head injury, data show.
“My feeling about the whole situation with e-bikes is that we got a device a little bit too fast, and the culture is not completely set for it,” said Tetsuya Takeuchi, the trauma medical director at Providence Mission Hospital…
Where to begin.
Evidently, some people who got injured riding ebikes weren’t wearing bike helmets. But most were.
And half of the people who were injured riding an ebike suffered a head injury. Which may or may not have been the 40% who weren’t wearing helmets.
It may come as a shock to the kind and caring people at Providence that some people who ride regular bikes don’t wear helmets, either. And some of them get hurt, too, though not always with head injuries.
Which is just one of the great, inexplicable mysteries of bicycling, that some people who don’t wear bike helmets don’t suffer head injuries, and some who do, do.
Then there’s the exponential increase in ebike injuries. Which just happens to coincide with the exponential increase in ebikes.
That doesn’t mean ebikes are dangerous. Just that a lot of people are using them now.
In fact, I’d consider 198 injuries a relatively small amount, given the untold thousands of Orange County residents who’ve adopted them.
Lastly, let’s consider the question of speed, which has apparently gotten “a little bit too fast.”
Under California law, which has been copied in most states, Class 1 and 2 ebikes, whether ped-assist or throttle-driven, are limited to 20 mph.
Which virtually anyone could top with a decent effort on a decent road bike. Never mind today’s lightweight, technological marvels engineered for every higher speeds.
The bikes, I mean, not the riders. Though some of them have been engineered for speed, too.
Yet somehow, those bikes aren’t considered too fast. And no one has banned 27 speed carbon-fiber bikes or their spandex-clad riders from the boardwalk.
And just wait until the good doctors at Providence learn how fast cars can go, and the damage they cause.
In fact, my stats show 12 people were killed by drivers while riding bikes in Orange County last year, a drop from the obscene 17 killed in 2021.
Ebike riders killed somewhere around zero in Orange County over that same time period, to the best of my knowledge.
So which of these is actually dangerous?
Then there’s the way the paper takes about halfway through the story, after fanning the flames of ebike haters, to even mention that there are different categories of ebikes, and dozens of different types.
And even then, fails to mention that the faster Class 3 ebikes are banned from bike trails that aren’t attached to roadways, beachfront or otherwise.
Or that even people on regular bikes struggle to meet those ridiculously low 8 mph speed limits without falling over.
But once again, no one is seriously suggesting that regular should be banned.
The key, as they finally get around to mentioning just before the end of the story, is behavior.
Someone who is a jerk in a car — or on a skateboard, or with a shopping cart — is just as likely to be a jerk on an ebike.
And a kid who has never been taught to ride a bike safely — electric or otherwise — is going to ride a bike or bike like a, well, kid.
Just what they’re riding doesn’t have a damn thing to do with it.
So let’s put away the torches and pitchforks, and learn to live with all those scary ebike monsters. Because really, they’re not bad, just new and different.
If you’re a pedestrian or cyclist in Los Angeles, you’re probably used to hearing about traffic fatalities in our community. But 2022 was a record-breaking year — in the worst way. Last year, there were 309 traffic fatalities in LA, breaking the 300 mark for the first time in more than twenty years. This is a staggering increase of almost 30% from 2020.
These statistics are tragedies in and of themselves, but they’re made even worse by the fact that pedestrians and cyclists are impacted the most by every measure. Cyclist fatalities alone went up 40% between 2020 and 2022.
We can’t keep living like this. Join us on the steps of City Hall on Saturday, January 21st at 9:30am for a die-in protest. It’s time for our electeds to start paying attention.
They make the same argument I’ve been making for years — bike helmets are designed to protect against relatively low speed falls, not high impact crashes with motor vehicles.
Which is not to say you shouldn’t wear one.
The overwhelming majority of bicycling injuries result from falls, not crashes. Which is exactly what they’re made for.
I still credit my helmet with saving my grey matter, and possibly my life, during the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident, and never ride without one.
But they should always be considered the last line of defense when everything else fails.
You’re a lot better off not getting hit by a car and its driver in the first place, rather than count on your helmet to save your life if you do.
An alleged drunk driver in LA’s Silver Lake neighborhood backs through a crowd of people trying to stop him from getting behind the wheel, then takes off, leaving injured bystanders strewn in his wake.
Drunk driver in Tesla nearly runs over crowd of people and takes off in Silver Lake pic.twitter.com/DZbw54h50E
An South LA man apparently angry about his pending divorce decided to take it out on his wife’s house, and all the cars in the neighborhood.
But sure, tell us again about those OC ebikes.
1/2 Violent video shows when a man in South LA crashes a dump truck into his wife's home. Patricia Dunn said the driver was her husband and they are going through a divorce. The story today at 4 p.m. @ABC7pic.twitter.com/4XRaP1T6L0
@roadcc Here's a longer version, nothing happened between us before, overtake was good, I was just a bit disappointed in the MGIF before the junction. Did think about not telling him about the rolling car but not fair to involve anyone else. pic.twitter.com/h0sU65NMGk
Apparently, not even Congresspeople are safe from traffic violence, as Oregon Representative Suzanne Bonamici and her husband were struck by a driver as they were crossing a Portland street Friday evening. Although CNN somehow manages to get through the entire story without mentioning that there was someone behind the wheel.
This is who we share the country with. Wyoming, the state where even Liz Cheney wasn’t considered conservative enough, continued its race to the bottom when state legislators proposed banning electric vehicles in a childish tantrum to protect the gas and oil industries.
Young Miami bike riders conducted their annual MLK Day Wheels Up Guns Down ride. But somehow, all the local press could focus on was the usual heavy-handed police response, and the 58 felony and 11 misdemeanor arrests — not the hundreds, if not thousands, of peaceful riders and their message of hope.
Sad news from the Netherlands, where 40-year old retired Dutch pro Lieuwe Westra was found dead, after suffering from depression for several years; nicknamed The Beast, Westra won stages at Paris-Nice, the Tour of California and Critérium du Dauphiné, as well as winning the Tour of Denmark and Driedaagse De Panne.
UCI is telling team cars to back off, instead of giving their riders an extra boost during time trials by changing the airflow behind the rider.
Former Team Sky and British Cycling doctor Richard Freeman has formally lost his medical license as a result of his involvement in a doping scandal, when he was caught ordering testosterone gel for an unnamed male cyclist.
Last year was another terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for SoCal bike riders.
But at least it was better than the year before.
Maybe.
According to our latest count, at least 82* people lost their lives while riding a bicycle in the seven county Southern California region last year, just two less than the previous year.
Although that figure is likely an undercount; I’ve heard of a half dozen or more deaths this year that I wasn’t able to officially confirm, but which undoubtedly happened.
The total for last year reflects the 26 bike riders I counted killed in Los Angeles County last year, which again is likely a dramatic undercount.
A total of 35 bike riders lost their lives in LA County in 2021, which was over twice the total of 17 that I had counted; I also counted 15 in 2020, compared to 27 reported by the NHTSA.
Which suggests that the local media is failing to report a number of bicycling deaths in the Los Angeles area, for whatever reason.
I also counted 14 bicycling deaths in the City of Los Angeles last year, which is in line with verified totals of 18 and 15 in 2021 and 2020.
Further afield, San Diego County suffered 12 deaths last year, which was a significant improvement over 17 in the previous year, though much higher than the 7 and 8 people killed riding bikes in the county in 2020 and 2019, respectively.
Meanwhile, Orange County appeared to have their worst year in recent memory, with 17 people killed* riding bikes last year, compared to just 7 in 2021, 15 in 2020, and 13 in 2019.
Although it is important to note that only the totals for 2020 and 2019 have been verified by the NHTSA; 2021 data isn’t currently available through their website.
Riverside and San Bernardino Counties also showed increases last year, with 11 bicycling deaths in Riverside County, and 10 in San Bernardino County. Ventura County suffered 4 deaths — half the previous year’s total — while Imperial County recorded none for the third year in a row.
Here’s a quick recap of bicycling deaths for each of the seven counties.
Los Angeles County
2022 – 26
2021 – 35
2020 – 27
2019 – 38
Orange County
2022 – 17
2021 – 7
2020 – 14
2019 – 13
San Diego County
2022 – 12
2021 – 17
2020 – 7
2019 – 8
Riverside County
2022 – 11
2021 – 9
2020 – 8
2019 – 5
San Bernardino County
2022 – 10
2021 – 7
2020 – 6
2019 – 7
Imperial County
2022 – 0
2021 – 0
2020 – 0
2019 – 6
Ventura County
2022 – 4
2021 – 8
2020 – 4
2019 – 4
Source: 2021-2022 BikinginLA, except 2021 LA County data from Los Angeles Times; 2019-2020 NHTSA FARS data
While compiling records of this sort is necessary to bring about desperately needed changes to our streets, it also reduces human tragedy and loss to a statistic.
Correction: A comment from Dawn made it clear that I had miscategorized a story about her father’s August death in Irvine.
*After correcting the error and adding it back into the totals for OC, that made 17 people killed riding their bikes in the county last year, and 82 in Southern California, instead of 16 and 81, respectively, as I had originally written.
My apologies for the mistake.
………
On a related subject, rural areas are becoming safer, while urban environments are growing ever deadlier.
And the photo at the bottom of this thread goes a long way towards explaining why.
Promising news about the new LA City Council Transportation Committee members we mentioned yesterday, at least two of whom have taken bike tours with the new BikeLA (formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, or LACBC).
We’re hopeful that we share priorities with Park and Hutt to build safe bicycle infrastructure both in their districts and citywide, and we look forward to working with the whole committee to hit the ground running in 2023.
Transportation PAC Streets For All is hosting their next virtual happy hour next Wednesday, featuring my councilmember, CD4’s Nithya Raman.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A former contestant on the UK’s version of The Apprenticecriticizes plans for traffic filters on Oxford streets, saying you won’t be able to drive more than 15 minutes in any direction — and somehow manages to get the whole thing wrong.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British Columbia man faces charges for stealing a truck and using it to smash through a gate, then hoping on a bicycle to make his escape after the truck was disabled in the crash. Which raises a lot of questions, like whether the fact that he wasn’t charged with stealing the bike means he just happened to have it with him in case he needed to pedal away from the crime scene.
An Arizona man has made a remarkable recovery following the crash in a Show Low, Arizona master’s race that killed one man and seriously injured several riders; 37-year old Shawn Michael Chock was quietly sentenced to 26-1/2 years behind bars for second-degree murder and felony aggravated assault.
Calgary bicycle advocates are calling for safer bike infrastructure, after reports of snow and ice clogging bikeways and creating a hazard for riders. Here in SoCal, our snow and ice comes in liquid form, but still creates hazards on days like this. So be careful out there.
Bike Portland goes riding in London. Which I deeply regret I didn’t get a chance to do when my wife and I visited earlier this century.
Yet another Southern California bike rider has fallen victim to a drunk or stoned driver.
Allegedly.
According to the Daily Pilot, 62-year old Garden Grove resident Phong Khuu was killed by a U-turning driver while crossing the street just north of Square Mile Park in Fountain Valley early Tuesday morning.
McDonough remained after the crash, and was arrested on suspicion of DUI causing injury, and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. At last report, he was being held on $100,000 bond pending yesterday’s arraignment.
Fountain Valley Police Chief Matt Sheppard reports the department makes an average of 15 to 20 DUI busts each month.
Which is about 15 to 20 too many.
Anyone with information is urged to call the traffic bureau of the Fountain Valley Police Department at 714/593-4481.
This is at least the 74th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 16th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
That’s one more than in 2020, which was the county’s worst year in recent memory.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Phong Khuu and all his family and loved ones.
Thanks to bike lawyer Richard Duquette for the heads-up.
It was this evening before we learned that the victim didn’t survive.
Although as video from the scene makes clear, he never had a chance.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding on the 3000 block of Jamboree Road near Camelback Street when he was struck by a driver around 8:30 am.
The driver fled the scene following the crash.
Initial reports suggested that the victim had suffered major injuries, with a watch commander with the Newport Beach Police Department stated his condition was “not real good.”
As it turned out, that was quite an understatement.
Raw video from the scene shows the coroner arriving and removing the victim’s body from a tent alongside the road, making clear he had died at the scene, and was never even taken to a hospital.
A black road bike can be seen lying in the bike lane with a shattered rear wheel, suggesting that the victim had been run down from behind. Meanwhile, the police tent where his body had been secluded sat a couple dozen yards up the road, making it clear he had been hit with significant force.
Police were looking for a white sedan with a cracked windshield, no make or model given. However, the Orange County Register reports a driver has been detained for questioning, though it was unclear if they have been arrested.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Newport Beach Police Department at 949/644-3681, or Orange County Crime Stoppers at 855/847-6227.
This is at least the 64th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Orange County. That equals the county total for all of 2020, which had been the worst year in recent memory.
It’s also the third fatal bike crash in the county just this month.
Twenty-one of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.
Note: I’m not embedding the video, since it shows the victim being loaded into the coroner’s van, and his loved ones don’t need to see that.
Bernal reportedly has a history of drug abuse, petty theft, ID theft and auto theft, as well as multiple DUIs. She’s being held on $1 million bond on charges of murder and hit-and-run, and faced arraignment Tuesday on two previous Orange County arrests.
Anyone with information is urged to call Newport Beach Police Investigator M. Keyworth at 949/644-3746.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Randon William Cintron and all his loved ones.
Thanks to Oceanside bike lawyer Richard Duquette, Mark Herda, Bill Sellin, Christian and an anonymous source for the heads-up.
There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or whether the victim died at the scene or was transported to a hospital.
The driver apparently stopped after the crash, and was questioned by the police.
Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.
This is at least the 64th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 15th that I’m aware of in Orange County. That’s more than the county saw for the entire year in 2019 and 2021, and one less than 2020.
Rosenthal was reportedly approaching Alicia Parkway in the westbound bike lane on Paseo de Valencia when he was rear-ended by a motorist, who has not been publicly identified.
He leaves behind his wife of 41 years, as well as an adult son and daughter and their children.
I also received the following email from Ed Rubinstein, Orange County bike lawyer and a longtime friend of this site.
Thank you for your reporting, but I cannot let the rider who was killed remain anonymous. He was my best friend.
I do not have any information on how or why the crash happened, but I do know the wonderful human being whose life was snuffed out too soon. His name was Jeff Rosenthal. He was 72 years old, retired, and he had just celebrated his 41st anniversary with his wife Barbara. Jeff, like me, originally was from Long Island, NY. He was an experienced cyclist who used to ride over 7000 miles per year until he reduced the frequency of his rides slightly as he recently got back into surfing. He rode with the Bicycle Club of Irvine where we met about 10 years ago. He was my best friend, the witness at my wedding and we rode together no less than weekly. Jeff had a quick wit and was always smiling. He was the friend you could always count on to help, but he never wanted to bother others. He was out riding Friday morning. He butt dialed me that morning. He told me he had a flat. and I offered to pick him up as it was hot outside. He said he was almost home, and would call me if he needed any help. I wish he had accepted my offer. I now suspect I was the last person with whom he talked to that day. I am gutted and the world has lost someone precious.
Jeff (right without glasses) and myself in 2019 after riding a self-supported century
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jeff Rosenthal and all his family loved ones.
Thanks to Bill Sellin and Ed Rubinstein for their help.
Eight-year old Bradley Rofer was walking his bicycle through a crosswalk on his way to school, with members of his family watching, when he was run down at 7:25 am.
Bradley was crossing Coto de Caza Drive at Oso Parkway when he was struck by the driver of an older Ford 150 pickup turning left from Oso onto Coto de Caza; it was his first day riding his bike to school.
It was supposed to be a fun day — Bradley was going to ride his bike to school for the first time. He’d learned proper bike safety rules and would be wearing a helmet. His family would be watching and cheering him on. He was ready.
Eight-year-old Bradley Rofer was used to impressing people in his Coto de Caza neighborhood. Riding his bike solo, starting a business that raised money for children with cancer, reading a 300-page plus Harry Potter book at age 7 — those were normal things for the Wagon Wheel Elementary School student.
There’s no mention of whether the truck had its flashers on, or displayed warning cones or some other safety warning behind the vehicle.
It’s not as unusual as it might seem to ram into the back of a parked vehicle. There have been several cases in recent years, both here and around the US, where riders appeared to be focused on the road directly in front of their wheel, rather than on the roadway ahead, and ran into an obstacle directly in front of them.
It’s also possible that a passing car could have blocked him from leaving the bike lane, and he might not have been able to stop in time. Or he could have suffered some sort of medical emergency.
Unfortunately, only the victim knows what really happened.
Anyone with information is urged to call Irvine Police Detective Robert Solis at 949/724-7024.
This is at least the 61st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 13th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
August 19, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: 67-year old grandfather killed riding bike in Fullerton hit-and-run; 19th SoCal bike rider killed by hit-and-run drivers this year
Yet another heartless coward has left an innocent victim to die in the street.
Just because the victim was riding his bike to work, like he did every morning.
He was thrown into a planter on the north side of the street, suffering significant injuries; his bicycle was found a short distance away.
He was taken to a local trauma center, where he was pronounced dead. Family members identified the victim as Elfego Andrade.
A witness followed a green 1999 Ford F-250 pickup that was missing a tire and traveling on the rim, though it wasn’t clear if the driver was responsible for the hit-and-run.
Andrade was described as a great-grandfather, who had just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary. He was riding his bike to his job in Fullerton when he was killed.
“He was a very happy man with the most humble heart. He was hard working and always did what he could for his family,” the fundraising page read. “We are heart broken for our believed husband, father, grandfather, father in law to leave us too soon.”
At the time of this writing, the crowdfunding campaign to help defray funeral expenses has raised just over $900 of the $15,000 goal.
Anyone with information is urged to call Fullerton Police Accident Investigator J. Manes at 714/738-6812 or email joshua.manes@fullertonpd.org.
This is at least the 59th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the twelfth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
There’s no word on whether Ocampo was in fact driving the F-250 pickup followed by the witness.
It’s possible that Ocampo did the right thing, heeding calls to turn himself in. Or he may have simply given himself enough time to sober up before taking responsibility for his actions.
My deepest prayers and sympathy for Elfego Andrade and all his loved ones.
August 11, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 42-year old man killed riding ebike against traffic in Huntington Beach, 70-year old driver arrested for DUI
Once again, Southern California’s killer highway has claimed a life.
But this time, the victim was at least partly at fault for riding salmon — even though he was struck by an allegedly stoned driver.
According to the Daily Pilot, 42-year old Huntington Beach resident Timothy John Briley was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike against traffic in Huntington Beach Tuesday evening.
He was taken to a local hospital, where he died 40 minutes later.
Front remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators; she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence at 7:40 pm.
There are no bike lanes or other bike infrastructure on PCH north of Admiralty, and no word on whether Briley was riding in the parking lane or traffic lanes.
There’s also no word on why he was riding against traffic, although some people mistakenly believe they’re safer facing oncoming traffic. However, the reality is just the opposite.
Anyone with information is urged to call Huntington Beach traffic investigator Jeremy Rounds at 714/536-5670.
This is at least the 55th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest prayers and sympathy for Timothy John Briley and all his loved ones.
