Tag Archive for Pasadena

Update: Second cyclist killed in Pasadena in less than a week; charges filed in Downtown L.A. death

September 24, 2011 / / 2 comments

Update: The victim has been identified as Alan Deane, a popular L.A. cyclist and musician; tragically, he died on his 61st birthday. There will be a memorial ride in his honor on Sunday the 25th, starting at 6 pm at Pasadena Memorial Park; a ghost bike will be installed at the site of the collision.

Update 2: the Glendale Noon Concerts wrote the following about Alan on Facebook:

The October 5th concert will be dedicated to the memory of Alan Deane, musician and devoted friend of the Glendale Noon Concerts, who passed away yesterday, September 22nd, his birthday. In his long career, Alan had been guitarist/vocalist for the Captain & Tennille, the Grass Roots, Johnny Rivers and countless television and film projects. He was also an actor and green transport activist.

Thanks to Vincent Chang for the link.

………

This has been a bad week for Pasadena bicyclists.

Just days after Jocelyn Young was killed in an alleged drunken hit-and-run after falling off her bike, news came today that another bike rider has died on the streets of Pasadena.

According to the Pasadena Star-News, the 61-year old Los Angeles resident, who has not yet been publicly identified, was riding east on the sidewalk bordering Colorado Boulevard when he entered the crosswalk at Terrace Drive at 6:13 pm Thursday.

He was hit by car driven by an unidentified 19-year old Pasadena man who was making a left onto Terrace Drive from the opposite direction on Colorado Blvd. The victim was taken to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Unlike the earlier case, in which Nicholas Avila allegedly fled the scene after running over Young, the driver remained at the scene. And not surprisingly, was uninjured in the collision.

The Star-News reports that the victim was not wearing a helmet; whether that could have made any difference remains to be determined.

The case is still under investigation; however, state law is unclear on whether it’s legal to ride a bike in a crosswalk.

A recent attempt to clarify the matter failed when the state legislature passed a law allowing bicyclists to ride along a crosswalk. It’s unclear, though, whether that means cyclists can ride in the crosswalk or next to it; the state Attorney General’s office has declined to clarify the matter despite repeated requests.

This is the 52nd confirmed bike-related traffic fatality in southern California this year, and the 18th in the Los Angeles area. It’s also just the 2nd cycling death in SoCal this month.

But even one is one too many.

……..

In another case, LAPD Sgt. David Krumer reports that charges have been filled in the death of a cyclist in Downtown Los Angeles last July.

This is the case in which the rider was initially reported to be collateral damage in a road rage dispute between two drivers; however, the road rage angle was quickly dropped by police investigators for lack of supporting evidence.

The driver, who has not been publicly identified, will face a charge of vehicular manslaughter. Sgt. Krumer identifies the applicable section of the penal code as section 192(c)2:

192.  Manslaughter is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice.

(c) Vehicular–

(2) Driving a vehicle in the commission of an unlawful act, not amounting to felony, but without gross negligence; or driving a vehicle in the commission of a lawful act which might produce death, in an unlawful manner, but without gross negligence.

I’m still working on getting the name of the victim, as well as that of the driver; while the victim’s Central American family has been notified, he has not yet been publicly identified.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Injuries and Fatalities, Legal Cases / Tags: , ,

Oregon woman killed in allegedly drunken Pasadena hit-and-run

September 19, 2011 / / 2 comments

Photo of the scene from @Waltarrrrr

Update: The victim has been identified as Jocelyn Young, a resident of Portland and a graduate of the University of Oregon; famed bike builder Gary Fisher reports she was the girlfriend of his son’s best friend.

You knew it wouldn’t last.

A remarkable stretch of nearly a full month without a Southern California bicycling fatality ended early Sunday morning when an Alhambra man allegedly fled the scene after running over a cyclist in Pasadena.

The Pasadena Sun reports that a 24-year old Oregon woman, who has not been publicly identified, was riding with her boyfriend on a 200 block of Los Robles Avenue near Cordova Street when she fell off her bike.

According to the Pasadena Star-News, she was then run over by a vehicle allegedly driven by 21-year old Nicholas Avila, who fled the scene. A witness followed him to his home, where he was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving; at last report, Avila was being held on $100,000 bond.

The victim was transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital, where she died of her injuries.

This is the first reported bicycling fatality anywhere in Southern California since Enrique Bautista was killed in South L.A. on August 23rd in yet another hit-and-run; no word on whether a suspect has been identified.

This is the 51st confirmed traffic-related fatality in Southern California this year, and the 17th in the County of Los Angeles. Five of the L.A. County fatalities, and 11 of the overall SoCal total, have been hit-and-runs.

Update: Douglas Wade emailed this morning to let us know that Nathan “Bud” Tippee of Valencia has died of the injuries he received when a car went out of control following a Lancaster collision, and struck him and his wife while they participated in a group ride. She was less severely injured.

Unfortunately, I can’t find any confirmation of Tippee’s death online, but that’s not unusual; the press often fails to follow-up in cases like this.

That raises the total of traffic-related cycling fatalities in L.A. County to 18, and 52 in the greater Southern California area.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , ,

Misinterpretation of bike safety trumps state law in Pasadena

May 29, 2010 / / 3 comments

L.A. cyclists are just beginning enjoy a police department committed to fair enforcement of the law and respecting the rights of cyclists.

Unfortunately, riders in other local jurisdictions aren’t always as lucky.

While Pasadena works to become more bicycle friendly, the Pasadena Police Department has clearly failed to grasp the concept.

In an astounding display of the department’s failure to understand either state bicycle laws or basic bike safety, a certified cycling instructor has given up after spending $4000 to fight a ticket for riding too slowly and too far out in the traffic lane in Pasadena.

Riding on a street with narrow traffic lanes, Chris Ziegler took the lane exactly as cyclists are taught to do for their own safety.

Yet the officer — and evidently, the department — seems to believe that “as close as practicable to the right-hand curb” meant riding to the far right regardless of whether Ziegler thought that would put him in jeopardy.

And regardless of whether he was legally entitled to take the lane.

That’s right. In what we can only hope is a horrible misquote, Pasadena Police Lt. Randall Taylor said that the department’s incorrect assessment of bicycle safety trumps the traffic laws of the State of California.

“Someone who has ridden a bike for more than 20 years obviously knows more about bicycling than I do,” he said. “But it comes down to common sense.”

Taylor, who is assigned to the traffic section, said safety may dictate asking cyclist (sic) to do things that run contrary to the law.

“The street may be too narrow and the law might say that he should ride in the middle of the street,” Taylor said. “But here is a 2,000-pound car and you have a 30-pound bike. Do you want to be in the middle of the street where a driver isn’t looking for you?”

Yes, he actually said that the police may require bicyclists to break the law.

Cyclists are taught that we are more visible riding in the lane than hugging the curb, and that riding too far to the right in a substandard lane only encourages drivers to pass in an unsafe manner.

In fact, the California DMV has this to say on the subject:

How Far to the Right?

Ride on the right, but not so far that you might hit the curb. You could lose your balance and fall into traffic. Do not ride too far to the right:

  • When avoiding parked vehicles or road hazards.
  • When a traffic lane is too narrow for a bicycle and vehicle to travel safely side by side.
  • When making a left turn.
  • To avoid conflicts with right-turning vehicles.

Unfortunately, the PPD — and the judges who accepted their misinterpretation of the law in order to uphold the ticket — evidently never read that.

Or simply don’t care whether they violate state law and put cyclists at needless risk if it fits their concept of safety.

So for the time being, you may want to ride in Pasadena at your own risk.

………

Evidently, the publicity helped this week, as a tipster turns in the 74-year old driver who ran down 22-year old Benjamin Zelman — after the city council increased the reward by $25,0000. Now if they could just put as much emphasis on finding the killers of Robert Painter and Ovidio Morales.

………

Ivan Basso bounces back from his two-year suspension to take the lead in the Giro D’Italia, coming from 2:27 back gain a :51 advantage. And for a change, a pro cyclist is found innocent of recent doping charges, after former world champ Alessandro Ballan is cleared in an internal investigation by his BMC team.

………

In this weekend’s rides and other assorted bike activities, Bike Town Beta 3 takes place in and around the Fairfax District. Will takes riders past the high points of historic West Adams, including the site of the infamous Black Dahlia murder. The SoCal Cycle Chic Ride rolls this Sunday for anyone who “rides in normal clothes.”

Wait, you mean spandex isn’t normal?

The California Car-Free Challenge begins next week. And you’re just over a week from the 10th Annual River Ride on Sunday, June 6.

………

The great sharrows volunteer study begins, with paint on the ground promised in two weeks. Mechanically inclined volunteers wanted for BiciDigna, the community bike repair space sponsored by the LACBC, Bicycle Kitchen and IDEPSCA. L.A. Creek Freak says the answer to future oil needs is more riding, not more drilling. In Pasadena, burglars escape by bike, or try to anyway; thanks to Altadenablog for the heads-up. An Orange County man faces 25 years in prison for keying his neighbor’s car. Cyclelicious says he’ll respect motorists’ privilege to use the roads when they learn to obey the rules; amen, brother. Leave your car at home and pedal your way to the Indy 500. A budget conflict sinks this year’s Tour of Missouri. The Bike League apologizes for mentioning the big, evil retail giant in their newsletter. A Santa Cruz area father is shot at trying to retrieve his son’s stolen bike. Colorado raises the penalties for careless driving resulting in death to a level that will automatically mean loss of driving privileges. New York cyclists get a European-style right-side bike-only left turn lane. A blonde American woman bikes through the Middle East and survives to write a play about it. Cyclists offer their support to DOT Secretary Ray LaHood for his support of cycling. A North Carolina man is charged with six counts of felony hit-and-run after plowing into a group of cyclists earlier this month. A look at the bike that won the Giro for Andy Hampsten in ’88. After this week’s dismissal of the Darcy Allan Sheppard, Canadian bike messengers are officially roadkill. A Brit cycling group starts a campaign to keep Posties on their Pashleys.

Finally, Barclays buys the naming rights to London’s new bike share program for £25 million — about $36 million — which should give a hint about how L.A. could finance our long-discussed pilot program if anyone at LADOT or city hall is listening.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,
  Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee