Forty-year old Capistrano Beach resident Joshua Gene Cervantes was riding north on Avenida La Pata near Avenida Pico when he was run down by an unidentified driver around 1:25 am.
The driver fled after the crash, abandoning his car a short distance away.
There’s no word on how the collision occurred, or whether Cervantes was struck while riding in the bike lane on Avenida La Pata, or while crossing the intersection.
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.
Almost needless to say, the driver fled following the crash.
KBCS-2 reports he was attempting to cross Alondra when he was run down. Although someone should tell them that hit-and-run is a crime, not an accident.
Parker was reportedly riding to a relative’s home when he was killed, leaving his children without a father.
Yes, this is the cost of traffic violence. And what happens when cowardly drivers leave their victims to die in the street.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for video from nearby surveillance cameras, as well as possible witnesses. Anyone with information is urged to call the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department’s Compton station at 310/605-6500.
This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th in LA County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Darnell Parker and all his family.
February 25, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Killer SD hit-and-run driver has a bad night; next Griffith Park access meeting on Wednesday
This is why so many people hate lawyers.
The attorney for a San Diego driver who fled the scene after driving though a bike lane, jumping the curb and hitting two young girls, leaving one brain dead, says she’s just a “really good person who obviously had a very bad night.”
Right.
The victims’ family had a worse one.
He goes on to give reasons that he says affected her ability to control her car, which may or may not be valid.
But the bottom line is, if you can’t operate a motor vehicle safely, for whatever reason, don’t get behind the damn wheel.
And nothing excuses running off like a coward, leaving a couple of little girls bleeding in the street.
Ever. Period.
………
A couple quick events, complete with massive graphics.
The next meeting to discuss access plans for Griffith Park, which could include frequent, yet inadequate, shuttle service on previously closed Mt. Hollywood Drive is scheduled for next Wednesday night.
And CICLE is hosting a Bikes and Beats Community Bike Ride this Saturday.
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A 31-year old transient is suspected in the stabbing death of cyclist Sidney Siemensma on an Irvine bike path last month; the suspect, an acquaintance of the victim, was already in custody on kiddie porn charges.
The website is up for live streaming of American cyclist Evelyn Stevens’ attempt to break the women’s hour record, starting at 10:30 am this Saturday.
My money is on her to smash it.
………
Local
Streetsblog looks at that crazy, unmarked detour around the LA River Bike Path, which has been closed to make way for the El Niño flood control barriers installed by the Army Corps of Engineers. And suggests it’s an opportunity to stripe bike lanes on a more direct route, if anyone at LADOT or the mayor’s office happens to be listening.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in finding the people who fatally shot a father of four last year as he rode his bike on a Compton sidewalk.
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune says Temple City missed an opportunity to remake Las Tunas Drive and revitalize the city’s downtown, ensuring the city’s main drag will “remain a big drag, a four-lane plus turn-lane place to drive while going somewhere more interesting.” Not to mention keeping it dangerous for anyone not encased in a ton of steel and glass.
Palm Springs is adding bike lanes to five streets and improved signage and street markings to 17 others in the next few months, after painting green lanes on another five streets since last September.
A new Boulder CO off-road cycling tour company promises to take you on mountain biking trails you’ve never heard of. Grammatically, that should be “of which you’ve never heard.” But screw that.
You’ve got to be kidding. A North Dakota driver gets a whopping six months — half of that to be served at home — and a lousy $1,000 fine for killing a cyclist because he was busy taking a selfie as he drove. Nice to see they take distracted driving seriously up there. And yes, that’s dripping with sarcasm. And contempt.
A New York writer makes the case for enforcing red light laws against reckless bicyclists who blast through red lights, while maybe looking the other way when riders roll through more placid intersections.
A British cyclist will attempt to ride up France’s famed Mont Ventoux by three separate routes, on a Brompton. So the question becomes, will he ride like the wind or fold like the bike?
The L.A. Times reports that police are on the lookout for the driver who hit a cyclist, then fled the scene to avoid taking any responsibility for his or her actions.
The collision — not accident, as the Times insists on inaccurately calling it — occurred at 8:55 pm at Central Avenue and 32nd Street, south of Downtown L.A. The rider, who has not been publicly identified, was transported to County/USC Medical Center with severe head trauma.
No information on how the collision occurred.
According to the Times, police are looking for a red or orange 1992 or 93 Chevrolet pickup, last seen speeding south on Central Avenue.
Statistics compiled by the LAPD indicate that one-third of all traffic collisions in the city are hit-and-runs.
Why this continues to be acceptable to the leaders and people of this city, I will never understand.
Update: According to a press release from the LAPD, the rider, identified only as a 32-year old Huntington Park resident, was riding east on 32nd when he made a right turn onto Central Ave. As he was finishing his turn, he rode into the path of a truck traveling south on Central; it’s unclear whether the rider drifted onto the wrong side of the road, or if the truck was in the wrong position on the roadway.
The victim is in critical condition with severe head injuries.
Witnesses describe the truck as a 1992 – 1998 Silverado flatbed truck, red with white painted panels.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Central Traffic Detectives Felix Padilla or Josephine Mapson at (213) 972-1825 or Central Traffic Watch Commander at (213) 972-1853.
