The LAPD wants your help to bring a heartless coward to justice.
Last month, we reposted a plea from a man who was run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike on Glendale Blvd, near the offramp from the 2 Freeway, on January 16th.
He was lucky to escape without serious injuries, somehow scrambling to safety as the driver crushed his bicycle.
We couldn’t embed video of the crash at the time, instead including stills from a dashcam video from a driver who captured the whole thing.
But the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division solved that problem, tweeting a hit-and-run alert yesterday that not only included a link to video of the crash, but also the dashcam driver chasing the hit-and-run suspect as he fled the scene.
As usual, be sure you really want to see the crash before you click on the first video, because many people may find it disturbing.
The LAPD report indicates there’s a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the driver, which is the standing amount for any hit-nd-run involving property damage in the City of Los Angeles.
However, the driver is being sought on a charge of felony hit-and-run, even though the victim wasn’t seriously injured.
Usually, any hit-and-run just involving property damage would be considered a misdemeanor under California law, but it can be charged as a felony if the amount of damage exceeds a certain level.
And no, I haven’t been able to find out just what that level is. But apparently, the damages in this case exceed it.
Meanwhile, Wesley Burt forwards a Nextdoor exchange from a couple of women who can’t seem to conceive of someone driving around with a dashcam, without some nefarious purpose.
Naturally, they blame the victim for being up to no good.
And Streets For All founder Michael Schneider points out this rash didn’t have to happen in the first place, if the city had taken its own mobility plan seriously.
Let alone Vision Zero.
This is so outrageous to watch.
1- protected bike lane (unimplemented) on LA’s Mobility Plan
2- @CaltransDist7 right of way
3- @MitchOFarrell’s district
4- @MayorOfLA’s cityWe have to elect leaders that move quickly to make our streets safe for all. It’s no longer optional. https://t.co/DczN9poBE4
— Michael Schneider (@schneider) February 3, 2022
Here’s how KCBS2/KCAL9 described the crash.
The suspect vehicle is described as a 2012 to 2016 Hyundai Elantra, with likely right front-end damage and a missing right front hubcap.
Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Juan Campos at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online. You can remain anonymous by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 800/222-TIPS (8477), or going online at LA Crime Stoppers.
Thanks to Jeff Vaughn and Thomas Riebs for the heads-up.
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The popular Rose Bowl Loop is getting a new coat of asphalt.
https://twitter.com/reutimann/status/1489055340188422144
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Nothing fishy here.
Three days later, there has still been no information released about the crash that killed a bike rider when he was struck by an Azusa motorcycle cop.
Nothing.
We don’t even know anything about the victim, except that he’s a man.
So far, the victim killed in a collision with the Azusa motorcycle officer was identified as a man, possibly in his 40s, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.
— SGVCityWatch (@SGVCityWatch) February 1, 2022
This lack of openness by the Azusa Police Department makes you wonder just what they’re trying to hide.
And creates doubts about their credibility when and if they finally get around to telling us what the hell happened.
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This is who we share the road with.
Because aggro fools like this have to leave the freeway sometime.
https://twitter.com/fka2much336/status/1488225351532748811
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Your periodic reminder that bike lanes aren’t just for able bodied people wrapped in spandex.
There is no local infrastructure that's more inclusive than separated cycling lanes.
If you are against them, know that you are also against independent mobility of children, elderly that cannot drive, people with various disabilities and more.3 of photos by @modacitylife pic.twitter.com/ZfhSf5lQ02
— Vidua (@GregVidua) February 2, 2022
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. After a A Buffalo, New York paper says safer bike infrastructure is helping attract the younger residents the area needs, a columnist says go ahead and build all the bike paths you want, as long as they don’t inconvenience drivers.
An infuriating story from a North Carolina newspaper says a bike rider was critically injured when he rode into an open car door. No, he was doored by a barely mentioned careless driver who threw open the damn car door without checking to see if anyone was there.
No bias here, either. After a British bike rider posts video of a Range Rover driver buzzing a little girl riding her bike as evidence of why people on bicycles should take the lane, the Daily Mail calls him a cycling zealot and drivers complain she wasn’t wearing a helmet. As if a little bit of plastic would protect her from a three and a half ton vehicle.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
There’s not a pit deep enough for the armed robber who held up a pair of elderly women at gunpoint as they were having lunch in Palo Alto, before fleeing on a cruiser bike. Thanks to Robert Leone for the tip.
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Local
There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who left a 13-year old Long Beach boy bleeding in the street after slamming into his bicycle.
The LA Times offers a positive spin on America’s deadly streets, saying there may be a national crisis, but we can fix them.
BikinginLA sponsor Cohen Law Partners writes that if you’re in a collision in California, there’s a one in six chance that the driver who hit you won’t have liability insurance.
The rich get richer, as bike friendly Long Beach intends to complete 15 bikeway projects totaling 33 miles within the next three years, as part of an effort to finish 300 miles of bike lanes by 2040, as well as a promise to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
State
A pair of Santa Barbara brothers have been honored for their short documentary exploring gender, equality and two-wheeled empowerment among Kenyon schoolgirls; Jacob Seigel Brielle and Isaac Seigel-Boettner won the same award for their first film in 2010.
They get it. Berkeley’s Berkeleyside website says the city’s bike plan needs to treat people on bicycles better, noting that bike boulevards should have the same safe and convenient street crossings that drivers get.
San Francisco bike riders swarmed the city’s Bike Kitchen hoping for deep discounts as the co-op tried to solve the problem of having too many bicycles, which kept coming in even as the shop was closed because of the pandemic.
San Francisco Streetsblog calls on Caltrans to build “incomplete streets” by banning cars from off-road bicycle highways, physically separated lanes, bridges, and pedestrian paths and plazas.
National
Fast Company calls for building bridges for people instead of cars.
The Atlantic suggests scaling traffic fines along with income, so wealthy people pay more for breaking traffic laws than people who can less afford the fines.
A writer for Electrek calls the new $1,200 Aventon Soltera the most beautiful low-cost ebike he’s tested, while Cycling Tips says the $7,000 Urban Arrow e-cargo bike is a pickup on two wheels.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Maui driver is being held on half a million dollars bail for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a 73-year old man riding a bicycle, just a week after he plead guilty to DUI in another case. Which is exactly when his keys should have been taken away, and car impounded.
Sad news from Portland, where Bud Clark, the bike-riding mayor who set the city on its bike-friendly course, passed away Tuesday at 90 years old.
Interbike could unexpectedly rise from the ashes, as its parent company explores reviving the Las Vegas bicycle trade show.
A New York program is helping essential workers buy ebikes to get to work, offering microloans between $500 to $1,500 with no minimum credit score required.
New York Streetsblog wonders what happened to two promised rule changes that would allow bike riders to roll through red lights after stopping in some limited circumstances.
International
The petition backed by US bike mechanics calling for an end to built-to-fail bicycles is gaining traction in Vancouver, as well.
The NFL is paying a Canadian university to look into whether substances found in cannabis can prevent and treat concussions. It can definitely prevent concussions if people get too stoned to get off the couch.
London’s Evening Standard looks at their picks for the best bike locks.
An aide to London’s mayor argues that the risks to people walking or riding bikes should be considered before any road safety programs get the axe, saying bike riders get injured in the city every day.
An Irish paper warns that Dublin bike riders and drivers are on a collision course as commuters start heading back to work next week, after record numbers of people took to their bikes during the pandemic.
A Vietnamese website recommends a bike tour to see Hanoi from a different perspective.
Competitive Cycling
Two-time Grand Tour winner Egan Bernal faces a second operation on his spine, as he remains in intensive care after nearly losing his life crashing into a poorly parked bus while training in Colombia.
The news about Dutch cyclist Amy Pieters isn’t good, as she remains in stable condition in a deep coma more than a month after she was critically injured in a training crash just before Christmas.
Clean Technica urges the Tour Down Under to ditch its sponsorship by Santos, saying a fossil fuel company shouldn’t sponsor a bike race. Although these days, pro cycling can use every penny they can get.
Pro cycling’s Riders Union warns about dangerous conditions at the Saudi Tour, including hidden hazards in a gravel section and rule-breaking roadside barriers near the finish.
Ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis is taking another swing at founding a cycling team, after the collapse of the Floyd’s of Leadville founder’s previous effort in 2019; the team will ride new Canadian brand Squad Bicycles.
Finally…
That feeling when you bust your teenage friend out of the joint by hauling him off in a kid’s trailer behind your bike. Your bike glove could tell you where to go.
And who doesn’t need a bike light with a built-in Bluetooth speaker so you can annoy everyone around you with your taste in music?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
