The victim, who was not publicly identified, was reportedly trying to cross from the center divider to the right shoulder. There’s no word on why he was crossing where he did, rather than use the nearby bridge.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
April 21, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on San Diego woman critical after hit-and-run, more on Biking While Black arrest, and CA Stop as Yield Bill up for vote tomorrow
The victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was riding her bike on Ingraham Street near Fortuna Avenue when the driver ran her down from behind Monday night.
The suspect was driving a dark colored, four-door SUV with front-end damage; anyone with information is urged to call the SDPD’s Traffic Division at 858/495-7805.
A longer video show the events leading up to the arrest in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where a group of teens were popping wheelies and riding salmon through traffic.
Officers were able to corner several riders who broke away from the main mass of riders, leading them to confiscate four bikes that didn’t have the city’s required bike license. Even though they were initially promised their bikes wouldn’t be taken.
The Black teen was arrested for refusing to turn over his bike.
Even though it’s highly questionable whether police have the right to confiscate bicycles for a simple infraction — let alone arrest someone for what amounts to a ticketable traffic offense.
Especially if the kids are from out of town, since a city’s licensing requirement can’t be enforced against nonresidents.
And even though licensing laws, like helmet laws, are too often enforced against people of color, often as a pretext for an otherwise illegal search.
Fortunately, the cops came to their senses and returned the bikes a few hours later, as well as releasing the young man who’d been arrested.
The head of the New Jersey chapter of the ACLU offered this take on the incident.
This is Perth Amboy, NJ. Are the police really arresting kids over bike registrations? Does it really require this many officers to address whatever situation this is? Police CANNOT continue to be our response to EVERYTHING. https://t.co/fcrPfJNKBI
“The incident in Perth Amboy is an example of the kind of excessive criminalization that invites selective enforcement by police officers,” Sinha told NJ Advance Media. “Black and brown people are targeted and racially profiled for normal activities like riding bikes, walking down the street, or driving a car.”
“No one should be threatened with arrest or have their bike confiscated just for riding down the street rather than the sidewalk,” he added. “And we should be alarmed when police use their authority to brand normal behavior as crimes.”
Which pretty well sums up this whole sad affair of Biking While Black or Brown.
Thanks to Al Williams for his help in identifying the location of the first video yesterday.
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It’s time to weigh in on California’s proposed Safety Stop Bill, aka the Idaho Stop Law, that would allow bike riders to legally treat stop signs as yields.
Which is exactly what many, if not most, of us already do.
We just heard this is coming up for a vote on Thursday. Please sign the petition! https://t.co/8nQXKdDGav
— California Bicycle Coalition (@CalBike) April 20, 2021
Bike Talk recently discussed the bill with Burbank Assembly Woman Laura Friedman.
Florida just legalized vehicular homicide if someone you disagree with politically blocks the roadway.
"The law, which goes into effect immediately, grants civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road.” Legalized vehicular homicide against protesters seems a bit much, to me.
Megan Lynch also forwards video of Portland bike cops violently attacking a man on a bike who tried to ride through a small group of protestors, and using their bikes to push back the other people.
A UCLA professor is using art to promote bicycling, working with the LACBC and the school’s Luskin School of Public Affairs to create interactive, digital murals that “will simultaneously connect commuters, create safe routes around the city, and allow everyone to contribute to a work of public art.”
UC Davis is teaming with the city to reimagine Russel Boulevard, the busy thoroughfare that forms the northern border of the campus; the street carries 8,000 bike riders and 13,000 transit users each day, topping the daily 20,000 motorists that use the street.
Cycling Tips finds what they call the silliest bike campaign on Kickstarter, a low-end carbon fiber mountain bike that appears to have been cobbled together using spare parts from Alibaba, China’s ubiquitous Amazon equivalent.
And at last, a solution for the age old problem of never having a speed bump when and where you really need one.
@bikinginla The perfect accessory, er well will need a trailer to haul it around. And then some way to unroll & roll it back up while pedaling pic.twitter.com/UM92f9GPBu
March 16, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Cost of traffic violence — 3 killed in SD crash, air better worldwide in pandemic, and bike quotes to get you riding
This is the cost of traffic violence.
Yesterday’s rains drove even more people than usual living on the streets to a San Diego underpass Sunday night, because they had nowhere else to go to seek shelter from the storm.
Police believe Voss was the subject of a call to 911 shortly before the crash reporting a possibly intoxicated driver.
But at least he remained at the scene and attempted to aid the victims.
Beyond the sheer tragedy of three more innocent victims sacrificed on the alter to motor vehicles, it’s heartbreaking that so many people who’ve already lost everything and have to live without a roof over their heads — for whatever reason — aren’t safe along the streets they’re forced to live on.
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One more sign of the damage done by motor vehicles.
An improvement that will undoubtedly be reversed once businesses open back up and people go back to work.
Especially in places like Los Angeles, where so little was done during the closures to encourage more bike riding, walking and other forms of alternative transportation.
That compares to cities throughout Europe, which are doubling down on their successful efforts to encourage bicycling as a safe form of socially distanced transportation, with 600 miles of “cycle lanes, traffic-calming measures and car-free streets” installed over the last year.
“Everyone in their life has his own particular way of expressing life’s purpose – the lawyer his eloquence, the painter his palette, and the man of letters his pen from which the quick words of his story flow. I have my bicycle.” – Gino Bartali
“Cyclists see considerably more of this beautiful world than any other class of citizens. A good bicycle, well applied, will cure most ills this flesh is heir to” – Dr. K.K. Doty
“When man invented the bicycle he reached the peak of his attainments.” — Elizabeth West
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The good news is the city continues to improve safety for bicyclists in DTLA.
The bad is it seems to come at the expense of the rest of the city.
— Dutch Cycling Embassy (@Cycling_Embassy) March 12, 2021
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
You’ve got to be kidding. Life is cheap in the UK, where a driver with a history of violence walked without a single lousy day behind bars when a judge gave him a suspended sentence for assaulting a young couple who had stopped to fix a flat, first punching the man before knocking the woman down and stomping on her head. Seriously, what the hell are jails for, then?
Nine of the 21 candidates for a Queens city council seat took part in a bike ride through the district to examine problems and policies before the upcoming election. For years, the LACBC’s candidate surveys asked people running for city offices if they’d be willing to meet or ride with bicyclists if they were elected; even though most agreed, no one ever asked them to.
A Virginia op-ed calls for lowering speed limits to 15 mph to save lives. Although here in Southern California, a 15 mph speed limit means most drivers would still do 25 to 30 mph. But at least that would be an improvement for most drivers, who currently do 35 to 45 in a 25 mph residential zone.
San Diego bike advocate Phillip Young is a frequent contributor to this site.
I always appreciate his insights. But we part ways when it comes to protected bike lanes.
Young penned a guest post for Cycling Salvation, suggesting that protected bike lanes only give the illusion of safety, while posing a hidden risk to new and experienced bike riders alike.
Bordered by raised asphalt barriers and bright plastic pylons, these “protected bike lanes” create a sort of “safety bubble” that protects cyclists from vehicles moving alongside them, in the same direction. In theory, cyclists of all ages and abilities can enjoy the San Diego sunshine and scenery, while cars and trucks whizz by in the adjacent vehicle lane. Motorists will see the fun loving bikers not slowed by traffic jams and join them in droves. Soon, we’ll all be pedaling together, in cycling bliss.
But those rosy assurances crumble, when we confront the real dangers of “protected bike lanes”, and the emotional and economic cost of the accidents, injuries, and deaths that plague them.
He directs his barbs in particular at a recently installed curb-protected bike lane on the coast highway through Cardiff.
According to statistics gathered by North County cycling advocates, there were 24 accidents — all at slow speeds — in just 8-months on a 1-mile flat “protected bike lane” stretch installed last year on the Cardiff 101 beach route. Fifteen of those crashes were caused by cyclists who collided with the raised asphalt barriers designed to keep vehicles away from the bike traffic. A ten-year-old rider flopped into the traffic lane after colliding with an asphalt barrier – fortunately, not run over by a vehicle. Many of these crashes resulted in ambulance rides to a hospital including: 1-knocked unconscious, 1-neck injury, 2-multiple bone fractures, 1-broken pelvis, 2-pedestrian crashes, and 1-hit surfboard.
The “protected bike lanes” on popular beachfront roads also attract pedestrians, joggers, families with strollers, beachgoers carrying umbrellas, coolers, and chairs, and scores of other non-cyclists. Those pedestrians don’t always pay attention to the cyclists, which creates a serious hazard for everyone. Raised barriers are also a pedestrian trip hazard. When a “protected bike lane” is on a steep grade, the added bike speed makes the situation even more hazardous.
Young also points to the death of a bike rider on another protected bike lane, with a design that prevented the driver from merging into the lane before turning, as required by California law.
A cyclist on Leucadia Blvd suffered a much worse fate. A truck driver made a right turn in front of the rider, who was killed when he collided with the truck. The plastic pylons designed to “protect” the cyclist had the opposite effect; they prevented the truck driver from slowly moving towards the curb as he prepared to make that right turn onto Moonstone Ct.
It’s a well argued piece, worth the click and a few minutes of your time.
Even the most critical recent report, from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, found that most protected bike lanes improve safety for bike riders, with a few limited exceptions like narrow two-bike lanes or protected lanes broken up by numerous driveways and turns.
It’s also worth pointing out that the 24 bicycling crashes he refers to along a single stretch of road in an eight-month period works out to just three per month.
And yes, that’s three too many.
But it’s stat presented out of context. What matters isn’t how many crashes there were after the bike lanes went in, but how that compares to before they were installed.
If there were five crashes a month before the lanes were installed, a reduction to three a month would reflect a significant improvement in safety.
On the other hand, if there was an average of two bicycling crashes a month prior to the protected bike lanes going in, then it would mark a 50% decrease in safety.
The same holds true with the severity of the crashes. Even if there are more crashes now, if the victims are less seriously injured, the protected bike lanes are doing their job.
That said, looking at a photo of these particular bike lanes suggests several serious safety deficiencies.
First, the bike lane doesn’t appear to be wide enough to accommodate two bicycle riding side-by-side, making it challenging to safely pass slower riders. And no one is going to patiently ride in single file behind someone riding at a fraction of their speed.
The proximity of the parking lane also means passengers will exit onto the bike lane, potentially into the path of a passing rider — not to mention cross the bike lane on their way to the beach laden with blankets, umbrellas, coolers and kids.
And the narrow, unwelcoming walkway to the right means many, if not most, pedestrians will choose to walk in the bikeway, instead.
As much as I support protected bike lanes, this particular one does not appear to pass the smell test.
Or any other test, for that matter.
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While we’re on the subject, Phillip Young added some more thoughts in an email exchange yesterday afternoon, which is worth sharing here.
Doing research for my article, I came across San Diego County car vs bicycle accident data:
Average number of San Diego County car vs bicycle accident / crashes annually: 629
San Diego County population 3+ million people
The majority (60%) of the accidents are “Bicycle Riders Acting Badly”:
Ran a red light or stop sign
Cutting in between cars
Taking unnecessary chances
Inexperienced male bicycle riders between ages of 15 and 19 account for most accidents.
The overwhelming majority (92%) of the accidents, the bicycle rider sustains non-severe injuries:
1% Deaths (Not all bicycling deaths are solely the car or truck driver’s fault: e.g. gun shot, alcohol / drugs, medical event, bicycle equipment failure, no lights or reflectors at night, etc.)
7% Severe Injuries
92% Complaint of pain and other visible injury
It is very unlikely a car will hit you on your next bike ride (Average 629 annual crashes with a population of 3+ million people). Even if you are unlucky and a car does hit you, 92% chance it will be a non-severe injury.
It’s way more likely you will hit something and crash — we don’t need more stuff sticking up to crash into or bad road surfaces with holes and debris to cause a fall. Even a slow speed bicycle crash can be serious.
Money is much better spent building Class I Bike Paths and Class II Buffered Bike Lanes. Building more miles of Class IV Cycle Tracks (Protected Bike Lanes) will just multiply our problems.
A Sacramento man faces 61 years behind bars for wrapping a woman in his coat and carrying her off a bike path after seeing she was in distress — then fatally stabbing her without warning, for no apparent reason.
A Washington man got a well-deserved nine years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a bike rider while high on meth; he stopped to dislodge the bike from under his car, and told someone he thought he hit a mailbox. Because lots of mailboxes ride bicycles, apparently.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a three-wheeled adaptive bike that a disabled Missouri man relied as his only form of transportation. And just the opposite for the kindhearted stranger who replaced it.
However, no one ordered a similar review when a 32-year old homeless man, identified as Jonathan Valbuena, was killed in a hit-and-run a few miles north on the same deadly corridor.
America’s first congestion pricing plan could get the go ahead now that the former Mayor Pete is heading the Department of Transportation, clearing the way for New York’s proposed program. Which could bode well for Los Angeles — if local leaders have the courage to move forward with Metro’s congestion pricing proposal.
November 5, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on San Diego riders fight theft with Bike Index, bike-friendly Raman wins LA’s CD4, and Pendleton path closed this weekend
“There’s a large uptick in apartment building break-ins,” Bryan Hance of BikeIndex.org said to me. “So many new apartment buildings make residents park in their ‘secure’ bike parking areas, which aren’t that secure, and we are seeing so many instances of thieves forcing their way into these at night and then just robbing them blind. Often the bike anchors and racks in these spaces are quite weak, so once they’re inside, it’s like a bike buffet for these thieves. There’s an uptick in bike shop break-ins. With covid-19, job loss, and a pullback by law enforcement, we’ve seen enormous numbers of bike shops get robbed.”
And no, I don’t get a dime for hosting them on this site.
Except for the satisfaction of giving you a fighting chance against bike thieves.
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After opposing bike and pedestrian safety projects for most of his first term — and apparently only — term, it looks like you can now append ex-LA City Councilmember to David Ryu’s resume.
We could not be more excited that @nithyavraman defeated incumbent @davideryu in Council District 4.
– Only the third woman on the 15 person City Council – First time since 2003 that an incumbent loses
The Union Street Protected Bike Lane Project design is approaching finalization to prepare for construction in 2021. Review the design presentation videos and provide your feedback @ https://t.co/gotGxLG3PP. Comments are due FRIDAY, NOV. 13, 2020. pic.twitter.com/pmpDJzfYGJ
Once again, bike riders will face a temporary ban on riding through Camp Pendleton.
Please note that a portion of the bike route within the San Onofre Beach State Park (see attached photo) will be closed for military training during the night/early morning. This closure will only interrupt bicycle travel at night time or early morning (prior to 7 AM). During the time of the bike path closure, cyclists may ride on the I-5 shoulder if needed.
Closure Date and Time
Date: November 7 to November 8
Time: 7 PM from November 8 to 8 7 AM on November 8
Heartbreaking news from San Diego, where a three-year old boy had both legs amputated despite several attempts to save them, after developing a MRSA staff infection when he fell off his bike and scraped his knee; now doctor’s are just hoping to save his hands and arms.
An email from the San Diego Council of Bicycle Clubs reports the victim was riding ahead of a companion when he crashed into the truck, which did not have any warning cones or flashers on.
The other rider attempted to perform CPR; however, the victim, publicly identified only as a 42-year old man, was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering severe head trauma.
Unfortunately, California law allows parking in bike lanes except where specifically prohibited by local ordinances. While the street is posted no parking, the signs appear to be spaced too far apart, and it is likely there is an exception for utility workers in the performance of their duties.
Whether that was the case here, or the driver just pulled over for some reason is still unclear.
It seems likely that the victim was descending at speed, not expecting anything blocking the bike lane, and was unable to stop once the truck came into view around a sweeping curve.
It’s also worth noting that, while there is no word on whether the victim was wearing a helmet, bike helmets aren’t designed to protect against hard impacts at relatively fast speeds. Especially one resulting from a near instantaneous stop.
It’s also worth noting that the police found the victim’s cell phone on the side of the road, and were examining it to see if he was using it at the time of the crash.
Which is a pretty good indication that the investigators have never ridden a bike downhill, let alone at high speed.
This is at least the 41st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
Flores is the minivan driver who allegedly slammed into a 66-year old bike rider near the city’s airport last month, leaving the victim with a life-threatening head injury.
In actions captured on video, he allegedly got out of his van, along with a passenger identified as 50-year old Jessica Bailey, examined the victim lying in the roadway, then calmly removed his bike from under their van and drove away.
They were captured in Kern County less than two weeks later.
There’s no word on whether Bailey is in custody, or if she will face any charges.
And no word on the identity or condition of the victim.
There are several stories from other news outlets, like this one, but they’re all virtually identical. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.
And how the environmentally friendly project was killed by a single LA councilmember, acting on behalf of a notorious NIMBY group.
Just after the Mid City West meeting, the NIMBYs sprang into action. They viewed Uplift Melrose as a threat to the sacred space of vehicles in this city, and were outraged that a project would even be considered that would rellocate space from cars for a bike lane. Those bike lane thieves, trying to take away sacred car space! And while the project was so much more than a bike lane — it was wider sidewalks, new trees, raised crosswalks, new lighting… all they could see was the bike lane.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An American marine biologist in the Philippines with a bad case of windshield bias questions why road space is being given to bike riders when motor vehicles bring in much more “revinue” for the government. He may be many things, but an environmentalist clearly ain’t one of them, regardless of what the headline says.
Washington state is adopting the Idaho Stop Law next month, allowing bike riders to treat stops as yields — but not treat red lights like stop signs, as is legal in Idaho.
This is how it works in other places. Austin, Texas is going to make permanent a popup bike lane installed during the coronavirus crisis after it proved successful. Unfortunately, unlike countless other cities around the world, auto-centric Los Angeles never bothered to install any temporary bike lanes during the lockdown period to begin with.
The victim was riding on the sharrows near the intersection of India and West Washington streets when he was apparently run down from behind, suffering a life-threatening head injury.
The vehicle is described as a blue or gray 2005 Dodge Caravan, with Georgia license plates, number RRJ7004.
Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up.
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Show this one to everyone who insists bike lanes will keep emergency vehicles from getting through.
An ambulance in London today demonstrating that protected cycle infrastructure can be helpful for emergency services. Unlike cars sitting in a jam, people on bikes using the lane were able to easily move out of the way for it pic.twitter.com/XT2e5sSAH9
Then there’s this, from right here in the LA area.
Biking home yesterday, a white woman shouted at me and reached into her bag. She pulled out hash browns, ripped open the package and threw them one at a time at me. 2020 means wondering if she went after me for being Asian or riding a bike? Also relieved hash browns, not bullets
Streets LA — nee Bureau of Street Services — will host a virtual open house to discuss the proposed Uplift Melrose project this Wednesday; the plans include expanded sidewalks, better landscaping and LA’s first dutch-style curb level protected bike lane. Take a few minutes to attend if you can, because the usual NIMBYs and bike haters undoubtedly will.
A Sacramento bike rider was lucky to walk away after riding his bike out in front of oncoming traffic and getting drilled by a car traveling at an estimated 50 mph; remarkably, his bike appeared to be relatively okay, too.
Chicago police finally get around to returning dozens of bicycles that were confiscated during Black Lives Matter protests in July. Never mind that the seizures are of questionable legality; it’s unlikely they could confiscate a motor vehicle under the same circumstances.
A Tennessee columnist says wear your bike helmet, already, crediting a helmet for why one bike rider survived, and the lack of one for why another one died. He’s got a point. But let’s not forget that bike helmets should always be the last resort when all else fails — not the first.
Speaking of Tennessee, a man in the state lost 100 pounds riding an ebike; for readers in the UK, that’s over seven stone. Just one more reminder that ped-assist ebikes offer genuine exercise, just like regular bikes.
Um, no. Cycling Weekly tells you what to wear for year-round bike commutes. Spandex is fine if that’s what you want to wear. But despite what they show, bike riders around the world somehow manage to get to work and back without a stitch of bikewear.
The driver then got out of his car and moved the victim back into the street, before fleeing the scene. Although why he moved him, and from where, is unclear.
It’s also not clear why the victim would have turned in front of the driver’s car when Alamo exits to the right off westbound University, rather than the left.
The victim died after being taken to Scripps Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest; he’s described only as a man who appears to be in his late 40s.
