Sometimes, sidewalks only offer the illusion of safety.
Especially when it’s a narrow sidewalk along a busy, fast-moving street.
According to the Orange County Register, a man was killed when he fell off a Santa Ana sidewalk, and was struck by a passing car.
The victim, identified only as a Hispanic man in his 60s, was walking or riding his bike headed east, on the north sidewalk, under the railroad overpass on First Street near Standard Ave around 8:30 pm when he somehow fell in front of the driver’s car.
A Santa Ana police advisory reports that the driver immediately stopped, and several bystanders gathered around the victim in the street to protect him from traffic. He was taken to OC Global Trauma Center, where he passed away.
The police statement said the driver was only traveling 25 mph at the time of the crash, which seems unlikely; the speed limit is 40 mph on that section of First, and most Southern California drivers routinely exceed posted speeds by 5 mph to 10 mph, or more.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Santa Ana Police Department’s Traffic Division at 714/245-8200.
This is at least the 25th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
It’s been a violent few days in Southern California.
Tragic story from Santa Ana, where a woman collecting recyclables was barely able to get off her bike in time before a truck slammed into it early yesterday. Only to discover the driver was already dead or dying from a gunshot wound; police are unsure where or how he got shot.
And man was shot as he and a woman were riding their bicycles on the LA River bike path in Long Beach on Wednesday. Although given the date, it’s possible it could have been caused by some idiot firing a gun into the air to celebrate the 4th.
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Michael MacDonald, aka topomodesto, offers a scathing indictment of the bike traffic signals on the new MyFigueroa bike lanes.
An affluent city in which the act of riding a bike means our parents, partners, children and friends can die violent deaths is a travesty. A police force that won’t protect us should be ashamed. A legal system that won’t punish offenders is a farce. City councillors who won’t allocate funds to protect lives should be pushed out of office.
Until the city asserts its proper authority, the act of cycling in Toronto will remain a nasty, brutish and deadly experience.
Much of which applies to Los Angeles, as well. From a legal system that too often lets deadly drivers off with a slap on the wrist — if they get charged at all — to councilmembers who don’t just refuse to fund projects, but actually halt already funded safety projects.
And who should be pushed out here as well if they refuse to protect the lives and safety of their constituents, and anyone else who uses the streets of this city.
Not distracted drivers. Or even poorly designed SUVs.
A third of pedestrians killed in crashes in 2016 were over the legal limit, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s nearly 2,000 people — up more than 300 since 2014.
“Those numbers are pretty shocking,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices. “We think this is a big problem.”
Sure.
Except there is no legal limit for walking, because unlike operating a deadly two-ton machine, drinking doesn’t significantly impair moving your feet unless you get stumbling, falling down drunk.
Never mind that the report doesn’t specify how many of those intoxicated pedestrians were actually at fault, or did anything to contribute to their demise other than simply being there.
And it doesn’t mention how many of those deaths were actually caused by a lack of safe sidewalks and crosswalks that may have forced victims out into the street. Other than to suggest you should walk a quarter mile in each direction to get to a safe crossing rather than simply run across the street, like most people would do, drunk or sober.
Let alone the simple fact that if one-third of the victims were under the influence, that means the overwhelming majority weren’t.
We could spend hours picking this one apart.
But let’s just say this story is an incredible, stinking example victim-blaming windshield bias.
Now living in Los Gatos, mountain biking legend Juliana Furtado speaks out about the risk of suicide and depression, saying she’s lucky to have survived the disease that took the lives of her mother and older sister.
That car exhaust you suck in when you ride might be putting you at greater risk for diabetes. It’s frightening to think I might not have inherited my adult-onset diabetes from my mother after all, but gotten it from 30 plus years of riding in traffic instead.
A group of women cyclists are riding the full Tour de France route one day ahead of the men competing in the race, while still contending with traffic and other inconveniences. But sure, let’s go ahead and pretend women can’t handle long stage races or difficult courses.
January 16, 2018 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Sharing the road with flying cars, and maybe bike riders aren’t scofflaws after all
They drive among us.
Maybe you somehow managed to miss the multitude of new stories over the weekend about the allegedly stoned driver who managed to plant his car on the second floor of a dental shop in Santa Ana.
No, really.
According to reports, the driver, who hasn’t been publicly identified, hit a center median with enough force to launch his car into the air, across three lanes of traffic, and embed it into the wall of the shop while still gaining altitude.
The inevitable question of how fast he had to be traveling to launch his car with such force is only partially answered by security camera footage.
As well as the view from an oncoming bus that was nearly taken out by the airborne ballistic automobile.
But at least that one seems to have stuck to the ground.
Top photo from Orange County Fire Authority. Thanks to Erik Griswold and Wes Salmon for the heads-up.
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Pot, meet kettle.
It’s long been common knowledge, among drivers at least, that people who ride bicycles are a bunch of reckless scofflaws who pay no attention to the law.
Never mind that even the most reckless bike rider is primarily a danger to him or herself, while a reckless driver is a danger to everyone around them.
That should have changed a few years ago, when a study from the University of Colorado showed that drivers and bike riders broke the law at nearly the same rate — 8% to 9% for drivers, and 7% to 8% for bicyclists.
As well as a follow-up study that showed when drivers broke the law, they did it for convenience, while people on bikes did it out of concern for their own safety.
Except that the both studies were greeted with crickets by the mainstream media.
Let alone the motoring public.
Now another study has shown virtually the same thing.
In the end, the results indicated that cyclists were compliant with the law 88 percent of the time during the day and 87 percent of the time after dark. The same study determined that drivers who interacted with the study subjects complied with the law 85 percent of the time. In other words, drivers were slightly naughtier than the cyclists—even without measuring speeding or distracted driving.
In a conversation with three of the researchers who conducted the study, I asked if they had any insight into why the findings vary so significantly from public perceptions about scofflaw cyclist behavior. “Many drivers simply don’t know the rules that concern people on bikes,” says Cong Chen. “About how much space to give cyclists, for instance, or when riders should get the right of way.”
The study also offers suggestions on how to improve safety.
In any case, based on the study findings, the researchers offered a number of recommendations to help mitigate the frighteningly high rate of close calls. For infrastructure improvements, they suggested wider and protected bike lanes; reflective green markings on bike lanes; improved lighting on roadways that see significant bicycle traffic; and so-called “through lanes,” which reduce conflicts between bicyclists and turning vehicles at intersections by letting riders be safely positioned before cars turn. “Based on what we saw and measured, we recommend measures that promote separating more than sharing,” says Kourtellis. “We think creating buffers between cars and bikes is smart.”
But once again, don’t bother trying to find any mention of the study in the mainstream media.
Evidently, dispelling a widely held misperception too often used to demonize people on bicycles just isn’t news.
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Speaking of demonizing bicyclists, one Aussie rider caught skitching — holding onto a moving vehicle to hitch a ride — is used to attack everyone who rides a bike for wanting “extra rights” on the road.
Never mind that most bicyclists haven’t done that, and never will.
And the only extra right we want is the right to ride a bike, and get home in one piece.
Los Angeles County’s outgoing Health Services director says he didn’t expect to fall in love with LA after moving here from San Francisco, but riding his bike to work from Hancock Park to DTLA certainly didn’t hurt. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
Repaving started this past weekend on 6th Street between La Brea and Fairfax to prepare it for the half-measure safety improvements pushed through by Councilmember David Ryu, against the wishes of local residents who were fighting for a road diet. Any hope that the road diet might go through died following the fiasco in Playa del Rey, where recently installed road diets were yanked out after an outcry from motorists.
The latest Bike Talk podcast features John Russo and Karla Mendelson of Keep LA Moving, who successfully fought to have the Playa del Rey road diets removed, and want to halt any future lane reductions in the city.
You never know what you might find while riding your bike. Like a boa constrictor with a broken jaw on the side of a Bay Area highway. The good news is, the snake has fully recovered.
An Oregon town posts a sign telling drivers not to text and drive, in honor of a 16-year old boy who was killed by a texting driver while riding his bike. Which will undoubtedly cause every driver to put down their phones. If they even bother to read it.
Just a year after finishing a seven year, 43,000 mile around-the-world bike tour, an English man is planning to set a new record by riding across Europe in less than 20 days.
A British father shares gruesome photos of his son after the boy crashed face-first into a brick wall, saying it’s a reminder to always wear a helmet. Which might have actually helped, but only if he’d worn it over his face.
An Aussie woman says she deserves a reduced sentence because the bike rider she left bleeding on the side of the road while driving high on ice didn’t die, but merely suffered permanent, life changing injuries.
South African cyclist Louis Meintjes learned the hard way to put on sunscreen under his mesh jersey. I once ended up with the Canari logo tanned onto my back after wearing my favorite jersey a little too often.
He fell directly in front of the South Coast Global Medical Center, and was eventually taken inside where he was pronounced dead.
There’s no word on why he collapsed or the cause of death.
According to the paper, so many motorists stopped to help the victim that police initially thought he must have been hit by one of them.
Too often we only hear about the conflicts between people on bikes and in cars, whether verbal or physical, intentional or otherwise. As sad as this news is, it’s heartwarming to see that there are still people who care about others on our streets.
This is the second bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first in Orange County.
Unfortunately, issues medical issues like this can arise at any time, often with little or no warning. So let this be a reminder to see your doctor on a regular basis, especially if you’re older or have health issues, to ensure that you’re healthy enough to ride.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
According to witnesses, Lien was riding west with traffic on 1st when he turned left at Center, and was struck by a driver headed in the opposite direction on 1st.
He was taken to UCI Medical Center, where he passed away.
The driver remained at the scene; police don’t suspect he was under the influence.
A street view shows Center connecting with 1st in a T-intersection controlled by a red light, with three lanes in each direction on 1st and a center left turn lane.
Given his age, it’s possible that Lien may have started across the street with the light, and was unable to finish crossing before the light changed. However, that is just speculation at this point.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8200.
This is the 54th bicycling fatality in Southern California, and the 10th in Orange County.
Macmillian was reportedly riding north on the sidewalk on the southbound side of Main Street when rode out into traffic, and was hit by the driver of a 2005 Corvette.
However, it’s very unclear what that means.
A street view shows a T-intersection controlled by a red light, with three lanes in each direction on Main.
It could be that he came off the curb mid-block and rode into traffic on the wrong side of the street, or he could have attempted to cross Main.
There’s also a a utility box and light pole blocking the sidewalk just past Columbine, which could have caused him to enter the street to go around it.
The Register says it’s still unknown whether Macmillian was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The question is whether his actions on the bike suggest he was drunk or stoned, or if police suspect that merely because he was living on the streets.
This is the 53rd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Orange County. It’s also at least the 11th bicycling death in Santa Ana since 2011.
That compares to 66 in SoCal this time last year, and ninth in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for David Lee Macmillian and all his loved ones.
Some news reports have suggested the victim may have been riding without lights, and might have done something that contributed to the crash.
However, no matter what he may or may not have done, street racing is a serious crime with entirely foreseeable consequences, akin to firing a gun down a crowded street. It should not be up to the rest of the world to stay the hell out of the way of dangerous drivers exceeding the speed limit and putting everyone else at risk.
Mike Wilkinson forwards video of a far too close pass in Stanton, which just happened to occur right next to the only parked car on the street.
He notes that, despite the perspective, he was riding outside the door zone. However, in the future, he plans to take the lane where the road narrows there.
If you find yourself jonesing for another ciclovía now that CicLAvia is done for the year, Long Beach hosts the next edition of their Beach Streets open streets event on November 12th.
And the LACBC will host a discussion of traffic laws with representatives of the LAPD, LA County Sheriff’s Department and the CHP, along with BikinginLA Sponsor Jim Pocrass, on November 14th.
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British Cycling confirms allegations that the head of their bike racing program used inappropriate and discriminatory language in telling a female racer to go and have a baby after her contract wasn’t renewed.
After allowing a previous DIY protected bike lane to stay in place, San Francisco’s transportation department wastes little time in removing the latest guerilla installation.
A pair of bike riders are Bay Area heroes, as one retrieves a lost purse left on a bus, and the other leaps off his bike to save the life of a truck driver who’d just been stabbed.
A Vallejo cop hit a bicyclist while looking for a burglary suspect; the rider allegedly went through a red light while wearing all black with no lights on his bike.
A Folsom restaurant owner is collecting funds from the meals he sells to support the family of an Afghan refugee killed by a distracted driver while riding with his son last year.
National
A new report reminds us that homeowners who fight bikeways are just shooting themselves in the foot. Or rather, in the pocketbook.
A new British Columbia study says slow down while riding in urban areas to avoid inhaling toxic air pollution; 9.3 mph is recommended as the ideal speed to avoid sucking in too much smog.
Caught on video: A British driver makes an unsafe pass, then cuts back into his lane just in time to avoid a truck — and barely misses an eight-year old girl.
Innovative approaches to bicycling and walking are leading Africa to a greener future, where four countries are among the world’s most dangerous for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The California legislature could be taking your life in its hands.
Brenda Miller, founder of the PEDal advocacy group, writes that a new bill currently flying under the radar would legalize the California stop at red lights. According to her, SB 986 jeopardizes the safety of cyclists and pedestrians by eliminating the requirement that drivers remain stopped until they check for traffic before making a right turn on the red.
The result, she says, is that most drivers will simply roll through the intersection without stopping. Or looking.
Let’s hope the altercation didn’t start just because he was riding on the sidewalk in violation of local law. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.
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The Orange County Wheelmen is hosting a free class this Thursday to discuss your rights and responsibilities to help keep you safe on the road.
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Two common themes in today’s news, starting with still more kindhearted people.
The owner of a New Jersey bike shop is giving back to the community by purchasing 41 bicycles that will be given to underprivileged kids in the city’s toughest neighborhoods.
Sheriff’s deputies give a bike to a 16-year old boy so he wouldn’t have to walk four miles to the library in the Florida heat to study.
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And the opposite, as road raging drivers form a far too common theme.
Caught on video: An Atlantic City woman is under arrest for smashing her car into several parked cars in a deliberate attempt to run down a bike rider, who is shown throwing his bike at her car multiple times; police are looking for another suspect, presumably the man on the bike. The driver should be charged with attempted murder; the bike rider with bicycle abuse, if nothing else.
A Florida cyclist’s cross-county dream came to an abrupt end in Alabama when a road raging driver first threatened him with a knife, then ran over ran over his bicycle; the driver faces charges of reckless endangerment and second-degree criminal mischief.
Caught on video too: An Aussie truck driver is now under investigation after he posted video of himself deliberately drenching a group of riders with water, while cackling that he wishes he could run them over instead. It’s bad enough to pull crap like this, but what kind of idiot posts video online of himself doing it?
A transgendered Canadian cyclist wins a key human rights complaint over what she considers a humiliating sex-verification process, as well as being denied needed hormones because they’re banned under anti-doping rules.
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Local
KPCC notes that Los Angeles is currently holding focus groups to fine-tune its Vision Zero plan, with public meetings to come later.
DTLA’s Metro Bike bikeshare system, which remains in desperate need of a good nickname, is now open to walk-up users at a reduced rate of $1.75 per half hour through September. Meanwhile, Next City asks if bikeshare should cost the same as a bus.
A UCLA doctor on the final leg of a seven-day charity ride saves the life of another rider who was suffering a heart attack in Malibu. Thanks to Evan G for the link.
The parents of the first, and so far only, cyclist killed while riding a bikeshare bike have filed a wrongful death suit against the truck driver who hit her and his employer.
Brooklyn bike riders get a new parking-protected bike lane, replacing the existing unprotected lane. Which is a natural progression that can and should be followed on many, if not most, LA bike lanes.
A man rides off with a $5,500 bicycle from a Florida bike shop after giving them the keys to a non-existent car as collateral for a test ride.
International
Ottawa, Canada cyclists and residents opposed to ghost bikes have been battling it out at the scene of a cyclist’s death; after the city removed her ghost bike, bike advocates and the victim’s family would draw one on the wall, then someone else would come and wash it off at night. Now, someone has upped the ante by illegally painting it on the wall where she died.
A Toronto columnist says why not build Pokemon Go lanes, since he’s convinced there are more Pokemon Go players than there are bike riders.
A London father uses security camera footage and Facebook to track down the teenage thieves who stole his daughter’s bicycle.
Yet another person riding a bike has been left to die in the street by a heartless coward who fled the scene.
According to the Orange County Register, a bike rider identified only as an adult male was hit by an SUV shortly before 1 am on the 1400 block of West Warner Ave, just East of the South Pacific Ave in Santa Ana.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
There’s no word at this time what may have caused the collision, or how it occurred. Witnesses reported the driver fled east on Warner, but no description of the driver or the SUV is currently available.
A street view shows a wide open three lane roadway east of Pacific, with no parking allowed and nothing to slow drivers down.
Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana police Cpl. Matt Wharton at 714/245-8209.
This is the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in Orange County; it’s also the second in Santa Ana since the first of the year. That compares with ten in the seven county SoCal region this time last year, and none in the county.
Update: The victim has been identified as 44-year old Ricardo Aguilar; no city of residence was given. The time of the collision has been changed to around 5 am. Note: The story in the Register misidentified the victim as Ricardo Martinez; his niece sent a correction in the comments below.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ricardo Aguilar and his loved ones.
January 26, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Bicyclist killed in Santa Ana collision Monday evening
More bad news, as a bike rider was killed crossing a street in Santa Ana.
According to the Orange County Register, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was struck around 6:07 pm at the intersection of 17th and La Bonita Streets. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The New Santa Ana website reports he was north on La Bonita when he was hit by a pick-up; no word on which direction the truck was going.
The driver remained at the scene, and cited darkness as the reason he did not see the victim until it was too late. He was not suspected of being under the influence.
However, according to Google Maps, that address doesn’t exist, although it appears to be the intersection of La Bonita and Westminster Ave, which becomes 17th east of the Santa Ana River.
Assuming that is the correct location, a satellite view shows an uncontrolled six lane street on Westminster, with a 45 mph speed limit and the sort of wide lanes that too often encourage speeding. There is a stop sign on La Bonita at Westminster.
There’s no word on whether the victim had lights or reflectors on his bike. But there are street lights at the intersection, so the rider should have been visible if they were working. So the question becomes why the driver didn’t see the victim before it was too late.
Anyone with information is urged to call Investigator Bao of the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8214.
This is the eight bicycling collision in Southern California already this year, and second in Orange County. It’s also the fifth in Santa Ana in just the last two years.
Update: The Register has identified the victim as 77-year old Huntington Beach resident Thuc Van Nguyen.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Thuc Van Nguyen and his loved ones.
