Unfortunately, there’s no additional information at this time, other than the driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
However, since the cops and the media seem incapable of telling an e-bicycle from an e-motorbike, it’s up to us to suss out what the victim was actually riding.
In this case, video from the scene appears to show a crumpled bicycle frame, rather than a heavier e-moto. Although “appears” seems to be the key word here.
This crash was less than five miles from the site of Monday’s hit-and-run, in which the victim appeared to do everything right.
Francois joined the UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science in 2001 and quickly became an indispensable member of our community. He served as Chair of the department from 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, he helped the school navigate the aftermath of COVID-19 and worked to minimize disruptions for students and faculty members.
He was an internationally recognized leader in physical oceanography and ocean biogeochemistry, whose work helped deepen our understanding of global ocean circulation and global carbon and nutrient cycles. His research yielded foundational insights into the ocean’s role in regulating climate, including landmark studies on ocean ventilation, the global nitrogen budget, and the strength of the biological carbon pump. His work has equipped scientists with the tools to make more accurate climate predictions—a legacy that will benefit generations to come.
Francois was a dedicated leader, researcher, mentor, colleague, and friend. He will be remembered for his excitement in sharing mathematical insights and his enthusiasm for Bayesian statistics. His smile was always warm, and his door was always open. We were all fortunate to know him and to count him among our community. We have lost one of our best.
He is survived by his wife, Juno, and their son, Louis
However, that makes his death, not just a loss for his family and friends, but for all of us and the planet we call home. Not just for the research he will no longer conduct and the warming climate he will no longer work to forestall, but for the future scientists who won’t benefit from his teaching and guidance.
Primeau was killed while riding his bike at Standard and Warner avenues in Santa Ana around 6:15 pm Thursday.
Thirty-eight-year old Edjan Rocha turned himself in to Santa Ana police over the weekend, after investigators had discovered and impounded the vehicle he was allegedly driving. At last report, the Santa Ana resident was being held on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run.
And while they were unable to conclude that the bike lanes help businesses, due to the number of uncontrolled factors, they concluded that at the very least, the bike lanes don’t hurt business.
Despite what business owners everywhere will try to tell you.
The Chicago Department of Transportation last month published a report on the economic impacts of bike lanes that examined six commercial corridors with different types of bike lane projects. Researchers analyzed data as well as surveys and interviews with local businesses, residents and real estate developers.
The case studies compared the surveyed areas with “control” corridors nearby, and looked at the change in sales tax revenue, commercial property vacancy and employment, as well as safety and bike usage data since the lanes were installed…
According to the survey results and data gathered in the report, however, the six bike lane projects have not hurt business activity after their installation, although the study does not assert that the lanes themselves improved an area’s economic outlook.
The study found improved economic activity in most of the areas studied, although in some cases the control group outperformed the studied corridor on some metrics.
But there was no case where the bike lanes, whether painted or protected, made things any worse.
The city’s transportation department did not provide someone behind the report for an interview. In a statement, spokesperson Erica Schroeder said the studies show that bike lanes contributed to either “positive or neutral” trends along most of studied areas — and that the report “complements” the city’s analysis of improved and safer street design.
“Although it is not possible to isolate the effects of bike lanes from broader economic factors, the case studies show no evidence that bike lanes negatively impacted retail sales, commercial property values, or employment,” she said.
To which we can all anticipate a chorus of voices shouting “But they didn’t study my street, in my town, which is somehow unique from every other street in every other town.”
Because as we’ve learned, there is no way to convince some people unless you conduct a study on their exact street, under the exact same conditions under which they do business.
And even if you do, they won’t believe the results unless it confirms their preconceived bias.
Because, people.
……….
It’s Prime Day, uh Days.
Which is Amazon’s self-proclaimed shopping frenzy holiday, for anyone who chose this particular week to hide under a rock. And if you did, I don’t blame you.
But for those of you willing to wade into the online frenzy, credit card in hand —
An Irish woman is calling for a ban on angry honking after a school bus driver blasted his horn for 40 seconds as he followed her, incensed that he couldn’t pass as she rode her bike home from visiting her brother’s grave. It’s illegal here in California to use your horn for anything other than an emergency warning, not that it’s ever stopped anyone.
The state senate is poised to approve scaled-back legislation that would make it easier to get approval for bike and pedestrian projects in coastal zones, including in Santa Monica, after it was watered down to something everyone could live with. Legislation by committee is never a good idea, because you end up with a law that is acceptable to everyone, but barely for anyone.
We’re going to take a little different approach today by focusing on a single story, with another quick note at the end, due to the importance of this issue and the time required to put it together.
Barring anything unexpected, we should be back tomorrow for our usual links and hijinks.
………
Don’t take my word for it.
For some time now, I’ve been a voice crying in the wilderness about the dangers of the flat design and ever-increasing height of today’s grills, as pickups and SUVs continue to get bigger, and designs more aggressive.
Make that aggressive, as in dangerous.
I’ve come under a lot of criticism for calling them murder grills, because they are literally designed to kill. Maybe not intentionally, but the design of their grills and extensive blindspots dramatically increase the lethality of these increasingly popular vehicles.
And no one is doing a damn thing about it.
The design of a typical sedan, with a lower hood and a more rounded grill, means pedestrian in a low speed crash is likely to land on the hood, absorbing much of the impact. Although at higher speeds the victim can be thrown into the windshield or even over the car, greatly increasing the risk of serious injury or death.
However, the same crash involving a vehicle with a high, flat grill means the pedestrian will likely be knocked forward on the the roadway, and can easily be run over before the driver has time to react to the crash.
“We see a lot of devastating collisions even at lower speeds because the pedestrian gets punted forward,” said Shawn Harrington, whose company, Forensic Rock, conducted crash tests for us. “Before the driver knows what’s happened, the pedestrian’s head is under the wheel.”
More vehicles than ever have hoods that exceed the average American’s center of gravity, which is generally around the belly button.
The hood of an average passenger vehicle today is about three feet high. Anyone shorter than 5-foot-6 — about half of American adults — would frequently be rammed to the pavement. So would most children.
, who is
, is likely to be knocked down by about 39 percent of vehicles today. In 2002, that number would have been 29 percent.
They even offer an interactive graphic comparing the difference when someone in a smaller passenger vehicle hits a pedestrian compared to a large truck, making the impact crystal clear.
Pun intended.
In fact, researchers for The Times found that approximately 10% of the increase in pedestrian deaths over the past quarter century could be attributed to the sheer size of today’s vehicles, compared to just 25 years ago.
That’s 200 to 400 people each year who might not have had to die, if they hadn’t been sacrificed to the greed of American automakers. Not to mention the vanity of American car buyers, who gladly pay for oversized vehicles with excess capacity most will never use.
Then complain about gas prices.
In fact, The Times cites the excess growth in American vehicles as at least one factor explaining why traffic deaths in the US aren’t declining like they are in most of Europe — particularly for people outside of the vehicle.
Like those of us on bicycles, for instance. And others who just happen to be in the street — or even on the sidewalk — in the wrong place, at the wrong time, for whatever reason.
Then take the increase in blind spots.
Please.
To analyze how these blind zones have changed, we used a three-dimensional scanner to compare sightlines in four of the most common pickups today — the Chevrolet Silverado, Ford F-150, GMC Sierra and Toyota Tacoma — with their counterparts from the 1990s or early 2000s.
The Silverado’s blind zones have nearly doubled.
The Sierra’s and the Tacoma’s grew by about 60 percent.
The smallest increase was the F-150’s. Its blind zones grew by about 25 percent.
Our overall findings match what we found in court records and heard from dozens of experts who reconstruct crashes for police and lawyers.
Nicholas Vela, a 4th grade student at Alexander J. Stoddard Elementary School, did everything he was supposed to do. He waited patiently at the corner for the oncoming truck to stop, then rode his bike out into the crosswalk.
The driver proceeded to roll forward and over the boy and his bicycle, later telling police he never saw the kid on the corner because of his large wing mirror. And didn’t see him riding right in front on him because of the height of his jacked-up truck.
Here is how I described it at the time.
According to the driver, he never saw the boy, and he was not cited by police. Evidently, California drivers are no longer required to be cautious, alert and aware of their surroundings when behind the wheel.
I’m sure the driver is devastated. Lord knows I would be.
But somehow, I don’t think “Oops” should be a universal Get Out Of Jail Free card for someone who kills another human being. Especially not an innocent child who, by all accounts, was riding in a safe and legal manner.
I’ve been haunted by Nicholas’ death for 17 years now.
And how the sheer size and height of a jacked-up truck could hide a boy on a bicycle from the driver’s view. Although I doubt his truck was any larger or higher than some you can drive off the showroom floor today.
Murder grills.
The Times goes on to explain that vehicle design is not the only factor affecting rising pedestrian death, citing road design in particular.
Like America’s wide, straight urban streets and rural highways designed and built with excess capacity that virtually encourages speeding. Along with this country’s many cramped intersections with restricted sightlines, and our penchant for red lights and stop signs instead of roundabouts.
Automatic obstacle detection and braking systems are the miracle that’s supposed to save us.
And they do help. In fact, The Times reports that one study found that GM vehicles with so-called front pedestrian braking reduced the frequency of injuries by 35 percent.
Which ain’t nothing.
But they aren’t always reliable under variable conditions. And relying on them, rather than actually seeing what’s in the roadway in front of and beside you, invites needless collisions, injuries and deaths.
But let’s get back to that question of automakers appealing to the vanity of our fellow Americans.
Again, according to The New York Times,
What used to be utilitarian vehicles for construction workers are now marketed to the American masses, with messages tailored to specific audiences.
Other approaches emphasize the perceived safety of being the biggest vehicle around. “You’re the king of the road,” said Frank Hanley, a director at the automotive research firm JD Power.
At Ford, Nicole Gayney’s job was to identify specific social and psychological groups to target.
One was men who hoped to be seen as the neighborhood’s hero, keeping everyone safe, said Dr. Gayney, who left Ford in 2022. Another group was women who viewed a roomy S.U.V. as a way to be the community’s caregiver, taking the soccer team out for ice cream.
Yet the problem didn’t go unnoticed.
The ever-growing size of vehicles, and increasing rollover requirements resulting in ever-larger windshield support columns, or A-pillars, reduced visibility to such a degree that researchers at the US Department of Transportation became concerned, meeting with regulators four years ago.
That November, the researchers met with leaders at the department and N.H.T.S.A. They delivered a stark message: Large vehicles, with their big blind zones, were increasingly deadly. They were killing hundreds of pedestrians and cyclists every year and injuring thousands more, the researchers estimated, according to attendees and meeting materials we reviewed.
The researchers hoped that their warning would spur regulators to consider how to address the problem.
But a single senior official disputed the data, and argued that new pedestrian-sensing systems were already solving the problem. So in typical American fashion, the answer was to do nothing.
As you were, boys and girls. Nothing to see here. Pay no attention to that pedestrian or bike rider writhing in pain over there.
Never mind that higher grills — more than 50″ tall for pickups like the Ford F-250 and Chevrolet Silverado 2500, and luxury SUVs like the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade — are becoming significantly more common, and more lethal.
Murder grills.
The Times built a complex statistical model to estimate the effects, while noting the inherent difficulties in calculating all the factors, and predicting an alternate reality in which vehicle sizes had remained the same.
But based on the best available data, the model reached a sobering estimate: The shift toward vehicles with higher hoods caused about 3,000 deaths from 2016 to 2024.
The estimate is conservative in many ways…
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, for example, found last year that vehicles with larger blind zones were substantially more likely to hit pedestrians when turning left.
And yes, once again, they clearly illustrate it, with side-by-side comparisons of a Chevy ’98 Silverado and the ’22 version of the same make and model.
In one, a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk to the left of the vehicle is clearly visible as the driver turns. In the other, they’re not. I’ll let you conclude which one is safer.
I strongly encourage you to read the full article, because it’s a remarkable piece of work, and I have only begun to do it justice. (I’ve used a gift link for the article, so you should be able to read it without a subscription.)
And as bicyclists, and humans, our lives are literally on the line.
According to KTLA-5, Edjan Rocha turned himself in to Santa Ana police after they had located the vehicle he had allegedly been driving, and impounded it as evidence. He was booked into the Santa Ana Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and felony hit-and-run for killing the 60-year old bike rider.
No word yet on whether he has made bail or is still being held.
Santa Ana Context: Data reveals over 100 annual bicycle injuries or fatalities within city limits, placing Santa Ana 6th worst out of 15 comparable California cities for cyclist safety. Hit-and-run incidents are remarkably prevalent, with the city averaging 174 injury-causing hit-and-runs annually.
Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana Police Detective K. Briley at 714/245-8215 or the Traffic Division of the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8200.
This is the 35th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, the fifth we know about in Orange County this year, and the third in Santa Ana in less than six weeks.
It was also the 10th fatal hit-and-run involving a bike rider in Southern California this year.
A statement from Kieron Burke, the Interim Dean of School of Physical Sciences at UC Irvine reads, in part,
Francois joined the UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science in 2001 and quickly became an indispensable member of our community. He served as Chair of the department from 2021 to 2024. During his tenure, he helped the school navigate the aftermath of COVID-19 and worked to minimize disruptions for students and faculty members.
He was an internationally recognized leader in physical oceanography and ocean biogeochemistry, whose work helped deepen our understanding of global ocean circulation and global carbon and nutrient cycles. His research yielded foundational insights into the ocean’s role in regulating climate, including landmark studies on ocean ventilation, the global nitrogen budget, and the strength of the biological carbon pump. His work has equipped scientists with the tools to make more accurate climate predictions—a legacy that will benefit generations to come.
Francois was a dedicated leader, researcher, mentor, colleague, and friend. He will be remembered for his excitement in sharing mathematical insights and his enthusiasm for Bayesian statistics. His smile was always warm, and his door was always open. We were all fortunate to know him and to count him among our community. We have lost one of our best.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Francois Primeau and all his loved ones.
A Santa Ana man has died three days after he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike.
According to a press release from the Santa Ana Police Department, first responders found the victim lying in the street with “significant injuries” at Chestnut and Cypress avenues around 9:35 pm Saturday.
The victim, identified as 55-year old — or possibly 51-year old — Santa Ana resident Rey Flores, was taken to a hospital, where he died on Tuesday.
A preliminary investigation determined Flores was riding west on Chestnut, when he was hit by a driver headed south on Cypress.
A street view shows bike lanes on Cypress north of Chestnut, and on Chestnut east of Cypress, but not in the other two directions. That would have put Flores on the bike lane before he entered the intersection, which is controlled by four-way stop signs.
The driver remained at the scene and did not appear to be impaired.
However, the press release notes that detectives are determining whether Flores was under the influence — which suggests they may have some reason to believe he might have been at fault, or at least impaired.
The police say multiple times that Flores was riding an e-bicycle, suggesting it was a ped-assist bike, rather than an electric motorbike.
Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Corporal M. Pardo of the Santa Ana Police Department Collision Investigation Unit (CIU) at 714/45-8208, or the Santa Ana Police Department Traffic Division at 714/245-8200.
This is the 31st bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the fourth we know about in Orange County; Flores is also the second bike rider killed in Santa Ana this month.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Rey Flores and all his loved ones.
The victim, identified only as an adult male, died at the scene.
The driver remained following the crash, and did not appear to be under the influence.
However, for some reason, the press release issued by the Santa Ana Police Department stressed that the victim was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk. As if there was some super secret section of the law that requires, or even implies, that bicyclists are supposed to use a crosswalk.
There isn’t.
Bicycles are required to follow the same rules as motor vehicles. So until drivers are required to use the crosswalk, there can be no expectation that bike riders should, either.
And just like drivers, people on bicycles can cross or turn mid-block, or continue forward on a cross street.
However, unlike motor vehicles, bike riders are allowed to use a crosswalk, which is considered an extension of the sidewalk. Someone riding legally on a sidewalk can continued forward in the crosswalk, regardless of whether they are traveling with or against traffic.
So whether or not the victim was in a crosswalk is totally irrelevant. Maybe someone could pass that on to the Santa Ana cops, who don’t seem to grasp that concept.
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call Detective K. Briley of the Santa Ana Police Department’s Collision Investigation Unit at 714/245-8215, or the Santa Ana Police Traffic Division at 714/245-8200.
This is the 30th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the third we know about in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
March 13, 2026 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Racism rears ugly head in bike community, road-raging man uses bike as weapon, and killer driver on trial for murder
The fourth-year student headed back to his dorm from the Black Student Union when he was approached by four teenaged boys and a girl on their ebikes.
After he asked to be left alone and tried to walk away, they started to chase him.
According to KNBC-4,
“They were close enough that they were spitting on me, trying to grab at me, trying to do all sorts of heinous things,” he said. “I’m being called ‘monkey,’ ‘blackie,’ completely out of my name. Obviously, this is stuff I never expected to hear.”
During the attack, the victim said he was also called the N-word and was struck on the back of his ankle by an assailant who accelerated their e-bike toward him.
“It was the worst pain I had felt in a very long time,” the victim said.
The campus police offered a description of just two of the five kids.
According to UC Irvine police, one of the assailants was described as a 16 to 17-year-old boy who was about 5-feet-8-inches tall and weighed about 160 to 170 pounds. He had a white T-shirt, black pants, a black helmet and was traveling on a black e-bike at the time of the attack.
A second attacker was described as a 14-year-old boy who was 5-feet-5-inches tall and about 190 pounds. He wore a black shirt, denim gray pants, white Air Force 1 Nike shoes, a black helmet, a blue backpack and was also traveling on a black e-bike, police said.
We can assume the kids are white, but that’s not guaranteed. Because for some bizarre reason, there’s no mention of the teens’ race in their descriptions, which just might help identify them.
There’s also no word on what kind of ebikes the kids were on. But we can probably guess.
Anyone with information is urged to call UC Irvine Police at 949/824-5223.
“I just want to go home,” her daughter says in the video while kids yell racial slurs and other expletives. After about two-and-a-half minutes of tension, she rolled her bike backwards, away from the group. A young boy pulled her bike back in and then 30 seconds later, someone slapped the girl in the face before she got off the bike and fought back.
“She stood her ground,” Amor said. “I told my daughter, you don’t start fights, but you better finish them. And I’m proud. I’m proud of how she conducted herself.”
Amor said she was removing her daughter from the school district, and will be homeschooling her now.
Rocha also faces four counts of attempted murder, five counts of assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of battery for a series of assaults, including intentionally plowing his car into a group of seven fixie riders.
Allegedly.
Rocha was reportedly still angry following a series of altercations a few minutes earlier when he encountered the group that included Valdez.
Just 10 minutes before the crash, Rocha is seen on camera at Queen Wash in Oxnard, confronting and then hitting a man and his wife in the laundromat. When another man follows Rocha outside to take a photo of his license plate, Rocha is seen driving his car into the man and knocking him over.
To make matters worse, he seemed proud of it.
Later in the evening, in a video from the back of a police car, Rocha rants about how he didn’t have a house to sleep in, while rich kids pretended to be poor. He said he didn’t care if he went to prison.
“I’m happy I ran over those fools today, dawg,” Rocha said, prompting tears from Pedro’s parents in the audience.
In a recorded police interview, an officer asks him if he took his anger from the laundromat fight out on the bicyclists and intentionally hit them, and Rocha replies, “Yeah.” He said he accelerated toward the bikes and didn’t stop after the impact.
The trial was delayed after Rocha was declared mentally incompetent to stand trial, which seems to be his defense.
Because according to his lawyer, Rocha didn’t mean to slam his Lexus into the kids riding bikes; he just didn’t see them because he was so deeply psychotic and intoxicated.
The paper reports he’s being held without bail while the trial continues, which is expected to take four weeks.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Apparently lacking anything new to stir up outrage against bicyclists, British tabloids dig up an old survey that they twist to suggest half of bike riders “think they’re ‘too cool’ to wear a helmet.” Even though 31% actually said it’s not practical or needed because they’re only riding a short distance, and 13% don’t want to mess up their hair — which still only adds up to 44%. And while I wasn’t a math major, that seems like less than half. But what do I know?
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The family of fallen San Diego bicyclist Andres Gallardo want answers, after the 43-year old man was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding in the city’s Clairemont neighborhood March 1st; a crowdfunding campaign to defray funeral expenses and send his ashes to his parents has raised the equivalent of just $144. And no, it doesn’t look like I knew about this one yet; I’ll try to get to it later today.
San Diego is on the verge of becoming the largest California city to crack down on ebikes, including a ban on kids under 12. Although like virtually every other attempt to rein in ebike riders, they continue to conflate ped-assist ebikes with higher speed and more powerful electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.
Santa Clara has adopted a Vision Zero plan, after 51 people were killed in traffic collisions over a five-year period in the city of just 120,000.
The parents of a four-year old boy are suing the city of Burlingame, as well as 19-year-old driver, her parents, and the parents of an 11-year old boy riding an ebike, after the four-year old was killed as his family exited a restaurant, collateral damage following a collision between the 19-year old driver and the boy on the ebike.
Uh, probably not. After a teenaged Utah girl miraculously survived a traumatic brain injury, her mother said “it would have made the hugest difference” and “she would have had such less trauma” is she had only worn a bike helmet when she crashed her ebike into a retaining wall at 40 mph, then landed head-first after falling 25 feet off a cliff. Even though bike helmets are only designed to protect against impacts up to 12.5 mph. And don’t even get me started on her grammar.
A Netflix doc about the life and murder of gravel champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson premiered at the SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin, Texas on Thursday, the city where she was fatally shot by a jealous Kaitlin Armstrong, who thought she was involved with her erstwhile boyfriend, pro cyclist Colin Strickland, in 2022.
The victim, identified as 39-year old Wilmington resident Andrew Rodriguez, was crossing Grand Ave at Fairhaven Ave when he was struck by a southbound driver around 11:35 pm.
Rodriguez died at the scene, despite the efforts of officers and paramedics. The driver, 26-year old Santa Ana resident Vanessa Anahi Picenavalos, was arrested for DUI.
Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana Police Detective K. Briley at 714/245-8215, or the Traffic Division of the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8200.
This is at least the 38th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Andrew Rodriguez and his loved ones.
July 31, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on 13 years for Santa Ana gang bike theft killing, bust made in deliberate Fullerton crash, and LADOT fills Imperial gap
Day 211 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
Jose Luis Salgado was sentenced after pleading guilty to felony voluntary manslaughter and misdemeanor street terrorism, along with sentencing enhancements for being a gang member.
He was convicted for being primarily responsible for the killing 31-year-old Pedro Morale Chocoj, as part of a gang attempting to take the victim’s bike.
Co-defendant Jesus Gonzalo Ibarra was sentenced to just a year behind bars after pleading guilty to multiple felonies for the same attack.
I don’t know how many times we have to say it — no bicycle is ever worth a human life.
LADOT has finally closed the long-missing link on Imperial Highway in what passes for a protected bike lane here in Los Angeles, even though it would be called a separated bike lane in any more rational locale.
Because those flimsy little plastic bollards ain’t gonna protect anyone.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
There may be justice after all. An Ontario judge blocked the removal of a trio of Toronto bike lanes, ruling it was unconstitutional because “removal of the target bike lanes will put people at increased risk of harm and death, which engages the right to life and security of the person.”
A Hollywood cinematographer is planning to make a full-length documentary about Jose Yanez, inventor of the bicycle backflip, who spread the move across the country with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus, before ending up homeless in Phoenix.
WeHo residents voiced their anger and concern over deadly Fountain Ave at the West Hollywood Public Safety Commission meeting, demanding action as the Sheriff’s Department offered an update on traffic safety on Fountain. Or rather, the lack thereof.
Bloomberg’s CityLab says we should all be biking along the beach, questioning why beachfront bike paths are so rare in the US when they help relieve beach traffic and mitigate the ill effects of over-tourism.
Life is cheap in Seattle, where a cop with an extensive history of preventable traffic collisions walked with a lousy written reprimand and additional training after lying about crashing into someone riding a bicycle, initially saying he came to a full stop before admitting he ran the stop while looking at his onboard computer.
This is the cost of traffic violence. Hundreds of people turned out for a memorial to remember a 37-year old mother of two who was killed by a Denver dump truck driver while riding in an unprotected bike lane six years ago; a protected was built there afterwards, too late to save her life.
A Great Lakes website takes a deep dive into why Americans don’t bike like the Dutch yet. Short answer, if more people felt safe riding a bike, we would. Longer answer, speeding, drunk and/or distracted drivers need to stop killing us, and traffic engineers need to stop loading the damn metaphorical gun for them, already.
That’s more like it. A Florida woman will spend the next 15 years behind bars for fleeing the scene after injuring a teenager riding a bicycle, and running from police — all with her kids in the car. Although it’s disconcerting that the state can only take her license away for a maximum of five years.
A new study in Nature compares the relative severity of ebike and e-scooter injuries, concluding that e-scooter crashes result in more and worse head injuries, particularly because so many riders are intoxicated.
Despite the efforts of Orange County firefighters, he died after being taken to a local hospital.
The driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on how the crash occurred or who may have been at fault. Or more importantly, how it could have been avoided.
The crash is still under investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana Police Detective K. Briley at 714/245-8215, or the Department’s Traffic Division at 714/245-8200.
This was at least the fifth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Orange County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
