Tag Archive for South El Monte

Man killed riding bicycle near center divider on the Pomona Freeway in South El Monte; 7th LA County death this year

May 5, 2021 / / Comments Off on Man killed riding bicycle near center divider on the Pomona Freeway in South El Monte; 7th LA County death this year

Once again, someone has been killed riding a bicycle in the traffic lanes of a major SoCal freeway.

And once again, it doesn’t make a damn bit of sense.

According to My News LA, which apparently broke the story, a man was riding a bicycle near the center divider of the eastbound Pomona Freeway, aka the 60 Freeway, just west of Peck Road around 8:15 pm Tuesday when he was struck by several drivers.

Not surprisingly, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A collision with one vehicle at highway speeds is not likely to be survivable, let alone multiple vehicles.

As in the other cases where bike riders have been killed while riding on a freeway, no explanation was given for what the hell he was doing there.

Just to be clear, while it is legal to ride a bicycle on some limited access highways where there is no alternative bicycle route, there are few, if any, places in the Los Angeles area where it is allowed.

And it is never smart to ride a bike to the left of the fog line, or right limit line, on any urban freeway.

This is at least the 24th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

South El Monte bike rider killed crossing Rosemead Blvd

April 29, 2016 / / One comment

A man was killed in a collision while riding his bike near South El Monte Wednesday.

According to the San Gabriel Tribune, 39-year old South El Monte resident Jose Antonio Resendez was crossing Rosemead Blvd at Rush St at 9:35 pm when he was struck by a car headed north on Rosemead in unincorporated LA County.

No word on which direction Resendez going or who had the right-of-way; he died at the scene around 15 minutes later.

The driver remained at the scene.

The story notes both the bicycle and the car suffered moderate damage; as usual, the victim fared worst in the impact.

This is the 35th bicycling collision in Southern California, and the 11th in Los Angeles County. That compares with 17 in SoCal this time last year, and eight in the county.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jose Antonio Resendez and his family. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,

Update: Late night bike rider killed by two hit-and-run drivers in South El Monte

June 6, 2015 / / 3 comments

Bad enough when one heartless coward flees the scene.

Worse when two drivers smash into a man riding his bike, then leave him to die in the street.

That’s what happened in South El Monte early this morning, as a 47-year old cyclist was killed in a succession of collisions on Rosemead Blvd.

According to KABC-7, Heriberto Ruiz struck from behind by an unknown vehicle near the offramp to the southbound 60 Freeway about 2:53 am. The San Gabriel Valley Tribune places the collision in the 3000 block of Rosemead, which appears to be some distance from the offramp.

That driver fled the scene, leaving Ruiz lying in the roadway where he was struck by a white minivan and possibly one other vehicle; KNBC-4 reports the minivan collided with another vehicle that was stopping at the scene. The driver of the minivan then fled, as well.

Ruiz was pronounced dead at the scene.

A satellite view shows an extended, high-speed offramp leading from the freeway; if he was trying to ride south across that, he would have been a sitting duck as motorists sped onto Rosemead.

No word on whether he was using lights at that hour; however, police are usually quick to report if a victim didn’t have lights or reflectors on his bike.

This is the 24th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 10th in Los Angeles County. That compares with 44 and 17, respectively, this time last year.

Update: KNBC-4 reports Ruiz may have been riding home from visiting a friend when he was hit. 

A visitor to the scene found a broken Cateye taillight, suggesting that his bike should have been visible from behind. 

Anyone with information is urged to call CHP’s East LA office at 323/980-4600.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Heriberto Ruiz and all his friends and family. 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , ,
 
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