Sad news tonight, as yet another bike rider has been killed in LA County.
Unfortunately, very little information is available at this time.
According to the LA Daily News, a bike rider was killed in a collision at 12500 Strathern Street, at the intersection with Whitsett Ave. KCBS-2 places the time of the wreck at 6:31 pm.
The victim died at the scene.
There’s no word on the identity, age or sex of the victim or the driver, or on how or why the crash occurred.
A street view shows both Strathern and Whitsett are four-lane streets with left turn lanes, controlled by a traffic signal; there are parks on both sides of Strathern on the west side of the intersection.
This is the sixth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year; all but one of which have occurred in Los Angeles County. It’s also the second fatal crash involving a bike rider in the City of LA since the first of the year.
Update: Now that a few details are in, the story seems even sadder.
According to a source with the LAPD, the victim was riding his bicycle southbound on Strathern when he saw a basketball roll into the street from the nearby park. So he walked his bike to the middle of the street, laid it down to toss the ball to someone on the sidewalk, and was struck by a van.
He died at the scene.
His death will go down in the official stats as a pedestrian, rather than a bicyclist, since he was not on his bike at the time of the crash. But he was one of us, doing what so many of us have done so many times in an attempt to show a little kindness and courtesy to a stranger.
The driver was not suspected of being under the influence; no word on whether he or she will be cited for the crash.
Update 2: The victim has been identified as 54-year old Stanley Martin Digerose.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his or her loved ones.
