The crash happened on Monday, January 4th, at the intersection of Adams Boulevard and Nevin Avenue in the Central-Alameda neighborhood.
The driver had just turned the corner when he struck the man as he knelt near the curb. He briefly stopped, then continued on without getting out of his truck.
The crash was caught on a security cam across the street.
But be warned before you click on it, because it clearly shows the innocent victim getting hit by the driver’s truck. And there’s no way to unsee it once you do.
The biggest and most important thing an ally can do is shut up, listen, and amplify the voices of Black and brown folks, who are often silenced.
That’s an important message.
Because too often I’ve heard well-meaning white people explain to people of color what they need, instead of asking them first.
And sometimes, I’ve been one of them.
We’ve come a long way from the days when a friend told me you’d never see him or any other Black person on a bicycle, because everyone would just assume they couldn’t afford a car.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes keeps going on.
No bias here. A Singapore news site somehow concludes a bike rider was in the wrong for getting right hooked after stopping a few feet beyond the stop line, as if the truck driver that nearly hit him had no obligation to see or go around him. I would have flipped him off, too, under the same circumstances.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A bike-riding Chicago-area man was busted for allegedly committing 15 car burglaries while wearing ten different shirts and five pairs of pants; whenever he was caught on security cam he’d take off a layer to make himself less recognizable. Didn’t work, though.
January 7, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on The war on bikes keeps on going, bike riders behaving badly, and that really was Chris Froome riding that bike in SaMo
It’s a light news day in the big, wide, wonderful world of bikes, after yesterday’s DC shit show sucked up all the oxygen.
CityLab looks forward to the incoming Biden administration, saying it could take steps to make motor vehicles a lot safer, especially for bike riders and pedestrians. Let’s start by banning oversized private trucks and SUVs, and redesigning the high, flat grills on SUVs and pickups.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Syracuse NY judge undercuts prosecutors by offering a hit-and-run driver a reduced sentence for killing a beloved local street musician as he was riding his bicycle — even though the driver, who was out on parole, was driving without a license.
Options include removing bike lanes on Colorado Blvd, while many bike advocates call for improving them and removing a traffic lane, instead.
The project has brought Eagle Rock NIMBYs out in force, who bizarrely insist that no one would ever take the bus to shop or dine at local businesses.
Meanwhile, Metro makes the unintended case for why bikes belong in their own lane next to, rather than in, busways.
Metro has a new video where they show just how stupid it is to force people on bikes to ride in lanes with fast moving buses in them. Check it out here at 1:31: https://t.co/vS72SVpmkPpic.twitter.com/6X8h2UxB1Q
— IT'S TIME TO GO LEFT AND NOT RIGHT (@topomodesto) November 13, 2020
It’s hard to call 16 years in state prison a slap on the wrist. But this one feels wrong for a couple reasons.
If Wicksted really was suffering from psychiatric problems, she need treatment, not jail; too often we warehouse the mentally ill in jail, which doesn’t benefit anyone.
If not, a 16-year sentence for what amounts to first degree murder is ridiculously low. She could easily be out in half that time, or possibly less under current circumstances.
Either way, it’s yet another example of the outgoing DA’s repeated failure to take traffic crimes seriously.
A 49-year old mother of two remains missing six months after she reportedly rode her bike away from her Southern Colorado home last Mother’s Day, despite massive search efforts.
After a Kansas appeals court threw out his original two-year sentence as too lenient, a driver convicted of using his car to murder a bike-riding man following an argument between the two was resentenced to a still too low ten years and a month behind bars.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A Toronto-area man got a slap on the wrist for jumping the curb and killing a woman as she rode her bike on the sidewalk, while he was allegedly street racing with another driver who fled the scene; the judge said he hoped the paltry 26-month sentence would serve as a deterrent. Not bloody likely.
October 9, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Soda pop cargo bike art in East LA, has Covid-19 affect your bike riding, and the war on bikes just keeps on going
Why does East LA get all the good art?
Aurelio Jose Barrera caught this soda pop delivery truck adorned with a Jariritos-selling cargo bike.
If they didn’t have so much sugar, that would be enough to get my dollars.
No bias here. A London paper gleefully reports that a popup bike lane will be removed after causing traffic congestion, leading to calls to remove others, as well. Although no one seems to consider that it’s all those cars that cause traffic congestion, not bike lanes or the people using them.
Overtaking me at speed, presumably out of frustration, led this driver nearly to miss the fact that someone was already on the zebra crossing in front of her. And then the cycle box. pic.twitter.com/vD8GdcElcq
Bike-riding Downey city council candidate Alexandria Contreras will be on Bike Talk this evening. However, the link in the tweet is dead, but you can find the show here.
One app to rule them all, one app to find them. Lime takes a step towards world domination, or at least the world of micromobility, by offering Wheels scooters through their app, along with the usual Lime e-scooters and ebikes.
A new candidate to replace termed out Bill de Blasio as mayor of New York says bike lanes should be part of the city’s transportation network. But fails to mention that city law requires 50 miles of new protected bike lanes and 30 miles of bus lanes every year. Unlike Los Angeles, where city officials are legally required to build absolutely nothing. And too often don’t.
Maryland drivers will now be allowed to briefly cross a double yellow line to pass bike riders on narrow roads. California drivers would have the same privilege, except Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed an early version of the three-foot passing law because it contained the same provision.
There were apparently no witnesses to the crash; a passerby reported finding the wreckage sometime later. Just a couple more sacrifices to the motor vehicle gods.
And he leaves this world without ever seeing justice for his friend and fellow rider. After a retracted confession and countless delays, Mariah Candice Banks, the woman accused of killing Woon in her high-end SUV, has yet to set foot in a courtroom for anything other than her arraignment.
Her long-delayed prelim is now scheduled for November 4th.
Sims won’t be there; let’s hope he and Woon are riding together somewhere. But maybe some of us can take his place.
This summer, a group of L.A. City Council members filed a motion calling on the city’s Department of Transportation and legislative officials to work with community members and report back on alternative methods of traffic enforcement, collision investigations and other traffic safety duties currently handled by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Some potential changes that will be explored: replacing LAPD officers with a “transit ambassador program” staffed by unarmed LADOT personnel and/or automated technology to monitor and cite drivers for speeding, illegal turns and other moving violations.
“Such a move would virtually eliminate the LAPD’s role in traffic stops, one of the leading forms of interaction between police and the public,” states the motion, which was filed by L.A. City Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Mike Bonin, Curren Price and Herb Wesson.Breonna
It’s a challenging and thought-provoking read, well worth a few minutes of your time.
Because the current system really isn’t working for anyone.
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The C40 Cities — a group of 96 cities dedicated to taking action to fight climate change — says the concept of a 15-minute city is rapidly spreading around the world.
The concept of a “15-minute city” is picking up speed globally, and for good reason. In a “15-minute city” residents can meet all of their needs within a short walk or bike ride, making life in our cities more accessible & more sustainable.@CateSarfattihttps://t.co/rUXgquBcUk
WATCH: A car ripped through a crowd of Trump supporters at a BLM counterprotest in Yorba Linda. It was clearly deliberate and the driver did not stop even as the Trump crowd gathered to tend to the wounded. Trump supporters did NOT attack the driver. pic.twitter.com/f9nu6L0WBu
Seriously? A woman who was injured riding a Jump scooter in San Francisco has filed a class action suit against several e-scooter companies, including Uber and Segway, because…wait for it…no one warned consumers that scooters don’t have turn signals. No one tell her about bicycles.
An 11-year old English girl rode a tandem 70 miles with her dad to visit all 12 cricket clubs in the North Staffordshire area, raising more than four times her original goal of £500 for cardiac risk assessments for young people; she’s raised the equivalent of over $2,800.
Once again, a bike rider is a hero. An Indian family is alive today because an anonymous bike rider was in the right place at the right time, leaping into action to pull them to safety after their car went off the road and into a natural drain before simply riding away afterwards; sadly, though, he wasn’t able to save the family’s three-year old girl.
Last week we mentioned defending champ Chloe Dygert was injured after wiping out during the women’s time trial world championships. Turns out that injury was more gruesome than any of us probably imagined.
I remember thinking what if I can get my bike can I still win? The first thing I remember was asking @JimMiller_time if I was done.. Then I looked down and saw my leg.
September 14, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on People’s Court frowns on wacky driver lawsuit, Oregon bike riders ferry food to burn zones, and biking can be bananas
Maybe the arc of the moral universe really does bend towards justice.
The case of the bike rider who was sued by the driver who rear-ended him finally concluded on Friday, after it was heard in America’s highest court.
And by that I mean The People’s Court, of course.
Rochester NY bicyclist Bryan Agnello was sued for $700 for damage to the schmuck’s driver’s car, despite suffering $2,500 in medical bills and damage to his bike.
In his court filing, (driver Jovonte) Cook stated that Agnello was riding his bike on I-490 at about 60 mph and that he “didn’t see him coming at me at all due to bad weather.” It was raining when the collision occurred.
During an interview with CITY, Cook estimated Agnello was traveling 80 mph and “came out of nowhere and splashed on my front windshield” while Cook was driving on I-490 while on his way to his job delivering pizzas.
Never mind that, according to the police, the crash occurred on a city street, not a divided freeway. And anyone who can ride 80 mph on level ground in a driving rain without an engine would easily be the greatest cyclist of all time.
Then again, anyone who could walk away from a crash at that speed should probably be wearing tights and a cape.
A San Diego missing person’s investigator passed away last month after years of battling liver failure — but even at her sickest, she attached an e-bike motor to her bicycle so she could ride along with marchers on a three-day breast cancer awareness event. And when the engine gave out, she got off and pushed it to keep up.
Somehow we missed this piece from Vogue UK on famous, mostly female bike riders of the past 60 or so years. Audrey Hepburn looks as good on a bike as anyone could, although Bogie is no small shakes himself. And Queen Latifah can ride with me anytime.
A Singapore letter writer says bike riders who use public roads should be licensed, while exempting those who only use bike paths. Apparently assuming the latter will never have to use roads to bridge a gap between bikeways, unlike pretty much everywhere else on earth.
A Belfast paper remembers Debbie Barclay, who blazed the way for women’s cyclists in Northern Ireland until she was paralyzed from the waist down after crashing on a descent in a 1988 English stage race; she died last week of an undisclosed cause.
August 31, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Boing Boing doesn’t get bike helmets, California exempts bike lanes from CEQA, and racism on the South Bay bike path
Nobody thinks they’re going to get into an accident, which is half the reason why bicycle riders often sneer at wearing a helmet. The other half of the reason is obvious — helmets usually make you look incredibly dorky.
Who knows, the rest of the article may be brilliant.
But that’s where I stopped reading.
Because from my experience, most people are painfully aware of the risks we assume every time we get on a bike.
And I’ve never known anyone who made the very nuanced choice of whether or not to wear one based on how they make you look.
As I’ve noted before, I never ride my bike without a helmet. And I credit mine with potentially saving my life during the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident.
But that’s the only time I’ve needed one in four decades of riding a bike.
The simple fact is, bike helmets are designed to protect against relatively low speed falls, not high speed impacts like car crashes.
They also do nothing to protect any other part of the body, which is why it’s often meaningless when police or the press report on whether or not a crash victim was wearing one, without indicating whether the crash would have been survivable either way.
And unless you spring for a MIPS or WaveCel model, they do absolutely nothing to prevent against traumatic brain injuries.
Which is why I got to spend a night in Intensive Care, and a couple more under observation, after getting my bell rung like a carillon in the aforementioned incident.
Especially since no one seems to call for helmets in the shower, when climbing ladders or riding in cars, all of which have a significant rate of head injuries.
I know where I come down in the debate — and yes, there is one, despite all the overly simplistic “no brainer” comments.
As far as I’m concerned, it’s a cheap form of insurance, on the off chance I ever need it. I’d much rather ride with one I’ll never need, than need one and not have it.
Besides, it gives me a good place to mount my bike cam without hogging handlebar space.
So use your own judgement.
But chances are, no one bases their decision on whether it makes them look dorky, or messes up their hair.
It’s not often that a story can be heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. A two-year old Polish boy rode a trike for the first time after losing both feet to sepsis when he was just an infant; he was initially given just a 0.1% chance of survival.
Since the Tour de France is available to nearly everyone on cable TV, we’re going back to our usual spoiler-free recaps, in case anyone is letting the race stagnate in their viewing queue.
And bike racing has been around longer than the talkies.
Seven years before the first Tour de France, bicycle racing was already popular in France. The Lumière brothers filmed this race in 1896 pic.twitter.com/25q5I4WV5c
August 26, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Clotheslining riders on new DTLA bike lane, public safety and Go Human town halls, and drawing Pacman by bike
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield is hosting a virtual town hall on Thursday to discuss how to reform policing in Los Angeles, which could have a major effect on traffic enforcement and criminal investigations affecting people on bicycles.
Please join me for a Virtual Town Hall on Reimagining Public Safety this Thurs 8/27 from 6-7:30pm. This is a major conversation that many Angelenos have waited to be part of their entire lives. Be part of the conversation and register: https://t.co/ZwkhDjZl0fpic.twitter.com/eT8gJbrFxN
Talk with the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, about their newly revived Go Human campaign tomorrow.
ANNOUNCEMENT: SCAG will be holding a Go Human #Twitterchat on 8/27 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.! During this virtual event, we invite communities, jurisdictions, and stakeholders to engage in conversation on safety. Join & follow w/ #GoHumanSocal See you Thursday!
Some people can’t see the traffic for the cars. A writer for London’s Daily Mail blames the city’s bike lanes for causing traffic congestion, while failing to recognize that it’s really just too many people like him in cars.
At last there has been a revolt against cycle super highways turning our towns and cities into polluted car parks. When will the war on motorists come to an end? https://t.co/QoyvV1fGX6
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.
On August 21st, 2020 around 1:25PM an elderly man was riding his bike near W. Washington & India St. when he was struck & seriously injured by a car which fled the scene.
The vehicle is a Blue or Gray Dodge Caravan with front end damage. Georgia Lic Plate: RRJ7004. pic.twitter.com/4hBchWtyoN
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.
………
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.
August 21, 2020 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on A reminder that Covid kills, a conversation with CD4 candidate Nithya Raman, and the war on bikes just keeps going on
One quick note.
I met with my doctor yesterday, who said he has four patients on ventilators due to Covid-19 right now — including one who’s been on it for five and a half months.
This is a very serious disease. Yet one that’s easily defeated.
Just wear a mask every time you leave your home. And yes, that includes when you ride your bike.
Because you don’t want to catch it. Or be the one who spreads it to someone else.
I had the pleasure of speaking yesterday with Nithya Raman, who is running against incumbent David Ryu to represent CD4 on the LA city council.
I’ll have more about the conversation at a later date as we get a little closer to the November election.
But I can tell you I was very impressed with her, and her commitment to bring a fresh voice to a city leadership that too often seems to be stuck using the same failed approaches as they have for decades past.
And not just on the city’s auto-centric streets.
I was also struck by this comment she made, when we were discussing the progress other cities like London, New York and Paris have made in reimagining the way people get around during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We shouldn’t have to envy other cities.”
No, we shouldn’t.
But we will continue to, as long as LA city leaders continue to do little or nothing to change the current dysfunction on our streets.
And in our government.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
What the hell is wrong with some people? A 15-year old English boy was pushed off his bike by someone in a passing car. Let’s hope they can read the license plate and put that jerk behind bars.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Massachusetts man swears he wasn’t texting when he ran down an entire family with his car as they were riding their bikes, killing the father and injuring two others. Which raises the question of why the hell he did it, then, and whether his actions were intentional. Because you have to try pretty damn hard to not see three people on bikes.
A Pennsylvania letter writer complains that, unlike George Floyd, there was no national news coverage of the murder of five-year old North Carolina bike rider Cannon Hinnant. Which is absolutely true — if you ignore coverage on CNN, Fox News, NBC News, Today, Bicycling, People, Newsweek, USA Today, New York Daily News, and countless other news outlets across the US and overseas. And never mind that Hinnant’s killer wasn’t a cop, which was kinda the point of the whole protest thing.
Seriously? A Welsh county blocked a proposal for a bicycle cafe, because it doesn’t include enough car parking. Which kind of defeats the purpose of a bike cafe.
