It looks like the LAPD got their man.
Police arrested 39-year old Darwin Dantzler for the hit-and-run death of a mother as she carried her three-year old son across Vista Del Mar last weekend.
Wendy Galdamez Palma was attempting to make her way from the beach to her car parked on the other side of the deadly roadway. She reportedly turned away from the onrushing car, sacrificing herself to save her child.
Palma would not have had to cross the street if city leaders had the courage to keep a road diet in place that shifted parking to the west side of the street to protect beachgoers, after a 16-year old girl was killed crossing the street several years ago.
The city settled a lawsuit over that crash for $9.5 million.
Palma’s death will likely cost Los Angeles a lot more, after city leaders caved in to demands from angry pass-through drivers used to using the street as a free-flowing freeway bypass, ripping out the road diet and returning Vista Del Mar to its previous dangerous state.
And making another death virtually inevitable.
Authorities showed just how seriously they don’t take traffic crime in California, releasing Dantzler on a remarkably low $50,000 bail, given the seriousness of his crime.
Then again, he faces a maximum of just four years behind bars for felony hit-and-run. And if he’s convicted, he’ll likely serve less than half of that with good behavior.
Meanwhile, Wendy Galdamez Palma was — allegedly — given the death penalty at Dantzler’s hands.
And her husband and kids will have to somehow find a way to go on without her.
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Caltrans will be closing a section of shoulder on southbound PCH in Ventura County for several months to repair damaged retaining walls.
If you ride through that area, you can expect to share the right lane with motorists.
But at least they’ll be dramatically lowering the speed limit through the construction zone. Let’s just hope drivers obey it.
Especially when someone on a bike is in front of them.
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PeopleForBikes is urging everyone to voice your support for a proposed federal ebike tax credit and bike commuter benefit.
Although Treehugger argues, correctly, that ebike incentives are laughable compared to those for electric cars — especially after the House Ways and Means Committee cut the proposed benefit in half to just 15% of the purchase price, with a max of a lousy $750.
But at least that’s $750 we wouldn’t get otherwise.
Meanwhile, Calbike wants you to email Governor Newsom and urge him to sign AB 122, aka the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, which will allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields. Which most of us already do anyway.
AAA and the CHP had an outsized influence on our last governor. Hopefully they won’t oppose this bill. Or if they do, let’s hope Newsom listens to more enlightened voices and signs it anyway
And congratulate him on keeping his job while you’re at it.
It never hurts to suck up a little.
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Valley Blvd is well on its way to getting shiny new curb-protected bike lanes.
https://twitter.com/boyonabike62/status/1438329554058186753
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More proof, as if you need it, that Bike Index works.
So what are you still waiting for? Get free lifetime registration now, before you need it.
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This could be huge.
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Evidently, the new bike lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge pass inspection.
https://twitter.com/BrooklynSpoke/status/1437880719410442241
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Milan is reclaiming space from cars, and giving it back to people.
So what the hell are we waiting for?
https://twitter.com/_dmoser/status/1438388469785575431
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We may have to deal with LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about avian dive bombers.
https://twitter.com/gplama/status/1437311200002408451
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
I don’t even know what to say about this one, as a cop tells someone on a bicycle that it’s not safe to ride in a bike lane, because of all the cars in it. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the forward.
https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBike/status/1438514018881138692
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Be on the lookout for bike-riding Santa Monica cello thieves.
Dallas police are looking for a shirtless, purple-pantsed, pistol-packing bike rider who fired a shot into a vehicle Wednesday afternoon.
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Local
Metro Bike bikeshare is now brought to you by Doordash.
Los Angeles approved plans to make street improvements, such as bulbouts, speed humps and traffic circles, to deter street racing, which should improve safety for everyone by slowing all traffic.
CD14 Councilmember Kevin de León will host an open house to discus plans for the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit through Eagle Rock on October 2nd; if you live, work or ride in the area — or want to — show up to support the Beautiful Boulevard Complete Streets plan.
State
Caltrans offered an update on $100 million in funding for Complete Streets projects on state roadways, including three projects in Los Angeles County, as well as others in Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.
Yuba Bicycles is moving its HQ to San Juan Capistrano, with a couple new jobs in the front office.
Chico’s Sierra Nevada Brewing is working with a number of bike brands to give away a couple of custom bicycles, to raise funds and awareness for a pair of nonprofits working to repair severe damage to trail systems due to flooding and wildfires in Northern California and North Carolina.
National
Bicycling offers tips for better trail etiquette on your next off-road expedition. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.
A Streetsblog op-ed offers advice on how to take on the NIMBYs, and beat opponents of street safety.
A physicians website argues that riding a bicycle to work can make you a better doctor.
Cycling News takes a deep dive into the “unique sizing, geometry and design of gravel bikes.”
Your next bike helmet could filter the air you breathe while you ride.
A new app promises to help you get your bike fit right.
Scary news from Alaska, where a doctor is urging everyone to leave their bikes at home because all the hospitals are full of Covid patients, and they may not be able to treat you if you get hurt.
You’d think it would be hard to go belly up in the middle of a worldwide bike boom, but a Denver bike shop would beg to differ.
An Oklahoma driver had his manslaughter conviction and 19-year sentence for killing a 12-year old, bike-riding Cherokee boy overturned, after the state Supreme Court ruled it had no jurisdiction on Indian lands.
A 74-year old Wisconsin man pled guilty to the hit-and-run death of a teenage boy riding a bicycle on the eve of his trial; he allegedly drove off after the crash, then returned to slowly drive by the crash site before fleeing again, leaving the boy to die in a ditch on the side of the road.
Shades of Vista Del Mar, as a Chicago bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver on a street where parking protected bike lanes were ripped out eight years ago, just because homeowners wanted to park next to the curb.
NatGeo sings the praises of Minneapolis as a bicycling city and a leader in the urban bicycling movement.
This one will put a smile on your face, as an Indianapolis paper profiles a 72-year old woman who’s famous locally for riding her pink bicycle everywhere she goes in her neighborhood.
A DC writer argues that every block matters in the fight for safer streets and a better climate.
Nice story from South Carolina, where a young boy riding an old bike crashed into a stranger’s car because he didn’t have any brakes, so instead of screaming at the boy, the man bought him a new bicycle, presumably with brakes that work.
International
Cycling Weekly offers a beginner’s guide to shifting.
A woman riding through Mexico discovers firsthand what it’s like to run out of water in the middle of the desert; fortunately, she stumbled on total strangers who saved her.
Britain’s ex-health secretary is one of us, as he was spotted riding a Lime ebike through Trafalgar Square after being forced out of the government over an affair, while leaving his wife to suffer through long Covid alone. Schmuck.
Paris continues to free itself from the tyranny of motor vehicles, as Slate talks with David Belliard, the city’s adjunct mayor for transportation and public space.
Time is running out for Afghanistan’s women’s cycling community following the Taliban takeover of the country; a campaign to evacuate and resettle 28 bicyclists and their families has raised nearly $100,000 of the $250,000 goal.
Competitive Cycling
L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams is attempting to jumpstart the moribund heart of American cycling with a one-day, $100,000 crit in Sacramento next month, including equal payouts for men and women.
Of course, the way they’ve performed this season, there’s a good chance L39ion will just win all of that money back.
Finally…
One sure sign you’ve got too much money — paying $65 for an ounce and a half of chain lube; then again, what else would you use on your $12,700 ebike? Your next bike could come complete with a retractable plastic roof.
And always ride with a friend.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
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