Streetsblog Los Angeles

An article in today’s Los Angeles Times looks at the fatal crash that killed 25 year old Devin Petelski, a counselor for troubled children.   What makes this story more interesting than most is that the car that smashed into Petelski’s BMW Sedan was a Crown Victoria with flashing lights driven by Officer James Eldridge, a 20 year veteran of the LAPD.

Devin Petelski

Petelski’s death enraged communities in Venice, where she lived and worked, and Brentwood, where she grew up.  Residents marched on the Venice District Headquarters and distributed news and rumors via social media.  The LAPD has consistently caused the crash an “accident” and Elridge has faced no public discipline despite a $5 million settlement reached between the LAPD and Petelski’s family.

Why such a large settlement if Eldridge did nothing worthy of even a disciplinary action by the LAPD, then why the large settlement?  Times writer Joel Rubin, who sounds painfully even handed in his review of the case, gives two reasons.

1) Two witnesses who were behind Eldridge’s car claim he was going between 60-80 miles  per hour when the BMW pulled in front of the squad car.  The LAPD reports claim that the two gave different testimony at the crash site, clouding the LAPD’s crash report.

2) Every LAPD car has a “black box” that shows LAPD vehicle speeds in the 25 seconds before collisions.  LAPD claimed that they couldn’t get the black box to work after the crash.  But an independent contractor was able to get the box to work.  Unsurprisingly, it showed that Eldridge’s driving wasn’t quite what the LAPD was claiming. Read more…

Ridazz Down. Photo: Magnus Sheen Nihilus/Facebook

(For more on the new charges filed against Christine Dahab, visit Culver City Patch (who broke the story), LAist and Biking In L.A.)

In the early morning hours of June 15, a group of Midnight Ridazz were waiting in the parking lane or slowly moving through and away from the intersection of Jefferson and Hetzler near the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook when a driver plowed into the group at 45 miles per hour.  The LAPD arrived on the scene and went to work covering up for the driver and lecturing the bicyclists about safe cycling as ambulances carted away victims.  Many went to the hospital, a handful required surgery, at least one was in a coma.

The LAPD can't figure out if this car was speeding when it crashed into a group of cyclists, some of whom are undergoing surgery and one of whom is in a coma.

Thank goodness the crash occured just inside Culver City limits so a police officer who had more on his mind than “these cyclists deserve this” was in charge of the investigation.  Yesterday, the District Attorney of Los Angeles County announced that Christine Dahab is charged with felony DUI for her actions causing sever physical and emotional distress due to negligent driving.  Dahab will faces those charges at a December 22 hearing at the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse.

Culver City Patch reports:

Dahab was formally charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney last month with “violating California Vehicle Code Section 23153 (A) [Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol causing injury], and California Vehicle Code Section 23153 (B) [Driving while Intoxicated above a .08 blood alcohol content, causing injury].”

Because of the initial reports and the length of time between the crash and the D.A.’s decision, many cyclists were worried that Dahab was going to walk away from the crash without facing charges of any kind.  That the D.A. filed more-serious felony charges instead of misdemeanor charges was something of a surprise.

The horrific nature of the crash and the Keystone Kops response by the LAPD.  Even as bodies were being loaded into the ambulance, the officer on the scene was saying that he couldn’t tell if Dahab was speeding at the time of the crash, that her blood alcohol level was below legal limits, that there was a blind turn she was going around, and that the Ridazz must have been at fault because there were condoms and beer bottles at the top of a nearby scenic overlook.  These claims were demolished and enraged a bicycle advocacy community that was already emotional as first-hand witnesses of the crash were posting their stories on websites such Bikeside, Midnight Ridazz, Streetsblog and YouTube. Read more…

Bike Lanes are one of the most misunderstood elements of bikeways engineering, responsible for much confusion as they lie nestled peacefully between the noisy travel lane to the left and the quiet but dangerous door zone to the right.

Some folks see that empty real estate and, in spite of the fact that they lack a bicycle, they figure “Why not? I’ll just use if for a few minutes, nobody will mind!”

All pictures by Stephen Box unless noted otherwise. This Picture by Barleye

Sunset Blvd. is home to a 5’ Bike Lane that is next to a 7’ parking stall, just enough room for these two LAPD officers who needed to go shopping at the Surplus Store in Silver Lake.

They might be forgiven the CVC 22502 violation (park within 18 inches of the right-hand curb) and the CVC 22514 violation (don’t block fire hydrants) and even the poorly written CVC 21211 which forbids Bikeway parking that impedes cyclists, but only if they can convince their supervisors that investigating a sale on Dickies qualifies as official business.

Hello, is this the Governor's Office? Photo: Jeff Jacobberger

The American Automobile Association has been around since 1902 and they are highly regarded for their roadside service and their courteous drivers.

The AAA driver parked in the Bike Lane above is probably making a quick call to Sacramento, thanking Governor Brown for vetoing SB 910, the legislation which would mandate a minimum three foot distance for motorists passing cyclists when the speed is greater than 15 MPH. Read more…

It's not exact, but here's a rough copy of the route from Friday's Critical Mass. A cool 36.3 miles.

Critical Mass avoided controversy on Friday night, rolling to the Westside to UCLA Medical Center (where the last hospitalized victim from the Culver City Crash a couple of weeks ago is still recovering) to the traditional stop at Western and Sunset.  Tickets were kept to a minimum, I could count on one hand the number of times I saw officers pulling over cyclists, and I heard more discussion of New York’s decision to allow gay marriage than I did complaints about the LAPD’s handling of the aforementioned crash. The LAPD estimated that at its peak, there were 1,300 riders taking part in the ride.

Which is not to say that the riders, or the crash, or Christine Dahab were forgotten. I was asked seven times to sign a petition I helped write in my first ten minutes at the Wilshire/Western start point before the ride headed out demanding safer streets and better enforcement of traffic laws against aggressive drivers spurred by the Christine Dahab/Koreatown Ridazz crash. Talking with other massers along the route, I was surprised at how many people were familiar with the crash and how almost no rider blamed the big blue escort with the flawed police report that blamed the riders for this month’s horrific crash.

Lost in all the discussion of what was and wasn’t reported on June 15th, is that this was the one year anniversary of the LAPD ride-alongs with Critical Mass.  LAPD bike riders and Midnight Ridazz seem to have found a way to get along.

After the jump are three YouTube videos.  The first video shows the size of the ride about two miles after it started at Wilshire/Western. The second is with LAPD Sargent Helper who has ridden the past thirteen Critical Mass rides representing the LAPD about his experience with Critical Mass.  From a veteran to a pair of rookies, the last video is of two journalists from Santa Cruz that are taking part in a journalism fellowship with me.  Both of them have traveled around Los Angeles before, but never like this. Read more…

One year ago, the LAPD sent a small army to “escort” Los Angeles Critical Mass after an ugly incident where an LAPD officer was caught on tape kicking at a cyclists’ tires and then assaulting the man operating the camera at the May 2010 Critical Mass. The escort has stayed with the ride, changing the nature of Critical Mass for both the good (there are less crashes reported despite the ride swelling from 400 riders to well over 1,000 monthly) and bad (many long-time riders claim the LAPD are taking too large a roll controlling what is supposed to be a ride that highlights the specific challenges cyclists face.)

That new relationship could be challenged tonight because of the initial report filed by the LAPD in the “Christine Dahab v Koreatown Riders” crash in Culver City last week. However, many riders believe the relationships formed between the LAPD bike police who ride the mass and the Ridazz is strong enough to withstand one poorly written crash report, and the LAPD officers that accompany the ride also expect relatively peaceful evening.

“To my knowledge nothing special is planned,” said Sgt. David Krumer of the LAPD, “There was talk of possibly riding by the crash site and UCLA from ride organizers, but nothing is certain.”

Read more…

Apparently, the number is higher than eleven.

The police can't figure out if this car was speeding when it crashed into a group of cyclists, some of whom are undergoing surgery and one of whom is in a coma.

Early Thursday morning, Christina Dahab plowed into a group of cyclists standing in the road waiting to head off for the last leg of a bike ride.  Nine of the cyclists were hurt so bad, they were hospitalized, at least two underwent surgery early yesterday evening and one other person is reportedly still in a coma.  Another handful of cyclists escaped with less serious injuries and an dozens of bicycles were mangled some beyond repair.  By yesterday evening, Dahab was back on the street, free on $15,000 bail, and charged with “Misdemeanor DUI.”

If she’s found guilty, Dahab could lose her license for as little as one month and face various fees and penalties.  Usually any DUI involving personal injury automatically results in a felony, but the LAPD determined that her blood and alcohol level was not past the legal limit.  That’s bad news for anyone hoping the wheels of justice would roll over Dahab as fiercely as she rolled over the cyclists.  If a driver is drunk, the case is an easy one to make and the full weight of the law will come crashing down on them.

If a driver is just unbelievably and dangerously negligent, it’s often viewed as acceptable level of carnage for all the other wonderful things are car culture brings us such as obesity, isolated communities, sprawl, global warming and an oil-dependent economy that is destroying the world.

Riders who met with the LAPD are already raising red flags about the quality of the investigation.  While the investigation is being handed over to the Culver City police, the initial report by the LAPD has some real whoppers.  The police report reads as though it was written by Dahab’s defense attorney noting that the driver was turning around a blind curb and that there’s no way to tell if she was speeding when she assaulted eleven people with her car.

The LAPD's definition of a "blind curb." Dahab followed the blue line before plowing into a group of people.

Read more…

Last week the Los Angeles Police Commission, the citizen panel that oversees the LAPD, unanimously voted to reject the LAPD’s recommendation to extend the city’s contract with an Arizona based group that provides, maintains, and utilizes “red light cameras” at 32 Los Angeles intersections.  The move came as a shock to the LAPD, but has been widely praised, including two editorials in the city’s two largest newspapers.

The City Council can override the Police Commission with a two-thirds vote.  And while it is unlikely they will do so, it’s too bad that the program is going down without a whimper.

Red light cameras have always been a political hot potato.  Privacy advocates have long argued against the government’s right to place cameras at intersections.  Others have argued that those ticketed by the cameras don’t have the right to face their accuser as guaranteed by the Constitution.  But most people just don’t like getting ticketed when they break the law and are caught doing it.  There’s even an Orwellianly named group of “local activists” called “Safer Streets L.A.” that lobbied against the cameras by arguing that cars making right turns on red lights without stopping isn’t really that big of a deal.  Nearly two-thirds of tickets given by red light cameras are for cars making illegal right hand turns.

As we n0ted three years ago, cars making right hand turns without yielding is a major traffic safety concern.

When the Federal Highway Administration discusses the conflict between pedestrians and automobiles it ranks “right on red” as the top concern.  A look at crash fatality statistics nationwide shows that in Los Angeles, almost one quarter of all crash fatalities are pedestrians.

And as the L.A. Times noted in their editorial burying the camera program, the red light cameras are working. Read more…

Sgt. David Krumer answers your questions. He's going to need more phones. Photo: Biking in L.A.

Late last month, I asked you to submit questions for Los Angeles Police Department Sargent David Krumer, the officer who has been the point person for bicycle issues for over a year.  Many of you responded with solid questions, and Krumer was good enough to respond to each of them.

Want to know how to report scofflaws on the River Path?  Do you crave information on the LAPD training program for bike incidents?  And what the heck does Krumer do all day when not answering Streetsblog questions?  The answers to these questions and more can be found after the jump.

Read more…

Krumer at the June 2010 Los Angeles Critical Mass.

Over the past year, LAPD Sergent David Krumer has emerged as one of the key figures in the Los Angeles bicycle scene.  Charged with improving relationships between the LAPD and the bicycling community Krumer has been involved with the LAPD’s presence at Critical Mass, the “Give ME 3″ Poster Campaign that is now being used to rally cyclists statewide, better LAPD training videos and even an outreach plan to help cyclists better lock their bikes.

While Krumer has developed a reputation for reading cyclist blog and message boards and responding to concerns, I thought it would be useful to have a place to ask the Sergent questions directly.  As a result, I’m inviting all readers to leave any questions they might have about anything bike related for Krumer.  We’ll post his answers later next week.

While Krumer has a pretty good sense of humor (someone better ask about e-bikes!) let’s try and keep the tone somewhat respectful.