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.

Meanwhile, ABC7 earned the enmity of bicyclists the world-around by mindlessly repeating these claims without a shred of analysis.  The network tried to make up for this horrendous “reporting” by sending a different reporter to a press conference hosted by cyclists on the event, but that didn’t stop Roadblock from confronting the reporter, Elex Michaelson at Occupy L.A. last month. Of course, that there were condom and empty drink containers somewhere near the crash site is completely irrelevent.

The crash and the LAPD’s attempted cover-up spawned a peaceful, grassroots, advocacy campaign.  A team of bicyclists organized a press event on the steps of City Hall to bring attention to the crash.  Critical Mass, escorted by the LAPD, visited the hospitals where the victims still lay 10 days after the crash.  Roadblock  and other Ridazz proved that the there is now way a driver paying even a scintilla of attention to the road could have missed the pack of Ridazz.  Independent media such as Bike Talks TV, Bikeside and Streetsblog unearthed more stories on the crash, including that Dahab blew a .07 blood alcohol level at the crash site, that Culver City was aware of how dangerous the crash intersection is, and that crash witnesses were telling a very different story and that crash witnesses were telling a very different story than the police.

Streetsblog will report on the hearing on the 22nd

The media has been using this image of Romero's crushed bicycle to show the horror of the crash.

Arias had the sense of mind to get a partial description of the vehicle, not an easy thing to do given the circumstances, and the LAPD went to work to track down the driver.  While they were at work tracking the vehicle, Rush allegedly enlisted the aid of her father, Steven Rush to help hide her involvement.

It truly takes a heartless and entitled person to turn a blind eye to the pleadings of Romero’s family and friends, but the Rush’s went one step further.  The father-daughter duo allegedly tried to hide the evidence by getting the car out of the area, possibly to a place where it could undergo some physical changes to mask the crime.  In June, the LAPD had a good idea of what they were looking for thanks to some tips and the initial identification, but still couldn’t find the car.

While it’s certainly good news that Romero’s killers will likely face justice, there are other culprits in this tragedy: the poorly designed speedway known as DeSoto Avenue and a culture that values speeding traffic.

I prefer this one, used by LA Weekly, to remind us that a young life was stolen.

Despite the residences and buildings along its sides, DeSoto Avenue is a mammoth six or seven lanes near the crash site.  At L.A. Weekly, Simone Wilson describes the street as “whizzing.”  She’s not exagerating.  Speeding is so rampant on De Soto Avenue that the Los Angeles City Council increased the speed limit in April of 2009.  A.B. 529, authored by Assemblyman Mike Gatto from the neighboring 43rd Legislative District, partially addresses this issue by giving municipalities some power to keep speed limits lower.

Speeding traffic proponents such as the National Motorists Association, who have been hailed as heroes for their role in getting the City Council to remove red light cameras, correctly point out that streets such as DeSoto are dangerous more because of their design than because of the limits.  The N.M.A. doesn’t use those words of course, but they do argue that people drive the speed that the road is designed for, not the speed that is posted.

The N.M.A. aren’t the only group of people wanting to see DeSoto kept fast.  Motoristd webpages that “report” on “speed traps” try to spread the word when the LAPD try to enforce speeding laws on the street.  Chillingly, this psychopath is complaining about the police enforcing the speed limit just north of where Romero was killed.

DeSoto Avenue is desperately in need of a road diet.  A seven lane residential road with speeding traffic is a recipe for disaster, but when you consider the reaction to road diet on Wilbur Avenue, such a plan is unlikely to be tried just two and a half miles west on DeSoto Ave.  While cyclists and non-motorized road users of DeSoto can rest assured that a thorough investigation was completed; it doesn’t change the fact that Romero was killed before the driver chose to drive off and that the speeding environment of DeSoto is a major reason the crash happened in the first place.

The reality is that all the LAPD outreach to cyclists, all the speed limit decreases, and all the Assembly bills in the world won’t amount to much as long as too many members of the driving class continue seek as many ways as possible to speed up their trips to the danger and death of everyone else.

Unfortunately, at least one more person is going to have to die before that message gets across.

The full poster from the LAPD can be viewed by clicking here.

At nearly 3:00 A.M. on the morning of June 16, a man was crossing Venice Boulevard heading North when he was struck by a black late-model Volkswagon Jetta heading west. The victims wife tells the story:

The accident occurred around 3am on June 16th. My husband was crossing the street (heading North) at Venice and Hughes. He had the signal to walk and once he was just past the median, he was struck by a car that ran a red light while headed West on Venice blvd. Two officers where in the area and after the accident, one of the officers took off after the car but lost him around Venice and Motor. The driver has still not been found.

Despite the media’s obsession with reporting on traffic crashes and other forms of homicide, this report has gone largely un-mentioned in the news, perhaps because of the spectacular crash involving Christine Dahab and the Koreatown Cyclists just a mile and a quarter away that happened earlier in the evening. While I don’t mean to sound as though I’m excusing Dahab’s carelessness, the driver in this case is far more dangerous.  It takes a special breed of criminal to leave a man dieing in the street because of your negligence and then speed away.

The LAPD is still looking for information related to this crime.  If you know anything, please call the West L.A. Traffic Division Officer O. Osbourne at 213-473-0234.  If you’re calling after-hours or on the weekend, please call 1-877-LAPD-24-7.

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.

The LAPD’s explanation that they can’t prove whether or not she’s speeding is also somewhat questionable.  A driver drove into a group of people standing next to bicycles with flashing lights and reflectors without stopping or braking sending 11 people to the hospital.  Does it matter whether they were technically speeding?  Also, the state’s speeding law reads like this.

CVC 22350. No person shall drive a vehicle upon a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent having due regard for weather,  visibility, the traffic on, and the surface and width of, the  highway, and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of  persons or property.

It sounds like regardless of the posted limit, Dahab was driving at a speed that endangered the safety of persons or property.

But of greatest concern is that the primary factor for the crash is listed as “pedestrians in the roadway.”  Such a determination places the blame squarely at the feet of the victims.  It’s the traffic crash version of “she was dressed slutty” or “she shouldn’t have walked in that area at night.”  It’s especially galling because that section of the road, adjacent to an intersection is an “unmarked crosswalk” so the reporting officer is basically giving her, and any other driver, the right to run people down in a crosswalk.

It’s also something that can be appealed, so if you have any information on the crash, you should contact the Culver City Police Department Traffic Division at  (310)253-6200.

Ridazz Down. Photo: Magnus Sheen Nihilus/Facebook

Last night, at the end of the “KoreatownWednesdays” Midnight Ridazz ride, a couple of dozen Ridazz were standing at the bottom of the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook waiting for the rest of the ridazz to make it down the hill.  The ride begins every week in Koreatown and heads to the overlook.  There the group parks their bikes, ascends the hill and takes in the view.  I’ve never done the ride, but I’m told it’s a pretty low-key ride, runs at a fast clip, and is very peaceful at the end.

Unfortunately, for the group of Ridazz at the bottom of the hill, it was not a peaceful night.  Rider AIDS66 writes on Midnight Ridazz:

We were waiting for everyone to make their way down from Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook as this shit happened. I saw a car speeding towards us and thought doesn’t the driver see us, NO…. Drunk bitch took out the whole ride. some of us got out of the way just in time but many took the brunt force of the hit.

CBS 2 has the most in-depth media report on the incident, and notes that there were nine victims of the crash, three of whom were hospitalized.  The driver was taken into police custody under suspicion of DUI.  No word yet on the results of her alcohol level or what she is being charged with.  Some Ridazz said they saw her talking on her phone, but that hasn’t been reported in the media.  The media is near-unanimous in its reporting that the woman was driving sixty miles per hour during the collisions.

While our thoughts and prayers go out to the injured cyclists and those scarred by witnessing the crash, I can’t help but notice the soft bias in the media against some of the cyclists in the reports.  The worst example is from KABC.

After noting that the police were critical of the cyclists for wearing dark-colored clothing and standing in the street, the broadcaster also notes that, “…there was beer bottles and condoms where the cyclists were hanging out.”  Unless the reporter, or the reporting officer, is implying the cyclists were having a drunken orgy in the street that shielded them from view, I’m not sure how either of those facts are relevant.  First off, one Koreatown Rider reports they were standing in the shoulder, so even if they shouldn’t have been in the street, the driver shouldn’t have been in the shoulder (an earlier version of this story said “bike lane” instead of “shoulder.”)  Second, who cares if they were drinking (they probably were) or using condoms (they probably weren’t).  Unless the police/KABC believe a victim was so drunk they jumped in front of the car the drinking is immaterial.

Compare that to the CBS report:

Here the reporter focuses on the driver’s actions talking to witnesses, humanizing the victims and noting that the driver was drinking red bull, smoking and was doubtless distracted (at-best).

We’ll continue to update this report as more details are released.  If you want to help make certain that the driver is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, one poster at Midnight Ridazz drafted a letter to the District Attorney’s Office.  You can email the D.A. through this link.

This morning I am greatly upset and angered by the news of a driver who injured 11 cyclists with her car. I am writing to make it known that the driver who drover her car into a group of cyclists in the Baldwin Village area in the early morning of Thursday, June 16, 2011, must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the laws. For committing such a heinous act as she has, which is both irresponsible and reckless in nature, this driver can be shown no mercy for her careless actions behind the wheel of a weapon. Justice is the least of what the victims of this incident are due. It is my sincerest, deepest hope that this woman is fully stripped of her driving privileges for a number of years.

Bearing the effects of her actions, intentional or not, the sentence should reflect fully the damage she has caused to so many lives–not just those who have been injured, but to those who bore witness, as well as the entire community of Baldwin Village, Los Angeles, and vulnerable street users such as cyclists and pedestrians, as well as all road users. I understand that it is early and the full details of the incident have yet to fully be revealed, yet the greater cause and effect are apparent and warrant a severe sentence, that at any level, would only begin to serve as due penance for a crime of this nature. This driver has most clearly abused her privilege to operate a motor vehicle, and in doing so has robbed people of their livelihood and, in many ways, their futures. It is simply a miracle that no one was killed, but when actions such as the drivers are capable of causing death, such as hers have been, they should be viewed as hugely life-threatening and be punished for the damage caused as well as the damage that was fully possible.

(Update: Sgt. David Krumer reports that the Culver City Police will handle the investigation, as the crash occurred just inside their limits. If you have any information, contact Culver City Police, Traffic Bureau: (310)253-6200)

Krepak with some of the winners of the Brentwood Grand Prix Bicycle Race.

This is exactly what happened to a client of mine. Although he has recovered well physically, he has not been on a bicycle since his accident and doesn’t think he’ll ever ride again. That is a drastic change; one that has implications for all aspects of his life and that of his family.

My client is an experienced, skilled bicyclist who always rode with safety front and center in his mind. His injury wasn’t caused by him, but rather by the car-centric mindset and bureaucratic red tape that has often turned our streets and highways into danger zones—places where accidents are just waiting to happen.

On the day of his accident, he was riding on Pacific Coast Highway, a route he had taken many times before. Because road work was being done, a lane was closed and cones were used to guide motorists into the one “active” lane. But, what about bicyclists…where were they to ride? Should they have entered the lane of traffic where vehicles were moving 40 mph or more? Was the shoulder safe?

The cones served motorists, but not bicyclists. The public authorities who were overseeing the project, and whose job it is to preserve public safety, used bureaucratic procedure—not the realities of the situation—to guide their actions. A “Bike Lane Closed” sign was not used because the powers that be said PCH was a bike route; there is no bike lane.

Because my client took the same route safely a day or so before by riding on the shoulder, he decided not to take the lane, and stuck to the right. What he didn’t know, however, was that on this day there was an open trench with no warning sign on the road ahead. By the time he came upon it, it was too late. The result? He fractured his cervical spine and his passion for bicycling was shattered.

So, what does he do now? How does he fill the missing puzzle piece in his life that bicycling has now become?

Sadly, I have no answer. Only the hope that one day he may feel safe enough to ride again.

(The law firm of Gordon, Edelstein, Krepack, Grant, Felton & Goldstein, LLP is dedicated to protecting the rights of those who have suffered serious injuries on or off the job. Partner Howard Krepack, an avid bicyclist, leads the firm’s bicycle accident practice. For more information about our firm, call us at 213-739-7000 or visit our website: www.geklaw.com.)

Who should pay for police and fire department responses to crahses? An L.A. Times politcal columnist thinks that everyone should. Photo:Mike Meadows/Associated Press via LAist

George Skelton, the Los Angeles Times’ columnist in the state Capital generally writes about politics and policy in the Governor’s office or the legislature.  However, in today’s edition he changed courses and went on a full-throated attack against the idea that the people who cause car crashes should repay the city for the cost of sending emergency services to the crash scene.  The vitriol in this column is really something to behold, when you consider that all Sacramento is doing is making the people who cause car crashes pay for the city’s response instead of forcing tax payers to pay for someone else’s negligence.

Before we respond to the column, it’s important to note that unlike the proposed law in New York City, Sacramento’s city law only applies to drivers if fault is determined.  In other words, nobody is going to have to pay for a crash if they’re rear-ended.  Also, the law only applies to drivers from out of town.  Locals can hit whoever they want without paying the city a dime for emergency response.

Skelton claims his piece is about protecting the little guy from fees when he’s wrongly fingered for causing a crash.  But, if you read the whole column, you can’t help but come away with the feeling that he doesn’t believe that reckless drivers should be held accountable for the havoc they cause.  There’s no claim that the law should only apply to drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  No claim that there must be physical evidence of guilt before the fee is assessed to negligent drivers.  Nothing except a vicious condemnation of the idea that bad drivers who cause crashes should pay the municipality that has to deal with the physical, emotional, and structural destruction caused by their negligence.

Streetblog’s response to Skelton’s column can be found after the jump.  For the record, this is the first time he’s written about transportation in at least the last five years.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-crash-tax-20110214,0,4509434,full.column

Beware of Sacramento’s crash tax

Visitors to the state capital will soon be billed for the cost of dispatching city firefighters or paramedics to the scene of accidents if the out-of-towner is deemed at fault.

From Sacramento

Travel tip: if you’re thinking about driving to Sacramento, don’t. Cancel the hotel reservation. Skip the big convention.

Don’t drive to Sacramento.  Good idea.  Take the train.

If you’re merely planning to drive through, don’t linger. Better yet, chart a scenic detour that avoids the city.

Or the train.  Take the train.

If you’re flying here, don’t rent a car after landing. Call a cab or take a shuttle.

This is starting off like a Livable Streets column.  It goes downhill.

Our state capital is about to become inhospitable to out-of-town motorists.

Sacramento — River City, The City of Trees, Sacotomato — is the latest local entity in California to adopt the dreaded “crash tax.” More than 50 have imposed it as they struggle to make ends meet.

Starting in another 10 days or so, an out-of-towner who has the misfortune to get into an accident that prompts the dispatch of Sacramento city firefighters or paramedics will be billed for the service if the visitor is judged to be at fault. Insurance companies will decide who’s liable in a multi-car accident based on the accident report.

Let’s rephrase that paragraph a little and see if it changes the emphasis at all.

Starting in another ten days or so, an out-of-towner found to be negligent in a car crash that is so severe that it causes Sacramento to send firefighters or paramedics will be charged a portion of the total cost of the crash on city coffers after fault is determined.  Insurance companies will decide who’s liable in a multi-car crash based on the crash report.

But right off, this smells of potential hometown favoritism. The odds seem stacked against the out-of-towner. If the city can pick up extra bucks by blaming a non-resident, it’s human nature — and government nature — that it would.

An insurance company might pay. But if it didn’t, the motorist would be stuck.

“Typically, an auto policy doesn’t cover the cost of a fire department response to an accident,” says Sam Sorich, president of the Assn. of California Insurance Companies.

I just want to point out that it is in insurance companies’ best interested for “their” driver not to be at fault.  That being said, whenever Streetsblog or another source question the report of an officer, we receive complaints of being “anti-cop.”  Skelton just accused ALL POLICE of being biased.  Not just one in Sacramento, but all of them.

And even if the insurance company does fork out, if the crash tax scheme continues to catch fire, it’s a good bet auto premiums will be rising in California. “Insurance companies will have to account for the [payouts] in the rates they charge,” Sorich warns.

Personally, I don’t want insurance companies covering response to crashes, because that means they’ll raise rates across the board.  What is so hard about charging drivers for the damage they cause when they’re being negligent?

He adds, referring to the capital community: “We’re supposed to be welcoming people to come and talk to their legislators and see how their government works. But now we’re saying, ‘We may charge you.’ “

It’s too bad Sorich didn’t finish his sentence.  “We may charge you, IF YOU’RE FOUND NEGLIGENT IN CAUSING A CRASH SO SEVER IT CAUSES THE DISPATCH OF PARAMEDICS OR THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.”

“Double taxation,” asserts state Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Moorpark), who has introduced legislation to outlaw crash taxes.

Strickland notes that out-of-towners already pay local sales taxes — in restaurants, stores and auto dealerships. That should suffice, he asserts.

The conservative lawmaker also makes another point: Many motorists might just leave the accident scene rather than stick around and risk getting hit by the crash tax.

Sounds like a good reason to finally strengthen the state’s laughably weak “hit and run” laws.

It hasn’t been determined whether Strickland’s bill would outlaw only future enactments of the tax — which technically is a fee — or also void all current ordinances. That will depend on potential bill amendments and legal interpretations.

At least 10 states restrict local governments’ ability to charge so-called accident response fees. The fees are a relatively new trend in government revenue-raising and vary from entity to entity.

They’re like speed traps. But there are no warning signs.

They would be “like speed traps” if the government purposefully designed roads that are traditionally traveled by out-of-towners to cause crashes.  Also, so-called speed traps generate revenue.  This law charges unsafe drivers for a portion of the damage and inconvenience created by their negligence.

I called Carpinteria because that’s where I used to drive to the beach long ago. With the tax trap, I might not today. The city manager pleaded not guilty. It was the handiwork of the Carpinteria-Summerland Fire Protection District, he said.

The district fire chief, Mike Mingee, immediately corrected me about it being a crash tax. “We call it a fee for service,” he said.

In California, the vast majority of crash-taxing governments sock only non-residents, although a handful also hit local motorists who are at fault. Sacramento will exempt owners of local businesses.

The actual billing is contracted out to private operators, who grab a cut of the take. So they tend to be aggressive bill collectors.

Here are some of the predator communities you should be especially careful driving through, according to Strickland’s list: Carpinteria, Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Hemet, Oceanside, Petaluma, Redlands, Ripon, Roseville, San Bernardino, Stockton, Tracy, Woodland — and dozens more.

“Predator communities?”  Skelton is so removed from reality, that he’s making the villain the municipality that has to deal with carnage caused by out-of-town, negligent, drivers.  Not the drivers themselves.

The chief had a logical explanation for the fee: “We’re a small department that covers a large area of Highway101. A large percentage of auto accidents involve people just passing through. We’re trying to relieve the local tax burden and keep our heads above water.”

Good point, but it’s no justification for a screwy situation. The state should be funding accident response — fire safety — on the major highways, just as it does traffic enforcement. But the state doesn’t have enough money to buy a squirt gun.

So if a resident of Fresno gets drunk and crashes in to another car on The 101 in Carpinteria, Skelton now thinks that I should pay for it too.

Mingee added that the fee was imposed “in direct response to the state Legislature choosing to remove 8% of our [tax revenue] to balance the state budget in 2009.”

And he emphasized that the fee collector had been instructed only to bill insurance companies, not to pester motorists.

So, what was the point of bringing up Carpinteria again?

That won’t be the case in Sacramento, however. And unlike Carp, motorists here aren’t just passing through. Many thousands drive into town each day to work. Close to 500,000 live in the city (thankfully, I’m one). But nearly 600,000 more live elsewhere in the county, and they’re all potential victims of the crash tax, as well as people in bordering counties.

Hey, L.A. Times!  How about hiring local for your Sacramento column?  Also, all of those 600,000 people are in danger of being a victim of an actual crash.  That’s much worse.

“Offensive” and “plain dumb,” Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGown called the crash tax. He asserted it proved what his neighbors on the west bank of the Sacramento River had always suspected: that the capital city looked down its nose at them and believed “West Sac was only good for whorehouses and truck stops.”

Great PR.

I have no idea how to respond to this.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a homegrown former pro basketball star, has been standing firm behind the pending tax.

Here’s the fee schedule: $495 for a typical crash involving “scene stabilization,” $2,274 for a helicopter evacuation. Johnson estimates this will raise between $300,000 and $500,000 a year.

But not if out-of-towners boycott stores or cancel reservations.

…or stop crashing their cars.

Sacramento is a great place to live. But I wouldn’t want to visit.

Given this column, I’m hoping you don’t visit Los Angeles.  Or, if you do, that you don’t drive while you’re here.

Better management and enforcement aren't the only ways to reduce traffic deaths. Image: Car Insurance Tips

According to a new report, Achieving Traffic Safety Goals in the United States: Lessons from Other Nations, by the nongovernmental National Research Council:

Nearly every high-income country is reducing annual traffic fatalities and fatality rates faster than is the United States, and several countries where fatality rates per kilometer of travel were substantially higher than in the United States 15 years ago are now below the U.S. rate.

The report authors acknowledge that high-achieving countries attribute their own progress, in part, to road design, but that doesn’t make it into their own set of recommendations, which focus on management reforms, enforcement, and the building of political and public support for those changes.

Barbara McCann, director of the National Complete Streets Coalition, says that’s not enough. With current road design, she said, “the priority is put on speed and volume of travel, and that results in more deaths than if there were a higher priority put on safety in the actual road design.”

Safe road design, she says, includes “complete streets types of treatments that slow down traffic, which reduces deaths; they provide a place for people on foot and bicycles, which reduces deaths; and they reduce conflict points, which reduces deaths.”

McCann says it’s ironic that the report focuses so much on Europe but gives so little attention to the complete streets innovations that the Europeans themselves are paying so much attention to.

For example, the Dutch have turned away from building wide, flat streets that increase speeds in favor of roadways that prioritize the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. They call them “self-explaining streets.” Meanwhile, the United States kept on building wide, straight “forgiving highways.” The differences today are dramatic. In 1975, the Dutch traffic fatality rate was 20 percent higher than America’s. Today, the U.S. fatality rate is two and half times higher than in the Netherlands.

Nor does the report mention traffic reduction as a way to increase safety, even though, as Ken Archer at Greater Greater Washington has described, cutting down on driving saves lives.

The NRC report does recommend automated speed checks (proven to be more effective at reducing speeds than random speed checks) [PDF] as well as greater enforcement for sobriety, helmet use, and seat belts.

But it asserts “the most critical area for improvement in the United States today may be in management and planning.” Report authors suggest that the USDOT and states work together to improve safety management, even possibly “an independent traffic safety evaluation and policy research organization to provide technical support and policy advice to government safety agencies and to reinforce accountability through performance evaluations.”

Stepped up speeding enforcement, sobriety checks, and improving traffic safety management will all help save lives. But to really attack our annual toll of 34,000 motor vehicle fatalities, the U.S. needs to design safer streets and reduce motor vehicle use.

Matthew Kenney Photo: Associated Press courtesy of Joanne Kenney via GRIST

There’s callous, there’s heartless, and then there’s this.

Via former Streetsblog.net writer Sarah Goodyear, now at GRIST, comes the surreal story of a driver who was convicted of manslaughter for running down Matthew Kenney from behind.  From his jail cell, David Weaving, who has been found guilty of drunk driving four times and was traveling at 83 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone at the time, is suing the Kenney’s parents for negligence because their son was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.

Goodyear, quoting an article in the Sacramento Bee, reports:

Attorney Andrew Cates calls Weaving’s countersuit a part of the legal process. Cates is representing Weaving in appeals aimed at overturning his convictions — which were recently upheld by the state Appellate Court — but is not involved with the lawsuit involving the Kenneys.

“I can see their side of it. I’m a parent,” Cates said. “But I can also see the other side of it. If you’re driving down the street and your car makes contact with a pedestrian and you think it’s the pedestrian’s fault, you have to raise the issue.”

]]> http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/11/16/driver-convicted-of-manslaughter-sues-parents-of-slain-teen/feed/ 9 http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/11/09/when-is-enough-enough/ http://la.streetsblog.org/2010/11/09/when-is-enough-enough/#comments Tue, 09 Nov 2010 20:30:14 +0000 Damien Newton http://la.streetsblog.org/?p=58522 [...]]]> As I worked on the daily “Today’s Headlines” roundup for this morning, there were three items I wanted to pull because they paint an ugly picture about what’s going on in our streets.

Ed Magos is left bleeding in the street next to his mangled bicycle as Angelina Everett speeds off.  Emely Aleman and Angela Rodriguez are thrown 50 feet after being hit by a Jeep Wrangler.   Moran Biton strikes and kills Conor Lynch in Sherman Oaks with a burgundy SUV.

The particulars of each case are different, but the outcome for the drivers are the same.  None will be charged with a felony, and it’s unlikely that any will face jail time.  Everett, Biton and the still anonymous killer of Aleman will face misdemeanor charges, as though they were caught shoplifting a candy bar, not maiming a fellow human being.  And some people wonder why the term “accident” is offensive when applied to these preventable, deadly, crashes.

In some ways, the Magos/Everett case is the most concerning even though Magos was not killed and Everett faces sentencing tomorrow.  Originally, neither the District Attorney or City Attorney was interested in prosecuting a clear hit and run until the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition drew attention to the case.  Tomorrow, the LACBC will be hosting its third, and hopefully final, “ride for justice” as they head to Everett’s sentencing.  You can get the details of the ride, and the trial, by visiting the LACBC’s blog here.

While the Bike Coalition deserves credit for bringing attention to Magos’ case, they probably aren’t capable of bringing attention to every bike crash in the city.  In other words, we need a change in the way that C.A.’s and D.A.’s look at these cases and more incentive for going after reckless and dangerous drivers.

Taking a more meta view of enforcement issues is Bikeside, who in addition to pushing for clearer thinking from police and prosecutors also wants changes in the law.  In the Streetsblog comments section, even LAPD Sgt. David Krumer voiced admiration for their Life Before License Campaign which seeks to change state law for hit and run crashes to make the penalties fit the crime.  As the law is written now, if a driver hits another road user and was drinking, the best thing he or she could do for themselves is run from the scene.  Hit and Run laws are actually more lenient than drunk driving laws.  Thus, the worst thing a drunk driver could do for themselves is stay at the scene.

That being said, there is no evidence that Biton, Everett or the person who killed Aleman and crippled Rodriguez were drinking.  But we do know that both Everett and Biton fled the scene.

Conor Lynch. Photo provided by LA Now.

In Biton’s case, the crime is even more egregious.  Biton, an unlicensed driver at the time, hit Conor Lynch while he crossed the street in the middle of the block.  Biton drove for four blocks before telling an officer in a parked car that “I think I hit someone.”  She will not be charged with a felony because, as reported in the Times:

Biton was arrested later on suspicion of leaving the scene of an accident. But county prosecutors said that there was no evidence for a felony filing because Biton contacted police and did not conceal any details of the case.

The law is so tilted towards protecting unsafe drivers that an unlicensed driver can hit someone, leave them lying in the street, confess to the police that she’s not sure if she hit (much less killed) someone and face a maximum of a year in jail.  Clearly these laws need to be changed.  Yet, there is almost no inertia in Sacramento for such laws to be changed.

Emely Aleman. Photo from The Emely Aleman Memorial/Facebook

All of the road design in the world wouldn’t have protected Lynch from an unlicensed, oblivious driver; but it might have saved Aleman and Rodriguez.  In the much-publicized crash in the Valley, the two were crossing the street in an un-signalized crosswalk when they were run down by a yet-unnamed driver who, to his or her credit, stayed at the scene until the police arrived.  The community has focused their anger at the city for not installing a traffic light as they requested after another fatal crash last December.

Indeed, what truly Livable cities need is support for cyclists and pedestrians at all level of governments.  In these cases we see sub-par conditions and roadways, ambivalent police officers, lenient laws and prosecuters that can’t be bothered.  No one campaign can fix all of this, a true citizen’s revolt is what’s really needed.

But as people lay dead and dieing in the street and their killers speed away, as deadly crosswalks are left un-fixed nearly a year after a man is run down, as prosecutors look for excuses not to charge people that kill with their car; those that want to live in a city that caters to people, not their cars, are left to wonder: When is enough, enough?  What will it take before the safety revolution truly comes?

Martin Erzinger, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney wealth manager. Photo: Treehugger

Over in Vail, Colorado, the new rule seems to be that you don’t even have to stay at the scene, if you’re sufficiently rich and well-connected. Manage a billion dollar portfolio, and you can do whatever the hell you want with your car and get away with no felony charges.

Vail Daily reported last week that Martin Erzinger, a wealth manager for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and local resident, will not face felony charges stemming from a July 3 collision in which he reportedly ran down New York City physician Steven Milo, causing severe spinal injuries, and drove away. Over Milo’s objections, District Attorney Mark Hurlbert won’t pursue anything stronger than a misdemeanor charge for the hit-and-run. The decision has little to do with justice or deterrence and much to do with money:

“Mr. Erzinger struck me, fled and left me for dead on the highway,” Milo wrote. “Neither his financial prominence nor my financial situation should be factors in your prosecution of this case.”

Hurlbert said Thursday that, in part, this case is about the money.

“The money has never been a priority for them. It is for us,” Hurlbert said. “Justice in this case includes restitution and the ability to pay it.”

Hurlbert said Erzinger is willing to take responsibility and pay restitution.

“Felony convictions have some pretty serious job implications for someone in Mr. Erzinger’s profession, and that entered into it,” Hurlbert said. “When you’re talking about restitution, you don’t want to take away his ability to pay.”

Blogger Felix Salmon says the decision amounts to Erzinger buying his way out of a felony charge. Over at Cyclelicious, Richard Masoner is calling for a Vail tourism boycott and points to other reactions around the web, including this petition to Hurlbert at Change.org.

If you missed the news, yesterday three youths in a speeding BMW ran a red light, killed a pedestrian, caused a school bus to flip over and fled the scene.  The juvenile delinquents were caught by a construction crew and the three are now in a hospital being treated for injuries.  While researching the crash, I was surprised to see that most media outlets were reporting this horrific crash as just that, a crash, and not an “accident.”

Granted, the phrase “School Bus Crash” implies that the bus driver, and not the speeding youths, were at fault; but the absence of the word “accident,” at least in the headlines, is a good development.

But don’t worry, there is still plenty if shoddy headline writing on the crash.  Unfortunately, much of it is from the government.  Both The Source and the Mayor’s twitter account refer to the crash as an “accident” in their headlines.

The Los Angeles Times

You can see more headlines after the jump.

KNBC

KABC

CBS2

Villaraigosa's Twitter Feed

The Source

Update: Stephen Box points out that the Times is using “accident” and “crash” interchangeably:

Photo: Ross Hirsch

On the morning of January 6th, Magos was riding to work on his bicycle when he was struck by Everett who was driving a Cayman.  Everett fled the scene, leaving Magos lieing dazed and bleeding in the street.  Later, after Magos was in the hospital and finding his attacker was already a cause celeb among cyclists, Everett turned herself in to the LAPD saying she “might have hit something.”

The police let her go after taking a statement.  Then things got weird.

Following up with LAPD, Carlos Morales of the Eastside Bike Club and La Voz newspapers got his hands on a press release which he published in the Streetsblog comments section.  It turns out that the LAPD brass didn’t approve the release and a controversy broke out what to do with the information contained therein.  Eventually, Streetsblog scrubbed Everett’s name from the release and let the rest stand, after Stephen Box served as a conduit between myself and the LAPD leadership.  However, some statements in the release showed that the LAPD itself wasn’t all that clear about hit and run laws.

In late February, news broke that both the City Attorney and District Attorney would not be pressing charges against a woman who had basically admitted to the crime.  More outrage ensued.

A couple of days later, after the LACBC organized a ride protesting the C.A. and D.A.’s decisions to Chief Beck’s Town Hall meeting with cyclists in City Hall; Beck announced that the City Attorney would take a second look at the case.  Eventually, they decided to press the two misdemeanor charges listed above.

Yesterday, Everett pleaded guilty.  But the story doesn’t end there, sentencing won’t take place until November 1.  We’ll keep you posted.

This terrible headline via the Huffington Post

The crash involving cyclist Villaraigosa this weekend is a great example. I can't find one headline that doesn't exonerate the driver and/or cast blame on Villaraigosa. One could argue that we've only heard the Mayor's version of the story, but one could also argue that there hasn't been any attempt any where to refute his version of the events that led the Mayor's broken elbow. Yet, every headline either calls the crash an "accident," blames the Mayor by saying he "broke his elbow," or sometimes both. Here's a sample of the headlines.

• LA mayor breaks elbow in bike crash (UPI)
• LA mayor breaks elbow in bicycle accident (SacBee)
• Mayor Villaraigosa Injures Elbow in Bike Accident (NBC4)
• Mayor Villaraigosa undergoes surgery for fracture after bike accident (LA_Now)
• Mayor Villaraigosa is injured in bike accident (Daily News)

In April of 2009, Andres Tena didn't "run into" a hummer.  Later that year, Shemar Moore wasn't "tooling around on a bicycle" when he was struck by a car.  And this weekend, the Mayor didn't "break his elbow" in an "accident."  A driver cut him off, caused a crash, and in that crash the Mayor's arm was broken.  To write it another way either lets the driver off the hook or places the blame on the victim.

In the comments section on yesterday's story, Spokker writes "All car accidents are called just that, accidents, no matter who caused it. Why would bike accidents be any different?"  Villaraigosa's twitter feed also reflects the "these things happen" attitude with a comment that

Last night I broke my elbow in a bicycling accident. Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. It means a lot to me!

When we use language such as "accident" to describe an incident where a cyclist is forced from his bike because he was cut off, we do a disservice to the cyclist.  When we say someone "broke his elbow" we imply it was his actions that caused the crash.

Well, that didn't take long.

On Friday, Metblogs' Will Campbell noticed a tweet from Mayor Villaraigosa about how much he enjoyed riding his bicycle as part of the Summer Night Lights program.  Campbell spent the time to page through the Mayor's flickr feed and even found a picture of Villaraigosa laughing it up mounted on a slick looking bicycle.

On Saturday, the Mayor was involved in a bicycle crash.  The Times has the details:

The mayor was riding in the bicycle lane on Venice Boulevard in Mid-City at about 6:50 p.m. when a taxi abruptly pulled in front of him. The mayor hit his brakes and fell off the bike.

While I appreciate the tone of the LA_Now article posted by the Times, which focuses on the efforts to make the streets safer for cyclists; I have to take issue with the title of the piece.  The piece, and many more like it, feature the title "Mayor Villaraigosa breaks elbow in bicycle accident."  This wasn't an "accident" and the Mayor did not "break his elbow."  A dangerous driver decided that wherever he was going was more important than driving safely.  The driver's negligence caused a crash resulting in a broken elbow.  Villaraigosa deserves the same respect any victim of negligent driving, and the blame for the crash and the damage should not be his to bear.

While the Mayor heals, many are already wondering what impact his crash will have on city policy which has been turning in cyclists' favor recently.  While that's a worthy discussion, I'm content to give the Mayor the weekend off to heal and hopefully contemplate the many safety issues with the city's streets.  So rest up Mr. Mayor.  But tomorrow, it's back to work.  Having ridden a mile "in our shoes" and learned a painful lesson about drivers' attitudes towards cyclists; the bar has been raised.

Early Monday morning, 73 year old Amelia Ordona and her 67 year old sister were crossing the street when a car struck Ordona, felling her.  Then, Ordona was struck at least six more times, and at least five of the drivers of those vehicles just kept driving, never stopping to see whether their car was responsible for Ordona’s death.

As you might expect, the L.A. County Sheriff’s office was quick to the scene and quick to start making excuses for the drivers.  The words "hit and run" are never mentioned, either by the police or the news reports, but the word "accident" is tossed around like a baseball at Dodgers training camp.  I’m not surprised that one would avoid using scary terms such as "hit and runs" when you’re still hoping the callous drivers will turn themselves in, but later in the day, when it was clear they weren’t coming forward, the police and news were still in full blame-the-victim mode.

Just watch the KTLA report listed above, in just three minutes were given these excuses for the drivers hitting and running, and perhaps killing, a woman.  What’s even more amazing is that these explanations are given surrounded by footage of the grief-stricken family:

1) It was dark

2) It was the women’s fault for crossing the street wearing dark clothing

3) The victim was so disfigured, the drivers didn’t know that they hit a woman

A separate story on CBS, also mentioned daylight savings times as a culprit.

Way back when I was earning my driver’s license, I clearly remember being told over and over again that I should never be driving so fast when it’s dark that I don’t have time to break if I see something in my headlights…especially in a partially residential area.  What is so hard about taking a couple of seconds to mention that when driver’s kill someone instead of just blaming the victim and calling it a day?

Local news has been buzzing this morning because a deadly hit and run "van v bike" crash was caught on tape in Compton this morning.  Ovidio Morales, a father of five, was presumably on his way to work.  Morales is separated from his family in Guatemala, whom he was sending money to in hopes they would one day be able to join him.

The footage, via KTLA, is grainy; but you can clearly see the van hit the cyclist, the cyclist get briefly drug, the driver get out of the van, check on dead cyclist, get back in the van, and drive away.

Witnesses to the crash say that the driver was on his cell phone when he ran a red light before hitting the cyclist.  Morales was in the crosswalk, crossing with a green light, at the time of the crash.  The Compton Sheriff’s office is investigating and is looking for help in finding the driver.  I guess it’s a good thing that the California Highway Patrol isn’t investigating.

On May 19, a cyclist, let's call him Roadblock, was riding home late at night on Glendale Boulevard.  Roadblock's bike was lit up with front and rear lights and he was wearing a helmet.  Just a couple of weeks earlier, Roadblock had been part of the "die-in" protesting the street and law enforcement conditions that helped lead to the violent death of cyclists Jesus Castillo.  A couple of blocks from the Ghost Bike memorializing Castillo's passing, a Silver 2009 Jaguar registered to Glenn Gritzner slammed into Roadblock from behind sending the cyclist thirty feet in the air, before crashing to the ground.  The Jaguar sped off while Roadblock lay dazed and bloody in the street.

Fortunately, Roadblock had enough of his wits to memorize most of the license plate as the car sped off.  He was actually able to "tweet" the plate as the car disappeared on the horizon.  After he got out of the hospital the next day, miraculously with no broken bones but plenty of bruises, scarring and pain, the LAPD seemed disinterested in his case.  The officer who answered Roadblock's call gave him a two week timeline on when they would be able to run the plates, citing technology limitations in getting the ball rolling.  At that point, a detective had not been assigned to the case.  Apparently the delay was because the dazed and bruised cyclist was only able to get "6 of the 7" of the numbers, which caused the extra delay.

Roadblock then set out to track down the driver and using online resources such as google and his personal network through facebook and other message boards Roadblock was able to track down the driver and present his case, evidence included, to the LAPD three days later.  Even though the cyclist was thrown thirty feet, the LAPD handed the case to the City Attorney as a misdemeanor, even though the original report listed the crash as a "felony hit and run."  The officer explained that because there were no broken bones, the case wasn't considered a felony and the District Attorney would just pass the case on to the City Attorney anyway.  For those that don't know, the D.A.'s office deals with more serious, felony, cases and the City Attorney deals with misdemeanor cases.

On January 28, Gritzner was in court with for a pre-trial hearing, his second hearing although this was his first appearance.  The rest of the pre-trial proceedings will occur on February 25.  If a plea bargain is not accepted by both sides, a trial date will most likely be set then.

What can we learn from this case?

First, it's likely that Gritzner would never have been charged with anything without Roadblock's vigilance both on the day of the crash and in the days that followed.  The LAPD is often accused by cyclists of not taking hit and run crashes seriously, and in this case they did almost nothing leaving Roadblock to make the case himself.

Second, the LAPD made the decision themselves about the severity of the charges and decided on the lesser charge of mis-demeanor.  This tells us that the LAPD has a bias towards assuming that the severity of hit and run charges but doesn't give us the ability to see how serious the District Attorney's Office treats those charges.  One message that cyclists should deliver the LAPD is to refer all hit and runs to the D.A. and let them decide if the charges are serious enough to warrant a "felony" charge or a "misdemeanor" charge.

Last, it was a good thing Roadblock was wearing his helmet.

As we reported yesterday, a group of cyclists is heading to tonight's Bicycle Advisory Committee Hearing to discuss hit and run issues with the LAPD's representative to the committee.  The meeting begins at 7:00 P.M. in the Hollywood Neighborhood City Hall Community Room, 6501 Fountain Avenue.

One case that we've followed nearly as closely as the "Road Rage Doctor" case has been the trial of David Jassy, a wannabe rapper from Sweden who actually out "raged" the good Doctor."  Yesterday, Jassy was found guilty of Second Degree Murder.  The Times' LA Now Blog reports:

He faces 15 years to life at a sentencing next month.

Witnesses said Jassy, 35, punched, kicked and then ran over John Osnes, a 55-year-old jazz pianist, during the November 2008 incident.  Osnes, who did not own a car and was an advocate for pedestrian rights, had struck with his hands the front of Jassy's SUV after it edged into a Hollywood crosswalk.

The sad part of the story is that the Times' description of the attack in yesterday's piece doesn't even begin to describe the out-of-control rage that Jassy, who claimed self-defense, displayed that night. Let's re-set the scene as described in previous Times articles and reported on Streetsblog.

John Osnes was walking home from an evening with friends at Hollywood bars The Spotlight and The Piano Bar. While crossing a street in Hollywood, Jassy's SUV crossed part way into his crosswalk before coming to a stop.  Osnes was crossing with the signal, and registered his annoyance with Jassy, whom he had never met, by hitting the SUV with his hands.  Jassy then exited the vehicle and punched Osnes, who weighed 155 pounds, in the face.

Osnes fell to his knees and while he was searching for his glasses, Jassy kicked him in the head.  While Osnes lay bleeding and stunned on the ground, Jassy re-entered his SUV.  As he revved the engine to run Osnes over, an off-duy Anaheim police officer jumped on the side of the SUV and slapped his badge on the window demanding that Jassy stop.  (Update, 2/4/10 - A commenter noted that there is no evidence that Jassy "gunned his engine" and reading other reports I have to concede that there are many things he could have been doing that allowed the officer the time to act.)  Jassy ignored the officer, ran over Osnes and sped off.  Osnes was killed instantly.

Jassy's defense was a picture of desperate tactics.  They tried everything from claiming self-defense, to intimidation by the off-duty Anaheim police officer to what we've termed the "these things happen, hasn't anyone seen the movie Crash" defense.  Fortunately, nobody was fooled by any of these arguments.

Late Wednesday afternoon, after all of the excitement over an anti-harassment ordinance for cyclists, KPCC sent out an email looking for your hit-and-run stories. Presumably, they are just looking for cyclists that were involved, and not drivers, and you can read the full email from KPCC’s Sharon McNary below:

Hello from Sharon McNary in the KPCC newsroom. I’m writing to you and about 75 others in the Insight Network of news sources who had previously responded to some questions I had about your financial relationship with a bicycle. Today’s questions concern your safety when you’re riding, specifically whether you’ve ever been in a bike-car collision or witnessed one.

Here’s the link to the questions: http://www.scpr.org/in/questions/BikeSafety/

One of our reporters is going to a meeting of the Los Angeles Bicycle Advisory Committee at which cyclists will look at how well law enforcement is responding to reports of hit-and-run bike-car collisions. She’d like to interview a few people this week who have been involved in such incidents. If you can help her out by being a news source, I’d appreciate your taking a few minutes to respond to the questions. You are also welcome to circulate the link to the questions to your personal networks, blogs or bike communities in Southern California.

You can see other questions our newsroom is asking at our website, www.scpr.org/in.

Thanks very much for being part of the Insight Network of news sources for KPCC and Southern California Public Radio. Ride safe out there,

Sharon McNary

Public Insight Journalism at KPCC
smcnary@kpcc.org

www.facebook.com/kpccfm

www.facebook.com/kpccmcnary