Traffic Enforcement

Cyclist John Philips was cycling in heavy traffic in the San Fernando Valley when he was hit from behind by an impatient driver. While the driver did try to run, heavy traffic allowed witnesses to photograph both him and his vehicle. The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) WAS summoned and a report was quickly taken.

For the second time in 2014, the world sat witness to Justin Bieber's private meltdown. After two years of excusing and applauding his wreckless driving history, the long arm of the law caught up with Bieber after he egged a rich guy's house and one of his friends was busted for carrying his drugs.

The LAPD, Mayor's Office and to some extent the media are downplaying the significance of yesterday's afternoon car crash in Downtown Los Angeles involving the Mayor's SUV. Driven by an LAPD officer, the vehicle was driven into a pedestrian inside of a crosswalk causing her hospitalization. The the officer and his passengers were traveling east on 2nd Street towards City Hall when the crash occurred at Spring Street.

An LAPD squad car carrying Mayor Eric Garcetti struck and injured a pedestrian at 12:20 pm today near Second and Spring Streets. The woman was taken to the hospital by Fire Department. Neither LAFD nor the Mayor's Office would comment further on her condition.

Over our end-of-the-year break, there were two stories related to how the city thinks about its transportation needs which kept popping up in the news: the LAPD's "Jaywalking Crackdown"** and the movement to restructure the city's parking fees. The two stories were both treated as stories of regular people being harassed by a money hungry government.

On Saturday, December 29th, at 9:30 am, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig was arrested for reckless driving in Greater Miami after being caught driving 110 miles per hour. Puig's mother and sister were also in the car. This was the second time Puig was caught going over forty miles over the speed limit. In April, Tennessee police clocked him driving 97 miles per hour in a 50 m.p.h. zone.

(Farid Yaghoubtil is an attorney with the Downtown L.A. Law Group. Following last week's story on the LAPD's failure to cite a driver in a crash involving a cyclist, Yaghoubtil asked if he could write a piece on what cyclists can do to get the best legal results after a crash...not that it would have helped in last week's incident. - DN)

On Sunday, July 28, I was playing in the back yard with Sammy when we heard a horrible sound of twisting metal come from the front of the house. Grabbing my phone, I ran out of the house to see if anyone was hurt in what was surely another car crash at the corner of Federal and National. A dazed looking man wobbled out of a truck, and a less woozy looking man was already out of his car walking over to the truck. Not seeing anyone on the phone yet, I pulled mine and called 911. Moments later, I heard sirens. When the firetrucks arrived, I went back in the house. Everyone was fine and the authorities arrived.

"Sammy, stop!" I shout as my son pedals down the sidewalk. It wasn't an intersection that he was looking to race through, but one of the many curb-cut driveways that dot the last block between our residence and the market.