Bicyclists plan ride in downtown L.A. to protest 'unfair treatment'

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition plans to hold a bike ride Wednesday afternoon to call for justice for victims of hit-and-run accidents and to protest what it says is unfair treatment of cyclists.

The ride is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. at Melrose Avenue and Heliotrope Drive in Hollywood and end at Los Angeles City Hall, where participants will attend a meeting of the City Council's transportation committee.

The ride will trace the route local cyclist Ed Magos used to take on his daily commute to City Hall, where he works in the information technology department. Magos was injured Jan. 6 when he was struck from behind while cycling on 2nd Street near Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles. 

The driver who struck Magos "stopped, got out of her car, looked at Ed’s prone and injured body lying in the street, and ignoring Magos’ cries for help, got back in her car and drove away -- leaving Magos lying helpless until the LAFD paramedics arrived to take him to Good Samaritan Hospital," coalition leaders said in a statement.

The motorist, who later went to an Los Angeles Police Department station, was not charged with a crime.

"I think that anyone can agree that when a person hits someone from behind and leaves the scene, it's a hit-and-run," said Aurisha Smolarski of the coalition. "We're seeing a large amount of hit-and-runs just being swept under the rug and disappearing."

An LAPD spokesman could not be reached for comment.

Magos was unable to attend the bike ride because he is still recovering from his injuries.  

-- Kate Linthicum

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Comments

[Sobe]

So they'll be blocking traffic, ignoring traffic laws, and acting hostile to motorists today? Standard.

[BGuzman]

here here! thanks you LACBC for taking this on!

[LATimes Reader]

While it's never right to leave the scene of a hit and run, there is a tendency by LA bicyclists to think that they own the road and not the cars. Again, no comment regarding this particular case. But if you are riding Mulholland or Coldwater Canyon at 6pm weekday rush hour - GET OUT OF THE WAY or RIDE A DIFFERENT TIME.

[andrew]

One has to wonder what the value of keeping all of LAPD during cash-strapped times. Crimes statistics are down in LA, but since it's happening in other US cities, increasing LAPD is not the reason.

[Anonymous]

Please tell us when the transportation committee meeting starts so we can avoid these morons.

[Yoshiyahu]

Unfortunately, many folks who ride a bike as part of our daily can't get away from work during the day. For each rider that protests today, there are many more who share the sentiments being expressed by the LACBC, and I hope the city keeps this in mind!

[annoyed]

If bikers would follow the rules of the road, people wouldn't be so annoyed with them. Little things like stopping for stop signs, staying to the far right of the road, and especially when they're in a large group...DON'T TAKE UP ALL THE FRIGGIN' LANES!

[James Sullivan]

I can't wait to see how many cyclists turn out in the rain. I suspect there will be just as many (zero) as I saw on my way to work this morning. Bicyclists want to own the roads except when riding a bike is an inconvenience then they want to get in their cars and own the roads.

[Popster]

In response to LA Times Reader, cars do NOT own the road. Under California law, bicycles are expected to obey all traffic laws. In return, they are to be respected like any other vehicle. Yes, some cyclists are scoff-laws, but then so are many car drivers.

[danceralamode]

Hey Sobe, sorry, you're talking about the motorists right? Because I usually see that behavior coming from drivers, not cyclists. "blocking traffic, ignoring traffic laws, and acting hostile..." A bicycle takes up far less space and causes far less traffic than a car. You'd have more traffic if all those cyclists drove single cars to downtown. It's a myth that a slow moving cyclist causes traffic. The number of cars clogging up streets is what causes the traffic that you dislike.

LATimes Reader, cyclists don't have to get out of your way just because you are in a car. They have the same rights to the road that you have. And they have the right to use every road. So calm down, check your mirrors, and change lanes to pass. I guarantee you, you never sit behind a cyclist for more than 30 seconds...is 30 seconds really worth all this hate and ire and road rage? Is 30 seconds really worth possibly killing or seriously injuring some one? I think not. Just slow down and share the road. It's the law.

[2 cents]

self-absorbed jerks with cause that we're supposed to find meaningful and deep - we don't - they're just jerks - power to the drivers!

[Cal Godot]

Cyclists "own the road" as much as cars and their drivers. No one has "priority" on the roads.

If there's any class of people who think they "own the road," it would be automobile drivers, as exemplified in these comments (and many others whenever a cycle-centric article hits the LA Times or other local blogs).

Cyclists continue in their efforts to get drivers to SHARE the road with other forms of transportation; even radical or reactionary cyclists, who may want special regulations for bicycles or dedicated paths/lanes, agree that we have to SHARE the roads. But auto drivers, from the average to the insanely radical, demand that cyclists 'get out of the way' or 'ride when its not busy,' forgetting that this is not *recreational* cycling we're talking about, but rather *transportation* cycling.

You can glance at these comments and see I'm not making this up. In the conflict between auto drivers and cyclists, it is clear that the auto drivers are the primary source of problems. One of the most common reactions among driver to accidents involving cyclists is to blame the cyclist and excuse the auto driver. Along with the corrupt LAPD, many auto drivers are creating an atmosphere of negligence and destruction that will eventually, and probably quite quickly, lead to acts of vengeance and violence.

[M.C]

Too many of the bike riders in Los Angeles aren't obeying traffic laws, including using any type of signals as well as running stop signs and red lights probably 90 percent of the time. Just one example is that I live by a crosswalk and when peds get the signal to cross, all the cars stop but the bikes keep going, nearly hitting pedestrians or making pedestrians wait in the street for the bike, and this happens every day. Too many riders are cycling so rudely that it's giving all cyclers a bad reputation.

[KZinCC]

Motorists don't OWN the road; not by law, not by default and not by being bigger.

Bicycles were already users of roadways before cars were invented.

The vehicle code says and the courts have upheld several times that bicyclists are (in the court's words) rightful users of the ROADWAY. This means a lane of the road; not the gutter or the shoulder but the road. Where the road is too narrow or the gutter is unsafe to ride on, I will take as much of the lane as I need to in order to be safe. That means that I am far enough away from the curb that I can swerve right to avoid an obstacle. If I ride inches away from the curb and there is an obstacle in the gutter, I HAVE to swerve left in front of you to avoid falling in front of you or onto the curb itself from the obstacle. I will also ride (as is my legal right) far enough into the lane to avoid being doored by the next cager who forgets to look backwards before opening their door. Sorry if you have to go around me. Sorry if it's delays you by 10-15 seconds on your commute but I'm going to ride in the way that is safest for me and while I'm not sure about mister "Might makes Right L.A. Time reader", I think for most of you it would ruin your day (and your pocketbook) too kill or maim a cyclist who was riding in a right and lawful manner.

Now, on another day, you can hear my rant about the way MANY uneducated nimrods on bicycles behave but the main point is don't hate on me because I'm in the lane because it belongs to me just as much as it belongs to you in your car.

[Apple1]

I would be more supportive of the Bicycle Coalition's efforts and cyclists n general, if they were more considerate of motorists, and didn't jeopardize their own safetm and that of others, by riding two or three abreast, failing to signal for turns, not stopping at stop signs, etc.

[Miles]

@ LATimesReader:

Umm...bicyclists own the road just as much as anyone in a car does. A bicycle has the same right to lane useage as a vehicle. Many of us chose to commute using a bicycle, and that often involves riding at rush hour. What if I asked you to get out of the way or drive to work at a different time so that the bicyclists could have a nicer ride? Learn to share.

[tom]

Wrong folks. You need to read the California Vehicle Code Section 21200, which gives bicycle rides the SAME rights and responsibilities as motor vehicles. If a bike is in a lane, the bike has the right of way. Forget this crap that somehow bikes aren't allowed to drive on the streets. Granted, bikes must follow the same rules as motorists, but is long overdue that motorists start giving the bikes the space they need. Time motorist quit thinking they own the road - because they don't.

As to the hit and run, if that motorist hit a pedestrian or another car, the motorist would have been charged with a felony. How can a driver just drive away and not be charged? Yeah, a protest is needed!

[Lisa]

If you act as though the rules of the road don't apply to you, chances are you're gonna get turned into road kill. What part of that doesn't Mr. Magos understand?

[Share the Road]

The majority of motorists in this city seem to forget that the road belongs not only to them. Bicyclists have the right to be on the road and they have the right to use the whole lane if necessary. The attitudes of many motorists are appalling. The LAPD have shown a history of under-responding or not responding to crimes against bicyclists. Until things change, you will see more protests like this.

Did your bike get stolen? Well, you can call the LAPD but chances are they won't respond. If they do, it will be long after the crime and won't go further than just a report.

Hit by a motorist? Well, we can see what comes of that.

Don't like the bicyclists taking action like this or making themselves visible and vocal? Change your attitude about sharing the road, learn the bike laws, and drive responsibly! Treat your fellow residents with respect, slow down, and demand equality for everyone on our streets.

[michael]

I agree - treat cyclists with courtesy and give them space, but all too often, I encounter groups of riders who ride double and triple-file and don't make even the slightest attempt to scoot over to the curb. This on windy, busy roads here in Altadena/Pasadena. Forget a friendly honk. All you'll get in return is the bird.

[Keith]

Reader above, of course you know you have it completely wrong. Cars don't own the road either. I almost never ride a bike but the law is pretty clear - bikes are vehicles and equivalent to cars. That means if they want the middle of the road they get it, you slow down and give them benefit of the doubt - they probably have a turn or an obstacle and need to be out there.

Of course this means they also need to stop at red lights and stop signs and yield right of way to other vehicles. I get annoyed when a rude rider doesn't follow rules of the road - just as I would be mad at a driver.

[Apple1]

Why do I think this article was based, in whole or in part, on a news release furnished by the Bicycle Coalition?

If the story is accurate, a motorist involved in hit and run left the scene of an accident that seriously injured a cyclist. She turned herself in, and was not charged with a crime. This begs the question: why was she not charged?

[ray]

Almost every morning these bicyclists are running stop signs, red lights, weaving in and out of traffic like we're suppose to get out of their way?

[Lance]

Great. Another opportunity for LA motorists to vent about the horrible people that ride those strange two-wheeled, human-powered, pollution-free contraptions. If I have to hear one more Angeleno complain about what a horrible inconvenience it is to steer their car a couple feet to the left just to avoid hitting a cyclist . . .

[ohaijoe]

This story has been repeating itself for too long, and it's great to finally have some media coverage. Thanks for covering!

-Law-abiding cyclist