An Open Letter to Culver City and CCPD
June 17, 2011 at 1:54 pm | Posted in Bike News | 7 CommentsRegarding the recent tragic collision on Jefferson and Hetzler early in the morning on Thursday, June 16th, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) and Culver City Bicycle Coalition (CCBC) are concerned about the preliminary report prepared by City of Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) citing pedestrians in the roadway as the cause of the collision.
While the people on and with bicycles were in a portion of the roadway, the fact that the driver was unable to recognize a group of 40 or more people in the roadway and take evasive action to brake, slow down or change lanes is the real issue. Allegations that the cyclists may have been at fault due to the dark clothing they were wearing or street-lights that weren’t functioning are misleading and a distraction from the facts. It cannot be emphasized enough that the driver of the motor vehicle has been charged with driving under the influence and was hazard to all road users and that, in this case, people on bicycles were the victims. The results of the investigation must be viewed with this in mind.
LAPD has conducted the initial investigation and will be handing this case over to the City of Culver City Police Department. The collision happened in Culver City, but the first responders were LAPD and the boundary between the two cities was not clear to the two agencies at the time of the collision.
We urge the City of Culver City to dedicate all possible resources to ensure a thorough and accurate investigation in a timely manner. In light of the recent incident we hope the City will work with Los Angeles County to do everything within their power to improve the lighting on Jefferson and work to improve the roadway to create safer vehicle speeds. This is an opportunity for the City of Culver City to show leadership and dedication to creating a community that protects the lives of people walking and bicycling.
We have been able to confirm the following:
The driver had a .08 alcohol level with a pass test at the scene, when breathalized at the station she was at .07. The driver has been charged with a misdemeanor DUI with a bail set at $15,000. According to LAPD the driver had a clean drivers record, with no prior incidents.
Eleven people were injured, two remain in serious critical condition in a medically induced comas due to severe head trauma.
Witness statements are still being collected and we encourage folks to contact CCPD or LAPD if they have not given their statement. Contact Culver City Police Sgt. Mike Poulin at (310) 837-1221 or contact Sgt. David Krumer at LAPD and he will ensure your statement is taken and given to the investigating officers.
We have concerns and would like more clarification about the following:
As we stated above we feel the cause of the collision cited by LAPD does not take into account the responsibility of the driver. If the driver had been sober and had her eyes on the road, spotting a group of 40+ people in a travel lane would have been possible. The lack of responsiveness, evasive action, failure to slow down or brake, shows a lack of cognition, sobriety, and attention to the roadway.
We also urge the media to report accurately and not to perpetuate misinformation.
We will work with the entire bicycle community to make sure the health and welfare of the people injured are provided for and that this collision is a priority for the CCPD and the City of Culver City. The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and the Culver City Bicycle Coalition urge all road users, whether they be on foot, two wheels, or in a car to act responsibly. Our thoughts and prayers are with all that were injured, we wish everyone a speedy recovery.
7 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
-
Follow LACBC’s Bike Blog
-
LACBC Photos
More Photos
Blog at WordPress.com. | Theme: Pool by Borja Fernandez.
Entries and comments feeds.
Glad you wrote this, hopefully you emailed it to the relevant people (the lead detective, for example). I don’t think they read bike blogs…
Comment by rach150384— June 17, 2011 #
I was the first bicyclist through the area on Jefferson Thursday morning when the barricades were taken down. It was eerrie, obviously something big had happened with so many news crew trucks disassembling. Blaming the cyclists seems to the low road here, probably so the City can side-step any liability in this case. After being intentionally hit by an impatient pickup truck driver (who slowed, laid on the horn, then gunned the motor and hit me with a mirror) last Thanksgiving in Lake Havasu City, Arizona I am now more cautious. It’s my understanding that most municipalities provide bicycles with the same rights on streets as vehicles, and cars can be parked on the street. Godspeed to the injured. Prosecute the driver who hit them. MikeyB
Comment by Mike Buhmiller— June 17, 2011 #
There should be some way of emphasising that people were the victims, who just happened to be on a bike ride. Saying as “people on bicycles were the victims” makes it sound like we think we’re some kind of protected group, when the truth is we are the exact opposite of a protected group.
Comment by Opus the Poet— June 18, 2011 #
[...] was watching her cell phone instead of the road and hit 11 people standing on the side of the road. An Open Letter to Culver City and CCPD This is an attempt to deflect the blowback that the cyclists should not have been in the road when [...]
Pingback by Sweating it out, and the Feed | Witch on a Bicycle— June 18, 2011 #
I ride a bike also as well as a motorcycle and if you stop in the road you need to get over to the side as far as possible thats just the common sense of it all. I have seen large groups like the one in the incident and when they are in these large groups a sort of SUV mentality comes over the group and they act differently then they do in a smaller group maybe its a false sense of security that with more riders they are more visible which is not always the case. I dont think the city is trying to skirt the issue here I think from what I have read that they said the group of bicyclists was partly to blame for the accident. If I were to cross the street without looking and got hit by a drunk driver it would be the same case, even though the driver was drunk had I been looking before crossing our paths most likely would not have met. So as much as you want to put the full blame on the driver lets be straight about this, the road is a dangerous place and if you are going to stop get the hell out of the roadway and protect yourself. Everybody is lucky to be alive in this instance. Stay safe on those bikes and drivers please share the road and keep your eyes peeled.
Comment by Mike— June 22, 2011 #
[...] cyclists of all types — myself included — will come together for a press event to protest the botched LAPD investigation and biased press coverage of this case, and make a public call for safer streets and fair [...]
Pingback by CCPD asks Culver City witnesses to come forward; LA bike community to hold major press event Thursday « BikingInLA— June 29, 2011 #
Your blog is pretty cool to me and your subject matter is very relevant. I was browsing around and came across something you might find interesting. I was guilty of 3 of them with my sites. “99% of site managers are doing these five mistakes”. http://bit.ly/s7O5FK You will be suprised how fast they are to fix.
Comment by top mistakes— December 9, 2011 #