Very sad news.

---

http://www.MattRussellTri.com -Pro Triathlete -Tri Coach

Very sad indeed and surprisingly in the middle of day. They have to subpoena those phone recs.

---

---

Save: $50 on Speed Hound Recovery Boots | $20 on Air Relax| $100 on Normatec| 15% on Most Absorbable Magnesium

Blogs: Best CHEAP Zwift / Bike Trainer Desk | Theragun G3 vs $140 Bivi Percussive Massager | Normatec Pulse 2.0 vs Normatec Pulse | Speed Hound vs Normatec | Air Relax vs Normatec | Q1 2018 Blood Test Results | | Why HED JET+ Is The BEST value wheelset

What an F@ckin A$$hole.... I hope this cop gets prosecuted. The fact remains the police officier killed this man with a deadly weapon and the man was not armed and just riding his bike in the bike lane. The cop was probably following too close behind him or not paying attention, either way he killed a man that he was PAID to PROTECT.

And the on board dash cam as well as on board computer usage.

---

------------------------------
"Unless you have a ... GF who might put out that night and that night only ... skip it and race." - AndyPants 3-15-2007

Awful. An area I ride by often, and an area frequented by cyclists. There's not much info yet on what happened, but I pray they don't give the cop a pass on this.

curious why it takes the daily mail to let us know this and not a US based news

---

36 kona qualifiers 2006-'23 - 3 Kona Podiums - 4 OA IM AG wins - 5 IM AG wins - 18 70.3 AG wins
I ka nana no a 'ike -- by observing, one learns | Kulia i ka nu'u -- strive for excellence
Garmin Glycogen Use App | Garmin Fat Use App

It's being covered in the LA Times, and all of the local networks have stories on it as well, with additional details beyond the Daily Mail piece.

---

--
I ride Felt.

Dude seriously? I hope no one ever breaks into your house and you have to call one of those "A$$holes."

I understand the OP's frustration. Maybe there is more to the story that we do not yet know. How in the world does this cop hit a cyclist in the middle of the day in the bike lane? Makes no sense but does make you angry. Doesn't matter if he is a cop or a priest or whatever. Too may cyclists are killed by cars.

Yes, because cursing at this particular policeman who killed someone apparently for no reason is equivalent to criticizing all policeman. Yes indeed it is. Or at least this cop hopes that the attitude the public and any potential jury take.

Can't call a cop out for something terrible since that's attacking all the men and women in blue. Yessiree.

---

http://www.jt10000.com/

It is the way he called him out. If he did something negligent that caused the death, then the officer is in the wrong and he should receive disciplinary action, whether it be through the court system or through the LASO or both. They do call them accidents for a reason however, and if that was the case, then it was a tragic one. Calling him a F@ckin A$$hole, kind of over the top. Statements such as "The cop was probably following too close..." and "not paying attention" are simply innuendoes with no justifiable factual basis. It is the same thing as calling someone a doper just because they had a great time or finished first. And since we all know how good cyclists are at obeying traffic laws...

I wasn't aware that not following traffic laws gave cops justifiable cause to kill someone?

they don't call them accidents anymore, they call them crashes, for a reason

The news reports seem to indicate the cyclist was in the bike lane when he was hit by the car. If that was truly the case, then there aren't very many other explanations other than negligence. I don't think it's that over the top to call someone that kills someone when negligently operating a motor vehicle a fucking asshole. And I certainly don't see how that opinion could be interpreted in any way as a statement about cops in general, which you seemed to do.

+1
Now maybe we can refocus on the fact that another cyclist has lost his life to the driver of a car.
/

---

Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

He didn't lose his life "to a car" it was due to the driver. This is similar to "gun's don't kill people, people kill people."

He looks like a very nice man. And used to be COO of Napster. It's even hit TMZ.

http://www.tmz.com/...ollision/?adid=hero3

Very sad. And hopefully they will figure out what happened.

---

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Booo Hooo.... the COP in this case is a Fu@king A$$hole.... Whether he KILLED him intentionally or not.... he KILLED SOMEONE with his 5000 pound vehicle in broad daylight, dry conditions and in a friggin bike lane. The cop was breaking the law by being the the frickin bike lane to begin with. I don't care if the cop was scratching his balls and accidently hit him and killed him. Let see..... how many people in the 40 some years I've been driving have I killed someone on the road..... NONE. How people have l hit with my car..... NONE. How many people does an average person hit on the road... for 99.9% of people it's NONE.

This was negligent..... he should not have been given a license to drive, much less a badge. If I was on the jury I'd say prison for at least 10 years.

Michael Franti posted on his FB page. He was his attorney.

Since you were obviously there, can you please tell us exactly what happened?

---

--------------------------------------------------------

Huh? Don't attribute that quote to me, when I was responding to someone else's quote. You should go back and edit so that you attribute that comment to the right person.

I edited my post. It was not my intention to assign blame because I do not presume to have all of the facts. My point was that instead of discussing what words are appropriate to describe the driver, maybe we should focus our discussion on the fact that too many cyclists are killed by drivers and that the law, the roads, & society need to change so we are better protected.

/

---

Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Wow. Just wow. I honestly can't believe you are spewing all of this. Yes, it is very tragic that a cyclist died. And yes,I believe a full investigation is called for, and appropriate actions are taken afterwards. But to make this many assumptions and allegations without the knowledge of what exactly happened is purely speculative and does a disservice to everyone involved. And to follow up with your opinion of cops is demonstrating ignorance.

I really wish that cops could have an opt-out option. People that feel that cops are "Fu@king A$$hole"'s should have the option of opting out of police service, then if they ever need to call the police, the police will not need to respond.

And incidentally to the poster above who mentioned the dash cam... Yes, that will certainly be invaluable, if it was turned on at the time. Each department sets their own standards, and I don't know LASO's policy, but many departments do not record all of the time. The camera is usually activated by doing things like turning on emergency lights, removing the shotgun or rifle, or if the officer physically turns it on. Just saying there is a reasonably good chance there is no dash cam footage.

He hasn't posted anything about cops in general, just this particular cop.

And as I posted earlier, since the reports seem to indicate that the cyclist was in the bike lane, it's not an unreasonable to assume that the officer was negligent, as there aren't too many other explanations for hitting a cyclist traveling in the bike lane on what is normally an open road.

But I agree with Gary, the bigger issue is the number of cyclists being hit my motorists. There are probably a number of reasons for this, but I think a big part is the fact that many motorists don't think they have to he 100% vigilent 100% of the time when on the road. If there were greater accountability for even mere negligence, more people might start looking at driving with the seriousness it deserves.

There is more to life than the courts system and LASO - if the news reports are at all accurate than this guy killed someone for no reason. Based on that, and there is no real, we should be calling that cop names. Lots of names.


Yeah, and the reason is so that there will be minimal investigations. "Just an accident - how can you assign blame. Just an accident. Nothing to see. Move along."

Thankfully that's changing - they're properly called crashes or incidents until it's determined if there was any fault. If it really was something random that no one could have prevented, then it's an accident. But calling it an accident from the start pre-supposes that there was no cause and no responsibility. Which is wrong.

---

http://www.jt10000.com/

No one here has said that cops in general are FFFAAAAHHHHSSS - they've said that this one cop is.

Please stop your nonsense of trying to equate opinions about this one guy with opinions about cops in general.

---

http://www.jt10000.com/

I edited my post. It was not my intention to assign blame because I do not presume to have all of the facts. My point was that instead of discussing what words are appropriate to describe the driver, maybe we should focus our discussion on the fact that too many cyclists are killed by drivers and that the law, the roads, & society need to change so we are better protected.
-----------
I agree

---

Train safe & smart
Bob

Being a police officer is an important, difficult and, too often, dangerous job. There are many hard working, honest, good cops walking the street and this 120 lbs whippet is glad that they are.

But this fact does not mean all cops are good at all times. There are bad cops out there. There are corrupt cops. Cops that use excessive force. Cops that run over cyclists in bike lanes.

You seem to be implying that cops should be above criticism, and that someone pissed at a cop for killing another human being (in all probability non-intentionally) should for some reason lose police protection. This mindset is how bad cops get away with doing bad shit.

This.

---

http://www.jt10000.com/

They do call them accidents for a reason . . . .

I think this is part of the problem. We have a tendency to call them accidents, even though likely the result of someone not exercising due care. I think this is because it's very common to not exercise proper care when driving -- even those that rightly avoid the cell phone often zone out from time to time, look at scenery, talk to others, eat, fiddle with the radio dial, etc. So when we see someone else get into a collision in part because of inattention, we think "there but for the grace of God go I." And when we understand their situation, we tend to be more lenient. If we were to hold people more accountable for this type of driving (and I'm not arguing that punishment should be out of proportion), people might start taking their duty of care more seriously.

From what I can see it looks pretty bad, a huge bike lane and a 25 MPH speed limit. From the damage to the car I suspect the officer was going faster than he should have been.

Just the opposite. I am to saying cops are above criticism, and if you read my post ou will see I am all in favor of a fll investigation and appropriate actions. What ticks me off is when people make assumptions about what happened without any knowledge of all the facts, and then turn it into an attack on cops. Yes there are bad cops out there. And bad doctors, bad priests, bad teachers, bad pilots.... Name a profession and there are bad ones. Hell, there are triathletes who lie and cheat. None of the hard working honest ones like them in their field. So when I read the above posts I see people assigning blame without full knowledge, and then bashing cops as a field. Maybe this one deputy is a f'ing a-hole. Or maybe he's an upstanding person who made a mistake. Or maybe the cyclist made the mistake. I don't know, not having all the facts or knowing anything about their personal lives. It's really irresponsible and damaging to make assumptions about what happened just because of their job title.

The @$$holes that would show up 30 min after the perps were gone and take a report? Then probably meet said perps 20 min after that and split the lute? :-)

And on the same day in LA:

LOS ANGELES — Federal agents charged 18 current and former members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on Monday, accusing them of excessive use of force and obstruction of justice as part of a sprawling, yearslong investigation into allegations of misconduct and abuse of inmates in county jails, federal law enforcement officials said.

- Not to imply that all cops are bad, but LA doesn't strike me as the ideal policing model. From the available information, there doesn't seem to be much explanation beyond raw negligence. And yet, I bet the worst thing that might happen to the cop would be 2 weeks unpaid leave. That seems to be the life value of a cyclist in our society.

Rokko wrote:

and then bashing cops as a field.

Where is this?

Where is this?

---

http://www.jt10000.com/

To put it simply, Los Angeles leads the country in the employment of "thuggish" cops. It really isn't anything new to those of us who live out here. It doesn't help that the chief (Lee Baca) is a scumbag himself who works his magic to get constituents and celebrities out of jail. I don't think in the 15 yrs I've lived out here that I haven't seen a cruiser breaking the law, whether it be driving well above the speed limit (no lights) on the 405 or sailing through a neighborhood stop sign (a weekly observance living near an intersection and a police station). Any attempt to report ANYTHING to a watch commander will put you on an unfortunate blacklist which has happened to me and 2 separate neighbors (whose children have repeatedly dealt with near-misses by police cruisers).

Point is, outside of LA I'm sure there are squeaky-clean police officers who protect the public. And there possibly is a percentage of LA officers who somehow manage to avoid corruption. But I can certainly sympathize with anyone who lives out here who is getting sick & tired of the LAPD's behavior in the past 2 decades.

PS. We have several large dogs, 3 machetes, and multiple firearms. A perp would be long dead before a "cop" arrived at our house.

Hello AlanShearer and All,

I agree ................. however is is not always a conscious decision by the motorist to not be vigilant (because the motorist may not have the ability to perceive the objects in front of the motor car) ...... and this human problem is occupation independent ................ we are all subject to not perceiving objects in front of the windscreen when driving on occasion.

I think motorists get off easy when crashing a cyclist and I agree more responsibility should be assigned to motorists along with much stiffer penalties.

The human condition (disabilities, brain wiring, vision blind spots, fatigue, etc.) and traffic engineering conspire to produce motorist crashes. About 30,000 humans killed each year in US car crashes [NHTSA] and thousands more injured and crippled. There are over 5,000,000 motorist crashes each year in the US [NHTSA] or 10,000,000 [Insurance industry data].

The data supports the statement that many motorists are horseshit drivers.

Newly available automated motorcar systems that provide lane departure notification and correction along with auto braking should help prevent some of these crashes.

The NHTSA studies indicate that motor car drivers are dangerous to cyclists’ and pedestrians’ health ……. and that there is value in separated facilities for cyclists and pedestrians …. and scientific justification for funding such separated facilities for greater pedestrian and cyclist safety.

This US NHTSA study appears to lend credence to the Australian study with a similar name … 100 Car Naturalistic Driving Study:

http://www.nhtsa.gov/DOT/NHTSA/NRD/Multimedia/PDFs/Crash%20Avoidance/Driver%20Distraction/100CarMain.pdf

The 100-Car Naturalistic Driving Study database contains many extreme cases of driving behavior and performance, including severe fatigue, impairment, judgment error, risk taking, willingness to engage in secondary tasks, aggressive driving, and traffic violations.

The data set includes approximately 2,000,000 vehicle miles, almost 43,000 hours of data, 241 primary and secondary drivers, 12 to 13 months of data collection for each vehicle, and data from a highly capable instrumentation system including five channels of video and vehicle kinematics. From the data, an “event” database was created, similar in classification structure to an epidemiological crash database, but with video and electronic driver and vehicle performance data.

The events are crashes, near crashes and other “incidents.” Data was classified by pre-event maneuver, precipitating factor, event type, contributing factors, and the avoidance maneuver exhibited. Parameters such as vehicle speed, vehicle headway, time-to-collision, and driver reaction time are also recorded.

Of particular interest in the analyses of rear-end conflict contributing factors was the prevalence of distraction.

An important aspect in rear-end crash countermeasure development is the degree to which an un-alerted driver can be warned and make a proper response. Of course, the 100-Car data can provide great insight into the degree to which distraction is an issue in such conflicts.

The important finding in this regard is that 93 percent of all lead vehicle crashes (13 out of 14) involved inattention to the forward roadway as a contributing factor (Figure 8).

Note also that a majority (68 percent) of the near crashes have inattention identified as a contributing factor.

=======================

The published data I have seen point to the value of more and better infrastructure in cities like New York, Portland, Minneapolis for improving cycling safety and increasing cycling transportation share.

This TED talk a couple of days ago was on point for city infrastructure (including separated bike lanes):

http://www.ted.com/...t=button__2013-12-06

And this one from a couple of months ago:

http://www.ted.com/talks/janette_sadik_khan_new_york_s_streets_not_so_mean_any_more.html


Cheers,

Neal

+1 mph Faster

It wasn't a mistake, it was an accident. The bottom half of his doughnut fell into his coffee. In a valiant effort to rescue the drowning victim he dropped what he was doing and heroically dived in to save the now soaked piece of doughnut. Sadly just as he was recovering the fallen a cyclist rudely bumped his car and thwarted his rescue attempt. The officer will be rewarded with a medal after receiving serious burns to his fingers. The cyclist will be charged with obstructing an officer in the line of duty.

Posthumously. Because if we don't act now, the cyclists will have won.

---

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

"One word:

HYBRIS."

this is a serious subject and i don't mean to make light. but. this made my morning.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

You mean like hitting him from behind, and killing him in broad daylight in a bike lane? What the hell are you talking about? Did a tree fall on the road and forced him to swerve? A child maybe? No. He just hit someone. He DID something negligent: he was driving and not paying attention. How much longer do we need
to tolerate this shit? How many people need to die?? Unfuckingbelievable.

Here are the facts reported:

• The collision occurred at 1pm.
• The cyclist was in a wide bicycle only lane.
• The speed limit on the road was 25mph.
• The cyclist and the police vehicle were traveling in the same direction.
• The police officer was on routine patrol.
• The police officer was NOT responding to an emergency call.
• The cyclist was run into from behind.
• There was enough differential in speed that the cyclist struck the vehicle windshield, smashing it.
• The bike ended up under the front tires of the vehicle.
• The cyclist was pronounced dead at the scene.
• The officer went to the hospital with glass in the eyes and cuts on his forearm from when the cyclist hit the windshield.

Now for ancillary information:

• The cyclist was a prominent attorney who was partners in a prominent law firm.

My conclusions are that the officer was clearly wrong. He had no business driving in the bicycle lane or speeding. The LASO and the PO will have a substantial lawsuit filed against them and will likely be held financially responsible.

I think the officer should be and likely will be fired, unless he can demonstrate some overwhelmingly mitigating circumstances to explain his actions. His actions killed someone who was not a threat to himself, others or society ... who was literally one of the people the officer was employed to protect. He had demonstrated incompetence at his job.

This story makes me sad on several levels. For the deceased. For his family. For the realization of just how precarious it is to cycle, even doing whatever we can to be safe. For the reminder that while we can do all we can to be safe ... none of us have any control over all the other drivers on the road who might not be doing enough for all of us to be safe.

I find that Pickup Trucks and Cops Crusiers are the worst individual auto drivers on the road as a it relates to a cyclist. They pass you at high speeds, way too close and if you give them the one finger bird they pull over and fu@k with you. I've had a couple cop pull me over because I flipped them off because they passed me too close only to have them fu@k with me. Hybris is absolutely correct for some of these cops.

Yes, I almost spit out my coffee laughing so hard.

-Robert

---

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Are they driving Priuses?

---

-----
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
Which is probably why I was registering 59.67mi as I rolled into T2.

Not so sure why this is funny? It's perfectly appropriate for diacrit over the upsilon in Greek to be translated into English either as an "hu" or a "hy".

Hubris /ˈhjuːbrɪs/, also hybris, from ancient Greek ὕβρις, means extreme pride or arrogance.

Seems to me that he rather nailed it.


~~ db

edited to add: apparently your software doesn't allow for Greek alphabet symbols. :(

Never underestimate the power of the thin blue line. Or the Union.

As we see all too often, a cyclist doesn't receive the benfefit of the doubt. In this case, the aforementioned will be serious forces to be reckoned with.

Every person who drives a vehicle and kills someone (a cyclist, a runner, a walker, a mom with a stroller, ...)
regardless of whether they stay at the scene, regardless of whether they were drunk or high, etc. and short of a real
'accident' (let's say a car from the other lane swerves into their lane and the reflex is to swerve away and you
hit someone, or a tree falls on the road causing an accident...in other words something REALLY unexpected) should
get their license suspended for 5 years.

That's my solution (part of it). That will force them to commute on a bike.

I had a guy drive out of a side road straight into me about 10 days ago. Hit the bonnet (I think) then landed on other side of the road. Ambulance etc.. called. I had a really lucky escape, impact to left elbow/hip/knee/foot, lots of soreness and could barely move next day but nothing broken. I'm about 95% fine now.

Guess what, it really was "an accident". The guy was genuinely sorry, actually horrified and had never hit anyone before. Having spoken to him since he comes across as a decent person. He (we think) had been looking beyond me as he approached the junction as you can see through the fence.. Yes he made a mistake, could it be said that he was driving without due care? People make mistakes while driving, most of these thankfully have no repercussions. I hope you (and all of us) are always able to state "None" to your questions.

Part of the solution really is education. We need to make people realize how vulnerable other road users are, that the "weapon" we drive doesn't protect us all that well from other such "weapons", and that roads are for sharing by multiple modes of transport.

There are some witnesses stating the cyclist swerved into the lane in front of the patrol car. Lets pump the brakes alittle bit.

First, you must be new because this is what trihard4me does on a regular basis.

Second, whilst I admire the fact that they are putting themselves in danger to protect us that does not mean that they are somehow above the law. He killed a cyclist. He should be charged.

He won't be charged and that is unacceptable.

---

How does Danny Hart sit down with balls that big?

Q: Why is passing a cyclist while driving a Prius like having sex with a deaf person?
A: They can't hear you coming, either

---

"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

"Not so sure why this is funny? It's perfectly appropriate for diacrit over the upsilon in Greek to be translated into English either as an "hu" or a "hy"."

you're right. i am hymbled.

---

Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

A point ... well made. :)

Uh, are you sure that's what he meant? We have very few guys on this board who are familiar with transliteration of words derived from Greek. I actually thought he may have been confusing hubris with the Hybris Worm, i.e., he might be a geek with a bad spelling habit or a bit of confusion before his a.m. coffee?

-Robert

---

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

Honestly, I figured he was one of those Brits or Aussies who routinely mangle the English language.

~~ kate

Well good for you, I am glad you are alright .....BUT YOU would be singing a different tune if you were severely injured, paralyzed, could not walk, etc. I am glad you and your new found friend are pals now. Maybe you all can sit around a camp fire and laugh about it. For this poor guy in LA and many many many others it's NOT a blow off matter.

People make mistakes while driving and YOU are thankful there are NO respercussions????? Well maybe if I mistakenly discharge my gun in the air and the bullet travels into a nearby home killing an a person...... Should I be prosecuted? According to you NO. Hey.... it was a mistake, I did not mean to kill anyone, I was just playing with my "weapon". A 5000 pound auto is considered a weapon too. Aren't you late for a jury somewhere? You are a defending attorney's wet dream.

LASO is not LAPD. Two different departments, two different jurisdictions, and two different cultures. I'm not saying that both departments don't have their issues, but if you're conflcating the two, then your other observations are questionable..

Maybe he's a Greek Geek? ;)

-Robert

---

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I was waiting for someone to come up with the "suicide swerve" excuse.

I had the same laugh at hybris initially and feel fortunate I didn't post anything. I am now tempted to throw down "hybris" in other online forums purely as bait for the pedants and then enjoy the irony of their hubris.

And I would underestimate the likelihood that someone's limited opinion about blue lines and police unions is almost entirely the product of television and movies.

Cops get disciplined and even fired for this kind of thing all the time. Most cops are not out to protect their co-workers because of some code. Cops generally don't like to work with bad cops, as its a dangerous job and bad cops make it even more so. Nobody has any idea how this case will play out, but there's little reason to believe that the LASO won't take it seriously.

And you would be wrong. Father was Chief of Police and BIL was a Detective Lieutenant. In their respective senior positons both had to deal with a lot of shit. Some of which they were willing to share.

Though I was a fan of Hill Street Blues.

I agree that education is part.

In your story, however, it sounds like it wasn't an "accident" -- that he actually was at fault and negligent.

I understand that the guy was genuinely sorry. Just because someone is negligent while driving doesn't make them a bad person. As you said, we all (or at least most of us) have been negligent while driving from time to time, and we're just fortunate that our negligence didn't cause any harm, at I suspect this lulls us into a false sense that our driving habits are acceptable. But that doesn't mean people should not be held accountable beyond civil liability when they do cause harm or are negligent. I like Francois's suggestion of a license suspension (or at least a restricted license) when at fault, even for a minor collision.

The operative word is "was."

I'm not saying there isn't corruption in police departments, currently or in the past. But the level of professionalism, especially among police departments in California, has dramatically improved over the years, so much so that references to unions and codes protecting bad cops is by far the exception. (Police unions raise all kinds of problems, but their ability to protect and keep bad cops on the job is overstated.)

Hi Everybody,

This is eerily similar to a police car hitting and killing two triathletes in 2008:

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...reply;so=ASC;mh=100;

The officer was sentenced to 4 months in county jail after pleading guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Apparently he could serve the time in a sheriff's furlough program or home detention.

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...rum.cgi?post=2322904

I am sorry for those triathletes.

Mark

---

Fast-Finishes.com
Triathlon and Running Race Timing
Athletic Event Management

My understanding is that they can do a pretty good job at reconstructing the scene to determine the point of impact and what happened. While some may be cynical, the cops investigating the scene will not fabricate evidence to make it favorable to the officer driving the vehicle. If the officer lies about what happened and they find it out, he will most certainly be fired.

How can you possibly know that?

Most of what you have previously said makes sense. This, not at all.

It seems as if Police vehicles have more accidents with bicycles then any other profession..... Why is that? You don't hear too much about Accountants hitting cyclists or Doctors hitting cyclists. Even truck drivers, UPS drivers and pizza delivery driver you don't hear then hitting cyclist. Do cops have something against us??

Can you back that up with actual statistics? Of course not, because you just made it up.

Because as a lawyer that represents police departments in union negotiations and police disciplinary matters, I have an understanding how most departments in California work internally. As the officer involved is both the subject ot a criminal as well as internal investigation, IA will be involved. IA was either at the scene or it monitoring the investigation there. Those investigating will be under as much scrutiny as anyone.

Like I said, you watch too many tv shows.

This post almost strikes me as comical. I've lived here my entire life (38years)....I grew up less than a quarter mile from this accident on Paul Revere Dr.

You have your opinion and I have mine and that's cool but my experiences with Law Enforcement in this area have been nothing but stellar. I've known several officers that work out of Lost Hills (this cruiser was almost certainly out of Lost Hills) and they are some of the best guys I know. I've trained with a ton of LAPD Swat guys through a local weapons and tactics training outfit and they have been nothing but professional in my dealings with them.

I'm not naive to the fact that shit goes on....but I just wanted to offer a vastly different opinion of our police here than the one presented above.

What I find amusing is the complete lack of patience in situations like this. The incident happened 24 hours ago,....I mean, can we give the police even a chance to do the right thing here? We don't even know what actions they're taking and we're already crucifying them. But that's Slowtwitch......ready, fire, aim. Per usual.

---

-------------------------------
I'm faster in Kilometers!
Wattie Ink Triathlon Team
Powered by Accelerate 3

And you state this as a fact too? Nice, that's twice you said things that you can't possibly know to be true.

Either you are a spokesperson, a campaigner or a lawyer for the Sheriff's Dept because the "apologist" language is rather amusing, LOL. Nevertheless, the recent corruption probe (LA county jail) proves that business is usual in the Sheriff's Dept. The fact that 3 of those indicted were Internal Affairs investigators (!!) makes this federal probe almost more far-fetched than those fictional cop shows you accuse everyone of watching :)

Funny how your post is being ignored. I was wondering if there were witnesses. There is so much missing information at this point, it's just crazy to assassinate the sheriff so quickly.

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Madam, I demand satisfaction! I choose pistols at dawn. Meet at Leicester Square at 6am tomorrow.

Citizens have a right to expect that their law enforcement officers are not "fucking assholes" and do not deserve to have protection removed because they speak up about it. I always just assumed all cops were all good guys until I started interacting with them more and have learned that what seems to be a significantly larger percentage of them than the general population really are assholes. Most recently I was detained and cursed out by a cop riding a motor scooter on a bike path when I said to myself, "that seems dangerous", where he threatened to arrest me and every other cyclist because he does not like them.

I was at a house party where a cop was gleefully telling the attendees that that day he really wanted to beat on somebody so he found an excuse to pull someone over, waited for them to give him the slightest amount of lip (which I am sure he provoked) and then smashed him in the face and put him on the ground. The cop was laughing hysterically about it.

These are not examples of stable people. They should be called out.

---

-------------
Ed O'Malley
www.VeloVetta.com
Founder of VeloVetta Cycling Shoes
Instagram • Facebook

No way Man....that's not how Slowtwitch operates. We convict and then go through the "facts"....whatever those things are. Didn't you see there's been corruption in the police department? Obviously this cop woke up with the intention of plowing one of those damn cyclists....and all his thug buddies on the force were stoked he did.

---

-------------------------------
I'm faster in Kilometers!
Wattie Ink Triathlon Team
Powered by Accelerate 3

He probably got on his radio and screamed, "10 Points!!"

---

Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.

Um, a Brit mangling the English language? Isn't that their perogative? At least they don't need to qualify everything with "honestly", so we can tell when they are not lying ;)

Where are you seeing this? What I am reading is saying that The cyclist was in the bike lane. http://www.dailynews.com/...rol-car-in-calabasas
and
Investigators confirmed to CBS2′s Melanie Woodrow the deputy was on routine patrol and was not responding to an emergency at the time of the collision. They also confirmed that Olin, a prominent entertainment attorney, was in the bike lane when he was struck.
(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/...asas/#at_pco=cfd-1.0

/

---

Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

After reading this article, it's your post that comes off comical. The corruption in the LAPD and LASD is well known and talked about all over the USA. All the talk does not stem from the choir boy image you are trying to portray. :-)

Article:

http://www.latimes.com/....story#axzz2n76SVEat

Funny you said this. I was jogging on Glasgow this morning and saw a cruiser cut off a lady and her kid who were trying to walk through the intersection. Perhaps things are cheery and "comical" up in Calabasas, Lost Hills, et al. But I live off 135th in Hawthorne (near Inglewood Av) and the cops we see don't practice what they preach. Nor did they in Mar Vista. Nor did they in Gardena.

Choir boy image? Hardly. I was conveying a different perspective of our officers here. People can give their opinions of what they believe goes on here but I can also give mine. The other post talked about cops speeding all over the place, through neighborhoods and other anecdotal tales of "bad behavior". I was simply conveying MY encounters with the police here. My experience tells me that some are good, some bad, and most are in between...just like every other walk of life. YMMV.

---

-------------------------------
I'm faster in Kilometers!
Wattie Ink Triathlon Team
Powered by Accelerate 3

Investigators confirmed to the press that he was in the bike lane. Assuming that's accurate, then why would the investigators confirm it if witnesses were saying otherwise? Why not just keep quiet?

Not that it's not possible, but I'd be skeptical of the last minute swerve excuse.

The man who was struck and killed was the father of one of my athletes and I am not simply just heart broken for his loss but I am also pissed that the larger picture is being lost; distracted/texting driving is a growing problem and equally (possibly more) dangerous than drunk driving.

It doesn’t matter to me if the driver was a cop, a teenager, an asshole or a priest. It doesn’t matter to me if said person was driving a car, truck, cop car or a Prius. What matters to me is a fellow teammate has to bury his father. What matters to me is that some how society changes its ways and begins to truly see the danger in distracted driving. For my friends father to the cyclists in London to the children playing and other loved ones on the road killed by distracted drivers something needs to change.

Social media is strong enough to create a movement large enough to help a Cafe owner keep his store name against Specialized; well is it strong enough to help save lives? How do we create the MADD of today?

I am a triathlon coach not a social media wizard but I do not want to ever receive another email like the one I received the other day from Geoff. So instead of all of us ranting about if cops are assholes or not lets maybe put are heads together and save the lives of the other cyclists out there, including our own.

So lets get this thread back on track and figure out what we need to do as a group to stop people from killing others because they are driving distracted.

What is next?

Best,
Brian Hammond

---

Brian Hammond
Tailwind Endurance
http://www.TailwindEndurance.com

As I said: long term driver's license suspension for anyone who kills someone on the road, unless it's really an accident, and on top of whatever else if the person also is high/drunk/speeding or fled the scene.

Haha it's "Loot".... "ya dumb shit".. if it were a "Lute" they wold be splitting a small instrument... :)

I'm not of the opinion that this would be a deterrent. Many drivers today do not have driver's licenses and/or liability insurance ... yet they still drive. They only have a consequence in the event they are stopped. I just googled my state and the penalty for driving without a license is a $200 fine. By way of contrast, one of my friends was ticketed for not stopping at a stop sign ... while riding a bike. That fine was $180.

So if your solution was implemented it would be wise to put some deterrent in the penalty for driving without a license.

Agreed. I don't know how the implementation would go after...financial penalties, or jail time etc.

Auto-correct- it's why I hate posting using my phone.

Haha it was a good auto correct :)

I just leave my shithouse typing as is.. Stupid tiny buttons on I phone...

Doesn't California have the Blake Society to cover everything up, just look for a 3 dot tattoo on their shoulders...

Wow, lace up them shoes bro!
Go for a run, your blood pressure is a little high!
Get pissy after all of the facts are in.

We need a like button :0)

---

__________________________________________________
Official Polar Ambassador
http://www.google.com/...P7RiWyEVwpunlsc2JtQQ

Even if that's true, that doesn't explain the violence of the crash.

---

Citizen of the world, former drunkard. Resident Traumatic Brain Injury advocate.

Another look at the life of the gentleman killed in this collision:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2013/12/10/milt-olin/

Dusty, you should know better than to try to interject with reason here. As you said before, ready, fire!, uh, aim? is the way of the web.

---

____________________________________________
Don Larkin
Reach For More
http://www.reachformore.fit/
USAT Lvl1 Coach, NSCA-CPT, NASM-CPT, BS Exercise Science

No charges against the deputy. Family planning a foundation to help eliminate cycling related fatalities. Can only hope that some good comes from this senseless, avoidable death.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/...gainst-typing-deputy

---

Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Thanks for posting the update. Sad ending for the family.

Total Bull Shit.

---

"Good genes are not a requirement, just the obsession to beat ones brains out daily"...the Griz

Beyond unconscionable. There is nothing in that 'decision not to charge' document justifying typing on the MDT in response to a non-emergency, borderline social, enquiry from a fellow officer.

Moreover, that 'decision' doesn't appear to have been written by a prosecutor, it was written by a civil rights defense attorney. "Since Wood was acting in the scope of his duties when he began his response ... he acted lawfully. " This is specific language setting the precedent for a governmental immunity defense to any lawsuit the victim's family might file against the County.

At the least I hope the deputy lost his job for lying about the accident. A deputy making a stupid mistake and unintentionally killing a man is a horrible but ultimately forgivable thing. Getting out of the car and lying about it is not.

The deputy was reassigned but is still on the job. Disciplinary actions, if any, should come out in the civil suit.

/

---

Gary Mc
Did I mention I did Kona

Sad.....

---

Hook Em' Horns

Hello longella and All,

http://pvcycling.wordpress.com/.../28/license-to-kill/

"Welcome to America, kids, where justice is for those who wear a badge. Everyone else, your life isn’t worth squat.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney just released its report on the death of Milton Olin, Jr., who was killed by L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Wood. Olin was riding his bike in a bike lane on Mulholland Drive when Deputy Wood, instead of following the curve of the road, drove straight into the bike lane and spattered Olin all over the pavement.

Deputy Wood was typing a message into his mobile digital computer at the time, responding to a non-emergency query from a fellow officer. Prior to the accident, a witness following Deputy Wood had noticed Olin in the bike lane. After killing Olin, Deputy Wood stated that he never saw Olin and didn’t even remember what he was doing prior to killing him" ....... (continued on URL)

Cheers,


Neal


+1 mph Faster

And too many runners are killed by cars. And too many other drivers are killed by cars. I know we are all cycle centric on this site, but if anyone has ever driven on I-95 (or any other major highway) you have probably witnessed a fatal crash. And yes,the driver who caused the fatal crash probably got away with a ticket. From what I can tell, there is no particular leniency for killing a cyclist. There is a lot of leniency in killing anyone using a car, because in our culture car is king.

But I can tell you, as a cautious driver who is aware of runners and cyclists, I have had my share of "there but for the grace of God" moments. Usually these involve some "Ass hole" walking on the wrong side of the road, wearing head phones, and a black t-shirt at dusk. Or the cyclist who suddenly swerves into my lane without warning, or blows through a red light to nail his strva segment.

So, yes...lots of people die under the wheels and on the hoods of cars. I am not willing to say that in every, or even most cases, it was only the driver's fault.

I cannot imagine the horror of losing a loved one in an accident like this. I also cannot imagine the horror of being the one whose acts caused the loss of a human life. But before we crucify this officer, or any other driver whose car kills another person, lets let the legal system--civil and criminal--do its work of discovery what the actual evidence shows. And for Pete's sake, lets show some compassion for every family impacted by the event. Both the families who lost someone, and the ones who have to live forever with the nightmare.

Bullshit

No you are right. Of course. As a society we have deemed that a human life has less value when wrapped in spandex and sitting on a bike. I wonder why that is.

OR....perhaps you have a particularly myopic view of the world and have no idea how many people are killed because of cars. People walk away from responsibility for fatal accidents all the time, not just when a cyclist is involved. People also get punished all the time for injuring cyclists in accidents. Not every one walks.

Since I am actually involved in the legal system, and actually deal with issues concerning fatal motor vehicle accidents on an almost daily basis, I will stand by my position.

Regardless, it probably would not be a bad idea for every cyclist on the road to assume that every car in his or her vicinity is a threat. It would also be a really good idea for cyclists to obey traffic laws. Perhaps if they did, there would be less hostility to cyclists. And PLEASE do not insult me by saying all cyclists obey the rules. Even as a cyclist, I get pretty sick and tired of seeing idots on bikes blowing through red lights. I see it alsmost every day. It has been a very long time since I saw a car do that. Just sayin.

"It has been a very long time since I saw a car do that."


I think you are the one with the myopic view. I LITERALLY see cars blowing through red lights on my walk to work EVERY WORK DAY. Two consecutive intersections. I get furious with cyclists who do that, but as a pedestrian my life is put at risk 20 times a week by cars that do that (2 intersections, 2 way commute, 5 work days). I have yet to be hit by a bike. I have been hit by inattentive drivers twice.


Bikers who disobey traffic laws are very wrong and can kill pedestrians or other cyclists. Cars disobey traffic laws (regardless of whether you are pretending not to see them) and DO kill pedestrians or cyclists far more often than bikes do.

One example does not prove the rule, but it will be interesting to see how those in the camp of "due punishment will be served" and "cops don't get favourable treatment" spin this one.

OK...so now I really start the argument. How on earth do you get hit by an inattentive driver if you are paying attention? Did you not see the car coming? Did you assume because you had the green you could walk? I am 52. I have run over 10,000 miles and biked over 50,000. I have driven over a million. I have never ever ever ever hit another human, bike or car. I have never been hit by another bike, human or car. Lucky? yes, because I have had close calls. But I have never ever walked in front of a moving car in my life. If I cannot see the driver is looking at me, I stand on the curb. So, yes. I have a myopic view. It is one that puts responsibility on the indivual for his or her own safety. Absolutely there are times a cyclist, runner, or another driver is maimed or killed trhough absolutely no fault of their own. Maybe your incidents were just those occasions. I also assume that since you have this uncanny ability to see daily traffic violations you have asked your local police to monitor the intersection.

This is all f-in sad!
Wonder what would be the effect if Cyclists across N.A descended upon LA for a week of protests and riots in the streets?


.

I am 44 years old. I have been commuting by foot or bike for over 30 years. I have been hit by a car about once every 15 years.

Once I was a dumb 12 year old. 12 year olds can do dumb things, but I was in a crosswalk with a walk signal. I was not as dumb as the car turning without looking.

Once I was an adult riding through a green light. A car turned left without looking. I possibly could have been riding more defensively (and I have done so since then), but I was certainly less wrong than the car turning left without checking for oncoming traffic.

And I don't have a magic ability to see traffic violations. I walk to work (defensively) in a city with two busy intersections. Impatient drivers run the red lights during rush hour. Cops don't do anything about it. C'est la vie.

Hello theoMop and All,

Seth Davidson posts: Shoot the messengers, but ride with them first

August 29, 2014 § 6 Comments

This is gonna be short. (That’s what he said.)

On Wednesday, September 3, the LA County Bicycle Coalition is rolling out from the crash site on Mulholland to hand deliver a letter urging the Los Angeles County District Attorney to revisit the decision by assistant D.A. Rosa Alarcon not to file charges against Deputy Andrew Wood for killing cyclist Milton Olin, and to consider prosecuting him for vehicular manslaughter.

I hope you’ll join us for some or all of the route, which is:

• 4:00 p.m. Meet at crash site (around 22532 Mulholland Hwy, Calabasas, CA 91302)
• 4:15 p.m. Moment of silence
• 4:30 p.m. Start ride
• 6:30 p.m. Leave from the L.A. Zoo parking lot (5333 Zoo Dr, Griffith Park, CA 90027). Other riders can meet up here.
• 7:30-8:00 p.m. Arrive at District Attorney’s office (210 W Temple Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012)
• 8:00 p.m. Candlelight vigil

See more information on the LACBC website: la-bike.org/milt-olin

It will be a slow pace, no-drop ride.

This is a great way to get off the Internet and venture out into the “meatspace,” where real shit happens. Let’s all take a stand for Milton Olin and the other bicyclists who have been killed because some cager decided that texting was more important than watching the road.

This one’s for Milton.

END

>There is nothing in that 'decision not to charge' document justifying typing on the MDT in response to a non-emergency, borderline social, enquiry from a fellow officer.

Forgive me if this is somewhere else in the thread, but what's the official LA Sheriff's Dept. policy (if there is one) for typing on an MDT? It seems that would be key in proving negligence. That along with the urgency of the message sent precluding the 5-10 seconds it would take to safely pull off the road for a moment before typing it.

I find it interesting that the Sheriff's Dept. itself recommended a manslaughter charge, but the DA didn't follow it. I don't think the Sheriff's Dept. would do that without clear evidence if policy violation or negligence by one of their own.

Other news outlets are reporting that the Deputy was also sending text messages from a personal cell phone immediately prior ( 6 messages between 1:00 and ~1:05 when the incident occurred ).

http://laist.com/2014/08/27/da_wont_charge_deputy_who_hit_napst.php

---

--
I ride Felt.

It's very regional. Happens all the time in upstate NY. Doesn't happen in central CO. Happens plenty in TX. At least, that what I've observed.

---

The point is, ladies and gentleman, that speed, for lack of a better word, is good. Speed is right, Speed works. Speed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.