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Apparently, You Can Get Away with Hit & Runs These Days
Photo by victoriabernal via LAist Featured Photos on Flickr
Cyclists are fuming after charges are not being filed in a case where a hit and run incident left a cyclist in the hospital. If you remember from when we first posted about this, witnesses said the driver got of her porsche, looked at him and left. She later went to the police station, apparently saying she thought she hit something. Although the police let her walk, they later sent the case to both the District Attorney and City Attorney, both which declined to file charges, according to the cyclist's lawyer. "In this case the LAPD isn't to blame," said LA Streetsblog's Damien Newton. "According to an LAPD 2008 (09) Statistical Report 23% of collisions involving bicyclists are hit-and -runs," notes the L.A. County Bicycle Coalition in a press release about the incident. "With the rise in number of cyclists we see on the road, this is increasingly becoming an issue on our streets."
This afternoon, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck will be attending the city council's transportation committee (.pdf) to talk cycling issues. The meeting is expected to be standing room only as cyclists, city staff, city councilmembers and Beck all discuss how to improve conditions in the city. The LAPD in the past has not been painted in a positive light after numberous incidents, including one with officers apparently pulling cyclists off bicycles as they were riding.
A protest ride is scheduled for today at 12:30 p.m. It will start at the corner of Melrose and Heliotrope in Hollywood and end at City Hall where today's 2 p.m. meeting is located. The route also happens to be the hit and run victim's route to work. His name is Ed Magos and he works at City Hall.
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