Personal Injury Blog

Police Investigating Fatal Road Rage Bicycle Accident in Los Angeles

July 28th, 2011
Fatal Road Rage

Possible road rage killed the bicyclist

Police are blaming a fatal bicycle accident in Los Angeles last week on possible fatal road rage between two motorists.  It wouldn’t be the first time that a bicyclist has been fatally injured through the hostility of motorists.

According to the Los Angeles Police Department d Department, it has reason to believe that the bicyclist, a sixty-two-year-old man, suffered injuries and died as a result of a road rage incident between the two drivers.  The two drivers were in some kind of dispute, and when one of the drivers passed the bicyclist, the car struck the bicycle.  The man sustained serious injuries and died.

There were two cars involved in the incident, a Chevy and a Kia sedan.  The driver of the Chevy was detained at the scene of the accident for questioning, but has since been released.  What is surprising is that according to news reports, traffic in the area at the time of the accident was congested, and almost bumper-to-bumper.

This accident coincides with action by the Los Angeles City Council to keep the city’s bicyclists safer.  The City Council has passed a new ordinance that makes it a crime for motorists to harass bicyclists.  The ordinance also allows bicyclists to file a civil action against motorists for such behavior, even before charges have been filed against the motorists.  A bicyclist will be able to recover up to three times the damages suffered in a civil action, as well as lawyers’ fees.  It is being called one of the strongest bicycle safety laws in the country.

Los Angeles bicycle accident attorneys have been pleased at the increase in the measures to keep California’s bicyclists safer.  Concerns of hostility between motorists and bicyclists have been high since a Brentwood doctor pulled out in front of two bicyclists in 2008, causing them to be severely injured.  That incident have been sparked by road rage, confirmed when the doctor testified that he had been angry at the number of bicyclists using his street.

Any Los Angeles bicyclist will tell you about the kind of harassment that he sees everyday as he rides on Los Angeles streets.  Many bicyclists have objects thrown at them, and are insulted.  Often, motorists drive close to a bicyclist and honk to startle the biker.  Others try to run a bicyclist off the road.  Such behaviors are not only dangerous because they distract a bicyclist, but also because they can directly contribute to an accident.  A bicyclist who is startled could lose focus and fall of his bicycle.

Los Angeles bicycle accident attorneys strongly support Senate Bill 910, which would require motorists to maintain a safe distance when they pass by a bicycle.  Bill 910 would require that drivers maintain a distance of three feet when they pass a bicyclist.

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