E-bike fatality Newport Beach 8/2
 

A relative of the victim shared that witnesses said he was going around 30 mph and texting when he crashed. Texting?!

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/b...e-newport.html

Update: Bicyclist was not wearing a helmet when he crashed into a parked van in Newport Beach, fatally injuring himself - The Orange County Register

Bay side claims another victim =(

Bayside one of my favorite PCH bypass routes.
Looks like Van that was hit illegally parked in the red... but that doesn't mean you have to hit it square on.

A lot of cyclists whined when City of Austin banned use of handheld devices for cars AND BICYCLES.

Pay attention to the darn road!!!

Hold on a second! Where does it say he was using a handheld device while riding?

Actually, it looks like the red ends right where the car is parked but hitting it at 30 mph is not a requirement.

Ah well, Darwin claims another victim.

One thing I have noticed about E-bikes; they can go fast. We have a problem on OC bike paths of E-bikes users going way faster than most riders on trails heavily used by pedestrians/walkers/runners/cyclist. Frankly I don't think E-bikes should be allowed on bike path. That said any cyclist going 30 mph and no paying attention to the road... well needs to find some other sport. No fatality is taken likely and it will affect the cycling community (close traffic to cyclists?)... please be careful.

As I posted, the victim's cousin via FB stated that she was informed that witnesses saw him texting. News was written before that and/or wasn't privy to that fact.

It doesn't... but accident happened in broad daylight on a residential street... it was a good assumption... regardless if the van was parked legally or not... how was it missed?

If you click on the link at the #1 post, you will see all 9 photos. The last photo I think is the rider's portrait taken in a happier moment.

Right, I looked closer.. car not parked in the red. But Gez, the guy hit the rear square! How do you do that?

Well, you squint your eyes just so, grit your teeth and start pedaling really hard.

Obviously either a monumental brain fart or a colossal amount of distraction. He really did a number on that poor car too.

According to the Pedago site (not sure Victim rode one of those), the E-bike has a governor which limits the speed to approximately 20 MPH so its legal for the bike paths. For him to go 30 MPH he must have had extra batteries or he opened up the throttle.

Hmm, suppose we closed every road to motorists on which one of them had either killed or been killed. It sure would be peaceful out there.

I don't find it all that unbelievable. As a kid I saw it happen more than once, but at lower speeds without the tragic result. It doesn't take that much of a distraction for an inexperienced rider to make that error.

Christmas day I took my brother's brand new red Schwinn for a spin around the block. I was distracted by a helicopter flying overhead, (Quite the novelty in 1959)

Rode right into the back of a neighbor's parked 49' Packard.

I only injured my pride

After Christmas dinner we were at another neighbors auto shop straightening out the fork with an acetylene torch. The bike sported a red oxide primer-ed fork for the rest of its life.

But then E'boost and cell phones were long in the future.

I was not advocating closure of roads to cars or bikes... I was trying to state when stuff like this happens, it gives some governing entity an excuse to close off traffic... let's try not to give them excuses so everyone can enjoy the roads... but selfishly... I would love to see certain roads closed to vehicular traffic... wouldn't you?

You can (at least with some e-bikes) trick the governor by lying about your wheel size when you program it. Claim you have 20-inch wheels and you'll go 27/20ths as fast, or 27 mph if the limit is 20.

I thought that the speed limit on Class 1 paths is 15MPH no?

I'm a bit like Charlie Brown on that one: wishy-washy. Like you I have that selfish streak that would love to have some roads free of the hazards that many motorists present. But, also like you, I don't want to deprive other people of their form of pleasure.

In my dreams, I'd settle for revoking the licenses of those motorists who refuse to obey our traffic laws. Maybe one expensive citation and a suspension for the first violation and a ban for the second. We now return to planet Earth...

Depends on the path. The SART is posted at 10 mph which no one obeys. The SGRT, LARIO and others aren't posted but I suspect the rule would be "safe operating speed" which depends on the rider and trail conditions and the presence of other users. In the remote possibility that police would be present it would probably a judgement call on their part as to whether your speed was unsafe.

I sure as heck would not go that fast on that street. It is unpredictable, with clueless riders, walkers and drivers going every which way. 30mph makes it a moped, liscence required. Will never be enforced, even when it becomes legal soon on bike paths.

How does one know how fast one is going on the SART or any other path?

distance/time = speed

I think he was referring to someone who isn't on the bike, like a pedestrian watching a bike going by.