Bicycle Accidents

Accidents involving bicycles, which are clogging the streets of Havana because of a fuel shortage in Cuba, killed 40 people in the capital in the first half of 1991, officials said Wednesday. Cuba's Communist government has imported tens of thousands of Chinese and Soviet bicycles to offset disruption to the public transport system caused by a national shortage of fuel, the result of a falloff in supplies from the Soviet Union.

Burbank police say they're concerned about an increase in the number of bicycle accidents over the last two years. Through October of this year, police have responded to 32 injury bike collisions — more than in all of 2007, when there were 24, and nearly as many as the 33 reported in 2008, Lt. J.J. Puglisi said. Based on the number of complaints from the public, police are worried that the rise is in part a result of cyclist behavior, such as running red lights. "I hear a lot of complaints from the community at large about the behavior they observe of people biking," Puglisi said, adding that, combined with a lack of awareness by motorists, the mix can be volatile.

On the last day of the Thanksgiving Day weekend, 13-year-old Tracy Pulley, a popular eighth-grader from Huntington Beach, took her dad's bicycle out of the garage and pedaled away to her part-time job as a horse exerciser at a local stable. She stopped along the way at a hamburger stand, grabbing a burger and fries to go and waving hello to some junior high friends before bicycling on.

Robert Sklar, a film scholar known for bringing the insights of the social historian to understanding the history of American film, has died. He was 74. Sklar, who also was one of the original Rotisserie League fantasy baseball "owners" in the 1980s, died in Barcelona, Spain, July 2 after suffering head injuries in a bicycling accident, said Richard Allen, professor and chair of cinema studies at New York University. A professor in the department of cinema studies at New York University from 1977 until his retirement in 2009, Sklar was the author of books that included "City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield" (1992)

I am a high school student who has just heard of the new laws starting this year. Some of these, as you are probably aware, include: the bike helmet law; the teen-age DUIs; the no-smoking-in-a-public-building law and also the seat-belt-in-the-back-of-trucks law. I am in total agreement with all the new laws I listed, however, I do have a concern about the bike-helmet law. The law states that all kids under the age of 18 should be wearing...

Regarding the upswing in bicycling (May 28): I have been a paramedic in Newport Beach for 12 years. In that time I have seen various accidents and injuries. Bicycle injuries are on the upswing. During the summer months it is not uncommon to go on four to five bicycle-related injuries in one shift. Most of these are caused by operator error. Usually not paying attention to what they are doing or riding a bike in a car lane in heavy traffic. Most of the major accidents with bicyclists involve some type of head injury.

The editorial "A Cycle of Unnecessary Injuries" (July 2) misses the mark. Bicycling safety is a complex issue, and so many points were raised in the editorial that it is difficult to address them all. Sen. (Marian) Bergeson's bill is a bad piece of legislation that will not increase cyclists' safety. This legislation is bad because of the precedent it sets in the California Vehicle Code. Singling out bicycles in this way opens the door for enactment of other legislation that will allow cities to pass mandatory side path laws or other such nonsense.

This, the first week of school, is an ideal time for The Times to publish an article ("Trying On a Helmet Law" Sept. 10) about the common-sense notion of having our children wear helmets when riding their bikes to and from school; my initial reaction while scanning the paper was most positive. Then I looked more closely at the photo of the helmetless boy, and at the photo where the helmet has been attached to the bike rather than to the child, and I was furious. Reading the article didn't make me any happier.

There he was, still wet from the ocean, gliding along on his beach cruiser bicycle, enjoying about as fine a day as a 14-year-old surfer can. The waves had been good. The morning sun was bright. The breeze was gentle. Now if only he had noticed the stop sign. Or the two police officers sitting half a block away. "Oh, please, sir, don't give me a ticket," the high school freshman begged after Huntington Beach Police Officer Bert Adkins waved him over and pulled out his citation book.

Craig Holmes was pedaling south on Balboa Avenue in the Granada Hills area last year when he suddenly found himself flung off his expensive racing bike and into the world of bicycle accident litigation. As the amateur marathon cyclist crossed the intersection of Rinaldi Street on the 20-mile commute to his job as a brewery supervisor, a car turned into the path of another car. The second driver decided it would be better to ram into the bike rather than to be hit by the other auto, Holmes said.

Sally Meyerhoff, considered one of America's top marathoners, was killed Tuesday when the bicycle she was riding collided with a pickup truck in Maricopa, Arizona, according to Runner's World Magazine . She was 27. Meyerhoff did not yield at a stop sign, according to city officials who are still investigating the fatality, several websites are reporting. Meyerhoff was training for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, according to the Arizona Republic . She won a marathon in Arizona in January.

A hit-and-run incident early Thursday left a 52-year-old man hospitalized and fighting for his life, authorities said. Suha Assadullah of Irvine was found about 5:15 a.m. in a bicycle lane on Culver Drive south of Warner Avenue. He apparently was struck by a vehicle. There were no witnesses, and Assadullah was unconscious and unable to communicate. The vehicle would have sustained damage to its right front end. Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Jonathan Cherney at (949) 724-7024.

A Laguna Beach youth riding a bicycle on South Coast Highway near Upland Road was struck by a hit-and-run driver early Saturday and left to die, police said. Max Caputo, 17, who would have been a senior at Laguna Beach High School in September, was pronounced dead at the scene after police found him just after 4 a.m. Investigators are looking for a black vehicle with minor to moderate front-end damage and a possible broken windshield, said Sgt. Jeff Calvert.

A bicyclist died early Saturday when he rode through a red light into an intersection and was hit by a car, police said. The accident, at 1st Street and Grand Avenue, was reported just before 5 a.m. Police did not release the victim's name.

Gov. Mark R. Warner broke his right hand in a spill from his bicycle. Warner, 50, underwent a two-hour operation after suffering two broken bones in his hand, spokeswoman Ellen Qualls said. The governor was being kept overnight at the hospital for observation, she said. Warner was among about 2,000 cyclists taking part in a 24-mile bike ride in rural Rockbridge County.

A bicyclist was killed Tuesday night when he was struck by a car driven by a 17-year-old boy, officials said. Daniel Frank Marquez, 47, of Anaheim, who did not have bike reflectors, was crossing Katella Avenue near Jean Street about 9:20 p.m. when he was hit by a Mitsubishi Lancer, CHP officials said. Marquez died at the scene. The driver, who was not injured, was not cited pending an investigation.

Seven years ago, Barbara Buchan was a world-class cyclist, a promising candidate for the 1984 U.S. Olympic road-racing team. In June 1982, she was entered in a 32-mile race across the Santa Monica Mountains on a course that Olympic Coach Tim Kelly called "the most severe for women cyclists in the world." Buchan was in the midst of a tight pack of riders, descending a steep, curving hill on Mulholland Highway in pursuit of the runaway leader, Pat Hines.

A Santa Ana bicyclist died Friday after being struck by a car from behind while swerving between lanes. Juan Pablo Rodriguez, 31, was riding east about 4 p.m. when a car traveling about 30 mph in the same direction struck him in the 1100 block of West Warner Avenue, police said. The impact threw Rodriguez, who was not wearing a helmet, onto the car's windshield, said police Lt. Paul Gonsalves. Rodriguez died later at a hospital.

A bike rider died after colliding with a brick wall Friday, authorities said. Glenn Lubben, 57, of Brea, apparently lost control of his bicycle as he was traveling west on Alta Mesa Drive, veered off the roadway and hit a low brick wall, Brea police said. Lubben, who police said was wearing a helmet, suffered a serious head injury. He was pronounced dead at St. Jude Hospital in Fullerton at 10:24 a.m.