My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence.
Let’s just say diabetes sucks.
I mean, like, big time.
And speaking of which, Happy National Donut Day.
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$176 million, and they’re just getting started.
That was the jaw-dropping amount awarded to a Westlake Village family, when a jury found socialite Rebecca Grossman and her former boyfriend, ex-Dodger Scott Erickson, liable for killing eleven-year old Mark Iskander and his eight-year old brother Jacob six years ago.
The Iskander family was crossing a Westlake Village street in the crosswalk when the boys were run down by Grossman as she was allegedly street racing with Erickson after downing margaritas in a nearby bar.
The boy’s mother was able to pull the couple’s youngest son to safety, but could only watch in horror as Grossman plowed into the boys at 73 mph, sending one flying nearly the length of a football field.
Erickson had gone through the intersection moments earlier, just missing the family, and later admitted hiding under some bushes to avoid detection while he watched the investigation into the deaths unfold.
Grossman is currently serving 15 to life after she was convicted of two felony counts of murder, two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, and one felony count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death.
According to the LA Times, the jury awarded the boy’s parents, Nancy and Karim Iskander, a combined $59 million for the loss of Mark, and another $48 million for Jacob’s death. Nancy Iskander was also awarded another $35 million for serious emotional distress, while the youngest son, Zachary, received $34 million for the loss of his brothers.
That may be only the beginning, however.
The jury concluded that Grossman acted with malice and oppression, and Erickson acted with malice, oppression, or fraud. That opens them up to the possibility of millions more in punitive damages, which will be determined in a second phase of the trial.
Whether Grossman and Erickson have that kind of money, or the Iskanders will ever seen any of it, remains to be determined.
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A Mentor, Ohio man with a history of belligerent behavior faces charges for deliberately attacking two men riding bicycles, then engaging in an hours-long standoff with police.
The driver, 42-year old Michael Leppelmeier, first stopped his SUV, got out and assaulted a 68-year old man, before tossing the victim’s bicycle into a nearby pond.
Leppelmeier then crossed the double yellow line with SUV and rammed a 72-year old bike rider head-on while driving on the wrong side of the road.
Both victims were hospitalized with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
When cops arrived at his home, Leppelmeier came out and threatened them with a knife, but retreated into his house after being tased. He was finally apprehended by SWAT officers after a standoff involving breached windows, teargas and a drone.
Leppelmeier has a criminal record going back more than 20 years, including attempted vandalism, a previous vehicular assault charge, and at least two OVIs — the equivalent of a DUI. He is currently on probation for a two-year old public indecency charge.
A neighbor accused Leppelmeier of calling him a slur, driving by while yelling insults out the window of his SUV, and harassing kids riding their bikes.
Seems like a real nice guy.
Meanwhile, another Ohio man faces charges after an apparently intoxicated episode in which he allegedly shouted racial slurs at a group of kids described as 11, 12, and 17 years old, then got in his truck and drove up on the sidewalk in an effort to run over one who tried to leave on a bicycle.
He then threatened to do the same to the other kids if they didn’t believe in God.
Which is a very strange way to make converts.
Finally, he grabbed another child on a different street before walking away.
No word on whether he was attempting to ascertain if that kid was a believer, too.
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Life is cheap in Escondido, where a cop faces a maximum of one year behind bars for killing a man riding an ebike.
Thirty-five-year old Escondido Police Officer Jason Ingco pled not guilty Thursday to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter in the death of 39-year old Jacob Illian last year.
Ingco allegedly crashed into Illian after chasing him onto a bike path in his police vehicle when Illian failed to yield.
He is currently on paid administrative leave. Which means he gets to draw his full paycheck while sitting at home watching Wheel of Fortune in his underwear, courtesy of Escondido taxpayers.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on what kind of ebike Illian was riding.
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The Illinois legislature approved a bizarre bill regulating ebikes, e-scooters and “similar devices,” sending it on to the governor’s desk for signature.
The bill limits “high speed” ebikes to riding in the traffic lane, rather than in bike lanes or bike paths, and requires owners to have a valid driver’s license, title, registration and insurance
Meanwhile, riders of electric skateboards, e-unicycles and high-speed electric scooters would have to be at least 16 years old, with a ridiculous 28 mph speed limit on sidewalks, up to 35 mph on bike lanes, bike paths, and roads with speed limits of up to 35 mph. They are only allowed on roads with speed limits above 35 mph if they have a bike lane.
Which creates a dangerous situation putting pedestrians at risk on sidewalks, and risking the comfort and safety of bicyclists using bike lanes.
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Mayor Bass, you’ve got some explaining to do.
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In better news, credit West Hollywood’s John Erickson for recovering the missing ghost bike for Blake Ackerman, and returning it to Fountain and Gardner.
Erickson is currently running third in California’s 24th State Senate District, about 3,500 votes behind second place Brian Goldsmith, and 5,000 votes behind Republican G. Rick Marshall.
Since late votes tend to run Democratic, he could still make the runoff.
I have friends who live on the street where Blake was murdered. They saw the bike hidden away in a parking spot in the apartment building catty corner from the memorial. They texted me, I texted @johnericksonwh.bsky.social. He went and got the bike at midnight and locked it back up
— Andrew Solomon (@solomonweho.bsky.social) 2026-06-04T05:25:35.119Z
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LADOT reminds us about this month’s CicLAvia connecting Leimert and Expo parks.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Colorado bike shop promises free ebikes, using a state tax credit, but you may have to wait a year or more. And might not get a bike that actually qualifies for the credit. Then again, you might.
More on the bicyclist tackled by Toronto cops for the crime of running a stop sign, as the case is now being looked into by Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit; the rider’s lawyer says the victim has a concussion after he was violently taken down by multiple cops. Thanks to Megan for the video.
This is what a punishment pass looks like.
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Local
The South Pasadena city council voted unanimously to approve plans for protected bike lanes on the full length of Fremont Ave, along with a couple roundabouts.
State
CalMatters provides an update on bills to close California loopholes that allow deadly drivers to stay on the roads, giving them a “license to kill.”
Streetsblog’s Damien Newton says the good news is the good ebike bills are moving forward in the state legislature, and the bad bills are dead for this session. SB 1167 is a much-needed bill redefining and drawing a clear distinction between ebikes and e-motos; also moving forward is AB 1569, to require ebike education in schools before ebikes are allowed on school grounds.
Sad news, as 78-year old mountain bike pioneer Charlie Cunningham died at a California care facility, where he’s lived since suffering serious brain injuries in a 2015 bike crash; he and his wife, Jacquie Phelan, were charter inductees into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1988.
A San Diego paper says the problem with the city budget isn’t the minimal amount spent on bike lanes, but the overtime pay for work done on nights and weekends.
It’s been a bad two days in Bakersfield, where a 66-year old man was killed by a driver while riding a bicycle around 8 pm Wednesday night, and a 39-year old man riding a bike was killed when he was run down from behind by another driver a little more than four hours later.
A Lake Tahoe newspaper recommends the best campsites you can get to by bicycle.
National
Velo rates the best overall bike helmets, along with which one is the fastest. That’s easy. Whichever one is attached to Jonas Vingegaard or Tadej Pogačar.
This is what happens when a bikeshare system doesn’t bother with upkeep, as Honolulu’s bikeshare has less than 500 of its original 1,300 bikes, with more than 800 lost to vandalism and normal wear and tear over the past decade.
Residents of Eugene, Oregon can now report reckless riders on e-motos and ebikes through an online police portal. Although I somehow doubt the cops will drop everything to rush out and apprehend the e-miscreants.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A teacher at a Seattle elementary school was killed by the driver of a garbage truck while he was riding his bike home from work. Which means someone had to explain what happened to all those kids.
Once again, the mother of a teenaged ebike rider has been arrested, this time in Arizona, for knowingly allowing her 14-year old son to ride the bike without a license — which suggests it was actually an e-motorbike, rather than an electric bicycle. It also raises the question of where the hell these kid’s fathers are, since it’s only mother of teenagers who have been charged so far.
Heartbreaking story from Montana, where the owners of a family jewelry store are renaming it after their late seven-year old son, who was killed by a driver while riding his bicycle last year.
Colorado’s governor signed a new bill named in honor of fallen cyclist Magnus White, the 17-year old USA Cycling team member who was killed by a driver who had been up drinking all night, which requires cops to offer drivers a voluntary breathalyzer test after any crash resulting in death or serious injury. But anyone who has been drinking would undoubtedly refuse to take it, rather than risk incriminating themselves. So what is the actual point?
Speaking of White, the woman convicted of killing him can look forward to more time behind bars after pleading guilty to theft by attempting to deposit the same check multiple times.
Horrible story from Texas, where a Houston-area man was found dead in a ditch, more than a dozen hours after he set out on a night bike ride; police believe he was killed by a hit-and-run driver sometime during the night. As we’ve said before, drivers should be charged with murder in cases like this, because they made a conscious decision to leave the victim on the side of the road, rather than getting help. And there’s no way of knowing if he might have survived if the driver had at least called 911.
Life is cheap in Michigan, where a man got a whole year behind bars for killing a bike rider.
Forget riding down a golden escalator. Former Chicago Mayor and Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel is preparing to ride his bike around New Hampshire as he explores a possible presidential bid.
This is why people keep dying on our streets. A Massachusetts man faces charges for killing a man riding a bicycle, after crossing the roadway and hitting the victim head-on — just seven weeks after he was given a summons for fleeing another crash on foot. Which is why drivers should immediately lose their license following any hit-and-run, even if the cop just puts it in their pocket after making the arrest.
Streetsblog credits the thousands of bike riders who turned out for DC’s Ride For Your Life with helping get several key provisions of the bipartisan bicycling Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Safety Act rolled into the latest national transportation bill, the BUILD America 250 Act.
Kindhearted Florida sheriff’s deputies dug into their own pockets, along with a Walmart worker, to buy a new bicycle for a girl after hers had been stolen.
International
Road.cc offers tips on how to avoid common bike commuting mistakes.
The Washington Post introduces Leszek Sibilski, calling him “the man who created International Bike Day and keeps it going.” And with that, I’ve used more WaPo gift links in five days than I usually use in a month.
This is who we share the road with. An Aussie cop walked with a two year “intensive corrections order” — like a highly supervised probation — and 500 hours of community service for using his car as a road block to stop an aboriginal teen riding a dirt bike in a bike lane; the kid was killed when he hit an obstruction, and flew into the windshield of the cop’s unmarked car.
Competitive Cycling
The Trans Am Bike Nonstop Race begins Sunday, with about 50 ultra cyclists setting out on what is, in effect, an unsupported time trial along the historic, 4,200-mile TransAmerica Bike Trail from Astoria, Oregon to Yorktown, Virginia. So no, it has nothing to do with Burt Reynolds outfoxing the cops in a Pontiac Trans Am.
Finally…
You’ll have to wait until next year to see Jason Statham Stole My Bike. Yes, you can fit a bike inside a Tesla.
And a new app can tell you where to find a nice rack.
What?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.