#OccupyLA Artist Hit by Car in Beverly Hills

[MiaCulpa]

Late Wednesday evening, a member of Occupy LA was struck by a car as he rode his bicycle to cross a Beverly Hills street at a crosswalk. Following the Livestream, and statements from fellow occupiers, I've gathered that his name is "Will," and that he is one of the group's artists who has been with that occupy group since its beginning.


More at the link with video (sorry, I couldn't figure out how to post it in the video/media forum) :

http://occupyamerica.crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/occupyla-artist-hit-car-beverly-hills

[secondwind]

1. K&R so that others may see this...... the last two short sentences

in the article are very telling. Hope he will be okay!

[RitchieRich]

2. worse

"...Also disconcerting was that the driver smiled widely as he watched the occupiers from where his car was sitting. ..."
(from above)

I am reminded of a story I read yesterday where protesters were arrested at a Santorum event, while the people who I guess started the fight went untouched.

"... I think it's really important for you to understand what this, what this radical element represents, because what they represent is true intolerance,” Santorum said. ..."
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/14/protestors-disrupt-santorum-event-get-arrested/?iref=allsearch

[SammyWinstonJack]

4. Projecting again, santorum, you douchebag.

[sce56]

3. Here is a link to the video almost two hours into the video

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/20471315
1:54:00 into the video

[Javaman]

6. Having riden my bike in Los Angeles, I can tell you...

it's not for the faint of heart.

[slackmaster]

9. I've done it too. It's not fun, very dangerous in fact.

[Javaman]

10. door. Door! DOOOOOR!!!!!

I got in one major wreck. Drunk driver cut me off into a parked car.

Broken cheek bone and several dozen stitches later, I was back on the bike. LOL

Cheers!

[Redstate Bluegirl]

7. oh-oh

[slackmaster]

8. Riding his bicycle in a crosswalk? I don't believe that is a proper procedure.

Bicyclists riding on California surface streets are supposed to share traffic lanes with motor vehicles, and go with the flow of traffic.

This does not in any way justify the collision or excuse the driver of the car, but it's not the right way for a bicyclist to cross a street. If you want to use a crosswalk, you are supposed to walk the bike.

I can't cite the applicable VC section, but that's how I was taught to do it.

ETA I watched the part of the video that shows the aftermath of the collision. It happened well after sunset. I'd be interested to know whether the bicyclist had proper running lights on his bike, how fast he was going, etc. It appears that he was not wearing a helmet.

Drivers have to yield to pedestrians in general, but if a car enters the intersection before a pedestrian has both feet on the pavement (i.e. off the curb,) the car has the right-of-way.

[Earth_First]

11. The article states "AT" a crosswalk, not "IN" a crosswalk...

This would infer that he was hit at an intersection; most likely by someone turning right on red.

[slackmaster]

12. "...he rode his bicycle to cross a Beverly Hills street at a crosswalk"

If he wasn't utilizing the crosswalk in an attempt to assert right-of-way as opposed to crossing in the middle of a block, then the crosswalk would be irrelevant to the story.

[Saving Hawaii]

13. Are you familiar with reporters? They'll add all kinds of irrelevant details to flesh out their bit

[slackmaster]

14. Yes, I know that reporters usually get things wrong especially on the first pass

I just don't care.