LOS ANGELES, CA (BRAIN)—The LA Times recently ran a feature story on the dangers of riding your bike on Los Angeles city streets.
Times staff writer Jeannine Stein said that bicycle-related accidents have increased slightly in the past year. There were 25 deaths and 2,885 injuries in 2005 and an estimated 28 deaths and 2,910 injuries in 2006, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.
Across the Golden State, fatalities numbered 120 in 2002 and roughly 155 in 2005.
Scott Sing, who works at Helen’s Cycles in Southern California, and who logs between 250 – 400 miles a week, said that a couple years back kids in a car threw a tire iron at him.
“If anything, it’s gotten worse,” Sing said of LA’s inconsiderate and sometimes mean spirited drivers. “As I’ve become more experienced, I feel less threatened. But twice or three times a week I hit the brakes because somebody is doing something illegal.” —Jason Norman
