Here’s an incredibly disturbing story from LiveJournal about local cyclist Jen Diamond’s horrifying hit-and-run experience and the LAPD’s apparent slothlike response despite the availability of eye witnesses, a driver description and plate numbers:
There were witnesses beyond the two riders who were with her when she was hit. Men in a Jeep traveling south on Alvarado saw the whole of the incident. They witnessed a white Honda Civic swerve out of its lane and hit Jen from behind at full-speed without slowing. The witness stated that the maneuver appeared intentional, as the Honda was tracking straight before and after the collision.
The impact launched her in to the air and instantly smashed her rear bicycle wheel. Between impact and landing her wrist was snapped in two places. Her knuckles were shredded. Her shoes were knocked off. Her feet were abraded. Debris was lodged in to her grated-open forehead.
The witnesses made a u-turn and gave chase. They recorded the license plate of the Honda and were able to get a look at the driver. The Honda driver escaped at speed. The witnesses returned to the scene and gave a statement to the police that suggested at the very least vehicular assault, possibly attempted murder and incontrovertbily described a serious case of felony hit-and-run.
The crux of the problem is that they’re classifying it as a regular traffic accident and investigating it accordingly. Despite the fact that somebody intentionally ran this woman down with their car. More photos, case numbers and phone numbers over at the source if you want to raise a stink about it with the appropriate people. It’s also a good reminder how important it is to respect everyone you’re sharing the road with. I’ve had people swerve at me, honk at me or gun their engines thinking it was funny to try to scare the guy on the bike. Not only is not funny, it’s not safe or legal and if it goes wrong and you hit me you could be going to jail for a very long time.