Driver gets 90 days in jail for hit-and-run involving bicyclist
Angelina Everett hit Ed Magos with her SUV in downtown L.A., kept driving and called police more than an hour later. The jail time — rare for bike hit-and-runs — is a victory for cycling-safety advocates.By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
A driver who hit a bicyclist in downtown Los Angeles and then fled the scene was sentenced to 90 days in jail Wednesday, a verdict celebrated by cycling activists who hope it will set a new precedent for the way such cases are prosecuted.
"This is huge," said Ross Hirsch, an attorney for Ed Magos, 32, who was injured in the Jan. 6 crash. "You don't often see jail time for hit-and-runs. This could change that."
The case has been closely watched by many in the city's cycling community.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office and the city attorney at first declined to press charges against Angelina Everett, the 37-year-old fashion designer who, witnesses said, struck Magos with her white Porsche SUV while making a left turn onto 2nd Street, just west of Figueroa.
Activists said the incident — and the city's response — proved that officials didn't take bicycle safety seriously. On Feb. 24, they organized a protest ride that traced the route Magos took each morning on his commute from East Hollywood to City Hall, where he works as a computer programmer.
The next day, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck responded to their charges in a news conference in which he announced new department-wide training on cyclists' rights and promised a new investigation into the crash. The city attorney's office later decided to take up the case.
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"No, ma'am," responded the [911] operator, who went on to tell Everett that people didn't go to jail for hit-and-runs involving cyclists.
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Earlier this year, the LAPD convened a bicycle task force, which now meets every month. The new LAPD training acquaints officers with laws that protect cyclists, including traffic codes that relate to bicycle lanes and rights of way, according to Cmdr. Jorge Villegas, the LAPD's liaison with the cycling community.
"We're teaching them that these are enforceable violations," Villegas said.
... <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist-hit-20101111,0,4183884.story">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cyclist-hit-20101111,0,4183884.story</a>;
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