Every day in Los Angeles, people walking and biking face deadly road conditions, infrastructure that supports unsafe speeds, and county officials who will do little to enforce traffic laws. This week was no exception as back-to-back tragedies show how egregious road rage is getting in our county.
On Tuesday, 22 year-old Frederick Frazier was killed in a hit and run collision in broad daylight while riding his bicycle. Yesterday morning, members of the community gathered to hold a vigil for Woon, as his friends knew him. During that vigil, a driver got out of her car and engaged physically with the protesters. The driver then returned to her car, drove away, but then turned around and struck one of the mourners with her vehicle. The pedestrian was hit so hard that they went airborne. As of press time, the driver is not in police custody. A Streetsblog article covers the details of the event (trigger warning).
Both incidents occurred on West Manchester Street, near the corner of Normandie, a corridor identified by the City of Los Angeles as part of the High Injury Network – 6% of city streets responsible for 65% of all collisions leading to death and serious injury. It’s unconscionable that since Mayor Garcetti proclaimed LA to be a Vision Zero city, pedestrian and cycling deaths on our streets have gone up, not down.
Join us in writing Mayor Garcetti to ask him to take action and finally take notice that Angelenos are dying on our streets and that we need to do something about it.