Re: [Foothill Cycle Club: 1486] Fwd: Make Griffith Park Safer for ALL Users

While this accident is tragic and a waste it's symptomatic of a greater problem of public awareness and personal responsibility. Making sellers of alcohol responsible for results of another consuming a product they sell is a slippery slope. Under this notion where would it end ? Would a super market be liable for liquor sold given as a gift to some end user. Or a restaurant be liable for a patron having one to many be able to give
the appearance of maintaining sobriety? Who would patrol this? As it stands a bar or restaurant can refuse service to drunk patrons. I will point out that there are already laws on the books for drunk driving. Which can be very stringent but the ultimate responsibility is the driver. The current sentiment toward this sort is crime has been in some cases very harsh but in others not so much. In this particular case not only was the perp intoxicated but was also from my understanding traveling 3 x the speed limit AND he tried to flee the scene of the crime. Lastly as you may be aware the current DA Gascone has reduced penalties and prosecution for crimes in the Los Angeles courts. As a matter of fact if the driver fits into one of his "categories " he could be released according to Gascon's Special Directive he issued when he was installed into office. In closing , enforcement of already established laws to the full extent of that law and personal responsibility is the only way these matter will be brought to justice. Ride safe out there.  

Roy

On Apr 23, 2022, at 10:09 PM, 'Rey Reed' via Foothill Cycling Club <fcc-cycling@googlegroups.com> wrote:

I'm saddened to hear about the tragic accident of Andrew Jelmert.  May his soul Rest In Peace.  Regarding alcohol and drunk drivers, all places that sell or dispense alcoholic drink need to admonish buyers and/or partakers of alcohol at the time of sale the dangers associated with potential drunk driving.  Many if not most places, take your money for the alcohol without any malice as to what may happen during a drunk driving accident.  It's about time to make sellers of alcoholic beverages equally responsible for drunk driving accidents. I'm tired of hearing the arguments that reduce the sentence drunk drivers get.
Rey Reed

Sent from my iPhone SE

On Apr 23, 2022, at 3:18 PM, Brian Cox <brian@coxintl.com> wrote:


All,

The following was spotted by Nancy Mink. Please take time to read it. Many of our rides travel through and around Griffith Park and often through the stretch where the accident occured.

There are 5 actions listed below that you can do to help make the streets safer for everyone.

Also take time to view the video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqRfIo0DHiw) where Damian Kevitt describes the collision which almost claimed is life because of poorly designed roads that puts all cyclist at risk every time we ride. 

The club had a gorgeous ride today. We spotted multiple large groups consiting of hundreds of riders in total. What kind of society are we when we're placing our members at such risk when better designed infrastructure can substantially reduce these risks.

Other countries have faced this issue and taken the necessary steps to improved the saftey for it's citizens. The best example is Netherlands where it took the demands of it's citizens from the smallest children to the Prime Minister to make the necessary changes that improved the quality of life for everyone. The Netherlands have given us a template to do the same here in Southern Califorina, To learn more about how the Netherlands was able to make to turn around, spend 6 1/2 minutes to view the following video. It doesn't have to be a one off. There is no reason that here in Southern California where we have excellent riiding weather, that we can also design safe streets for cyclist, pedestrian and automobiles.

How did the Dutch get their cycle paths? - https://youtu.be/SYHz93HXJFQ

Ride Safe,

Brian Cox




From: Sheenah Siapno <Sheenah@streetsareforeveryone.org>
Date: April 23, 2022 at 8:16:39 AM PDT
To: nancymink@me.com
Subject: Make Griffith Park Safer for ALL Users



Dear Friends,

I am sure you have all heard of the tragedy that struck Griffith Park on the 16th of April 2022 when Andrew Jelmert  tragically lost his life while cycling in Griffith Park - close to where I lost my leg in a hit & run in 2013. Andrew was pedaling the final stretch of a 67-mile training ride in preparation for a 545-mile ride from San Francisco to LA benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He was killed by a speeding driver who also appeared to have been drinking. This driver has now been charged with murder.

On Wednesday night we organized and held a vigil for Andrew at the site where he was killed. With Andrew's husband and partner of 28 years, André Goeritz, over 250 friends, fellow cyclists, runners, walkers and city officials, including a representative for state Assemblymember Laura Freedman, CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman and the Executive Officer of the LA Dept of Recs and Parks. This was an emotional vigil to honor Andrew's life and to demand real change in Griffith Park. 77 roses were placed for Andrew - one for every year of his life and representative of the abundant love he showed to all around him.

As part of this, SAFE started a petition to Make Griffith Park Safer for All Users which has almost 1000 signatures already.

We need your help to continue this effort and to make our voices heard. The City Council must make real and tangible changes in Griffith Park - now. There has been a lot of talk for a lot of years. Now there needs to be doingness.

You can help in the following ways:

1) Share the petition with everyone you know.

2) Join us at the Andy Jelmert Memorial Ride hosted by AIDS/Life Cycle and Different Spokes, this Sunday morning at 8am. (Lower Crystal Springs Picnic Area 4659 Crystal Springs Drive.)

3) This year's Finish The Ride Griffith Park Half Century is dedicated to Andrew Jelmert and has been renamed in his honor. Please join us on the 1st of May '22 for Finish The Ride and Finish The Run - there are rides and runs catering to all ability levels. Attending Finish the Ride & Run helps support the work we at SAFE do to help victims of traffic violence and make streets safer for all road users. And we will keep up the fight to MAKE GRIFFITH PARK SAFER.

4) Donate to Andrew's Aids/Life Cycle Personal Page. 

5) Write to the CD4 Field Deputy over Griffith Park and demand that change be made to phase out cars traveling through Griffith Park: xanthe.scheps@lacity.org.


Thank you for your continued support!


All the best,

Damian Kevitt

Executive Director, Streets Are For Everyone


--
----------------------------------------------------
 
http://www.foothillcycle.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Foothill Cycling Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to fcc-cycling+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/fcc-cycling/CAD6%3D_t1JbQV3%2BXUjJ-q%3DzOh9k7VMsxS%3D4T8Es4%2B_zR_oH6kSPQ%40mail.gmail.com.

--
----------------------------------------------------
 
http://www.foothillcycle.org/
---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Foothill Cycling Club" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to fcc-cycling+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/fcc-cycling/52ED905A-1508-4608-91E7-53051002A3B2%40aol.com.

Comments

Post a Comment