A group of bicyclists led by the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition arrived at City Hall at around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday as part of a demonstration ride in honor of Ed Magos, a bicyclist and city-worker who was hit and injured by a driver who was never charged.
Derek Staahl will have a full report on the demonstration in tonight’s newscast at 6 p.m. on Trojan Vision and Atvn.org.
The ride began at 12:30 p.m. at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and Heliotrope Drive in an area of Hollywood known as the “Bike District.”
It followed Magos’s ride to work where on the morning of January 6, 2010 he was hit by a driver who fled the scene.
According to the Bicycle Coalition and witnesses at the scene, the license number of the offending car was reported to the police but the City and District Attorneys did not prosecute the case.
The cyclists will attend the Los Angeles City Council Transportation Committee and call for more vigilance on the city’s part in catching and prosecuting hit-and-run offenders who harm bicyclists.
Colin Bogart, who attended the the demonstration on his bike, said he was frustrated because the impunity of the hit-and-run driver “sets a bad example for motorists.”
To find out how bike advocates are working with the LAPD to improve relations, see this story on Neon Tommy.