Last Sunday morning on Santiago Canyon Road, 21-year-old IVC student Joey Robinson was struck and killed.
The Register reports:
Every day before work and school, Joey Robinson was up early riding his bike. Cycling had been the 21-year-old Irvine resident's passion for the past few years, said his mother, Valerie DuBois. He found community with other riders and worked at local bike shops. With the business degree he was working toward at Irvine Valley College, he hoped to open his own store one day.
“It all just came together for him,” she said.
Robinson was riding on the shoulder of Santiago Canyon Road near Loma Ridge around 7 a.m. Sunday when a speeding southbound driver struck him during an unsafe turn, according to the California Highway Patrol. He was thrown from his bike and pronounced dead when paramedics arrived...
...Gonzalez was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter as well as possessing methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, Olivera said. She was taken to Orange County Jail, where she remained Monday.
...Peek [his mother] said she hoped the driver would be held accountable. Perhaps bike safety could be improved on Santiago Canyon Road, she added. “Maybe some good can come from this.”
His friends and colleagues at Jax Bicycle Center held a memorial ride on February 5th and created this Ghost Bike memorial. Rebel Girl and the Little Guy stopped there yesterday to pay their respects and snapped these photos.
Moments later, on their way home to nearby Modjeska Canyon, two motorcyclists passed them, crossing the double yellow lines, at unsafe speeds. On the average, Rebel Girl, ever respectful of the posted speed limits, is passed like that at least three times a week as she drives the canyons. Often on the weekend, usually once during her morning carpool commute with the kids in the backseat. It is not always the motorcyclists but on the weekend it often is. Three weeks ago, she and the little guy were passed by two fellas on motorcycles simultaneously; one crossed the double yellow, the other rode in the bike lane. They were going close to 70 and must have been having a helluva time. Last month, a white pickup who could not abide by her 35 MPH on Live Oak, just ran around her and the kids, the morning sun as strong in his eyes no doubt as it was in hers.
The Little Guy suggested that the person who hit the cyclist must be feeling pretty guilty now. They then talked about how it is better to feel responsible first so one doesn't have to feel guilty later - and they talked about how immeasurable the grief must be for Joey Robinson's family and friends.
Moments later, on their way home to nearby Modjeska Canyon, two motorcyclists passed them, crossing the double yellow lines, at unsafe speeds. On the average, Rebel Girl, ever respectful of the posted speed limits, is passed like that at least three times a week as she drives the canyons. Often on the weekend, usually once during her morning carpool commute with the kids in the backseat. It is not always the motorcyclists but on the weekend it often is. Three weeks ago, she and the little guy were passed by two fellas on motorcycles simultaneously; one crossed the double yellow, the other rode in the bike lane. They were going close to 70 and must have been having a helluva time. Last month, a white pickup who could not abide by her 35 MPH on Live Oak, just ran around her and the kids, the morning sun as strong in his eyes no doubt as it was in hers.
The Little Guy suggested that the person who hit the cyclist must be feeling pretty guilty now. They then talked about how it is better to feel responsible first so one doesn't have to feel guilty later - and they talked about how immeasurable the grief must be for Joey Robinson's family and friends.
2 comments:
This seems like a problem that won't go away. Drivers somehow glorify and then become intoxicated by the open road (although the fella who hit the young bicyclist was intoxicated in other ways as well). I've been passed illegally in Laguna Canyon by impatient drivers, and it makes me angry. I wish people would slow down, pay attention, not be stupid with their cars, not kill with their cars, but, unfortunately, everyone keeps roaring along, and some like that young man have to pay the consequences.
Thanks for the photos. Very sad.
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