David and I went to a #ghost_bike installation yesterday. This was held for a man, Matt Carp, that David and his group rode with on Saturdays. He was killed on Wednesday late afternoon when a driver crossed into the bike lane and struck him from behind. The event was well attended with his friends, cyclists, co-workers and his grieving family. Below is an article about the incident.
Matt was a skilled rider and followed all the rules of the road. He logged hundreds of miles a week riding at least one 100 mile ride every week. (Yes, in one day.) He was in a marked bike lane when he was killed.
All details are not available yet, but if you are driving, please be fully focused on your driving. Article below from the local news.
Luis Aranda Llamas, 23, was booked at the Southwest Detention Center in French Valley for vehicular manslaughter and display of a fictitious license plate, Menifee Police announced Thursday. Llamas was driving a black Acura traveling at a high rate of speed when the vehicle struck the bicyclist from behind, police said.
The victim, identified as 55-year-old Matthew Carp of Menifee, was riding with a companion eastbound on Domenigoni inside the bike lane at 5:20 p.m., police said. Although he was wearing a helmet, he sustained major head trauma and internal injuries. He died at the scene.
The other bicyclist, Stephen Kaas of Menifee, barely escaped injury in the accident.
The Menifee Traffic Reconstruction Unit responded to the location. The eastbound lanes of Domenigoni Parkway were closed from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
The Inland Empire Biking Alliance will place a ghost bike at the site on Saturday. A ghost bike is a roadside memorial placed where a cyclist was killed. Apart from being a memorial, it is usually intended as a reminder to passing motorists to share the road, according to a Facebook posting by the group Ghost Bikes-LA.
Ghost bikes are usually re-purposed bicycles painted white and placed close to the scene of the collision.
More Information about the event and the ghost bike group that helped with the memorial.
Ghost Bikes Los Angeles Facebook page