The LA Times produces a troubling heat-map of hit and runs on cyclists:
Livingston’s case is part of a troubling trend. Hit-and-run collisions involving bicyclists surged 42% from 2002 to 2012 in Los Angeles County, according to a Times analysis of California Highway Patrol crash data.
The increase came as the overall number of hit-and-runs involving cars, cyclists and pedestrians dropped by 30%. Between 2002 and 2012, the most recent data available, more than 5,600 cyclists were injured and at least 36 died in crashes in which drivers fled the scene.
Here’s another way of looking at the data:
These numbers could be explained by the growing number of cyclists on the streets. But it’s also possible that at least part of it is that motorists are being less careful around cyclists, and maybe even targeting them sometimes (I can’t even begin to count the number of times that drivers who are intentionally trying to scare me have come within inches of hitting me).
Either way, the only way to motivate drivers to be more careful (and nail drivers who hit cyclists and flee) is to carry a camera onboard.
The Earthist Chronicles 