Mike Bonin

On Wednesday morning, a motorist driving an automobile struck and killed Damon Shear - a pedestrian attempting to cross the street at Pacific and Sunset Avenues in Venice. It is a horrible, tragic death -- one of hundreds that occur every year as a result of a sickening crisis of traffic fatalities plaguing Los Angeles.
By all accounts, Mr. Shear was crossing the street legally, with a reasonable expectation of safety. A motorist stopped his or her vehicle at the crosswalk, as is required by law. A second motorist, apparently impatient with the driver obeying the law, sped around and passed the stopped vehicle, hitting the victim at a high rate of speed. Despite initial reports, the Mr. Shear did not “walk into traffic.” Apparently, a motorist broke the law and hit the victim. The case is being referred to the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney. Our prayers are with the family of Mr. Shear.
The intersection has been the scene of serious collisions previously, and in recent years the City of Los Angeles has increased LAPD presence there to target unsafe driving behaviors around this intersection, and LADOT has installed "paddles" in the crosswalk to alert drivers to the presence of pedestrians crossing, and has updated markings approaching the crosswalk so they are more visible.
Additionally, to help pedestrians cross more safely, the City applied for and Caltrans awarded federal money to add flashing beacons and ADA-compliant access ramps at the intersection -- but Caltrans has yet to actually give the money to LADOT. (The money is part of a mast