The family of a woman who was training for an Ironman Triathlon when she was struck and killed by a metro bus in Malibu is hopeful that her death will spur needed safety improvements for bicyclists along Pacific Coast Highway.
Marisela Echeverria, a 36-year-old Cypress Park resident known as "Mari," was pronounced dead just after 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 13 on Pacific Coast Highway near Puerco Canyon Road in Malibu.
Echeverria was training for an Ironman Triathlon, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon, according to her boyfriend Dominique Zoida of Sherman Oaks, who said the family wanted to issue a statement through him.
"They are very hurt. They want to protect everyone else. They don’t want this to happen again," Zoida said. "...They want something good to come out of it. They are devastated beyond belief and they don’t want this to happen to anyone else."
Zoida said he would like to see improvements along Pacific Coast Highway, especially an extra line that parked vehicles would need to stay to the right of. He wants the improvement to be called "Mari's Line."
"If you are over that you could get a ticket or towed," Zoida said. "That would push the parked cars more to the right."
Echeverria was known among her friends and family for her big heart.
“She was one in a million,” Zoida said. "She meant so much to so many people She touched so many lives in so many ways … She was so charismatic, so full of life and it’s just so difficult.”
Echeverria was involved with Team in Training, and helped raise funds for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Andrea Greif, director of public relations for LLS, issued a statement Tuesday, stating that a fund has been set up in Echeverria's honor.
"The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society is deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and teammate Marisela Echeverria. As a long-time participant in LLS’s Team In Training program, Marisela was a dedicated volunteer, mentor and fundraiser, and was committed to our mission to find cures for blood cancers and provide help and hope to patients and their families," according to the statement.
In a post Echeverria wrote on the Team in Training website in 2011, she outlined her passion for helping others.
“’All in’ means we face our fears. This means we charge into the ocean, waves tumbling us all over the place, but with the promise that this time, we will make it just a little bit further out. It means riding on our bikes downhill without constantly hitting the brakes, although you are certain you should really not be riding that fast. It means convincing ourselves that we can run, even if our legs feel like lead after a few hours on the bike. It means we ask our friends, neighbors, coworkers, local businesses for a donation, even if they may say no, because we know that this is bigger than ourselves and a cause worth fighting for.”
Echeverria's family asked that donations be made at http://los.tnt.llsevent.org/marisela.
People on bikes are not going to stop riding on PCH. The City and Caltrans need to acknowledge their existence and provide for their safe passage. Human life should take precedence over motoring convenience.
According to you, we should all park in our garages. imagine riding your bike while every resident in eastern malibu is blindly backing their cars out of their garages / driveways out onto the highway. this is not a very well thought out scenario gary. think again
bicycles? Why is it, we do not know how this accident happened?
As of now, check with the DMV: bicyclists have the same rights afforded to vehicles as to the use of our roadways. This includes the ability to ride in the right lane as is necessary to ride safely. Vehicles are required to pass bicycles at a safe distance. If we continue to bicker about who is responsible for our safety, I.e. The sentiment that if you get killed on a bicycle, you effectively deserve it for 'taking your life into your own hands', we continue to miss the point. The bus drivers on PCH are beyond belligerent and purposefully fail to give cyclists a safe buffer in which to ride. The easiest and most simple solution seems to be a little courtesy and understanding. Add an extra 15 seconds to your commute and pass ALL cyclists at a safe distance. Period. Don't honk, cuss, throw stuff at them, etc regardless of whether or not you believe they're a huge inconvenience and no business being on 'your' roads because if you do trend towards believing this, you are legally and morally completely incorrect.
the courtesy goes both ways...if the bikers were respectful of the motorists by only flexing their "right" to take a lane and staying out of traffic unless its necessary, motorists would be more inclined to be respectful in return. just because it "legal" doesn't make it courteous. this always turns into a "legal" vs. "moral" issue, and that is why things escalate. there are chumps in cars and on bikes. we really do need to work it out.
not lumping...the majority of bikers are quite considerate. others are just flexing their legal rights
not lumping...the majority of bikers are quite considerate. others are just flexing their legal rights
From what I've read, rates are actually lower in much of Europe, with higher licensing standards and stringent alcohol laws contributing much to their safety records. In my visits to Germany and Holland, I've also seen extraordinary traffic calming infrastructure (trees planted in the roadway, narrowed streets, etc.) that helps lower speeds and reduce deaths. These are both densely populated countries, but traffic death rates have fallen to extraordinarily low percentages, around one-half our own (measured by distance driven). For more, you might check out Wikipedia's comparison of countries: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate Incidentally, New Zealand is the only country that I know of where cars have the right-of-way over pedestrians (except in crosswalks), but I'd welcome information on others.
It's a shame that this beautiful stretch cannot be safely used by bikers. I think there are solutions to better accommodating bicycle traffic on PCH, but little political will and interest. There are four lanes of traffic. Drivers of vehicular traffic wouldn't like it, but one lane could be taken away from vehicles for bicyclists. Vehicular lanes could change, depending on traffic flow/time of day, that is, two lanes could be used for north to south traffic and one for south to north, and then switched. Also, the speed limit could be reduced.
The registration fee has been tried at a local level and found unworkable. If I speculate, however, I might think that the increasing share of electric cars will cause states to rethink how to pay for roads. Like cyclists, electric car drivers pay no gasoline taxes, but (unlike cyclists) cause road damage equal to any car. We may eventually see a formula that accounts for miles traveled and weight, and under that system, cyclists might be included. Their share of costs will likely be tiny, perhaps not worth the administrative fee to collect it. Meanwhile, I'm hoping to get an electric car as soon as possible and mooch off all the gasoline car drivers out there...
It's an imperfect world. Some folks don't even spell by the rules. I'm glad you are ok! I don't think anyone is implying that folks all obey traffic laws (in cars or bikes). I think we are trying to understand how this amazing young woman lost her life and also try to better understand how to make the PCH a safer place for all the good people using it. Regardless of the animosity towards cyclists or the feeling that PCH should be for cars only.... we're all left here with an interesting problem to solve: How can we make it safer for cyclists? Certainly we all agree that cyclists can make it safer for themselves by riding legally. Mari was riding legally.