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DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES () — More than 1,000 cyclists gathered Friday night in Koreatown for an L.A. Critical Mass ride and die-in protesting traffic fatalities and remembering recent victims.
The cyclists began the roughly 10-mile ride around 7:30 p.m. at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue and made their way to Gloria Molina Grand Park for the die-in protest.
L.A. Critical Mass bills itself as the largest community bicycle ride in the U.S. The group organizes a ride on the last Friday of every month. But rather than the usual “party on wheels,” Friday’s event developed into a protest.
“Enough is enough. We’re tired. We’re tired,” said Lisa Lundie, president of L.A. Critical Mass. “We want safer streets, and we want it now.”
The die-in at Grand Park lasted 220 seconds — one second for each person who has been killed by traffic violence in 2026, according to organizers.
One of the victims was 16-year-old Hernan Martinez, who was walking home with his mother and sister on Tuesday when he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on a residential street in Hyde Park.
Hernan’s family spoke out before Friday’s Critical Mass ride.
“This city needs change, because my brother’s not the first, and he’s — I mean, he’s not going to be the last,” said Hernan’s brother Eliseo Martinez Hernandez.
A witness to the hit-and-run that killed a 16-year-old boy in Hyde Park is sharing a startling account of what he says happened moments after the crash.
Friday’s ride also honored cyclist Benjamin Montalvo, who was killed in 2020.
“He was struck and killed by an impaired and texting driver, who left him to die in the street,” said Benjamin’s mother, Kellie Montalvo.
Cyclists also paid tribute to Daniel Castillo and Gage Weida, who died in Chatsworth when a driver plowed into the side of a Metro bus.
De Soto Avenue, “where that bus was slammed into, is one of the highest-injury roads in the city of Los Angeles — and yet, nothing has been done about it,” said Damian Kevitt, president of Streets Are For Everyone.
L.A. Critical Mass and SAFE were among 43 community organizations that presented an open letter to the L.A. City Council and Mayor Karen Bass earlier this month, calling for the declaration of a local state of emergency and outlining five broad strategies that they hope can address traffic violence.
“And you know what happened after that? Nothing,” Kevitt said. “Crickets.”
Friday’s ride was held on the same day that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four new bills into law that are aimed at reversing an increase in DUI fatalities.
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