“Latigo Canyon is a racetrack and it needs to be stopped.”
John Abbene isn’t the only Malibuite who holds this sentiment but he is the latest victim. On Sunday, Sept. 3, Abbene was struck from behind by a motorcycle rider while on his bicycle on Latigo Canyon Road around 9 a.m. The Malibu local suffered from a shattered elbow, broken wrist, road rash and profuse bleeding from the elbow.
Abbene recounted the details leading up to the accident in a phone call with The Malibu Times.
With overcast skies—a brief respite from the scorching heat Malibu suffered Labor Day weekend—and relatively clear roads, Abbene decided to take a turn around the mountain on his bicycle.
Less than 10 minutes away from his house, he heard three racing motorcycles. Abbene pointed out that the higher the speeds, the louder the engines are on motorcycles.
He pulled over to the right side of the road, with no shoulder but enough room for a motorcycle to pass. Two motorcycles passed him as the third roared behind him.
The next thing Abbene knew, he was picking himself up off the ground after landing on his arm.
The person on the third motorcycle came up to Abbene and said he had tried to pass the bicycle on the right, according to Abbene. The motorcyclist then said he had been riding at 45 mph—the speed limit.
The Malibu resident pointed out over the phone that “nobody passes on the right” and that depending on a person’s location in the canyon, “45 mph isn’t safe.”
During their conversation, Abbene conveyed that he wouldn’t sue, but that the motorcyclist should cover anything insurance wouldn’t cover. Meanwhile, he attempted to call his wife, Lisa McClelland—who was at their home, 10 minutes away—but there was no cell service. The motorcyclist encountered the same issue.
The other motorcyclists did return at some point; Abbene reported that though one of them did show concern, neither offered to call an ambulance, California Highway Patrol or Abbene’s wife. Instead, they rode off.
Abbene suggested they walk up the road to get cell service; this was something he was sure of, having traveled the roads many times. The motorcyclist went in the opposite direction, searching for the keys to his motorcycle.
Abbene never saw the motorcyclist again.
He then made his way up the road and found the cell service to call his wife. He took a moment to sit on the guardrails, where two cyclists came up and offered to help. Within five minutes, his wife arrived to take him to the emergency room. Abbene said the bleeding from his elbow took an hour to stop.
Afterward, Abbene called the California Highway Patrol, which sent over CHP officer Omero Rodriguez to take a statement.
In a phone call with The Malibu Times, CHP officer Leland Tang confirmed that the collision had taken place. However, he had no other details surrounding the incident.
“About two years ago, I called the LA County Sheriff’s [Department] because of this racing that goes on in Latigo. [I said] All you need to do is put a patrol car out here,” Abbene said. “The officer told me, ‘We don’t have enough personnel to cover all the canyons in Malibu.’”
The Saturday following the phone call, the department sent out a patrol car and, according to the Malibu resident, it was quiet.
Abbene said that everyone who owns a motorcycle in LA County knows about racing—cars or motorcycles—in Latigo Canyon. From 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends, the canyon roads become a racetrack.
Abbene made a post detailing the incident on social media, which sparked responses from several neighbors and community members. In the post, he described the third motorcyclist as a blonde, caucasian man with a British accent in his mid-40s or early 50s, driving a red motorcycle with black trimmings.
One of the community members, Andrew McVeigh, told The Malibu Times that his own daughter was involved in an accident on Latigo Canyon and Ocean View roads. He stressed that Latigo Canyon should not be used to test motorcycle skills and that the racing was starting to “jeopardize people’s livelihoods.”
Currently, McVeigh doesn’t let his kids near the intersections on foot, citing the danger of speeding vehicles and motorcycles. He echoed Abbene’s sentiments; a random police presence in the canyon would be welcome.
Another community member suggested that Latigo Canyon was “getting out of control” with speeding vehicles, smoking near the brush and more.
Marshall Thompson, who served as the emergency preparation liaison for the Malibu Chamber of Commerce and is a 10-plus-year member of Malibu Community Emergency Response Team, said, “What happened to this poor man has multiple criminal aspects to it.” He also stressed that while the police department was understaffed, there needed to be a police presence on canyon roads.
“The argument against speed bumps is that they are a hindrance to first responder vehicles,” Thompson said. “[It’s a] legitimate concern but the benefits of having some responsibly placed speed bumps and stop signs far outweigh it.”
He said the city needed to take action in the name of public safety.
McVeigh had this to say: “If the bikers want to test their skills, we are pleading with them to go to a racetrack.”
Anyone with information is urged to call the California Highway Patrol at 818.888.0980. The incident report is #9580.
This story has been updated to clarify the motorcyclist’s details.