A man riding an e-bike was struck and killed by a grey sedan in the 4500 block of North Figueroa Street in Highland Park around 11 p.m. Wednesday. The rider was ejected from the bike and collided with the roadway, and he was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver of the sedan stayed at the scene, and the collision remained under investigation as of Thursday.
According to mynewsla.com, the grey sedan was traveling northbound in the second traffic lane of Figueroa Street when it struck the man, who was riding in the same direction at the time of the crash. Los Angeles Fire Department personnel transported the bicyclist to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead, per the outlet's report attributing the information to the Los Angeles Police Department. Video from the scene reportedly showed a damaged e-bike beside a vehicle being examined by police officers.
Driver Remained at Scene as Investigation Continues
The report notes that the driver of the vehicle remained at the scene following the collision. No further details on the driver's identity or any potential citations have been released, and the case was still active as of Thursday, according to the same account.
This marks at least the second fatal e-bike collision in the San Fernando Valley and northeast Los Angeles area in recent weeks. Earlier in September, Oscar Adrian Lazaro was struck and killed by an SUV driver before 2 a.m. in the 13000 block of Osborne Street in Arleta; it was unclear whether he was riding an electric bicycle or an electric motorcycle, according to bikinginla.com.
Figueroa Street's History of Deadly Crashes
Figueroa Street has seen other fatal crashes involving vulnerable road users in recent years. In April, a 65-year-old man visiting from Chicago, identified as Jose Melesio, was fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver near Figueroa and 75th streets while walking on the street, per KTLA. That vehicle was described only as a silver four-door sedan. Separately, a 37-year-old man was killed while riding a bicycle on the northbound 110 Freeway in Highland Park, bikinginla.com reported in a 2022 account of that incident.
Bicycle infrastructure on Figueroa Street has drawn attention before, though in a different stretch of the corridor. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation previously added protection to an existing northbound bike lane on Figueroa Street downtown, covering a 0.6-mile stretch between Wilshire Boulevard and 2nd Street, according to a report from Streetsblog LA. Wednesday's fatal collision occurred further north, in the 4500 block near Highland Park.
Citywide Bike Lane Expansion Lags
The Arleta and Highland Park crashes come amid broader scrutiny of the city's pace on bicycle safety infrastructure. Los Angeles added a net total of just 2.2 lane-miles of bike lanes during the fiscal year running from June 2025 to June 2026, the same bikinginla.com report states. That net figure reflects 7.5 miles of new lanes built against 5.3 miles of existing bike lanes that were removed during the same period, per the outlet.
LAPD has not released additional details about the Highland Park collision, including the identity of the man who died or whether the driver faces any citations. Hoodline will update this story as more information becomes available.
