el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014/eldonnews.org
NEWS
SANTA ANA
Santa Ana Police officers are currently under investigation by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
for a beating that was recorded
on video.
Santa Ana resident Edgar
Vargas Arzate, 27, was beaten by
Santa Ana police officers while
being arrested on suspicion of
burglary. He was later detained
by Immigration and Customs
Enforcement.
The Department of Justice intervened on Vargas’s behalf to have
him freed after a six-week detention at the Theo Lacy ICE facility.
ICE Spokesperson Virginia Kice
confirmed Vargas’ release last
week following receipt of a federal
court warrant.
The government asked for Vargas’
release because he is a potential
victim of a crime.
A home surveillance video shows
a prone Vargas lying face down in
the front yard of a house where
police cornered him.
“He’s in his room most of the
time, he’s depressed,” said Olivia
Arzate, Edgar’s mom.
/ JOANNA MEZA
CRUISING / Santa Ana closed down about three miles of Main Street for one day to promote walking and cycling. / DANIEL LIM / el Don
BUFFER FOR SAFETY
Motorists would pay $35 to $220 for driving within three feet of bike riders
BY PATRICK BIRD AND
EMILIO RODRIGUEZ / el Don
A month after the “buffer zone”
law went into effect last month in
California, many drivers remain
unaware of the new law.
Assembly Bill 1371, the Three Feet
for Safety Act, requires drivers to
give cyclists a three-foot buffer on
all public roads. Former Los Angeles
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who
was injured in a 2010 traffic collision
while cycling, sponsored the bill. So
far 14 bicyclists have been killed in
Orange County, according to BikeinLA.com.
Pete Distefano, an avid cyclist from
San Juan Capistrano, supports the
new law, but hasn’t noticed any difference on his morning rides since it
went into effect last month. Distefano suspects that most drivers are not
aware of California’s new buffer law.
While some drivers understand
the new law, many find it confusing.
George Kirby, a homeowner in Silverado Canyon, said he doesn’t know
when he is allowed to pass a bicyclist
when driving home through the narrow Orange County canyon. Kirby
worries that if there isn’t enough
space on the road to give a buffer
he will have to follow slowly behind
cyclists his entire drive home.
Drivers who violate the new law
face a $35 fine. Penalties rise to $220
if a collision occurs. The prospect
of a $35 fine concerns Santa Ana
College student Juan Mendoza, who
thinks that bikers will use the law to
be more aggressive on the road.
California is one of 33 states with
similar buffer laws. Wisconsin first
passed a similar law in 1973.
BICYCLE LAW
AT A GLANCE
ZONE: Bicylists have
been granted a threefoot buffer zone on
public roads.
FINES: Drivers face $35
in fines for getting close
to cyclists. Collisions
increase that to $220.
ACCIDENTS: About
5,000 were killed or
injured in Los Angeles
County in 2012.
NATION: The state
joins 32 others including
Wisconsin, which first
enacted the law in 1973.
el Don /SANTA ANA COLLEGE • MONDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2014/eldonnews.org
ICE RELEASES
IMMIGRANT
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