By Jorge Casuso

October 10, 2024 -- Four traffic collisions in the span of three days last week resulted in two serious injuries that sent the victims to the hospital, according to police.

The collisions were highlighted in the Police Department's blog The Blue Notebook for September 28 to October 4, which provides a rundown of notable incidents reported to police.

The first collision -- which took place on Sunday, September 29 on the 1500 block of Pico Boulevard -- resulted in serious injuries to a bicyclist riding without a helmet westbound on Pico.

"The bicyclist performed a lane change and was struck by a vehicle from behind," wrote Lt. Erika Aklufi, the Police Department spokesperson. "The bicyclist was transported to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery for a head injury."

The vehicle and driver remained on-scene, Aklufi said. The driver was determined not to be under the influence and released.

According to City data, bicyclists and motorists involved in serious crashes since 2010 have both been almost equally at fault, while the number of incidents has plummeted ("Bicyclists Share Fault in Serious Crashes, Data Show," December 14, 2023).

The number of "injury-causing crashes" involving cyclists has dropped -- from some 150 in 2012 to 72 last year, the data show.

In 2023, pedestrians were involved in 16 severe injury crashes and five fatal crashes, while six bicyclists were severely injured and one was killed, according to traffic data compiled by the City's Transportation Department.

The other three collisions took place on Tuesday, October 1, including one on the 2200 block of Olympic Boulevard involving a vehicle and a pedestrian on a motorized scooter that resulted in a serious injury.

"The victim, a female in her late 40s, was transported to a local hospital for treatment of severe injuries," Aklufi said. "The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene and cooperated with the investigation." No DUI was involved.

Three severe injury crashes in 2023 involved scooters ("Rising Number of Pedestrians, Cyclists Killed or Seriously Injured in Santa Monica," August 12, 2024).

In another collision on October 1, the lone vehicle involved was stopped by a concrete barrier from falling down the Palisades Park bluffs.

In that collision, both adult occupants were out of the vehicle before police arrived. "The driver sustained a very minor injury, and the passenger was unharmed," Aklufi wrote.

"The cement barrier stopped the vehicle from falling down the bluff, onto Pacific Coast Highway," she said. "The driver was deemed not to be driving under the influence."

Also on October 1, in the early morning hours, a solo vehicle rollover took place in the southbound lanes of the 1500 block of Pacific Coast Highway.

"The vehicle came to rest on its rooftop, blocking the entrance to the McClure Tunnel," Aklufi said. The road was closed and an SM Alert was issued.

SMPD and California Highway Patrol units responded and contacted the driver, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle. Field sobriety tests were conducted, and the driver, who was not injured, was arrested for DUI.