Morning Links: The impact of CA’s new three-foot passing law; bike-friendly Brentwood poet passes away

We’ve got a lot to catch up on today, starting with more reports on California’s new three-foot passing law.

KCRW’s Warren Olney asks if the new three-foot law will make LA bike friendly; Streetsblog’s Joe Linton and BikinginLA sponsor Josh Cohen respond.

KPCC goes for a ride with the LACBC’s Colin Bogart to discuss the ramifications of the new law. And the station’s Sharon McNary — political reporter, triathlete and bike commuter — offers a really nice first-hand report on the new law. Seriously, it’s more than worth four minutes of your life.

Meanwhile, the CHP offers advice to bike riders and motorists on how to safely share the road. And gets it right — even on cyclists’ right to ride in the middle of non-sharable lanes.

The Los Angeles Post-Examiner says the problem with the law is most drivers don’t know how to share the lane, or understand why cyclists ride in the traffic lane.

Redqueeninla says making space for bikes benefits everyone.

And readers of the Times respond in predictably non-comprehending, knee-jerk fashion.

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It will be a little sadder riding through Brentwood now, as the homeless man who hawked his poems alongside the new bike lane has passed away from natural causes. Wendell Brown always had a smile and a wave, or at least a friendly nod, every time I rode by.

The Times obituary reports he became homeless due to depression and substance abuse stemming from a traumatic incident while serving in Vietnam.

It’s long past time that our nation gave our troubled vets the help they need to come all the way home.

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The Kentucky cyclist who was unfairly convicted of blocking traffic for riding in the traffic lane has now been arrested and charged with wanton endangerment. Someone seriously needs to explain bike law to these backwater Keystone cops.

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Local

Writing for Flying Pigeon, Rick Risemberg says North Figueroa didn’t have to be the killer street it is, after a second pedestrian is killed following CM Gil Cedillo’s cancellation of a planned road diet.

The Los Angeles Explorers Club hosts a curated ride from Lincoln Park to MacArthur Park this Sunday, with a theme of Keep LA Beautiful.

Looks like there’s a high demand for bike share stations in Downtown LA.

CORBA is hosting a Ride and Mingle mountain bike ride followed by a pancake breakfast on Sunday, Sept. 28th.

Caught on video: LADOT shows how to use and where to find the city’s new bike repair stations.

San Gabriel is the first of five San Gabriel Valley cities to adopt a bike plan, with the city council voting unanimously to approve it.

Volunteers are needed for next month’s Long Beach bike count.

 

State

The Orange County Gran Fondo rolls Saturday, October 4th through bike-friendly Irvine and environs, unlike a certain Beverly Hills Gran Fondo I could mention.

The Orange County Register offers more information on the lawsuit filed against the DMV and Newport Beach in the death of cyclist Debra Deem.

There should be a lifetime sentence in journalist jail for anyone still using the trite “bicycle safety is a two-way street” phrase.

A writer for Streetsblog artfully takes down that grumpy anti-bike Sacramento columnist we mentioned here the other day. Note to the Sacramento Bee’s Dan Walters: Change your profile photo, you look severely constipated. Then again, he writes that way, too.

 

National

Slate looks at why there’s a gender gap in bicycling.

Build it and they will come: Bike traffic triples in the days following the opening of a new protected bike lane in Seattle.

Five reasons why my home state is a great place to ride.

A Michigan driver runs down a bike rider while trying to free her shoe from the floor mat; fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.

New York cyclists sue the state DMV for charging cyclists for penalties that apply only to motorists. Meanwhile, the city’s police are too busy cracking down on cyclists to investigate a hit-and-run.

Nice piece from PA, as a bike co-op says we fix people, not bicycles.

A DuPont exec is charged in the hit-and-run death of a Delaware cyclist.

 

International

A Vancouver columnist says bike lanes do more to improve safety than bike helmets, while a Toronto writer explains why he’s putting his helmet back on.

Caught on video: A Good Samaritan cyclist rides to the rescue of a stalled Brit motorist. And a British cyclist is stopped by a cop for riding on a bike path.

Bicycling Magazine will be live streaming Jens Voigt’s attempt to break the hour record starting at 10 am PST.

 

Finally…

What’s so funny about so-called jokes about running over cyclists? This is what a real female bike rider looks like.

And one final caught on video: An English-speaking cyclist escapes a motorcycle riding armed robber in Buenos Aires — in part because the victim can’t understand what the Spanish-speaking thief is demanding. Thanks to LA BAC representative David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

 

3 comments

  1. PatrickGSR94 says:

    Ms. Schill did bail out of jail yesterday mid-day I believe, and also got her bike including cameras and other personal items back. When she was arrested they actually TOWED her bike on a freakin’ FLAT BED TOW TRUCK and then impounded it!

  2. […] Our Daily Ted. Morning Links: The impact of CA’s new three-foot passing law; bike-friendly Brentwood poet passes … […]

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