Pre-Thanksgiving Morning Links: SaMo begins enhanced enforcement; stop bike thieves with a handlebar bomb

Local

LADOT Bike Blog shares a combination bike/transit route from NoHo to UCLA. And invites you to share your favorite route.

After throwing North Figueroa cyclists under the bus — potentially literally — Councilmember Gil Cedillo is hosting safety meetings for Marmion Way and Avenue 26. Meanwhile, Fig4All is holding a potluck to discuss it.

Culver City is installing over 100 bike racks throughout the town.

Pay extra attention to the letter of the law in SaMo this weekend, as the Santa Monica police will begin enhanced enforcement to improve bike and pedestrian safety on Saturday. This one will focus equally on violations by drivers, pedestrians or cyclists, as it should.

 

State

The Times reports that Huntington Beach cyclist busted with a large weapons cache was initially stopped for riding the wrong way without a light; he said he was heavily armed because it was just good to be prepared. For what, he didn’t say.

Great cause. Friday’s Tour de Tryptophan in Fullerton will raise funds for a cyclist who suffered a spinal cord injury, but is determined to walk and ride again.

Flashing headlights increase visibility but can annoy others on the road — and aren’t addressed in state law one way or the other.

A San Francisco lawyer faces up to four years in prison after pleading guilty to the hit-and-run death of a Chinese bike rider.

 

National

The Bike League looks at what bike equity means in light of the decision not to charge the cop who killed Mike Brown in Ferguson MO. Meanwhile, a Ferguson bike rider is arrested while attempting to video police, which is perfectly legal under the 1st Amendment.

Streetsblog says banning speed cameras puts lives at risk.

A post-ride rubdown helps your heart as well as your muscles.

A Kickstarter for a new folding cargo bike has raised nearly twice their goal with 24 days to go.

A Maryland man gets his burgled bike back after spotting the thief riding it.

 

International

Montreal’s threatened bike share system gets a reprieve for the next five years.

British Olympian Dani King thought she was going to die when she crashed after hitting a pothole.

Talk about a jerk. A UK driver faces charges for running three separate cyclists off the road.

 

Finally…

A new company wants to stop thieves by turning your bike into a rolling bomb; no, really, what could possibly go wrong? Heads-up courtesy of Bike Portland. Maybe this is how Santa Claus finances all those toys, as a man in a Santa cap robs a Solano Beach bank before making his escape by bike.

And Florida cyclist says that following a collision that left him seriously injured, the driver got out of the car, cussed him out, spit on him and left him lying in the middle of the road.

Nice.

………

I’ve got a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, starting with the amazing support I’ve received from visitors to this site over the past few days.

As bad as things have been this year, they could be a lot worse. And there are a lot of people out there facing far bigger problems than mine.

So I hope you’ll join me, and take just a moment amid all the football and feasting and early Black Friday specials to find something to be truly thankful for.

And if the opportunity presents, lend a hand to someone in need, because there’s always someone a little worse off, and it doesn’t take much to make a difference.

So please, have a great Thanksgiving, however you celebrate it.

I’ll see you back here after the holiday.

6 comments

  1. Daniel says:

    Related to Santa Monica enhanced enforcement – this morning at 7am I saw a SMPD patrol pulling over a cyclist on California (has a bike lane) including sirens and all, to give him a ticket for ridding with earphones. FYI!

  2. AbeL says:

    Just wanted to comment on the Culver City bike rack additions.
    Culver City residents are NOT Bike friendly folks and somehow they think they own the road, especially on the slow back streets with round abouts near the studios.

    They do not know how to share the road.

    Culver City should also look to patrolling the Ballona Creek bike path if they do at all.

    • bikinginla says:

      I’ve been trying for years to determine which police agency has jurisdiction on the Ballona Creek bike path. As near as I’ve been able to figure out, it appears to be the sheriff’s department. But no one seems to have any interest in patrolling it.

  3. […] Yesterday’s Daily Ted. Pre-Thanksgiving Morning Links: SaMo begins enhanced enforcement; stop bike thieves with a handlebar… […]

  4. Ralph says:

    The article about the strobe headlights from my local paper brings up issues for me and my wife. While they may increase visibility for motorists they have no place on mixed use paths/trails, IMHO.

    On a road the flashing light is far enough of center to be only a minor annoyance for me, as an on coming cyclist. When people ride with the strobes on a 10-12 foot wide trail they are putting me at risk for zero safety benefit. THE bright ones make it so I can’t see past them on the narrow path.

    Now riding with iny a strobe also hurts your safety because you are riding like you are in a disco setting. I run a smaller low power blinking light to be seen. I run a bright solid on my helmet for my to see light. This I can take off center when approaching another cyclist to spare their eyes.

    • bikinginla says:

      Agreed. The purpose of a flashing light is to attract attention from motorists. I turn my to a steady beam anytime I’m not riding in traffic.

      I also turn my flashing light down a little, so it’s still visible but doesn’t shine in anyone’s eyes.

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