Tag Archive for Brooklyn

Man in rental truck mows down eight people on Brooklyn sidewalk, killing one; Dr. Mammone’s wife discusses her loss

Happy Valentines Day!

Remember to give your two-wheeled loved one a little extra care and affection today, too. 

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Once again, someone in a rental truck has mowed down pedestrians and bike riders in New York.

This time, police chased a fleeing driver in a U-Haul truck as he drove down a Brooklyn sidewalks and bike lanes through six intersections, killing one person and injuring seven others; three of the victims were on bicycles.

And like the killer of Dr. Michael Mammone in Dana Point, the driver suffers from mental illness, with a history of going off his medications, according to his son.

Which sadly seems to be no barrier to operating a motor vehicle.

Police aren’t sure yet if the attacks were deliberate, though it’s hard to imagine otherwise. However, they are confident this was not a terrorist attack.

Just someone once again using a motor vehicle as a weapon, apparently.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the other case of a driver in a rental truck mowing down innocent people in the Big Apple say confessed terrorist Sayfullo Saipov has to die by lethal injection for the Halloween, 2017 attack on a Manhattan bike path, because he’s too dangerous to keep in prison.

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After blaring accusations that Vanroy Evan Smith made comments about white privilege when he stabbed Dr. Michael Mammone to death, the New York Post discusses his interview with the Orange County Register. And can only manage to mention Smith’s denial of racial comments in passing near the end of the story.

Which isn’t exactly a correction. Let alone a retraction.

Meanwhile, Dr. Mammone’s wife talks with KCAL News about the loss of her husband; a celebration of his life will be held Thursday at the Festival of the Arts.

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A former Bay Area resident visiting from Houston took a tour of rain damage in the Santa Cruz mountains from the January storms, and posted video of it as a short film he calls the Tour de Disaster.

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Vancouver’s parks board voted to rip out a popular popup bike lane through a public park, because it wasn’t popular with drivers who used the road as a cut-through route.

But sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

No bias here. A Santa Barbara letter writer says it’s not true that the State Street Promenade is safer now that cars have been banned, complaining about the risk to pedestrians posed by irresponsible bike riders, and that “No amount of new bike paths will improve public safety if cyclists ride irresponsibly.” While she has a point about irresponsible people, regardless of how they travel, she’s apparently confused about the relative risks posed by bicycles and motor vehicles. 

No bias here, either. A Republican councilwoman in Queens responds to a park bike crash by saying bike riders should be required to be licensed and carry insurance, after a “bike racer named Kevin” bailed without providing his contact information when he hit a woman on a bikeshare bike. A reminder that hit-and-run is hit-and-run, whether you’re on a bike or in a car. Although that whole registration and insurance thing hasn’t worked that well to rein in bad driver behavior, either. 

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Local 

The Washington Post says the death of 12-year-old Molly Steinsapir in Pacific Palisades as she rode with a friend on a borrowed Rad Power ebike calls attention to the safety of ebikes, and ebike brakes in particular, and “whether the wildly popular bicycles are safe for young people to ride.”

 

State

A Santa Ana news site recommends registering your bicycle for free with Bike Index, after Irvine cops bust a bike thief — and have to let him go with a ticket because the bike was worth less than the $950 threshold for grand theft.

Encinitas appears to be getting serious about improving bike and pedestrian safety, approving an implementation plan for the city’s active transportation plan; roughly three-quarters of the 86 miles of bikeways contained in the active transportation plan remain to be built.

Police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who ran down a 71-year old man from behind as he stood in a South San Francisco bike lane after getting off his bike.

SFist reports on the brazen dooring attacks on Friday’s East Bay Bike Party that left two people seriously injured, as well as other attacks in Bay Area cities on Thursday and Saturday; Streetsblog calls the attackers sociopaths, not incorrectly.

A Sonoma paper wants to honor whoever is “adorning” a local bike path with seasonal displays.

 

National

Giro is recalling bike helmets made before this year because the straps may “disengage” during use. Which sounds like a bad thing.

For the second day in a row, someone riding a bicycle has been killed in a collision in my platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Colorado hometown. And once again, police blame the victim for allegedly blowing through a traffic signal.

Life is cheap in Texas, where an Austin municipal bus driver walked with seven years probation for killing a former TV station employee as he rode his bicycle on the University of Texas campus, while she was allegedly stoned on prescription drugs.

The official explanation for a bike crash involving an Illinois college student doesn’t pass the smell test, as the local MTD insists the bike rider somehow swerved into the side of a bus as it passed him safely outside the bike lane he was riding in.

There’s a special place in hell for the Michigan hit-and-run driver who fled on foot after killing a six-year old boy riding his bicycle.

New York advocates complain the city has failed to live up to promises to upgrade bicycling infrastructure in high-risk areas of Brooklyn.

The Washington Post says those darn Gen Zs just don’t want to drive.

 

International

Momentum Magazine suggests ten ways to go on a Valentine’s Day bike date.

He gets it. A British letter writer says if it’s true we live in an anti-car world, he’d hate to see a pro-car one.

UFC star Connor McGregor says he’s still traumatized after being knocked off his bike by a driver in Ireland last month.

A Dutch man has spent the last nine months riding his bike 8,700 miles from the Netherlands to Nepal to observe the effects of climate change.

An Australian man is on trial for murder after allegedly stabbing his rooming house neighbor to death, in a dispute that began when the other man called him a “poof” and moved his bicycle; he says he killed the victim in self-defense as the man was trying to steal his bike.

 

Finally…

Win a $1 million bike race without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. Your next Trek could be tie-dyed.

And watch out for those sneaky bicyclists with their damn cams out to catch those poor, unfortunate drivers breaking the law.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

NY woman complains about Black kid on bike, how to ride like a gentleman, and US Climate Change Ambassador is one of us

Please make it stop.

A white woman in a rapidly gentrifying Brooklyn neighborhood has a meltdown over an eight-year old Black kid riding too close to her, and too recklessly, on the sidewalk.

Never mind that, as his father is quick to point out, the sidewalks are the only playground kids in the neighborhood have.

Or that the alternative is for a little kid to ride his bike in the city’s dangerous streets, in a neighborhood that hasn’t seen the city’s bike lane expansion. And probably won’t for the foreseeable future.

Let alone that the kid is just eight effing years old.

Seriously, use a little common sense.

And if you don’t want the world to think you’re a racist, stop acting like one.

Photo by Kevin Bidwell for Pexels.

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A New York actor explains how to ride your bike like a gentleman.

Hint: Don’t ride like a dick.

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Hats off to South LA’s East Side Riders, who continue to demonstrate that they’re as much about serving the community as they are about bikes.

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Back when he was running for president, Donald Trump swore he’d never ride a bike, unlike then Secretary of State John Kerry.

Promises made, promises kept.

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Yesterday we noted that someone had stolen the junked bike that was part of Banksy’s latest artwork.

Now it turns out it was never stolen at all. And a generous food delivery rider/art aficionado replaced it on his own, anyway.

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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

Police in the UK are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who rode off after crashing into a pedestrian, leaving her unconscious and with a broken leg. And yelled at her for breaking his bike.

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Local

Streetsblog looks at the new two-way parking-protected bike lane on Santa Monica’s Ocean Ave.

 

State

Opponents of a bike lane on San Diego’s 30th Street accuse the city council of playing a shell game by giving less than 24 hours notice of a vote to approve the plan, which will trade 500 parking spaces for protected bike lanes, under the guise of a construction change.

The CHP actually gets bike law right for a change, telling a Fresno questioner that bicycles are allowed on highways, while banned on many limited-access freeways. Correction: They got that part right, but failed in saying bicyclists have to stick to “the rightmost portion of the roadway” and ride single file — neither of which is accurate. Thanks to Andy Stowe for the catch.

A San Jose writer explains to a letter writer what to do if a dog chases your bike. Most dogs are trained to obey commands, so I’ve had good luck giving a firm order to sit or go home. Never mind that ebikes that can go 23 mph, like the letter writer claims, aren’t allowed on California bike paths.

 

National

Bicycling considers the benefits of riding a recumbent — until you realize they’re actually talking about bikes that don’t go anywhere.  And yes, you can read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.

Your next foldie could have direct-drive pedals that go up and down instead of around.

Denver Nuggets basketball star Jamal Murray may be sitting on a five-year, $170 million contract. But he’s still living and loving the carfree lifestyle.

We’ve seen countless stories that bike thefts have jumped during the pandemic. Yet somehow a Chicago stolen bike registry has shown a 50% spike in stolen bikes, while the Chicago PD only reports a measly 6% increase.

They get it. The Philadelphia Inquirer says Vision Zero remains vital to curbing traffic violence.

There’s a special place in hell — or at least a damn long time-out — for the Maryland kids who pushed a seven-year old boy off his bike to steal it in a strong arm robbery.

 

International

A new traffic study shows London’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods — aka Slow Streets — do not cause gridlock, despite what critics insist.

English actress Michelle Keegan is sort of one of us, looking good in her Lycra bikewear while confessing she only took up bicycling for about three weeks during the pandemic.

British brand Squire has become the first bike lock maker to receive a new digital Kitemark, proof of a secure digital operating system for controlling bike locks, padlocks and cylinders via smartphones and Bluetooth.

Life is cheap in the UK, where an off-duty police worker illegally riding a bike on the sidewalk got off with a lousy £30 fine — the equivalent of $40 — for crashing into a 70-year old man suffering from terminal cancer. Although the victim doesn’t seem to have looked before exiting a store.

Italian racing motorcycle maker Ducati is moving into the high-end e-mountain bike market in the US.

Red Bull offers an extensive guide for buying a BMX or building your own on your next trip to India.

An Indian newspaper explains how bicycling can help you stay healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Even car-choked Tehran is taking steps to become bike-friendlier. Unlike a similarly car-choked SoCal megalopolis we could name.

Taiwanese bike makers are gearing up to meet the demand created by the pandemic bike boom.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and a machete on your bike, put a damn light on it, already. If you’re riding an illegally modified ebike while carrying brass knuckles and knives, in violation of your court-ordered release, just stop for the damn stop sign.

And if you’re going to complain about bike lanes causing gridlock, maybe you should pose with at least a few cars in the background.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

Morning Links: Bikeshare in the news, no justice for a fallen Brooklyn rider, and crowdfunding a kids bike book

Once again, today’s common theme is bikeshare.

Dockless bikeshare continues to boom in Seattle, as the city’s two providers increase to 3,000 bikes apiece.

Baltimore’s bikeshare system is sort of back, with just 50 bikes at nine stations; a much larger system was shut down a few months ago due to problems with vandalism and theft.

DC could soon pass Portland as the nation’s bicycling capital, thanks in part to thriving bikeshare, though advocates question whether it has the infrastructure to support it.

Melbourne has new rules for dockless bikeshare to keep bikes from ending up in the river.

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A New York woman concludes her hard-hitting series of articles on the death of her sister in a Brooklyn collision. And the runaround her family received from the NYPD and judicial system in trying to learn what happened and getting any sort of justice.

If you can call a 90-day license suspension justice.

Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for heads-up.

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You have just 13 days to help fund a new children’s book about bicycles, and the animals that ride them.

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Bicycling says the cobblestoned 2018 Tour de France could be the best in recent history.

The LA Times says Chris Froome could face a challenge from Tom Dumoulin as he goes for a record-tying fifth win in the Tour de France. Could have sworn I once watched some guy win seven consecutive tours, but I must have been on something.

Speaking of Froome, he was awarded the Velo d’Or as the best cyclist of 2017.

A new documentary about pro cyclist Rose Osborne proves it is possible to quit happily.

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Local

Sad news from Boyle Heights, where one bike rider was killed and another injured in a shooting early yesterday morning.

South Pasadena will consider improvements to Monterrey Road at tonight’s council meeting, including bike lanes and better sidewalks. Thanks to Bike SGV for the tip.

West Hollywood’s Community Development Department has created a plan to increase business and livability in the city’s Eastside, including bike and pedestrian improvements. Although proposals to add parking are more likely to induce traffic.

 

State

Garden Grove’s Hazard Ave will get a pop-up separated bike lane this Saturday, along with other activities for adults and kids designed to spark a conversation about how the street can be improved to make walking and biking safer and more fun.

The 450-mile Project Hero Road 2 Recovery Bike Tour stops in Salinas on its way down the coast; the ride raises awareness of PTSD and other mental illnesses faced by veterans.

Former pro Levi Leipheimer is helping send 1,000 kids bikes to Sonoma County to replace bicycles lost in the recent fires — despite losing his own home.

An Op-Ed in the Sacramento Bee says the city must become more pro-bicycle if it’s going to have any chance of landing the new Amazon headquarters. Which is why Los Angeles doesn’t have a prayer.

 

National

Bloomberg says government data is missing the mark when it comes to distracted driving, suggesting it’s the most likely cause of the recent spike in traffic fatalities involving bicyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Soon your solar powered helmet could call for help when you crash. Or if you throw your helmet at the car that just ran you off the road.

Strava is now turning into even more of a social media, allowing members to post to the site just like the pros do.

Men’s Journal lists the ten best places to ride your bike this fall. None of which are in California.

City Lab says if you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, you’re better off using Uber or Lyft than owning a car. Or you could just, you know, ride a bike, instead.

Chicago is finally completing a bike and pedestrian bridge that had been blocked by long–serving alderman, possibly for racial reasons.

 

International

British Columbia bike advocates propose higher penalties for negligent and aggressive drivers, as well as drivers who door or harass bike riders. Maybe we can copy it here in California.

The CBC profiles a Manitoba maker of custom adaptive bicycles, who changes lives by giving disabled people a chance to ride.

A kindhearted Canadian bike shop owner gives a six-year old girl a new bike and helmet after hers was destroyed in a collision that left her seriously injured.

An American man could face charges for the death of a rising young bike racer in Toronto earlier this month.

A new report says Toronto courier and delivery companies should use more cargo bikes. Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.

Britain’s rabid tabloid press is likely to seize on a new survey showing half of all respondents think bicyclists should have to take a proficiency test; 86% want harsher penalties for scofflaw cyclists, and 59% think bikes should have license plates.

Speaking of the British press, the media distorts the risk bike riders pose to pedestrians, while downplaying the risks riders face.

British police are looking for a road raging bicyclist who tried to stop a motorcycle and snatch the keys, then pushed the rider off his bike, breaking both his legs.

A Dutch city opens what may be the world’s first 3D printed bike bridge.

When the new BMW is set in semi-autonomous mode, it’s designed to pass bicyclists at a dangerously close distance unless drivers use their turn signals. Which LA drivers seem to be pathologically incapable of doing.

New research shows that people in Australia’s Victoria state don’t ride bikes for exactly the same reasons people just about anywhere else don’t.

Caught on video: Aussie police are looking for an idiot driver — and I use the term advisedly — who drove up on the sidewalk to pass slower traffic, nearly running down a bike rider in the process.

 

Finally…

Always carry a selfie stick to defend yourself from creepy clowns when riding your bike. Don’t ask drivers to put down their phones; just spray yourself with reflective paint until you glow like a clown, creepy or otherwise, so maybe they’ll see you anyway.

And evidently, cyclocross isn’t just a ride in the park.