Today’s post, in which I go on a fucking rant over traffic violence and the abject failure of our basic system of transportation

September 11, 2026 / / One comment

I’m done.

I’m fucking done with traffic violence, and the way it rips innocent people out of our world and out of our lives, and the lives of their loved ones.

I’m done with people getting killed and maimed because they chose to ride a bicycle or walk across the street. I’m done with lives torn apart because someone made an innocent mistake, or pushed their luck a little too far.

I’m done with people dying or surviving with lifelong physical and/or emotional injuries because they unknowingly shared to road with the wrong person at the wrong time operating a multi-ton steel and glass weapon of mass destruction.

I am so done with all of it.

I just wish I could say I was done writing about it. Because there was another one last week, and another on Tuesday; a grandfather and a brother.

And there will be another one tomorrow, or next week, or the week after that.

And the bodies will keep piling up, one upon another upon another upon another, until we all yell “Enough!”

¡Basta!

Our most basic form of transportation is an abject fucking failure. Because what else cab you call a system that demands 38,000, 39,000, 40,000 or more human lives every year as tribute, just to get us all from here to there.

Enough already!

It doesn’t matter whether you do everything right, or everything wrong. Fuck up badly enough in the right place, at the right time, and you can walk away. Do everything right, follow every law, dress up like a neon clown and light up your bike and person like a Christmas tree, and you can still lose your life to a drunk, a stoner, a distracted driver texting with their thumbs while they try to grip the wheel.

Wear a helmet, or don’t. It might protect your skull if you fall off your bike. But it doesn’t do a damn thing to protect your midsection or keep your limbs attached.

Drivers seem to think it’s some sort of magic talisman to ward off injury and evil sprits, equivalent to a seat belt or an airbag, encased in a steel frame. Yet it’s only designed to protect against impacts at a whopping 12.5 mph.

But that’s more protection than pedestrians get. They get a couple of parallel white stripes drivers are supposed to stop for, but usually don’t. Or a curb that’s somehow supposed to halt a four-wheeled ballistic missile from slamming into an outdoor diner or a daycare.

Forty-fucking-thousand people every year, give or take. That’s a small city. And that’s just in the US.

Add in all the other people killed in traffic violence in all the other countries in the world, and you’re up to nearly 1.2 million lives lost. That’s like a WMD somehow wiped Dallas, Texas off the face of the earth.

Between 20 million and 50 million more people survive their injuries every years. Some recover in a few days, or a few weeks. Some never do.

Is this really the best we can do?

I’m done.

I’m done with all of it, all the deaths, all the injuries, all the shattered lives and families. All the traffic violence.

I want to scream it from the rooftops, shout it from the middle of Wilshire Blvd. I want to stop every fucking car until we fix this system of death and destruction.

I was in a jury pool several years back, and the defense lawyer asked who among the 20 or so people had been in a crash. Every hand went up. Then he asked how many people in the jury pool had lost a friend or loved one in a collision. Every hand but one stayed up.

I’ve been lucky. I’ve only lost two people close to me.

And somehow managed not to lose my own life through decades of walking, biking and driving. How, I don’t know, because I’ve come so close to disaster so many times, but always manage to walk away relatively unscathed, whether through luck or providence.

I used to say skill, but I don’t believe in that anymore. Because I read, and yes, write, about so many highly skilled people who didn’t.

I’m not done. But I’m done.

I want to keep screaming, keep yelling, keep ranting and raving enough! No more, forever!

But for one of the few times in my life, I have literally run out of words.

Which, I suppose, leads to my next subject. Because in a similar fit of anger and depression and inspiration the other day, I designed a few new t-shirts like the one above, and those below.

Buy one, or don’t.

I hope you’re as angry as I am, and want to yell it to the world. But that’s not the point.

The point is, I had to get it off — and in this case, literally on — my chest.

But more importantly, just fucking stay safe out there.

………

On a related subject, it’s time to storm City Hall on Tuesday, and join Streets Are For Everyone in demanding that the city declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence.

Below is an email I received from SAFE yesterday.

The time has come to demand a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence from our local leaders.

SAFE will join our coalition partners at Los Angeles City Council on September 15th to drop our open letter demanding that the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Council immediately declare a State of Emergency on Traffic Violence and address this public health crisis.

Thank you for signing on and joining this movement. Your signature helped us reach more than 1,250 signatures on this campaign, showing our local leaders that Angelenos want streets that are safe to use.

The next step is here, and we need you with us as we deliver that message directly to City Hall.

Please join SAFE on September 15th at 9:30 am in City Hall to help us deliver our open letter and make our voices heard. We are asking everyone who has signed this letter to attend the City Council meeting and give public comment.

Our goal is to have at least 50 people give public comment, making it clear to our local leaders that traffic violence is an urgent public safety crisis that deserves their attention.

Event Details

  • Date: Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
  • Time: Meet at 9:30 a.m.
  • Council Meeting Begins at 10:00 a.m.
  • Press Conference following Public Comment
  • Location: 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90012 (Entrance on Main St.)

Instructions and Talking Points for Public Comment.

After public comment concludes, advocates will leave the Council Chamber and regroup outside on the steps of City Hall for a Press Conference.

Thank you again for adding your name to this campaign and standing with us. We have built the movement. Now it is time to bring it directly to our local leaders.

If you have any questions, please reach out to me via email (aaron@streetsareforeveryone.org) or by calling my cell (818.697.2621)

We hope to see you at City Hall on September 15th.

There’s still time to sign the petition if you haven’t yet.

………

If you’re still with me — and I don’t know why you would be after all that — l’shanah tovah, and may we never forget the lives lost on the 25th anniversary of this day.

I’ll see you on Monday. And hopefully I’ll have my shit together by then.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

31-year old Oceanside man killed by driver in Tuesday collision; no word on whether the driver even stayed after the crash

September 11, 2026 / / No comments

Yet another person has been killed because he decided to ride a bicycle.

The victim, identified as 31-year old Oceanside resident Christian Anthony Fa’amaligi, was killed riding his bike in Oceanside earlier this week.

Fa’amaligi was riding on Mission Ave near Ocean Point Road around 7:45 pm Tuesday when he was struck by a driver. He was taken to Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, where he was pronounced dead early Wednesday.

Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time. There’s no word on how the crash occurred, or who may have been responsible.

We don’t even know if the driver stuck around after the crash.

The area’s paper of record, the San Diego Union-Tribune, couldn’t be bothered to give the story more than three sentences. Or even spell the victim’s name accurately, for that matter.

Meanwhile, Fa’amaligi’s sister provided a moving remembrance on Facebook Thursday.

This is at least the 44th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the ninth we know about in San Diego County, which is continuing a one a month pace.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Christian Anthony Fa’amaligi and all his family and loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Assembly candidate calls for safety on Forest Lawn Drive, whacking out over SaMo bike lanes, and Caltrans talks safety

September 9, 2026 / / One comment

Yesterday, I mentioned that my California Assembly Member, Rick Chavez Zbur, had signed a letter calling for a halt to the shovel-ready safety improvements planned for Forest Lawn Drive this past June.

He also supported, and voted for, SB 194, a last-minute bill introduced in the state legislature that will make it virtually impossible to remove a traffic lane on Forest Lawn for the foreseeable future, assuming Governor Newsom signs it.

So I reached out to Zbur’s opponent in the November election, fellow Democrat Colin Hernandez, for his comments. Surprisingly, he responded right away, sending me the following statement.

Forest Lawn Drive has a documented and deadly safety problem, and we have a responsibility to act before another person loses their life. After years of public input and technical review, LADOT developed a fully funded project designed to slow traffic and improve safety for everyone who uses the road, including drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.

SB 194 would block a safety project that has already gone through years of public review and is ready to move forward. Assemblymember Zbur’s support for the bill puts a narrow carveout ahead of urgent safety improvements on one of Los Angeles’s most dangerous streets. I urge Governor Newsom to veto SB 194 and Mayor Bass to allow the Forest Lawn Drive Safety and Mobility Project to proceed. Public safety decisions should be based on evidence and the needs of the community—not special interests.”

So, we have an incumbent who bends to the will of an intense lobbying campaign — to the tune of $360,000 — to halt a much needed safety project, and a challenger who supports it.

I know which way my vote will be going.

I should also mention that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass personally intervened to halt the project, which her challenger, Nithya Raman, had shepherded through years of public meetings and revisions.

So I know how that vote will go, too.

A ghost tire like those pictured above was installed on Forest Lawn Drive on Saturday to honor the four people killed there in the last 13 years, including a man killed in a single car crash last month. 

………

Nope, no bias here.

The Santa Monica city council voted to approve a nearly $2 million contract to move forward with a Complete Streets redesign of 14th Street Tuesday night.

But someone in Santa Monica threw together a hastily designed website that does everything but call Vision Zero a commie plot to drain America of its vital bodily fluids.

The site calls out the made-up dangers protected bike lanes, and their supposed risks to the elderly and first responders.

It places blame for the project squarely on Streets For All, which disavows any involvement with it. And basically calls the LA group a wholly-owned subsidiary of California YIMBYs, bought and paid for by those nefarious Silicon Valley tech bros.

This didn’t start with a traffic study. It started with a movement, and the movement is billionaire-funded.
“Vision Zero” and “protected bikeway” sound like neutral engineering terms. The advocacy infrastructure behind them is not neutral, and it’s not local.

Streets for All, the region’s leading “safe streets” advocacy group, is a fiscally-sponsored project of the California YIMBY Education Fund. California YIMBY and its affiliated funds have taken roughly $15 million from Open Philanthropy — the fund run by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna — plus six-figure checks from Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison and Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman. This is who is underwriting the advocacy machine pushing this design template statewide…

The bikeway funding is bundled into a state housing grant, not a resident-driven transportation request — and the political infrastructure that put this council in place traces back through Streets for All to the same tech fortunes that fund the YIMBY movement statewide. None of that makes the underlying safety goal illegitimate. It does mean residents are entitled to ask whose priorities are actually being served before a $2 million contract gets signed on a street most of them drive, not bike.

It gets worse.

This isn’t a debate about bike safety. It’s a debate about who gets to move through this city.

“Vision Zero” is marketed as a road-safety program. In practice, on corridor after corridor, it’s a template for taking travel lanes and parking away from drivers and handing that space to a small, specific mode of transportation — engineered by an advocacy and funding network built by tech investors, not by the seniors, tradespeople, and parents who actually drive these streets every day.

The whole thing sounds like it was written by someone who spent five minutes looking up words on the internet, without understanding any of them.

Or maybe just some of the safe pro-car propagandists we’ve encountered before, under different names.

And as loathe as I am to disagree with the site’s bogeymen and women, I think Claude would have done a much better job putting the whole damn thing together.

Twitter post

………

Speaking of traffic safety, Caltrans will take part in a rare webinar scheduled for when most people can actually participate, at 7 pm on Wednesday, September 23rd, hosted by Streets Are For Everyone.

As for asking the hard questions, I’d suggest asking why they’ve spent the past few decades trying to kill us.

………

Once again, multiple bike riders have been killed by a dangerous, allegedly stoned, hit-and-run driver.

This time it happened in Kent, England, on Sunday, when a 22-year old man allegedly slammed into a group of three people riding bicycles. A man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s both died at the scene.

Another woman was hospitalized with minor injuries.

The driver was charged with two counts of causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop at the scene of a road traffic collision and possession of a class C drug.

In the UK, class C drugs include anything from anabolic steroids and nitrous oxide to prescription tranquilizers like Valium.

A 21-year old man was also arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving, while 19-year-old woman was held on suspicion of assisting an offender.

………

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

A 20-year old Florida man faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and hit-and-run involving property damage after allegedly using his car to intentionally run down bike rider in a Taco Bell parking lot, resulting in minor injuries and a fucked-up bike; the men reportedly knew each other.

………

Local 

A section of the popular Ballona Creek bike path is closed due to storm damage just north of Duquesne Ave in Culver City; no word yet on when it will reopen.

Streets For All is hosting a virtual mobility debate for Santa Monica city council candidates tomorrow evening. Providing yet another opportunity to foist their YIMBY-fueled and tech bro-funded agenda on the unsuspecting citizenry of the fair city. 

Also tomorrow, Glendora will host an open house to discuss the $21.4 million People Movement Project, with eight miles of offroad greenways, and two miles of on-street multimodal improvements.

Monrovia will host a community bike ride and audit supporting the city’s Bicycle Master Plan update on Saturday, and Carson will host an interactive open house for the city’s Bicycle Action Plan.

 

State

Escondido becomes the latest California city to ban ebikes for kids under 12.

A group with the friendly name Friends of Hopkins Street sues Berkeley over plans for protected bike lanes on the eponymous street, preferring their precious parking over human lives. Which seems not-so-friendly to me, but what do I know?

They get it. The Sacramento Bee reports that California has the third most congested traffic in the US, with Los Angeles drivers losing 83 hours a year due to traffic congestion, but adding more lanes will just make things worse.

 

National

There’s not a pit deep enough for the two men charged with stealing an adaptive bicycle from a 10-year old Santa Fe, New Mexico kid with cerebral palsy.

The victim gets the blame in a Colorado crash, when a 32-year old ebike rider was killed in a right hook, and accused of speeding up to pass a semi driver on the right side. Yes, that’s possible, but it’s more likely that the driver didn’t notice the victim on his right until it was too late.

A 31-year old El Paso, Texas man learns the hard way that it’s probably not the best idea to try to run over a bike cop during a traffic stop.

A Michigan TV station says bicycling deaths are rising in the state, and asks if anything will change after a 12-year old boy was killed by a driver while riding his bike. Nothing changed after dozens of little kids were shot to death at Sandy Hook and Robb Elementary, so what makes them think anyone will actually care about a single kid on a bicycle?

A 77-year old New York man was killed in a head-on collision with an ebike rider, who lost control of his ebike in a bi-directional protected bike lane, and crashed into the man’s bicycle. As usual, though, the story doesn’t say whether it was a legal ped-assist bike, or an illegal e-moto.

Heartbreaking story, as Florida man says he watched surveillance video of his bike-riding brother run down and killed by a hit-and-run driver in New York State from 1,200 miles away in Florida, saying the driver didn’t even try to stop.

 

International

Montreal becomes the latest Canadian city to consider going backwards on bike lanes, after building a bike network that has made it North America’s most bike-friendly big city.

A look at London’s leading bicycle cafés.

A London bike rider says he’s embarrassed to be a bicyclist after watching one bike rider after another ride through a busy crosswalk. Seriously, pedestrians are the only road users more vulnerable than we are, so just stop for them, already. 

Leading Euro bikemaker Orbea announced a recall of their 2019 and 2020 Optima urban ebikes due to a possible weak joint that could cause the frame to break while being ridden.

Sad news from Ukraine, where a Ukrainian soldier who had been photographed early in the war riding a bicycle while carrying three RPGs was killed in a Russian airstrike. War sucks. 

 

Competitive Cycling

When we last left our heroes, the Vuelta peloton was taking a well-earned rest day, as Enric Mas held tightly to his red leader’s jersey; Tuesday’s stage 16 saw 21-year old Brit rookie Matthew Brennan take his fourth stage win, with Mas 2 minutes, 6 seconds ahead of Felix Gall, as Primož Roglič stands another 4 second back in third.

Dutch sprinter Dylan Groenewegen suffered a torn rib muscle and a shattered bicycle when he was hit by a motorcyclist while on a training ride, saying “it could have been much worse.”

Tadej Pogačar may be done for the season, but he’ll be back next year, and every year through 2032.

Is anyone really surprised to learn that bra doping is a myth, and maximizing cleavage doesn’t actually do anything to make women faster? Although it would do more to draw more male fans to women’s cycling. 

Velo says pro cyclists are surprisingly bullish on the prospect of wearing airbags to prevent injuries.

 

Finally…

Honestly, who among us hasn’t ridden over 400 miles dressed as an orangutan? Ditching the subway for a $1,300 ebike.

And who needs a motorcycle when you could have a Ducati?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Woman riding ebike killed in Colton, asking Zbur rival for Forest Lawn stance, and body on Ballona bike path

September 8, 2026 / / 2 comments

Glad to see we all made it through the holiday weekend.

I’d like to say we have a lot to catch up on, but there wasn’t a lot of bike news online over the weekend. And of the first four stories I had bookmarked today, three were hidden behind paywalls, and the fourth was written in Indonesian.

So we’ll just have to make do with what we’ve got.

………

A 38-year old woman, identified as Asandria Jacobo, was killed in a collision while riding an ebike in Colton Friday night.

But as usual, there was no clarification whether she was on a Class 1, 2 or 3 ped-assist bike, or one of the more common e-motorbikes or electric dirt bikes.

Witnesses said that the Jacobo crashed into the side of an SUV after running a red light, but that has not been confirmed by the police.

………

I mentioned last week that my Assembly Member, Rick Chavez Zbur, had signed a letter urging Los Angeles officials to halt safety work on Forest Lawn Drive, and publicly supported and voted for SB 194, a last minute bill to effectively halt any lane reductions on the street for the foreseeable future.

I also said that I would reach out to Zbur’s opponent in the November election,  fellow Democrat Colin Hernandez, for his comments on the bill, and on Forest Lawn Drive.

For the sake of openness, I am sharing the email I sent to Hernandez’ campaign. I’ll let you know if I hear back.

Good morning,

I am the editor of BikinginLA.com, a leading site for bicycle news and advocacy in Southern California, and Los Angeles in particular.

As you may be aware, Forest Lawn Drive has been one of the most dangerous streets in the Los Angeles area, with four fatal crashed in the last 13 years — the last one less than one month ago. After years of public meetings and re-engineering to address community concerns, a fully funded and shovel-ready safety project was scheduled to begin this past June, before it was put on pause at the last minute by Mayor Karen Bass.

Her action came at the urging of the owners of Forest Lawn and Mt. Sinai cemeteries, who together have spent over $360,000 lobbying city and state officials to stop the project, which they believe will cause massive traffic congestion, interfering with mourners’ ability to reach the cemeteries.

Your opponent in the November election, Assembly Member Rich Chavez Zbur, was one of five Los Angeles-area legislators who signed an April letter calling for a halt to the project.

Then the state legislature passed SB 194, which was introduced at the last minute, and written halt any lane reduction projects in cities of 2 million population or more, on streets with containing two or more adjacent cemeteries — which would apply only to Forest Lawn Drive in Los Angeles, and nowhere else in the state. Assuming Governor Newsom signs it, it would effectively halt any safety projects on Forest Lawn Drive for the foreseeable future.

Assembly Member Zbur both publicly supported and voted for the bill.

I am writing to ask if you have any comment on the legislation, or the safety of automobile, bicycle and pedestrian traffic on Forest Lawn Drive, that I can share with my readers, whether you agree with Zbur and Bass in halting the project, or have a different stance on the matter.

I will be happy share any comment you care to provide in response to this email, or by calling the numbers below at your convenience any afternoon or evening this week.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation, and I’ll look forward to hearing from you or your representative.

………

The popular Ballona Creek bike path was closed Monday after a body was found in or near the water around 9 am, just north of Lincoln Boulevard.

The victim had reportedly been dead for a few days when he was discovered, and appeared to have a hole in his head.

The area had been plagued by gang violence in the past, but that seemed to have abated in recent years.

………

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

A 17-year old Irish boy was killed in what may have been an intentional hit-and-run crash; the driver’s car was found partially burned the next morning. He had texted a friend prior to the crash that he was being followed.

………

Local 

The old cliche that they always return to the scene of the crime was right this time, when a man was arrested for stealing a $5,000 bicycle from a Hollywood Hills garage, after he returned to the same neighborhood a few days later.

Secret Los Angeles looks at the not-so-secret plans to close the infamous eight-mile gap in the Los Angeles River bike path through DTLA.

I can personally attest that All About the Cinnamon in Sherman Oaks is the best Black-owned, rap-themed cinnamon roll bakery in the state, if not the nation.

 

State

Calbike Executive Director Kendra Ramsey is a fan of Waymo, seeing expansion of the autonomous cabs as a benefit for bike riders, rather than a concern. Although I’m more excited about the next item, as freed-slave turned successful businesswoman Biddy Mason finally gets her due in DTLA. 

A hit-and-run driver critically injured a 27-year man in Escondido Saturday night, failing to stop after right-hooking the victim as he was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, leaving the victim bleeding in the street with life-threatening injuries; police are looking for a light-colored SUV with tinted windows, possible a Ford Expedition or Explorer.

Police in Salinas arrested a 32-year old hit-and-run driver who killed a man riding a bicycle last month.

A 23-year old man was killed in a collision that was a hit-and-run near Salinas involving multiple vehicles, until it wasn’t; the CHP initially said the victim was hit by at least two drivers, one of whom fled the scene, but they later corrected it to say the victim fell in the roadway and was run over by a pickup driver, who stopped after the crash. No explanation was given for the confusion.

 

National

This is the cost of traffic violence. Friends remember an 85-year old Boulder, Colorado man who was killed by a driver — not a “car,” thank you — while riding his bike; in addition to still riding his bike, he also held several martial arts black belts. The only belts I ever held kept my pants from falling off.

Hats off to 18-year old Finn Fremstad, who graduated from my Colorado alma mater this May, then hopped on his bike a month ago to ride 2,000 miles for his first day at Swarthmore College near Philadelphia. And probably learned more in those 31 days on a bike than he will in his first year of college.

Thousands of bicyclists turned out for Chicago’s 25th Bike the Drive, giving bike riders a carfree experience on 30 miles of Lake Shore Drive, showing riders what the city could be. Just like CicLAvia reveals what Los Angeles could be, but isn’t. 

The Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets explains how Somerville, Massachusetts got down to zero traffic deaths for the past four years. Of course, it’s easier to achieve Vision Zero with a population on just 81,000. But still. 

Streetsblog New York introduces a retirement-aged lawyer and convicted fraudster who keeps suing the Mamdani administration over bike lanes, to little or no success.

A Princeton, New Jersey writer explains that a new bike lane isn’t necessarily an underutilized frill, but rather, could be under used because it’s just part of a still-evolving network.

Tragic news from Connecticut, where a sixth grader was killed by a school bus driver while riding his bike — not in a collision with a school bus, thank you — when the driver apparently turned left as he was passing the bus, since he was struck by the vehicle’s left front wheel.

 

International

No surprise here, as the world’s happiest countries are the top bike-friendly ones, too.

The Onion says Google Maps is introducing crawling directions for bike riders hit by trucks. Although Google Maps also says there’s a Lake America between the US and Canada, so what the hell do they know?

A 51-year old Toronto man spent the last five-and-a-half years riding every street and trail in the city, a total of more than 4,200 miles. Which seems impressive, until you consider that Marc Pappas is nearing the finish line of riding all 7,500 miles of Los Angeles streets. Okay, it’s still pretty damn impressive. 

Road.cc takes a backwards glance at ten British mountain bike brands that have bitten the dust, starting with last week’s death of the iconic Raleigh badge.

Who knew that 20 mph speed limits were bad for drivers’ mental health?

A Bangladeshi writer asks if there’s enough room on the city’s streets for bike riders, since the bike paths are full of potholes and trash.

 

Competitive Cycling

Wout van Aert won the final stage of the Vuelta before Monday’s rest day, his second win in three days, as Enric Mas held onto the red leader’s jersey.

In the final part of a video series, ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis explains how and why he blew the lid off the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.

A Colorado paper covers the sixth edition of a 643-mile gravel race from my bike-friendly Colorado hometown to tiny Trinidad, Colorado. The town of just over 8,000 people was formerly known as the sex-change capital of the US, until a doctor specializing in the surgery retired or died. Now it seems to be best known for still being there.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the bike path you’re riding on could have been your juice bottle a decade earlier. Or when your new bike shelter is your old wind turbine blade.

And that feeling when Lycra is proibito, and don’t even think about clipless pedals.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Update: 72-year old man riding bicycle killed by driver in Santa Ana Friday as cops watched, 5th fatal Santa Ana bike crash in 4 months

September 6, 2026 / / 2 comments

A 72-year old man was killed riding a bicycle in Santa Ana on Friday. And this time, the cops didn’t just respond to the crash.

They watched it.

According to KTLA-5, the only source that appears to have covered the crash so far, the victim had just begun riding west on McFadden Ave from Fairview Street a little before 7 pm when he was rear-ended by a driver traveling in the same direction.

The police immediately responded after witnessing the crash and began life saving efforts. However, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver remained following the collision and cooperated with investigators, and they did not appear to be under the influence. Neither the driver nor the victim have been publicly identified.

It’s not clear from the story whether the victim had turned onto McFadden from Fairview, or was continuing straight on Fairview. And even though the police saw the crash as it happened, the driver was not cited or arrested following the crash.

The intersection is controlled by a four-way traffic signal, but there are no bike lanes on McFadden, and the street has a 40 mph speed limit. If the driver was traveling at that speed, there is a 50% chance of fatality according to AAA, though the risk is significantly higher for someone of the victim’s age.

Anyone with information on the crash is asked to call Santa Ana Police Officer J. Hernandez at 714/245- 8217, or the Traffic Division of the Santa Ana Police Department at 714/245-8200.

This is at least the 43rd bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the seventh we know about in Orange County. It’s also the fifth fatal bicycling crash in Santa Ana in less than four months.

Something that suggests the city has a significant safety problem on its streets.

Update: The victim has been identified as Robert Fore, a 72-year old grandfather. 

A crowdfunding campaign to help pay his funeral expenses has raised nearly $5,000 of the modest $6,500 goal. 

According Fore’s daughter, 

Dad spent a good amount of his life helping people with mental health, and he was an amazing person.

This loss has affected me deeply. I miss my dad so much and wish I could spend more time with him and see him again. My daughter has been having a very difficult time with losing her grandpa, and this has been a painful loss for both of us. Everything has fallen on me, and I cannot do this by myself.

I am asking for help because I cannot afford the cost of the services on my own. The funds raised will go toward the mortuary costs, funeral costs, and service expenses, as well as cremation or burial depending on what I am able to afford with the support we receive. I want to give my dad a beautiful service and honor his life with the care and dignity he deserves.

William writes to say riding west on McFadden at sunset is dangerous, because the sun gets in the eyes of drivers, and the same with riding east at sunrise. 

He also suggests riding with a bright tail light, or moving over a block to a quieter street. 

Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana Police Officer J. Hernandez at 714/245- 8217 or Santa Ana Police Department’s Traffic Division at 714/245-8200.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Robert Fore and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Another mass casualty crash by elderly driver, WeHo denies all blame in Ackerman death, and more on Forest Lawn backdoor deal

September 4, 2026 / / No comments

It’s happened again.

A 90-something driver was involved in a mass casualty crash, this time right here in Los Angeles. And in a Trader Joe’s parking lot, no less.

The 91-year old driver reportedly drove into a group of pedestrians at a high rate of speed, killing one person and injuring four others.

The crash occurred in the parking lot of the Trader Joe’s on Fairfax and Third, directly across from The Original Farmer’s Market and The Grove.

According to KTLA-5,

Witnesses said that for some reason, the driver lost control as she was entering the parking lot, sped up, slammed into a parked car, then veered into a group of people near a parking attendant stand before her car crashed into the (parking attendant) stand.

It’s unknown at this point exactly what caused the elderly driver to crash. Investigators at this time do not believe this was an intentional act of violence, but rather a horrible accident.

A “horrible accident.” You know, just another “oopsie.”

KABC-7 reports the crash occurred about 1:30 pm Thursday.

One victim, described only as a woman in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene, while four others were taken to a hospital, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.

Those injured included a 19-year-old man who suffered serious injuries and two women ages 30 and 57 with minor injuries, according to the fire department.

The driver, a 91-year-old woman, was also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries, the LAFD said. No arrest was announced.

Then there was this, also from KABC.

“[The driver] was pretty shell shocked, and she got out she didn’t realize what was happening. She said she tried to stop the Tesla, it was accelerating and she couldn’t stop it,” said Drake Piscione.

“She said her foot was on the brake, but it kept going. She got out and couldn’t believe what happened and didn’t realize she had killed someone”.

Yes, it’s possible that the Tesla malfunctioned, particularly if it was in a self-driving or assisted driving mode. But it’s far more likely that she was stomping on the accelerator, thinking she was hitting the brake, as has happened in countless crashes across the country involving elderly drivers.

You only have to think back to the 99 Ranch Market crash on Westwood Blvd this past February, when a 92-year old driver hit a bicyclist, then continued down the sidewalk on the wrong side of the street for a full block before she crashed through the side of the market, killing three people.

Because this, or some other similar incident, was the entirely predictable outcome of allowing someone that age to keep her license and continue driving.

It’s not being ageist to recognize that mental and physical abilities decline with advanced age. It is easier for someone that age to lose control of a vehicle, and become confused about how to respond afterwards.

There are rare exceptions, as there are with any other generalities. But most people reach a point where they simply should not be allowed to keep driving.

There was a huge outcry from older drivers when the California DMV reinstated a requirement for drivers over 70 to pass a written test, as well as an eye exam. The requirement had been suspended during the Covid pandemic, and the state was simply going back to the policy that had been in place since the ’70s.

Needless to say, the requirement was suspended. You don’t fuck with the Geritol generation.

I say this as someone who will be 70 later this month, and gave up driving several years ago, in part due to medications I was, and am, taking that inhibited my ability to drive safely.

And just like the vast majority of elderly drivers, I also don’t see as well as I did even five years ago.

We’ve got to find a way to weed out people who can no longer drive safely as they age. Because not everyone will willingly give up their keys.

And things like this will continue to happen until we do.

………

No surprise here, either.

We said yesterday it wasn’t surprising that the family of fallen bicyclist Blake Ackerman would file a lawsuit against the hit-and-run driver who killed him, as well as West Hollywood for maintaining a roadway known to be dangerous.

It’s also not surprising that WeHo denies any liability.

According to WeHo Times,

The City of West Hollywood is pushing back against a wrongful-death lawsuit filed by the mother of a 27-year-old cyclist who was killed in a hit-and-run crash on Fountain Avenue, denying allegations that the city’s roadway design contributed to his death.

Court documents reveal the city’s answer filed March 23 in Los Angeles County Superior Court, where the city denied “generally and specifically each and every allegation” in the complaint brought by Robin L. Ackerman, the mother of Blake Adam Ackerman and successor-in-interest to his estate. The city also denied that Ackerman was damaged as alleged or “at all.”

The city also blames the victim, alleging that Ackerman was “careless, reckless and negligent” and that his conduct somehow contributed to any injuries or damages.

You know, like death.

From what I’ve heard, however, Ackerman was doing everything right when the driver slammed into him from behind, then kept going without stopping. The only mistake anyone has charged him with was simply riding on Fountain to begin with.

It goes on, of course. The city’s attorneys throw everything they can at the wall, hoping that something sticks.

It may be enough. But chances are, the city will end up settling for something in the low seven figures to keep from having the case go in front of a jury, where the damages could be a lot steeper.

………

Streets For All is urging you to tell Governor Newsom to veto the Forest Lawn loophole.

TELL GOVERNOR NEWSOM:
VETO THE FOREST LAWN LOOPHOLE

The legislature and cemetery lobbyists inserted language at the 11th hour into the California state budget to make it harder for LA to implement the Forest Lawn Safety and Mobility Project. This is a dangerous precedent that, if allowed to become law, would entice any wealthy Californian to create their own law.

We need Governor Gavin Newsom to veto SB 194.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Email to request a VETO from Gavin Newsom

EMAIL GAVIN NEWSOM TO STOP THIS BILL

ICYMI – Context on What Happened:

The cemetery has enough customers.

Just 16 days ago, another horrific crash killed someone on Forest Lawn Drive.

This is a road where 95 crashes occurred between 2013 and 2023, three people were severely injured or killed, and nearly 3 in 4 drivers drive at a deadly speed in the event of a crash.

After years of work, LA finally has a plan to make Forest Lawn Drive safer. Mayor Bass paused it in May.

Now Sacramento is threatening it.

SEC. 2. Section 1811 is added to the Streets and Highways Code, to read:
1811. (a) A city with a population of 2,000,000 or more shall not reduce the number of vehicle travel lanes on a street that provides the only access to two or more adjacent cemeteries without prior approval of the governing body and the concurrence of the mayor of the city.
(b) Prior to approval of a reduction in the number of vehicle travel lanes pursuant to subdivision (a), the governing body of the city shall do both of the following:
(1) Conduct a duly noticed public hearing regarding the proposed vehicle travel lane reduction.
(2) Consider and make written findings regarding all of the following:
(A) Whether there are alternatives that would allow for proposed street modification without a vehicle travel lane reduction.
(B) The impact of the vehicle travel lane reduction on emergency access to the cemeteries and the surrounding community.
(C) The impact of the vehicle travel lane reduction on emergency response to very high and high fire hazard severity zones
Text from SB 194 that threatens the Forest Lawn Safety project, ok’d by Assemblymember Zbur and Senator Durazo

Friday night, two hours before the deadline to amend bills, lawmakers introduced SB 194—language threatening the long-planned safety project after opposition from cemeteries along the route.

Yes, they’re really trying to put this into state law. And they could send it to the Governor by Monday.

This is what it looks like when politics and powerful interests are put ahead of human lives.

We have 48 hours to kill this disastrous precedent and misguided, last minute back room deal. Read our full statement here.

Forest Lawn Drive should be a road that passes a cemetery—not one that sends people to it.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Email to request a VETO from Gavin Newsom

EMAIL GAVIN NEWSOM TO STOP THIS BILL

………

On a related subject, Streets Are for Everyone sent out this notice yesterday.

This Saturday, we’re asking you to stand with us on Forest Lawn Drive.

On August 13, 2026, a single-vehicle crash on Forest Lawn Drive ended with a vehicle engulfed in flames, killing one person. Details about the crash are unknown, but we know this is not the first deadly crash on Forest Lawn Drive, and without meaningful safety improvements, it won’t be the last.

SAFE recently released a report detailing the urgent need for these safety improvements, after documenting that more than half of drivers regularly exceed the speed limit. The report highlights how a fully funded safety project designed to reduce known dangers on the 1.1-mile road was indefinitely paused by Mayor Karen Bass after nearby cemeteries successfully lobbied to stop the safety improvements.

Streets Are For Everyone, People’s Vision Zero, and Streets For All will be hosting a Ghost Tire Memorial on September 5th, 2026, at 10:00 AM to honor 70-year-old Bijan Yousefian, a victim of traffic violence who died in a fiery crash on Forest Lawn Drive.

Please join us this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. as we remember a life lost and demand that our local leaders stop killing road safety improvements at Forest Lawn Dr and across Los Angeles.

Event Details:
Date:

September 5th, 2026

Time:

10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Location:

Forest Lawn Drive (across the street from Malinow and Silverman Mortuary) click here for the exact meeting location and see image below:

………

Evidently, the bike leg of a triathlon is your only chance to beat a hungry, hungry hippo.

Twitter post

………

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

No bias here. A Berkeley neighborhood group is suing to prevent the city from installing protected bike lanes on Hopkins Street, accusing it of violating the city’s bike plan. Which is kind of funny, considering Los Angeles has done nothing but violate its bike plan.

No bias here. A pro-driving group is accusing the Bristol, England city council of “ignoring road safety” with its so-called “cycling propaganda” — for the crime of showing someone riding a bicycle without a helmet.

………

Local 

Um, okay. A writer for The Argonaut calls ebikes a menace on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail, complaining about “30–60-year olds clocking more than 25 mph without head gear on the narrow path;” however, he’s no fan of pedestrians, either, griping about “clueless and inconsiderate pedestrians” annoying bicyclists by walking on the bike path instead of the walkway. No offense, but he comes off like an old man yelling for kids to get off his lawn.

Streetsblog reports sections of the popular San Gabriel and Rio Hondo river path will be closed for several years starting October 1st, as the Army Corps of Engineers begins a “high urgency” $735 million project to repair the Whittier Narrows Dam.

 

State

Encinitas is urging Governor Gavin Newsom to veto a budget measure that will keep them from ripping out a new protected bike lane on Santa Fe Drive.

Axios San Diego suggests beating the heat with a bike ride on the Solana Beach Rail Trail, a fully protected bike path located between Highway 101 and the Coaster train tracks. Although this weekend, wind and rain from a rare Pacific coast hurricane could be more of a problem.

The carnage continues in Northern California, as a man in San Jose was killed by the driver of a dump truck while riding an ebike in the bike lane. And yes, what’s left of the bike looks like an actual ped-assist ebike.

The NorCal news gets worse, after a Sacramento woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver as she tried to her bicycle on the side of the road.

 

National

Cycling Electric says that studies from around the world prove that ebikes are not cheating, and the workout they provide is similar to the effects of a regular  bike.

A Seattle podcaster says bicycles are medical devices, after he took up bicycling to treat his type 2 diabetes and get in shape, losing 30 pounds, and improving his health and wellbeing. On the other hand, bicycling and a healthy diet hid the most of the effects of my type 2 diabetes, causing me to go undiagnosed for more than 20 years, and doing major damage to my health. 

Kentucky’s governor announced plans for a new pedestrian and bicycling bridge to provide better access to a Civil War battlefield.

This is the cost of traffic violence. An MIT professor described as “an expert in ancient metallurgy” died two weeks after he was was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle.

Atlanta is rolling out another round of the city’s ebike rebate program, with $1 million in funding to offer rebates up to $1,600. Which compares favorably to LA’s zero dollars in funding, with rebates up to not a damn thing.

 

International

Road.cc offer bicycling hacks to provide cheap alternatives to expensive products to keep you riding this winter.

The Times of London dropped their paywall to say that gravel biking will be the next great MAMIL-ian obsession. And here I thought it was pickleball. Although the cheapest of the three gravel bikes they recommend retails for the equivalent of $13,500, which makes pickleball look a lot better. 

An English hotel manager raised the equivalent of over $5,400 for a Welsh children’s hospice with a 180-mile ride between all nine of the company’s hotels in England and Wales, completing the ride in under 12 hours.

That suddenly shuttered bike shop in the UK is promising that everyone who left a bike to be repaired will get it back, even as someone reported the shop for stealing his bike — but if you put down a deposit on a new bicycle, you’re screwed.

Tragic news from Australia, where a second person has died following last week’s mass casualty crash in Canberra, Australia, when a 40-year old woman plowed into a group of bicyclists; a 39-year old man died in the hospital this week, after a 32-year old woman died at the scene.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cal State Dominguez Hills has founded what officials there say is the only varsity collegiate cycling team in California, one of just 20 other varsity collegiate cycling teams in the US; so far, it seems to have just one member, student-cyclist Alejandro Che.

Enric Mas strengthened his hold on the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey, gaining nearly 30 seconds on second-place Primož Roglič.

The BBC is covering everything but the actual Tour of Britain, showing far more interest in flower-covered bikes and Spitfire flybys.

A writer for PeopleForBikes says that when the Philadelphia Cycling Classic returned to the city for the first time in ten years, it found a new cycling team and bike club from his own neighborhood.

 

Finally…

Your next cargo bike could have just a basket upfront, and no battery anywhere. Riding a bicycle to map the city’s crappy sidewalks.

And more proof that trees are out to get us.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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