Archive for December 19, 2014

Morning Links: Arrest made in Anaheim hit-and-run; saddle up for Selle’s Christmas party in San Diego

December 19, 2014 / / 4 comments

An arrest is finally made in the hit-and-run death of an Anaheim mother early last month.

Daniella Palacios was riding her bike across the street just blocks from her home when she was run down by a white pickup, whose driver fled the scene without stopping.

Now 30-year old Buena Park resident Junior Lopez has been arrested for the crime. He’s being held on $50,000 bond, and his Ford F-150 truck has been seized as evidence.

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If you find yourself in San Diego tonight, make your way to the Selle Anatomica Christmas Party at 7939 Silverton Ave, Suite 806, from 6 to 9 pm. Just bring a canned good for the San Diego Food Bank and a “funky” item for the schwag exchange. RSVP in advance to fred@selleanatomica.com.

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Irvine and Riverside personal injury legal firm Avrek Law introduces the BikeSafe Bicycle Accident Reporting App, allowing you to report bike-related incidents throughout the SoCal region, or search for collision data by year or type. And yes, it does make an impact to see all those wreck sites on a single map.

Although I wish lawyers, of all people, would learn to call them collisions instead of accidents, since accident implies that no one is at fault.

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The LACBC is teaming with Better Bike to host a meeting on Monday on how to create a more bike friendly Beverly Hills. Personally, I’d start with a major attitude adjustment at City Hall.

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Lois forwards this photo of a gray-haired Burbank man who appears to be riding a ghost bike, right down to the RIP sign attached to the frame.

Stolen or not, I’d say that’s tempting fate just a little too much.

……..

Longtime LA Times columnist Patt Morrison says local bike riders should be required to get an “info license” to make them learn the rules of the road.

Aside from the fact that only the state can impose licensing requirements — cities can license bikes, but not riders — it’s an interesting, if muddled, unnecessary and ultimately unworkable idea.

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Local

Streetsblog reports on Councilmember Gil Cedillo’s snub of bicyclists as the City Council unanimously approved the city’s Call for Projects list. Meanwhile, Across LA asks who the real one-percenters are. And Richard Risemberg aptly describes Cedillo’s method of governing as a “tantrumocracy.”

The USC Bike Coalition unveils first bike repair station and pump on the traditionally bike-unfriendly campus.

UPS makes Burbank deliveries by bike.

Now that the San Gabriel Valley bike plan has been approved by all five cities involved, Monterey Park cyclists could see improvements as early as next spring.

Three Baldwin Park bike thieves are under arrest after the owner spots his stolen bike for sale on Craigslist.

 

State

An Irvine woman gets just a year in jail for intentionally running down an airport bike cop.

San Diego neighborhoods battle over plans to close an off-ramp to make room for a bike and pedestrian corridor, as local merchants fail to grasp that people on bikes spend money, too.

Paso Robles plans a L’Eroica Vintage Bicycle Event next April; participants are limited to riders on steel frame bikes built before 1987.

An Oklahoma man stops in Petaluma after riding 7,500 miles with his dog in support of animal shelters.

That’s a good problem to have, as a Bay Area Caltrain station struggles to keep up with demand for bike parking.

The civil trial begins in the case of a San Francisco bike rider killed in a collision with a 13 ton delivery truck. Police initially blamed the cyclist until the SF Bike Coalition found security camera footage that police hadn’t bothered to look for.

‘Tis the season, as a Turlock real estate agency donates 23 bikes for less fortunate children.

 

National

Requiring sideguards on large trucks could save the lives of countless cyclists and pedestrians.

People for Bikes looks at the nation’s 10 best protected bike lanes, including one right here in Temple City.

Biking pop star Katy Perry gets a custom painted ride.

DC bike riders are most likely to be white or Hispanic, and either wealthy or low income.

 

International

The ugly Christmas sweater fad spreads to bike jerseys. Although hideous might be a better word.

A heartbraking story from the UK, as a father is accused of killing his own bike riding son by passing too closely.

Unbelievable. An injured British cyclist is kept waiting over two hours before an ambulance finally arrived.

Good thing the peloton has been cleaned up. An Italian pro cyclist is caught using testosterone, despite serving an 18-month ban for doping. Meanwhile, banned cyclist Riccardo Riccò says it’s impossible to win a grand tour without doping; scary thing is, he may be right.

A Japanese cyclist is banned from riding his bike for 90 days after crashing while under the influence of quasi-legal drugs.

 

Finally…

Once again, a driver mistakenly assumes that gas taxes pay for the roads, let alone the bikeways on them, and blames scofflaw cyclists for breaking the law — unlike all those law abiding motorists. Bike riders are often turned away from drive-through widows; evidently, it helps if you use a gun and ask for the contents of the cash drawer.

And caught on video: Welsh cyclist Geraint Thomas plays Jingle Bells using bike bells.

 

Category: Hit-and-Run, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Breaking news: LACBC hires Tamika Butler as Executive Director

December 18, 2014 / / 2 comments
New LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler; photo courtesy of LACBC

New Executive Director Tamika Butler; photo courtesy of LACBC

Finally, we see white smoke rising above the Downtown headquarters of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

Three months after long-time Executive Director Jen Klausner announced she’d be leaving at the end of the year, the LACBC has hired lawyer and non-profit executive Tamika Butler to lead the organization into its next phase of growth.

The hire comes at the end of an exhaustive, nationwide search that brought in resumes from nearly 100 qualified applicants, which was slowly whittled down to a final three before Butler was offered the job.

I’m told it was a very difficult decision. But at every phase, Butler stood out for her experience in leading a non-profit advocacy organization, as well as her focus on building membership and reaching out to the many diverse, and too often undeserved, communities that make up the City of Angels.

She has big bike shoes to fill.

Klausner has been the face of the LACBC for seven years, taking the bike coalition from adolescence to an award-winning organization with a national reputation and influence far beyond its size. And the only leader of the coalition most of us have ever known.

The thought of replacing her was, as the movie says, inconceivable.

Which is why Butler steps into the same role, not as her replacement, but as someone dedicated to building on the organization’s success, and leading it into even greater growth and influence.

She brings a new face, new ideas and fresh enthusiasm for building a better, safer and more enjoyable community for everyone who travels on two wheels. As well as all those who have been reluctant to give it a try, or thought bicycling just wasn’t for someone like them.

She is not the new Jen Klausner.

She is Tamika Butler, the next leader of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

And by all accounts, the coalition is very lucky to have her.

You can read the LACBC’s full press release announcing her hire below.

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Introducing the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition’s new Executive Director!

After an extensive national search, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition is pleased to announce that our Board of Directors has selected Tamika Butler to lead LACBC into the next phase of continued growth as we further our mission to make the Los Angeles region a healthy, safe and fun place to ride a bike.

“I’m really proud of the process and results of the search and couldn’t be more excited about Tamika as our next Executive Director,” says LACBC Board President Steve Boyd.

Tamika Butler brings to LACBC a proven track record of sustainably expanding and running programs and organizations, as well as a policy and advocacy background.  She spent three years as an employment lawyer at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center and most recently comes from Liberty Hill Foundation, where she was the Director of Social Change Strategies. She first made her mark in Los Angeles as the California Director at the startup policy and advocacy organization Young Invincibles, where she managed the west coast regional staff, was the media and policy spokesperson, organized and led coalitions, developed curriculum and trainings, and fundraised to expand the organization’s presence on the west coast. She also developed relationships with community leaders and state and local lawmakers to advance the organization’s policy goals.

“I am thrilled to have the privilege to become the next Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and look forward to continuing the success, growth, and cutting edge work of the organization.  Biking in Los Angeles County has personally changed my life and deepens my love of the region every time I go for a ride. We’re lucky to live and bike in a county full of diverse communities that motivate this talented staff and me to push towards building a healthier, more vibrant Los Angeles County.  I am excited to start pedaling, dig deep, and get to work with our members and partners, within and across sectors, as we race to the front lines of the nationwide movement to create bikeable, safe, and sustainable neighborhoods.”  One of Tamika’s top priorities is to grow the diversity of LACBC staff and coalition membership.

When Jen Klausner started as LACBC’s Executive Director in 2007, there was only one other employee at headquarters, and it was a real struggle to keep doors open. Jen and the organization faced an uphill battle at City Hall to pass the Los Angeles Bike Plan and get pavement striped with room for bikes. Seven years later, under her leadership, there are now twelve employees working on your behalf with a LOT of successes! We continue to expand across the county with twelve local chapters.  We are poised to extend that reach even further as we strive to more fully represent the diversity of those who bicycle and want to bicycle in all neighborhoods across Los Angeles County. Tamika brings deep experience in social justice work and looks forward to working with the full range of communities across the county. We couldn’t be more excited.

Jen says, “Our new Executive Director Tamika Butler brings a fresh perspective to the leadership of LACBC, and one that is so relevant to the growth of the bike-ped movement and to important dialogues happening here and in cities across the nation.  I am confident in Tamika’s ability to take LACBC to the next level, and I, for one, will be staying tuned and keeping my membership current, because this organization is poised to do great things in the coming years.  Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Tamika!”

Jen Mishory, Executive Director of Young Invincibles, agrees that Tamika will make a great Executive Director: “Tamika is a dynamic, innovative leader who will be a huge asset to the LACBC team.  She brought Young Invincibles to new heights and I know that she’ll do the same in her new role!”

We look forward to introducing Tamika to our members, partners and supporters at the first available opportunity in January. Look for announcements of those opportunities in our weekly newsletter, on the website, and through Facebook and Twitter. And don’t forget—as part of our end of year campaign, any donation at the $250 level and above will get you an invitation to our January 22nd Donor Thank You Party—an intimate gathering with our brand new Executive Director, Tamika Butler, in attendance.  Hope to see you there!

Category: Advocacy & Politics / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: CM Cedillo turns a deaf ear to pleas of bike riders, portraying cyclists as bullies from the 1%

December 17, 2014 / / 8 comments

Evidently, 1st District Councilmember Gil Cedillo doesn’t understand how democracy works.

Word from yesterday’s LA City Council session is that Cedillo turned a deaf ear to the pleas of bike riders begging for a safer street on North Figueroa, and instead went forward with a plan to install diagonal parking rather than the bike lanes called for in the city’s already approved bike plan.

As anyone who has ever ridden or driven past cars attempting to back out of an angled parking space can attest, that does the exact opposite of improving safety.

Standing in the same chamber where retired councilmember Bill Rosendahl famously declared that “the culture of the car is going to end now!,” Cedillo insisted that he would not be bullied by cyclists.

I didn’t know that the pleas of a traffic minority group begging for a safe place to travel on our streets amounted to bullying; it seems more like a constituent group lobbying an apparently uncaring elected leader for relief, to me. Which is the very definition of democracy in action.

But what the hell do I know.

Cedillo also described bike riders as “the one percent,” deliberately miscasting cyclists with a term used to imply social and economic exclusivity, based on census data that bike riders make up just one percent of LA’s commuter traffic.

Never mind that the one percent stat only refers to rush hour commuters, and does not count the many people who ride to school or to do errands. Or the many low income, often immigrant, riders in his own district who ride to and from their jobs any hour of the day, often because they have no other way to get there.

And this from a man who publicly professes his support for immigrants to anyone who will listen.

Of course, no one should be surprised by the cold shoulder bicyclists received from Cedillo. Ever since his election last year, it has been clear that he intended to renege on the promise he made to support bike lanes on North Figueroa, back when he still needed our votes.

Cedillo has evidently made the political calculation that he doesn’t need our support to retain his office, in a city where incumbent councilmembers almost never lose elections.

Let’s hope we can prove him wrong.

More disappointing is that no one else on the council, or in city government — all the way up to the mayor’s office — has had the courage to stand up to the real bully in the room.

On that day nearly five years ago when LA bike riders finally found the voice we so desperately needed at City Hall, Rosendahl proclaimed, speaking for the full council, “We’re going to give cyclists the support they should have been getting.”

Unfortunately, Rosendahl has left the council.

And the support for cyclists appears to have gone with him.

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Be careful riding in Glendale, which once again ranks near the bottom on a list of America’s worst drivers.

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Local

Who says no one rides in the rain?

LA Curbed offers a look at the design finalists for the planned bike/ped bridge over the LA River at the Glendale Narrows.

The Mid City West Community Council is teaming with the LACBC to offer a bike safety class on Sunday, January 11th.

Streetsblog spinoff Longbeachize celebrates its first anniversary tonight with a happy hour at the Blind Donkey in Long Beach.

 

State

An arrest is finally made after at least six cyclists were knocked off their bikes by a thief who then rode off on the bicycles in San Francisco’s Panhandle area.

Another would-be bike thief is busted after trying to wrestle a bike from a man inside a store in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers ten tips for successful bicycling in traffic.

Bounce back from your next hard ride with a little tart cherry juice.

More Denver residents are biking and walking to work, thanks in part to the city’s investment in better bike infrastructure.

An 18-year old Boston hit-and-run driver was allegedly under the influence of prescription drugs when he took out a cyclist and five parked cars while fleeing police; the rider is expected to survive, no word on the cars.

In more bike thief news, a Louisiana man is busted for burgling a $5,000 bike from a Mandeville bike shop.

 

International

We all know about the most popular bicycling movies, but what about the top five unknown cycling films?

No, really, the doping era in pro cycling is over. Even though a Mexican rider was arrested smuggling EPO through an airport.

Turns out bicyclists in the UK’s north may be marginally tougher than their southern counterparts.

Excerpts from a new book reveal the ugly drug-fueled final days of Italian cycling legend Marco Pantani.

 

Finally…

No, seriously, if you’re going to rob a pedestrian while riding your bike, make sure he’s got more than $7 on him first. It might have been more helpful if advice on how to bike home with your Christmas tree had come before most people had already bought one.

And caught on video: A cyclist survives a collision with a hit-and-run deer that violated his right-of-way, then fled the scene without stopping to render aid or exchange IDs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8uCeyUl_9U

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Awkward cycle track in Marina, PCH closed at Point Magu, fight North Fig parking at City Hall

December 16, 2014 / / 5 comments
Photo courtesy of Black Girls Do Bike – LA

Photo by Gary Cziko in Cyclists are Drivers

It’s been awhile since I’ve ridden on Fiji Way through Marina del Rey.

Then again, it’s been awhile since I’ve ridden anywhere.

But it looks like those wide, buffered bike lanes that helped tame one of the area’s most frequent sites for bike collisions has been replaced with an awkward and very uncomfortable cycle track, with riders separated from oncoming traffic by nothing more than a few plastic bollards.

Marty Blount of South LA’s Major Motion Recreational Cycling Club forwards a photo of the new, and hopefully temporary, installation taken by members of the new Black Girls Do Bike – LA club.

The question is why bike riders have suddenly been shifted to just one side of the wide, divided roadway. And why riders facing traffic haven’t been placed next to the curb, rather than in the frightening position of riding directly next to traffic coming from the opposite direction.

Hopefully, we’ll get some answers soon.

Update: I received the following response from Daniel Quintana of the Head-Traffic Design Section, Traffic and Lighting Division, Public Works.

The recent temporary changes are due to the installation of a waterline project along Fiji Way.  The trench and equipment will occupy a large section of the road on the west side that required the temporary relocation of the bike facility.   The condition is temporary, but may be there for a few months.  We will check with our construction staff more specific timeline for this temporary change and will have them respond.  We will also have our staff review the installation for additional temporary signs or markings may help clarify this temporary condition.

Update 2: Brittany Baker, Program Manager with the Construction Division of the LA County Dept. of Public Works, followed up with additional information on the closure of the bike lane.

As Mr. Quintana has mentioned below, this temporary bike path detour is a result of our Marina del Rey Phase 3B Waterline Project that is just starting up.  This project is expected to last from December 2014 through August 2015.  The temporary bike path detour will remain in place for this duration.  Attached, please find a project information flyer (pdf) with details on the temporary bike path detour.

Please also note, over the course of the next 4-5 weeks, there may be a stretch of the Marvin Braude Bike Path that runs adjacent to Oxford Basin (between Yvonne Burke Park and Washington Blvd in Marina del Rey) that may be reduced to one lane to accommodate construction activities within Oxford Basin.  The bike path will NOT be completely closed and signage will be placed that will require bicyclists to walk their bicycle during that short stretch of one bicycle lane.

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You won’t be riding PCH west of Malibu for awhile.

Caltrans reports the highway will be closed between Yerba Buena and Los Posas Roads near Point Magu for the next several weeks while they repair a recent mud slide.

And that’s assuming the hillside remains stable long enough to fix it following this week’s storms.

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If you read this early enough, you may still have time to rush to City Hall to fight councilmember Gil Cedillo’s misguided attempt to install dangerous diagonal parking on North Figueroa, rather than the much needed bike lanes he infamously promised to support.

Let’s hope the City Council will have the courage to call him on his attempt to maintain the 20th Century auto-centric hegemony over streets that should belong to everyone, rather than just the motorists who make the street a dangerous, high speed game of frogger.

And ask why he has developed such an apparent animosity for anyone with the audacity to ride a bike in his district.

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‘Tis the season.

Over 50 Santa Clarita kids will get new bikes, starting with a group of preschoolers. The entire third grade class of a Long Beach school gets new bikes. And the Sacramento Kings give thousands of bikes to kids in the region.

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Local

New LADOT head Seleta Reynolds discusses the future of LA transportation with other local leaders; it’s looking a lot brighter with her at the helm.

An LA rider is okay despite bouncing off a motor vehicle for the sixth time in five years. Let’s hope this was the last time.

The new OSH on La Brea plays hide the bike rack; it took me awhile to even find it in the photo.

Looks like James Franco is one of us, after going out for a Saturday ride on the Venice bike path.

Boyonabike visits the new BikeSGV headquarters.

Once again, a SoCal cyclist is the victim of a hit-and-run, this time in Redondo Beach.

Long Beach invites you to donate any unwanted bike to provide transportation for homeless people.

 

State

Streetsblog reports on Calbike’s aggressive agenda for the coming legislative session.

Pedal Love’s Melissa Balmer will host a webinar on media outreach skills for bike advocates this Thursday.

Orange County riders are justifiably outraged after a school bus driver avoids charges and keeps driving despite hitting cyclists on two separate occasions; new BikinginLA sponsor Michael Rubinstein suggests the school district could be liable for allowing her to keep driving. Thanks to everyone who sent me the link.

KPBS reports on San Diego’s long delayed bike share program, which will still open long before LA’s long promised system.

Friends of fallen San Diego cyclist Kerry Kunsman ride the last leg of the 1,800 mile coastal journey he was unable to finish.

Clearly, no one is safe from drunks behind the wheel; a 22-year old Apple Valley woman just walking next to a bike rider was killed by an alleged drunk driver.

 

National

Consumer Reports says you need a bike helmet to prevent concussions. But fails to note that bike helmets don’t do that.

Strong Towns says we need to design roads that accommodate automobiles in an environment dominated by people, rather than the other way around.

Louisville KY cyclists will soon enjoy a massive underground bike park.

No matter how big a hurry you’re in, don’t drag your bike under a stopped train that’s blocking your way; a Delaware cyclist was killed when the train he was crawling under started moving.

Don’t try this at home. An Orlando mother is under arrest for knocking a boy off his bike, then choking and threatening to kill him for bullying her daughter.

That’s more like it. A Miami driver who got off with a slap on the wrist for killing a cyclist gets an extra two years for violating his probation; his original sentence led to much needed changes in the state’s hit-and-run laws.

 

International

Big hearted — and evidently, very strong— Calgary bystanders not only lift a truck off a bike rider following a collision, they pitch in to buy the victim a new bike.

A Newfoundland writer calls the province’s upcoming mandatory helmet law misguided.

No mandatory helmets for London’s Boris Bike riders; meanwhile, bike share could help in low income areas if someone could just figure out how to make money at it.

Even the United Arab Emirates is working to become more bike friendly.

More proof how non-seriously traffic crimes are taken around the world, as a New Zealand driver charged with fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist is excused from court proceedings so he can travel with his wife.

A New Zealand report looks at the economic benefits of bicycling — like every dollar spent on bicycling returns $20 in benefits to the community, and a doubling of European ridership would result in 400,000 new jobs.

 

Finally…

A UK rider crosses the finish line with two bikes, but isn’t riding either one. A Kiwi cyclist is fined for not wearing a helmet, despite not wearing anything underneath it, either.

And does anyone really need a bike with built-in Bluetooth and vibrating directional handlebars?

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Best wishes for a happy Chanukah to everyone who plans to light a candle tonight.

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

The Danger in Dog Day Afternoons

December 15, 2014 / / 2 comments

Jim Pocrass, Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP

Jim Pocrass, Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP

Bikes Have Rights™
By James L. Pocrass, Esq.
Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP 
 

Recently, at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Open House, JJ Hoffman was telling me a story about her daily encounter with dog a couple of years ago. JJ said every day when she was riding to work she’d meet up with this same woman who was walking her dog unleashed.

Every day the dog took after JJ, which set the woman off who would run yelling behind her dog. It got so bad that JJ had the pepper spray out before she got to the street where she’d meet up with the dog. All that dog wanted, JJ said, was a taste of her calf.

JJ really didn’t want to spray the dog, though spraying the owner was tempting, and, luckily for everybody, JJ never actually had to take action.

Like JJ, I really like dogs. The dogs are doing what their instincts tell them to do: to chase prey. Irresponsible dog owners are another matter. They put the cyclist, the dog, and especially themselves in danger.

Bitten by a Dog

In California, if you are bitten by a dog, the owner is at fault. It doesn’t matter if the dog is leashed or not. It doesn’t matter if the owner knew or didn’t know that the dog had a “vicious nature.” California holds owners to “strict liability.” If you are bitten, the owner is liable for your injuries. There is no “free bite” in California.

Collision with or because of a Dog

When a dog begins chasing a cyclist, most cyclists tend to try to outrun the dog. When that happens, the dog’s brain goes into get-the-fleeing-prey mode, and the race is on.

Whether or not you can really outrun the dog, the real danger is in possibly colliding with the dog or colliding with something else because you lose control of the bike or you hit a pot hole or even getting hit by a motor vehicle when swerving or not being able to stop at a light or an intersection.

If you suffer serious personal injuries or your bike is damaged, again, the dog owner can be held liable. Your bicycle accident attorney should be able to obtain compensation for your injuries.

Compensation for Dog-related Collisions or Bites

The dog owner may be held negligent for:

  • Ineffective control of the dog.
  • Violation of the leash law and other Animal Control Ordinances.
  • Inadequate supervision or management of the dog.
  • Putting the dog in a condition in which the owner could have seen that the dog could cause injury to somebody.

Individual cities also may have their own animal control ordinances. For instance, one city limits the number of dogs that can be walked by one person at a time and a number of cities consider it a misdemeanor if a dog is tied to a parking meter, sign or bus bench without food or water nearby.

Some cities have ordinances specific to a breed. In Santa Monica a pit bull on public property must be muzzled.

The dog owner may be held responsible for compensating you for:

  • Medical bills from doctors, emergency rooms, hospitals, therapists, plastic surgeons, and for prescriptions.
  • Future medical bills to remove scars or to repair disfigurements. If the money for medical care is not recovered at this time, your health insurance might not cover any future medical procedures you need later, calling them “cosmetic.”
  • Time you had to take off from work resulting in lost income.
  • Lost future earnings because of disfigurement or disabilities.
  • Emotional counseling.
  • Pain and suffering.

Of course you can only recover compensation for injuries you suffer and care you actually need.

Hesitations to Holding an Owner Liable

One of the major hesitations a cyclist who is bitten by a dog often has in reporting a dog bite is the fear that the dog will be destroyed. A dog that has no history of biting is rarely “put down.”

The court takes into account the severity of the bite and the number of times it has bitten. It may rule that a dog must be muzzled in public or restrained in a particular way, such as kept behind a certain type of fence of a certain height.

Self-Defense

We all have heard that we have the right to defend ourselves against an attack from another person. What few people realize is that the law says you can defend yourself as much as is necessary to foil the attack. Your defense must be proportionate to the attack, and when the danger is past, so is your right to defend yourself.

This is a common law concept, and there is no explicit statement in common law that this also applies in a dog attack. More and more dog owners are counter-suing for compensation when their dog has been injured either intentionally or through someone else’s negligence.

So if you are going to use self defense, be sure that it is proportionate to the attack and that once the attack is over you stop, similar to how you would defend yourself with a human. That is a legally defensible act, though you could still find yourself in a lawsuit with the dog owner.

Personally, I subscribe to the belief that it’s rare to find a bad dog, but bad owners are much too plentiful.

*Sponsored post

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Bikes Have Rights, Guest Columns / Tags: , , , , , ,

Guest Post: A view from the courtroom

December 13, 2014 / / 5 comments

It’s one of the more heartbreaking cases in recent history.

It was just two days before Christmas last year, when a young Australian man working in Chicago was flying back home for the holidays, leaving his girlfriend of five years behind. Faced with an extended layover at LAX, James Rapley decided to rent a bike on a sunny Sunday morning for a ride along the beach.

He never made his flight home.

Rapley was riding in the uphill bike lane on Temescal Canyon Blvd when he was run down from behind by another young man, who was allegedly under the influence at 9 am, and reportedly admitted to texting behind the wheel when he drifted into the bike lane, taking the Aussie’s life in an instant.

I’ve often wondered what James Rapley’s thoughts were in those last few moments as his life drifted away. Whether he thought of the woman he loved, or the family he would never see again.

Or just wondered why.

Mohammed Kadri, the driver who took his life, was recently charged with vehicular manslaughter.

Our anonymous South Bay correspondent volunteered to be in the courtroom for Kadri’s Preliminary Setting on Thursday. Here’s her report.

……..

This morning, Mohammed Kadri was actually present in court. I didn’t see anyone in the tiny courtroom who looks 20 years old, because Kadri is kind of hirsute, so he looks older; the kid probably has a 5 o’clock shadow by noon. He’s not very tall, but his suit fit well, and posture is good and it indicated that he understands the gravity of his situation.

The Deputy DA assigned to the case requested a continuance. The judge asked a little impatiently why they shouldn’t proceed today. The prosecutor stated that she needs time to speak with the victim’s family. (Because what better time than the holidays?!?) The next court date is Friday, January 16th.

Incidentally, the prosecutor is Danette Meyers. She’ll prosecute viciously. The victim impact statements will be absolutely integral to the case, though. Even if the family can only provide written statements.

—

From the glass elevators at the courthouse, you can see planes coming in to LAX. I looked at those tubes of tin and thought of all the souls on board. James had flown into LAX a day early because he was worried that bad weather would delay his flight home to Australia. I wondered if any of today’s arrivals had chosen an early flight for the same reason, to play it safe so they can get home to their families for the holidays. And then I prayed every single one of them will be on their connecting flights. Because James Rapley never got the chance.

—

Just as an aside, and I could be wrong, but… In the hallway outside the courtroom, an older guy intercepted Kadri’s lawyer as we (me & the guy who turned out to be the lawyer) reached for the courtroom door at just about the same moment. This older guy may be a relative. Right after Kadri’s appearance, I went into the hallway to type some quick notes on my laptop. This same older guy walked by, very clearly looking down at the screen. I scowled at him and he pivoted away. I think he noticed the LACBC sticker on the front and suspects I’m some agent of theirs. Well, let the defense worry that so many eyes are on them.

I’d love to see Kadri quake beneath the gaze of an angry guardian angel the size of the Bike Coalition.

—

The Airport courthouse has no bike parking, but the security at the garage entrance suggested locking up to the handicap parking sign. The courthouse is conveniently nestled in the armpit of the 105/405 interchange, and miserable to reach by any way but car. If you look at Google Maps, it’s right there by the Green Line station, but you can’t access it by 116th street (unless you scale two chain link fences, and people clearly do this.) Nope, you have to go down to 120th and head back north. If you’re on a bike on 120th & La Cienega, it’s terrifying to wait in the eastbound left turn lane (whose sensor doesn’t register bikes), because the westbound traffic shooting out from the freeway underpass seems to be COMING RIGHT AT YOU thanks to the wacky angle at the intersection. By the time that oncoming wall of FedEx truck zoomed at me like Jaws, my heart rate was about 160. It’s not much lower right now, what with the rage about how we practically require vehicular manslaughter defendants to arrive at the courthouse by automobile.

……..

After I got her report, I emailed a member of Rapley’s family in Australia to let them know about the January 16th court date.

The response I received broke my heart.

The next court date will be just days after the one year anniversary of his funeral. And six years to the day that he’d been with his girlfriend. 

……..

The ghost bike for James Rapley is still there, 355 days later.

Maybe you’ve seen it at the corner of Temescal and PCH, and wondered who it was for, or stopped to read the inscription.

It’s been maintained all this time by a grieving father from Oxnard, whose own six-year old son was killed while riding his bike. Since then, Anthony Novarro has dedicated his life to remembering other bike riding sons and daughters who have lost theirs.

He stops by every few weeks to clean the site, and remember a young man none of us ever knew.

But all ghost bikes are removed or stolen sooner or later; it’s unusual that one lasts this long.

There’s a discussion currently underway to make the memorial permanent by installing a bike rack in the shape of a bicycle in Rapley’s honor.

So far it hasn’t gotten past the discussion stage.

But its another reminder that James Rapley hasn’t been forgotten in the City of Angels, even if he died a stranger to us all.

……..

Something else that hasn’t gotten past the discussion stage yet is a proposal to build the city’s first parking-protected bike lane on that uphill side of Temescal Canyon where Rapley lost his life.

Such protected bikeways were just approved by the state legislature earlier this year, and signed into law by Governor Brown. This would be the ideal location for one, with no conflicting intersections or cross traffic for nearly mile from PCH to Palisades High School.

Whether it would have saved Rapley’s life at that early hour is impossible to say; there may not have been enough beachgoers parking their cars to form a protective barrier so early on a winter weekend.

But it might help prevent a similar tragedy in the future.

And if there’s a better way to honor someone who needlessly lost his life in the few short hours he spent in our city, I don’t know what that would be.

……..

Update: A comment below from Jeffrey reminds us that a memorial fund in Rapley’s name has raised over $15,000 for Australia’s Amy Gillett Foundation to improve bike safety, with a goal of eliminating bicycling deaths. And it tells his all-too-brief life story, letting us know just who this man we never knew was.

More impressively, his family donated his life insurance and joined with friends to contribute over $250,000 to establish a scholarship at Whitley College for a Rural Student studying either Engineering or Science at Melbourne University.

But more funds are needed to increase the amount of the annual award, and help make a difference in the world that James Rapley never got the chance to make.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Guest Columns, Legal Cases / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: New bike shop, Cedillo trades bike lanes for parking, and the heartbreak of a MAMIL wife

December 12, 2014 / / 3 comments

It’s a brand new bouncing baby bike shop.

I’m told a new bike shop has recently entered the world on 3rd Street near La Brea, so say hi to Labrea Bike Works the next time you’re out that way.

Thanks to Beverly Hills bike lawyer Michael Rubinstein for the heads-up.

……..

Local

A Zócalo panel discusses whether LA will ever escape the tyranny of the car. Not without big changes, it won’t.

CicLAvia brings the world to Leimert Park. Or all or LA, anyway.

KCET looks at the comprehensive new San Gabriel Valley bike plan, which is rapidly gaining approval from local governments throughout the area.

Mayor Garcetti’s Great Streets program enters its second phase.

Apparently unable to escape the auto-centric 20th Century, Councilmember Gil Cedillo abandons plans for a Great Street on North Figueroa in favor of more parking, in an apparent attempt to kill long-planned bike lanes for reasons known only to him.

Incycle stores will host toy drives in San Dimas, Pasadena, Chino and Rancho Cucamonga through Saturday.

 

State

San Diego’s repeatedly delayed bike share program will finally roll out in January; no, they really mean it this time.

Santa Barbara kids get new bicycles for the holidays in a Bikes for Tykes program.

Oakland approves protected bike lanes on historic Telegraph Avenue.

 

National

My hometown draws nearly 1,000 riders for their Winter Bike to Work Day.

At least they take hit-and-run seriously in Texas. A Houston woman is sentenced to 15 years for fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist, after claiming she thought she’d hit a tree; no point in pausing long enough to make sure, I guess.

A Missouri mayor has been indicted for deliberately running down a bike rider; he could also face impeachment by the town’s Board of Aldermen.

New York cyclists reject a new victim-blaming safety campaign from the local transit authority.

DC’s mayor stops to help a bike rider involved in a collision.

 

International

The Guardian asks if social equity legislation could force local governments to build roads that accommodate everyone.

A series of bike libraries, not bike shares, will open soon in the UK’s Yorkshire region.

A Kiwi cyclist deconstructs the need for that proposed Smart Helmet, which most cyclists seem to think is pretty stupid.

An Aussie paper looks at the fictional war between motorists and cyclists from both sides of the windshield.

 

Finally…

Repeat after me. If you’re riding your bike after dark with “a little weed” and three outstanding warrants, put a damn light on it already. Who’s the rocket scientist who put parking meters along a Dallas curbside bike lane?

And London’s Daily Mail looks at the heartbreaking tragedy of a MAMILwife.

No, really, I think they’re serious.

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: The Times looks at the need for real bike data; and a crowded weekend calendar of bike events

December 10, 2014 / / 8 comments

The LA Times continues their recent look at bicycling issues with a great article pointing out the need for real data to support the growth in bicycling and bike infrastructure.

And they support it with an interactive map showing the growth in bikeways on an annual basis since 2005; I notice almost all growth occurred after I started this site in 2008.

You can thank me later.

No, seriously, I’m kidding.

But the simple fact is, LA has long fallen down in tracking who rides, where they ride and what happens when they do.

And the result is that council members like Gil Cedillo, Paul Koretz and Tom LaBonge can halt vital bike projects because there’s no data to prove them wrong.

The LACBC has tried to step in to provide stats on bicycling in the city and on select streets. But it should be the city’s responsibility, and only the city has the resources to capture vital data throughout the city.

……..

Lots of great bike events are coming up in the next few days.

Bike SGV invites you to the Grand Opening of their new headquarters this Friday, complete with complementary bike valet.

The annual Midnight Ridazz All City Toy Ride rolls Friday night.

You’re invited to ride and shop in Northeast LA this Saturday. Or enjoy a community bike ride in Cypress Park the same day.

There will be a Kiddie Bike Rally this Sunday at Sycamore Grove Park on North Figueroa; ignore the typo about the date in the headline.

Also on Sunday, there will be a swap meet and racing at the Encino Velodrome, not far from the site of the Santa Cross cyclocross race at Pierce College. Update: Michael from the excellent Centerline Rule website noticed what I didn’t — that event at the Velodrome was last Sunday.

Sunday night will see a tour of ghost bikes and a bike light vigil in Downtown LA.

And mark your calendar for the Love Your Hood Ride in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, sponsored by Bikesanas del Valle, CICLE, Pacoima Beautiful and Metro.

……..

Local

A Santa Monica columnist says bike lanes are to blame for the city’s traffic congestion; silly me, I thought it was all those cars. And never mind that SaMo traffic sucked long before the city even thought about welcoming bikes in an attempt to provide an alternative to, if not reduce, that congestion.

 

State

KPBS says Caltrans is finally entering the 21st Century and discovering that more Californians are biking and walking more, and driving less.

Keep your eyes open, as a number of vintage bikes were stolen from a home in Santa Ana. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Newport Beach police ticket 21 drivers and four bike riders in their new traffic safety crackdown.

A new state legislator from the Bay Area says California cyclists should throw away our red rear lights and reflectors, and use a flashing white rear light instead. Evidently, so drivers would have no idea whether we’re coming or going.

A Marin County columnist insists that bike advocacy in the area has been set back by a) a road raging cyclist and b) a speeding bike rider who crashed into two kids on a bike path. If the same standard were applied to motorists, no one would ever be allowed to drive again.

 

National

This is how doorings turn deadly, as a rider in my hometown is hit by a car when he swerved to avoid an open car door.

Virginia’s Department of Transportation tracks down the owner of a hand cycle that had somehow come loose on a freeway interchange.

Huh? A Louisiana parish lowers the speed limit on a 17-mile recreational trail because an 83-year old woman was killed by a bike rider four years earlier and over 2,000 mile away.

 

International

A Canadian province moves to require helmets for all bike riders after April 1st. And no, it’s not an April Fools joke.

A British Kickstarter takes an enlightened approach to visibility with bike apparel and backpacks that light up after dark.

Rome’s mayor insists he’s going to keep riding his bike despite mafia threats.

Competitive cycling’s governing body promises much needed sweeping reforms, but so far it’s the moral equivalent of vaporware. However, they do raise the prospect of mixed gender competition in the Olympic Games.

A Philippine priest defies his doctors to ride across the country to raise awareness of climate change.

 

Finally…

Forget titanium, what you really need to impress the gang on the weekly beer ride is a racing bike layered in 24 karat gold.

And a new Aussie study says kids are seven times more likely to need brain surgery if they suffer a head injury while not wearing a helmet — especially they’re in a motor vehicle. So where’s the call for mandatory car helmets for kids?

………

Thanks to Jeffrey Fylling and Vanessa Gray for their generous donations to help support this site.

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Guest Post: Deep data analysis reveals the real causes of LA bike collisions

December 9, 2014 / / 11 comments

The key to improving bike safety is understanding how and why collisions occur.

Which has been almost impossible to figure out here in Los Angeles, where no one was keeping track of such vital statistics until recently. Let alone analyzing them.

I tried digging the data out of the statewide SWITRS traffic collision database before giving up, as have others before and since.

Now long-time LA bike advocate Dennis Hindman has dug through data compiled by the Los Angeles Police Department to uncover the causes of collisions — at least as determined by LAPD traffic investigators — with surprising results.

And makes the commonsense suggestion bicycling infrastructure should be installed first where cyclists ride, and collisions occur. At least until we have a fully built-out bicycling network.

I’m sharing the results of Hindman’s investigation, with his permission.

It’s a must read for anyone who cares about bike safety, and ensuring that everyone who goes out on a bike ride comes back home in one piece.

……..

The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data results from 2007 through 2013 have a doubling of commuting by bicycle from 0.6% to 1.2%. Los Angeles Police Department reported 1,335 bicycle collisions in 2007 and 2,413 in 2013. That’s a 81% increase. Although the bicycle collisions have significantly increased, the rate of collisions per total number of bicycle riders has no doubt fallen.

I did a totaling of type of collisions in the first 100 pages (about 500 collisions) of the 484 page 2013 bicycle collision report that mentions each collisions individually and found the reported collision type or primary factor in the collisions to be:

  • 220 broadside
  • 110 wrong side (usually got hit by driver turning right)
  • 146 Right of Way auto
  • 70 stop sign
  • 40 improper turn
  • 48 sideswipe
  • 30 head on
  • 22 rear end
  • 10 improper turn
  • 8 too close
  • 5 improper driving
  • 10 lane change
  • 29 unsafe speed (usually unclear when that refers to bicycle or motor vehicle)

I haven’t seen anything in the report that mentions hitting a parked car door. There are several reports about hitting a parked vehicle though. I’ll try to figure out how many times that occurred in the total. Its much less frequent than getting broadsided.

Right of Way auto and broadside I assume would mean a bicycle running a stop sign or running a red light and a motor vehicle that had the right-of-way hitting the bicycle. I have yet to see a collision report state ROW bicycle, although it occasionally mentions ROW pedestrian.

The report does mention collisions when a motor vehicle was making a right-turn as a bicycle was going straight. I’ll try to see how frequently that occurred in relation to all types of collisions. This also seems to be a small proportion compared to the number of broadsides.

A Los Angeles Department of Transportation bikeway traffic engineer recently stated that they do not do treatments for bicycles at intersections. The bike lanes are striped where there are no crossing points for motor vehicles such as driveways, freeway on and off ramps, and cross street intersections.

The MIT Media Lab made a great looking map of all the LAPD reported bicycle collisions for 2012:

http://youarehere.cc/p/bicycle-accidents/losangeles

When I look at that map it seems to me that the bulk of the LADOT resources for bicycling should be concentrated in the areas of the city where the bicycle collisions are densely packed together. That’s also where the most bicycling occurs. If there are few staff members and a very small budget, then why try to install bicycle improvements across the whole city at once. That dilutes the effect by spreading out the improvements so much that they don’t connect into a network of any sort and the quality of the infrastructure won’t be as good because the emphasis is on quantity.

……..

Hindman followed-up with a brief email providing a little additional information and clarification. 

When I mentioned 70 crashes involving a stop sign it should be stop sign or traffic signal. I’m getting better at understanding the abbreviations in the crash data and hopefully I can tabulate the primary collisions factors and collisions types for 2013. I counted 16 bicycle fatalities for 2013.* One pedestrian was killed by a bicycle rider in 2007 and in 2012, but none in 2013. Both of these pedestrians were in their 80’s.

Spot checking the MIT Media Lab results of 54 bicycle crashes for Van Nuys Blvd I noticed that any time the LAPD bicycle crash data mentions Van Nuys as the primary or secondary street it was counted by MIT as a crash on Van Nuys Blvd. I have to assume that all the street crashes mentioned were totaled the same way.

……..

*Editor’s note: My records show 18 bicycling fatalities in the City of Los Angeles in 2013. The discrepancy may be due to one rider killed in a train collision, and another who was walking his bike when he was hit by a car; it’s possible neither was classified as a bike collision in the LAPD stats. Two of the cyclists killed in 2013 died as a result of doorings. 

 

Category: Best of, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Guest Columns / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: More on Sunday’s CicLAvia, Santa Fe Springs bike rider shot, Dubai site doesn’t get Bono joke

December 9, 2014 / / 6 comments

More on Sunday’s successful South LA CicLAvia.

Across LA offers photos from the day, calling it one of his favorite CicLAvia’s ever. Streetsblog says it was a great day for South LA.

And TJ Knight forwards KCBS-2’s report on the day, featuring his astute and too cute for words daughter around the 1-minute-plus mark.

I’m told turnout may have been a little lighter than previous events, due perhaps to the demands of the holiday season or distance from transit stations. The latter should be improved when the planned Leimert Park station opens on the upcoming Crenshaw Line in a few years.

……..

Local

The Daily News looks at Sunday’s memorial ride for Milt Olin, just one of many fallen riders who should still be with us.

Clear your schedule for Sunday’s Santa Cross at Pierce College in Woodland Hills.

The Santa Monica Lookout looks at the local PD’s crackdown on bad roadway behavior that could endanger cyclists and pedestrians.

A 52-year old bike rider is shot to death in Santa Fe Springs.

 

State

Anaheim opens a new state-of-the-art, bike friendly transportation center. Now if they can just provide bike riders with safe, bike friendly routes to get there.

Santa Cruz County considers guidelines to protect cyclists, pedestrians and disabled travelers during road construction projects, something that seems to be universally ignored here in LA, both city and county.

 

National

The National Journal examines the bicycling gender gap, while City Lab says local bike shops could serve women a lot better.

Peloton says if you want to go faster, switch to an oval chain ring.

Santa Fe’s mayor proposes making the city a safer place to ride a bike.

Now here’s a unique argument. Bike cops at Colorado State University are accused of violating the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable search and seizure by stopping cyclists riding without lights or through dismount zones. Although it would seem both are readily apparent without conducting an illegal search.

My Colorado hometown hosts a Winter Bike to Work Day on Wednesday. Seriously, is there any reason we shouldn’t do that right here in sunny LA?

 

International

A British man suffers a serious injury falling from his bike. So naturally, local officials suggest banning bikes from the town center. I wonder that they’d do if someone tripped.

A Brit bike rider is convicted of dangerous cycling for walking his dog while he rode. The cop, who apparently doesn’t get out much, claims he’d never seen anything like it.

France prepares to crack down on rogue bike riders.

Copenhagenize offers daily updates on Viking Biking, proving that it really is possible to ride all winter, even in less tropic climes. Thanks to my bike riding and formerly Iditarod sled dog racing brother Eric for the heads-up.

Evidently, life is cheap Down Under, where fatally dooring an e-bike rider is only worth a lousy $1,200 fine — just under $1000 US.

 

Finally…

Apparently, Norwegian cyclists wear top hats instead of helmets. A Dubai website doesn’t get the joke that Bono was dressed in Hassidic attire when he had his Central Park bike accident, blaming the clothes he wasn’t actually wearing for actually causing the wreck.

And screw the drones, Amazon tries out Gotham bike messengers for one-hour delivery.

……..

Check back a little later today for a guest post featuring some amazing bike collision stats courtesy of longtime LA bike wonk and advocate Dennis Hindman. 

 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,
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