Apparently tired of telling kids to get off his lawn, a curmudgeonly SaMo writer complains about a whopping four — yes, four — Main Street parking spaces that are being converted into parklets, which will evidently prevent anyone from parking anywhere in the neighborhood ever again; he similarly bemoans the parklets and loss of traffic lanes on Broadway in DTLA.
As an aside, the story mentions that the Santa Monica Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday to consider the city’s bike and pedestrian plans, which he’s clearly not in favor of, either.
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Meanwhile, Dr. Michael Cahn forwards this letter copied from the Santa Monica Observer, in which a driver is offended when his attempt to educate and/or enforce bike traffic laws from behind the wheel of his car is met with a predictable response.
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LA’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, the city’s only official voice for bicyclists, meets tonight in the LAPD Hollywood Division Community Room, 6501 Fountain Ave.
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The story of popular Silver Lake Trader Joe’s parking lot attendant Egee Mabolis is picked up by LAist and the Eastsider, following the bicycling injury that left him with no feeling in his arms and legs.
A gofundme account to help defray his medical costs has raised 3/5 of the $25,000 goal.
After all, it is Giving Tuesday.
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Speaking of Giving Tuesday, you can bid on a Silca SuperPista Ultimate Bicycle Pump hand-painted by cycling scion Taylor Phinney, with 100% of the proceeds going to support the Davis Phinney Foundation to fight Parkinson’s Disease. Phinney — Taylor, not Davis — is putting off additional surgery on his badly injured left knee in hopes of competing in next year’s Rio Olympics.
And with a little luck, a $10 donation to the (RED) campaign to fight HIV/AIDS could get you ice cream and ride through Central Park with U2’s Bono.
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Take a few minutes out of your day for this must-read piece from CiclaValley, in which he surprises a driver by saying he was lucky he got in a collision, even with his kids in the car, and even if the red light-running driver who hit him seemed to think it was no big deal.
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Next City offers a much better take on the documentary Bikes vs. Cars than yesterday’s Daily Beast hatchet job; the film opens at the Laemmle NoHo 7 this Friday.
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Local
Bicycling takes a very brief look at LA artist cycling tour guide and bike salesman Adam K. Masters, and how he got hooked on track racing.
Former DC and Chicago DOT chief and current author Gabe Klein calls for creative solutions like protected bike lanes and bikeshare stations to improve transportation in LA, along with a switch to self-driving cars.
A new video from Metro explains how to use the Metro Bike Hub at El Monte Station, which promises to be just the first of several throughout the LA area.
Temple City will consider a proposed redesign of Las Tunas Drive into a more vibrant, safe and people-friendly business district at tonight’s city council meeting; supporters of a more livable, walkable and bikeable street are urged to attend to counter expected opposition.
State
Good read from a cyclist who offers seven lessons he learned from riding 673 miles from San Francisco to San Diego with no idea what he was doing.
Oceanside residents are calling for safety improvements to the city’s main drag following the death of 12-year old Logan Lipton while he was riding his bike to school last month.
The Coronado bike lane madness goes on, as a letter writer says the town doesn’t need bike lanes because they didn’t slow traffic on a street where average speeds were only 28 mph to begin with.
Two local businesses come to the rescue after a burglar steals 26 bikes from a San Francisco middle school.
A San Francisco bike deliveryman comes to the rescue after a women gives birth to a premature baby on the sidewalk.
Stockton is holding a number of public workshops to update their Bicycle Master Plan. Let’s hope they don’t have to deal with lawsuits and recalcitrant councilmembers trying to overturn the public process, like some cities we could name.
National
The Pew Charitable Trusts says bike tourism means business, as cities and states are warming to the economic benefits of bicycling.
Seriously? Oahu residents suggest ticketing bike rental shops when their customers break the law. Which makes no more sense than holding car rental firms accountable when their customers speed or run red lights.
Indianapolis drivers are apparently confused by the city’s first parking protected bike lane.
City Lab says laws prohibiting bicyclists from wearing headphones, like one under consideration in Massachusetts, miss the point. Several writers, including frequent contributor Megan Lynch, beg to differ.
Brooklyn bike riders call for a statewide Idaho stop law.
The Wall Street Journal belatedly discovers that retirees are getting on their bikes. Note to the Journal: 50 ain’t exactly old.
A Philadelphia conference calls for Vision Zero to protect the lives of bicyclists and pedestrians; Toronto discusses the idea, as well.
A Delaware driver faces up to seven years for killing his bike-riding friend in a drunken hit-and-run.
Interesting idea from Florida, as a proposed law would require in-ground safety lights where bike paths cross roadways to alert drivers to the presence of bicycles.
Bighearted Tampa police officers chip in to buy a five-year old a new tricycle after his brand-new birthday bike was stolen in a car burglary.
International
Vancouver, which has made a massive investment in protected bike lanes, is rated Canada’s safest major city in which to ride a bike.
The Yukon tourism board wants you to explore the Great White North by fat-tire bike.
Brit bike riders are being offered a better deal on car insurance because they’re better drivers. Thanks to joninsocal for the link.
‘Tis the season. A bighearted four-year old British girl donates her new birthday bike so someone else can wake up to a new bike Christmas morning.
UK cyclists are being criticized for excessive speeds after single rider is clocked on Strava approaching 30 mph.
It’s a dream come true. Bike riders in one Danish town can outfit their bikes with special RFID tags that turn traffic lights green as they approach so they never have to stop for red lights.
Aljazeera says carless cities are the future of Europe. Maybe the idea will cross over to this country before we’re all old and grey.
A South African cyclist says the way to deal with dangerous roads is to stay off them when you can, and ride facing traffic when you can’t. Which is exactly the wrong thing to do.
Life is cheap in Melbourne, as an Aussie driver is fined a lousy grand for a fatal dooring.
‘Tis the season, too. An Australian town responds to complaints that it has the world’s worst Christmas tree by creating one made out of bicycles.
Finally…
If you’re trying to make your getaway by bike with a meth pipe and stolen guitar, make sure you can ride with it first. Or if you’re going to steal a bike, make sure the owner isn’t still attached to it.
And here’s your chance to ensure the Star Wars fan in your life ride gets to ride with his or her very own R2D2 bike helmet.
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Thanks to Todd Munson for supporting this site by contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday fund Drive.
On the Ozzy cyclist killer, the $1K fine is an order of magnitude more the fine was before the last round of cyclist protests at Parliament. I believe the maximum fine was $147 regardless of if anyone was injured or killed. Not sure of the exact amount but something like that, with no escalation for outcomes like serious injury or death.
Santa Monica Daily Press disabled commenting recently, so unfortunately folks can’t rebut their moronic weekly columnists. I used to regularly point out how inconsistent and illogical his posts are. So either they got sick of me, or the spam “make thousands from home” posts.
I don’t ride with headphones, and don’t think others generally ought to, but if it’s unacceptably unsafe to ride without being able to hear, to be consistent we should also ban the deaf from cycling.
The same should apply to motorists who can’t even hear sirens blaring on emergency vehicles in their hermitically sealed cars and SUVs, let alone with the sound cranked up.