Maybe what LA needs is a good push.
Which is exactly what the LA Times gave it Friday, with a deep dive into the world of bicycle collisions using the CHP’s SWITRS data to identify the ten most dangerous streets for bicycling.
Not surprisingly, Figueroa, which has been in the news far too much lately, makes the list, coming in third, behind only Venice and Vermont, which led the way with 230 bicycling collisions over the past five years.
Others included Western and Sunset, along with the parallel east/west boulevards of Pico and Olympic.
Surprising, Van Nuys is the only street in the San Fernando Valley to make the list, followed by Downtown’s Main Street and Wilshire Blvd.
Going back to Vermont, the paper found that when drivers were found at fault, it was mostly for failing to yield, speeding and improper turns, while riding salmon was the main reason cyclists were blamed for collisions.
And they suggest that separating bikes from cars with protected bike lanes, or at the very least, painted lanes, is a good start if the city’s Vision Zero is going to succeed.
Let’s hope LADOT is listening.
Not to mention the mayor and the city council.
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‘Tis the season.
A Redding group teams with Coke to give 60 bikes to foster kids, as well as recently adopted kids.
An Ohio group donates 246 bicycles through the Toys for Tots program.
When a Pittsburgh PA man wanted to give away a few bikes in honor of his daughter and grandchildren, he went on Facebook asking people to nominate six deserving kids. Instead, contributions poured in to buy more bikes; he’ll now be donating at least 35 bikes to needy kids.
Rhode Island police dip into their own pockets to buy a bike for a young girl after hers is stolen.
A North Carolina group donates three truckloads of bikes to less fortunate kids. Although the local TV station seems to think it was news from the future.
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Don’t make her beg. You only have six more days to support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.
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Local
Voting on where Metro’s new bikeshare stations should be located in DTLA ends at the end of the month.
A UCLA public health website says the new Wilshire Blvd bus-only lanes should be called a bus, bike and a**hole lane due to a lack of enforcement against aggressive drivers who use it illegally.
A new video discusses what the future of LA streets could be, including drone footage of the recent CicLAvia in Downtown LA.
A Santa Monica letter writer suggests making Arizona Avenue a greenway like the new Michigan Ave greenway.
As we mentioned yesterday, Redondo Beach’s Harbor Drive separated bikeway made People for Bike’s list of the nation’s top 10 new bike lanes.
A bystander’s video suggests sheriff’s deputies may have killed a Long Beach bike rider after one of them accidently shot his own partner.
State
The Voice of San Diego looks at what stands in the way of a proposed international bike lane across the border with Mexico. Besides Donald Trump, that is.
The San Jose paper examines at what went wrong with a planned bike & pedestrian bridge in Palo Alto.
National
Honolulu attempts to finance a bikeshare program by asking donors to adopt a bike for $1,000.
Nebraska’s Supreme Court bizarrely rules that a railroad may have been at fault for a boy’s death after he rode his bike around the crossing guards; his mother’s lawyer argued that the first train was too loud for him to hear the second train that killed him, while blocking it from view.
Cincinnati considers a 42-mile bikeway circling the city, though a business writer questions whether supporters will actually see it built in their lifetimes.
Streetsblog remembers the man who saved New York cycling by fighting a 1980s Midtown bike ban.
Bikes really do mean business. September’s world championships in Richmond VA brought in $89 million in direct spending, with a total economic reach of $170 million.
Raleigh NC installs bike lanes and sharrows around the town; naturally, drivers are confused and say cars should come first because there’s more of them. By that argument, people should always come before cars.
A Florida man is shot in the legs when he refused to let go of his bike when four men tried to jack it. Rule number one: Never forget your life is worth more than your bike.
International
A Canadian bike shop is refurbishing donated bikes to give to Syrian refugees when they arrive.
Police are looking for a road raging Brit cyclist who reached into a car and rode off with the driver’s keys. Something I have been tempted to do many times, wrong though it may be.
The owners of the Tour de France reject proposed reforms for pro cycling, and have pulled the race from UCI’s new WorldTour calendar for 2017.
Muslim cyclists in Australia will ride for peace on the one year anniversary of Sidney’s Lindt Café attack.
Finally…
Who needs GPS when your bike seat can tell you where to go. Charlie Brown had a kite eating tree, but at least it didn’t eat bicycles. Or anchors.
And just what every Angeleno needs for LA traffic or the zombie apocalypse — a camo fat bike with a gun rack in the back.
The fat bike with the gun rack made me chuckle.
My roommate works for a well-known bike component company. This year, they had their Christmas party at a place with lots of antique and exotic cars. But they also had some interesting bicycles. One that caught my eye was from the late 1800s and it was a bicycle that was given to people selling Remington rifles. Besides the little “Remington Rifles” sign hanging below the center bar, it also had a place for the salesman to put his rifle as he rode along the old trails of the west.
Unfortunately, unless you were double-jointed, I don’t think there’d be a way to reach behind you and get the rifle while still pedaling.
I thought the LA Times article had very useful information for anyone interested in bike safety.
Along with almost anyone who has sincerely studied the issue,the author called for infrastructure improvements, and I certainly agree. However, infrastructure changes tend to be expensive, controversial and slow to happen. I think there is something the bicycling community can do right now that’s practically free and can save lives right away.
STOP RIDING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!
I think the police should place a higher priority on this law than any other bike-related law. It’s the number one cause of crashes along Vermont and probably other streets, too. However, I can’t imagine that the police will enforce it much. With that in mind, I will continue to do my best to encourage other riders to ride in the right direction, and I hope other concerned riders will, too.