Australia’s Queensland state introduces a hard-hitting ad campaign to drive home the cost of traffic violence.
Here in Southern California, most traffic deaths never even make the news.
Maybe something like this could finally wake people up to the realization that the cost of the unhindered automotive hegemony on our streets is just too damn high.
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Caught on video:
A driver gets lectured by a cyclist after failing to signal and observe the three-foot passing law — and turns out to be the chief of police for St. Paul MN, who took it surprisingly well.
A Florida cop gets an earful when he mistakenly tries to tell a cyclist to get on the sidewalk.
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More kindhearted people in today’s bike news.
An Oregon man scours the local landfill looking for bikes he can fix and give away to children; if he sees kids walking he’ll ask if they need a bike.
Texas police dig into their own pockets to buy a special needs boy a new bicycle after his was stolen by a couple little kids.
Missouri police donate an unclaimed bicycle to a woman who relied on her bike for transportation after it was stolen while she worked as an election volunteer.
South Dakota state troopers pitch in to buy teenage boy a new bicycle after they stopped him walking along a freeway, and learned he had to walk eight miles to work every day.
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The men’s Olympic mountain bike race ended in a mirror finish of the London Olympics; the results left Peter Sagan feeling flat. Meanwhile, the youngest rider on the course won the women’s race.
Mara Abbott writes movingly about coming so close to winning gold in the Rio road race.
Chris Froome is off to a good start in the Vuelta a España following the team time trial.
And any jerk can steal a bicycle; it takes a special kind of jerk to steal a painted cow from the 2012 London Olympic course that was going to be auctioned off for charity.
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Local
Richard Risemberg calls for revolution, one council seat at a time.
Shinola brings their Built-in-Detroit ethos to the Grove. Which it turns out is more of an assembled in Detroit ethos, but still.
Santa Monica’s California Incline will reopen on September 1st with new bike lanes and walkways leading to and from PCH.
Santa Monica will host this year’s Kidical Mass ride on September 17th.
Temple City will install stop signs and other traffic measures to improve safety at the intersection of Rosemead Blvd and Sereno Drive, where a bike rider was hit by a car last year.
State
An Orange County supervisor successfully lobbied for a bike and pedestrian path along a flood control channel to allow kids to get to school and a park more easily.
The lawyer for a Fresno basketball coach who was sentenced to 12-years in prison for the drunk driving crash that took the life of a seven-year old bike rider, and critically injured his 18-month old sister, has filed a motion to withdraw his no-contest plea, arguing that a new video shows no one, drunk or sober, could have avoided the crash.
Hikers, equestrians and environmental groups are joining in opposition to plans to open backcountry watershed trails in San Francisco’s East Bay to mountain bikes.
The executive director of the Marin County Bicycle Coalition says there’s been an alarming increase in drivers deliberately targeting people on bicycles. Anyone threatening a cyclist with a motor vehicle should automatically face a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, and do time upon conviction.
There’s also been a jump in bike thefts in Marin County, with roughly 300 bicycles stolen so far this year.
National
Advice on how to ride a bike with your dog.
An Aussie couple are riding across the US with their autistic son, traveling over 3,000 miles from Washington to Washington. Hopefully, they won’t have to deal with a rampaging raccoon.
Dallas wisely agrees to void a $259 fine for riding a bicycle without a helmet, which isn’t illegal for adults in Texas.
A photographer catches a woman and her bike being washed off a Lake Michigan breakwater.
A young Turkish woman is making what her doctors call a miraculous recovery after being the victim of a hit-and-run while riding her bike in Ohio early last month.
Sometimes a bike is just a bike; this one is more than that to a local St. Louis community.
Plans are gaining speed for a 60-mile bike and pedestrian trail connecting 24 towns along the Delaware River.
Many people who ride across the country do it to raise awareness for a cause. A 50-year old Florida woman raised awareness for 50 causes, one for each of the 50 days of her journey.
International
How to survive bicycling on Bolivia’s Death Road.
Sing a song about bicycling with Shakira, and next thing you know, your own bike gets stolen.
Good news, as the British sportscaster who nearly died from malaria after riding from the UK to Rio has awakened from her coma.
An Edmonton, Canada blogger crunched the numbers to determine that riding in a separated shared path is safer than a painted bike lane. Meanwhile, the Edmonton cyclist who was the subject of racial slurs from a road raging driver and his passengers feels more hopeful after a meeting with the mayor.
Caught on video too: Toronto police are investigating after a cab driver swerved into a delivery cyclist after allegedly arguing with the rider for two blocks.
A Toronto writer says it’s okay to yield during your commute, and a little bit of empathy would benefit everyone. Which should be emblazoned on the inside of every windshield in LA. And on every handlebar.
Inspired by the exploits of the British cycling team, a Welsh reporter takes a stab at track cycling.
Leicester, England, home of the world’s most improbable soccer champs, responds to a cycling fatality by investing £2 million — the equivalent of $2.6 million — in a two-way cycle track along a major roadway. That’s exactly how Vision Zero is supposed to work; we may not be able to prevent all deaths, but we can take steps to keep them from happening again.
Bike Radar issues ten very British, and very amusing, cycling problems.
The rich get richer. Bike-friendly Barcelona commits to spending $36 million on new bike lanes. Which is about $36 million more than LA has committed to support the bike lanes called for in the new Mobility Plan.
Good idea. Malta cyclists call on the government to make it illegal to obstruct bike racks.
Pakistani police allegedly beat two young boys accused of bike theft.
A Muslim Chinese man rode his bike over 5,000 miles to perform the Haj in Saudi Arabia.
Finally…
It’s not unusual to find things while you’re riding; a human skull, not so much. Or an English hyena, for that matter. The very definition of irony: A bicycle honoring the late great Muhammad Ali was stolen from the gym where he got his start in boxing after his bicycle was stolen.
And let’s finish today by watching Coldplay ride BMX bikes around Mexico City.
