Traffic safety deniers Restore Venice Boulevard has become just the latest group to abuse California’s CEQA laws in an effort to keep our streets dangerous and unlivable.
The organization has filed suit under the banner of a newly formed nonprofit group, Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network.
The group is attempting to halt expansion of the Venice Blvd Great Streets project to Lincoln Blvd, as well as what it says are similar projects on Pico Blvd, Motor Ave and Centinela Ave adopted under the Livable Boulevards Streetscapes Plan recently passed by the city council.
The Venice lawsuit, and others like it that were filed in response to the since reversed road diets in Playa del Rey, point out the desperate need for CEQA reform, which was never intended to block non-polluting bikeway projects, or other efforts to cut smog-belching automobile traffic.
They may like Venice Blvd just the way it used to be.
But the city will never survive if we don’t take steps to provide viable alternatives to driving now.
As well as undoing the damage done to our neighborhoods by decades of auto-centric policies on Venice, and countless other streets through LA.
………
Today’s common theme is road raging drivers.
Or more precisely, road raging drivers attacking people on bicycles.
In a five-part Twitter story, a Sacramento cyclist records a driver who buzzed him, then pulled over to threaten to cut his throat. Only to discover that the CHP didn’t really care.
But to her credit, Burbank state Assemblywoman Laura Friedman does.
Let me introduce you to my new friend Rick. Today he felt it necessary to buzz me at high speed while I was in the bike lane. He kindly stopped to tell me that it was my fault and that he was gonna slit my throat.
Oh, and the @CHPSacComm isn’t doing anything about it. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/MuyLAz3PpB
— Paul Mitchell (@paulmitche11) June 27, 2018
He doesn’t give a fuck about @SteveBradford’s 3-foot law for cyclists, but instead believes I’m supposed to have a mirror so I can avoid getting hit by him.
2/5 pic.twitter.com/eCddROuafz
— Paul Mitchell (@paulmitche11) June 27, 2018
And, yeah, he admits that I was in the bike lane. But fuck me anyways for being out on a rural road in the middle of nowhere… with plenty of space for him to pass me safely, and within the law. 3/5 pic.twitter.com/db5NCnrYue
— Paul Mitchell (@paulmitche11) June 27, 2018
And then my new friend Rick suggests an appropriate way for him to resolve the issue would be to slit my throat.
Drivers like Rick shouldn’t be allowed to drive… maybe we impose autonomous vehicles on them. I would feel safer with a Robot driver than a Rick driver. 4/5 pic.twitter.com/N23kefBiIc
— Paul Mitchell (@paulmitche11) June 27, 2018
And, I’m disappointed by the response from the @CHP_HQ who have his name and license plate, have him on video admitting he broke the law and threatening me, but said only they would “maybe” contact him “if they had time.”
P.S. I’m documenting here in case Rick kills someone.
— Paul Mitchell (@paulmitche11) June 27, 2018
Witnesses report that a North Carolina driver appeared to accelerate as he drifted off the roadway and slammed into a bike rider, before fleeing the scene.
A British Columbia bike rider was followed by a horn-blaring driver who pulled over and attempted to intentionally door her.
It’s hard to catch at first, but the rider of a possibly stolen motorcycle swerved onto the wrong side of the road to attempt to kick a British man off his bicycle.
………
Jerry Seinfeld is one of us, as he goes bike shopping with Zach Galifianakisz.
If you see @galifianakisz and Jerry in a bike shop, maybe just say hey instead of filming them. pic.twitter.com/iyVXlJ2Sa0
— Jerry Seinfeld (@JerrySeinfeld) June 27, 2018
………
CicLAvia’s Tafari Bayne demonstrates how to get to the California African American Museum by bike and train.
How do you get to CAAM? Ride along with bike activist @tafarai to find out how he gets to @CAAMinLA. #GoToCAAM pic.twitter.com/Q4yZ7YGX9Z
— Investing in Place (@InvestinPlace) June 26, 2018
………
Local
A group of Ukrainian military vets set out from Los Angeles last month on a 6,200-mile ride across North America to call attention to the ongoing conflict.
Apparently not grasping the concept, Pasadena residents call for more free parking, fewer e-scooters and moving bike lanes to a side street at a meeting to update the General Plan for the town’s central business district, conflicting with requirements for sustainability and improved carfree circulation.
Good piece by Curbed’s Alissa Walker, who says people are not defined by what they use to get around, and that transportation stereotypes can make the streets more dangerous.
CiclaValley makes an escape to Mount Baldy.
State
Sure, tell us again about those entitled cyclists. California voters appear poised to repeal the state’s recent gas tax increase, imperiling plans to repair the states roads and bridges, as well as funding alternative forms of transportation. Seriously, anyone who votes against the gas tax should be permanently prohibited from ever complaining about bad roads or traffic.
San Diego’s mayor, former police chief and a radio host will team together for a 760-mile bike ride down the California coast to raise money for the Challenged Athletes Foundation.
More proof there are still good people in the world. A triathlete competing in the Big Bear Triathlon dropped out of the race to perform CPR on a runner who had stopped breathing, even though he was in second place in the race.
An extreme athlete known as the Bionic Woman stopped in Apple Valley on her attempt to become the first woman with a prosthetic leg to ride unsupported across the US.
Folsom is working to complete the city’s first Class IV protected bike lane, which will be colored red to call drivers’ attention to it.
San Francisco discusses how to bring the Bay Area’s docked bikeshare system to the Bayview/Hunter’s Point neighborhood.
Sad news from Eureka, where a bike rider died a week after he was struck by the driver of a truck. Note to CHP: If the victim was struck by the rear wheels of a timber truck doing up to 35 mph, it really doesn’t matter if he was wearing a helmet. Seriously.
National
A writer for VeloNews says ebikes can be life-changing for bicyclists with a medical condition.
Bicycling talks with famed stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill, and learns the secret to learning backflips.
Writing for Cycling Savvy, a bike rider says it’s safer to get off your bike and walk for a few minutes when drivers are blinded by the sun’s glare.
The rich get richer. Portland bicyclists will get new protected corners and bike lanes at a complicated multi-angle intersection.
A Colorado town is conducting a trial project to determine the effectiveness of sharrows, as well as buffered and separated bike lanes. Because they can’t just look at the results of projects just like those already in use around the world.
Drivers are convinced that plastic bollards along a bike lane in Jackson Hole WY have narrowed the nearly 11-foot traffic lanes and made it impossible to move wide loads, even though officials insist the lanes haven’t been narrowed an inch. A local columnist doesn’t like them one bit.
An Iowa bike rider is dead, and his wife and four-year old son injured, because an 83-year old driver picked the wrong time to adjust his mirror.
An Irish man visits a crash site to call for safe streets, five years after he was nearly killed when a driver hit his bike while riding to work in Cape Cod, leaving him confined to a wheel chair; his father called the police investigation biased after they concluded his son turned in front of the truck. Which is what police investigations usually conclude when they don’t — or can’t — talk to the victim first.
For once, a fallen New York bike rider gets justice, as a drunk driver gets 15 years for slamming into a group of riders participating in a bike tour, killing one and injuring three others; he was fleeing at a high rate of speed after crashing into a car while trying to park.
International
Vancouver bike rental shops are complaining about unfair competition from a Chinese dockless bikeshare system. Which is something SoCal bike rental companies are starting to complain about, as well.
He gets it. A Vancouver writer says there are no winners in the inevitable social media fights over bicycles, but bicyclists are the losers when it spills onto the streets.
An Ottawa news story describes shoaling as sexism in the bike lane. Which is probably true in many cases, even though it happens to men, as well.
Quebec bike riders are now prohibited from wearing earbuds or using an electronic device while riding, while drivers face an automatic license suspension for a second offense within a two-year period for even handling any electronic device.
A Toronto columnist says good intersection design makes it easier for everyone to navigate, whether by two wheels or four. Meanwhile, a Toronto councilor wants the city to investigate using cargo bikes instead of trucks to ship freight.
Unbelievable. An English police chief apologizes to the widow of a fallen bike rider for bungling the investigation into his death; officers never examined the car of the person who claimed to have found him, even though he could be heard over the phone arguing with a woman over whether their car had struck the victim.
An English Premier League referee and his friend rode their bikes 1,700 miles through seven countries to watch England play in the World Cup.
Lime is bringing its e-scooters to Paris with the blessing of city officials.
A new study shows 30% of the people who took part in an Indian ciclovía bought bicycles afterwards.
A South African official warns bike riders to stay off freeways and toll roads that have seen a “dangerous influx of bicycles.” However, given the country’s high rate of violent crime and reports of bike riders being attacked for their bikes and other belongings, it’s understandable that some might prefer to take their chances with high-speed drivers, legally or otherwise.
Kiwi cyclists are applauding $1.1 billion in funding for bike and pedestrian projects.
Competitive Cycling
A new book about America’s only remaining Tour de France winner includes his role in the divorce between Lance and Nike.
Finally…
LA bike riders were lucky to score CLIF Bars; Denver bicyclists get fresh pancakes and breakfast burritos. If you can’t ban cars, just remove their parking spaces.
And where to turn when you feel the need for $5,000 bike socks spun by a rare olden silk orb weaver spider.
