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As usual, we’ll be taking off between the holidays to spend time with family and do a little work behind the scenes. But as always, we’ll be available to bring you any breaking news in the meantime.
Please accept my best wishes for joyful Christmas, and a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
And ride safely. I want to see you back here bright and early on January 2nd.
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Despite the claims of opponents, who seemed to be operating from their own set of alternative facts, the newly configured road has resulted in far fewer serious crashes, while carrying just as much traffic, just as quickly, as it did prior to the new design.
In fact, peak travel times are only 30 seconds slower than before.
But while bicycle counts dropped 16 percent, the number of people walking on the street jumped by a full third over the year before. And Mar Vista business is booming.
So much for the specious claim that no one goes there anymore.
This is what one reader, who forwarded the video to me, had to say.
I’m sure you saw this, but Bonin just sent out a pretty encouraging video on Mar Vista Great Streets.
The 1-year LADOT report is apparently favorable on safety, bike/ped/scooter volumes, and (even) car travel times. (Not sure if the report is out yet.) Seleta Reynolds is recommending that the street configuration (i.e., bike lanes, I think) be made permanent, with Bonin recommending that as well.
They had some big numbers about business activity & business openings being *way* up year-on-year. (My take is this probably has more to do with the macroeconomy than the bike lanes, but it at least proves that bike lanes haven’t “killed” Mar Vista)…
Bonin also announced a bunch of traffic changes to reduce cut-through traffic on the side streets around Venice/Centinela, including some protected left turns and longer right-turn pockets on the arterials, as well as more stop signs on Victoria & Charnock.
I was hoping it’d be an announcement about more protected bike lanes, but after the last couple years, anything that’s not moving backward feels (alas) like a victory.
Unfortunately, the report hasn’t been released, and no word yet on when it will come out. Correction: The report was released the same day as the video; you can read it here. Thanks to Eric B for the heads-up.
And I’m sure whenever it does, opponents will once again deny virtually everything in it, just as they’ve done for the last year since the project was installed. Note: The traffic safety deniers are already hard at work in the comments to the YouTube video.
But maybe, just maybe, we can finally get city officials to start making decisions based on actual facts and real world experience, instead of just listening to whoever screams the loudest.
It goes on to say defensive walking is not the antidote for the city’s high rate of pedestrian deaths.
Or bike deaths, for that matter.
Because, while we all need to take practical steps to protect ourselves, the real problem is cars, and the distracted and overly aggressive people in them.
And dressing up like a glow-in-the-dark clown isn’t the answer.
It should also be pointed out that every corner has crosswalk in every direction, painted or not, unless crossing is specifically prohibited with posted signage.
And jaywalking isn’t against the law unless there’s a signalized intersection on both ends of the block.
Too bad the LAPD doesn’t seem to think any of that is worth mentioning.
The LA Timesexamines the practicality of Elon’s Folly, the underground tunnel system he promises will whisk cars at high speeds underneath Los Angeles. Although I’m in favor of anything that would get more cars off the streets, even if that means sending them down into the bowels of the earth.
The former sex change capital of the world — and the halfway point by rail between Los Angeles and Chicago — will host the first Southwest Chief Bicycle and Comedy Festival next May, combining a “love of the outdoors, bicycle fetishism and the obligatory live entertainment-and-partying.”
Honda is testing a smart intersection system in an Ohio city that warns drivers if a pedestrian or bicyclist — or a red light running driver — is about to cross their path. But only if they have the connected car system installed.
Bikes are being stolen from an English train station because the bike racks are merely bolted to the ground, allowing thieves to simply remove the bolts and walk off with the still-locked bicycle. Which is why you should never use a rack unless it’s embedded in the concrete.
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New York added nearly 21 miles of protected bike lanes in 2018, for a total of 45 in the past two years. Meanwhile, Los Angeles only added the semi-protected MyFigueroa.
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December 19, 2018 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Fun uses for bikeshare, help a middle school win safer streets, and left hooked in the bike lane
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You can do a lot with bikeshare. Including using it as a moving van.
Thanks to Dan M and Sean M for their generous donations to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to keep this site coming to your favorite screen every morning!
Any amount will help, and is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small.
Or if you own a business, consider buying an ad on BikinginLA to show your support for this site, while you spread your message to thousands of bike riders in Southern California and around the world.
Not to mention you can write off the full cost as an advertising expense on next year’s taxes.
The field has gotten more crowded in the past weeks, as Jump has dumped both ebikes and e-scooters onto the streets, while Lyft and Razor — yes, that Razor — have jumped into the LA scooter wars.
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Cycling Savvy has released a new video just for California bike riders spelling out our legal right to take the lane under most circumstances.
As instructor Gary Cziko explains,
“The exceptions to the far-to-the-right requirement of CVC 21202 provide clear recognition by the vehicle code that bicycling far to the right often exposes bicyclists to unnecessaryrisk, and makes it legal to avoid this risk by controlling the lane.”
An op-ed in the LA Times says Los Angeles doesn’t have to be a city of parking lots, in part thanks to bicycles, bike lanes and the growth of micromobility. UCLA parking meister Donald Shoup has said DTLA has more parking per acre than anywhere else on Earth. So why are we wasting valuable curb space to provide car storage at the city’s expense when it could be put to better use?
The CHP highlights changes in traffic laws on January 1st, including one that removes any doubt that bike riders are subject to hit-and-run laws on Class 1 bikeways. In addition, bike riders under 18 will now get fix-it tickets if they’re caught riding without a helmet, while adults will no longer need one to ride an e-scooter. But you still can if you want.
Uber executives were warned in advance that its self-driving cars were too dangerous not long before one hit and killed Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona. That jackpot sound you hear is her lawyers calculating just how much that bit of information will cost Uber in the inevitable settlement.
A rose by any other name. London will rebrand their cycle superhighways to “detoxify” the image that they’re nothing more than motorways for Lycra louts.
VeloNewstalks with the incredible Katie Compton about her 15th consecutive national cyclocross title. Next year they should just hand her the trophy, and let everyone else fight it out for second place.
Or you could just buy five to ten pretty damn good bikes, instead.
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Give today, and join the 37 generous people who’ve already given their hard-earned money to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy. And help keep this site coming your way every day.
Any amount will help, and is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small.
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Not to mention you can write off the full cost as an advertising expense on next year’s taxes.
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The death of an Australian tourist on an LA roadway has led to safety improvements Down Under.
Something like that would probably require a law change here. But it might finally get California drivers to put down their damn phones and pay attention to the road ahead of them.
And possibly avoid thousands of needless deaths and injuries every year.
Then maybe Rapley’s death won’t have been in vain.
On a related note, I worked with Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office and LADOT to push for a parking-protected bike lane on the uphill side of Temescal Canyon where Rapley was killed.
However, the plan LADOT developed for a road diet on Temescal with a protected bike lane on the uphill side and a separated bike lane on the downhill side met local opposition from Palisades homeowners in its only public presentation.
And was quietly shelved following the tumult over the Playa del Rey road diets in Bonin’s district.
Let’s hope sanity returns someday, and the plan can be revived before anyone else gets killed.
No word on whether the victim was injured, or how badly.
But fair warning, before you push play, be sure this is something you really want to see. The video is graphic and disturbing, and you can’t unsee it.
Surry Hills: Dashcam on a bus has caught the moment a driver hit a cyclist before running a red light and clipping a pedestrian and van. The driver tested positive to methylamphetamine. @jessicaridleytv#7Newspic.twitter.com/zcBIpOJGDq
This is the cost of traffic violence. Two nine-year old girls are battling for their lives after suffering “massive” head trauma in a street racing crash; one driver was arrested, while the other fled the scene.
An Orlando FL plastic surgeon says bike riders have to be taught traffic laws, and the laws have to be enforced to improve safety. In other words, he’s blaming the people on bikes for getting hit by cars, and not the people who hit them.
Troubling piece from a gay couple who biked along the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland as Brexit throws the border into question, and find gay people hidden deeply in the closet and a revival of the conflict between Catholics and Protestants waiting just under the surface.
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Friday morning, I received an email from Richard Rosenthal saying that he had seen what appeared to be the aftermath of a bicycling collision on Anaheim Street in Wilmington.
He was on his way to work when he saw the street blocked in both directions, a police tent pitched on the median, and a bicycle lying next to it.
Despite reaching out to a number of sources, I was only able to confirm that someone had died there, but not what happened or whether the victim was riding a bike at the time.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver reportedly continued without stopping. However, if the crash happened the way the station describes, it’s possible he or she may not have been aware of it.
Although it’s hard to understand why a bicyclist would have ridden into the side of large truck like that, or how he ended up on the center median if he hit the right side of a westbound truck.
It seems more likely that he may have been riding across the street when the driver cut him off, knowingly or otherwise.
Police are looking for a truck with a light-colored cab and dark brown trailer. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.
This is at least the 51st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 25th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
My deepest sympathy and prayer for the victim and all his loved ones.
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Today’s common theme is bikeshare and scooters, both docked and free range.
Pleasanton plans to temporarily install a protective railing along a sidewalk that’s nothing more than a painted stripe on the street, to improve safety for kids walking and biking to school; long-term plans include widening the road to install bike lanes and a concrete sidewalk.
People for Bikes is hiring for three positions in DC and Boulder CO. If I could still work regular hours, I’d take the marketing director position and let everyone else fight for the other two.
Bicycling explains why you should approach your diet more gingerly. Ginger has been more effective than muscle relaxants when my lower back goes out. Which thankfully doesn’t happen as much as it used to.
Virginia Tech rates the latest batch of bike helmets for their ability to reduce linear acceleration and rotational velocity; once again, the $200 Bontrager Ballista MIPS came out on top.
Bike Biz says safety goes beyond bike helmets, and recommends daytime running lights to alert distracted drivers to your presence so you won’t need one.
According to Palm Springs TV station News Channel 3, a bike rider was killed in Rancho Mirage this morning by a speeding driver, who claims he was trying to get away from someone who was attempting to run him off the road.
Sure, let’s go with that.
The victim was struck at the intersection of Ramon Road and Rattler Road around 6:49 am. A photographer for the station who witnessed the crash reported that the victim was rear-ended as he was riding east on Ramon Road, with the force of the impact sending him cartwheeling through the air.
The young driver of the white Honda Accord reportedly overcorrected as he was speeding down the road, swerving to the right and slamming into Campbell’s bike. He was handcuffed and taken into custody.
Another driver reportedly stopped at a gas station a little further down the road, lending credence to reports that a second vehicle was involved.
While road rage is a possibility, street racing is as well, especially since the crash occurred near a high school.
