There’s a new player in LA’s Westside scooter wars.
The Wheels scooter program has started spreading across the US, offering riders the opportunity to sit rather than stand.
Which means a lower center of gravity and greater stability — especially with the wider tires.
Unlike ebikes, there are no pedals, just small pegs to support your feet.
I’m told they’ve been a hit in San Diego, where they’ve already been on the streets for a few weeks. And from what I saw over the weekend, they’re proving pretty popular here as well.
Even if their website doesn’t show up on a Google search.
………
More grist for the great helmet debate.
A new study shows 1,454 bike crash victims were treated at Los Angeles County+USC Medical Center over a three-year period; 70% were injured in a crash with a motor vehicle.
Just 14% of the patients were wearing helmets. Yet the prevalence of significant head trauma was virtually the same whether or not the victims were wearing helmets — 35% of the victims were without helmets, compared to 34% of the patients with helmets.
Something tells me just what that means will depend entirely on whatever you already think about bike helmets.
………
A New Yorker flips the script, calling for no more car lanes until drivers get off the sidewalk.
………
Then there’s this from the dawn of bicycling.
Thanks to Ted Faber for the link.
………
Local
This is who we share the roads with. Pasadena police targeted dangerous driving on Friday, ticketing 158 drivers over a nine-hour period. And for once, not a single mention of a scofflaw bicyclist.
The sharrows on Hermosa Ave in Hermosa Beach have been renamed in honor of former Public Works Commissioner Julian Katz, known in the community for his love of bicycling.
Long Beach is partially closing 2nd Street at the end of the month to remove the median and build a new bike lane between Marina Drive and the Seal Beach city limits.
State
A Cambria bike shop lost over $100,000 worth of bicycles when thieves cut through a wall from a warehouse, making off with over 50 bikes.
Lime is continuing its recent nationwide pullout from the bikeshare business, withdrawing its bicycles from the Bay Area to focus on e-scooters.
A Bay Area transportation columnist displays his windshield bias, doubling down on a request for pedestrians to wear reflective clothing — and carry flashlights — so drivers don’t run them over, despite well-deserved criticism.
National
Trek CEO John Burke pens a lengthy op-ed calling for the bike industry to increase its advocacy efforts and funding. Someone tell him he could always start by buying an ad here. Just saying.
Bicycling recommends the best and worst airlines for bike-riding travelers.
Strava’s new route building app promises to help you find the best route to your destination in any city — even someplace you’ve never been..
Mountain bikers near my hometown call on the county to reverse a ban on ebikes on unpaved trails.
A Denver bike rider won a jaw dropping $52.5 million judgement after he was paralyzed when he was hit by a business truck while riding in a bike lane, then run over by a hit-and-run driver.
Life is cheap in Kansas, where a 19-year old driver got the minimum sentence in the hit-and-run death of a man riding his bike. Note to Hays Post: If you’re going to run a story like that, you might want to mention what that actual sentence was. And no, the car didn’t flee the scene, the driver in it did.
Friends call for improvements after a beloved Boston librarian was killed when she was hit by the driver of a cement truck.
That’s more like it. Atlanta commits $80 million to redesigning city roadways after 75% of people attending community meetings call for complete streets.
New York delivery riders are fighting back against the city’s ridiculous ebike ban, calling it persecution against the mostly immigrant workforce.
The Bieb is one of us, going for a bike ride with his minister in New York.
There’s a special place in hell for anyone who’d rob three New Orleans kids at gunpoint to steal a bicycle.
A 19-year old man is under arrest for the drunken, underage hit-and-run that killed a Louisiana man and injured his grandson as they were riding together.
International
Treehugger says bike lanes are transportation and should be kept clear year-round. While we don’t get snow in LA, our bike lanes are too often blocked by parked cars and trucks, trash cans, sofas, sand and other assorted obstacles.
A British man credits a fall off his bike with saving his life when paramedics discovered a lump that led to a diagnosis of testicular cancer.
Caught on vide: A Scottish bike rider dresses down a pair of cops who drove through a red light, nearly hitting him.
Cork, Ireland officials say yes, several retail shops have closed recently, but the carfree makeover of a downtown street is not to blame.
A Kentucky newspaper asks if it’s safe to ride the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, following last year’s ISIS terrorist attack that left four bicyclists dead, including two Americans.
Mumbai appointed its first bicycle mayor. Which is exactly one more than Los Angeles has.
A New Zealand site looks at the bikelash on the country’s streets, and wonders what can be done to calm drivers’ irrational anger.
A writer says it looks like a bleak future for bike riders on streets dominated by cars in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Finally…
If your girlfriend is pressuring you to pay the electric bill, riding your bike to rob a burger joint probably isn’t the best answer. The Warner Brothers — yes, those Warner Bros — were bike shop owners before they got into the movie business.
And if you’re carrying meth and crack on a stolen moped without a license plate, stay the hell out of the bike lane.
Or better yet, just stay the hell out of the bike lane, period. And off the sidewalk, too.
