This has got to stop.
Hawthorne police are looking for a hit-and-run driver who ran down a 14-year old boy as he rode his bike in a marked crosswalk Friday morning on Rosecrans Ave at Doty Ave.
He was crossing with the light when the driver blew through the intersection at high speed.
And kept going without any apparent thought to the kid he or she left behind bleeding in the street.
The victim is hospitalized with serious head injuries.
Unfortunately, Hawthorne doesn’t share LA’s standing hit-and-run reward system.
But if you know anything, call the Hawthorne Police Department anyway at 310/349-2700.
The sad thing is, though, we already know how to slow traffic and improve crosswalks and intersections to prevent crashes like this. And there are things we could do right now to stop drivers before they flee.
If only our elected leaders had the political courage to actually do something.
But they don’t, and we don’t, because it might inconvenience impatient drivers just a little.
Thanks to Sindy for the heads-up.
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If you’re the driver who hit a bike rider in Palos Verdes yesterday, she’s got your number.
No, literally.
The cyclist managed to stay upright and continued cycling along PV Dr West. The driver of the black car that cut him off took a hike with a woman and a dog. I took a zoomed pix of the driver. Stopped to get the license plate on my way out. @bikinginla Help me find the cyclist pic.twitter.com/BnalUfUGUY
— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng) October 6, 2020
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About damn time.
Police in New York have finally arrested an 18-year old driver who was seen on video arguing with bicyclists taking part in a racial justice ride, before flooring his SUV and intentionally slamming into them.
Driver intentionally runs over cyclists during bike protest heading down 5th Avenue.@StreetsblogNYC @Gothamist @nypost
Clip from: https://t.co/fthOZC3Nce pic.twitter.com/hjBtqsFO82— NYC Bike Lanes (@NYCBikeLanes) October 4, 2020
He was charged with a single count assault and released on a desk appearance ticket.
Just one more example of police and prosecutors failing to take traffic crime seriously.
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Ted Faber forwards news of a newly protected bike lane on Manchester Blvd in LA’s Westchester neighborhood.
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Lime wants to help you scoot to the polls next month.
Lime, the global leader in micromobility, today announced it will provide free e-scooter rides on Election Day, November 3, in an effort to reduce transportation barriers to voting, such as cost, lack of car ownership or COVID-19-related fears over public transit in cities throughout the country. Riders will be able to use the promotional code LIMETOPOLLS2020 to receive two free rides up to 30 minutes on Election Day.
“This is the most important election of our lives,” said Wayne Ting, CEO of Lime. “Healthcare, climate change and the future of so many cities we serve are on the ballot in 2020. At Lime, we’re focused on doing all we can to register voters, ease access to polls, and encourage our riders to vote.”
Offering free rides to the polls is just once part of Lime’s Roll Call initiative to increase participation in this election. The company has partnered with When We All Vote to promote voter registration to riders via email and within the Lime app. They have also joined Power the Polls to encourage riders to become Poll Workers and ElectionDay.org to provide employees with time to cast their vote on or before November 3.
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GCN explains how to remove and fit bike wheels, calling it an essential skill.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
A road raging Portland driver took offense to a bike rider’s request to drive a little better because they both have a right to the road, firing two shots at the person on the bike. And apparently missed, fortunately.
Police in the UK are looking for a BMW driver accused of deliberately mowing down a man on a bike for no apparent reason; fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.
An 18-year old British driver walked with community service despite spitting at a pedestrian, throwing soda at a female jogger then tossing the bottle at 15-year old boy, knocking him off his bike, and hurling an egg at a passerby during a six-month “spate of violence” after passing his driver’s test. But other than that, he was a prince, right?
No bias here. After a vigilante Scottish driver punched a bike rider for attempting to filter past a long line of stalled cars, the only one held accountable was the guy on two wheels — for swearing at the driver who hit him.
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Local
Have a direct impact on our streets and your community by volunteering to fill an existing vacancy on your local Neighborhood Council.
Streetsblog looks at how Metro is retooling Westside Metro Bike bikeshare to get rid of the current smart bike system.
Streets for All is hosting a virtual happy hour with StreetsLA General Manager Adel Hagekhalil next Wednesday.
Speaking of Streets for All, they’re asking for your support for a protected bike lane on San Vicente Blvd between Fairfax and La Brea; answer this survey to voice your views.
Great Instagram post about Manny Silva, LA’s godfather of lowrider bikes.
Unbelievable that in 2020, we’re still planning to tear down people’s homes in Downey in order to widen freeways, as if induced demand didn’t exist.
State
Huntington Beach has followed Long Beach’s lead in attempting to ban bike chop shops by prohibiting the repair and sales of bikes and bike parts on city property (scroll down). Good intention, but that means you’d be breaking the law if you stop in a park or sidewalk to fix a flat or dropped chain.
A San Luis Obispo woman could face charges for the Tuesday morning hit-and-run that left a Los Osos bike rider with major injuries.
San Jose has passed a new plan calling for 550 miles of bikeways within the next five years, with just 140 miles remaining to be built. Unlike Los Angeles, where the 2035 bike plan has already been tossed aside with 15 years still to go.
More on Contra Costa County’s new $150 ebike rebate program, which should be expanded statewide. Meanwhile, Rice University’s Kinder Institute gets it, calling for ebike rebates to help people replace car trips with bikes.
Walnut Creek’s Rivendell Bicycle Works is taking their own step to provide reparations to address racial inequity, with a 45% discount for Black customers.
Over 3,600 people took part in the Bay Area’s Bike to Wherever Days, despite the pandemic and ongoing fires.
National
Sad news, as the publisher for Bike Magazine, which we frequently link to here, takes what could be a permanent pause in publication unless circumstances for print publications improve dramatically; the shutdown also includes sister titles Powder, Snowboarder, and Surfer magazines.
Your next bike shipping container could be made of cardboard.
Fifteen more for your bike bucket list, as Fodor’s Travel lists America’s most scenic bike trails. None of which are in Southern California, of course.
A Denver couple takes ghost bikes a step further, installing a ghost motorized wheelchair in honor of a disabled man killed while trying to cross a busy street.
Colorado Public Radio looks at a man’s 500-mile bike ride to remember the Colorado plane crash that killed nearly the entire Wichita State football team, 50 years after he went down on that plane with his teammates.
MIT compares the benefits of bikeshare and e-scooters, awarding the win to dockless scooters, at least in terms of popularity.
A New York attorney says a five-figure settlement with the city is proof that the shared bike and pedestrian pathway on the Brooklyn Bridge is dangerously overcrowded and must be improved.
Good news from Florida, where a local foundation started to honor a young car crash victim donated $1,300 to buy a new three-wheeled bike for a man with cerebral palsy after his was stolen last week.
International
A writer for Electrek examines what he calls a typical Asian-style ebike, while retailing for just $700.
Bicycling offers tips on how to save big on Amazon Prime Day. Although it looks like you’re on your own if you get blocked out by the magazine’s draconian paywall this time.
Canadian DJ Mike the Alien suffered a tragic mountain biking crash last weekend, paralyzing him from the waist down; a crowdfunding campaign has raised over $109,000 for his medical care.
A new insurance report says more bike lanes could help get another 15.7 million Brits on their bikes. Imagine what it could do in LA, where the weather is a hell of a lot better.
Ireland’s transportation minister says bicycling is safer than many people think, calling it statistically safer that it was 20 years ago.
A new app ensures a green wave for Düsseldorf, Germany bike riders, giving them a green light at over 70% of the city’s intersections.
Maggie Gyllenhaal is one of us. And so is her husband Peter Sarsgaard, as they go for a nearly incognito bike ride in Greece.
Russian bicylists ride nearly 700 miles from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Russia in 16 days, to help plan a route for an upcoming bike path.
That’s more like it. A New Zealand man got more than eight years behind bars for the drunken, high-speed and coke-fueled hit-and-run that took the life of a bike-riding father — then borrowed a woman’s phone to report his van stolen in a failed attempt to avoid responsibility for his crime.
Australia’s Victoria state has adopted the metric equivalent of three-foot passing law, becoming the final Aussie state to adopt a safe passing distance.
Competitive Cycling
A pair of American cyclists have pulled out of this week’s mountain bike world championships after testing positive for Covid-19.
Amazing photo finish in yesterday’s Giro stage, with the winner determined by millimeters.
For once, it wasn’t a race moto that injured a cyclist in yesterday’s Giro — it was a low-flying helicopter that blew debris onto the course, resulting in serious injuries to Italy’s Luca Wackermann, including a possible fractured vertebrae.
American domestic cyclist Sean Gardner smashed the world Everesting record, becoming the first to drop the record below seven hours at 6:59:38.
Finally…
Evidently, there is such a thing as a scofflaw bike shop. Not to mention scofflaw ball-chasing cocker spaniels.
And watch out for low flying trees.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already.
