No, you’re not just being paranoid.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released their latest count of US traffic deaths for the first nine months of last year, showing an estimated 31,720 people died in motor vehicle crashes through the end of September.
That’s a 12% increase over the previous year, and the most traffic deaths in 15 years.
Not to mention the biggest one-year jump since they’ve been keeping score.
Things are even worse here in California, which saw a 17.2% increase in traffic deaths for the first nine months of 2021.
Unfortunately, they don’t break out figures for bicycling and pedestrian deaths, so we’ll have to wait to learn just how bad it’s been for those of us who aren’t wrapped in a couple tons of steel and glass, and protected by seat belts and air bags instead of a little plastic hat.
But if you thought it was getting worse out there, you’re right.
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.
………
Unbelievable.
The world may be burning, but Metro is busy erasing bike lanes.
February 2022 update on LA Metro’s joint development project at North Hollywood station. New consolidated transit center with new second subway entrance at current G Line station. Mixed-use development will replace park-and-ride lots and bus facilities.https://t.co/ZsxuPjs0Na pic.twitter.com/oBeTq4S4yP
— numble (@numble) January 31, 2022
Looks like (according to the presentation shared by @numble) @metrolosangeles NoHo redevelopment would eliminate westbound bikeway on the part of Chandler Blvd that runs just south of the station pic.twitter.com/VbD5mpUyzM
— StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) February 1, 2022
………
Yet another reminder to register your bike.
Now.
BIKE RECOVERY:"A Bike Index community member saw the bike locked to a street sign post with a "for sale" sign and recognized it from social media." @CERObikes @stolenbikessfo pic.twitter.com/iAM04YeTrc
— Bike Index (@BikeIndex) February 1, 2022
………
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Even if there weren't multiple laws already on the books stating in no uncertain terms that it's 100% against the law to punish-pass a vulnerable road user (the equivalent of firing a bullet over someone's shoulder) it's still a sociopathic and morally reprehensible thing to do. pic.twitter.com/iMTbeoG18m
— ⛑Accident Bandicoot⛑ (@CarHelmets) February 1, 2022
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Life is cheap in South Africa, where a prominent triathlete was killed and another injured by an alleged drunken hit-and-run driver, who was released on bail due to “lack of evidence;” the driver couldn’t get away because his Porsche was too damaged to drive. Which sounds like pretty solid evidence to me, but what the hell do I know?
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in London’s Hackney district busted 18 people on bicycles for jumping red lights in just 90 minutes, fining them the equivalent of around $68.
………
Local
Los Angeles is hosting tire recycling events in Baldwin Park at the end of this month, East LA next month and the Antelope Valley in April. And yes, they’ll take bike tires and tubes.
Once again, an Apple Watch has called for help to rescue an injured bike rider, this time when a man somehow came off his ebike while riding in Hermosa Beach.
State
A man known as the scraper bike king of East Oakland is working with kids to carry on the tradition of colorful, highly customized bikes, hoping it will help keep them out of trouble like it did him.
National
A new study from the Urban Institute shows that pressuring city officials to build bikeways works.
This is who we’ll soon have to share the road with. Even an automotive site calls for banning the new 840 horsepower Dodge Demon from public roads, calling it a nominally street-legal dragster.
Dockless e-scooter provider Superpedestrian is rolling out a new safety system designed to detect and correct unsafe rider behavior in real time, preventing things like riding on the sidewalk or riding salmon.
Triathlete credits a bike safety campaign featuring triathletes for the White House’s shift to prioritizing bicycle safety.
220 Triathlon considers whether you’d be better off with a women’s bike.
Reno bike riders get a new nearly half-mile multi-use path near the airport. Although it looks like whoever striped it needs to cut back on the weed.
A Denver bike advocate laments the death of what would have been a perfect bike lane, thanks to a whole 17 complaints during the public comment period.
An Ohio letter writer complains about the angry drivers who feel the need to ruin a good bike ride because they don’t understand the law. Or just having a bad day.
The Boston Globe marks Black History Month by remembering Kittie Knox, who integrated the League of American Wheelmen — now the League of American Bicyclists, aka Bike League — in 1893, a year before the organization banned Black members to keep her out.
A writer for Jalopnik totals up what it cost, in dollars and swearing, to rebuild a titanium Litespeed bike abandoned for two years on a Brooklyn street.
A New York photographer documents Gotham bike messengers of the 1990s.
International
More proof bike riders face the same problems everywhere, as bicyclists in Antigua and Barbuda renewed calls for greater consideration on the roads after a 16-year old boy was while killed riding his bike.
Something tells me there will be no shortage of volunteers to become the UK’s first bike lane inspector.
America’s Got Talent star Simon Cowell is still one of us, despite suffering a broken arm and suspected concussion when he pulled an endo hitting a wet patch while riding his ebike in London; he fractured his back in 2020 crashing an electric motorcycle.
That’s more like it. A drunk hit-and-run driver got seven years behind bars for killing a British man riding a bicycle; he was captured when police spotted him from a helicopter trying to sleep it off in a field.
A Scottish transport and health professor explains the changes to Britain’s Highway Code, while stressing that it’s probably not enough to change anyone’s behavior. Meanwhile, a British bike rider says forget the Highway Code, he just wants to get home in one piece.
A Santa Fe man offers advice on what to consider before exploring Germany by bicycle. Pro tip: Stop the page from loading before the paywall pops up.
As if careless drivers weren’t enough to worry about, a Spanish bike rider was seriously injured when he was shot by a hunter, who apparently mistook him for some sort of game animal riding a bicycle.
A European travel site explores Dubai’s 52-mile Al Qudra cycle track, which connects to other bikeways to form a 124-mile route.
Fifty people had to be evacuated from a Singapore housing block when a ped-assist ebike battery caught fire; authorities advised not using third-party batteries or charging them overnight to avoid fires.
Competitive Cycling
Egan Bernal remains in serious but stable condition, as his doctors shift to a focus on pain management to deal with his multiple injuries; Bernal suffered a fractured femur, kneecap, vertebrae and ribs, as well as a punctured lung and chest trauma when he slammed into a poorly parked bus while training in Colombia.
Finally…
When you’re trying to escape the cops with an outstanding warrant, try not to ride head-on into a patrol car. Why ride on dry, dusty mountain bike trails when you could have your very own dust Zamboni — which is exactly what it sounds like?
And shades of the Super Bowl Shuffle.
🎼 Astana Is My Team – Cycling Rap Music Video!
The path to big goals is best started by rallying together as united and motivated team!
Today we are setting the tone for the whole season, which, we are sure, will be successful!#AstanaQazaqstanTeam pic.twitter.com/B13l6JA4gr— Astana Qazaqstan Team (@AstanaQazTeam) February 1, 2022
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
FWIW, LADOT is saying that there will be bikeways as part of the NoHo station redevelopment… but so far no one will give me a map of what they will look like. As far as I can tell, the temporary bike path east of the station will go away – apparently replaced by the bike lanes on Chandler. And, west of the station, there will be an eastbound bike lane on South Chandler and a westbound bike lane on North Chandler. It all sounds OK – but none of this is shown in Metro’s presentation… which makes me wonder if something is missing.