Pick your ponies and place your bets.
The Los Angeles City Clerk has posted the latest list of candidates filing for the city’s June primary election.
Like most California elections, not everyone is a serious candidate. But there are some genuine choices hidden among the clowns and wannabes.
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No, Vision Zero is not “impossible.”
LA Times columnist Robin Abcarian writes that eliminating traffic deaths is a worthy, but impossible, goal.
The goal is worthy, but why go out on a limb with a big, bold promise that is so obviously doomed to fail?
In Australia, at least, they call the effort “Toward Zero,” which seems more realistic…
As long as there is traffic, there will be traffic tragedy, especially in a car-centric city like ours, where you cannot drive an inch without seeing distracted drivers holding phones. How many times have you been stuck behind a car at a red light that doesn’t move when the light turns green because the driver in front is poking at a screen? At least while they aren’t moving, they aren’t killing anyone.
The obvious problem with that attitude is the question of just how many deaths are acceptable as the cost of just getting from here to there.
Graphic by tomexploresla
And if that number is anything other than zero, which of your loved ones are you willing to sacrifice to the motor vehicle gods?
Which makes it clear that one is the only acceptable answer.
Abcarian’s right that we may not get there today. But it’s up to all of us to do everything we can to make sure we get there tomorrow.
To her credit, she does identify one of the biggest problems with Vision Zero, with each of the city’s 15 councilmembers free to implement their own vision of how to end traffic deaths, or the lack thereof.
As well as the lack of alignment between the city and county, with Los Angeles aiming for 2025 — just three years from now — while the county aims to end traffic deaths a decade later.
Never mind the other 87 cities that call LA County home.
But the solution to that is to coordinate, not forget it. Then give the city and county transportation agencies the power to override individual councilmembers and supervisors to do what needs to be done to save lives.
Which also serves to shield our elected officials from blame by angry drivers, which is what some of them really care about, anyway.
And while we’re at it, someone please tell Ms. Abcarian the difference between a crash and an accident.
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Southern California’s serial killer highway has claimed yet another victim.
Pedestrian killed on PCH in #newportbeach across from A Restaurant. Northbound lanes shut down. Police say white SUV is involved @cbsla #cbsla #fatal #PCH pic.twitter.com/fKdp7PyIdl
— michele gile (@michelegiletv) February 9, 2022
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Pass the word, teens can grab a quick Benjamin from Walk ‘n Rollers for customizing a bicycle.
High Schoolers: Want to earn $100?
Apply today to customize a bike at our 10th Birthday Party. Deadline to submit your design is March 4th. Visit https://t.co/3SyIA3oA9p to apply#Art #Creative #Artists #students #HighSchool #WNR10 #WalkNRollers #WalkNRoll #WalkandRollers pic.twitter.com/Epvahg0587— Walk 'n Rollers (@WalkAndRollers) February 9, 2022
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Remember, you always need a truck or SUV to go to the hardware store.
https://twitter.com/Matticusssss/status/1491592225007935490
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Sometimes it’s not who we share the road with, but what.
https://twitter.com/WarrenJWells/status/1491487543455465472
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Here’s that great East Side Riders video we weren’t able to embed yesterday.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Someone in newly bike friendly San Diego clearly doesn’t get it, ruling that no action is necessary for a traffic signal clearly designed to thin the herd by encouraging drivers to turn left through a bike lane while bike riders still have the green. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.
There’s a special place in hell for the couple who flipped off a bike-riding Florida boy as they passed him in their car, then whipped a U-turn and threatened him with a gun when he responded in kind, before proceeding to pistol whip and slap him repeatedly; they were arrested after the boy managed to record video of the couple, along with their car and license plate.
A 67-year old Scottish man was left shaken after a construction worker pelted him with cement when he stopped his bike to ask if they had a permit to block an Edinburgh bike lane with a cement mixer.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A thirsty armed robber helped himself to cash and a canned drink from a Houston convenience store before making his getaway on a baby blue bike.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman takes a hard look at mayoral candidate and current Councilmember Joe Buscaino’s motion to crack down on bike chop shops, which could also catch legitimate bike repair in its wide net. Including if you decide to fix your own bicycle outside on a sunny day, if it’s too broadly written.
Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton checks out the new bike lanes on Yosemite Drive in Eagle Rock.
This is who we share the road with. A Manhattan Beach man claims a driver ran him over in a grocery store parking lot, then backed up and ran over him again, in a dispute over face masks that began inside.
Camilla Cabella is one of us, taking a bikeshare ride through the streets of LA with a “mysterious” friend. Oh, and she likes ice cream, too.
Rihanna showed her generosity Sunday, stopping by the West Los Angeles VA Campus with practical, needed gifts for homeless vets, including bike locks.
State
The annual Tour de Palm Springs returns to the Coachella Valle this weekend, with safety measures and law enforcement in place to hopefully keep participants safe, which hasn’t always been the case.
A 55-year old Navy vet is suing Caltrans, Bakersfield and Kern County after he was injured riding his bike into an open manhole on a Bakersfield sidewalk, which was left unmarked by orange cones or other warning devices.
The US Forest Service settled a lawsuit by agreeing to allow ebikes on non-motorized trails in the Tahoe National Forest.
National
Yes, please. A quartet of Democratic congressmen urged the president to request full funding for the new Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program in the next budget, which would provide $200 million a year for five years for biking and walking projects.
US ebike sales are on their way to one million units a year in the US, and one billion worldwide.
A new lawsuit accuses Peloton of bullying competitors and entering into sham agreements to secure its market position.
In a case of real life imitating art, actor Bob Odenkirk revealed his near-fatal heart attack came as he was riding an exercise bike on the set of Better Call Saul, which may or may not have been the same make that killed Mr. Big in HBO’s Sex and the City reboot, and nearly killed Mike “Wags” Wagner on Billions.
Talk about Viking biking. Try riding an ice bike across Wisconsin’s frozen Lake Winnebago in 13° weather.
Frightening story from New York, where a man called the NYPD to report a parked truck illegally blocking a bus stop, and immediately started getting death threats from the truck’s owner — even though his call should have been confidential.
International
Treehugger recommends their picks for the best bike cargo bags.
Towing your kids in a bike trailer may not be good for their lungs, as a new British study shows the lower position exposes them to more pollution that someone on a bike seat.
No bias here. And no surprise, either, as a new study from the UK shows that drivers and bike riders are treated differently by the press following a crash.
British bicyclists rode to protest a “discriminatory” daytime ban from the Bedford town center, which resulted in 3,200 fines for the equivalent of $107 — including one issued to a man on the second week of his around-the-world bike tour.
Now bike thieves aren’t even waiting until the bikes are assembled. Thieves hijacked 10,000 Shimano ebike parts by gassing the driver at a German service station.
Pakistan’s Associated Press captures a photo of an old man selling bundles of traditional handmade brooms from his bicycle.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai is one of us, riding with a group to check out a new beachfront bike path. And yes, I included that one just so I could use his full title.
Competitive Cycling
Black cycling legend Major Taylor’s 119-year old wood-rimmed Peugeot bike is returning for an exhibit at the Indiana State Museum in his Indianapolis home town.
Tadej Pogačar is back on his bike after testing positive for Covid.
We Love Cycling looks at inter-generational cycling dynasties.
In a scene straight out of Breaking Away, a local Colombian kid falls in and holds his own alongside Rigoberto Urán and Tom Dumoulin on a training ride. Except they don’t put a tire pump through his spokes.
Mini ciclista colombiano treinando com @UranRigoberto e @tom_dumoulin pic.twitter.com/RumHeq7FNn
— O País Do Ciclismo (@opaisdociclismo) February 7, 2022
Finally…
When you’re carrying meth on your bike with several outstanding felony warrants, maybe try not to make your escape through a snow-covered field.
And enough said.
https://twitter.com/schmangee/status/1491506749794361345
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
