Once again, the CHP gets basic bike law completely wrong.
After a 13-year old Temecula boy was right hooked by a driver while riding his bike on the sidewalk on his way to school, a CHP officer blamed the victim, stressing that he was riding against traffic.
Except there is no right or wrong way on a sidewalk.
As any pedestrian can tell you, sidewalks are bidirectional, with no requirement to walk one way or the other.
The same holds true for riding a bike — assuming sidewalk riding is legal there. The requirement to ride with traffic only applies if you’re riding in the street.
If the CHP can’t manage to teach their officers that, maybe they shouldn’t be investigating bike crashes.
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Phil Gaimon gets it.
His latest video calls for everyone who rides a bike in LA to sign the Healthy Streets LA ballot petition, which would require the city to build out the mobility plan whenever a street on it is repaved.
And it doesn’t hurt that he features a recent story from this site, even if it was bad news.
Although you may have to suffer through an ad or two first.
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Gravel Bikes California offers what they describe as bulls, bees and buffoonery, and the madness that’s the pure joy of gravel.
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Proof that a separated bike lane is no guarantee against being the victim of a hit-and-run.
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Now that’s a close pass.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Florida driver will apparently get away with killing a man riding his bike on the shoulder of a highway, despite veering all the way off the roadway to strike the victim, who police say did nothing wrong. And despite the driver’s long record of traffic violations and license suspensions. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until they kill someone.
A 71-year old Welsh driver was convicted of backing into a group of bicyclists following a punishment pass, while calling them “English bastards.” The joke’s on him though, since one of the riders was Dutch.
Someone is stealing the protective iron barriers from the world’s longest continuous bike lane in Turkey.
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Local
A Metro board motion once again reaffirms that funding for the now cancelled 710 Freeway extension will go for multi-modal and safety enhancement projects, rather than the auto-centric projects the head of Metro’s Highways Program keeps insisting on.
State
A San Diego woman beats the odds by taking to her bike after nearly dying from an infected heart valve, with her husband of 40 years riding by her side.
San Mateo proves that it is possible to build out a bike plan while overcoming objections from residents over a loss of street parking; the city approved a plan to install bike lanes on three streets, as well as building three separate bike boulevards, while removing 170 parking spaces to make room for the project.
Berkeley approves plans to install a bus lane on Telegraph Ave, while building protected bike lanes on three nearby streets.
A Berkeley bike advocate reflects on her brush with death when she was struck by a driver while riding bikes with her son last year.
National
Bicycling recommends the best bike tubes for all types of bicyclists, including one that’s pretty in pink. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
A couple in their 60s shares what they learned riding a tandem 3,800 miles across the US. Although the first lesson should be how to get past the Wall Street Journal’s draconian paywall.
VeloNews examines how Black style is transforming cycling culture.
A Portland website tells the tale of the city’s 1890s bike factory, which was originally opened to build an ether-powered bicycle, which was dropped when they couldn’t keep up with demand for pedal-powered bikes.
Clearly, a sidewalk is no protection from a drunk driver, as Tucson AZ bike rider was killed when a reckless DUI driver veered onto the sidewalk he was riding on; in an unusual development, the driver was also hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
The body of a Colorado man was just recently discovered and identified, after he went missing on a. bike ride last September.
Houston moves forward with plans for a road diet and bike lanes, despite last minute opposition to the project after three years of public meetings.
A New York op-ed says the city must commit public funding to expand the Citi Bike bikeshare system, noting it’s the city’s only transit network that doesn’t receive financial support.
DC considers adopting the full Idaho Stop Law, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights like stop signs, while also banning right turns on red.
Bighearted residents of Biloxi, Mississippi pitched in to crowdfund a new bike for a 76-year old man who relies on a bike for transportation, after his was stolen.
Kindhearted Florida cops bought a new bike for a young girl after hers was stolen, and they couldn’t recover it.
Another bike rider was caught dangling from a Florida draw bridge, but fortunately, this one survived.
International
No surprise here. A new review of 170 studies from around the world confirms that cities where where walking and bicycling are safe and convenient have a lower rate of diabetes and obesity. Although you’ll have to sacrifice your privacy and sign up to view the story.
Despite adopting a constitutional amendment enshrining the right to safe mobility, Mexico’s car-centric infrastructure continues to put bike riders and pedestrians at risk.
Road.cc offers advice on how to stop the dreaded speed wobbles, which can be scary as hell when they come for you.
A British man was finally able to overcome his fears and get back on his bike, three years after he was injured by a driver in a 2018 terrorist attack.
The war in Ukraine hits home for the bicycling community, as video posted to social media appears to show a bike rider hit by a missile strike. Although there are a lot of fakes circulating now, so take anything you see, read or hear with a big grain of salt.
Competitive Cycling
Despite drawing over 300,000 spectators, hosting the Grand Depart of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire, England has shown no lasting financial benefit.
Finally…
Your next bike lock could be your bike. That feeling when your cat becomes a star for riding around town with you.
And why you’ll never beat Peter Sagan if you have periods.
No, really.
🥴 @FlandersClassic pic.twitter.com/XAMsKBgzxT
— amylaurenjones (@amylaurenjones) February 24, 2022
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
