BikinginLA

They get it.

Sort of.

State legislators in New York have proposed a bill that would require habitual speeders to install a speed limitation device on their cars, similar to an interlock device for drunk drivers.

“We are going to literally force you to slow down by requiring you to install a speed limiter on your car,” bill sponsor state Sen. Andrew Gounardes warned reckless drivers on Tuesday during a press conference at the Atlantic Avenue intersection where a speeding driver killed Katherine Harris, 31, in April.

The proposal comes amid an historically deadly year for city streets, in which 132 people have died in crashes so far, including 49 pedestrians. Speed limiters have been shown to reduce traffic deaths by 37 percent, supporters said, citing a report from the European Transport Safety Council.

So far, so good.

But the devil, as they say, is in the details.

Like a particularly devilish requirement that the law doesn’t kick in until a driver receives at least six speeding tickets in a single year.

As if you can’t kill anyone by driving too fast until the seventh time you get caught. Never mind that virtually no one only speeds once or twice.

Or that most drivers routinely exceed the speed limit, at least here in Los Angeles.

The other devilish detail is that even with the device installed, drivers could still speed by 5 mph over the post speed limit. Because evidently, requiring drivers to actually observe the speed limit is cruel and unusual punishment.

But it’s a good start.

And something like that would make a great companion piece to the proposed speed cam pilot project here in California.

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KCAL News led off last night’s broadcast with a report on a dangerous bump caused by a tree root on the LA River bike path. which has already injured a number of bicyclists.

And yet, the city has done nothing to fix it, despite repeated requests going back a couple years.

Which means that every injury caused by the raised, cracked pavement could cost exponentially more to settle, because lawyers can easy show that officials were aware of the problem, and let it continue to cause injuries, anyway.

Meanwhile, the LA city council is considering a $60 million contract with Metro to build a 13-mile segment of the Los Angeles River bike path in the San Fernando Valley.

The project would plug existing gaps in the bikeway between Vanalden Ave to the west and Forest Lawn Drive/Zoo Drive to the east.

Maybe they can use a little of that money to fix a bump, too.

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Once again, we’re likely to hear howls of protest from local business leaders, somehow convinced their businesses will fail unless people can park their cars directly in front of them.

Because people who walk and bike apparently live off the grid, don’t eat or drink and buy nothing.

https://twitter.com/TallDarknJewish/status/1686376236950421504

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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.

Four Virginia bike riders have been injured riding into a gate used to close a popular roadway at night, after the city failed to open it on time. Although you’d think it wouldn’t be that hard to see a gate blocking a roadway.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two-wheels behaving badly.

A small New Jersey town has amended the city’s bike rules after blaming teens on bikes for ruining the “Downtown experience.”

After a couple of South Carolina kids killed someone’s schnauzer while riding an ebike on the sidewalk, an op-ed writer says blame the careless bike riders, because it’s not the ebike’s fault.

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Local 

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, offers a quick lesson in the importance of language in framing perceptions — like saying crash instead of accident.

Metro wants your input for first mile/last mile improvements around the Culver City Metro Station. You know, like restoring the Move Culver City protected bike lanes recently ripped out by the city’s new conservative city council.

The Pasadena Star-News considers whether it’s legal for drivers to cross into a bike lane to make a right turn, correctly answering yes, while calling out careless drivers. Unlike most other states, California requires drivers to enter a bike lane prior to an intersection to make a right, rather than turning across the lane.

 

State

A Bay Area writer complains that San Mateo County was an early Vision Zero adopter, but the concept was never taken seriously. Sort of like the chronically underfunded Vision Zero program in Los Angeles.

Sad news from Rohnert Park, where police were surprised to learn the bike-riding man killed in a collision was actually a homeless woman.

 

National

CNN suggests the best gear for beginning mountain bikers, while Road Bike Rider offers advice on how to keep your bike clean.

Cycling News considers your best options for ebike conversion kits.

CleanTechnica questions why the website doesn’t cover more bikes without plugs.

Anthropocene suggests your next EV should have two wheels instead of four, saying ebikes now prevent a lot more emissions than all the world’s Teslas.

Idaho authorities recommend that a 14-year old driver face a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge for the hit-and-run death of a woman riding her bike last 4th of July; Idaho allows residents to get a learner’s permit at 14 and a half, but they aren’t allowed to drive unsupervised.

Boulder, Colorado bike riders say a new door zone bike lane fails the comfort and safety test.

Review a safety brochure, sign an injury waiver form, and you’ll get a free lift pass to ride the mountain bike trails at Colorado’s Arapahoe Basin — and a free beer.

Minnesota bike riders now have a green light to roll stop signs, becoming the latest state to adopt the Idaho Stop Law, or Stop As Yield. And once again, California won’t be joining them, even though the law has been repeatedly shown to improve safety, after Encinitas State Assemblymember Tasha Boerner pulled her bill legalizing Stop As Yield in the wake of two previous vetoes from the governor.

Chicago residents are on the lookout for an 82-year old man with limited English skills who went missing after going for a bike ride.

Yesterday we mentioned a bike rider who was critically injured when he was struck by an Indianapolis cop, who swerved onto the wrong side of the road to avoid another car; tragically, the 34-year old father of two kids died of his injuries.

A Boston TV station examines how the city’s bike mayor is working to make the roads safer and more inclusive. Which is a reminder that Los Angeles still doesn’t have one.

A New York bike rider says the recent crash of mo-ped and electric motor scooter riders on the Manhattan Bridge calls for “difficult conversations about the purpose of the city’s precious bike lane real estate, food delivery worker equity and the role NYPD should play in enforcing existing rules.”

Planetizen complains that ebikes from New York’s Citi Bike are too popular for their own good, as bikeshare operator Lyft struggles with maintenance and charging.

 

International

Road.cc examines the world’s lightest, cost-be-damned road bike frames and components to create the ultimate featherweight bike. For weight weenies with more dollars than sense, apparently. 

Toronto Blue Jays centerfielder Kevin Kiermaier will have to find another way to get to work, after the bike he used to ride four and a half miles to the ballpark was stolen from his garage.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns against wearing bike helmets from SQM and Xinerter, which don’t meet mandatory safety requirements and may pose a serious risk of injury or death, as the Chinese manufacturer refuses to issue a recall.

Officials at South Korea’s Camp Humphries US Army base urged soldies to register their bicycles, after a pair of sergeants discovered a trove of over 100 missing bikes when one of them went to recover her own stolen bike.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new bike garage looks like an Apple Store, but without all the computers and iPhones and stuff. If you’re going to bury the victim of a drunken hit-and-run, don’t leave your Red Bull can behind.

And it might be worth a pilgrimage to Pittsburgh to see Pee-Wee Herman’s iconic bike.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin