A man riding a bicycle is dead, and LADOT’s decision to value parking over human lives is at least partly to blame.
In case you missed it over the weekend, news broke Saturday that 51-year old Hollywood producer Bob George was the person rumored to have been killed Tuesday while riding at Fountain and Edgemont.
George, who reportedly rode his bike everywhere, was riding in the westbound bike lane on Fountain when he was doored, and knocked into the traffic lane in front of an oncoming car.
He was killed just a block from where a pedestrian was killed seven years earlier, which LADOT commemorated with a memorial sign a few months ago in an effort to encourage people to drive more safely on the street.
Good luck with that.
Sorry- earlier tweet was not clear – the LADOT sign is commemorating an earlier traffic death (a pedestrian) on Fountain- near where the recent death took place pic.twitter.com/bxiYscwnN1
— StreetsblogLA (@StreetsblogLA) October 22, 2023
Streetsblog LA reported last March that the city had striped a single bike lane going west on Fountain, with sharrows in the opposite direction. And as you can see from the photo above from the Streetsblog piece, that bike lane places bike riders directly in the door zone.
The city could, and should, have removed parking from one side to at least make room for wider bike lanes in both directions. Or better yet, a parking protected bike lane on one side, and a curbside bike lane on the other.
They didn’t, because here in the City of Angels, our leaders clearly prefer making yet another angel over taking away people’s God-given right to park steps from their door.
Now a man is dead because of it, and those responsible for this decision have his blood on their hands.
Ans if that doesn’t make you mad, maybe it should.
Photo by Joe Linton for Streetsblog.
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A 48-year old Flagstaff, Arizona man took triathlon to the extreme, swimming, biking and running 511.9 miles from Catalina Island to San Francisco.
Anesthesiologist Jim Janik swam the 21.5 miles from Catalina to Los Angeles, biked 358 miles up Highway 1 to Monterey, then ran and walked 132 miles to the tip of San Francisco, completing the trip in four days, 21 hours and 29 minutes.
He has applied for a trademark for what he termed the Ultra Pacifica Triathlon route in hopes of encouraging other people to try it.
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Bentonville, Arkansas has a paved, glow-in-the-dark mountain bike track.
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A tisket, a tasket, a beagle in a bike basket. All while looking adorably at his owner, no less.
@harpo_beagle u’re my best view
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A writer for a Staten Island website complains about drivers being tarred as homicidal menaces, when scofflaw bike riders and pedestrians are sometimes at fault, too. Except bike riders and pedestrians hardly ever kill anyone, while careless and law-breaking drivers put everyone at risk.
No bias here, either. A British Columbia letter writer applauds a decision by Penticton city council members to ban to halt the design, construction and funding of any new bike lanes for the duration of the current council term, which expires in 2026.
A road-raging Malaysian cabbie brake-checked a group of bicyclists, leading to a heated argument in the middle of the street. Although the website blamed the bike riders for not staying in the curb lane.
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Local
Colorado Boulevard reminds us of Sunday’s four-hour Arroyo Fest, allowing people to bike, walk, scoot or roll along a section of the 110 Freeway for the first time in 20 years.
A bike rider was hospitalized after he was struck by a driver in Santa Clarita Saturday morning, though there’s no word on his condition.
State
This is who we share the road with. A Huntington Beach driver faces six counts of attempted murder for deliberately plowing into a group of pedestrians in front of a Kohl’s department store while under the influence of an undisclosed drug.
A woman in Orange was sentenced to six months behind bars for intentionally running down her boyfriend as he rode his bike away from her home; a neighbor had to use a jack to get him out from under the car, leaving him scorched from a hot vehicle part. Maybe he should find a new girlfriend. Just saying.
A 27-year old San Diego man suffered a fractured arm when he collided with a pedestrian, who had stepped off the curb into the bike lane the victim was riding in.
San Francisco held a block party to celebrate the popular Wiggle bike path through the city’s Duboce Triangle neighborhood.
Residents of a Diablo country club have installed a gate to block a pathway used by equestrians, walkers and bike riders since 1910, after a judge ruled the city never registered the easement for the trail with the state.
The Marin Independent Journal applauds a proposal to restrict ebikes in Novato, including a 10 mph speed limit on local trails.
National
You’d have to ride your bike 563 miles to offset the carbon emissions from a single short plane flight, such as traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Works for me.
The Atlantic says the real reason you should get an ebike is it will cut your emissions, and make you happier.
They get it. The Navajo Nation is tackling rising rates of youth diabetes by sponsoring a School Health Bicycling Program for the current fall term for students from its New Mexico reservation; a recent study also showed school bicycling programs result in better student mental health.
Bike riders in Chicago celebrated video of a car being towed from a bike lane, with some saying they’d never seen it happen before.
Speaking of Chicago, over 150 people took to their bicycles to demand a safer bike network.
A 68-year old Indiana man has logged 100,000 miles on his bicycle, traveling to 48 states, Mexico and Canada in a series of bicycling journeys up to three months.
There’s a special place in hell for the heartless coward who drove off and left a bike-riding 77-year old Toledo, Ohio man bleeding in the street.
An Ohio man set a new Guinness world record for the largest Strava art, drawing a 983-mile Latin cross across three states.
Over 1,200 women turned out dressed as witches for a Ligonier PA bike ride to raise funds for homeless animals.
A Baltimore letter writer says don’t bother building bikeways, just let bike riders use the city’s alleys, instead. Great idea, if you want to see more people on bicycles killed by delivery drivers, and run down by motorists as they try to cross busy streets without traffic signals.
International
A new study from the UK shows that ebikes can help prevent and treat type 2 diabetes by encouraging moderate physical activity.
An Israeli man is credited with killing six men in defense of his kibbutz during the recent Hamas attack on Israel, with just six shots from his pistol before he was killed, all while riding his bicycle.
Billionaire Indian businessman Anand Mahindra took to Instagram to promote a new foldie developed by alumni of a Bombay technical college, calling it the world’s first diamond-framed folding bike with full-size wheels.
A Bangladeshi man claims he was beaten by police with cricket bats and given electric shocks after they seized cash and gold from his jewelry shop, but the cops claim he was injured falling from his bicycle. Sure, let’s go with that.
A Kiwi website explains why bicycles will be your go-to transportation when the zombie apocalypse comes, or whenever the shit hits the fan.
Competitive Cycling
It was a big day for L39ion of Los Angeles Saturday, as the team won the men’s, women’s and team titles in the inaugural CRIT Championship in St. Petersburgh, Florida; Tulsa Tough omnium winner Samantha Schneider led a team sweep of the elite women’s race, while three-time US Pro criterium champion Luke Lamperti took the men’s title while racing as a guest of the team.
Bicycling says Sepp Kuss got a hero’s welcome when he returned to his hometown of Durango, Colorado to celebrate his victory in the Vuelta. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.
Finally…
When you’re a convicted felon illegally carrying a gun on your bike, stop for the damn stop sign, already — and don’t flee from the cops when they try to stop you. As if drivers aren’t bad enough, now the coyotes are after us.
And that feeling when an ex-seven-time Tour de France winner pops in to fix your bike.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
I like the video of Armstrong fixing Sanders bike.
Correction: “ex 7x TdF winner”. The cheat never won a thing without PEDs. And honestly, I could’ve cared less if he cheated. Pisses me off all the people’s lives he ruined trying to cover up his lies. And his whole image “I beat cancer…”
I hear ya. For me, the ex-TDF thing is my way of ridiculing the jerk who had all his wins jerked back. My take is I don’t care if cyclists take PEDs or blood dope or whatever, as long as it’s out in the open, medically supervised and there’s a level playing field. Like you, my major complaint is the lies he told, and the lives he ruined. Personally, I wish he’d just go away.
Just cuz I said I didn’t care Lance took PEDs doesn’t mean I believe it should be legalized in cycling, or in any sport for that matter. Imo if you do legalize the doping, basically your competition has turned into “who has the best doctors/chemists”?