I’m writing this after getting the second in a series of shots directly into my right eye to control retinal bleeding caused by diabetes.
So please forgive me if I miss a few mistakes today, because I can’t read shit right now.
Just one more reason diabetes sucks.
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This is who we share the road with.
Sheriff’s deputies re-arrested Fraser Michael Bohm on Tuesday, the 22-year old driver accused of killing four Pepperdine University sorority sisters last week.
Bohm was allegedly speeding on PCH in the BMW he got for his 18th birthday when he slammed into three parked cars, which then crashed into the victims. He stands charged with four counts of murder, and being held on $8 million bond.
Yes, million.
The question is what evidence deputies have developed to justify a murder charge, let alone four. Under California law, elevating vehicular manslaughter to murder would require evidence that Bohm knew his actions were likely to result in death.
Meanwhile, enraged community members stored Monday’s Malibu city council session to demand action to improve safety on SoCal’s killer highway.
That included calls for speed cams, which are currently only allowed in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, along with three NorCal cities, under a recently passed pilot program.
But what’s really needed is a redesign of the highway with protected bike lanes, walkways and traffic calming measures to make speeding difficult, if not impossible. And turn LA County’s deadliest highway into the Malibu Main Street it always should have been.
A petition from a grieving father calls for much-needed immediate and long-term action to improve safety on the highway.
Please sign the petition and share. It’s time we fix PCH. https://t.co/bNxLzoBczS #SpeedKills #MakePCHSafe #Pepperdine
More to come. We are about to generate a massive amount of public pressure to get @CaltransDist7 to do their job. pic.twitter.com/a7Qepp4ac1
— Streets Are For Everyone (@StreetsR4Every1) October 23, 2023
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A trial date has been set for next year for the two Las Vegas high school students charged with the intentional hit-and-run killing of former Bell CA police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst.
Jesus Ayala and Jzamir Keys — who were 17 and 16, respectively, at the time of the crash — are scheduled to be tried as adults beginning September 16th, 2024.
Meanwhile, new video has emerged of the teens running down the second victim in a stolen car that day, laughing as they injured a 72-year old man less than an hour before killing Probst.
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Why am I not surprised?
LA Mayor Karen Bass was for removing the 90 Freeway stub and turning it into a linear park and housing before she was against it.
And people wonder why I don’t trust city officials.
LA Mayor @KarenBassLA in August: No one drives the 90 Freeway and tearing it down would make up for demolitions and lead to much-needed housing. It's a "freeway to nowhere."
Bass now: Everyone drives the 90 Freeway. Who could possibly support removing it? https://t.co/Rq6RtSLEzJ pic.twitter.com/BDiEsMP56R
— Liam Dillon (@dillonliam) October 21, 2023
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Yet another community introduces an ebike rebate before California’s long-delayed program finally launches.
If it ever does.
If you live on one side of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and work on the other, you can get $500 off an e-bike purchase!
If your income is below a certain level, you may qualify for up to a $1000 discount! pic.twitter.com/Bp6NNirbZN
— Marin County Bicycle Coalition (@marinbike) October 23, 2023
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Nothing like getting run down head-on by a driver because he couldn’t see what was directly in front of his car.
Actual quote:
"Didn't see you because I couldn't see out of the windscreen" https://t.co/xaOG49UeoE— Dr Grace Peng (@gspeng) October 24, 2023
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That’s gonna leave a mark.
This is what it looks like to hit another mountain biker head-on.
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Thousands of bike riders turned out for Key West’s annual Zombie Bike Ride.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Hollister bike rider suffered head injuries when he was intentionally run down by a pickup driver after getting into an altercation with the driver and his passenger at a gas station
New York officials abruptly shut down a vital Queens bike path without any public input, notification or explanation, though a city council member was happy to take credit, blaming it on an “influx of ebikes and cars.”
Huh? A London writer says it’s time to regulate ebikes modified to exceed speed restrictions — which means that they’re already illegal.
No bias here. A writer in the UK says we all need to wear hi-viz vests in order to reduce traffic deaths. Might as well just call for clown makeup to complete the outfit while he’s at it.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
An Illinois man faces drug and resisting arrest charges after fleeing from cops who tried to stop him for riding without a light; he evaded officers by riding through alleys and people’s backyards, before they tased him as he tried to enter his home.
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Local
Streetsblog looks at new bus-bike lanes on Sepulveda and Ventura blvds.
Bike Walk Glendale is calling on you to make your voice heard on the city’s Bicycle Transportation Plan, with a pair of public meetings next month.
Streetsblog’s SGV Connect podcast celebrates the first anniversary of the GoSGV bike lending program, while rising local writer Carribean Fragoza reads a nonfiction piece about a scary bike crash while riding alone and underprepared on industrial Rush Street.
Pasadena Now looks forward to Sunday’s first carfree Arroyo Fest on the 100 Freeway in 20 years.
State
Calbike talks with board member Yolanda Davis-Overstreet, a mobility justice strategist who directed and co-produced a pair of films on Biking While Black, as well as a guide to the movies.
Huntington Beach opened the city’s first bike boulevard on Utica Ave.
A San Diego man suffered memory loss after an e-scooter crash, unable to even remember getting married or having a kid.
A Hemet middle school student was lucky to escape without injuries when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver, after reportedly riding his bike into traffic without looking while biking to school.
Visalia will soon be the first city in California’s Central Valley to have protected intersections.
National
PopSugar presents the best balance bikes for toddlers.
An Oregon legislator wants to legalize ped-assist ebikes for kids under 16, while maintaining the current ban on throttle-controlled ebikes.
Boulder, Colorado is the first city to bring concrete tall curbs to the United States to separate bike lanes and vehicle travel lanes. Even though it looks like standard K-rail.
Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus offers a photo essay of New Yorkers on bikes.
New York considers a pair of bills to regulate ebike delivery riders, including requiring an ebike safety course and making providers cover the cost for safety equipment and safe ebike batteries.
A Maryland TV station says your next car could be an ebike.
Tragic news from North Carolina, where a man died after he was struck by a driver while riding 67 miles to celebrate his 67th birthday.
That’s more like it. Atlanta is introducing an app showing the location of bike racks throughout the city.
International
A group of 19 leading companies in the automotive, bicycling & tech sectors have banded together to develop a smart V2X communication system to help improve the ‘digital visibility’ of bicyclists and other vulnerable road users. As long as you’e willing to wear some sort of digital sensor that matches the one only some drivers are using, anyway.
A writer for Cycling Weekly gets explosive results when she experiments with bicarb supplements — but thankfully, not in terms of gastrointestinal issues.
A Canadian bike rider was lucky to avoid becoming collateral damage when two drivers collided right in front of him.
Police in Birmingham, England used lights and sirens to pull over a woman and her eight-year old granddaughter as they rode their bikes — not for any traffic violation, but just a little friendly safety advice about wearing helmets.
No bias here, either. British tabloids are accusing London’s cycling czar with “cherry picking” stats to show bike ridership has tripled in a busy part of London in order to justify more spending on bike lanes; critics accuse him of counting bicycle delivery riders, who are, in fact, riding bicycles, and would all be using cars if they weren’t.
While Paris becomes increasingly welcoming to bike riders, France’s fifth-largest city is banning bikes, scooters and skateboards from the city center
Competitive Cycling
Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič says he planned to jump to the Bora-Hansgrohe team before the recent drama at the Vuelta, when it became clear that Jonas Vingegaard would be team leader, and super domestique Sepp Kuss won the race. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.
Meanwhile, Kuss says he thinks it’s better for everyone if Roglič is on another team. Ditto.
Video captures “absolute carnage” during the men’s elimination race at Saturday’s UCI Track Champions League, as a mid race crash takes competitors down like bowling pins.
Finally…
Presenting an ebike for people who don’t want anyone to know you’re riding an ebike. Your next bike could have an airbag — or you could, anyway.
And you can now get a new ped-assist ebike foldie for less than $900. But you could have had a 121-year old Steffey ped-assist, gas-powered motor-bike instead.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
