We’re nearing the end of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — just ten days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy!
Thanks to Kiersten S, Phaedrus L, Rob K, Ian D and James B for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. And help keep the corgi in kibble.
So don’t wait.
Drop what you’re doing, and give now!
………
Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program as promised this fall: 7
………
If you haven’t already, take just a moment to sign the petion demanding a public forum with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking or riding a bike in the City of Angels.
Then spread it to everyone you know, and ask them to sign, too. Because it’s long past time to take traffic violence seriously, and stop the needless carnage on our streets.
And if you’re one of the 139 people who’ve already signed it, thank you!
………
Maybe Magnus White will see justice, after all.
The 23-year old driver who killed 17-year old US National Team cyclist Magnus White has been charged with vehicular homicide, six months after the Boulder, Colorado crash.
White was on a training ride, just weeks before he was scheduled to compete in the junior mountain bike worlds in Scotland, when Yeva Smilianska allegedly fell asleep before slamming her car into his bike.
According to Denver’s 9News,
Investigators came to this conclusion after interviewing Smilianska and people she knew, and by reviewing cell phone data, according to the affidavit. They also interviewed several people who had witnessed the crash or the aftermath, including another bicyclist who was riding behind White. That bicyclist also talked to the suspect on the scene, the affidavit says.
Police found a text Smilianska sent about 20 minutes before the crash. It read, “I’m falling asleep. So I’m going home.”
There was no indication that Smilianska was intoxicated, according to the affidavit.
Smilianska reportedly told investigators her steering malfunctioned, but admitted she hadn’t seen White, or another cyclist riding with him, prior to the crash.
And yes, you are legally required to be awake and alert when you operate a motor vehicle. Not to mention actually pay attention to others on the road with you.
She was released on $10,000 bond.
………
The World Health Organization appealed to countries to improve safety for bicyclists, saying the proportion of bicyclists killed on the roads is rising, even as worldwide traffic deaths decline.
According to the WHO, despite a 16% decline in overall traffic fatalities per 1,000 people over the last decade, the proportion of bike riders among road deaths worldwide rose slightly, from 5% to 6%.
………
The long and twisted tale of an Oregon DEA agent who killed a 53-year old woman in a collision as she rode her bike home from work gets another chapter, after a judge moved the trial to federal court.
That could allow the agent to claim immunity, arguing that he was performing his duties as an agent at the time of the crash.
The case was revived in August, after the Salem, Oregon paper accused the local police of a coverup in the case, apparently failing to conduct an investigation of the crash as a professional courtesy to the agent.
………
‘Tis the season.
A Texas men’s group will give away over 500 bikes and electric scooters this weekend, in an event open to all kids.
Members of a South Florida Boys and Girls Club got the gift of freedom through a bike giveaway sponsored by a local car dealer.
Road.cc offers a gift guide for the pernickety pedaler in your life, while they insist the Raleigh Chopper remains the best holiday gift for kids everywhere. Today I learned that pernickety really is a word, while meaning the same thing as persnickety.
………
Gabriel Wibmer presents five minutes and 41 seconds of singletrack gravel mania.
To mention some confused cows.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
In what the Times of India calls “another example of rampant hooliganism,” a man was knocked off his bicycle by an idiot hanging all the way out of a motorized rickshaw.
No bias here. A New Zealand website says bike riders are causing problems on a new $17 million shared coastal pathway — then cites a pedestrian who says she was almost struck by someone on a bicycle, who she didn’t see riding towards her. So she wasn’t paying attention, yet it’s somehow the bike rider’s fault. Got it.
………
………
Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton visits Pasadena’s one and a half-mile long Cordova Street Complete Streets project.
State
Calbike highlights ebike training resources currently available online.
The rich get richer, as San Diego received a $2.25 million federal grant to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians with a pair of projects.
Palo Alto wants to preserve parking and traffic lanes on University Ave, while adding bike lanes and wider sidewalks, and transforming the thoroughfare to make it more vibrant. They also want to preserve the cake they just ate.
San Francisco’s transportation agency raised the possibility of installing protected bike lanes in place of the highly unpopular centerline bike lane on Valencia Street, which appears to be almost universally hated by people on every side of the debate.
A San Francisco writer says zero traffic deaths was an unrealistic goal for the city, and now they should focus on what actually works. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of Vision Zero, which is the process of implementing safety measures to move towards zero traffic deaths, not the goal itself.
National
A new US House report could result in higher prices for bicycles and bike parts, recommending restricting or banning some Chinese-made goods from the US.
Popular Science offers advice on how to fly with your bike.
An Oregon judge ruled a lawsuit against Portland can move forward, charging the city failed to comply with a 1971 law requiring a minimum investment in bicycling and walking infrastructure in tandem with major road projects.
Around a dozen people took to their bikes to call for expanding Medicaid in Kansas. Then again, given the population of Kansas, that’s a big turnout.
A popular New Hampshire bike shop was born when the owner was fired from his restaurant job 15 years ago.
Tragic news from Brooklyn, where stand-up comedian Kenny DeForest died Wednesday, five days after he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle; the Missouri native has appeared on Comedy Central, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Late Late Show with James Corden, as well as HBO’s “Crashing,” and released his second comedy special in August.
New York unveiled a new 10-foot wide protected bike lane on 10th Ave, which a deputy mayor said would make life easier for people on bicycle, especially delivery workers. The city also announced plans for an 11-foot wide bike lane on 11th Ave, and 12-foot wide one on 12th Ave. And just wait until they get to 104th Street.
Philadelphia got a $16 million federal grant to improve safety on the city’s High Injury Network.
An 80-year old former Florida councilmember got a lousy traffic ticket for killing a woman riding a bicycle, after claiming he somehow couldn’t see the woman riding across the street directly in front of him. And once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive.
Police in Florida are looking for the driver who fled on foot after driving past traffic cops working security, and crashing into a competitor riding in an Ironman triathlon.
International
Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a 28-year old man riding a bicycle; he got a lousy $1,150 fine for fatally right hooking the victim while turning from the center lane, rather than the right turn lane.
Quebec City, Quebec announced plans for the city’s first vélocité corridor, or bicycle superhighway.
A university in Nairobi, Kenya offers a “life-changing” bicycle leasing program just inside its front gates, giving students greater mobility in the traffic-choked city.
Police in Japan are resorting to yelling at bike riders who are wearing earbuds, as they struggle to differentiate between ear pieces that block outside noises and those that allow them to filter through.
Competitive Cycling
America’s most famous ex-Tour de France winner refuses to go away, explaining how he beat drug tests for so many years.
Finally…
That’s probably not Bill Gates riding that chopper bike. Your next e-cargo bike could be a scooter.
And a pizza delivery bike to boldly go where no pizza bike has gone before.
………
………
Chag sameach!
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
