Just 273 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the mean streets of LA.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’re now up to 1,030 signatures, so keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!
Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.
………
An admitted hit-and-run driver will be sentenced in Banning today for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider in San Jacinto in 2022.
Twenty-two-year old Savaughn JoJuan Colon Barnes pled guilty to a single count of hit-and-run resulting in death in the killing of Margarito Castro as he waited at a red light in December of 2022, after prosecutors agreed to drop charges of gross vehicular manslaughter and fleeing the scene of a crime.
According to My News LA,
According to sheriff’s Sgt. Dawn Blair, about 8 p.m. on Dec. 4, Castro was in the center median, waiting to cross State Street at Dillon Avenue, when Barnes approached, going southbound on State “at a high rate of speed” in his Hyundai sedan.
“The driver of the Hyundai entered the center median … and struck the victim,” Blair said.
Unfortunately, under California’s overly lenient hit-and-run statutes, he now faces a maximum sentence of just four years behind bars.
And will likely be out in less than half that time.
………
Jim Lyle forwards news of a hit-and-run in Torrance yesterday that left a bike rider with road rash and broken ribs.
There’s no description of the suspect vehicle or the heartless coward behind the wheel yet, but hopefully that will change.
If you know anything, contact the Torrance Police Department.
………
Gravel Bike California says Mount Disappointment is a misnomer when it comes to great rides and spectacular views over the City of LA.
………
It’s only to be expected that yesterday led to the usual widespread April foolishness. And the bike world was no exception.
Bike Magazine shares pranks collected from across the bike industry, including plans for a new denim bike complete with five pockets.
Momentum writes that an undisclosed “prominent North American city” was planning to remove all its bike lanes, as long as drivers pinky-swear a Cyclists Oath not to hit people on bicycles. The sad thing is, it could actually happen.
Bike Rumor offers a collection of prank products promoted by bicycle companies, including a backpack designed to carry your disassembled bicycle on trails where they aren’t allowed.
A Redwood City website says Formula 1 is following the lead of Caltrans, and adding bike lanes to the F1 race tracks. Which could lead to some very interesting races if cyclists and race car drivers competed at the same time.
Road.cc says cycling promoters have developed a new racing format that requires competitors to ride as close to 20 mph as possible to avoid running afoul of the new Welsh 20 mph speed limit.
BBC presenter Jeremy Vine pranked a lot of very serious people with video of a bird of prey taking out the drone recording an overhead view of his ride through a London park, with one expert trying to identify the bird, and another accusing him of illegal droning.
https://twitter.com/theJeremyVine/status/1774684276480434516
And the head of a bikemaker went off an a rant, complaining that the real prank is the one played on bicyclists every day of the year, that more technology, more money and more marketing BS equals more performance, when it’s often the opposite.
It’s now 104 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 34 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.
But Pedal Ahead, the San Diego nonprofit charged with administering the virtually moribund ebike voucher program, hints that it may finally be showing signs of life.
Even if it does fund non-UL-certified ebikes that could suddenly and unexpectedly burst into flames.
But seriously, what’s the worst that could happen?
Here's some kind of cryptic update from the #pedalahead FB page? Do the posters have anything to do with the @AirResources EBike incentive program? Looks like they are promoting electric mountain biking; which isn't an ebike you can purchase with a voucher? @lysmendez pic.twitter.com/cFJc49egAP
— Ellectrek (@Ellectrek) April 1, 2024
Meanwhile, Colorado’s new ebike rebate program may be smaller than California’s, which starts at $750. But unlike California, it’s available to anyone.
However, the state’s governor seems a tad out of touch arguing that it’s still worthwhile for bike shops to participate, even though they may have to wait as long as a year to get reimbursed — in effect requiring small shop owners to finance the state program.
As of today, any Coloradan can walk into a bike shop and instantly get $450 off an e-bike. No race to get a voucher, no income limits, no waiting to claim a tax credit.
It's the first such program in the nation.https://t.co/ldYBNyHbtF pic.twitter.com/OhiUdanZTS
— David Zipper (@DavidZipper) April 1, 2024
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. The editor of Palo Alto paper complains about proposed bike lanes on El Camino Real, arguing that it would be unsafe for kids and kill local businesses. Even though it’s been repeatedly shown that bike lanes are good for business, and little kids aren’t the only ones who might want to ride their bikes on the local main street just like people in cars.
Bike riders in Providence, Rhode Island turned out to protest plans to remove downtown bike lanes, as the tone-deaf mayor’s office argues the removal is necessary to ease traffic congestion amid the years-long closure of a local bridge. As if people in cars are the only ones who need to get somewhere.
A 29-year old South Carolina man says he’s lucky to be alive, after he was shot near the knee after being forced off the road by an apparent road raging motorist.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Actor Matthew Broderick is one of us in more ways than one, after he’s caught running a red light and riding past a “Wait Here” sign while riding a bikeshare bike in London.
………
Local
No news is good news, right?
State
She gets it. An Encinitas letter writer says drivers need to be more generous in sharing the road because too many people riding bikes have died in San Diego County, and paint is no protection from 2,000- to 4,000-pound vehicles.
San Diego’s Bike Anywhere Day will get a new Bike Week companion, as the city announced plans for a Bike Local Day to encourage people to ride in their own communities.
National
A longtime New York bike advocate decries the lack of privately owned, traditional strictly pedal-powered bicycles on the city streets, complaining that ebikes and bikeshares are taking over the bike lanes. And in other news, an old man yelled at the neighborhood kids to get off his lawn.
Um, okay. To the surprise of virtually everyone, a local TV station invites outdoor enthusiasts to bike Sparta, Wisconsin, declaring it the Cycling Capital of America. Said no one else, ever, which may or may not be the point.
Hundreds of Wisconsin kids got new bikes as part of a statewide program to teach bike skills to elementary and middle school students.
The “biggest party on two wheels” is returning to Winston-Salem, North Carolina this September, with the multi-day Gears and Guitars music and bicycle festival. The only question is, how the hell am I going to get there, and who’s going with me?
International
Bollywood actress Saiyami Kher is one of us, calling for more bike-friendly infrastructure in Mumbai following a spike in bicycling collisions.
Finally…
That feeling when your crash is so embarrassing, even your bike tries to run away. If you’re going to steal a bicycle, it’s probably not the best idea to take it off the back of a parked sheriff’s patrol car — especially without checking for cameras first.
And I kinda wish this last one wasn’t just an April Fools joke.
Thanks to Norm Bradwell for the link.
……...
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
Providence Rhode Island, not Wisconsin.
You’re right, of course. Don’t know what I was thinking.