Day 238 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Let’s start with this exchange in yesterday’s comments.
Because it illustrates a common misperception that our streets would be safer if the cops would just do their job.
That one’s easy. There are not enough cops in the world to enforce the law against every person behind the wheel. Take Los Angeles, as an example. We currently have around 9,000 cops on the city payroll. Now divide that by three shifts every day. Subtract all the detectives, and cops working desk duty. Now subtract all the cops on vacation, sick leave and disability. According to officers I’ve spoken with, that leaves around 200-300 uniformed officers on patrol at any given time, most of whom are either responding to or working to prevent more serious crimes, like assaults, robberies and murders. That leaves maybe a few dozen free to enforce traffic laws in a city of nearly 4 million, with the nation’s largest street grid.
Even in smaller cities are usually in a better position to enforce the streets, but even there the overwhelming majority of traffic violations go unpunished because there aren’t enough cops to be everywhere at once. And drivers know that, which is why most drivers routinely ignore speed limits and distracted driving laws, just to name two.
As for grown men thinking the streets are unsafe, it’s only because so many are.
No one wishes the police could enforce traffic laws more than I do.
I witness drivers routinely breaking the law every time I go out on the street, any time of the day or night.
During the day, drivers roll the stop signs on the corner, just like the bike and scooter riders they complain about. At night, my relatively quiet residential street becomes a drag strip as motorists take advantage of the lighter traffic to race from corner to corner.
And don’t get me started on frequent close calls just walking my dog, which should be the safest thing I do outside of my home.
As one LA cop confided to me, most drivers have forgotten they’re controlling a dangerous, potentially deadly machine. They feel comfortable playing automotive Russian roulette simply because they’ve always gotten away with it.
Until they don’t.
Yes, better enforcement is part of the solution to our deadly streets. So is getting drivers to focus on safety.
But until both of those things somehow miraculously occur, the only real solution is to design our streets so common mistakes don’t become deadly.
Which is the definition of Vision Zero.
As for those “grown men…terrified of riding their bikes on the street,” picture the same thing, but substitute your eight year old kid or grandkid for those grown men, and see if that changes anything.
Because I sure as hell wouldn’t want mine to ride around here.
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Advocacy group WeHo For All — a chapter of Abundant Housing LA, not Streets For All — is calling for permanent bike counters on Fountain Ave.
The idea is to provide an accurate record of how many people ride on the current sharrows, compared to how many ride there after protected bike lanes are installed.
Which is actually a good idea.
Because, as others have said, counting the bike riders who use it now is like counting how many people cross a river without a bridge, as opposed to how many would cross it if there was one.
You can sign a petition calling for the bike counters here.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Colorado sheriff’s deputies are looking for a pickup driver who stands accused of intentionally running down a man riding a bicycle back in May; the 46-year old suspect is wanted for attempted murder, and considered armed and dangerous.
A Long Island driver faces charges for a road rage incident caught on Ring cam, after he was seen punching a 70-something man riding a bicycle and knocking him back onto the sidewalk; the incident reportedly started three blocks earlier when the victim yelled at the driver for not stopping at a stop sign.
Apparently, everyone in London “and beyond” is talking about the “problem(s)” with bicyclists, as a writer somehow conflates a recent survey showing slightly more than half of bike riders admitted breaking traffic laws, with a 25% increase in pedestrian deaths this year — even though drivers, not bicyclists. are to blame for the increase.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
There’s a special place in hell for a Pennsylvania teen who punched a ten-year old little boy in the face to steal his bicycle.
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Local
A Pasadena committee is rewriting the city’s bicycle ordinances to bring them into alignment with state law and update outdated provisions; among the changes is defining ebikes, eliminating a prohibited bicycle registration requirement, and allowing sidewalk riding near churches, schools and public buildings.
State
More on moves by the Encinitas City Council to remove or water down safety features planned for a redesigned Santa Fe Ave, despite the death of a 15-year old ebike rider there just two years ago.
A crowdfunding campaign is raising money for the family of a 14-year old boy killed by a pickup driver while riding an electric motorcycle in El Centro last week; as of this writing, it’s raised over 65% of the $10,000 goal.
National
GQ offers their picks for the best bicycling tops.
A Honolulu bike advocacy group is hosting free ebike safety classes after a 15-year old boy was killed by a 75-year old driver while riding an electric motorbike in a crosswalk; police were quick to blame the kid for riding against the Don’t Walk signal, but didn’t say if he was going against the red light.
Athletes from around the world will converge on Nevada next month to compete in various record categories for the World Human Powered Speed Challenge.
A pair of Austin, Texas brothers are on the verge of completing a 5,500 mile fundraising ride from Anchorage, Alaska to College Station, Texas.
Chicago’s Bike the Drive offers 30 carfree miles of the city’s DuSable Lake Shore Drive this Sunday.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A 57-year old photo editor for the Boston Globe was killed in a collision while riding his bike near his former Illinois hometown.
A car website says Illinois bicyclists are surprised by new rules redefining what counts as a bicycle in the state to include ebikes and tricycles. Except people who ride bikes were probably the least surprised by the new rules, since they’re the ones who ride them and worked for passage of the new law.
A Michigan man was sentenced to between three and five years behind bars for killing a 50-year old woman riding a bicycle last year while driving under the influence — although he’s credited with nearly a year time served, which could make him eligible for release before long.
Some asshole spray painted swastikas onto a popular Natick, Massachusetts bike path.
New York Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani says he’ll move forward with bike projects current mayor and independent candidate Eric Adams cancelled — including finishing the work on McGinness Ave that a key Adams aide is a accused of accepting bribes to halt.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources is considering a proposal to allow ped-assist ebikes on state trails.
This is the cost of traffic violence, part two. Georgia bicyclists are in mourning after well-known bicycle attorney and advocate Ken Rosskopf was killed when he was struck by a driver while making a turn on his bike; the 85-year old Rosskopf was described as a legend in the community by his son, pro cyclist Joey Rosskopf.
International
Toronto is cracking down on scofflaw ebike and e-scooter users for the next three weeks.
Bicyclists in Killarney, Ireland say hell yes they ride in the roadway, because it’s safer than the new two-way bike path running next to it.
Korean bike paths along rivers and forest trails will now be given road names to help identify them on maps and eliminate confusion.
Apparently Korea is a decade or so behind the times, as the popularity of brakeless fixies is reportedly surging among teens in the country, despite vows from police to crack down on them.
An Aussie cop is on trial for killing a 16-year old indigenous boy suspected of stealing a mountain bike, after parking an unmarked patrol car across a bike trail, in effect creating an illegal road block and sending the boy flying over his car.
Competitive Cycling
It’s happened yet again. Vuelta leader Jonas Vingegaard was able to make it to the starting line for yesterday’s stage three, even though thieves broke into the team mechanics’ truck, taking 18 bikes worth half a million dollars. Although you’d think previous similar thefts would have been enough to put a guard on the damn things.
Despite the theft, Vingegaard was still able to finish third behind stage winner David Gaudu and second place Mads Pedersen; Vingegaard held onto the red leader’s jersey, even though Gaudu closed the gap to move into a tie with him.
Vingegaard’s teammate Axel Zingle was forced to abandon the Vuelta a day after twice dislocating his shoulder, and someone making off with his bike while he got treatment.
Finally…
Doesn’t everyone ride a bike with an $80,000 Hermès bag? That feeling when you decide to ride your bike to grandma’s house — over 11,000 miles away on another continent.
And repeat after me — when you’re riding your bike at one in the morning, with over a half ounce of meth, put a damn light on it, already.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
