Day 246 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Let’s hold a moment of silence for all the good bike and traffic safety bills that won’t make it through this session of the state legislature.
California Streetsblog offers an update on the status of traffic-related bills that are still alive, although some can’t be voted on until next year.
Like AB 891 Quick-Build Project Pilot Program, which would require Caltrans to develop safety projects on state highways for bicyclists and pedestrians;
AB 939, The Safe, Sustainable, Traffic-Reducing Transportation Bond Act of 2026, which would have placed an initiative on next year’s ballot to fund sustainable transportation throughout California;
AB 954, The Bike Highways Bill, which has been watered down to merely define what a bike highway is, allowing jurisdictions to fund and build their own bike highways, rather than mandating Caltrans to build them;
And SB 445, Transportation: Planning: Complete Streets Facilities: Sustainable Transportation Projects, would impose permitting deadlines on companies and jurisdictions, so they can’t draw them out.
On the other hand, a few good bills are moving forward, though some have been severely watered down.
Take AB 366, Ignition Interlock Devices, which would have expanded the interlock program for convicted drunk drivers, but now just indefinitely extends the existing program;
SB 71, California Environmental Quality Act exemptions for transit projects, streamlines CEQA requirements for public transportation, bike and pedestrian projects that reduce car dependency, and just needs to pass the full assembly;
SB 720, Automated Traffic Enforcement System Programs, changes state regulations so cities can create and operate red light camera programs, or do it better in cities with existing programs, now needs to pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full Assembly.
On the other hand, one very bad bill is still in the running.
AB 697, Protected Species: Authorized Take for State Route 37 Expansion, would allow the construction of additional travel lanes on State Route 37 between Vallejo and State Route 121 in Sonoma County, even though it would run through protected habitats and wetlands.
Nothing like destroying a little fragile habitat for another induced-demand inducing highway project that flies in the face of California’s climate goals.
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Someone stole my idea to put a propeller on a bicycle, dammit.
Thanks to Steven for the heads-up.
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Who really needs both tires, anyway?
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Several Edinburgh, Scotland bike lanes could be at risk, as officials dither in the face of a deadline to make temporary bike lanes permanent, while bike advocates warn that “every bike could be another car making congestion worse.”
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Local
Courtesy of Los Angeles Streetsblog comes word that ActiveSGV and Amigos de los Rios will host an Easy Access ride exploring the Emerald Necklace greenway this Saturday.
State
Oceanside will move forward with completion of an unfinished half-mile segment of the Coastal Rail Trail, the 44-mile bike and pedestrian trail connecting Oceanside and San Diego.
Sad news just keeps on coming, as the Kern County coroner identified a 42-year old Bakersfield man who was killed Friday when his bicycle was struck by one driver, and he was thrown into the roadway where he was struck by another one; CHP investigators were quick to blame the victim for riding at night with no lights on his bike, even though relatives say the first driver was drunk and speeding. A crowdfunding campaign for the victim’s funeral expenses has raised just $250 of the modest $4,500 goal.
National
Ultra-endurance icon Kilian Jornet plans to summit every 14,000-foot peak in the continuous 48 states, linking them all by bike and foot. Which means he can skip everything north, south and east of Colorado; Utah, Arizona and Oregon can sit down, too.
“Tax-averse” Wyoming is considering plans tp charge mountain bikers $10-20 annual trail fees, on top of state park entrance fees, after federal funding was cut off. Although maybe someone should tell them that, too, is a form of taxation.
Um, okay. An Omaha, Nebraska TV station says bike riders are applauding a new road diet and bike lanes, even though neighbors are questioning the changes, like local residents everywhere. But they couldn’t seem to find any of those questionable questioners to talk with.
Chicago bike riders enjoyed a carfree Lake Shore Drive on Sunday, even as the state abandoned plans to redefine the eight lane highway separating the city from Lake Michigan, while making the roadway even more car-centric.
A reporter for an Illinois website says hey, she’s a bicyclist now, after claiming an old bike from her parent’s garage — and setting out for her first ride sans helmet and without making sure it was in rideable condition. But we all had to start somehow, right?
Philadelphia bike riders plead for safer streets after a 67-year-old man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike yesterday, while family members begged for information.
Dashcam video captures the hit-and-run that left a Richmond, Virginia bike rider sprawled in the street, but what really bothers the victim is that no one stopped to help afterwards.
An 80-year old Florida man faces felony manslaughter and hit-and-run charges for killing a nine-year old boy riding a bicycle, then speeding off as witnesses tried to stop him with the kid’s bicycle still trapped under his pickup; he claimed he knew he’d hit a bicycle, but “didn’t think there was a kid on it.” Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive — and whether a judge will really send an elderly man to prison against the wishes of the boy’s very forgiving parents.
International
Bike Radar says gravel bikes have finally outgrown their awkward years.
Luxury Travel Magazine says Slovenia should be your next ebike adventure destination. You could even visit the somewhat creepy semi-faceless bronze statue the purports to represent local girl Melania Trump — or you could, if it hadn’t been stolen after the original wooden version was set on fire.
Competitive Cycling
The training crash that injured Chris Froome was a lot worse than we were initially led to believe, as the four-time Tour de France champ suffered life-threatening heart damage, along with a broken back and five broken ribs, when he clipped a curb and crashed head-on into a road sign at 30 mph; Froome’s wife says he now faces a long recovery, and will be off his bike for the foreseeable future.
Twenty-five-year-old Italian cyclist Filippo Baroncini is going home with a contract extension, after a gruesome crash in Stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne in early August that required putting him in an induced coma and extensive facial reconstruction.
No surprise here, as seemingly inevitable winner Jonas Vingegaard is back in the red leader’s jersey after yesterday’s mountaintop finish in Stage 10 of the Vuelta.
Dutch rider Ide Schelling is calling it a career at the tender age of 27, saying it became clear he “didn’t want to do this for the next five to ten years.”
Cycling News offers a guide to streaming pro cycling this month for those of us in the US. Let’s just hope the Canadian bike races won’t be subject to Trump’s tariffs.
Finally…
Probably not the best idea to interrupt your bike ride to threaten someone with a loaded flare gun. Sorry, but an e-assisted pedal boat does not a water bike make.
And like we didn’t already know good coffee and bikes just naturally go together.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
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