BikinginLA

Well, that was a fun meta moment. 

I asked Claude AI for an accurate count of bicycling fatalities in the City and/or County of Los Angeles, hoping it might be able to ferret out more information than I’ve been able to find. 

It responded by citing an advocacy blog called BikinginLA, giving the latest county figures I’ve been able to dredge up. So while it may be artificial, it at least knows about this site, so it’s clearly intelligent. 

One other semi-quick note. 

Last week, I wrote the following in regards to the double murder counts filed against Valentin Alberto Rodriguez for the two DUI deaths on the Montclair Halloween ride: 

It also means that he could face multiple life sentences — which from what I’ve been told about the crash and the damage he inflicted, doesn’t began to seem harsh enough.

A comment from Charles asked what “harsher than life imprisonment” I would find satisfactory. 

My comment above was based on information that hasn’t been reported in the press — which I’m not sure if I will even share here, given that friends and family members frequently find this site — and the anger and revulsion I felt, and continue to feel, over the violence and cruelty inflicted on the victims. 

It was also based on the knowledge that life imprisonment in California seldom means imprisonment until death. Unless a prison sentence specifies “without parole,” or the guilty party is sentenced to consecutive sentences, rather than concurrent, someone could easily be back out in 15 to 20 years. 

So while I may feel that a given punishment is not harsh enough to fit the crime, that does not mean I actually want to inflict something harsher. I do not support the death penalty, nor do I support torture or dismemberment, as Charles suggested. 

I means that I am mad as hell, and my heart cries out for vengeance, knowing that there is no possible penalty that could ever make something like this right. 

In truth, I can envision no greater punishment than waking up every day with the full knowledge of the harm you inflicted on someone else, and the guilt and shame of living with that every day. 

And I hope you’ll tolerate a little AI slop as our corgis, living and dead, wish you ¡Feliz Día de Muertos!

……….

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going. 

Dozens of Toronto residents spent their Halloween protesting the removal of a popular bike path by provincial authorities, over the objection on city leaders, riding bikes and carrying signs, both in an out of costume, as some handed out candy to passersby.

But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly. 

A 75-year old British woman riding a bicycle suffered serious injuries when she was hit head-on by another bicyclist, but at least the other rider apparently stopped.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Times offers a last-minute guide to the LA Mayor’s race, comparing incumbent Karen Bass with challenger Nithya Raman on issues including housing, policing and homelessness, without touching on streets or traffic safety. But if you still haven’t decided, here’s a simple way to make a choice: If you like what you see when you look around this city, vote for Bass; if not, don’t. 

Politico profiles Raman, calling her an accidental politician drawn into office by concern over homelessness, and an “Evil Elmo.”

Metro will close a portion of Pasadena’s Arroyo Parkway between Holly and Union streets today and tomorrow to stripe new bike and travel lanes.

 

State

A 52-year old Ocean Beach woman suffered serious facial fractures when she was hit by a DUI driver while riding an ebike, when the driver decided to make a U-turn even though she was in the way.

SF Gate tells the story of how one of the most iconic and indelible scenes in modern movie history was shot on a rainy night on a ranch just outside Crescent City, when Elliott escaped authorities on his flying bicycle ride silhouetted against the glow of the moon with E.T. in his basket.

Thousands of people turned out for the 8th annual zombie bike parade in Davis, to raise funds for adaptive bicycles for children with disabilities.

A letter writer strongly urges city officials to the Davis Bicycle Hall of Fame as a temporary shelter this winter, because the building is underutilized. And who really cares about a bunch of old bikes and the people who rode them, anyway?

 

National

Velo considers why flying with your bicycle is always a gamble, and how to improve your odds. Personally, I prefer flying with an airplane and a licensed pilot, but as E.T. showed us, flying with a bike is doable with a little help.

The California Post highlights five destinations from National Geographic’s ‘Best of the World’ travel list, including our own PCH and Catalina Island, though failing to mention that the southern end is one of the deadliest roadways in California.

Nope, no bias here. A Boise, Idaho mom wants to know why the motorcyclist who killed her 15-year old son as he rode an ebike isn’t facing charges, in what the local paper describes as an ebike crash, rather than a collision caused by someone riding a motorcycle 80 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Horrible news from Ohio, where a 26-year old man fleeing from police crashed his pickup into several vehicles, losing a wheel, then proceeded on three wheels before slamming into a 35-year old man riding a bicycle, and dragging him half a mile to his death in the missing wheel well; he faces murder and involuntary manslaughter charges, as well as 31 other counts including multiple charges of felonious assault, tampering with evidence and hit-and-run.

Tragic news from New York, where four people have now died following a fire in the Bronx caused by an ebike battery that blocked escaped from the apartment in a public housing complex.

Relatives marked the ninth anniversary of the 2017 New York terrorist attack in which a man in a rented truck sped down the city’s Hudson River Bike Path, killing eight people and injuring 14 others.

Brooklyn’s best Halloween party was held on a dead-end street by costumed revelers on bicycles, whose only rule was “don’t be an asshole.”

A 24-year old New Jersey man was arrested six days after a hit-and-run crash that killed a 71-year old dishwasher riding a bicycle, and charged with tampering with evidence as well as the fatal hit-and-run; another driver remains to be identified after also leaving the scene.

A Pennsylvania bike co-op is operated by a 32-year old nonprofit group with perhaps the best name in advocacy, the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation.

 

International

The Guardian looks at London’s “Sin Bin” for lawbreaking bicyclists who are forced to watch a roadside safety video in lieu of getting a ticket and paying a fairly minimal fine. Kinda like a hockey player getting five for fighting, or a toddler forced to take a timeout for throwing a temper tantrum.

Meanwhile, calls are growing for cops to enforce a ban on bicycling on the newly pedestrianized Oxford Street in London before someone gets hurt, while bicyclists call for alternate routes, instead. When I visited London 25 years ago on a delayed honeymoon, Oxford was a car sewer of the highest degree, and people got hurt by cars on a regular basis. And a lot worse than with a bicycle. 

Speaking of perceived bad behavior, bicyclists in the English town of Kenilworth were reportedly abused by fellow residents for riding their bikes through a park — which they had to do to get to the bicycle parking on the other side.

Even bicycle advocates call scofflaw sidewalk cyclists in the London borough of Putney “the elephant in the room.”

An English radio host is preparing to ride a bicycle 400 miles to visit all four countries in Great Britain in five days, despite not being a “sporty person” or “a cyclist in any way, shape or form.” In parts of this country, it’s difficult to visit four states in 400 miles, let alone four countries.

A British hit-and-run driver faces life in prison for hitting a man riding a bicycle, and knowingly driving another mile dragging the victim under his car.

The rich get richer, as Paris commits the equivalent of $224 million to improve bicycling, while building 87 miles of new bike lanes in six years.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tadej Pogačar was hurt worse than officials let on, revealing that he broke three vertebra when he crashed at the Vuelta, and the outcome may not be as good if he crashes again. There is something to be said for walking away while you still can. 

Twenty-four-year old American Amanda Coker set a new Guinness World Record by riding a remarkable 86,573.2 miles in 12 months, beating the old record by more than 10,000 miles, and now plans to set another by riding 100,000 miles in the shortest amount of time to break a record set 86 years ago.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you get swept away by flood waters, but recover your missing bicycle after someone fishes it out of a storm drain, fixes it up and posts about it online. Or when a major news service can’t decide whether to call a homeless bike rider he or they, so they use both at once.

And GQ answers the difficult question of what to wear to an ebike jousting tournament.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.