One victim, described only as a teenage boy, died after being taken to a local hospital.
Another boy was hospitalized in critical condition with what was described only as major injuries, while a third suffered significant lower body injuries.
Twenty-eight-year old Port Hueneme resident Samuel Rocha turned himself in to police sometime overnight. He was still being processed at 9:30 this morning.
KABC-7 reports Rocha has been booked on one count of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide, in a story that hasn’t been posted online yet.
Let’s hope they’re right, and authorities are taking this crime seriously for a change.
This is at least the 20th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fourth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
That matches the county’s total for all of last year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victims and all their loved ones.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind words following my surgery earlier this month.
My fumble fingers are finally functional again, even though the swollen new Frankenhand they’re attached to is still almost, sort of, not really, kind of back to normal.
But it’ll get there. And nearly two weeks after surgery, the pain is already better than it was before, so there’s that.
Meanwhile, we have a lot to catch up on.
It will take a few days to catch up on all the bike news we missed, but I’ll make sure we don’t miss out on anything important.
So let’s get started on the first installment.
And my apologies for the near-total lack of credits today; with one exception forwarded by multiple people yesterday, I lost track of who sent what to my attention during my extended downtime, which is going to be a problem until we get caught up.
Heartbreaking news from DC, where a longtime bike advocate was killed in a collision, just hours after tweeting about the dangers on the city’s streets.
Had to bike through a roundabout over a highway to get my Covid jab. Lifespan maximization function is clearly perfectly well-calibrated. pic.twitter.com/Zw62SRq70w
(Jim) Pagels was struck in a horrific chain-reaction crash along Massachusetts Avenue NW, about a mile from his home on Capitol Hill, his family said. The avid rider and self-described urbanist who was in his second year of a doctorate program in economics, died at a hospital.
Pagels’s sister, Laura Menendez, described her brother as funny, smart and passionate about many things — pursuing his postgraduate studies, playing tennis and board games, and traveling by bike.
“He had a good heart,” Menendez said. “And he was such a huge advocate for bike safety.”
The paper also quotes a friend of Pagels.
“He was so excited about working in that urban space,” said Finn Vigeland, a close friend who met Pagels while the two worked on the Columbia Daily Spectator. “He was well aware of the dangers of cycling . . . but he loved biking, and he wanted everyone to bike. He wanted everyone to feel like this was the best way to get around D.C…
I hope our city leaders hear about Jim and understand the life that was so senselessly taken away on Friday. He cared so deeply about the injustices that led to his death, and he would want us to be furious about it,” Vigeland said. “I hope that knowing that this was something Jim was working so hard to change might prompt people to take bolder action.”
Let’s hope city leaders get the message here, too.
And used the tragedy as a springboard to call for safer streets, and talk with Michael Schneider, founder of LA street safety PAC Streets For All.
It doesn’t take long for their conversation to get to the heart of the problems on our streets.
ME: Six years ago, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti set a goal of zero traffic-related deaths by 2025, part of the global Vision Zero initiative. So far, we’re not on track to meet that goal. My colleague Steve Lopez recently reported that 238 people died in car crashes in Los Angeles last year — only a tiny decrease from 2019 despite significantly reduced traffic due to COVID-19, and just 8% less than the first full year Garcetti’s policy was in effect. What is going on?
SCHNEIDER: Our city is very good at plans and goals and not very good at implementation. Can you imagine if you were a heart surgeon and people were coming in for heart surgery, and no one would let you operate? Vision Zero is a laudable goal, but until we have a City Council and a mayor who will spend the political capital to make the tough decisions and deal with NIMBY blowback to make changes to our streets, it’s never going to happen…
ME: Where has Mayor Garcetti been on safe streets?
SCHNEIDER: Absent. He says all the right stuff, and he hires great people, like Seleta Reynolds. He will never risk his neck at all for a bike lane or a bus lane.
But I think we’re on the cusp of some exciting changes, especially because the city of Los Angeles has now aligned their elections with federal elections, and the turnout is so much larger and so much more progressive. I think we are on the cusp of truly having different political leadership, where a guy like Paul Koretz, who’s termed out, couldn’t win in 2022 and beyond. And where someone like Nithya Raman, who had making the city more bikeable in her campaign messaging, can defeat an incumbent.
Then there was this about the recent failed attempt to make iconic Melrose Ave safer and more livable for everyone.
ME: Talking about blowback, I read the post you wrote about the proposed “Uplift Melrose” project, which would have added protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks and shaded seating areas along a 1.3-mile stretch of Melrose Avenue. There was broad support from local businesses, but City Councilmember Paul Koretz effectively killed the proposal. Why is it so difficult politically to get changes like these approved?
SCHNEIDER: Opponents typically say the following: If you remove parking or reduce car capacity in any way, how are people going to shop or get to businesses? You’re going to kill business. They also ask, “Why would we invest in this when no one uses the bike lanes anyway?” People cite anecdotes of driving by bike lanes and seeing them empty.
If we had a beautiful six-lane paved highway that only went for one mile and then became a dirt road with potholes, how many cars would take that road? That is the equivalent of what we ask people to do when they bike around Los Angeles. If we had a network of protected bike lanes, you would see a ton of people using them. One piece of evidence is CicLAvia. Those events bring out tens of thousands of people to ride their bikes on closed streets.
What happened to Uplift Melrose was egregious even by L.A. standards. Koretz basically became a puppet for mostly white, wealthy homeowners who couldn’t see themselves riding a bike or a bus.
But if anything ever happens to me when I’m riding a bicycle, I want you to politicize the hell out of it.
Take what’s left of my body to the city council and dump it on the dais, if you have to.
Metaphorically speaking, of course. Or literally, for that matter.
And if it happens on a street marked for safety improvements in city’s mobility plan, I hope those lawyers up there on the right will join together to sue the hell out of the city for failing to keep their commitment to safer streets.
Or maybe just sue over LA’s failed and forgotten Vision Zero plan to force the cowards we foolishly elected to lead us to the changes we so desperately need on our streets.
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LADOT has finally release the results of the city’s biennial walk and bike count, which for years has been done on a volunteer basis by the LACBC and later, LA Walks.
Which is something they should have been doing all along.
And yes, they are just now releasing data collected that was collected two years ago, for reasons known only to them.
It also shows how easy it is to boost bicycling with a little decent infrastructure, with a 73% jump in ridership as a result of the protected and separated bike lanes on the MyFigueroa project.
MyFig also resulted the city’s most heavily-trafficked pedestrian corridor, even above the tourist-clogged sidewalks of Hollywood Blvd.
And it points to how Los Angeles can increase the far too low rate of women riding bikes on city streets.
While the report found that women make up 40 percent of pedestrians on weekdays and 44 percent on weekends, women made up just 14 percent of cyclists. However, the report also indicated a 120 percent increase in female riders on streets improved with dedicated bike paths.
In other words, all they have to do is what the city already committed to in the 2010 bike plan, and the mobility plan that subsumed it.
Not to mention LA’s nearly forgotten Vision Zero and the mayor’s Green New Deal.
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What the hell.
I’m not sure where this video is from; I can’t make out the the police patches or or the name on the patrol cars.
But something looks seriously wrong about a bunch of while cops taking a young black man into custody for the crime of…wait for it…
And while some cities require bikes to be registered, I don’t know any place where police have the authority to seize private property over a handful of minor infractions.
Which would be illegal as hell if they tried to seize someone’s car for an expired license or failing to signal a turn.
Let alone not having their headlights on in broad daylight.
Unfortunately, there’s a term for crap like this — Biking While Black.
And regardless of their motivation, it makes the cops look racist AF.
Thanks to Jon, Megan Lynch and Stacey Kline for the heads-up.
And if anyone knows where this happened, let me know so I’ll never make the mistake of going there.
Update: Thanks to Al Williams for identifying this as Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Which I will make a point of never visiting.
@bikinginla Phone-in your comment before or while the item is being introduced: (310) 288-2288 (say you want to comment on item #2) Zoom-in using passcode 90210: https://t.co/phVIDKQvpb Email your comment to cityclerk@beverlyhills.org pic.twitter.com/r7CX4Fo7OZ
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A Texas bike rider bike rider was hospitalized with a brain bleed and facial fractures when he was run down by a drunk driver — while riding on an ostensibly carfree bike path.
Singaporean actor Tay Ping Hui says he’s got nothing against bicyclists, despite complaining when a small group of riders merged onto the roadway ahead of him. Because apparently, it’s asking too much to slow down or change lanes to drive safely around them.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
No bias here, either. A Singapore motorcyclist calls for banning bicycles from the roads after watching one — count ’em, one — scofflaw bicyclist weaving through traffic. Meanwhile, the website somehow feels the need to point out that 34 bike riders were ticketed for breaking the law over the weekend. Makes you wonder how many motorcyclists got tickets the same weekend. Let alone drivers. But sure, blame everyone on bicycles.
Calbike wants your support for the proposed Safety Stop Bill, which would allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields. Which is exactly what many riders safely do right now. And far too many drivers do unsafely.
Meanwhile, AB 43 unanimously passed the Assembly Transportation Committee with no opposition; the bill would retain the deadly 85th Percentile Law, but allow cities to consider factors other than drivers’ right feet in setting speed limits, such as the location as well as pedestrian and bicycle safety.
California is joining a nationwide movement to prioritize safety over speed. The question is whether the shift is real, or if the legislature will simply pass a few feel good bills before forgetting all about it and moving on to other matters, as too often happens.
A San Francisco woman celebrates seven years of living carfree after switching to an ebike when her car was totaled by an uninsured driver; she claims she’s saved over $50,000 over that period.
My hometown university has now joined the Vision Zero club. Which isn’t too surprising, considering it’s surrounded by one of the nation’s most bike-friendly communities. Even though it didn’t get that way until long after I left, of course.
Apparently writing with all seriousness, a New Hampshire medical worker and self-described cyclist says he worked with a state legislator on a bill that would require bicyclists to ride salmon, but the bill died when he couldn’t get time off work to attend the hearing. Because evidently, riding a bike in New Hampshire just isn’t dangerous enough already.
A pair of Vancouver business owners are taking their case to the British Columbia Supreme Court to fight the re-installation of a protected bike lane through a park, arguing the decision to swap a traffic lane for a bikeway wasn’t “reasonable, rational or logical.” Seriously. It’s in a park.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a 26-year old driver got a lousy 35 months in jail for intentionally running down a 13-year old boy riding his bike after getting into an argument with the kid in a park, and following him for 20 minutes before using his car as a weapon to attack him.
Scottish cyclist Josh Quigley is on his second day of a world record attempt for the greatest distance ridden on a bicycle in a single week, attempting to ride 320 miles a day in an 80-mile loop through the Scottish countryside; he’s aiming for Aussie pro Jack Thompson’s record of 2,177 miles, despite suffering multiple broken bones in a crash three months ago.
This is who we share the road with. A Kiwi driver is filmed blissfully driving on the right side of the road — which is the wrong side Down Under adjacent — until confronted head-on by a large truck. If your first thought was that it was probably just an American tourist confused about what side to drive on, join the club.
My biggest fear when I agreed to surgery on my arm and hand was that someone would lose their life riding a bike, and I wouldn’t be able to write about the victim.
According to the Malibu Times, the man with the bike was struck and killed by a driver headed west on PCH.
A few moments later, one of his companions was struck and killed by a second driver as he scrambled to collect the victim’s belongings from the roadway.
Both men apparently died at the scene, just minutes apart. According to the paper, there have now been three people killed at the same spot in recent years.
The crash occurred sometime after dark on Saturday, April 10th.
The victim was riding without lights or reflectors when he was run down by a driver headed east on PCH at 51 mph, as recorded on the vehicle’s black box. He was knocked onto the other side of the highway, where he may have been struck by another driver.
There’s no word on whether the victim was riding on PCH or trying to cross the street. There’s also no word on whether the second driver remained at the scene.
Unfortunately, no identification was given for any of the victims, other than the first two men were homeless, while the third may have been.
But they all deserved better.
These are at least the 18th and 19th bicycling fatalities in Southern California this year, and the fourth and fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.
They are also just two of at least five people killed on PCH in Malibu since early March, along with another pedestrian and the driver of an SUV who went off the road.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for all the victims and their loved ones.
I’m going to be off the rest of the week after surgery on my arm and hand.
I was scheduled for carpal tunnel surgery in December, which was cancelled at the last minute when Covid-19 overwhelmed the hospitals, and elective surgeries were put on hold.
But a last minute opening to have the surgery came up unexpectedly yesterday. Unfortunately, though, my condition continued to deteriorate in the meantime; what was a simple wrist operation will now include surgery on my elbow and hand, as well.
As a result, I’m not sure how long it will take to get the use of my arm and hand back, which means I’m not sure how long it will be before I can get back to bringing you the latest bike news. I’m planning to be back on Monday, but it could be longer.
And yes, all that damage was caused by diabetes. Which is one more reason to do whatever you can to avoid it.
So have good weekend, ride safe, and hopefully I’ll see you next week.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Milwaukee man is charged with murdering a prominent immigration lawyer in a road rage incident that began when the lawyer yelled at the other man for riding his bike on the wrong side of the road, nearly causing a collision; the man in the bike shot the victim as he was getting out of his wife’s car to confront the bicyclist.
The Eastsideroffers a recap of Eagle Rock’s Beautiful Boulevard plan, noting that it’s designed to maintain the community’s small town feel, while making room for the NoHo-to-Pasadena bus rapid transit line on Colorado Blvd.
Months after Los Angeles announced a partnership with Bike Index to register bicycles, Hermosa Beach announces they’re teaming with Project 529 to do the same thing there. Which will inevitably complicate bike theft reporting and recovery, since police will now have to check both sites.
Saturday 4/10 – On this date in 2018, 22-year-old Frederick “Woon” Frazier was killed in a horrific hit-and-run at Manchester and Normandie. Though the driver was ultimately apprehended, the case is still making its way through the court system. In the meanwhile, little has changed in the way of safety in that area; cars seem to be driving faster than ever along both busy corridors. To continue to push for both justice and safer streets, friends and family ask you to join them on a bike/walk for justice in honor of his memory. Meet up at 51st and Harvard at 11 a.m.
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Sarcasm is a powerful tool.
Although there’s always a few tools who don’t get it.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Tallahassee police are looking for a would-be thief who rode his bike up to a bank patron using an ATM, then shot him in a botched robbery attempt; the victim was hospitalized in serious condition.
Sad news from San Jose, where a man was killed when he was run down by a motorist while riding his bike across the street; police stress that he was “outside of a marked crosswalk” when he was killed. Never mind that bike riders are neither required nor expected to use a crosswalk — and often blamed when they do.
A Pennsylvania man got a well-deserved one to nine years behind bars for a hit-and-run crash while driving with a suspended license, which critically injured a toddler being pulled behind her mother’s bicycle; the judge wisely added a request not to release him after serving the minimum sentence.
Native Frenchman and former French road cycling champion Nacer Bouhanni hits back against racist online comments since he was DQ’d for bodychecking British cyclist Jake Stewart in last week’s Cholet-Pays de Loire. Seriously, he may ride like a jerk, but there’s no excuse for that crap. Ever.
If you are the cyclist who was hit by a white BMW today at Abbot Kinney and Westminster, I have a photo of the plate.
You had just fallen off your bike when I approached the intersection so I didn’t see the incident, but based on the way you and a couple of other folks gestured towards the car, it seemed like that driver may have hit you and run.
The car turned in front of me from Westminster onto Abbot Kinney and I snapped a photo once we came to a stop down the road.
I can send it to you if you like.
Update: Thanks for the advice, I called it in to LAPD. They didn’t have an incident report for the time/location but they will share the information with the traffic cops in that area in case anything comes up with that vehicle description.
If you were the victim, or know someone who was, click on the link about and reply to the original post, since they didn’t leave contact information.
And always report a hit-and-run to the police, even if you aren’t seriously injured.
You never know who else they might do it to next time.
Thanks to Bean and David Wolfberg for the heads-up.
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Keith Johnson forwards news of what could be yet another contentious public meeting in Hancock Park, as local residents continue to fight changes that would improve safety for bike riders on 4th Street.
Even though the improvements would benefit their neighborhood, as well. Whether or not they ride a bike.
Neighborhood Traffic Changes! Hancock Park and Windsor Sq. will host a Transportation Town Hall on April 14, at 6:00 PM. We expect the LA Department of Transportation to explain their reasoning behind their recently posted survey regarding Bike Lights and Restricted Turns on 4th Street at Highland and Rossmore. Make your voice heard! AGAIN!Join the meeting at this Zoom link. https://zoom.us/j/96677001434
Local residents have a long history of fighting what was once called the 4th Street Bike Boulevard, over mistaken fears of increased traffic and difficulty of emergency vehicles getting through.
The reality is that the changes would eliminate cut-through traffic, while allowing continued emergency access.
And likely increase property values, too.
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Pasadena is looking for input on safety improvements for the segment of North Lake Ave directly above the 210 Freeway, which can certainly use it.
.@PasadenaDOT is conducting a pedestrian and traffic safety enhancement study for North Lake Avenue between Mountain and Maple Streets. Community members are invited to review the next round of design plans and submit feedback by April 18: https://t.co/fE4jHC9LlTpic.twitter.com/urMqpwRjHt
Leimert Park talks electric mobility, including ebikes, on Thursday.
Our friends at @weloveleimert are hosting a Zoom event: The Leimert Park Electric Mobility Forum, this Thursday (April 8th) from 7-8 PM, to talk circuit service, e-bike rentals, and more. Register for free and join! https://t.co/Fr73jtytPq
Nice to see some overdue attention to a long marginalized segment of the bicycling community.
I’ve heard far too many tales of people size shamed at their local bike shop or by other riders.
Biking For Big People Webinar!!
Maybe you saw All Bodies on Bikes and now you want to get back on your bike after some time away or start riding a bike for the first time. Or maybe you’ve been riding all along but can’t find the right clothes or type of bike for you. pic.twitter.com/zNmFU1fnC8
The aforementioned Megan Lynch forwards a photo of Burbank cops teaching bike safety from 1957.
@bikinginla "Burbank Police Officer Dick Kunkle, right, checks skill of Frank Mattews, 8, in making proper left turn on simulated street at Horace Mann School. Watching bicycle safety demonstration are Officer Don Sanders and Barbara Merrill, also student at school." https://t.co/2i8zpQEirV
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Las Gatos police are looking for the racist bike rider who shoved a 40-year-old Filipina medical worker to the ground without warning as she walked along a sidewalk, then shouted “Go back to (expletive) China.” Seriously, there’s no excuse for that. Ever. And not just mistaking someone from the Philippines for a person from China.
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Local
The Los Angeles City Council will consider resolutions in support of state legislation allowing bicyclists to treat stops as yields, and state and federal bills to provide up to $1,500 in ebike tax credits at Tuesday’s virtual council meeting.
This is who we share the road with. A Portland man faces a hate crime charge, as well as attempted assault, reckless driving and unlawful use of a weapon charges, for attempting to run down another driver after yelling a racist slur, in what may or may not have started as a road rage incident.
In Florida, drivers don’t even have to be alive to hurt a bike rider. A speeding driver was killed after losing control and smashing into a tree; the car then careened on to hit someone riding a bike, who had to be flown for emergency care.
French pro Nacer Bouhanni insists he’s not a thug after slamming Britain’s Jake Stewart into the barriers during a mad sprint to the finish at the one-day Cholet-Pays de la Loire last week, even though he faces a potential ban for dangerous sprinting. Is it just me, or does his “I’m not a thug!” sound a little too reminiscent of Nixon’s “I am not a crook!”?
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking for public input on a proposal that would divert funding currently earmarked for highways to support active transportation and Complete Streets projects.
In June 2020, Metro’s Board of Directors directed staff to explore ways to modernize the agency’s Highway Program to better align it with policy goals of reducing vehicle miles traveled while exploring the expansion of eligible projects to include active transportation and “complete streets” improvements that focus on all forms of mobility rather than just vehicles.
The changes, if implemented, would open certain Measure R and Measure M funding that is now reserved only for traditional highway or roadway projects to new types of improvements. Those improvements include bikeways, sidewalk and pedestrian safety improvements, bus prioritization and explicitly using reductions in vehicle miles traveled as a criterion for planning and designing projects.
The plan, which has already received input from local governments, has been split into two sections, here and here.
Now an email from Los Angeles Walks is calling on them to reverse a bad decision.
Last week, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced their intention to permanently remove and not replace a pedestrian bridge connecting communities divided by the 101 Freeway.
While Caltrans suggested other alternatives for pedestrians, such as traffic signals and crosswalks, the removal of this bridge significantly limits the mobility of those walking or rolling. Currently, the Encino Ave. Pedestrian Bridge is located in at the intersection of Encino Ave. and Killion St (see arrow).
If removed, this reduces the number of options for residents in the area to cross the 101 freeway and places at risk a similar bridge on Amestoy Ave. about half a mile to the east. With both bridges gone local Angenelos would need to walk up to 2 miles to cross the 101 at White Oak Ave. or Balboa Blvd. Or they’ll have to walk up Louise Ave., a four lane road with scant pedestrian signage and infrastructure.
This bridge provides easy and safe access for those walking or rolling to go between the neighborhood and Burbank Ave., where you’ll find grocery stores, a pre-school, businesses, and other important community assets.
In 2019 alone, these local roads (displayed on the map) saw nearly 50 collisions. That same year the community experienced a horrific street racing crash along Burbank Blvd. that killed a 19 and 25 year old. If LA City is dedicated to its #VisionZero commitment (to reach 0 traffic deaths by 2025), tearing down a community-connecting pedestrian bridge over one of City’s largest and busiest freeways is the wrong way to go.
Our call to Action! 🚨
Let Caltrans know that the community, our seniors, our students need their pedestrian bridge. And we’ve made it easy for you!
Dense cities where public transit was already popular generally saw the largest increases. In cities with lower density, more cars per capita and higher traffic speeds, the increase in cycling was more modest. Paris, which implemented its bike lane program early and had the largest pop-up bike lane program of any of the cities in the study, had one of the largest increases in riders.
“It almost seems like a natural law that the more infrastructure you have, the more cycling you will have,” said Sebastian Kraus, the study’s lead author.
The increases held up even after taking weather and changes in public transit supply and demand into account.
Then there was this.
Bicycles, unlike cars, do not emit greenhouse gases. Matthew Raifman, a doctoral student in environmental health at the Boston University School of Public Health, found in a separate study that investments in infrastructure for cycling and walking more than paid for themselves once the health benefits were taken into account.
“They increase our physical activity and reduce levels of greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality, which all have impacts on health,” Mr. Raifman said.
Which is about as good an argument for transferring Metro highway funds to healthier and more efficient uses as you could make.
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The former Mayor Pete could have ridden in a chauffeured limo to his first cabinet meeting as US Transportation Secretary.
If he chose to ride a bike, it was to send a message.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg biked to the White House for today's Cabinet Meeting, it would appear. pic.twitter.com/XfYRB3COqm
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
This one fits in both categories, as a Hermosa Beach letter writer calls on the city to remove the “silly” sharrows on Hermosa Ave, after someone on a bicycle hit his son while he was crossing the street. Seriously, slow the hell down and ride carefully around pedestrians, especially kids. But just wait until someone tells this guy about cars. And don’t get me started on sharrows, which exist primarily to help drivers improve their aim.
A ghost bike for the five Las Vegas bicyclists killed by a meth-using truck driver was moved to a public school in downtown Summerlin; the plan is to rotate the memorial to different locations in the city raise awareness.
Colorado’s Tourism Office explains how to build a route through the high country wilderness by threading together by a series of scenic and historic byways. All of which are even better by bicycle. And say hi to my old stomping grounds on the Cache la Poudre River while you’re at it.
VeloNews examines the technical aspects of how Irish cyclist Ronan McLaughlin became the latest in a long line of recent Everesting record holders, with a time of 6 hours, 40 minutes and 54 seconds, in part by focusing on shaving time on the descents; the solo attempt involves making multiple uphill climbs equivalent to the height of Mt. Everest.
Protect cyclists and pedestrians: Bikes, too, would get a share of the billions. The package includes $20 billion for safety – including funds to ‘reduce crashes and fatalities, especially for cyclists and pedestrians.’
That’s in addition to funding for transit to cut traffic congestion and reduce the number of cars on the road.
Let’s hope the bike funding — and the bill itself — survives what promises to be a brutal congressional process.
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Tonight is the last scheduled virtual public meeting to weigh in on the Beautiful Blvd plan for Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock.
If you live for the fight, Zoom in tomorrow night. The opposition to Eagle Rock's Beautiful Boulevard is gonna be in full force. When: Thursday, April 1, 5-7pm Zoom Link: https://t.co/G2Stbhy4FO Beautiful Boulevard Talking Points: https://t.co/S8ePKlXErt
Here’s your chance to work in advocacy on the east side of the Bay Area.
Here's another #BikeJobs opportunity with @BikeEastBay in Oakland, CA. Join the team full-time as Operations Director, to help us build efficient operations, equitable internal structures, and caring workplaces. Full descriptions & details here:https://t.co/lOVDh4ZL9Opic.twitter.com/ELj7kv6Jho
Our friend Leo Rodgers landed a spot on national television Monday morning on the CW's All American Stories series. You can watch this 7-minute mini-documentary short over at the CW Seed for free.https://t.co/wmvvzs5hXNpic.twitter.com/dYeB9NbeCR
Rotterdam’s main boulevard—the Coolsingel—has been reimagined as a city lounge; with 10,000 fewer cars per day, a 30 km/h design speed, dedicated tramway, and abundant space for walking, cycling, and sitting.
— Melissa & Chris Bruntlett (@modacitylife) March 31, 2021
This is what we could be doing in Los Angeles.
And what we’ll have to do if we want to reduce the city’s crippling addiction to motor vehicles, let alone make a dent in our massive contribution to climate change.
But we’re not.
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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Michigan man faces up to ten years behind bars after pleading guilty to beating a Black teenager with a chain bicycle lock, just because of his race. Seriously, there’s not a pit deep enough for someone like that. And no, there’s no guarantee that he rides a bike; he could have just used the chain lock for something else. But still.
Road.ccrecommends their favorite bicycle wheels of 2021, with prices starting at the equivalent of a surprisingly low $344. Although prices are given British pounds, so cost and availability may vary.
An op-ed in an Irish paper says transportation is too often considered gender neutral, but active transportation plans must take differing needs of “women, children, the elderly, those with a disability and different ethnic minorities” into account.
Surprisingly, a British man got his bike back two years after it was stolen in an Australian town, when he was 102 days into a record-setting attempt to be the youngest person to ride solo across the world; he was literally left with just the clothes on his back after everything else was taken. A 46-year old man faces charges after being caught riding the stolen bike.
It probably won’t come as any surprise that my diabetes once again got the better of me.
After struggling for weeks with high blood sugar after a new doctor — and new insurance — switched one of my medications, it took a sudden and unexpected nose dive Monday night, knocking me out for the rest of the night.
And as you can see, when I finally came back to life, there was a dog sleeping on my head.
The film follows two women, who self-identify as fat, on a “two-day bikepacking trip along the Corvallis to Coast Trail, a 65-mile route through the gorgeous Oregon Coast Range.”
And demonstrates that the sheer joy of riding a bicycle has nothing to do with the size of your body.
Seriously, watch it.
Then the next time you’re tempted to indulge in a little fat shaming, on or off a bike, just…
Our self-guided bicycle route for April is out now! FatTire Presents: Zooming in on the Microscopic celebrates National Beer Day & Earth Day by taking a closer look at some local microbes. pic.twitter.com/JBdO7Jc6Un
— Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (@lacbc) March 31, 2021
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If this doesn’t make you want to ride a bike in Trinidad & Tobago, nothing will.
Or better yet, to Trinidad & Tobago. Although you might want to catch a lift for that last wet stage.
Thanks to Stormin’ Norman for forwarding the video.
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Not only is London’s equivalent of Slow Streets not slowing down emergency responses, they may actually be improving them.
Ahem. New @LondonFire report out today. Says: "we haven’t yet noticed any impact on attendance times due to low traffic neighbourhood schemes established in 2020…" and implies LTNS are actually HELPING attendance times in inner London "quicker than those in outer London" pic.twitter.com/HK1nHkbnT8
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that a British police department’s campaign to prevent close passing of bicyclists is met with a barrage of anti-bike comments online. Then again, even the most innocuous pro-bike statements can bring the haters out.
It’s not your imagination. Passenger vehicle traffic is up to pre-pandemic levels in Los Angeles, and other cities around the US. Which is exactly what we’ve been warning would happen if the city didn’t invest in safe, efficient spaces for other forms of transportation during the pandemic down time.
Metro still doesn’t get it. The LA County transit agency continues to propose a watered-down alternative to the community-driven Beautiful Blvd plan for a Bus Rapid Transit line along Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock, omitting the expanded sidewalks, sidewalk-level protected bike lanes and more sidewalk trees residents have called for.
After getting their Covid shots, a pair of San Francisco men decide to take Krispy Kreme up on its offer for free donuts by hitting up every Bay Area location in a single day. And would have succeeded if their ebike batteries hadn’t died.
National
Bloomberg rightly blames laws that lock in dangerous street designs and allow vehicles known to increase the risk to non-motorists for the shocking rise in US traffic fatalities during the pandemic.
The meth-fueled crash that killed five Las Vegas bike riders sped up a survivor’s plan to open his own bike shop. Which was just the second biggest decision he made as a result, after proposing to his girlfriend.
Family members speak out after a South Florida pastor was run down by a hit-and-run driver on a Miami causeway, leaving him in a coma. If the driver wanted to get away with it, maybe she shouldn’t have used valet parking right afterwards.
Still more from the country’s most dangerous state for bike riders and pedestrians, as a 75-year old Florida man training for a 500-mile bike ride was killed by a 79-year old woman, who drove into him for “unknown reasons.” Maybe the reason was she shouldn’t have been driving in the first place.
A book excerpt takes a fascinating look at the role bikes, and the female arsonists who rode them, played in winning the vote for British women. And casually mentions Audrey Hepburn used her bicycle to deliver resistance leaflets in her Dutch hometown, and feminist icon Simone de Beauvoir rode a stolen bicycle with Jean-Paul Sartre in Nazi-occupied France.
