Archive for Bikes & the Law

Morning Links: CD1 race gets dirtier, bike rider assaulted on LA River path, and fixing streets is Vision Zero, too

April 6, 2017 / / One comment

As predicted, incumbent CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo is getting down and dirty as he fights to retain his seat in the face of a strong challenge from outsider Joe Bray-Ali.

Today’s attack from the city’s most anti-bike councilmember comes in the form of repeated accusations that Bray-Ali is just a Republican in Democrat clothing. And that he only switched parties to run for office — fighting words in the strongly Democratic and independent district.

Except he isn’t. And didn’t.

Bray-Ali is the first to admit he was, briefly, registered as a Republican several years ago as he searched for his place in the political landscape, before landing in the Democratic party after equally brief stints as a Green and an independent.

And never mind that Los Angeles local elections are supposed to be non-partisan, so whatever the hell party he belongs to shouldn’t matter in the slightest.

More amusing is Cedillo’s claim that he’s running a grassroots campaign.

Which is absurd coming from a career politician who gets the overwhelming majority of his donations from outside the district. And who has been in bed with mega donors like Chevron and Walmart for years, leading to questions whether their donations have influenced his votes.

After Saturday’s bizarre Lyin’ Joe episode, and today’s overblown tweetstorm attacks, it’s starting to look like Gil has been studying at Trump U.

And learning all the wrong lessons about how to conduct a campaign.

………

A bike rider reports he was the victim of an assault on the LA River bike path at the Los Feliz overpass when he was punched by one of two men partially blocking the pathway.

Fortunately, he was able to maintain control of his bike, and didn’t stick around to find out what they wanted.

While incidents like this are relatively rare, it’s a reminder to always remain alert and aware of your surroundings when you ride, especially on bike paths or anywhere else out of direct public view. He did the smart thing by getting out of harms way as quickly as possible before stopping to call the police.

He doesn’t give the date or time of the attack, but it makes me wonder if that’s why I saw a CHP cruiser turn onto the bike path as I passed by on Los Feliz Monday afternoon.

LA bicyclists have long called for regular police patrols on the bike paths in the city and county, to little effect; incidents like this sometimes result in an increase in patrols, which die down after awhile as other hotspots take precedence.

Thanks to Chris Klibowitz for the heads-up.

………

I may not have made myself clear the other day.

While I am a strong believer in the need to fund Vision Zero projects in Los Angeles, and feel that it should take precedence over repaving streets and filling potholes, that doesn’t mean the latter isn’t important, as well.

As yesterday’s tragic news reminded us, bad roads can be an expensive annoyance to people on four wheels. But they can be deadly to those of us on two.

Vision Zero should not attempt to improve safety at the expense of our streets, but in conjunction with repaving efforts to ensure a safe riding, driving and walking environment for everyone. We have to somehow find room in the budget to pay for both.

Because it doesn’t matter whether our streets are dangerous because of aggressive drivers, bad road design or crumbling street surfaces. The results are the same.

And human lives are at stake.

………

This is seriously one of the scariest close passes I’ve ever seen, as a driver for a British market buzzes within inches of a cyclist. But says it’s okay since he didn’t cross into the extremely narrow bike lane.

Just as scary is the response from the company, which was basically “We didn’t hit him, so who cares?”

Thanks to Jon for the link.

………

I’ve never had a lot of heroes.

Willie Mays when I was younger, Bobby Kennedy and Dr. King as I got older, though both were gone before I reached my teens. But there are a lot of people I’ve admired; a few I’ve tried to emulate.

And one of the best and brightest of those was killed in crash early Wednesday morning.

Steve Tilford was everything I wanted to be as a young rider. A passionate cyclist who was among the first wave of American riders to storm Europe and show that we could compete on equal terms with the best names in the sport, he made it all seem effortless, competing on the road and winning in mountain biking and cyclocross.

According to various press reports, Tilford was driving on I-70 just west of the Colorado – Utah border when his van crashed into an overturned semi. He and his passenger were standing outside of the van, injured but okay, when a second semi plowed into the overturned truck, striking Tilford.

He died a few hours later at a hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado.

His passenger, Vincent Davis, was injured, and the driver of the second truck was killed as well.

VeloNews sums up the reaction in the cycling world, while the BMC Racing Team’s Jim Ochowicz remembers him and offers his condolences to Tilford’s partner Trudi Rebsamen, a soigneur with the team.

And Bicycling revives a 1998 profile of Tilford, saying he is why we ride.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I have something in my eye.

 

………

Another of those young riders from the 80s, American cycling great Andy Hampsten, is happy to share his love of cycling with young riders in Sonoma County.

Scientists are trying to take the hell of riding cobbles out of the Hell of the North.

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Local

The jury’s still out on the 2024 Olympics, but LA will be hosting the 2017 Police & Fire Games.

Sunday marks the return of the Brompton Urban Bike Challenge scavenger hunt in DTLA.

Bike SGV invites you to attend the opening of the Jeff Seymour Family Center on Monday.

Topanga Canyon Blvd will be closed this weekend to repair storm damage and remove that big rock blocking the roadway.

Speaking of big rocks, CiclaValley discovers Big Rock Canyon.

 

State

The OC Breeze estimates that 15,000 people attended Saturday’s Garden Grove open streets event.

San Clemente plans to provide a safer route to an elementary school by improving bike lanes and sidewalks on Avenida del Presidente.

Indio is looking for public input on plans to install sidewalks and bike lanes. That’s easy. Yes. Please.

Sad news from the San Joaquin Valley, as a man was killed riding his bike in Southeast Bakersfield.

A Visalia man is scheduled to spend the next 34 years behind bars for shooting a bike rider from his moving car.

Bay Area bike riders will finally be able to ride halfway across the Bay Bridge on weekdays. Then turn around and ride back, since it will be several years before the bikeway goes all the way across, if then.

A UC Berkeley architecture professor wants you to bike along the big, not-so-beautiful wall already standing on the Mexico border with the US.

Folsom is planning to complete the Johnny Cash Trail near the prison where he recorded the best selling live album of all time.

Chico police bust an ebike thief who broke in from the shop next door to steal a $3,000 bike from a local dealer.

 

National

A writer for City Lab says bike helmet laws do more harm than good, and the idea that they improve overall safety for cyclists isn’t backed up by the evidence.

Someone vandalized over 200 of Portland’s 1,000 bikeshare bikes.

Great read. When a reader asks why bicyclists don’t have to carry insurance, an Oregon columnist responds “don’t be that guy.”

Alaskan fat bike riders are risking their lives by riding through railroad tunnels to get to a near-wilderness area that’s closed for the winter.

Prosecutors offer an undisclosed plea deal to a road raging Arizona driver who allegedly murdered a bike rider earlier this year; he faces up to 25 years if he’s convicted.

Someone walked out with $8,000 worth of bike clothes from a trio of Dallas bike shops.

A bike-riding Florida cop struggles to find answers in the wake of a recent tragedy, saying ultimately we must learn to care about others on the road, and encourage them to care about us.

 

International

Caught on video: A Canadian thief demonstrates just how fast a poorly secured bike can be stolen.

Four of London’s most dangerous intersections are scheduled to get bike and pedestrian friendly improvements. Which is exactly how Vision Zero is supposed to work.

The Guardian asks if London’s cycling czar is tough enough to take on critics and bike-haters. On the other hand, at least they have one, unlike some cities I could name.

Sometimes they do come home. Australian police recover an American man’s bicycle two years after it was stolen from a laundromat.

Designer and cyclist Paul Smith is creating cycling jerseys for a bike race to help raise funds to rebuild a Japanese town devastated by the 2011 tsunami.

Abandoned bikeshare bikes are crowding out humans in a Shenzhen, China park.

 

Finally…

No, popsicle bike is not a thing, but it should be. No, throwing your bike at an ex-friend who owes you money is not the correct way to use it.

And which of these things are you doing wrong in your cycling class?

That’s easy. Not riding a real bicycle outside, to start.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links, Violence & Crime, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Vision Zero funding carries the day, cyclist-killing pedophile sentenced, and bad bike marketing

March 30, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Vision Zero funding carries the day, cyclist-killing pedophile sentenced, and bad bike marketing

Safer streets won the day at yesterday’s meeting of the LA City Council’s Transportation Committee.

According to Curbed LA, a motion passed to allocate 60% of the city’s Measure M local return funds to Vision Zero projects, as opposed to a city plan to allocate two-thirds to fixing the city’s crumbling streets.

The motion sponsored by CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin passed by a slim 3 – 2 margin, with CD5’s Paul Koretz and CD4’s David Ryu voting to fix potholes while keeping the city’s streets dangerous.

As Bonin put it,

“We can fill a bunch of potholes, or we can save a bunch of lives.”

However, comments from Koretz blamed jaywalking pedestrians and poor pavement quality in bike lanes, not high speeds, poor street design or dangerous drivers, for the city’s unacceptably high rate of fatalities.

Never mind that he’s the one responsible for blocking planned bike lanes on Westwood Blvd and on other streets in his mostly Westside district.

And Ryu is the one standing in the way of a desperately needed road diet on 6th Street that’s overwhelmingly supported by the neighborhood councils in the area.

But sure, let’s go with potholes over human lives.

………

Sometimes, I don’t even know what to say.

An Agoura Hills man was sentenced to the maximum term of nearly six years behind bars for committing lewd acts with a 14-year old boy, 29 years after he was convicted on felony counts of hit-and-run and conspiracy for killing a bike rider in Laguna Hills.

Gary Haw, who owned a string of tanning salons in the early 2000s, is also suspected, but wasn’t charged, with molesting other boys who worked for his company.

He was driving his father’s $80,000 Porsche when he slammed into his 17-year old victim in 1988. Despite throwing the boy’s body the length of a football field, he was somehow acquitted of vehicular manslaughter in the case, and received just two years in prison.

His father was convicted of obstruction and lying to a police officer for attempting to cover for Haw by claiming he was the one driving, even though he was at his Culver City home at the time of the crash.

Haw was also convicted of molesting a child in Santa Monica that same year.

Yet his attorney in the current case argued that Haw was a “pillar of the community” who was unlikely to re-offend.

Which seems highly unlikely, given his track record.

And which makes the five year, eight month sentence seem a few decades too short.

………

Once again, a bicycle company badly misses the mark by assuming their market is made up solely of immature straight males.

As Bicycling points out, the sexist and homophobic ad Wolf Tooth Components and another company shared on social media over the weekend was quickly pulled when wiser heads prevailed following an intense backlash.

The question is why anyone would approve it in the first place. And why does the bike industry just not get it?

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Patrick Lynch forwards video of an airport bike cop photobombing a Today Show news report on TSA pat-downs.

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A professional mountain biker describes his addiction to Tramadol, the painkiller used — legally — by many cyclists in the pro peloton.

Women’s races have been added to two of the four stages of the new Colorado Classic bike race, with an unrelated women’s crit the third day.

A German website profiles American cyclist Leah Thorvilson, who went from marathon runner to winning a pro cycling contract at age 38 by coming in first in a Zwift virtual cycling competition.

………

Local

CiclaValley calls tonight’s People For Bikes Draft Meetup at Pure Cycles a must.

LA-based Smart Bikes is accepting pre-order sales for their new Hexagon light, combining a rear-view camera with a taillight, brake light and turn signals, and allowing you to use your smartphone to see what’s coming behind you. But probably not the “ultimate safety device,” as the company describes it.

The LACBC’s annual River Ride will once again feature a Long Beach start, as well as the traditional starting line in Griffith Park; the Long Beach start was discontinued last year due to construction work.

 

State

There seems to be a common theme to our first three stories. I just can’t seem to put my finger on it.

  • Health rankings of California counties indicate where you live has an impact on how healthy you are and how long you’ll live, with Orange County near the top of the list, and Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties not so much. Safe, walkable and bikeable neighborhoods with access to fresh fruits and vegetables made a positive difference.
  • Calbike says a good state transportation bill was poisoned at the last minute by an ill-advised compromise allowing the trucking industry to keep polluting neighborhoods near ports and trucking routes.
  • A white paper from the California Air Resources Board says physical activity is good for you, just try not to breath the air.

Long delayed plans for a bikeway on San Diego’s Coronado bridge could cost as much as $210 million for a 15-foot tube suspended beneath the bridge, and could require a toll to fund it — either on the bicyclists and pedestrians using it, or the drivers on the bridge above them.

A Santa Cruz letter writer says “smug weekend cyclists” should be banned from a large number of mountain roads. Does that mean modest weekday riders are okay?

A Sacramento magazine says it’s time for the city to stop spinning its wheels and build its first protected bike lane, noting that Sacramento and Las Vegas are the only two of America’s 40 largest cities without at least imminent plans for one.

A Folsom newspaper says cyclists and motorists need to work together for safety, and drivers shouldn’t squeeze cyclists off the road.

 

National

A new study questions why girls lose interest in bicycling when they reach their teens; not surprisingly, traffic is a major factor.

A writer for Forbes calls the new $5,000, 33 mph Stromer ebike a people magnet and a thing of sheer beauty. Although here in California, any motorized bicycle that goes that fast requires a helmet and a motorcycle license.

It was a big night out for a Denton TX man, who was arrested after allegedly crashing his car into three separate vehicles before hitting a woman on a bicycle, then running away and attacking a woman getting out of her car, insisting he needed it to get something to drink.

Chicago bike riders are cheering plans for extending a bike trail and building a riverwalk bike path on both sides of the river through a gentrifying industrial corridor.

A Cleveland letter writer says don’t be a jerk by riding in the middle of the lane and slowing down traffic just to prove you have a right to the road. Never mind that riders are taught to take the lane to avoid the door zone, increase visibility and make drivers go around them to pass.

Next City examines how Massachusetts is updating its statewide bike plan to shift focus from recreational riding to riding for transportation.

 

International

The international bicycle industry is finally getting onboard with bike advocacy.

Peru’s Agricultural Minister was fired for sunbathing and riding her bicycle while half the country was being devastated by the worst flooding in two decades.

Plans are underway to install segregated bike lanes on London’s Westminster bridge, site of last week’s terrorist attack. However, work has been postponed for the foreseeable future, as one British lord inexplicably blames the current painted lanes for contributing to the carnage.

A British rider is close to finishing his goal of riding 107 kilometers (66 miles) every day for 107 days, despite working full time, and overcoming food poisoning and a major storm.

The head of Ireland’s Green Party calls for improving safety for cyclists on the country’s roads, comparing riding in Dublin to a Ben-Hur chariot race.

CNN takes a 12-day, 602-mile ride around Taiwan on a route that is rapidly becoming one of Asia’s greatest adventures.

Singapore is trying to encourage bicycling by installing bike racks and bike parking zones throughout the island.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: Going full Superman downhill on a fixie doesn’t look as hard as getting back on the spinning pedals. Evidently, bike racers get fined for riding where bike riders are supposed to.

And nothing like riding your fat bike past a long line of cars stalled in an Alaskan blizzard.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Legal Cases, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Update: Pico Rivera bike rider left to die by hit-and-run driver in early morning crash

March 24, 2017 / / 6 comments

Yet another bike rider has been murdered by a heartless cowardly driver in Los Angeles County.

According to KABC-7, the victim, who the coroner said appeared to be a woman in her 30s, was found by someone passing by the Pico Rivera crime scene shortly after 2 am this morning.

The Whittier Daily News places the wreck on Rosemead Blvd south of Rex Road; photos from the scene show a retaining wall, which would appear to put it at or near the railroad overpass between Rex and Slauson.

She was taken to a local hospital, where she died.

KTLA-5 reports that evidence from the scene suggests she may have been riding on the sidewalk when the car jumped the curb and struck her.

Sheriff’s investigators say there are no apparent witnesses. However, based on debris from the crash site, they’re looking for a dark green Honda Accord, 2003 to 2007, with significant front end damage.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Pico Rivera Sheriff’s Station at 562/949-2421.

This is the tenth bicycling fatality in Southern California, and the seventh in Los Angeles County; nearly half of the deaths in the county have been hit-and-runs.

Given the hour, the driver should be assumed to have been under the influence at the time of the wreck.

Once found, he or she should face a second degree murder charge for making a conscious decision to leave the victim to die in the street, rather than call for the prompt medical attention that might have saved her life.

Of course, since hit-and-runs are seldom taken seriously in LA County, that’s not likely to happen.

Update: The LA Times reports a suspect was arrested after deputies pulled over a 2005 Honda Accord for several vehicle violations two miles from the crash site, and saw extensive damage to the front end that matched the suspect vehicle. 

Twenty-one-year old Berta Ramirez of Pico Rivera was arrested, and was being held on $50,000 bond.

Update 2: The victim has been identified as 45-year old Pico Rivera resident Suzanne Corona. Her accused killer was released on bail a day after the crash. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Suzanne Corona and her loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , , ,

52-year old bike rider killed in Anaheim hit-and-run; driver captured following police chase and shooting

March 19, 2017 / / 8 comments

An Orange County man was killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike early Sunday morning. But for once, the driver didn’t get away.

According to the Orange County Register, 52-year old Anaheim resident Encarnacion Salazar Munoz was riding east on Ball Road, just east of Gilbert Street in unincorporated Anaheim, at 5:20 am when he was struck by an SUV headed in the same direction.

He died at the scene.

According to a CHP spokesman, the driver had veered into the the bike lane where Munoz was riding, and fled the scene after striking him.

KCBS-2 reports Anaheim police later spotted the driver, 25-year old Riverside resident Jason Roy Rocha, when they tried to pull him over for an unrelated traffic violation. Rocha fled from the police, losing the officers, until he crashed his Ford Expedition into a fence at the intersection of Seal Beach and Westminster boulevards in Seal Beach.

He reportedly came out of the SUV holding his arm as if he had a weapon; a Seal Beach cop responded by firing his gun, missing Rocha. He was taken into custody on suspicion of hit-and-run and driving under the influence.

Munoz leaves behind a wife and three kids. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help pay his funeral expenses; so far it has raised just $85 of the $25,000 goal.

This is the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, four of which have been hit-and-runs. He is the third person killed while riding in Orange County since the first of the year.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Encarnacion Salazar Munoz and his family. 

Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA rider intentionally doored, and Montana politician tries to ban bikes from state roadways

March 17, 2017 / / 3 comments

Now this one’s scary.

An LA bike rider was harassed by the road raging occupants of a car, and intentionally doored by a passenger in the back seat.

Even though the door never made contact with him or his bike, this is a clear case of assault, since the passenger obviously intended to threaten, if not injure, the victim. As such, any case like this can and should be reported to the police — especially when there’s video evidence.

And yes, the cops do want to know about cases like this.

Even if the authorities aren’t able to press charges, it could establish a pattern of behavior if the driver or passengers do something like this again.

The video also provides strong evidence to make a case under LA’s cyclist anti-harassment ordinance, which entitles victims to $1000 or actual damages, whichever is higher, plus triple damages. As well as reimbursement for any legal fees.

It’s not easy to make a case under the law, since you have to have witnesses and/or corroborating evidence to prove the harassment occurred.

But with a video like this, it should do the trick.

………

After blocking a three-foot passing law in the state legislature, Montana Senate Leader Scott Sales plans to introduce legislation to ban bike riders from many state highways.

Sales’ legislation would prohibit bicycles from any two lane roadway with less than a three-foot shoulder, and require riders to place reflectors on their bodies as well as their bikes. And he’d require bicyclists to pay a special tax to ride on state roadways that they already pay for with their tax dollars.

Never mind that, as Bicycling points out, his proposal would kill the state’s burgeoning bike tourism industry.

His apparent distaste for bicycles and the people who ride them stems from his observation that bike riders are “some of the rudest and most self-centered people [he’s] ever encountered.”

Evidently, he’s never looked in the mirror, since he freely admits to blaring his horn at riders who have the audacity to get in his way. Or encountered many of the motorists he shares the roadways with, for that matter.

Meanwhile, a massive new study says bike riders aren’t really rude, we’re just trying to stay alive.

………

The state issued another $56 million in grants to fund 25 active transportation and Safe Routes to Schools projects in six SoCal Counties, including $15 million for bike lanes in the Arts District in DTLA, bike lane connections at Cal State Long Beach, and a bike track in Santa Ana.

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Scandal-plagued British Cycling could now risk losing the equivalent of over $21 million in funding for grassroots programs due to concerns over governance of the organization.

A former rider for Team Sky says he broke cycling’s no needles rule to inject himself with vitamins leading up to the Vuelta. Vitamins, sure. Let’s go with that.

A new crowdfunding campaign is attempting to raise $10,000 to make a movie about the legendary Major Taylor, America’s first great bicycling champ, and a groundbreaking African-America athlete.

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Local

No one was hurt, but a bicycle was mangled when a 45 foot shipping container fell off a big rig. No word on whether someone was riding the bike and jumped off, or if it had been parked.

A writer for City Watch calls CD1 challenger Joe Bray-Ali a ray of hope, saying “If Mr. Smith rode his bike to Washington, he’d look and sound a lot like Joe Bray-Ali.” We could find out today if Bray-Ali will be in a runoff with incumbent Gil Cedillo, when the latest vote counts are released.

The formerly anti-bike LA Weekly looks at seven group rides for cyclists new to LA streets, starting with next week’s CicLAvia.

The LACBC is hosting a Green on the Ground bike ride at noon today in Downtown LA.

DASH bus service to the Griffith Observatory will begin next week, part of a so-far successful effort to keep Mt. Hollywood Drive in Griffith Park from being opened to motor vehicles.

Travis Stork, host of The Doctors, is one of us, keeping his three bikes on the walls of his Hancock Park apartment, including a $10,000 Specialized Roubaix.

Santa Monica is considering new plans to make it safer for students who walk or bike to school at the city’s Edison Language Academy.

According to the Santa Clarita Signal, sheriff’s deputies arrested a homeless man for riding his bike at night without lights, then says he was issued a citation. Something is seriously wrong if he was actually arrested, since riding without lights is a simple traffic violation, not a misdemeanor or felony offense subject to arrest. He should have been stopped, cited and sent on his way; let’s hope that’s what really happened. And someone please tell them it’s not that homeless people refuse to disclose their occupation; they usually just don’t have one.

 

State

San Diego cyclists will take a two-day, 90 mile tour of the coastline this weekend in honor of a beloved local bike advocate and cycling instructor who was killed in Oregon in 2014 near the beginning of a planned ride from Canada to Mexico.

A pitcher for the Padres has been on the bench since he pulled an endo last weekend when the front tire of his bicycle blew and he went over the handlebars.

The Inland Empire region receives a $13 million state grant for active transportation, including bike projects in Highland, Redlands and the Coachella Valley.

Sad news from Tulare, where a 69-year old bike rider was killed in a crash after allegedly running a red light. As always, the question is whether anyone other that the driver involved witnessed the crash and saw whether the light was red or green.

Berkeley police say it wasn’t excessive speed or impairment that was responsible for the collision that killed a 78-year old bike rider last month, blaming poor lighting, rain and a wet roadway. Yet that would suggest a violation of the state’s basic speed law, which prohibits driving too fast for current conditions. Or is that only used as an excuse the ticket bike riders these days?

More bad news, this time from Sacramento, where yet another bike rider was murdered by a hit-and-run driver; police are looking for the owner of a two-tone utility truck.

Caltrans plans to install center rumble strips on a 30-mile segment of Highway 1 in Marin County, while widening the shoulders to improve safety for bicyclists.

 

National

People for Bikes makes clear what many of us had feared — Trump’s proposed new budget will be bad for bikes.

Apple applies for a patent for a new way to calculate a cyclist’s performance from wind resistance and other factors, suggesting they may develop a new form of power meter.

Thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, you could turn your bicycle into an ebike just by swapping out your front wheel, for less than half the price of the Copenhagen Wheel.

Judging by the headline, Texas police apparently arrested a self-driving car for hit-and-run; or maybe someone was actually driving it, after all.

A Missouri mother is organizing a non-profit to aid the victims of hit-and-runs. Great idea, but sad that it’s even necessary.

A Chicago crash shows the difficulty bike riders face in getting justice following a hit-and-run.

Witnesses report the suspect in the shooting of two Detroit cops had been seen riding a bicycle similar to the one used by the person who killed a Wayne State University cop last year.

Defense attorneys argue that second degree murder charges should be dropped against the — allegedly — stoned driver who killed five Kalamazoo MI bicyclists because prosecutors failed to show that a combination of amphetamine, meth, hydrocodone and tramadol would have affected his ability to drive. On the other hand, they certainly didn’t improve it.

Now that’s what I call a bike tour. The owner of a Rhode Island bar plans to ride across the US sampling microbrews along the way to raise awareness of Multiple Sclerosis.

The rich get richer. New York cyclists can look forward to a new two-way protected bike lane leading eight miles up to the Brooklyn Bridge. And actually resulting in more parking spaces for a change.

A local news site asks if South Carolina’s Hilton Head Island is doing enough to keep bicyclists safe; the only gold-level bicycle friendly community in the Southeast, it ranks just 17th out of 20 in terms of safety.

Friends have started a crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for Florida bike advocate and bicycle writer Alan Snel, who was injured in a collision last week; it has raised nearly $6,400 of the $10,000 goal as of Thursday night.

 

International

A globe trotting guide to bicycling through the wine country, from Napa to Tuscany.

A one-woman Canadian performance illustrates the role bicycles played in the emancipation of women, starting with the story of Annie Londonderry, the first woman who biked around the world.

A new study of London bicycling shows bike riders experience an average of one close call at intersections every two weeks.

A man takes one of London’s bikeshare bikes on a tour of seven cities on three continents, and returns it with a £300 late fee — the equivalent of $371.

Caught on video: Passersby confront a masked Brit bike thief, but back off when he brandishes an axe.

The British man who put up his own No Cycling signs on a pathway where bicycling is allowed says he can’t be anti-cycling since he rides a bike himself.

This is why people continue to die on the streets. A UK van driver was given a suspended sentence for running over a doored bicyclist who fell into his path — even though he fled the scene and was three times over the legal limit for drunk driving. His lawyer claimed he only started drinking after the wreck, though he was still drunk from the previous day. Seriously, that’s an excuse?

After elite German police shoot a man on a bike who was carrying a horror mask, the press speculates he may be a terrorism suspect.

In the latest criminal scandal from Down Under, cyclists are breaking the law by removing bells and horns from their bicycles, making them subject to fines as high as $775 — around $600 US — if they fight the ticket in court.

Chinese app-based bikeshare company Ofo has decided the way to get users to take better care of their bikes is to flood the streets with even more, so they know another bike will be readily available. Um, probably not.

 

Finally…

Seriously, who doesn’t need an environmentally friendly bamboo ebike? Nothing like riding with a Jack Russell on your back.

And clearly, stunt cycling is nothing new; check out this performance on a golden fixie from1965.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Bike Cam Video, Morning Links, Road Rage, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Joe Bray-Ali still alive in CD1 council race, and frontline reports from the war on bikes

March 15, 2017 / / 2 comments

Don’t give up yet.

Despite the election night gloating of incumbent Councilmember Gil Cedillo, the race in CD1 is not over yet. In fact, it may just be getting started.

According to the latest count of outstanding absentee and provisional ballots from the County Clerk’s office, Cedillo’s vote total has dipped below the 50% required to avoid a runoff.

Which means that if the totals stand as they are now, challenger Joe Bray-Ali will face Cedillo in the May 16th general election.

Of course, things could still change. There are more ballots to count, with the next update due on Friday.

And even if Bray-Ali does qualify for a runoff, it will be an uphill battle against the entrenched city hall establishment and massive piles of special interest money that inevitably flow in to support any LA incumbent.

But he has a chance. And that means, so do we.

Thanks to Matt Ruscigno and Todd Munson for their help.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A San Francisco driver punched a bike rider in the eye, knocking her off her bike and into traffic, for the crime of complaining that he was illegally stopped in a bike lane — even though there was nothing to his right and he could have easily pulled over to the curb.

A Ross CA man is charged with misdemeanor reckless driving after allegedly attempting to run a bike rider off the road, and threatening to come back with a shotgun and blow his head off. So evidently, the driver’s own words aren’t enough to prove he was threatening the rider.

A Chicago bicyclist was attacked by a road raging driver who threw his bike into the curb, damaging both wheels.

Caught on video: After a London driver barely misses a cyclist in a way too close pass, the rider has it out with the driver, who tries to door him, then barely misses with a second punishment pass.

A British bike rider was lucky to escape with superficial injuries when someone strung a wire at neck level across a promenade; fortunately, the police are investigating it as the assault that it is, rather than a prank.

A New Zealand bike trail was booby trapped with logs and branches that could have knocked a rider off his bike or impaled someone.

………

A sports site talks with former pro cyclist Rebecca Rush, as a new movie documents her 1,200-mile journey along Ho Chi Minh Trail to find where her father’s plane crashed in the Vietnam war, when she was just three years old.

………

Local

CiclaValley suggests the city may have changed it’s mind about installing paid diagonal parking on the road leading up to the Griffith Park Observatory. Meanwhile, plans were announced to close the popular hiking trailhead on Beachwood Canyon leading to the Hollywood sign, following years of incessant lobbying from Beachwood residents — essentially converting a public park into the private property of a few privileged homeowners.

The Culver City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee will discuss several options for the city’s proposed bikeshare system at its meeting tomorrow night; the plan could serve adjacent areas such as Palms and Playa Vista, as well as Culver City.

 

State

A Carlsbad cyclist’s legacy lives on five years after he died of ALS; the annual Bike4Mike Coastal Ride he founded has raised over $1 million to fight the disease, and hopes to bring in another $100,000 this Sunday.

The San Diego Association of Governments is offering a number of $1,500 grants to encourage kids to walk or bike to school. So why not just use one of the grants to offer 150 kids ten bucks if they get out of Mom’s, or the nanny’s, SUV and walk or bike it to class instead?

A Palm Springs bicyclist suffered major injuries in a crash that involved two motor vehicles.

The Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition writes to demand protected bike lanes on upper Market Street, saying a decision to delay implementing them is incompatible with Vision Zero.

The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in Marin is now accepting nominations for this year’s class.

 

National

Streetsblog asks when the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, the overly conservative national guide to traffic signal, signs and pavement markings, will finally catch up to the 21st Century; they just got around to approving Bike Lane Ends signs. Even though American bike lanes have been ending — without warning in most cases — for 50 years.

A new study shows millions of people could switch from driving to autonomous ride-sharing services, presumably opening up curbside parking for bike lanes, while doing nothing about traffic congestion. Which means drivers will likely rise up and demand those curbside lanes be used for vehicular traffic, instead.

The American Society of Civil Engineers gives America’s roads a D grade, saying they are “often crowded, frequently in poor condition, chronically underfunded, and are becoming more dangerous.”

Justice denied, as a Michigan man died after pleading guilty in the death of a bicyclist last year, but before he could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

A man is under arrest for breaking the window of a Pittsburgh bike shop and making off with a $4,000 mountain bike; he also threatened to shoot one of the arresting officers in the head and kill his family when he gets out of jail. Hopefully, that will be a very long time off.

A New York newsman takes his fat tire bike out for a blizzard bike tour in the middle of yesterday’s storm.

 

International

No, you can’t throw your bike backwards. At least not while you’re on it.

Vancouver residents are upset that a row of cherry trees along a seawall were removed to make room for a bike lane, although the city promises to plant new, and healthier, trees in their place.

Not all guerilla DIY efforts are beneficial to bike riders; an English town promises to remove the No Cycling signs someone had illegally placed along a pathway, where bicycling is in fact allowed.

A British court rules a killer motorist’s driving ban should have started the day he was sentenced. Which means he would have been prohibited from driving while he was in prison, where cars are seldom allowed, anyway.

A Brit podcast discusses a forthcoming BBC documentary on the history of Raleigh bicycles. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Cycling Industry News has a list of bike jobs in the UK, if you’re ready to give up on the US.

Even in Copenhagen, bikeshare can be a tough sell, as the company behind the city’s e-bikeshare system goes belly up.

Frightening story from Berlin, where a man riding a bicycle has sprayed six women in the face with what appears to be battery acid.

An Aussie radio station discusses what parents can do to make riding to school safer for their kids.

An Australian grandfather explains what it was like to be the victim of an apparently random shooing as he rode his bike last month.

 

Finally…

Just what every rider needs — a $350 Levi/Google smart jacket. Evidently, Dale Earnhardt Jr. needs taller socks.

And if you attend Cedarville University, it’s only natural you’d build a wooden ebike.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Morning Links, Road Rage, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Yet another South LA hit-and-run, and Montana politician wants bike riders out of the state

March 13, 2017 / / One comment

A 50-year old woman was critically injured in yet another South LA hit-and-run Sunday night.

She had dropped something from her three-wheeled bike in the 8700 block of South Central Avenue, and was hit when she stopped to pick it up; she was taken to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries.

There was no description of the driver or suspect vehicle.

………

You’ve got to be kidding.

It’s not just that the Montana Senate blocked a bill that would have required drivers to give bike riders a three-foot passing distance at speeds up to 35 mph, and five feet above that.

It’s the reason.

Consider this from unabashedly bike-hating Senate President Scott Sales, who says there are already too many cyclists in the state, and he doesn’t want anymore.

“They’re some of the rudest people I’ve ever. I hate to say it, but I’m just going to be bold — they’re some of the most self-centered people navigating on highways, or on county roads I’ve ever seen. They won’t move over. You can honk at them; they think they own the highway,” Sales said.

Never mind that they have as much right to the road as he does. And unless the law is very different up there, drivers are supposed to pass riders, rather than blare on their horns and expect them to get the hell out of their way.

So of course, the obvious solution is to keep the roads dangerous for people on bikes, because that should help reduce the number of riders on the road.

One way or another.

………

Cycling Tips provides a belated wrap-up and photos of the 2017 World Paracycling Championships held in Carson earlier this month, which was completely ignored by both the local and national press; it turns out the US led the standings with 18 medals. Then again, late is better than not at all.

A European website says French cycling is up, British down.

Cycling Weekly offers five things they learned from Paris – Nice, including some new faces challenging the old guard.

A planned four-day bike race intended as a follow-up to the world championships in Richmond VA has been cancelled.

………

Local

The LA Weekly offers photos from Sunday’s Tweed Ride though historic DTLA, which somehow managed to slip under the radar.

Get your fresh bagels by bike in Silver Lake and Echo Park.

The LACBC is hosting a St. Patrick’s Day Green on the Ground Lunchtime Ride on Friday.

The West Hollywood Transportation Commission will consider the city’s proposed Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Plan tomorrow night.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune offers a series of photos from the recent 626 Golden Streets.

El Monte is the latest SoCal city to adopt Vision Zero, pledging to eliminate all traffic deaths by 2027.

 

State

The LA Times recommends biking 17-Mile Drive at Pebble Beach past the famed Lone Cypress; drivers have to pay $10 for the privilege, but bikes are free.

The San Francisco Fire Department is butting heads with the city’s DOT over protected bike lanes required as part of the city’s Vision Zero plan, complaining they won’t leave enough space to respond quickly to emergencies.

 

National

Bad news for anyone who reads the print version of Bicycle Times, which has ceased publication; fortunately, it will continue to live online. And it should include a profile of yours truly next month. Which is probably the real reason they dropped the print version.

Continuing their emphasis on clickbait, Bicycling offers seven reasons why bicycling is better than running.

A Canadian cyclist is returning to the scene of the crime, going back to where his bike was stolen in Philadelphia on his way to Mexico.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation will have to pay $5.4 million after a bike rider was severely injured on a badly repaired bridge. This is the cost of carelessness, to the victim and the taxpayers. All it takes is a little more effort to do the job right, and no one would get hurt.

A Pennsylvania man faces up to 13 years behind bars for fleeing the scene after running down a young girl as she was riding her bike.

The driver who ran down North Carolina bike shop owner, Dirt Rag columnist and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member Jeff Archer as he crossed the street in front of his shop has been sentenced to up to five years behind bars.

The parish just west of New Orleans has developed its first-ever Comprehensive Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan for the largely rural area. Which was the very definition of bike-unfriendly when I lived down that way.

 

International

The editor of Outside Brazil and Bicycling Brazil shares moving photos from her treatment for breast cancer, and says cycling was the force that kept her alive.

Saskatoon, Canada gets a petite street sweeper to keep their protected bike lanes clean while lowering their costs.

Horrifying story from Australia, where two men in an SUV repeatedly tried to ram a bicyclist and run him into a parked car, just 30 minutes before killing another rider.

A Chinese court rules that that a bike shop that sold a banned fixie is responsible for the death of a woman who lost control on a steep downhill and rode off a mountainside; her boyfriend, who owned the bike, was also held liable.

 

Finally…

No, you can’t just run over bicyclists using a crosswalk. And why teach your kids to ride a bike when you can pay someone a hundred bucks an hour to do it for you?

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Info needed on fallen rider, a triple endorsement in CD7, and reforming CA ride-to-right rule

February 21, 2017 / / 2 comments

A family in pain needs your help.

Last September, a man was killed riding his bike on PCH in Malibu. Word has just now reached his family in Memphis, Tennessee, who lost touch with him after he left the city and apparently moved west to the Los Angeles area.

They’re hoping that anyone who knew Neville Williams will contact them to provide whatever information they can to give them a little closure.

You can find his full comment here, along with his email address.

……….

Bike the Vote LA strikes a three-way tie for their endorsement in race for LA’s 7th Council District between Monica Rodriguez, Fred Flores, and Jose Castillo.

You can see their responses to the Bike the Vote questionnaire, along with fellow candidate Connie Saunders, below.

………

A new attempt is underway to eliminate the unsafe and confusing requirement that bike riders must ride as far right as practicable.

Which LA County sheriff’s deputies routinely misinterpret as meaning a) cyclists should ride on the shoulder instead of taking the traffic lane, and b) riding two abreast is not allowed, since the outside rider is not riding as close to the curb as practicable. Never mind the many exceptions to that rule under CVC 21202, or that the shoulder is not legally part of the roadway.

Under AB-694, the new rule would clarify matters by saying that bicyclists “shall ride in the right-hand lane or bicycle lane, if one is present,” unless the lane is wide enough to safely share with a motor vehicle.

And doesn’t change the fact that riding abreast is not prohibited, or even mentioned, under California law.

There was some concern that this bill would eliminate the exceptions allowing riders to leave a bike lane under current law; however, it would not change CVC 21208, which provides a number of circumstances where the requirement to use a bike lane does not apply.

Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

………

More fallout from the Malaysian massacre, in which eight teenage bike riders were killed in a collision with an alleged speeding and distracted driver, and another eight injured.

A Malaysian paper follows-up on the deaths of eight teenagers riding bicycles modified to look like motorcycles, placing blame on a lack of safe places to ride.

The president of a parent-teacher association calls on the state to build a bike racing track where younger riders can blow off a little steam.

A state executive urges people to stop blaming the parents of the victims on social media, and leave the questioning to the police.

And a former government minister is accused of politicizing the tragedy.

………

British cycling champ Chris Boardman calls three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome a statesman for rising above the country’s doping controversies.

Lance thumbs his nose at the government lawsuit over doping when he was with the US Postal squad by competing with his former fellow-doper teammates in the unsanctioned 24-Hour Old Pueblo mountain bike race in Tucson, finishing third.

………

Local

A new study concludes Los Angeles is the world’s most congested city — although other studies would disagree. Building our way out of traffic has clearly failed; if Los Angeles is going to survive — let alone thrive — it has to offer safe, convenient alternatives to driving, while increasing density to reduce the need for long commutes.

Despite rumors to the contrary, Caltrans has not approved plans to add a right turn lane on PCH at Cross Creek Road in order to accommodate a planned shopping center, which would eliminate the shoulder used by thousands of cyclists every weekend.

 

State

The Register’s David Whiting considers the state of OC’s trails following the recent rains. The fire department airlifted an injured hiker from Runyon Canyon this past Sunday, a reminder that trails can remain unstable even days after the rains.

Sad news from Fresno, where a man on a bike was killed by an Amtrak train Monday afternoon after going around the crossing arms. As we’ve said before, never, ever go around the gates at a railroad crossing, even if it looks safe.

 

National

PeopleForBikes celebrates Presidents Day with photos of past presidents riding bicycles, including the only color photo of Abraham Lincoln on a mountain bike. That’s past presidents, since our current chief executive swears he hasn’t been on a bicycle since he was a child, and isn’t likely to anytime soon.

Bicycling offers a beginners guide to riding in traffic.

Utah’s plans to remove protection from a pair of national monuments has cost it a trade show for outdoor retailers, as well as a chance to host the Interbike trade show.

A Texas man has traveled over 8,000 miles through 31 states with his dog since 2013 to promote non-profit animal shelters and discourage puppy mills. I can relate. The Corgi overcame health and socialization problems from being shipped to a wholesaler when she was just six weeks old, and came to us through a non-profit rescue when her first owner couldn’t care for her anymore.

A 78-year old Minnesota woman has ridden her bike across the continent four times, as well as riding to Cheyenne WY for both her 50th and 60th high school reunions, despite not taking her first long-distance bike trip until she was 60.

Falling off her bike led to twin silver medals for an upstate NY woman with MS at last year’s Paralympic Games.

Big step forward for Pittsburgh bike icon Danny Chew, as he takes to hand cycling for the first time since he was paralyzed from the waist down in a September riding fall.

A self-described bike lane vigilante literally takes the law into his own hands, slapping homemade parking violation stickers on cars and trucks blocking Philadelphia bike lanes.

A DC bike columnist discusses whether hi-viz really does any good.

 

International

Bike Radar looks at 12 “madcap” cycling records that aren’t likely to get broken anytime soon.

Police in Manchester, England crack down on inconsiderate cyclists, ticketing 41 riders over a two week period. Even though they say drivers committed traffic violations at twice that rate.

Where to stay on your next bike tour of Scotland.

France is offering up to 700 euros towards the price of an ebike — the equivalent of $738 — as part of a two-year push to get people out of their cars. Although Dutch riders are discovering the downside of ebikes when they’re forced to pay an average of 500 euros for new batteries.

An Aussie writer says open season on bike riders is just insane, as the shooting of a 72-year old man riding on a bike trail appears to have been a random attack for no other reason than he was on a bike.

More turmoil from Malaysia, where a bike rider was arrested following a scuffle with police during a protest over the impounding of illegally parked bicycles, despite a shortage of bike parking; he faces up to two years behind bars if he’s convicted. Meanwhile, the city government admits damaging a delivery rider’s bike when they impounded it.

 

Finally…

Yes, you can take your bike on the subway; no, you’re not supposed to ride it. There’s more than one way to carry a dog on your bike. Or back.

And at last, cold-weather gloves for two-fingered bicyclists.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Bike rider flees after injuring Glendale woman, and person of interest found in OC hit-and-run

February 10, 2017 / / 3 comments

Appalling news from Glendale, as police are looking for a hit-and-run cyclist who allegedly blew through a red light and crashed into a 64-year old woman as she was walking in the crosswalk.

The victim hit her head on the pavement, suffering “significant” but not life-threatening injuries. The man on the bike fled the scene, despite reportedly being fully aware of what happened.

He’s described only as a male wearing a dark jacket. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Glendale Police Department at 818/548-4911.

For anyone unclear on the concept, bike riders have exactly the same obligation to stop, render aid and exchange information that drivers do after a crash.

And are the same heartless cowards if they don’t.

To put it mildly.

………

Orange County sheriff’s deputies have identified a person of interest in the Sunday night hit-and-run that left a San Juan Capistrano father of five in a coma, and are no longer looking for suspects.

Which means they’re confident they’ve got the right person.

Thanks to Lois for the heads-up.

………

John Montgomery shares a stomach-churning close shave on 4th Street in Venice, first getting cut off in a pass that feels way too close, then forced to make a heart-stopping panic stop when he gets brake-checked seconds later by the same driver.

………

The rescheduled Resolution Ride will take place tomorrow in Griffith Park.

Active Streets LA is hosting a community festival and mapping walk and ride on Saturday at MLK Jr. Park.

And don’t forget the 8th annual Ride for Love at Ted Watkins Memorial Park on Sunday, sponsored by the Eastside Riders.

………

Bicycling Magazine wants to know just how common abuse of power is in competitive cycling, regardless of gender.

………

Local

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition has come out strongly against Measure S, which would impose a minimum two-year moratorium on most major building projects in the City of Los Angeles.

Speaking of the LACBC, time is running out to get your 2017 LACBC kit; just click on the ad on the right to place your order.

Strong Towns profiles Josef Bray-Ali in his campaign to unseat anti-bike incumbent Gil Cedillo in LA’s CD1; Bike the Vote LA is looking for volunteers to phone bank for him tomorrow.

KNBC-4 provides renderings of the new $482 million Sixth Street Viaduct project. Just riding down those big swirling bike ramps will make it worth the price.

Manhattan Beach rejects a proposal to put a bike path through the city’s Polliwog Park to improve safety for middle school kids headed to and from school.

 

State

A coalition of 82 organizations join with Calbike to call for reforms in a state transportation funding package to invest more on active transportation.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from the OC Register’s David Whiting, who talks with the Long Beach-based founder of Velomax bicycle wheels, now making and marketing the iWalk alternative to using crutches.

A Lakeside driver was shot at by someone riding a bicycle when he tried to chase “suspicious suspects” out of a mobile home park at 4:45 am.

BikeSD calls on the executive director of SANDAG to step down after inflating projections for last year’s failed, overly auto-centric transportation tax.

A killer Fresno drunk driver is asking a judge to allow him to rescind his no-contest plea that resulted in a 12-year prison sentence in the death of a seven-year old boy who was riding in a crosswalk with his family, blaming bad road design instead of his own high speed and drunken state. Sure, let’s go with that.

Modesto police bust a bike-riding groper accused of assaulting at least seven high school girls.

That was fast. A suspected Menlo Park bike thief gets one year in county jail, just eight days after he was arrested after fleeing from police.

Now that’s more like it. Rather than minimum parking requirements, San Francisco will now require developers to provide alternative transportation options in exchange for the permission to provide free parking spaces.

 

National

A new study from the University of Duh says less driving results in fewer traffic fatalities. However, the decade-long decline in vehicle miles traveled did not result in an increase in physical activity.

A habitually anti-bike Seattle radio host is convinced the city is throwing away millions spent on bikeways, as the bicycling commuter rate continues to drop. And yet it’s still at a level most cities would envy, including sunny Los Angeles.

The Radavist says Utah needs our help to stop a lease of BLM land and defend the Bear’s Ears National Monument. Thanks to CiclaValley for the link.

Unlike Los Angeles, DC appears to be serious about reducing speeds to save lives as part of the city’s Vision Zero; a proposal from the DCDOT would lower the default speed limit to 20 mph, with a 15 mph limit around schools, parks, senior and youth centers from 7 am to 11 pm.

 

International

A columnist for London’s Evening Standard says the city’s new cycling and walking commissioner has to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of getting drivers to behave.

Caught on video: A London bike rider falls after jamming on the brakes when a mother with two young kids steps out unexpectedly from between stalled traffic.

Caught on video too: A British cyclist is caught on security camera carving deep scratches into a couple’s minivan, causing the equivalent of $1,250 in damage; the victims had no idea why he chose their car, and questioned whether he targeted them by mistake. Let’s make this as clear as possible: No matter what they might have done, or how justified you might feel, vandalism is always wrong. Period.

A French website offers 10 reasons to visit the county for your next cycling vacation. But really, you only need one — it’s France.

Evidently, it’s not just hoverboards. An ebike battery started a fire that sent a German carport up in flames, causing over a half million dollars in damage. The story’s in German, but you can read a translation here. Thanks to Vesley Reutimann for the heads-up.

Iraqi women are riding for their freedom, in what began as one woman’s art project.

Women make up only 18% of bicycle traffic in Melbourne, Australia, where a lack of safe bikeways forces riders to mix with traffic.

 

Finally…

Yes, you can find lasting love on a bicycle. Okay, so maybe he can downhill slightly faster than the rest of us.

And she wasn’t driving dangerously when she ran over a bicyclist’s hand, just carelessly.

So it’s okay, then. Right?

 

Category: Bike Cam Video, Bike Events, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: An open letter on LA’s Vision Zero Action Plan, and OC hit-and-run victim needs your help

February 8, 2017 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: An open letter on LA’s Vision Zero Action Plan, and OC hit-and-run victim needs your help

The Vision Zero Alliance has written an open letter to the Los Angeles City Council’s Transportation Committee, which will consider the city’s proposed Vision Zero Action Plan at today’s meeting.

While they support the city’s efforts to eliminate traffic deaths, the Alliance, described as “a coalition of over 20 community organizations dedicated to ending traffic deaths and serious injuries in Los Angeles,” takes issue with some parts of the plan.

The Action Plan serves as a critical step to ensuring that the Vision Zero initiative remains grounded in transparency, accountability, and evaluation. It also represents the City’s commitment to protecting the safety of all road users. The Los Angeles Vision Zero Alliance applauds LADOT for its efforts in completing the Action Plan, which reflects extensive coordination among multiple agencies and organizations. We particularly appreciate the department’s ongoing commitment to engaging with and being accessible to the Vision Zero Alliance throughout the development of the Action Plan.

However, we remain unsatisfied with a number of elements of the plan. Our primary concerns relate to enforcement, data transparency, and community engagement. Additionally, we are worried by the lack of attention paid to speed and to the weak commitment in funding.

I’m particularly glad they share some of the concerns I’ve expressed, which are reflected in that last sentence.

We have additional concerns regarding speed and funding. Despite vehicle speed being a primary predictor of crash severity, the Action Plan lacks a bold and coherent strategy to manage it. We appreciate that the City intends to “consider legislation on automated speed enforcement” in 2017, but would like to see a more comprehensive set of actions to address local control of speed limits and the implementation of engineering projects specifically intended to slow traffic. We are also displeased with the low level of funding allocated to Vision Zero projects this year. A serious commitment to ending deaths and severe injuries on Los Angeles streets demands serious funding. Only with a realistic investment in robust engineering projects, education, engagement, and enforcement will Los Angeles ever realize Vision Zero.

It’s worth reading the full letter.

And demanding that the city adopt a plan that is fair for everyone, and will truly take the steps necessary to end the plague of traffic violence in out city.

………

An Orange County bike rider needs your help.

The Orange County Register reports that Steve Schenkenberger, a father of five from San Juan Capistrano, was struck by a hit-and-run driver near Niguel Road and Ridgeway Avenue on Super Bowl Sunday.

Newport Beach Patch is more specific, placing the time of the crash at around 8:56 pm. There were no reported witnesses, he was found by passersby who called for help. Luckily, one of those was a paramedic and his wife, who cared for him until help arrived; she describes it in heartbreaking detail.

According to a fundraising website, Schenkenberger suffered injuries throughout the left side of his body, along with a severe brain injury resulting in emergency surgery. He’s reportedly improving, but remains unconscious and heavily sedated.

As of this writing, the fund had raised over $34,000 of the $100,000 goal to help pay what are sure to be massive medical expenses, as well as care for his family, for which he is the sole provider.

Clearly, they have a long way to go.

Anyone with information about the crash or driver is urged to contact the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Aliso Viejo.

Thanks to Rod Daryabigi and Lois for the heads-up.

………

Frenchman Roger Walkowiak, the world’s oldest surviving Tour de France winner, passed away Tuesday at 89; the unheralded son of a Polish factory worker won the 1956 Tour with a solo breakaway on the famed Croix de Fer.

Cycling Weekly talks with 19-year old US junior cyclist Adrien Costa, calling him the next Greg LeMond. Sad that they had to go all the way back to the 1980s to find a scandal-free American cycling icon to compare him to.

VeloNews looks at the dangers of Tramadol, a less potent opioid painkiller that’s legal to race on under current doping rules.

………

Local

Traditionally bike-unfriendly USC is working on a beautification project to increase capacity for bicyclists and pedestrians on the Trousdale Parkway entrance to the campus.

A sidewalk-raging Santa Clarita transient was arrested on suspicion of vandalism for throwing an object at a driver who had apparently cut him off as he existed a driveway.

 

State

A California sustainable transportation website launches a new series titled Bicyclists Are Human. Something that shouldn’t have to be said, but too often does.

Six California rides make the list of the nation’s 15 top Gran Fondos, including the Malibu Gran Fondo, and the one-year old Phil’s Cookie Fondo hosted by LA’s own former pro and cookie monster Phil Gaimon.

San Diego cyclists hope to repurpose a boarded up 1940s building next to a bike path as a bicycle center.

Ebikes are moving into Santa Cruz. And La Quinta, too.

A 56-year old bike rider in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district faces charges after allegedly punching a 20-year old woman and rifling through her pockets.

A San Francisco bike shop owner is crowdfunding a parklet he wants to build in front of his store.

An injured San Francisco bike rider offers a reminder that rain-filled puddles can disguise hidden dangers.

 

National

Here’s a chance to get technical, as VeloNews explains how differences in bicycle geometry affect how a bike rides and handles.

A British Columbia researcher says bicycle education in the US is in desperate need of an update, questioning whether bicyclists are really safer riding in the traffic lane.

Wired says ride your bike like a kid and make it fun again. Which is a great idea, except they get most of it wrong. Spandex clothing is actually designed to wick away sweat, while reducing wind resistance and chafing; flat pedals only allow you to apply force on the down stroke, reducing efficiency. And the health benefits of riding far outweigh any risk of heart damage from extreme training, which most people will never do anyway.

Colorado cyclists will have to keep stopping for stop signs, as a bill to approve the Idaho Stop Law in the state, legalizing what many bike riders already do, was killed in a legislative committee; a Durango paper blames Senate Republicans.

The Texas Medical Alliance gave away 400 bike helmets to four and five-year olds.

Wisconsin cycling icon Chris Kegel passed away from a rare form of liver cancer; the owner of a regional chain of bike shops had been on the founding boards of PeopleForBikes and the League of American Bicyclists.

A bike-riding Illinois reporter is suing the local police department for false arrest after they busted him for filming them. You have a 1st Amendment right to record anything that occurs in public, whether the actions of police or anyone else, as long as you don’t interfere with an officer in the conduct of his or her duties. And no, standing across the street recording an arrest is not interfering.

A cyclist in Illinois ask why bikes can’t evolve like cars have. Except pretty much all the improvements he calls for are available in one form or another, from disk brakes and belt drives to automatic gearing.

Bicycling rates continue to climb in New York despite slower growth in the city core, as riders respond to the continued expansion of the city’s bicycle network.

Why is it always Florida? A man in his late teens or early 20s exposed himself to a group of people by going naked from the waist down, then took a public poop before riding away on his bike.

 

International

Two brothers from Mexico are planning to ride the entire west coast of the US from Tijuana to Vancouver, in part to challenge stereotypes of Millennials as apathetic and superficial.

A Canadian city legalizes scofflaw cyclists by designating the raised roadways they’re already riding on as cycling facilities.

Caught on video: A bus driver with the official title of Britain’s Most Hated Cyclist catches a woman FaceTiming behind the wheel.

British police finally capture a bike-riding serial groper who allegedly attacked 24 women.

In yet another attack on bicyclists from London’s bike-hating Daily Mail, a writer asks if anywhere is safe from the Lycra louts. Cycling Weekly responds that it includes every anti-cycling cliché known to the human race, and some new ones, too.

A new Scottish safety campaign urges drivers to slow down.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 77-year old British man will ride the full route of this year’s Giro d’Italia, covering 2,100 miles across Italy.

A British writer rides through the tip of Africa on the first South African Eroica.

A 15-year old junior cyclist finds himself a man without a country after forfeiting his German passport, then getting booted out of a Malaysian school.

A Philippine website looks at the causes of road rage and what drivers can do about it. Which can apply to those of us on two wheels, too.

 

Finally…

Four words: speed dating on bikes. If you’re going to buy a hacksaw to cut a bike lock, don’t try to return it afterwards — and make sure it’s not a bait bike.

And make sure your damn shoe fits before you get behind the wheel.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , ,
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