Archive for Morning Links

Las Vegas teens face life in Probst murder, bicycling up 37% in US, and SAMOCAN talks with Streets For All founder

September 22, 2023 / / No comments

Yesterday I found out the hard way what happens when you accidentally inject long-acting insulin directly into a vein, rather than the fat surrounding it. 

The result was a rapid fire, 300 point blood sugar swing that knocked me on my ass for the rest of the day. 

Good times. 

So if I had any sense, I’d be in bed already. 

Instead, I’m going to try to get through this, then pull a pillow over my head and sleep for the rest of the weekend. Or maybe the rest of the month. 

Which is the best way I know to face another birthday, anyway. 

So Gamar hatimah tovah to everyone observing Yom Kippur on Monday. 

Stay safe, and we’ll see you back here next week.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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Two teenagers charged with the video-recorded, hit-and-run murder of former Bell, California police chief Andreas Proust as he rode a bike in Las Vegas made very brief initial appearances in adult court on Tuesday.

The two teens were held without bail on several charges, including murder and attempted murder. However, due to their ages, they won’t face the death penalty, since Nevada law imposes a maximum sentence of 20 years to life in state prison for murder committed before the age of 18.

The driver, Jesus Ayala, was 17 at the time of the crime, while Jzamir Keys, the passenger who recorded the attack, is just 16.

Their two-hour crime spree included three cars thefts, a burglary and an attempt to murder a second bicyclist, who apparently escaped without serious injuries.

Ayala’s mother was quoted as saying “I don’t know why he did this. I don’t know if God can forgive this.”

Her son, who just turned 18, told police he expected to get a slap on the wrist, and “I’ll be out in 30 days, I’ll bet you.”

I’d take that bet.

Ayala now matches his age with 18 criminal counts, including murder, and already has a lengthy record as a juvenile. So if he’s lucky, he might be out in 30 years.

But I wouldn’t count it.

Meanwhile, The Guardian observes the “firehose of hatred” unleashed on the staff of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, after rightwing pundits linked to a photo of an outdated headline that didn’t mention the intentional attack, but was later changed to reflect the murder charge.

The Washington Post blames Elon Musk’s “itchy Twitter finger” for riling up the online mob.

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A new report from Streetlight Data indicates bicycling rates grew a whopping 37% in the US since 2019, with the top ten states showing at least a 25% increase over that time frame.

Not surprisingly, New York showed the highest growth, followed by San Diego, Bakersfield(!) and Las Vegas.

The first two have made significant investments in bicycling infrastructure; the last two, not so much, to the best of my knowledge.

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Climate Action Santa Monica offers a recording of yesterday’s SAMOCAN talk with Streets For All founder Michael Schneider.

Meanwhile, Streets For All is hosting a fundraiser tomorrow featuring guest speakers including Councilmember Katy Yuroslavsky, Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur and State Senator and Congressional candidate Anthony Portantino.

The group says pay what you can if you can’t afford the full $100 ticket price.

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

A writer for City Journal cries “E-nough,” arguing that ebike and gas-powered mopeds are “reversing more than a decade’s progress in making New York’s dense streets safer for pedestrians and traditional cyclists.” Or maybe they’re just encouraging more people to get out of cars, which pose the real risk, and onto two wheels, which don’t. Although I’d distinguish between ped-assist ebikes and any kind of throttle-controlled or gas-guzzling bikes. 

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Local 

An anonymously penned Streetsblog op-ed says Metro should treat walking and biking projects with the respect they deserve. Amen, brother. Or sister.

West Hollywood is installing a pair of bike repair stations.

The Elysian Valley Arts Collective invites you to illuminate the night on the Taylor Yard Bicycle & Pedestrian Bridge over the LA River in Cypress Park tomorrow night.

Streetsblog also provides a schedule of public meetings to discuss extending the popular Ballona Creek Bike Trail east into LA’s Mid-City neighborhood, beginning this Sunday in Culver City, with additional meetings Monday and Wednesday, and via Zoom on October 7th.

 

State

Good question. A Streetsblog op-ed asks why fare evasion is punished more severely in California than speeding, as the recently passed AB 819 gives the governor an opportunity to change that.

The Orange County Register examines Huntington Beach’s plan to begin impounding ebikes that are misused by riders. Although it’s not clear if they have that authority under state law. 

Encinitas has received a $3 million grant to make the North San Diego County city safer for pedestrians, bicyclists and bus riders

 

National

Shimano recalled over 3/4 of a million Dura-Ace and Ultegra cranks after thousands of failures that pose a crash risk to users; the recalled products include the Shimano Ultegra FC-6800, Dura-Ace FC-9000, Ultegra FC-R8000, Dura-Ace FC-R9100 and FC-R9100P 11-Speed Bonded Hollowtech II g Rts. Thanks to Al Williams for the tip. 

Electrek offers tips on how to choose the right ebike for your teenager. My take, avoid throttle-controlled ebikes, and anything with a top speed over 20 mph.

Momentum recommends idyllic settings for a bicycle-themed Thanksgiving getaway.

CNN says yes, Seattle-based Rad Power’s RadWagon 4 longtail e-cargo bike can replace a car for most trips.

Houston could soon have two docked bikeshare systems, as the Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority considers opening its own bikeshare to compete with Houston’s struggling BCycle system

Tragic news from Brooklyn, where a 44-year old man was killed when he was right-hooked by the driver of a school bus as he rode his bike at what residents describe as a dangerous intersection; the bus was carrying around 24 students, who will likely need counseling after witnessing the crash.

There’s not a pit deep enough for the man who man pulled a knife on a 13-year old Staten Island boy to steal his bicycle.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever left a Mennonite man to die alone on the side of the road next to his crumpled bicycle, in Pennsylvania’s Amish country. Thanks to Mike Bike for the heads-up.

Bicyclists could soon become second-class citizens on the popular Blue Ridge Parkway, which stretches 469 miles from Shenandoah to the Smoky Mountains, as a new draft plan focuses exclusively on the Parkway being “actively managed as a traditional, self-contained, scenic recreational driving experience.”

This is who we share the road with. A Georgia man faces charges after plowing his truck into a group of motorcyclists, killing one man and injuring four others, then fleeing the scene with a motorcycle still embedded in the truck’s grill.

 

International

An East London neighborhood council has gone against public opinion and scrapped the majority of the area’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods, or LTNs, despite overwhelming public support.

A new study shows over half of Swiss bicyclists wear a bike helmet, although that ranges from nearly three-quarters in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino to just 43% in German-speaking areas.

Romania is now the European Union’s second-largest producer of bicycles, behind Portugal and ahead of Italy.

Apparently, it ain’t easy being a bicyclist in India’s Goa state, either.

Australia saw its highest August traffic death toll in five years, with bicycling deaths jumping 37% over last year, while pedestrian deaths climbed 27%.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling calls out pro cycling’s concussion protocol, or maybe the lack thereof, after Swiss cyclist Stefan Küng finished the European championship road cycling time trial with a busted helmet and bloodied face; Los Angeles-based former pro Phil Gaimon posted that cyclists need to respect their brains, and that there was “nothing inspiring or bad ass” about Küng’s photo. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Call it a Pashley parade through Shakespeare’s hometown. Tough love doesn’t mean shattering your spouse’s mountain bike dreams.

And you can see a lot of things riding a bike. Like the King of England, for instance.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Killer Las Vegas teens charged as adults; Huntington Beach drafts new bike regs; Marina Freeway removal gains support

September 21, 2023 / / No comments

Now we know their names.

The two Las Vegas teens charged with murdering former Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst in an intentional hit-and-run have been identified, after judges ruled that they will both be tried as adults.

Seventeen-year old Jesus Ayala and 16-year old Jzamir Keys will both be charged with murder for running down Probst with a stolen car as he rode his bike in Las Vegas.

The attack was part of a rampage recorded on video, possibly in response to a TikTok hit-and-run challenge, that included sideswiping a car and crashing into another bicyclist.

Ayala is accused of being the driver who killed Probst, while Keys laughingly recorded the crime on his cellphone.

They will both face charges of murder with a deadly weapon, battery and attempted murder. Ayala also faces another case in Las Vegas juvenile court, where he is also eligible to be charged as an adult.

The Los Angeles Times says Probst was forced out as police chief in 2009 by Bell city administrator Robert Rizzo, who would later be sentenced to 12 years in state prison for his involvement in a corruption scandal.

Probst’s daughter blamed the killing on “society’s decayed family values and the strong effects that social media have on our youth.”

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova from Pexels.

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The Huntington Beach City Council voted unanimously to draft an ordinance tightening regulations regarding ebikes — and by extension, all bicycles — to give police more tools to crack down on dangerous riders.

Although whether they can do that without conflicting with state law, which has jurisdiction over traffic regulations, remains to be seen.

And by be seen, I mean we’ll all have to keep a close eye on it. Because whatever they draft is likely to be copied by other cities.

Meanwhile, maybe they’d be better off addressing the real problem on their streets, because the people on two wheels aren’t the ones killing people.

Intentionally or otherwise.

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The Westside Current reports the proposal to tear down the never completed Marina Freeway has quickly gained support.

The plan, which would replace the virtually useless spur with a new Marina Central Park, has received the support of the Del Rey Neighborhood Council, as well as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who has requested a $2 million federal grant to fund a feasibility study for the project.

However, Culver City councilmembers objected to being asked to take the lead on the project, noting that it is mostly in LA’s 11th Council District.

The paper also seemed to object to the “outsized influence” of project co-sponsor Streets For All, after previously reporting on the “cycling advocacy group’s involvement with the planning and implementation of the so-called ‘road diet’ on Venice Boulevard in Mar Vista well before any of the affected neighborhoods’ councils were notified.”

In other words, they object an advocacy group being involved in…advocacy.

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Metro Bike is offering a half-priced yearly membership tomorrow.

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

The recent spate of horrific violence against people riding bicycles just keeps on coming. On Monday, a student at Canada’s University of Winnipeg was intentionally rammed by a road raging driver who somehow became incensed when the student gestured for another motorist to give him more room after that driver cut him off. Fortunately, he had stepped off his bike, and managed to dive away to escape injury before the truck driver rammed his bike and drove off with it still trapped underneath.

A Toronto man faces multiple charges after allegedly using his motorcycle to slam into a man riding a bicycle, in a road rage attack that began when he sped his motorcycle out of a driveway and nearly crashed into the other man.

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Local 

The annual Malibu Triathlon scheduled for two weeks may have to be canceled due to an endangered fish that has taken up residence in a flooded underpass.

Culver City will host a community engagement meeting about extending the Ballona Creek Bike Path eastward on Tuesday, September 26th at the Culver City Senior Center. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could oppose the project, but someone will undoubtedly find a way.

Streetsblog explores South Pasadena’s network of quick-build Slow Streets, which will remain in place through the end of this year.

 

State

How to tell when the media has no idea what they’re talking about. A Fresno TV station reports on new bike lanes appearing as part of the city’s Complete Streets program — but describes a road diet as “a survey which tells us the state of our roads.” Um, no.

A hit-and-run Fresno driver left a bike rider lying in the street with major injuries yesterday. But apparently, it’s all okay because they came back later, and weren’t drunk or stoned or anything.

Longtime San Francisco investigative reporter Dan Noyes thwarted an attack by a group of teens who attempted to steal his bicycle while riding in the Presidio by threatening to put them on live TV.

An elderly San Francisco man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a driver who failed to yield as he crossed the street in a crosswalk, next to the city’s contentious Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane.

A Larkspur city council member appears intent on killing a project to close a vital gap in Marin’s bike path network, leaving bike riders to fend for themselves along a sketchy section of roadway.

 

National

Maybe mountain biking is safer than we think. Bicycling reports a new study in the medical journal PLoS ONE shows a much lower risk of injuries than anticipated, suggesting that its perception as an extreme sport is exaggerated. Which kinda takes some of the fun out of it, somehow. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Streetsblog reports low income Americans use micromobility like they use transit services, but aren’t being subsidized the same way.

Portland has put part of a five-mile, fully funded $4.5 million greenway project on hold after local residents objected, even though construction has already started.

The Boulder, Colorado DA’s office insists the investigation into the killing of rising junior cyclist Magnus White remains a priority, despite the current lack of charges — or even a traffic ticket — against the woman behind the wheel.

Colorado’s assistant senate majority leader had to have surgery to relieve pressure on her brain, after she crashed her bike against a curb trying to avoid getting hit by the driver of a large truck as she rode her bike to the state capitol; her brain injury came despite wearing a helmet.

Colorado-based Moots’ latest hand-built carbon gravel bike is electric, even if it doesn’t look like it.

A Texas man was the victim of bike on bike violence when another man started cursing at him as he rode on a local bike trail, then threw his bicycle in front of the man’s bike and began assaulting him after he crashed to the ground, all for no apparent reason.

There’s a special place in hell for the Abilene, Texas man who stole a bicycle from an eight-year old boy as he was walking it home from school.

The Chicago Tribune highlights bike trails around the Midwest, from the site where Field of Dreams was filmed to a 50-mile Wisconsin trail modeling the solar system to scale.

Madison, Wisconsin’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride briefly took centerstage at Wednesday’s Congressional hearing, when the local Representative asked Attorney General Merrick Garland about a claim that a ten-year old child had been allowed to participate, and why his office had not responded to a letter asking about it.

The leading bike advocacy group in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is riding off into the sunset, as they pass the torch to a new generation of advocates. Although riding off into the sunset in Baton Rouge would require a quick dunk in the Mississippi River. 

 

International

The New York Times says cities around the world are increasingly attempting to improve safety by turning to an international pilot program called CycleRAP, a risk-assessment tool designed to identify and pinpoint high-risk locations where bicyclists and light-mobility users are more likely to crash.

The Guardian examines the state of bike theft in the UK, where most thefts aren’t violent but few get solved, while noting that the crime can leave victims financially and emotionally crushed.

A writer for Cycling Weekly disputes a recent survey that named his hometown Britain’s best place to bike.

A French company has created the first ebike that doesn’t need a battery, relying on a supercapacitor that recharges during easy stretches and as the bike brakes, which not only eliminates the the need for environmentally sensitive rare earth minerals, but also the risk of lithium-ion battery fires.

CityLab takes a look inside Norway’s “showstopping” Fyllingsdalen tunnel, calling it the world’s coolest bike tunnel.

Speaking of a special place in hell, a hot tempered Indian man faces charges for stabbing a five-year old girl to death, just because she touched his bike seat with her muddy hands.

Tragic news from Morocco, where the body of a British man bicycling around the world for charity was found in the rubble of cafe destroyed by the county’s violent earthquake; the victim’s daughter credited the owner of the hotel where he was supposed to stay for finding his body. Nearly 3,000 other people died in the quake.

 

Competitive Cycling

Event organizers apologized after a college student participating in Japan’s three-stage Tour de Hokkaido was killed in a head-on collision when a driver was somehow allowed onto the closed course.

San news from the world of pro cycling, as Belgium’s Nathan van Hooydonck was forced to retire from the WorldTour after having an internal defibrillator fitted because of a heart muscle anomaly; the 27-year old cyclist was injured recently when he crashed after becoming ill while driving.

Seventeen-year old Cat Ferguson inked a surprise deal with the Movistar women’s cycling team, becoming one of the youngest riders ever to compete in cycling’s highest tier.

 

Finally…

We may have to worry about stoned LA drivers, but at least we don’t usually have to worry about literally getting stoned. That feeling when your Today Show co-host captures your son’s first bike ride.

And mountain biking is more fun with a friend.

Feathered or otherwise.

@birkselquist

My new jib bro

♬ Jimmy Recard – Drapht

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

2nd Vegas teen busted in Probst vehicular murder, Gutierrez convicted of murder, and Caltrans fires sustainability advocate

September 20, 2023 / / 4 comments

We’re learning more about the vehicular rampage in Las Vegas that led to the intentional hit-and-run death of 64-year old retired Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst.

Including that Probst wasn’t the first bike rider attacked by the two teens.

ABC News reports that the attacks began when the driver deliberately slammed into a 72-year old man riding a bicycle; no word on whether that victim was injured.

They then sideswiped a car, and moments later attacked Probst.

The second person in the car, who videoed the attack, was arrested Tuesday, although no charges appear to have been filed against him at this point.

Neither juvenile has been publicly identified, but that’s likely to change if they are charged as adults.

The Black Wall Street Times reports Probst’s killers may have been inspired by a TikTok hit-and-run challenge, in which “teens show others how to steal certain vehicles without a key and go on joyrides.”

If that’s the case, it could cast a frightening shadow over the recent hit-and-run rampage in Huntington Beach, where a teenaged driver faces charges for intentionally slamming into three people riding bikes, resulting in the death of 70-year old Huntington Beach resident Steven Gonzales.

Then there’s this.

Despite being the first reporter on the scene following Probst’s killing, and encouraging a school resource officer to turn the video of the attack over to the police, Las Vegas Review-Journal crime reporter Sabrina Schnur became the subject of violent and anti-semitic comments from people who falsely accused the paper of downplaying Probst’s death.

Not surprisingly, X/Twitter owner Elon Musk drove much of the attacks, after accusing the media of a lack of sufficient outrage to meet his demands.

On Sunday morning, Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, amplified one of the screenshots, posting “An innocent man was murdered in cold blood while riding his bicycle. The killers joked about it on social media Yet, where is the media outrage? Now you begin to understand the lie.” That post had 68.2 million views as of Monday evening…

The Review-Journal’s social media accounts and other staff also received vicious attacks. When Schnur shared that she’d received 700 notifications on X and an onslaught of angry emails and voicemails, editors jumped in to support her and make sure she was safe.

Executive editor Glenn Cook said that during his 30-plus years in journalism, he’d never seen vitriol of this volume or intensity. “It’s like a fire hose of hatred to the face,” he wrote in a column about the social media outrage.

The attacks were also driven by other rightwing sources, including far-right commentator Laura Loomer and Fox News host Greg Gutfield.

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As long as we’re discussing the murder of innocent people with motor vehicles, 33-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez was convicted of murder Tuesday for intentionally running down a man walking his bicycle in a 2021 Riverside hit-and-run.

Forty-six-year old Benedicto Solanga was walking with a friend when Gutierrez drove by in his pickup, flipped the men off for no apparent reason, then made a U-turn to come back and slam into Solanga from behind. He died in a hospital three days later.

The Riverside jury also convicted Gutierrez a sentence-enhancing allegation of using his truck as a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

There’s no word on whether Gutierrez knew Solanga, or if this was a case of road rage. Or if there was some other reason for his murderous attack.

Gutierrez is currently being held without bail at Riverside’s Robert Presley Jail, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for December 15th.

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Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry calls it a troubling sign that Caltrans’ staunchest advocate for safety, sustainability and sanity has apparently been fired, in what Politico calls a “shakeup.”

Deputy Director of Planning and Modal Programs Jeanie Ward-Waller, the former Advocacy Director for the California Bicycle Coalition, is reportedly being “reassigned” in the department.

Curry speculates that the move may have come because Ward-Waller argued too strongly for incorporating the state’s climate plan in highway projects, as “some Caltrans planners are still pushing strategies to get around changing state regulations.”

If so, that is troubling. But sadly, not surprising.

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That white smoke coming from LA City Hall yesterday means we now have a new LADOT General Manager, as uninspiring as the choice may be.

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We have a new “protected” bike lane in the San Fernando Valley.

Even if bollards won’t keep out abandoned mattresses, or food truck customers.

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In my efforts to catch up from my unexcused diabetic crash and burn a few weeks ago, I have been remiss in not mentioning next month’s LA Bike Fest, hosted by BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition.

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Huntington Beach is the latest city to consider overwriting state traffic laws to regulate bicycles, including a ban on riding against traffic on the sidewalk.

Even though sidewalks aren’t directional, and a newly passed state law will legalized sidewalk riding throughout the state, if it’s signed by Governor Newsom.

The regulations would also ban going around stopped of slowed traffic, and includes a vague ban on riding in an unsafe manner, and a provision allowing impounding bikes belonging to juvenile scofflaw riders.

Any and all of which could be tossed out by the courts, since the state, not cities, is responsible for regulation all forms of traffic under California law, on two wheels as well as four.

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

The founder of Streets For All is reminded that plastic bollards are no protection against LA drivers.

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

Police in New York has released video of the hit-and-run ebike rider who killed a 69-year old woman as she crossed a street on the Lower East Side earlier this month.

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Local 

Los Angeles is asking the federal government for up to $10.3 million in grant funding for a series of new active transportation and public open space projects, including proposals to reconnect bisected MacArthur Park by closing Wilshire Blvd, and studying the possibility of capping the 101 Freeway in Hollywood to build a new park over it; the city is also teaming with Metro to request another $86 million for new bus lanes, bike lanes, and other active transportation and transit infrastructure projects.

When is a bike lane not a bike lane? When seniors using walkers have to use it to get around a Venice homeless camp.

The Cities of Los Angeles and San Fernando are hosting a non-CicLAvia open streets festival from 10 am to 2 pm this Saturday “promoting an active lifestyle and community engagement, all while celebrating the joy of biking, walking, and rolling.”

 

State

San Diego’s annual Bike the Coast ride will return on November 4th, allowing “participants of all levels to enjoy a memorable course that takes them along the scenic views and quaint communities along Highway 101.”

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a 39-year old woman was killed by a driver when she allegedly rode her bike in front of the oncoming car. Although what actually happened hinges on whether there were any independent witnesses, or if investigators are relying solely on the driver’s statement, since the victim can’t give her side of the story.

Palo Alto parents are demanding steps to improve traffic safety after two children were struck by drivers in separate incidents, including a middle school student who was critically injured while riding his bike.

San Francisco traffic safety advocates are calling on the city to protect bike riders and pedestrians by banning right turns on red lights.

Stockton suspended its e-bikeshare program after it was plagued by vandalism and theft.

 

National

Santa Monica-based Bird has taken a dominant position in the US micromobility market with its acquisition of Spin from European provider Tier.

A writer for Cycling Weekly explains why he prefers to ride alone 95% of the time. I do, too, though in my case it’s a case of cycling weakly.

Bike-friendly Portland suffered the year’s first bicycling fatality when a man was struck by a driver Tuesday morning; that compares to four bicycling deaths in the city last year.

A Seattle driver agreed to plead guilty to vehicular homicide and felony hit-and-run in exchange for a recommendation of just under three and a half years for fleeing the scene after killing a man riding a bike. Let’s hope that also includes a length driving ban once he’s released.

Life is not so cheap in New Mexico, for a change, as the estate of a fallen bike rider agreed to a $1 million settlement with his killer, a state district judge who originally walked with just $82 in court costs after invoking her right to remain silent.

A Denver-based nonprofit gave the entire second grade class at a Colorado Springs CO elementary new BMX bikes and helmets.

Tragic news from New Hampshire, where Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens died of complications from a bicycling collision on Tuesday, seven months after he lost a leg and suffered a spinal chord injury when he was struck by a speeding driver as he rode his bike home from a Florida restaurant with his wife; he was 66.

A Hartford website accuses the state’s ebike rebate program of an equity failure, with just 2% of the 468 vouchers reaching the state’s most financially challenged residents.

New York Magazine highlights “comfy and cool” bike helmets kids will actually want to wear.

DC became the latest city to approve ebike incentives, offering vouchers up to $1,500 for an ebike, or $2,000 to buy an e-cargo bike. Meanwhile, potential California ebike buyers continue to wait. And wait. 

 

International

A new survey ranks the UK’s worst cities for bike riders, with London a surprising third behind Bradford and Leeds.

London’s Fire Brigade called for “proper regulation” of ebike batteries and chargers after a man suffered life-changing injuries when his ebike battery caught fire

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has introduced a new 12-point ‘code de la rue’ (street code), in addition to France’s existing code de la route (highway code), to help bike riders, drivers and pedestrians better share the city’s streets; the rules include giving pedestrians priority and banning all two-wheeled vehicles from sidewalks, as well as a ban on drinking before driving, biking or scooting.

Belgian ebike maker Cowboy teamed with a Parisian designer for a dramatic cruiser bike designed to fit “in with women’s busy lives.” Evidently, men need not apply for the $3,700 ebike.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling says none of Sepp Kuss’ friends back home in Colorado are surprised at his victory in the Vuelta. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Not only is Kuss king of the Vuelta, he’s also king of the KOMs.

LA-based former pro Phil Gaimon topped 370 other riders to win the 2023 Mount Baker Hill Climb, in what Essentially Sports called a “stunning display of cycling prowess.”

Bicycling also reports that the sports director for the Lotto Dstny Development Team has been suspended for deliberately running over a course marshal during Belgium’s GP Rik Van Looy bike race. Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Cars of the not-too-distant future could communicate with rooftop emojis. That feeling when you end up chatting with the newly crowned king on a Scottish bike ride.

And repeat after me. When you’re riding your bike under the influence, while carrying controlled substances and already wanted on an outstanding warrant, put a damn light on it.

The bike, that is. Not the warrant.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Good but not great year for CA street safety bills, and 17-year old Las Vegas killer driver could be tried as adult

September 19, 2023 / / 3 comments

It could be a good year for California traffic safety, if the governor’s veto pen cooperates.

Streetsblog reports Governor Gavin Newsom has until October 14th to sign legislation “championed by safety and sustainable transportation advocates (that) actually made it all the through the sausage making.”

Among the bills that passed are measures to legalize a speed cam pilot program, provide transparency on highway building and emissions, require daylighting at intersections, and prohibit criminal charges for transit fare evasion.

Bicycling bills that made it to Newsom’s desk would create a Caltrans bike czar, legalize sidewalk riding throughout the state, allow vehicle-mounted cameras to enforce bike lane parking restrictions, and require landlords to let tenants store and charge ebikes and e-scooters inside.

Based on Newsom’s previous actions, I’d expect the sidewalk bill to face the greatest veto risk, followed the ebike charging bill, due to the risk of fires.

Other measures would unbundle parking costs from rent, allow businesses to share excess parking, require a human driver in autonomous trucks, and study the costs and benefits of imposing a weight-based vehicle fee.

Another measure would remove restrictions on lowriders and legalize cruising throughout the state — lifting lowrider culture over traffic safety and the climate emergency.

Bills that didn’t make it include the ban on pretextual traffic stops, free transit passes for youths, and requiring the state to take climate change into account on highway projects and monitor air pollutants.

That’s in addition to the latest attempt at passing a Stop As Yield bill, aka Idaho Stop, which was pulled by Assemblymember Tasha Boener, apparently over fears Newsom wouldn’t sign it. Which seemed pretty clear to begin with, since he’s vetoed two previous attempts.

Meanwhile, Calbike considers the risk that speed poses to all road users, but particularly bike riders and pedestrians, as well as making the case for why everyone should support ebikes, even if you don’t ride one.

Image from Schoolhouse Rock – I’m Just a Bill.

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No surprise here, as Nevada’s Clark County DA announced plans to try a killer teenaged driver as an adult.

The 17-year old driver was recorded on a now-viral video deliberately aiming his car at retired Bell police chief Andreas Probst as he rode his bike in a Las Vegas bike lane last month.

It’s also no surprise that the car was stolen, one of several auto thefts the teen is accused of taking part in that day. Or that the driver had used it to sideswipe another car moments earlier, apparently just for the hell of it.

Investigators are also trying to identify the passenger who filmed the fatal crash, who could faces charges, as well.

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They get it.

The Boston Globe writes that it will take more than just infrastructure to get people onto bikes, and meet the city’s goal of a 8% bike commuting rate by 2030, which is four times the current rate.

Reaching that goal is vital to the city’s health. The increased use of bikes usually means the decreased use of cars, which will shrink the city’s carbon footprint and its need for costly parking spaces. At a time when the T is slow or undependable, cycling can not only fill gaps in the transit system but can also be the most efficient mode of travel.

Moreover, bicycles add to the vibrancy of street life, a potential boon to neighborhood stores, restaurants, and cafes. And let’s face it, we could all use a bit more exercise.

Yes, it will require a network of safe, connected bike lanes, the paper argues.

But it will also take adult bike classes, and bicycle training in elementary schools. Along with state and local ebike subsidies, and tax deductions to help defray the cost of bike commutes or pay for Uber rides in bad weather.

As well as growing Boston’s docked bikeshare system.

All of which applies equally well right here in Los Angeles, or pretty much anywhere else in the US.

And while we’re on the subject, Momentum asks if it’s time for governments to start paying people to bike to work.

Short answer, yes. Longer answer, oh hell yes.

………

Longtime Los Angeles bike advocate and former LACBC board member Kent Strumpell will interview Streets For All founder Michael Schneider, founder of the Streets For All PAC, in a webinar hosted by Climate Action Santa Monica this Thursday.

………

That feeling when a 16-year old trail rider could probably drop you like freshman English.

Or maybe that’s just me.

………

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

No bias here. San Diego’s KPBS is once again raising the panic over ebike and e-scooter injuries, as ER doctors cite a painfully small study showing a jump in injuries coinciding with the rise in e-scooter use. Although as any middle school science student could tell you, correlation does not equal causation. And an increase in injuries is to be expected with any increase in usage; the question is whether that rise exceeds what would be expected with greater usage.

Once again, someone has boobytrapped a bike trail in the UK, stringing a nest of orange twine across the trail to ensnare any mountain bikers who failed to spot it; fortunately, a man saw the trap before he hit it at nearly 20 mph, and dismantled it with a small knife from his bike kit.

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

After a pair of bike-riding teenaged theft suspects attempted to escape down a Missouri bike path, a local cop following on foot borrowed a bike from a woman taking part in a corporate relay race, and chased down one of the suspects; the woman’s team was allowed to finish the race despite being shorthanded.

Friends and family members are looking for answers after the beloved assistant director of the New York Chinatown Head Start program died days after she was struck by a hit-and-run ebike rider while walking to work.

………

Local 

Streetsblog offers photos and an open thread about Sunday’s NoHo CicLAmini.

 

State

San Marcos will close part of Via Vera Cruz Road for a months-long construction and resurfacing project, including adding bike lanes to the street.

A San Diego op-ed examines how speed cams could help reduce the hundreds of lives lost to traffic violence in the city each year. Yet the just-passed speed cam pilot program inexplicably excludes California’s second-largest city.

The Manual recommends mountain biking into Death Valley to watch next month’s solar eclipse.

Bakersfield bike riders now have a new bicycle repair station near Beach Park along the popular Kern River Parkway.

The San Francisco Standard examines what the hell is taking so long with the scaled-back Better Market Street Project, which no longer includes plans for a sidewalk-level fully separated bike lane.

 

National

How to charge your ebike using an electric car charging station.

Electrek says budget ebikes are driving retail sales, which is why leading bikemakers like Trek and Cannondale are introducing low-priced ebikes that undercut their own high-end models.

Bicycling recommends the best bike deals in advance of next month’s two-day Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. This one doesn’t appear to be paywalled, but you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you, since it doesn’t seem to be available elsewhere. 

Portland’s transportation director has ordered staffers to rip out a 16-block, parking protected bike lane downtown, for no apparent reason, just one year after completing the final segment.

A Maryland man has filed suit against Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes after the front wheel of his RadRunner bike came off as he was riding.

Seattle’s new waterfront bike path is coming into focus as construction nears completion, although, as usual, last-minute changes undercut previous promises.

Following the time-tested model of NIMBYs everywhere, residents of a Denver neighborhood are protesting a new bike lane “protected” by flimsy plastic car-tickler bendie posts, blaming them and a new roundabout for a series of minor crashes.

Bikepackers and hikers are bringing life back to an old Wyoming gold mining town along the Continental Divide Trail, just a small part of the estimated $454 billion outdoor recreation adds to the nation’s gross domestic product.

Life is cheap in Illinois, where a 76-year old driver walked without a single day behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a 20-year old bike-riding man, after the judge suspended his entire five-year sentence for negligent homicide. But at least he’ll be 101 before he’s allowed to drive again.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever shot an 11-year old Saginaw, Michigan boy as he was riding his bicycle; fortunately, his wounds weren’t life-threatening.

A Brooklyn writer argues that foldies aren’t just for city living, and should be part of your outdoor adventures, as well.

A pair of men were injured, one critically, when they were struck by a driver while taking part in a Maryland gran fondo, apparently because they were unable to stop on the wet roadway.

 

International

Dueling groups of demonstrators turned out Monday over plans to widen and protect a Montreal bike lane; as usual, the issue was the planed removal of 250 parking spaces to make room for it.

A bike-riding Dublin, Ireland woman was seriously injured in a collision with another bicyclist Monday morning.

A Ukrainian woman rode her bike more than 125 miles around London to draw an outline of the UK, to thank the country for supporting Ukraine.

A UK letter writer supports a call to reduce traffic congestion by eliminating parking, saying the roads are too dangerous for “all but the most experienced and intrepid” bike riders.

A Bangladeshi financial site writes that the local bicycle industry is facing the worst period in memory, apparently falling victim to the worldwide financial upheaval cause by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

 

Competitive Cycling

The fan-based @GCSeppKuss account on X/Twitter started out as a joke, then gained followers as Kuss took the lead in the Vuelta — including Kuss himself.

The last American to win a grand tour before Kuss says his victory could provide a timely boost for a flagging road cycle racing scene in the US.

Velo says the attitude throughout the peloton is that no one deserves a grand tour win more than Sepp Kuss.

The once high-flying Astana-Qazaqstan team brought home less than $5,000 in prize money for three weeks work in the Vuelta.

This about sums up this year’s racing season. Even if the winners of the first two tried to keep the last one from winning.

 

Finally…

One more way bikes are better than cars for the climate — we don’t need windshield washer fluid.

And you should always wear the proper attire for bike racing, even if it’s a suit jacket and knickers.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Las Vegas teen filmed vehicular murder of former Bell police chief, and “car-owning” WeHo bicyclist decries Fountain plans

September 18, 2023 / / One comment

Now we know why it’s murder.

It took about two weeks after the crash for Las Vegas police to determine that the killing of retired Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst in an August hit-and-run was intentional.

The reason became evident this weekend when horrifying video of the collision surfaced and quickly went viral.

In the video, which was AirDropped to students at a local high school at the end of last month, the teenage driver and his passenger(s) can be seen cursing at passing cars, before spotting Probst riding his mountain bike in a bike lane.

This is how TMZ described the lead-up to the crash.

The 17-year-old driver and his passenger were cruising down a street in Las Vegas on August 14, coming up behind Andreas Probst as he rode his cycle in the bike lane. Filming with his cell phone, the passenger was chuckling with the driver as they plotted to run over Probst. You can hear them say, “Ready?” and “Yeah, hit his ass.”

So much for any question of intent.

According to The Daily Mirror,

The vehicle is seen in the footage coming up behind a red-clad man riding a bicycle alongside the road. The motorist pulls into the bike lane behind him, honks his horn, and purposefully strikes the cyclist’s back tire, sending him flying with the encouragement of his buddies.

The passenger records Andreas lying helplessly on the side of the road behind the vehicle. “Damn that n* got knocked out!” the passenger says as the driver can be heard stepping on the gas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal says, despite attacks from rightwing sources including Elon Musk, James Woods and Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld, not only were they aware of the video within hours of the crash, they were instrumental in getting it to the police.

The Review-Journal’s coverage of the incident was also heavily criticized by readers who posted screenshots of a news obituary that ran in the Review-Journal on Aug. 18 — more than a week before the video surfaced — with a headline describing the incident as a “bike crash” and not an intentional killing.

In fact, a source had contacted the Review-Journal about the existence of the video more than two weeks ago, and a reporter had instructed the caller on how to forward the video to Metropolitan Police Department detectives investigating the case. Nine hours later, police announced that the incident had been deemed a homicide.

The Review-Journal also reports the passenger has not been charged, which seems inexplicable unless they were captured on the video screaming in horror at the deliberate carnage.

Hint: they weren’t.

At the very least, such a heinous crime would seem to call for a felony conspiracy charge, since both the driver and the passenger appear to have been planning the fatal assault.

It also calls into question whether the teenaged driver arrested for last week’s vehicular rampage in Huntington Beach that killed one man riding a bicycle and injured two others was a copycat attack.

It’s possible he may have seen video of the Las Vegas murder, or one of the other similar video circulating online, and attempted to copy them.

Or he may have simply lashed out on his own, for reasons known only to him.

………

No bias here.

Writing for WeHoVille, a “car-owning bicyclist” rides his bike down the sidewalk along Fountain Ave, to demonstrate that few people currently ride bicycles along the deadly thoroughfare, and insist that two years of construction to install a protected bike lane will devastate the businesses along the half block that actually has them.

Never mind that his own decision to ride on the sidewalk, rather than risk riding in the street, makes the case for building the bike lanes.

Let’s be clear: While WeHo talks a big game about “uplifting” marginalized people and “amplifying” their voices, the city’s pedestrians — those blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about — are silently struggling just to get from Point A to Point B every day, as they’ve done for decades.

But fixing sidewalks isn’t glamorous, and that’s why WeHo hasn’t given a fuck thus far.

Even now, the impetus for reconstructing Fountain Avenue wasn’t to benefit pedestrians or disabled people. They were an afterthought.

Installing bike lanes, the cause celebre of every young politician and hip urban planner, was the point of this project.

Never mind that many of the “blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about” are forced to ride their bikes to work along busy, dangerous corridors choked with traffic.

And not many use the sidewalks, because they can’t afford to live there.

………

When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s a parking lot.

………

Streetsblog celebrates yesterday’s NoHo CicLAmini.

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

A St. Louis moonlight bike ride was cancelled at the last minute as people were gathering at the start line, because drivers had moved the barricades blocking roadways along the route, and a third-party company hadn’t secured it.

An English bike rider is left waiting in vain for the police to do something after he catches a punishment pass on his bike cam, as the driver yells at him to “Get off the fucking road.”

No bias here. A Singapore website accuses an ebike rider and a motorist of road rage for engaging in a heated dispute in the middle of the roadway. Never mind that the bike rider was minding his own business until the impatient driver started honking at him for no apparent reason.

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

Tragic news from New York, where police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who killed a 69-year old woman as she was crossing a “chaotic” intersection. Since the bicyclist was on a bikeshare bike, police should be able to access user and GPS data to determine who was using a bike at that time and location. Which raises the question of why they apparently haven’t yet.

An ebike-riding man is recovering from injuries and faces sexual assault charges, after a Virginia woman flagged down a passing car when the man groped her on a bike path, then smiled as he rode away; she was able to catch up with him and apparently kicked his ass, knocking him off his bike and placing him in a chokehold until police arrived.

A Toronto cop was hospitalized, and a bike rider faces charges, after the cop was hit by someone who was allegedly riding his bicycle erratically and weaving between pedestrians in the city’s Entertainment District.

………

Local 

Metro’s new rush hour bus and bike lanes on La Brea Blvd are officially open for business. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from using them — and loving them — already.

Streetsblog says Metro has installed new plastic bollards to protect the First Street bike lanes, which could be the first step in meeting their commitment to on bike/walk connections the promised for Metro’s new subway stations. However, it’s worth noting that the new bollards are spaced too far apart to keep motorists from driving or parking in the bike lanes, and won’t actually protect anyone from anything.

West Hollywood will consider a program to implement a bicycle repair station pilot program at tonight’s city council meeting.

Culver City is moving forward with plans for both painted and protected bike lanes along the southern section of Overland Blvd, at the same time the city is trying to rip out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes through downtown.

Santa Monica’s ebike voucher program for low-income residents is set to begin next year; qualified people could receive up to $2,000 to purchase an ebike and accessories.

 

State

Huntington Beach will consider new ebike regulations at tomorrow’s city council meeting; the proposed ordinance would create different classes of electric bikes — which the state has already done — while providing for criminal or civil citations, and adding a section for unsafe riding. However, all of that may be moot and illegal, since regulating ebikes falls under the authority of the state, along will all other traffic regulations. 

A La Jolla father calls for action on traffic safety measures after his 14-year old son suffered broken bones in his hand and foot when he was struck by a driver in a left cross crash, as he rode his ebike in a marked bike lane; the driver was waved through the intersection by another motorist, and failed to see the kid on his bike.

San Diego faces concerns about meeting the city’s climate goals, after a crackdown on e-scooter providers dropped ridership 80%.

The days of having The Snake to yourself could be coming to an end, with plans in place to reopen the curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road in the Santa Monica Mountains to motor vehicles next year.

A San Jose councilmember denies striking a bike-riding man with his car, despite three witnesses who say he gave the man money after running him down; he claims it was a near miss, and he only gave money to help the victim, who appeared to be homeless.

San Francisco Streetsblog says bicyclists are furious that protected bike lanes are no longer on the table for Arguello in the Presidio, when champion cyclist Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this year.

 

National

The Manual says don’t bother buying an e-mountain bike because government regulations limit where you can ride it. However, a travel website disagrees, listing ten of the best trails around the US where ebikes are welcome.

A Park City, Utah columnist says “Bike thieves suck” after her ebike and foldie are stolen from her building’s garage, apparently because she locked them together rather than to a fixed object. Although even that wouldn’t stop a determined thief with enough time. 

The local community came through for a five-year old Texas boy after his bike was stolen; within minutes of his father posting news of the theft online, he had offers for two bikes.

An 80-year old New York man was murdered by a black-clad man on a bicycle who circled the area apparently waiting for the victim to return home from a party, then rode up and shot him two times point blank in front of the victim’s horrified wife, in a killing caught on video; using a bike allowed the killer to approach his victim quickly and silently, without drawing undue attention.

A reminder that Hugh Jackman is one of us, after he’s spotted riding bikeshare bike through New York’s Tribeca neighborhood a day after announcing his separation from his wife of 27 years.

More proof bike riders are tough, as a man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana walked himself to the hospital, despite three stab wounds in his back, after three people stabbed him and stole his bike and wallet, then left him bleeding on the sidewalk.

 

International

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood jeered the borough mayor when he said a new bike path had nothing to do with the traffic death of a woman as she walked along the newly narrowed roadway.

Montreal’s mayor is demonstrating the political courage to close a popular park roadway to motor vehicles, and reclaim Mount Royal Park for bike riders and pedestrians. In other words, the kind of courage we seldom see in Southern California. Let alone Los Angeles.

The murder bug has apparently spread across the pond, as two men face attempted murder charges for deliberately running down a bike rider on the streets of Glasgow.

Nineties pop icon Jason Orange is one of us, as the tabloids say the Take That star is virtually unrecognizable riding a bikeshare bike through the streets of London. Even though all of them seem to have spotted him.

A radio station remembers the day 65 nude women rode bicycles around London’s Wembley Stadium to film the video for Queen’s iconic hit Bicycle Races. 

Wales has become the first country in the UK to drop speed limits from 30 mph to 20 mph. Because 20 is plenty in urban areas.

After courts awarded her the equivalent of over $620,000 for the death of her husband, a British woman decried the “inhuman” response of city leaders, who blamed him 100% for his own death after he was killed by a garbage truck driver as he rode his bike.

A French consortium pans to build a nearly 3,000 foot, 900 kilowatt solar panel bike path along the Rhône River capable of powering over 700 homes. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

A Belgian bicyclist shown on video kneeing a five-year old girl in a viral video from Christmas Day 2020 has now won a defamation suit against the girl’s father, after a court fined the bike rider the equivalent of a dollar, concluding he didn’t intend to hurt her.

Heartbreaking story from India, where a 17-year old girl was killed when someone on a passing motorbike grabbed the traditional stole she was wearing as she biked home from school with a friend, causing her to fall into the path of another motorbike rider; two suspects were shot by police after they attempted to escape following their arrest, stealing a rifle and firing on the cops as they fled.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Singaporean bicyclist jumped off his bike to save someone who had fallen into a canal, along with members of the country’s civil defense force.

Helmet use has tripled among Japanese bike riders in the wake of a new law requiring them, although the lack of punishment for violating the law means it’s still only up to 13.5%.

An Aussie man warns bike riders to beware of swooping magpies, after he nearly lost an eye when one attacked him two year ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s official. Twentynine-year old Colorado resident Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta on Sunday, days after his own teammates attacked in an apparent attempt to wrest the red leader’s jersey from his shoulders.

Kuss is the first American to win a grand tour since Chris Horner won the Vuelta in 2013, and just the second person to win one grand tour after riding in all three.

Guyana’s junior cycling team was left standing at the airport, instead of flying to the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships, because someone apparently forgot to check the airline’s strict no baggage policy, which includes racing bikes.

 

Finally…

A mountain biker demonstrates why actual wheels usually work best. Yes, you can get a DUI while riding a horse in California.

And there may be bicycle-riding ghosts out there, but this probably ain’t one of ’em.

Especially since that video seems awfully familiar.

………

A special thanks to Steve Fujinaka for a very unexpected and generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way that lifted my spirits over the weekend. 

Donations are always welcome and appreciated, whatever the reason.  

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Culver City non-explains MOVE bike lane removal, Ethan Boyes ghost bike burned at Burning Man, and NoHo CicLAmini

September 15, 2023 / / No comments

Call it a non-explanatory explanation.

A statement from the Culver City Communications & Public Information Manager purports to explain the city’s move to modify the highly successful MOVE Culver City project — including the bizarre plan to exempt the move to re-add another traffic lane under California’s CEQA environmental regulations.

Except the only time CEQA is even mentioned is in the first paragraph, and then only in passing.

At its meeting on Monday, September 11th, 2023, the Culver City City Council voted 3-2 to ratify plans to modify the MOVE Culver City pilot project, including a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption. MOVE Culver City is a city-led effort that reimagines city streets as public spaces and prioritizes moving people more efficiently and safely in the design of the street.

The story goes on to add that the re-imagined project will include new bike boxes at seven locations, which wouldn’t be necessary if the city wasn’t removing the current protected bike lane, and moving to a shared bus-bike lane.

And in doublespeak Orwell would be proud of, he describes the goal of the MOVE project as improving “the infrastructure and services for mobility alternatives and to offer the community equitable, convenient, and sustainable mobility options.”

It’s hard to imagine how removing a protected bike lane, and forcing bikes and buses to share a single lane, accomplishes any of those goals.

Meanwhile, the crowdfunding campaign to fight the changes is now approaching 80% of the modest $10,000 goal.

Hopefully, it will meet that soon.

Or better yet, exceed it.

………

In a surprisingly moving gesture, the ghost bike for San Francisco bicycling champ Ethan Boyes was burned in the bonfire at Burning Man,

The bike had disappeared after officials at the Presidio ordered it removed, and passed among friends until it was taken to the event to be burned.

………

A reminder that the North Hollywood CicLAmini — a shorter version of CicLAvia intended to encourage walking over bicycling — rolls this Sunday.

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Joni Yung sings the praises of Pasadena’s new Union Street protected bike lane, suggesting she may have misjudged the wealthy, traditionally white and conservative city.

………

Good point.

If LA schools really cared about student safety, they wouldn’t resort to part-time safety measures.

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LADOT wants to know what you think about how to improve Westside walking and biking conditions.

And no, burn it all down and start over probably isn’t a winning idea.

………

Here’s your chance to weigh in on the long-overdue proposal to extend the Ballona Creek bike path to the creek’s eastern terminus.

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

No bias here. A teenaged bike rider was injured when they were struck by driver while taking part in a Salinas rideout, as the group popped wheelies and wove through traffic in front of the local high school. But despite several references to getting hit by a car, the lengthy story never once mentioned that it might have had a driver.

No bias here, either. Nowhere in this six paragraph story about a Wisconsin hit-and-run that left a 39-year old woman riding a bicycle with significant injuries, does it mention that someone was driving the vehicle that hit her.

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Local 

What could possibly go wrong? The Los Angeles City Planning Commission backed a proposal to install 80 digital billboards on sites owned by Metro, which could generate up to half a billion dollars in ad revenue over a 20 year period. After all, it’s not like the flashing billboards are distracting, or anything.

Police continue the hunt for five men who burglarized Irwindale Cycles early Monday morning, including two men who got off the Metro L (Gold) Line in Pasadena with four bikes still bearing the shop’s price tags.

While we continue the endless wait for California’s ebike rebate program to finally go live, Santa Monica is planning to offer vouchers up to $2,000 to eligible low-income residents to buy ebikes and accessories.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department will conduct another in the area’s ongoing series of bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations in Carson today. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

 

State

California Streetsblog marks the passage of California’s speed cam pilot program in the state legislature, observing that it’s now up to Gov. Newsom to sign it. Given his track record on traffic safety issues, cross your fingers but don’t hold your breath.

Encinitas considers actions to prevent additional ebike deaths, including sharrows, reduced lane widths and bike lanes, as well as lowering the speed limit on part of Coast Highway 101 and a installing rubber traffic circle roundabout on Quail Gardens Drive. But someone should tell them that sharrows are worthless, and have been shown to actually increase the risk to people on bicycles. And people on regular bikes are at risk, too. 

A Marin paper says San Raphael is keeping its promise to improve safety for bike riders. Although it’s hard to square that with the ongoing efforts to remove the bike lanes from the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge. 

A 19-year old Roseville driver faces a felony hit-and-run charge after striking a 61-year old bike rider and driving off, leaving the victim with minor injuries. Although something doesn’t add up, since California’s felony hit-and-run statute only applies in cases of major injuries or death; a crash resulting in minor injuries should be charged as a misdemeanor. 

A Gold County bicycling columnist offers safety advice while reviewing bike laws, but neglects to mention under his section about taking the lane that bicyclists can legally use the full lane on any substandard lane, which means any lane too narrow to safety share with a motor vehicle — and these days that means a large truck or SUV, not a compact sedan.

 

National

He gets it. A Colorado writer says instead of blaming the victim, it should be up to drivers to operate their vehicles safely and not hit bike riders or pedestrians. But please, can we finally drive a stake through the overly tired “safety is a two-way street” cliche once and for all?

New York-based Priority Bicycles is introducing a belt-drive foldie for just $799, which is an exceptionally low price for the category.

New York residents and industry leaders argue that allowing four-wheeled, “high-speed” — aka 20 mph — delivery cargo bikes in bike lanes will get someone killed. Just wait until someone tells them about all those high-speed drivers in the big, dangerous machines.

Maryland will provide another $25.5 million for bicycle, pedestrian and trail projects.

He gets it, too. After getting hit by a truck while riding a bicycle, a Charleston, South Carolina English professor and local Democratic Party co-chair says a local street needs a bike lane, not another ghost bike.

 

International

After being forced to close 750 campus dorm rooms due to structural defects, an English university promises to give a free bicycle to any student moved off campus.

Harry Styles and James Corden are both one of us, as they take to bikeshare bikes for a leisurely “bromance” ride through London’s Primrose Hill neighborhood.

India’s “bicycle” political party is in the midst of the country’s longest bicycling political rally at 37 days and over 1,600 miles, and counting.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports that cycling fans took to social media to express their outrage over Jumbo-Visma’s dick moves tactics in Wednesday’s stage 17 of the Vuelta, as both Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič attacked their own teammate, American race leader Sepp Kuss. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Road.cc declared the end of the Jumbo-Visma civil war on Thursday, however, as Vingegaard and Roglič worked to protect Kuss’ lead, while Remco Evenpoel won the stage from the break, although longtime cycling director sportif Johan Bruyneel was not impressed with Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel’s tactics.

The Tour of Britain could see a return of the women’s race next year.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your friends talk you into crashing your bike into a naked pedestrian, who proceeds to beat the crap out of you. If a tank can pass a bike rider safely, a driver should be able to, too.

And it wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t so painfully true.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Killer driver arrested in HB rampage, CA daylighting bill passes Senate, and Seattle cop thinks dead peds are funny

September 14, 2023 / / 3 comments

They found the killer. And he’s just a kid.

Police in Huntington Beach arrested a suspect Tuesday night in the killing 70-year old Huntington Beach resident Steven Gonzales as he rode his bike in the city, as well as injuring two other bike-riding men, in Sunday’s 45-minute vehicular rampage.

The suspect, officially described only as a male juvenile between 14 and 18, is being held in Orange County Juvenile Hall on one count of felony murder, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

He was arrested after police found the car used in the attacks on the 6000 block of Warner Ave, just half a mile from the last reported assault.

There’s no word on whether he was with the car, or if it had been abandoned. Or whether it belonged to the suspect or his family.

There’s also no word on a motive for the attacks, but it could have been a copycat attack based the East Bay Area attacks from earlier this year, in which young people in stolen cars attempted to door or strike people riding bicycles or e-scooters.

It could also have been for any number of other reasons, from a hatred of bicycles to perceived racial or political factors in the deeply red community.

Or he could have just been looking for easy targets.

The tragedy in all this is that one man is dead, and another’s life could be effectively over.

Gonzales was needlessly killed, apparently simply for the crime of riding a bicycle on a warm summer night. His family and loved ones will now have to find a way to go on without him.

At the same time, his young killer is likely to remain in juvenile custody until his 21st birthday, at the very least. Or could face life in prison if he’s charged as an adult, or even the death penalty.

Which means his family had better get used to living without him, too.

………

California intersections could get a little safer after a proposed statewide daylighting bill survived the legislature’s cutoff day for bills to pass; AB 413 would improve visibility by banning parking within 20 feet of an intersection.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A Seattle cop joked about a woman killed by another cop as she was walking, bizarrely bursting into laughter after confirming she was dead. He added that the city should just write a check for $11,000 because she was only 26 and “had limited value.”

………

Streets For All will mark my birthday with a beer-fueled Santa Monica meetup on the 24th.

………

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

Bike riders and pedestrians complain about drivers illegally using an Iowa bike path.

Toronto police are looking for a hit-and-run motorcyclist who appears to have intentionally struck a bicyclist while riding in a bike lane, leaving the victim with severe orthopedic injuries.

………

Local 

Santa Monica will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operation today and tomorrow, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line.

Campus police at the University of Southern California gave out bike bells and safety brochures to students in an attempt to improve bicycle safety on campus. Then again, if the school was really concerned about student safety, they’d ban cars on campus, and improve the infrastructure on and around the bike-unfriendly school. 

 

State

Encinitas and Solana Beach are cracking down on scofflaw bicyclists in an attempt to improve safety, particularly among younger bike riders. Although if they really want to improve safety, they should focus on the people in the big, dangerous machines, instead. 

San Diego takes a major step forward to revitalize the Kearny Mesa area by resurfacing Convoy Street, adding bike lanes while removing over 200 parking spaces to create a “sexy street.”

The jury has begun deliberating in the Riverside murder trial of Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez for intentionally ramming 46-year old Benedicto Solanga with his truck, as Solanga walked his bike with another person.

They get it. Sacramento is attempting to meet the city’s climate goals by installing more bike lanes.

 

National

New NASA-inspired airless bike tires promise to never go flat, using shape memory nickel-titanium alloy coils to create a ride as smooth as pneumatic tires. And they can be yours for the low, low price of $500 a pair, while promising to last as long as you do.

Speaking of bike tires, Pirelli is extending the recall of their P Zero Race TLR tires to the US and Canada, after a report of rapid air loss resulting in a minor injury. In other words, it suffered a flat. 

Three of Portland’s five councilmembers rode their bikes in the city’s latest open streets event, even though the program is on the chopping block.

A kindhearted Bryan, Texas woman gave a man a new ebike after learning he had to walk nearly two hours to and from work because his bicycle broke down.

A Minnesota website highlights what they call the state’s most scenic bike trail.

A Kalamazoo, Michigan neighborhood is getting a new brightly colored, bicycle-themed mural.

New York councilmembers voted to create the first city-run trade-in program for ebikes and lithium-ion batteries, in an attempt to halt deadly battery fires.

A New York op-ed says congestion pricing will have the added benefit of creating more space for bicycles on city streets.

Amazon is letting its fleet of e-cargo delivery bikes sit idle on the rooftop of its New York building, apparently because of a desire to get rid of the building, rather than any problem with the bikes themselves.

DC protestors blame bike lanes for this summer’s decline in business — even though they haven’t been built yet. And somehow prefer having a dangerous “six-lane highway” in front of their homes to taking steps to improve it.

It takes a major schmuck to knock an elderly Georgia man off his bicycle in an effort to steal it in a strong-arm robbery,

A 13-year old girl became the latest bike-riding police victim, suffering critical injuries when she was run down by a cop while riding across a Tampa, Florida street. Police naturally blamed the victim for riding “75 feet west of the crosswalk,” as if she had any obligation to ride in a crosswalk, or somehow wasn’t allowed to cross mid-block even though drivers do it all the time leaving parking lots and spaces; a better question is why the hell didn’t the cop see a kid on a bicycle directly in front of the patrol car.

 

International

Bike Radar recommends the best fingerless bike gloves. 

Momentum offers advice on how to dress for success while bike commuting. Or hopefully before bike commuting, but whatever works.

Momentum also says the new Brompton collaboration with adventure broadcaster Bear Grylls could be huge; the bikes start at a relatively reasonable $2,500.

The road leading up Montreal’s iconic Mount Royal will be closed to motor vehicles within six years, with the roadway replaced with trees, and bike and walking paths.

Bike-riding BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine had a scary incident when a truck driver traveling in the opposite direction made an illegal turn, then started to reverse while he was behind it, forcing him to bang on the back for the driver to stop.

Authorities in Scotland’s Orkney Islands hope to ease tensions between local motorists and cruise line passengers who disembark to bike on the islands, often in large groups, in time for next season.

The British government is now considering laws to rein in dangerous bicycling, after an MP raised the issue in Parliament. But Cycling Weekly says the country’s Conservative government has its priorities wrong because the real risk stems from dangerous driving, not bicycling.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian cyclist Nathan Van Hooydonck is awake and remarkably, without serious injuries, just one day after he was resuscitated by paramedics and placed in a medically induced coma after falling ill and accelerating into traffic at a busy junction while driving with his pregnant wife.

Vuelta leader Sepp Kuss saw a lack of support and respect from his own teammates on Wednesday’s stage 18, after his fellow Jumbo-Visma cyclists Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard attacked, dropping his lead to just eight seconds.

Today’s stage takes the Vuelta into Spain’s high mountains one last time.

L39ion of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams will be forced to serve his 60 day suspension for causing a crash in a Colorado crit from April 13th through June 13th, causing him to miss a number of important races.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the overly cautious driver behind you isn’t one. And if you’re planning to steal a bicycle, make sure it’s not a bait bike — and leave the meth and replica gun cigarette lighter at home.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Both sides rest in Solanga vehicular murder case, and Culver City bicyclists crowdfund to save protected bike lane

September 13, 2023 / / One comment

We could have a verdict before the end of this week.

Both sides rested Tuesday in the murder trial of 33-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez, who is accused of using his truck to run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga in Riverside two years ago.

Gutierrez allegedly flipped Solanga off as Solanga walked his bike with another person, then made a U-turn to come back to slam into Solanga, killing him.

Prosecutors have not said if the men knew each other, or why he attacked Solanga with his truck.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

………

No bias here.

A Culver City councilmember says kids are much better off riding on circuitous side streets than in the direct, protected bike lane he wants to rip out.

He’s got a point.

Studies have shown that bicyclists are exposed to higher particulate levels when riding next to busy roadways. But it’s unclear whether those particulates have a measurable effect on lung function.

Meanwhile, a new crowdfunding campaign has been established to fight the council’s blatantly illegal decision to replace the bike lane with another lane for motor vehicles, bizarrely claiming it would have no environmental impact and doesn’t require a CEQA review.

As of this writing, it’s raised nearly half of the modest $10,000 goal in less than 24 hours.

………

The California state legislature has approved the bill to establish a limited speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, as well as three NorCal cities — as long as they meet a number of preconditions.

The state Senate also passed a bill legalizing sidewalk riding everywhere in the state, overriding any local prohibitions.

Assuming the governor signs it, of course.

………

More proof that lane reductions and protected bike lanes work. Someone please tell the Culver City Council.

Oh wait, they already know.

………

Let’s pause our bike news for a moment for a couple of brief help wanted notices.

Los Angeles Walks is hiring an Incoming Executive Director to manage the pedestrian advocacy group; you have until the end of this month to apply.

And if any planners out there are looking for work, Oregon could be looking for you.

Statewide Recreation Trails Planner (Limited Duration)

In this capacity, your role will revolve around being a planner and fostering partnerships. This will involve the facilitation of high-level trail planning initiatives, requiring close coordination with various stakeholders, including state and local agencies, tribal governments, trail advocacy groups, and trail user constituencies. You will also be tasked with the development of comprehensive processes to manage all stages of trail project delivery effectively. Building internal and external partnerships will be key to ensuring the efficiency and success of these processes and systems, all while prioritizing the department’s Mission in your decision-making.

Thanks to Alan Thompson for the heads-up. 

………

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

Police in Downey are investigating after a man was captured on video randomly shoving a man off his bike while he rode with another man along the riverbed on Florence Ave, moments after attacking another bike rider.

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

San Diego is cracking down on ebikes and e-scooters on beach boardwalks, two years after an unenforced and universally ignored ban went into effect.

………

Local 

LA County broke ground on the 3 mile, $8.1 million Vincent Community Bikeway, which will combine a creekside bike path with on-street protected bike lanes through the unincorporated community.

Streetsblog looks at Pasadena’s new Union Street protected bike lane.

More on the effort of three Santa Monica city councilmembers to stop truck drivers from parking in the city’s bike lanes, which has been a problem as long as the city has had them.

 

State

Caltrans and the California Office of Traffic Safety are launching a new “Safety is Sharing. Safety is Caring.” public awareness campaign to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety. Probably because they couldn’t come up with anything more boring and less impactful, despite their best efforts. 

San Francisco bicyclists are taking to social media to complain about drivers illegally using the controversial new centerline protected bike lane on Valencia Street,

 

National

The bike industry’s ebike battery recycling program has collected 43,000 pounds of batteries since it began two years ago.

Direct marketing brand Canyon is having a sale on a number of their bikes, across the categories.

Popular Seattle-based ebike maker Rad Power Bikes is out with their updated new lineup, as the financially troubled company commits to using only UL certified lithium-ion batteries.

Once again, Burning Man attendees abandoned hundreds of slightly used, but very muddy, bicycles, which are going to the Reno Bike Project to find loving new homes.

Heartbreaking story about the death of Colorado endurance bicyclist Greg Bachman, who was killed by a Kansas driver the night before last years Unbound Gravel race; his widow calls out anti-bike bias from Kanas Highway Patrol, which destroyed evidence, failed to examine the driver’s phone or the victim’s GPS, and went out of their way to incorrectly blame the victim.

Omaha bike riders are calling for better “road awareness” from both bicyclists and motorists after a noted local cardiologist was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

A three-day Iowa Underground Railroad bike ride will explore 136 miles of the state’s abolitionist history.

Kindhearted Missouri cops surprised a man with a new bike after the one he used to get to work was stolen.

New York City councilmembers slammed the city’s transportation department for falling behind on building new bus and bike lanes, which are legally mandated by the city’s transportation master plan. Which is what happens when city leaders actually give a damn, and draft a plan with real teeth, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

 

International

Momentum explores the top styles of bicycles for active aging.

The annual, worldwide, women-only Fancy Women Bike Ride rolls this Sunday, though there doesn’t appear to be one scheduled for anywhere in Southern California.

A columnist for a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan newspaper says the road to safer bicycling in the city is sadly “paved with blood,” suggesting that despite deaths and injuries, the debate about safe bicycling always seems to come down to cost. Sadly, it seems to be the case everywhere that nothing happens until it’s too late.

Montreal, Quebec’s ghost bike group marked its tenth anniversary by filling a busy intersection with 645 pairs of white shoes, indicating the number of people killed while walking in the province over the past decade.

Britain’s Conservative government is considering new laws to confront dangerous bicycling, including a pledge to create a “death by dangerous cycling” law, after concluding the existing laws are old and inadequate.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian pro cyclist Nathan van Hooydonck was injured in a car crash after becoming unwell while driving with his pregnant wife on Tuesday; an update from his Jumbo-Visma team indicated his condition was “not critical,” despite earlier reports.

American race leader Sepp Kuss lost time to his own teammates in the Vuelta yesterday, after Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard attacked to win stage 16 and move just 29 seconds behind Kuss.

L39ION of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams has reportedly been suspended for a second time in consecutive years for causing a crash in last month’s Audi Denver Littleton Criterium; reports also indicate Thomas Gibbons was fined for swearing after Williams caused him to crash.

Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton overcame “trench foot, freezing rain, wildfire detours, mental demons and a busted derailleur” to record the fastest ever time on the Tour Divide bikepacking route, completing 2,670 miles and 192,000 feet of climbing in 12 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes. But his time won’t go down as a new record, because the camera crew that accompanied him isn’t allowed under official rules.

Anyone betting the National Cycling League wouldn’t make it to their second season should collect your winnings, as the fledgling US bike racing league laid off two-thirds of the riders they had under contract.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can build your very own dream cargo bike.

And you think you’ve got bike skills?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday

September 12, 2023 / / No comments

It’s the 16th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, the solo crash that laid me up for four months. And in a roundabout way, set me on the path to bike advocacy, and starting this site. 

Yet somehow, I’ve never thanked those bees properly for not killing me that day. 

Image by Gerd Altmann for Pixabay.

………

No update yet on the search for a rampaging hit-and-run driver who appeared to intentionally run down three bike-riding men in separate incidents in Huntington Beach Sunday night, killing one man.

Keep your eyes open for a black Toyota four-door sedan, with significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side. Even if the car turns out to be stolen, it could provide vital clues leading to the killer.

If you see the car, or have any other information, call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times quotes Mario Obeja, vice president of the Southbay’s Beach Cities Cycling Club, saying attacks from road-raging drivers are all too common.

………

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two men photographed riding the Metro A (Blue) Line with several brand-new bikes that appear to have been stolen from Irwindale Cycle, with price tags from the shop still attached.

The men, apparently part of a group of five who burglarized the shop early Monday morning, were last seen as they exited the train at Pasadena’s Memorial Park station at 5:30 am.

A crowdfunding campaign is raising money to help the shop, which faces the risk of closing after losing $40,000 worth of bikes in the theft.

………

CicLAvia is hosting their second CicLAmini open streets event on Sunday with a one-mile excursion along NoHo’s Lankershim Blvd, along with brief legs extending along Magnolia and Chandler.

There’s easy access from B (Red) Line subway at the North Hollywood Metro Station, directly across from the CicLAmini route.

Meanwhile, SAFE, aka Streets Are For Everyone, is looking for volunteers to help them work the event.

And while we’re on the subject, SAFE is also looking for volunteers to help assess the condition of LA County bike paths.

………

Streets For All is hosting CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt for their latest virtual happy hour tomorrow evening; Hutt was appointed by the council to replace recently convicted councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Streets For All is also calling for support for a pair of motions at tomorrow’s LA City Council Public Works Committee meeting to the accelerate the design, construction, and implementation of transportation infrastructure projects, and create better coordination between city agencies who build and maintain public infrastructure.

………

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

A British man accused the local police of doing nothing after thieves broke into his home and stole four high-end mountain bikes worth more than $54,000; he spent the equivalent of $7,500 to track them down and fly to Poland to recover them.

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

A Singapore driver complains that many cyclists think they’re “king of the road” and expect everyone else to give way, after a spandex-clad bicyclist taking part in a group ride pounded on his car’s hood in retaliation for honking at them. No, he shouldn’t have honked. But violence is never the right answer. 

………

Local 

A producer for LAist’s How To LA podcast discusses how he lives carfree in the car capital of the world.

Altadena residents discussed local traffic safety issues at a popup event that featured a demonstration bike lane, mini-park and a curb extension.

Culver City’s newly conservative city council is trying to abuse California’s CEQA laws as an excuse to rip out the existing Move Culver City protected bike lane.

Santa Monica councilmembers will discuss a proposed study of how to keep drivers out of bike lanes at tonight’s council meeting, along with repurposing taxi stands and extending the city’s shared mobility program.

 

State

Calbike is calling on you to contact your state Assemblymember to support SB50, which would ban the sort of pretextual traffic stops too often used to target Black and Latino bike riders.

Streetsblog calls for everyone to complete Calbike’s rider survey of Caltrans Complete Streets efforts, or the lack thereof, as the statewide advocacy group prepares to issue a report card of state-controlled routes that double as local streets.

The CHP says a 71-year old Paso Robles man suffered a concussion and broken nose when he rode his “performance bicycle” into uneven pavement on the shoulder of a state highway near Cambria, blaming his unfamiliarity with the roadway and riding too fast for conditions. But not for Caltrans’ failure to maintain a safe road surface. 

A crowdfunding account for a 55-year old Hayward bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver has raised over $36,000, as police continue to look for the Mercedes driver who left him dying in the roadway.

 

National

Cycling Weekly says the sport has a body image problem, as bicyclists face pressure to conform to a lithe physical standard.

Electrek offers tips on how to ride your ebike around cars and the people who drive them, and live to tell the tale.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 47-year old man killed by a Nebraska driver while riding his bike on Sunday was identified as a “talented and compassionate” Omaha cardiologist.

Police in Massachusetts still haven’t filed any charges against the driver who killed an 86-year old man as he rode his bike last week.

A 13-year old Long Island boy is clinging to life, the victim of a cop responding to a 911 call with lights and sirens as the boy was riding his bike.

A Baltimore basketball player faces charges for the hit-and-run crash that injured a bike-riding man, but still hasn’t been served with a warrant a full year later.

 

International

Momentum lists the top ten bicycle-friendly North American cities to visit this fall. Needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t one of them.

More proof we face the same problems everywhere, as a bike rider in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan decries the city’s hostile environment for bicyclists after a 36-year old man was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

British Cycling, the UK’s governing body for all things bike-related, joined with a law firm to publish a paper in Parliament complaining about a “hazardous leniency” in sentencing drivers who kill or injure bicyclists and pedestrians, which “enables even the most persistent and reckless offenders to evade justice.”

Volkswagen is the latest carmaker to get into the ebike business, announcing a bike-building partnership with the Netherlands’ Pon Holdings.

 

Competitive Cycling

When you’re finishing the final climb of a major stage race near your hometown, you might as well enjoy a beer with your drag-wearing brother.

Finally…

Chances are, your mountain bike won’t look any better with a mullet than you would. Biking along an LA River wall of mulch.

And that feeling when you singlehandedly halt a slow speed stampede.

Although maybe they’d just never seen anyone in spandex before.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Despite ebike panic, the real danger comes from drivers; and Manhattan Beach approves likely illegal bike crackdown

September 11, 2023 / / No comments

My apologies once again for last week’s unexcused absence. 

I’m still struggling to adjust to taking insulin with meals multiple times a day, and relearning what and when to eat. 

Every time I think I have my diabetes figured out, they change my meds and I have to start all over again. 

Last week that resulted in wild, more than 200 point swings in my blood sugar levels, which is over twice the normal range. And which inevitably knocks me on my ass whether I’m too high, or too low. 

But hopefully that’s behind me now, and we can ease back into all the latest bike news. Although it could take me a few days to catch up on everything. 

………

He gets it.

The Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Fonseca writes that the recent panic over ebike safety obscures that fact that the real danger stems from cars, and the people who drive them.

Not from the ebikes themselves.

In fact, despite the recent bicycling state of emergency that ensued after 15-year old Brodee Champlain Kingman was killed in a collision while riding an ebike in Encinitas, 88% of ebike crashes since 2020 also involved someone driving a motor vehicle.

Here’s just part of what Fonseca has to say.

I noticed a car-sized hole in much of the media coverage and government response; overwhelmingly, the collisions and injuries and deaths resulted from a car driver hitting a bike rider. But you wouldn’t necessarily know that from reading news articles or government reports.

The focus on young e-bike riders’ safety can obscure the bigger crisis: People driving cars and trucks are killing more people on our roads.

………

Manhattan Beach announced a crackdown on bike riders in the beachside city, although they may have gone just a tad too far.

Okay, a lot too far.

According to the city’s website, the new restrictions include —

  • Prohibits riding on City sidewalks, plazas, grass areas, the Strand, parking structures owned or operated by the City, County, or State, and Veterans Parkway.
  • Prohibits riding at speeds over 15 miles per hour on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail (i.e. Beach Bike Path), and maintains the current “Walk Only Zone” on both sides of the pier.
  • Requires wearing of properly strapped helmets for all riders under 18 years of age;
  • Requires riders to use bike lanes where possible, and on streets without bike lanes, to ride close to the right curb or edge of roadway.
  • Requires riders to ride in single file and not more than two abreast.
  • Prohibits riding on the back of a bicycle or e-bike without a seat.
  • Prohibits speeding, racing, or stunt activity.
  • Reaffirms requirements to yield to pedestrians at all times.

The regulations call for a $500 fine for a first violation, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for each additional infraction within one year of the person’s first citation.

Although state law already covers some of these, like requiring bike riders under 18 to wear a helmet, and for bicyclists to use bike lanes on streets that have them, even though they’re allowed to leave the bike lanes for any number of reasons.

However, Manhattan Beach oversteps their authority when tinkering with traffic regulations, which are exclusively the authority of the state, not local governments.

That includes requiring bike riders to ride next to the curb, when state law only requires riding as close to the curb as practicable. They also can’t legally prevent bicyclists from taking any lane that is too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle, or when traveling at the normal speed of traffic.

Nor can they require bicyclists to ride single file, or prohibit riding more than two abreast in a single traffic lane, which is permitted under state law.

Never mind that the requirements to ride single file and not more that two-abreast are self-contradictory. And those fines are meaningless if they exceed what the state allows for the same violation.

If it’s a violation at all under state law.

It’s also worth noting that the restrictions on sidewalk riding could go out the window if AB 825 passes in the state legislature, which would legalize sidewalk riding statewide, and is signed into law by the governor.

Which is a damn good reason to ask your state representatives to support it.

And if you get a ticket for violating any of the new restrictions on any surface street, get yourself a damn good lawyer.

………

Pasadena’s first protected bike lane is officially open for business.

State Senator and congressional candidate Anthony Portanino joined Pasadena officials in opening the new 1.5-mile Union Street Protected Bike Lane, the area’s first two-way protected bike lane.

Students from all five South Pasadena schools, from elementary through high school, turned out for a bike ride to mark the grand opening of the new Union Street bikeway.

A Pasadena writer celebrates the bikeway’s opening, but expresses concerns that not enough outreach has been done to educate bike riders and drivers about the risks of a two-way bike lane, as well as regretting that the project didn’t include a bike lane on Colorado Blvd, as well.

……..

It’s now been a full two years since California approved what would, and should, have been the nation’s first ebike rebate program.

Which is too damn long to wait.

Instead, we’ve seen countless other cities and states move forward with programs of their own, without the endless delays we’ve had to endure.

But at least they’re finally accepting applications from retailers to participate in the program, so maybe there’s hope.

But don’t hold your breath.

………

Irwindale bike shop Irwindale Cycles may be forced out of business after 25 years, after three men stole 17 bicycles worth $40,000 in an early morning break-in two weeks ago.

A crowdfunding page to help the owners meet business expenses and replace the purloined bikes has raised nearly half of the modest $10,000 goal.

………

BikeLA says you, too, can become an LCI.

………

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

No bias here. A New York bike rider got a summons from the NYPD for riding his bike on the sidewalk when he tried to keep cops from parking on it.

You’ve got to be kidding. After a Florida bike rider was injured in a collision, the local TV station can’t even be bothered to mention that the car had a driver.

No bias here, either. A driver in the UK walked without charges, or even a ticket, despite reversing down a country road at a bike rider following a punishment pass — and running over a dog in the process — after police investigators concluded he probably just wanted to talk with the person on the bike, who was warned not to shout at any drivers in the future. All I can say is they’re damn lucky that wasn’t my dog. 

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

A Singaporean bicyclist is being investigated for an alleged road rage attack on a driver’s car, after denting the car’s hood with his fist in response to the impatient driver honking at him.

………

Local 

The LA Times considers the challenges Woodland Hills drivers are having adjusting to reverse diagonal parking on Ventura Blvd, which allows for more parking spaces while eliminating the risk of dooring bicyclists. Never mind the risk we face from drivers backing up in the bike lane.

Beverly Hills to planning to install bike lanes on Beverly Blvd, which would connect to planned bike lanes in West Hollywood.

Culver City cops busted a pair of would-be bike thieves who tried to steal a bicycle from a Rite-Aid on Culver Center Drive in broad daylight.

The curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road through the Santa Monica Mountains known as The Snake could reopen in January, after closing to motor vehicles for the past four years due to damage from the Woolsey fire and subsequent mudslides.

 

State

Calbike wants you to take the State Highway Complete Streets Survey.

A jury has been seated in the murder trial of Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez for intentionally running down and killing 46-year old Riverside resident Benedicto Solanga with his pickup, as Solanga walked his bike with another person; Gutierrez allegedly flipped Solanga the bird as he drove by, then made a U-turn to come back and ram into him.

Someone riding a bicycle in Indio was hospitalized after they were struck by a driver Sunday afternoon.

A new study suggests that fears that a proposed road diet and wide, protected bike lanes on San Francisco’s Grand Avenue could delay buses are unfounded.

Critical Mass returned to Lake Tahoe after a decade, in response to a Caltrans proposal to increase speed limits.

 

National

NPR explains why journalists often use a passive voice to describe crashes, after a listener complains about a headline saying 17-year old fallen cyclist Magnus White was hit by a car, not a driver.

Las Vegas bicyclists installed a ghost bike to honor former Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst, who was allegedly murdered when he was intentionally run down from behind by a 17-year old driver in a stolen car.

A writer for an Apple website used his iPhone to document a 4-day, 253-mile tour of central Minnesota.

A Buffalo NY writer gets her first new bike at age 70, after a lifetime of bicycling.

Now that’s an open streets event. Thousands of DC-area bike riders turned out to enjoy a whopping 20 miles of carfree streets.

 

International

Momentum highlights North America’s best bike trails, including NorCal’s 25.4-mile Buzz Johnson Trail.

Canadian national park officers shot and killed an aggressive coyote in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton that had chased people on bicycles, after a second coyote bit a woman when she got off her bike last week.

The National Review offers a photo essay of the decennial Knutsford Great Race on Penny Farthings.

Police in the UK pulled an accused terrorist off a bicycle as he rode along a London canal path, four days after he escaped prison by strapping himself to the bottom of a food delivery truck.

An Indian driver faces murder charges after security cam video shows him intentionally running down a 15-year old bike-riding relative, just because the boy had told him not to urinate near a local temple.

A South Korean bike path may smell of exhaust from the cars speeding by on either side, but its solar panel covering provides power for around 500 homes, as well as shade for the riders using it.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colorado’s Sepp Kuss is just six days from rolling into Madrid wearing the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey, after making the surprising leap from top domestique for Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard to leading them by more than a minute and a half.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel continued to attack on Sunday, seeking a second consecutive stage win after falling out of the overall battle after his disastrous stage 13 ride up the Col du Tourmalet on Friday.

Belgian Wout van Aert won his second Tour of Britain, despite being forced to fight for the win on the final stage.

L39ion of Los Angeles cyclists Kendall Ryan and Ty Magner won the women’s and men’s elite races in the penultimate race of the American Criterium Cup series, but it was American Cycling’s Danny Summerhill who clinched the men’s Crit Cup title.

Instagram users came through for former US crit champ Rahsaan Bahati and his Bahati Foundation by locating his team’s abandoned trailer in Long Beach after it was stolen and ransacked, with $15,000 worth of equipment taken.

Sixteen-year old US national age group time trial champ Gray Barnett got his $12,000 racing bike back after the airline lost it, thanks to an Apple AirTag, which tracked it across the Atlantic.

 

Finally…

When you’re on the run from the cops, try not to run past a boy willing to loan them his bike. Trying out the cheapest ebike on Amazon to answer the burning question, “how bad can it be?”

And The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards begrudgingly signs autographs for bicyclists riding next to his limo. Thanks to Westside Wheelmen for the heads-up. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: ,
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