CD4 City Council candidate Scott Epstein highlights Streets For All’s proposal to extend the Ballona Creek bike path to the creek’s eastern terminus in Mid-City Los Angeles, where it would connect with a planned Bicycle Friendly Street leading into Hollywood.
Twitter post
Speaking of Epstein, the longtime LA Bicycle Advisory Committee member is raising funds for his campaign to put another much-needed bike friendly voice on the city council.
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Time’s running out to comment on the tone-deaf, auto-centric revision to the MUTCD, the traffic engineering street design manual.
The Week says there’s a simple and cheap way to make room on the roads for bicycles and transit — just put an end to car supremacy. Unfortunately, like other forms of supremacy, calling to end it is a lot easier than actually doing it.
This is who we share the road with. An Oregon driver is on trial for the road rage death of a motorcyclist, after repeated swerving his oversized pickup into the biker’s lane. Although he just faces felony vehicular homicide charges, rather than the murder count his actions would seem to call for.
Speaking of de Blasio, a Staten Island writer complains about plans to cut the speed limit on a major artery to 30 mph, calling it a traffic ticket money grab on the mayor’s part — even while acknowledging that dropping the speed limit is one of the best ways to halt the rising toll of pedestrian deaths.
Tragic news from Florida, where a bike-riding man and women were killed in a collateral damage crash when an allegedly stoned driver crashed into an oncoming SUV while passing slower traffic in a no-passing zone, knocking the SUV over and onto a bike trail next to the roadway, where the couple riding their tandem bike were sitting ducks.
American Joe Dombrowski celebrated an early birthday by surviving a long breakaway to win a dramatic, rain-soaked fourth stage of the Giro, while Italy’s Alessandro De Marchi slipped into the pink leader’s jersey.
Because those kids will now have to spend the rest of their lives without their mother. So let’s try to get them off to the best start we can.
Photo of sharrows on LA’s Riverside/Zoo Bridge by Photo by Joe Linton of Streetsblog LA; see story below.
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Once again, city officials promised a bike lane.
And gave us sharrows.
Streetsblog’sJoe Linton writes that, like the undelivered bike lanes on the North Spring Street Bridge, the Riverside/Zoo Bridge in Griffith Park was scheduled to get bike lanes during a recent widening project.
Instead, drivers got the sort of plush, wide lanes that encourage speeding.
And we got sharrows — placing bike riders directly in the path of those speeding drivers.
The city’s environmental documentation (called a Mitigated Negative Declaration – MND) as approved by City Council for this project states that the project scope included two new five-foot shoulders. The MND states that “The proposed project would add shoulders to the bridge for the bicyclists” as well as a bike undercrossing (more on that below.)
Though the city’s MND does not call them “bike lanes,” the city’s rendering shows bike lane markings in newly-striped shoulders.
Linton goes on to include an apt description of those little arrow-shaped chevrons that do little to nothing on the road, other than aid in wayfinding and positioning, while helping drivers improve their aim.
He also makes the case, as I have many times, that parks are for people, not cars. And that the bridge has more than enough bicycle traffic to justify painted, if not protected, bike lanes.
The bridge is located inside Griffith Park. Does L.A. really need big wide lanes for drivers to speed through its parks? No. Inside parks, the city should encourage more park-compatible quieter modes, like bicycling. Similarly, in pursuing river revitalization, the city states that the river corridor will prioritize walking, bicycling, and transit…
The city’s MND acknowledges that the bridge sees plenty of cyclists. It notes a 2013 bicycle count that found that approximately 375 bicyclists crossed the bridge on weekdays, with 43 crossing during the morning peak hour and 34 during the evening peak hour. The same count found higher numbers on weekends: approximately 610 cyclists per day on Saturday, and 796 cyclists on a Sunday, where the hourly peak was 158 cyclists. That peak is more than two cyclists per minute, on a bridge not designed for cyclists (no bike lanes and two freeway ramps).
He goes on to make some very viable and practical suggestions on how to give us the bike lanes we were promised, while improving safety for everyone on the roadways.
It’s also worth taking a few minutes to contact new CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman to ask her to do what her predecessors didn’t, whether by email or phone.
Instead of letting the city settle for the least they can do.
Again.
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It’s on to the state senate after the California Assembly approved a modified Idaho Stop Law, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields.
It’s not the first time a bill like this has been introduced in the legislature. But to the best of my knowledge, it’s the first time one has gotten out of committee, let alone survived a floor vote.
But he knew his attacker, giving the operator the name of the man who killed him just before he was shot.
Police were able to quickly find his killer, 62-year old Jeffrey Mark Murray, but not before he was involved in another shooting minutes later.
Murray was shot and killed by police officers after getting out of his car with a gun.
A friend of Oliver’s wrote that Murray was known for harassing bicyclists “and anyone else that the man came across while walking in our neighborhood.”
I want to be like him when I grow up. A 75-year old Maine chocolate maker is taking a few weeks off for a 3,000-mile fundraising ride up the East Coast; the retired, award-winning architect is hoping to raise $30,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
May 10, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Help children of fallen bike riding woman, call to toss out the MUTCD and start over, and bike riders are heroes — again
So if you have a few extra bucks lying around, take a few minutes to donate to the GoFundMe account established for Rodriguez before she died; as of this writing, it stands at just $1,375 of the $7,000 goal.
It won’t bring her back.
But it might make things just a little easier for those kids.
Los Angeles-based former pro and well-known Cookie Monster Phil Gaimon is back with his popular Worst Retirement Ever, as he takes on a KOM held by four-time Tour de France champ Chris Froome.
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Turns out San Francisco’s iconic and newly bike friendly Market Street is just returning to its post war glory.
Twitter post
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GCN tries to strip down and rebuild a bicycle using nothing but a multi-tool.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Ride your bike without lights and a bright phosphorescent jacket and helmet in Qatar, and it could be seized for a week. And you’ll have to show up with the required safety gear to get it back. That will be more reasonable when cars have to have phosphorescent paint, and drivers have to wear a helmet.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
That’s more like it. New York’s mayor is calling for the passage of the Crash Victim’s Rights and Safety Package in the state legislature, a series of eight bills intended to improve traffic safety, including an expansion of speed cams, a crash victim’s Bill of Rights, lower speed limits, and reducing the threshold for DUI to .05.
Aussie food delivery riders are accused of causing “total chaos on the streets” after an ebike rider killed an 89-year old man while running a red light. There’s no excuse for recklessly taking a human life. Ever. But just wait until they hear about the damage done by cars and their drivers.
May 7, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Tres shock! LA misses safest bike city list, famed ped superhero at UCLA, and San Diego builds bike lane laps around LA
But while Los Angeles continues to rest on its non-laurels as America’s worst bike city, Glendale is installing a new curb protected lane on Los Feliz.
The LACBC is offering a discount for their virtual bike challenge taking place this month.
Here’s what they have to say.
Inviting you to join us in June at LACBC’s new virtual LA Rivers Challenge: Ride, Walk or Run LA’s Historic Waterways! A flexible and fun way to ride, walk or run our beautiful L.A. County waterways, at your own pace on days, routes and mileage of your choice. Suggested routes will be posted on the LARiversChallenge.com website.
Please use this special Friends & Family code “FRIEND5” to register at LARiversChallenge.com and receive a cool neck gaiter/mask, coaching/encouragement emails, routes and information about the historic L.A. County waterways. Bonus Fun: An optional personalized fundraising webpage can be set up where riders can share progress on their ride(s) online and also raise money to support LACBC’s year-round advocacy on behalf of active transportation in L.A. County. Rewards and prizes can be earned for meeting fundraising goals too!
Thank you.
The 2021 LA River Challenge – Good for You and Good for LA! For more information and to register for the L.A. Rivers Challenge, visit LARiversChallenge.com.
Twitter: Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (@LACBC)
Instagram: @lacbc
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Bicycling author Richard Fox is back with the latest update to his comprehensive guide to SoCal bike routes.
I’m happy to announce the release of the 3rd Edition of my guidebook “enCYCLEpedia Southern California – The Best Easy Scenic Bike Rides.” It contains 200+ scenic ride options at SoCal’s beaches, deserts, mountains, wine country, harbors, & historic city centers from San Diego to Cambria to Palm Springs, perfect for casual cyclists who enjoy beautiful scenery while avoiding car traffic and major hill climbs. The pandemic bike boom created many new casual cyclists who bought up 2017’s 2nd Edition a year earlier than anticipated. I revisited many of the rides with a Class I ebike, and added notes on how they impact rides, and where to rent or buy them near the rides. The book’s info was updated, more detail was added to many of the maps, and several new rides were added, including an option for a La La Land Griffith Park adventure on closed roads that was too hilly without an ebike for the casual cyclist before. Other new fabulous rides were added for all in Irvine and Lake Perris, and options in other areas with new infrastructure like Santa Barbara and San Diego. The Coachella Valley, where I spent much of the pandemic lockdown cycling and working on the book update, ended up with a ton of new info and routes, including incorporation of the new CV Link regional path, now in various stages of construction. enCYCLEpedia.net contains additional rides, downloadable maps, features and updates for book owners. The price of this edition is going up because of higher production costs in the USA vs Asia, but has started on Amazon at a lower price, available here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1638485380.
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The Oklahoma legislature has sent a bill legalizing the Idaho Stop to the governor for his signature.
And for a change, it’s the full version, allowing bike riders to treat red lights like stop signs, and treat stop signs as yields.
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This.
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Somehow we missed this one last month, as Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss offers a tutorial on how to politely shred on your fixie.
A bike-riding man suffered serious, but non-life-threatening injuries when he was hit by two drivers in San Diego’s Old Town neighborhood in the midst of Wednesday’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations; he was left crossed by a driver trying to make a three-point turn, then hit by another when he was knocked off his bicycle.
Nice gesture from the Chowchilla bicycling community, which turned out in force to accompany the body of a 45-year old man killed in a hit-and-run; the driver faces a murder charge after telling police he wanted to kill someone. Sadly, the disabled man, who rode a bike as his only form of transportation, had the misfortune of crossing the alleged killer’s path.
Now that’s more like it. A Michigan man could spend up to 80 years behind bars for the reckless, hit-and-run deaths of two women riding their bikes; he’ll have to serve a minimum of 18 years before he’s eligible for parole, and pay $250,000 restitution. None of which will bring either of the victims back, though.
The former model who starred in David Bowie’s China Girl video is now a Kiwi restaurant manager who’s fighting a new protected bike lane, arguing that it will block her deliveries and no one will use it, anyway. Never mind that the first photo in the story shows a delivery driver unloading his truck next to the bike lane directly behind her.
Once again, a bike rider is a hero. Grateful Aussie parents are looking for the man who jumped off his bike and leapt into a chilly lake without hesitation to rescue a three-year old boy, who accidentally rode his scooter into a Canberra lake; he then slipped away quietly after saving the boy’s life. No truth to the rumor that he left a silver bullet behind. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
May 6, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on California slightly less dangerous for bike riders, Bonin runs for return to city council, and sabotage on a Scottish bike trail
The report uses additional data points to scramble the rankings prepared by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS).
Top 10 Riskiest States for Bicyclists
Delaware (#2 on FARS* per capita report)
South Carolina (#4 on FARS)
Florida (#1 on FARS)
Louisiana (#3 on FARS)
New Mexico (#5 on FARS)
Oklahoma (#9 on FARS)
Mississippi (Not in the FARS top 10)
West Virginia (Not in the FARS top 10)
Arizona (#7 on FARS)
California (#6 on FARS)
Top 10 Safest States for Bicyclists
Massachusetts (#1 on FARS per capita report)
New York (Not in the FARS top 10)
Illinois (#7 on FARS)
Pennsylvania (#4 on FARS)
Utah (#8 on FARS)
Tennessee (#2 on FARS)
Minnesota (Not in the FARS top 10)
Missouri (#5 on FARS)
Arkansas (#3 on FARS)
Washington (Not in the FARS top 10)
Which means we have just slightly less work to do to make our streets safe and inviting for everyone.
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Councilmember Mike Bonin is tossing his hat in the ring for a third and final term representing coastal Los Angeles on the council.
Twitter post
One of LA’s most progressive councilmembers, Bonin, who used to bike commute to city hall when he was the top aide to Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, has been one of the leading bike supporters on the council in recent years.
Which isn’t saying much.
But it was Bonin who was behind the simultaneous rollout of three much-needed lane reductions and bike lanes in Playa del Rey in 2017.
Supporters of Eagle Rock’s Beautiful Boulevard plan are asking you to reach out to Councilmember Kevin de León, and urge him to join County Supervisor Hilda Solis and other local leaders in supporting the plan to re-envision Colorado Blvd when a new Bus Rapid Transit line goes in.
Credit the CHP with calling on drivers to operate their vehicles safely around people on bicycles — and not considering bike helmets the beginning and end of bicycle safety. Although the idea of shared responsibility on the streets doesn’t exactly hold true when comparing a two-ton semi-ballistic weapon with a few hundred pounds of flesh and bone. Or less.
’70s alto sax legend Sonny Simmons was down and out in San Francisco, busking on the streets for spare change, when a local jazz promoter happened by on his bicycle and revived his career with a sold-out gig opening for Branford Marsalis; Simmons died last month, six years after a fall left him partially paralyzed and ended his playing career. If he’d been in a car, he probably never would have heard Simmons, and that career revival might never have come.
About damn time. A Colorado man has been arrested for 1st degree murder following the disappearance of wife last year, who set out on a Mother’s Day bike ride and was never seen again; countless searches have failed to discover her body.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson went for a bike ride with the mayor of Stourbridge on the eve of the country’s local elections, with both looking surprisingly unsteady on their bikeshare bikes. Especially since London’s bikeshare system was popularly known as Boris Bikes when the experienced bike rider was mayor of the city.
Cycling legend Gino Bartali was honored with a Roman Catholic service on he 21st anniversary of his death; the Italian rider helped save over 800 Jews from the Nazis by smuggling papers in the frame of his bike during WWII.
Hyderabad, India’s bicycle mayor is leading a group of volunteers fighting the country’s horrific Covid-19 crisis by using their bikes to deliver badly needed medicines to the elderly, as well as searching for oxygen cylinders, hospital beds, ventilators and plasma donors.
NPR offers a heartbreaking and infuriating storyabout the racist history of LA’s 10 Freeway, and the prosperous, tight knit Black neighborhood that was destroyed to build it.
Unfortunately, I can’t embed the audio. But take a few minutes to listen to it, or at least read the transcript.
Because it makes painfully clear just how much we’ve sacrificed on the altar of the automobile.
And it’s a story that was repeated in virtually every major city in the US, where it’s almost always communities of color that pay the price.
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This is the cost of traffic violence.
A Minneapolis woman wrote a heartbreaking Twitter thread about the death of her husband when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike home from work.
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Then there’s this.
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And it’s not just her. Virtually anyone who’s lost someone like that will recognize themselves in her words.
So take a moment to click on that top tweet, and read the whole thread.
Then do whatever you can to to make sure it never happens to anyone else.
Meanwhile, in a powerful piece for The Atlantic, an Atlanta writer says despite what we may believe, we can’t control what happens on the road. And uses his personal experiences behind the wheel to explain why we should all be more afraid of driving.
If you can read it without catch in your throat and a tear in your eye, you’re a stronger person than I am.
Longer answer, unlike motor vehicles, bicycles cause no harm to the environment and our cities, and pose little risk to the people around them. So maybe we’d all be better off if cars aspired to be more like bicycles.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
Streets For Allasks for your support for AB 53, which would weaken the deadly 85th Percentile Law by allowing cities to lower speed limits on streets with high injury and fatality rates, and ensure they won’t have to raise speed limits in order to enforce them.
A Turlock man faces charges of hit-and-run and vehicular manslaughter for fleeing the scene after running down a 50-year old bike-riding man, who died after he was removed from life support; the coward behind the wheel was captured after crashing his truck trying to escape from witnesses who tried to stop him.
A 36-year old man was sentenced to 15 years to life after pleading guilty to murder for the drunk driving crash that killed a Modesto police officer riding his bicycle, while driving at four times the legal alcohol limit; he had a previous DUI conviction from 2014 that legally justified the murder charge.
An allegedly drunk 24-year old Texas woman and the bar that helped her get that way face a $20 million lawsuit for the death of a mother of two, who was killed when the driver jumped a curb and slammed into the victim’s bicycle. Sadiy, lawsuits like that are prohibited under California law, which states that a bar or host can’t be held responsible for the actions of people who got drunk there.
Baltimore attorney Barry Glazer successfully bid the equivalent of over $61,000 for Princess Diana’s “shame” bike so he could display it to call attention to “the British Royal Family’s basic racist roots” and colonial past. It was dubbed the “shame” bike after the royal household informed her it was not a suitable form of transport for a future member of the Royal Family. Which should have tipped her off right then to run like hell while she still could.
This, too, is the cost of traffic violence. A viola soloist who played with the Paris National Opera for 36 years was killed when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike. At least we can assume there was a driver, since the story doesn’t mention one. Or a car, for that matter.
Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin’s Jumbo-Visma team is unsure whether he will ever return to the sport, after walking away last year due to stress and not being sure whether he even wanted to keep riding.
May 4, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on This is who we share the road with, the world’s coolest book bike, and Braves pitchers brave DC streets on bicycles
This is who we share the road with.
Inglewood faces a more than $300,000 lawsuit from the City of Los Angeles for a crash allegedly caused by the city’s mayor that left an LAPD motorcycle officer with an undisclosed permanent disability — even though LA rejected the officer’s injury claim.
More details on the Chicago man charged with attempted murder for intentionally driving his car over a median to attack a group of people enjoying a birthday picnic, after allegedly becoming enraged over “yuppies on the boulevard” and their dogs, then brandished a knife until he was disarmed by a passing grandmother. Yes, you read that right.
New York police continue to waffle on the crash that killed a delivery rider, before the driver went on to slam into a pair of parked cars and an outdoor dining area, alternating between calling it road rage and writing it off as a medical episode. Or maybe they think irrational anger behind the wheel is just a medical condition.
Berkeley bike cops busted an armed felony suspect who led police on a chase after allegedly ramming his car into another vehicle. Although calling the city’s bike cops the Bike Force makes them sound like Trump’s Space Force on two wheels.
He gets it, sort of. A Staten Island writer says everyone breaks the law, whether in cars, on bikes or on foot, scooters or mopeds. And says the solution is to just obey the rules and be safer out there. Although a much better solution is to design roads so breaking the rules doesn’t result in broken bodies. Which is the whole premise behind Vision Zero.
Here’s another one to add to your bike bucket list, with a 150-mile bike trail that loops around Britain’s Cornwall Coast opening this fall, taking you past “spectacular coastal scenery,” old industrial works and bronze age monuments. Not to mention the westernmost and southernmost points of mainland Britain, and the home turf of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance.
May 3, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Happy LA Bike Month, Los Angeles Vision Zero fail, and Damian Kevitt calls for support for school zone speed cam bill
My apologies for Friday’s unexcused absence.
Just another of the many and varied joys of diabetes, a cruel disease that can take you from feeling okay to passing out in a matter of minutes, for no apparent reason.
And yet another reminder to get yourself checked if you’re at risk, and do whatever it takes to avoid getting it. Because you don’t want this shit.
Despite — or maybe because of — an up to 70% drop in traffic fatalities, roadway deaths declined just 3% in Los Angeles last year, thanks at least in part to a dramatic jump in speeding as empty streets encouraged drivers to use a heavy right foot.
Based on preliminary data reported by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, 238 people died in collisions last year, compared to 246 in 2019 — a decrease of about 3%.
That slight dip pales in comparison to how sharply car travel fell in greater L.A. and beyond in the early months of the pandemic. Schools closed, many workers stopped commuting to their offices, and local and state stay-at-home orders drastically limited the places and activities we could drive to in our cars.
In mid-to-late March 2020, daily vehicle traffic fell as much as 70%. Last April saw traffic volumes decrease by 30% to 50% compared to the start of the year. Daily driving has been increasing since that historic plummet, but still remain below typical levels, according to city traffic data.
And despite a drop last year, bike and pedestrian deaths are still up over the five years since LA adopted Vision Zero in 2015.
Which isn’t the way it’s supposed to work.
The basic philosophy behind Vision Zero is that humans will make mistakes on the road and crashes will happen, but by redesigning streets to reduce speeding and better protect vulnerable road users, those crashes don’t have to cause severe injuries and deaths. But as the data has shown in recent years, L.A.’s current approach is not working…
While fewer people were killed and seriously injured in crashes overall last year, not all L.A. communities experienced less traffic violence. According to preliminary data compiled by LADOT:
The number of pedestrians killed by drivers fell about 12% overall, but increased in some neighborhoods
Slightly fewer cyclists were killed last year (15, compared to 19 in 2019)
The number of motorcyclists killed in crashes jumped about 45%
Motor vehicle occupant deaths were nearly unchanged
Pandemic or not, it’s clear that LADOT’s piecemeal approach to reducing traffic deaths isn’t working.
And it isn’t Vision Zero, by any definition.
The basic philosophy behind Vision Zero is that humans will make mistakes on the road and crashes will happen, but by redesigning streets to reduce speeding and better protect vulnerable road users, those crashes don’t have to cause severe injuries and deaths. But as the data has shown in recent years, L.A.’s current approach is not working.
It’s long past time Los Angeles stopped talking about Vision Zero, and got off its collective ass and did something about it.
Because I’m every bit as tired of writing about fallen bicyclists as you are reading about it. And don’t get me started on all the other people needlessly killed on our streets.
For any doubters out there, yes, ending traffic deaths is possible. If — and only if — we have the political will to make it happen.
Speaking of LAist, just like their parent public radio station KPCC, they survive on public donations.
SAFE founder and Executive Director Damian Kevitt, who lost a leg — and nearly his life — to a hit-and-run driver who was never caught, makes a heartfelt plea to fight for SB 733, which would allow automated speed cams in school zones.
Sadly, California is one of the only nine states that expressly forbids speed safety cameras in school zones. This tool has been available since 1987 and is unquestionably effective. Data in cities across the country, such as New York, Seattle, and Chicago, show that speed safety cameras reduce traffic injuries and fatalities and change driver behavior. More importantly, there are already thousands of schools across the country that currently use speed safety cameras to protect kids, teachers, and parents.
The common sense bill, which would only impact people breaking the law and endangering innocent kids and adults, has been severely watered down by Senate Transportation Committee Chair Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat misrepresenting Long Beach, at least in this case.
As currently written after it was butchered in committee, the law would only allow a pilot project in four schools out of more that 20,000 in the state.
As Kevitt writes,
This is an insult to victims of traffic violence and the coalition of support, especially given the immediate problem and widespread, documented effective use of speed safety cameras across the country.
One of the harder things I have had to do is tell victims of traffic violence — who were emotionally prepared to testify in committee — that this lifesaving bill wouldn’t make it through committee due to political forces that are hard to explain. Why would police unions work to fill a bill that so obviously would help save lives? It is heartbreaking.
But we will pick ourselves up and gain strength. The voices of traffic violence will not be silenced. Safety advocates will not accept that denial of the science. Equity groups will demand accountability. And, in the end, we will save lives.
He urges you, and all of us, to call or email Gonzalez’s office to express your outrage, and demand this life-saving tool to protect innocent lives.
I’m planning to do it later today. I hope you’ll join me
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I’ve been remiss in not mentioning the LACBC’s virtual LA Rivers Challenge, which replaces their popular LA River Ride, as the world still struggles to shake off the pandemic.
Join us the entire month of June for a virtual challenge in place of the LA River Ride. 2020 was supposed to mark 20 years of River Ride, but we had to put our beloved event on hold due to the pandemic. We’re making up for it in 2021 by inviting you to 30 days of riding, walking and running the historic waterways of Los Angeles!
The LA Rivers challenge is all about doing the mileage goal that is best for you. Select the goal that excites you, tests your abilities, or that you can do with your family. There is a distance for everyone to ride, walk or run.
Opening March 15th, registration is just $40, but follow up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for exclusive discounts. You also have the opportunity to support healthy, sustainable and equitable streets by choosing to fundraise for LACBC while meeting your mileage goals. You can earn great prizes at key fundraising milestones and will qualify for The 2021 LA Rivers Challenge Drawing to win one of our grand prizes TBA! Whatever your contribution, you will be supporting the work of LACBC, as we try to make Los Angeles a safer and more inclusive place to ride, walk and run.
It’s no surprise that we can’t manage to do anything about man shootings, when we still can’t even do anything about stopping people from using their car as a multi-ton weapon of mass destruction.
We need to change the law here in California, where police are currently prohibited from ticketing drivers or charging them with misdemeanors unless they actually witness the infraction.
And no, witnessing it on video doesn’t count, for some strange reason.
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GCN offers advice on how to find good riding routes when you’re new to the area.
And GCN considers one of bicycling’s most vital questions, and one of the last remaining forms of legal doping.
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I’m all in.
Twitter post
Seriously, we could use this right here in Los Angeles.
And right now.
Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.
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A sharp-eyed Megan Lynch spotted LAFD bike paramedics on the red carpet of last week’s Academy Awards.
And thanks to Vyki Englert for spotting the LAFD logo on their panniers.
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Nothing sexier than someone on a bike.
Okay, maybe the right someone.
Twitter post
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
Someone sabotaged a beginners bike trail in Scotland with obstacles including tree branches, and fence posts with rusted razor wire, which could seriously injure an unsuspecting rider. Or worse.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British man was lucky to walk with a suspended sentence after he was busted with the equivalent of over $2,700 worth of amphetamines when police stopped him as he rode his bicycle with a bloody face; no word on how his face got that way.
New York mayoral hopeful Eric Adams pledges to build another 300 miles of protected bike lanes in the city during his first four years, if he’s elected, an annual rate nearly three times the 28 miles installed last year. Let’s get the candidates for mayor in next year’s LA election to make a similar pledge. And hold them to it.
Former Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams is one of us, as she goes for a London bike ride in a see-through top while filming a new six-part bio-series based on a memoir from Sex Pistols bassist Steve Jones. Sorry guys, they blurred that part out.
Cycling Newsalso examines the omertà in women’s pro cycling, where virtually no one is talking about the shameful poverty wages — or no wages at all — paid to riders below the WorldTour level.
April 29, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Former NTSB official says no deaths should be the only goal, legalize crossing the street, and building the 15 minute city
Sometimes I arrived at the scene of a business jet or helicopter crash, other times it was a train derailment, once it was a cargo ship lost in a hurricane — always, it involved a tragic loss of life. But despite the terrible toll of motor vehicle deaths on our nation, I never launched to the scene of a traffic crash. Why? Perhaps because the NTSB only has the capacity to investigate a handful of vehicle crashes each year. Perhaps because there weren’t any crashes classified as major disasters when I was on duty. But in 2019, more than 36,000 deaths were recorded on U.S. roads, so an average of nearly 700 traffic deaths occurred every week I was on duty.
Yet our nation doesn’t think of a traffic crash as a disaster, since deaths typically occur one or two at a time. Many of us don’t believe that every road death is preventable. As a nation, we haven’t yet decided that we can protect everyone, including the most vulnerable among us who use our streets and highways — people who are younger or older, people who are walking or biking, people with disabilities. We accept tens of thousands of deaths on our roads every year as simply unavoidable “accidents,” even though we have proven solutions to prevent them.
It’s worth a few minutes to read.
Because she’s right. There’s no acceptable number of traffic deaths.
And it’s long past time we did something about it.
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Los Angeles Walks is joining with partners across the state on Monday for a national discussion about jaywalking and efforts to decriminalize it.
Like their sponsorship of AB 1238, aka the Freedom to Walk Act, which would get rid of California’s jaywalking law, which is too often used to target people of color.
Bay Area transportation officials marked the beginning of Bike Month by announcing nine Bike Champion of the Year winners, honoring one person from each county in the Bay region for their commitment to bicycling.
They get it. A new survey shows Pittsburgh residents overwhelmingly support bike lanes, walking routes and reduced speed limits. And think traffic injuries are a major problem. Maybe someday someone will finally get around to asking Angelenos those same questions, so our elected leaders might finally see that the car-first crowd is just a very loud minority.
This is who we share the road with. A newlywed English teenager gets a well-deserved year behind bars for stealing a crate of eggs, then driving his car while friends threw the eggs out the window at passing people and cars, permanently blinding a motorcycle rider in his right eye with a direct hit. He took the fall for his friends, refusing to name who actually tossed the eggs.
Go ahead and leave you mask at home on your next bike ride.
If you’ve had your shots.
California and LA County are going along with new directives from the CDC, which conclude that masks are no longer necessary for people who’ve received both shots when you’re outside and away from crowds.
And they specifically call out bicycling as safe to do without a mask.
So feel free to breathe freely.
But maybe keep one handy in case you decide to go inside somewhere, or find yourself around people who may not have had their shots yet.
Jeffrey Vargo was riding his bike near his Anaheim Hills home when he was kidnapped and strangled by then 19-year old Rasmuson in 1981.
Five years later, Miguel Antero had just stepped off the school bus when Rasmuson grabbed him, and stabbed him multiple times.
The plea deal means the 59-year old Rasmuson will die in prison.
Which couldn’t happen to a more deserving guy.
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This is how a protected intersection works.
And no, I can’t seem to get rid of that top tweet, so just skip to the next one.
Twitter post
Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.
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A modern British remake of Vittorio De Sica’s classic Bicycle Thieves will premier on streaming platforms next week.
The Guardian likes it, but says it could be better.
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This is who we share the road with.
In a rant that will sound familiar to most bike riders, a road raging British driver complains that horses don’t belong on the roads, and uses his car as a weapon to attack a woman on a horse.
Although hardly anyone complains about bike riders pooping on the streets.
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Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A pair of Canadian burglars demonstrate that you can carry anything with a bike. Even a stolen safe.
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Local
Cities Todaycelebrates LA’s pre-pandemic 22% jump in bike ridership, which is likely to be even larger when the post-pandemic numbers finally come in. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait another two years to get a snapshot of current ridership, like we did last time.
Portland has waived an $11 million fine against the US government for blocking one of the nation’s busiest bike lanes for the better part of a year with a fence surrounding the federal courthouse, to protect it from protesters.
Thieves take their time cleaning out the bike storage room at a Denver apartment complex, easily walking out with six bicycles. Another reminder that most storage rooms just offer bike thieves a more convenient place to shop for your bike.
The container ship Ever Given may have been freed from the Suez Canal, but your new bike may still be stuck in Egypt because the ship and its cargo are being held as ransom until the company forks over $900 million in damages.
