December 8, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Vegas driver gets up to 26 years for pushover death, bikes are good for the world’s health, and more ’tis the season
My apologies for the earlier proofreading errors to this post. Server problems combined with an internet outage to keep me making any corrections. Hopefully I’ve caught everything now.
Thanks to Bryan B for his generous donation to help keep everything you need to know about the wild, wonderful and wacky world of bikes coming your way every day.
Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated, far more than I could ever put into words.
So donate today, and let’s make this a lucky 13 for both of us!
Rodrigo Cruz was driving the van when he swerved close to the victim, Michelle “Shelli” Weissman, as his friend leaned out the passenger window to push Weissman off her bike, killing her.
In the ultimate tragic irony, the passenger, Giovanni Medina Barajas, fell out the window and died at the scene, as well.
Cruz’s attorney tried to write the whole thing off as a “some sort of dumb, childish prank.”
Now two lives have been needlessly snuffed out, and another irreparably damaged, all because two people thought harming an innocent person was funny.
According to the study, as many as 205,000 premature deaths could be prevented every year worldwide if cities encouraged people to use a bicycle instead of a car. Although that figure depends on replacing all car trips with bikes by the year 2050.
Which ain’t gonna happen.
In what the authors describe as a more realistic scenario, 18,589 annual deaths could be prevented worldwide if just eight percent of people switched from cars to bikes.
Typical. Even though there’s an approved plan for bike lanes on Rosecrans Avenue, Metro will only make room for them in an overhaul of the street in anticipation of high speed rail, rather than actually building them. Evidently, a few bucks worth of paint would just add too much to the $156 million project.
December 7, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Drunk driver plows into 13 bike riders, ride with a CD5 council candidate, and someone’s great grandfather wins a bike
Thanks to James VZ and Michael C for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy keeps coming your way today and every day. Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated — and needed!
They were on a 19-mile pilgrimage to the city’s Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a week before the feast day honoring Mexico’s patron saint.
And yes, you can see video of the crash, although the paper bizarrely blurs images of the car, so the victims look like pins being scattered by an invisible bowling ball.
As always, though, be sure you really want to see the video before you click play. Because you can’t unsee it.
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Here’s your chance to meet — and ride with — another of the candidates to replace termed-out CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz.
And it’s about damn time someone did.
Twitter post
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This could have been your grandfather, or great grandfather.
Or maybe even your great, great grandfather.
Twitter post
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.
You’ve got to be kidding. A Pittsburgh man walked with probation and time served, despite riding his bike to plant a bomb-filled backpack near a protest over the killing of George Floyd last year, although it’s unclear whether he was participating in the protest or targeting it. Because evidently, building and planting bombs that don’t go off is just no big deal.
This is the cost of traffic violence. New Jersey bicyclists responded with an outpouring of grief to the death of a beloved 62-year old woman, after she was run down from behind by a driver while on a group ride, in what was described as a “reckless,” “senseless” crash caused by someone who wanted to get where he was going a minute sooner. Then again, isn’t every crash reckless and senseless?
Old school country star Stonewall Jackson got his start in music when he traded his bicycle for a guitar as a ten-year old in Georgia; he died last weekend at 89. And yes, that was his real name. In retrospect, it’s hard to argue he made the wrong move, but still.
Road.cc’s Ebike Tips is clearly not a fan of Terranet’s new ebike safety system that promises to warn riders when a driver is about to plow into them, taking issue with positioning for the product that places the onus the bike rider not to get killed, rather than on drivers not to kill someone.
Cycling Newsexplains the difference between road bikes and hybrids, so you know what to ask Santa for this year. Pro tip: If you’re not sure whether an article comes from the US or Europe, look for the currency products are priced in, or whether common words have weird spelling, like tire with a y.
December 6, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on CicLAvia and other mass bike rides near and far, ’tis the season for bike giveaways, and rescuing kitties in Azerbaijan
Thanks to S H, Samer S, Robert H, John H, Glen S, Scott G and Ezequiel C for their generous donations this weekend! And it was great to hear from some old friends, and new.
So take a moment to show your support for this site, and to help ensure that all the best bike news and advocacy keeps coming your way every day. Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated — and needed!
Business owners and residents along San Diego’s 30th Street continue to aim shots at their own feet, filing an appeal to a recently dismissed lawsuit over the new protected bike lanes along the corridor, apparently unaware that protected bike lanes result in increased retail sales and property values, despite any loss of parking. Or maybe because of it.
New Mexico residents are battling over whether to close trails in the environmentally fragile badlands in the northern part of the state, where the increasing popularity of mountain biking risks eroding hillsides and destroying plant life. Mountain bikes belong almost everywhere, except where they can do irreparable harm to people, plants, animals or the environment.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a bike rider in an unsafe pass; the driver pulled in too soon because his wing mirror had been knocked out of place, denying him a view of the side of his truck. Evidently, it was just asking too much to pull over to the side of the road and fix it before he killed someone.
Thanks to Dongyi L, Alan C, Gregory S and Todd T for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
So take a moment to give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.
Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.
Seriously, go ahead and do it right now. We’ll wait.
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San Diego is about to show California how its done.
San Diego Forward, a new 30-year plan presented by the San Diego Association of Governments, better known as SANDAG, offers a transformational vision of what the city can, and should, be.
It is unlike any previous regional plan in San Diego, or in California. That’s in part because SANDAG got into a bit of trouble over its last, very inadequate draft plan, which pretended to be forward-looking but, like many regional transportation plans, was mostly a warmed-over rehash of previous plans that prioritize freeways. The previous SANDAG plan included some transit and bike improvements, but those investments were all put on the back burner, and highway expansions came first.
Not this time. The new draft plan – written under new SANDAG leadership – presents a utopian vision of what a connected, equitable, easy-to-navigate transportation system could be, focusing on new technologies for managing vehicle traffic, improving transit, and building streetscapes that work for people on foot and on bike.
Although the 3o-year timeline is about 20 years too late for the planet, which needs to see drastic shifts in how we get around in the next ten years to avoid catastrophic climate changes.
The other challenge is the cost, with an unfunded $160 billion price tag — yes, with a b — to build out.
And as we’ve learned the hard way here in Los Angeles, the key to its success is actually building it, rather than letting it turn into dust sitting on the shelf, like LA’s mobility plan.
Which so far hasn’t been worth the silicon it’s printed on.
However, San Diego leaders have actually shown a willingness to live up to their commitments, such as the city’s climate action plan.
So maybe there’s hope of real change down there, even if it may take too long.
Now if they could just show the rest of us how it’s done.
We were walking towards the intersection where I took pictures of the detour at the intersection. This time we tried to cross the bridge. The bridge is undergoing major construction and is down to two lanes from four. No sidewalk use either. However, on both sides there are temporary bike ped bridges. Four in total because there is a small island in the river.
Here is a picture of one of the temporary bridges. Yes that is snow.
Tragic news from Arkansas, where a bike-riding paramedic was killed during the Little Rock Marathon when he grabbed onto a utility vehicle to respond to an injured runner and was pulled under the vehicle’s wheels; the state governor ordered flags flown at half-staff for two days in his honor.
A Michigan man faces up to 30 years behind bars after admitting to using meth and weed, and using Facebook Messenger while driving at highway speeds when he fatally ran down a woman riding her bike earlier this year.
The Sourceoffers a preview of today’s Metro Board Meeting, focusing on policing contracts for Metro trains and buses; among the “also on the agenda” items is a motion to develop plans to improve the Metro Bike bikeshare program.
New York unveils a glossy new transportation plan, with a city commitment to building 250 miles of protected bike lanes over the next five years — and hopes that it can somehow come up with the money to pay for it. On the other hand, how many miles of protected bike lanes has Los Angeles committed to over the same time period — with or without current funding?
This is the cost of traffic violence. A 76-year old woman in London, Ontario collided with another driver after allegedly running a red light, and slammed into a group of ten people walking on the sidewalk, eight of them children; one young girl was killed. And all the driver appeared to care about was whether she was going to be arrested. Let’s hope so.
December 1, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LA Council votes to close Northvale Gap on Expo Line bike path, and last CicLAvia of 2021 rolls through South LA Sunday
There may be hope for closing the infamous Northvale Gap yet.
That will provide the space needed to extend the Expo Line bike path to close the approximately one-mile gap that resulted when Metro gave up on building the pathway through that section, in the face of heavy opposition from homeowners living on Northvale Road.
They had opposed the construction of the Expo Line, apparently believing when they bought their homes that the unused train tracks behind them would stay that way in perpetuity.
And after losing that battle, turned their attention to fighting the bike path, convinced pervy bike riders would peer into their homes, and criminals would make off with their flat screen TVs and silverware balanced on their handlebars.
No, really.
That left bike riders forced to take a circuitous route on the street in front their homes, instead of a direct one behind them. And having to climb a steep hill to ride west, instead of a flat route alongside the train.
The completed pathway is projected open in 2025 — 13 years late, and tens of millions of dollars more than it would have cost to build it along with the train line.
And that’s only if the inevitable lawsuit over eminent domain doesn’t delay the construction even longer.
Metro notes the route will have easy access with several stops along the aforementioned E is for Expo Line.
Unfortunately, I won’t be going, since I’m still suffering from the long-lingering effects of whatever the hell illness knocked me on my ass before Halloween.
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We’ve linked to this one before. But it’s worth revisiting.
Twitter post
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
He gets it. Former Azusa, Ventura and Santa Monica city manager — no, not at the same time — Rick Cole says cities can’t put off road repairs, and can’t build their way out of gridlock.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A longtime Houston art model was killed in a drunken hit-and-run crash when a speeding driver plowed into the back of his bike; he had credited bicycling with helping him maintain the muscular physique that made him popular with artists.
No bias here, either. A local Fox News channel reports on the opposition of North Carolina residents to a lane reduction and bike lanes along a rural highway, while failing to note that the primary reason for removing traffic lanes is to slow speeding drivers and improve safety, not to to force bike lanes on people who don’t want them.
French cyclist Anthony Roux has started his own initiative to fight roadside litter, encouraging people to remove trash from both sides of the road, after becoming upset over the piles of trash he sees on his training rides. We can see a lot more garbage along the roads than people who zoom by in cars do. And too often cause more than our share of it.
Thanks to James L, André V, Paul F, Terese E and Matthew R for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming to your favorite screen every day.
So don’t wait. Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.
Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated. And thanks for all the kind words accompanying the donations; that means as much as any amount of cash.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
November 30, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Killer Oceanside hit-and-run driver gets 2 years, low curb hazard on new Culver bike lanes, and scam Bonin anti-recall site
Before we get started, just a quick reminder that today is Giving Tuesday, the one day each year set aside to support worthy nonprofit organizations that need your help.
We could name a very long list, from Streets For All and the LACBC, to Calbike and Streetsblog LA and California.
Along with your own local advocacy groups, wherever you live.
One group that recently came to my attention is the Los Angeles Bicycle Academy, a youth cycling and bicycle education program created to “empower, educate and develop entrepreneurial and leadership skills in youth between the ages of 8-18.”
Our focus is to work with youth from underserved communities where opportunity, access, equity, and exposure within the sport of cycling is extremely limited. We want to help more young people learn the positive impact a bicycle can have on their own lives, and the lives of those around them.
They have big plans for the coming year, including opening a community bike shop, launching a build-a-bike program, and developing a women’s cycling team.
She could have gotten up to four years in the state pen, with another year in county.
Instead, she got a relative slap on the wrist for leaving an innocent man to die alone in the street. Then hid her car for a full week until it was spotted by a homeless man.
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You can’t please everyone.
Culver City officially unveiled their new Move Culver City initiative, installing quick build bus and bike lanes on three major streets in the downtown area — in a fraction of the time and cost required for similar projects across the city limit line in Los Angeles.
But while most people came out to celebrate completion of the project, I’m told a group of drivers turned out to protest, apparently under the misconception that 100% of the streets belong to cars.
And unwilling to give up a single inch, let alone a lane or two.
On the other hand, the response from the two-wheeled group seems mostly positive.
However, Mitchell Guzik pointed out an unexpected hazard posed by low concrete curbs intended to protect people using the bike lanes, but which could present a risk to any bike rider who runs into them.
Photo by Mitchell Guzik
Even in daylight, it’s a struggle to spot them in the photo. Which means it would be nearly impossible after dark.
The obvious solution, as Guzik suggests, is to paint the curbs a more visible color. Or go crazy, and let some of Culver City’s many artists decorate them.
Obviously, we don’t want to fall into the common SoCal trap of letting perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to bike lanes.
But just a minor improvement could make them safer for everyone.
Correction: I originally misspelled the name of Mitchell Guzik. My apologies for the error.
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They’re back.
A few very unpleasant years ago, I had the misfortune of tangling with the fraudulent Westside Walkers Twitter account, which was created in response to the 2017 lane reductions on Venice Blvd and in Playa del Rey.
As Peter Flax made clear in outing the person behind the account, the Westside Walkers pretended to be “LA’s #1 walking & biking advocacy group.”
But it was actually just one man’s political dirty trick, posing as a nonexistent group to muddy the advocacy waters and make his opposition to traffic safety measures seem more reasonable.
Now he’s back, pretending to be the “Official Democrat Anti Recall” group supporting CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin, which undoubtedly came as a surprise to the actual group opposing the recall.
As before, this is just another political dirty trick by a recall supporter and longtime Bonin hater, in an attempt to muddy the water.
And not hesitating to use outright lies to do it.
So don’t fall for it.
Whether or not you support Bonin — and I do — there’s no place for stunts like this, from someone with a long history of playing dirty.
Politics in Los Angeles are dirty enough.
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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 London political columnist takes issue with bike lanes and the unlicensed people who use them, saying bikes were fine for Victorian times, but should only be used on private property these days (scroll down — no, keep scrolling). Just wait until someone tells him who the roads were really built for.
A truck driver who fatally right-hooked a bike-riding San Luis Obispo man faces a maximum of one lousy year behind bars or a $1,000 fine after being charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide, because he didn’t do it on purpose. On the other hand, the victim is still dead, whether or not it was intentional.
A Streetsblog op-ed accuses Oakland’s Vision Zero program of being an empty promise, and says the city needs to take it seriously if they want to eliminate traffic deaths. A sentiment most Los Angeles bike riders and pedestrians could probably relate to.
Streetsblog makes the case that the NYPD is lying about the risks posed by ebikes, conflating crashes involving ebikes, which are legal in New York, with mopeds, which aren’t. And placing all the blame on the bike riders, while ignoring who was actually at fault in those crashes.
So let’s thank Bernard B, Stephen M and Tom C for their generous donations to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy keeps coming your way every day.
So don’t wait. Give now via PayPal, or with Zelle to ted @ bikinginla.com.
Any amount, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
After just three days, donations are already running well above last year’s record-setting pace!
So let’s keep it up! Your contribution will help fund this site until our sponsors renew in the spring, and ensure SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy keeps coming your way every day.
Thanks to Janice H, Michael S, Robert K, Kim D, Daniel F, Arthur B, Mark J, Joseph B, Andrew G, Theodore F, Megan L, Steven S, Elizabeth T, Jonathan P, Douglas M, Amy S, and Jamie S for their generous donations.
And that’s in addition to Robert L, Eric L, David V, Mitchell G, and Olivia K, who donated even before the official start of the fund drive on Friday.
Police are looking for a light-colored, older model Chevrolet Suburban or Tahoe; unfortunately, there’s no description of the driver.
Mendoza is at least the 17th person killed riding a bicycle in San Diego County already this year, perhaps three or four times more than in most years.
A New Jersey police officer is accused of fatally striking a pedestrian, taking the man’s body home to discuss what to do, and then returning to the scene with the dead man in his back seat, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
They on on to explain the off-duty cop and his passenger fled the scene without bothering to aid the victim or call for help.
Then this.
They reportedly went back to the scene multiple times before they put Dymka into the Honda Accord. They then went to Santiago’s home, where he, Guzman and Santiago’s mother, Annette Santiago, discussed what to do, Stephens’ office said.
Louis Santiago eventually went back to the scene, and his father, who is a Newark police lieutenant, called 911, officials said.
New Jersey State Police arrived and found Dymka dead in the back seat, the prosecutor’s office said.
Did we mention that he’s a cop?
Yet apparently, despite his training, he still had no idea what to do after killing someone with his car.
At least this time, there should be consequences. The killer cop faces charges including reckless vehicular homicide, desecrating human remains, and official misconduct, along with a raft of other counts.
Meanwhile, his mom and passenger are both charged with conspiracy to desecrate human remains and hindering apprehension, among other varied and assorted crimes.
No word on whether the cop and his passenger were drunk or stoned. But you’d sure as hell hope no sober person would do that.
Aloisi and her daughters were walking across the parking lot after brunch, they said, when a vehicle approached them fast before the driver abruptly stopped.
The driver, a man, waved his arms at them and appeared to be yelling, they said, though his windows were closed. The women waved their arms and yelled back at him. Aloisi has a leg problem that prevents her from walking fast after sitting for a length of time, she said…
“He zoomed into that back parking spot, jumped out of his car, threw his hands up in the air and screamed ‘Just f—ing walk’ at us,” Nicole Whitted said.
They tried explaining that their mother can’t walk fast, but the cop continued advancing towards them, before allegedly chest bumping one of the women and angrily taking her to the ground.
He then took the 62-year old mother to the ground as well, holding her down with an arm across her throat while pinning her daughter down with his knee, shades of Derek Chauvin.
Only the intervention of a bystander ended the ugly confrontation after their attacker identified himself, for the first time, as a cop.
Yet only the daughter he allegedly chest bumped was cited for misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Meanwhile, the alleged road raging attacker denied everything and placed all the blame on the three women, apparently getting off with a pat on the back.
And shamefully, did it all with his family waiting and watching in his car.
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Some things are just wrong. And others are wrong as hell.
I mean, it’s not like those guys went on to do anything important or anything.
As justification, the city bizarrely cited the Florida condo collapse, somehow seriously equating the dangers of the collapse of an occupied 12-story building with the possible fall of the long-vacant two-story shop.
Apparently, irreplaceable historic sites must be a dime a dozen around there. Because they don’t seem to give a damn about this one.
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Metro Bike is offering a pair of specials for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Black Friday Weekend – 30-Day Pass for $1
USE PROMO CODE: BIKESEASON21 $1 for a 30-Day Metro Bike Share Pass (Regular Price: $17)
Sign up for a 30-Day Pass online at metro.net/bikeshare. Valid Thursday, 11/25/2021 – Monday, 11/29/2021.
Cyber Monday – Save 50% on 365-Day Pass
USE PROMO CODE: CYBERMONDAY21 $75 for a 365-Day Metro Bike Share Pass (Regular Price: $150)
Sign up 365-Day Pass online at metro.net/bikeshare. Valid Monday, 11/29/2021 only.
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Zachary Rynew reports progress on an extension of the San Fernando Road Bike Path, but notes there’s still work to be done.
Twitter post
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Apparently, there wasn’t a lot of bikewashing at the Los Angeles Auto Show this year, unlike last year when ebikes made a splash. David Drexler forwards this photo of a Shinola bike, noting it’s the only bicycle he saw at the show this year.
Except for all of the mountain bikes used as props on the backs of SUVs, of course.
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Our German correspondent, Ralph Durham, forwards a photo showing how bike lane detours are handled in a country where bikes, and the people on them, actually matter.
I’m sending you a picture of a short Bike and ped detour in Munich.
This is at the corner of Ludwigsbrucke (over the Isar river) and Steindorfstrasse. It is a major intersection. the bikes heading north and south have a direct path under the bridge and can avoid the issue. If you need to turn onto the bridge or off the bridge you will hit this. This bike path has a counter and records hundreds of thousands of trip per year.
The road is 2 lanes in each direction and there is work being done that directly impacts the pedestrian walkway and the 2 way bike path. So they shut down the two northbound car lanes and retriped for bikes and pedestrians to get around the construction.
A lot of care is put into allowing bikes and pedestrians to avoid direct interaction with motor vehicles when construction impacts roads and sidewalks.
Compare and contrast that with how your town handles it.
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Remember this next time you have to lock your bike up to a street sign or parking meter.
Twitter post
Thanks to Keith Johnson for the heads-up.
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Over the long weekend, I received an email from a British man, asking me to mention the new foldie developed by his San Francisco brother-in-law — the first folding bike where the wheels fold, too.
So if you’re in the market for a $1,300 bike that really folds, this is your chance.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. In an interminably long screed, San Diego’s bike-hating OB Rag accuses “extreme” bicyclists of holding sway over area planners for demanding crazy things like stop signs to slow speeding drivers, and not wanting to get killed when they ride.
An unlicensed Aussie driver was finally sentenced to a decade behind bars after repeatedly bragging to people for nearly ten years about the night she chased down and killed a Hong Kong man who was just riding his bike home from work, after he allegedly flipped her off, getting more racist with each retelling.
Sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Streets For All urges you to contact the city council to support completion of the Expo Line bike path by closing the absurd Northvale Gap, which was skipped to appease homeowners on the afore mentioned Northvale Road, who worried criminals would ride their bikes into the neighborhood to steal their stuff. No, really.
Streets For All is also calling on everyone to support a Metro board motion scheduled for Thursday to provide an additional $2 million in open streets funding; current funding allows funding of just less than half of the 27 open streets proposals from around the county.
The massive new Burbank bridge finally opened after 20 months of construction, featuring bike lanes on either side, but only a single sidewalk on the south side of the bridge. Evidently, they couldn’t squeeze in another sidewalk because the needed to make room for three traffic lanes and a freeway onramp lane in each direction.
In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a “groundbreaking” Florida neurosurgeon faces a vehicular homicide charge for killing a bike-riding triathlete while driving on the wrong side of the road at over four times the posted 20 mph speed limit in a borrowed Tesla; he’s been ticketed at least three times for speeding in the past five years, at speeds up to 112 mph.
Just take a few minutes to practice an attitude of gratitude, and find something to give thanks for. Even if it’s just making it through another year in these trying times.
And if you can take a break from stuffing yourself with stuffing, find some time to get out for a bike ride. Take it from me, there are few better days to ride, as long as you make it back before all those drivers high on tryptophan start crawling back home.
Then come back on Friday, when we’ll officially kick off the 7th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, and I shamelessly beg for your hard-earned money to help keep this site coming your way every day.
We’ll be back on Monday with more Morning Links to catch up on anything we missed. And of course, we’ll be here over the weekend if there’s any breaking news.
And yes, that’s the royal “we,” unless you count our intern and spokesdog up there on the left.
Now stay safe, and enjoy the ride. I want to see you back here next week.
And that’s on top of the usual benefits like reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.
Investment in cycleways was one of the best ways of creating jobs through infrastructure spend, more than any other infrastructure project aside from energy efficiency in buildings, reported the TUC’s 2020 study. Thirty-three jobs are created for every $1.4 million invested in walking or cycling infrastructure over a two-year period, found the TUC.
The Bicycle Association’s 32-page report claims that increasing cycling’s modal share to 14% is “realizable” because net-zero ambitions will require a shift from private motor car use to other means, including cycling.
There’s absolutely no reason to believe the same wouldn’t hold true in Los Angeles, or most other major cities. And it should be easier to realize that kind of increase in Los Angeles, with its temperate climate and mostly flat terrain.
All that’s missing is the political will and financial investment to make it happen.
So what the hell are we waiting for?
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This is the cost of traffic violence.
If it’s true about that which does not kill you, one LA bicyclist is going to be pretty damn strong once she gets back on her feet.
Then again, it sounds like she already is.
A reader named Mitchell reached out to me yesterday to ask if I’d heard about Peta Takai, a master’s road and gravel cyclist who was critically injured in a collision while riding on PCH last September.
Apparently, she was riding near La Costa Beach in Malibu when a kid driving the family Range Rover made an illegal U-turn and slammed into her.
As she notes, she has a very long road ahead of her to get her life back, let alone get back on her bike some day.
A crowdfunding page has raised $28,100, easily topping the low $20,000 goal. But given the extent of her injuries, and the months, if not years, of rehab that will be required, that’s likely just a fraction of what she’s going to need.
So if you’ve got a few extra bucks, send them her way. And tell your friends to do the same.
And maybe remember her on Giving Tuesday next week.
Thanks to Mitchell for the heads-up, and hats off to Giant Santa Monica, which I’m told helped raise funds for her.
And you can make that crowdfunding total $28,120 now.
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Maybe we’ll see some decent bike parking at the Arboretum soon.
Fingers crossed.
Twitter post
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate Bridge is about to get a 15 mph speed limit for bike riders, with fines ranging from $238 to $490 for anyone caught speeding. The question is whether the limit will be enforceable against riders without a cycling computer or speedometer, who would have no way of knowing they’re exceeding it — especially since there is no statutory requirement to have one on your bike.
Smaller communities are getting creative to promote ebike use, including Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, which uses a pair of freestanding solar-powered bikeshare docks to recharge the bikes. They also have a pretty damn good trout stream, too.
November 23, 2021 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Likely 60% boost to CA Active Trans funding, a call for universal free ebikes, and Wisconsin attack ruled intentional
According to Streetsblog, that includes a 60% boost in the Active Transportation Program, which provides most of the funding for bike and pedestrian projects in the state.
It also contains $1 billion to mitigate the damage caused to communities affected by the too-often racist legacy of freeway building. Although that’s 300 times less than the funding in the bill to build freeways.
And while the it contains language requiring planners to “consider the needs of all road users” in designing new projects, California’s existing Complete Streets policies already carry a similar requirement.
So he says give everyone a free ebike, instead. Along with safe streets to ride them on.
According to Jay Caspian Kang,
City governments should purchase an electronic bicycle for every resident over the age of 15 who wants one. They should also shut down a significant number of streets to be used only by bicycles and a small number of speed-regulated, municipal electric vehicles.
The Biden administration’s Build Back Better Act includes a $4.1 billion tax break for e-bike purchases. It would let you save 30 percent via a refundable tax credit capped at $900. That may help with some e-bike adoption, but tax credits can feel a bit abstract, and even with the discount, e-bikes, which typically run between $1,500 and $4,500, will still be out of the budgets of most Americans.
He’s not totally giving up on cars, though.
By the way, I am not envisioning a world without cars. People will still need to go on longer trips, disabled people will still need to get around, and goods will still need to be delivered. Cars will be channeled through a few routes in each city. In keeping with Schimmelpennink’s vision, transportation within the bicycles-only areas will be handled by a fleet of electronic taxis that will travel at speeds below 25 miles per hour. As for deliveries, many package deliveries in the United States can be handled by cargo e-bikes, which can transport hundreds of pounds at a time.
Shutting down some streets for bikes is key not only for safety, but also because the more inconvenient driving becomes, the more people will start to consider other options. Available to them is a free-of-charge mode of transportation that will often be faster than sitting in traffic and having to find a parking spot.
The only place he misses the mark is when it comes to people with disabilities, failing to recognize that for many, an ebike can be an effective mobility device, giving them more freedom to get around than they can by other means.
As he points out, however, the biggest obstacle to implementing a plan like that is the political pushback leaders would face from people who can’t even imagine a world with fewer cars.
Thirty-nine-year old Milwaukee resident Darrell E. Brooks was reportedly involved in a domestic violence incident just minutes before the attack on a parade filled with innocent victims.
He is also accused of jumping bail for a previous incident.
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Seriously, our institutions have got to do better.
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Ted Faber offers a very brief tweet essay on bicycling.
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Tons of bikes. Yet nary a bear from deepest, darkest Peru in sight.
We’ve mentioned this one before, but it’s worth mentioning again, since wheels are the biggest size limitation for folding bicycles. And with just one day left to go, 
