CA ebike voucher program’s failure to launch, what it takes to make LA bike-friendly, and Hyperloop bites the dust
It’s the final weekend of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
Just three short days to open your heart and wallet, and show your support for SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy.
So thanks to Kurt G and Michael M for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news coming your way every day.
Now it’s up to you.
We’ve got a long way to go to catch up to last year’s record-setting fund drive — let alone once again top the previous year’s total for the 9th year in a row.
It’ll be a stretch, but we can do it with your help.
So don’t wait.
Seriously, stop what you’re doing, and donate now!
Because the time to give is rapidly running out.
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As always, we’ll be taking the coming week between the holidays off, so I can have my annual pre-scheduled emotional collapse after making it through another year.
Okay, I’m joking. Sort of.
So please accept my best wishes for warm and wonderful holidays, whatever and however you celebrate. And a heathy, happy and prosperous year to come.
Just be careful riding over the next ten days, when the number of drunks on the road will increase exponentially, and frenzied shoppers and celebrants will be looking for anyone but you.
I want to see you back here bright and early January 2nd.
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If you haven’t already, sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we all face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to actually do anything about it.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program this fall as promised: -1
As expected, the California Air Resources Board once again missed their own self-appointed deadline begin operations this fall — in fact, all their self-appointed deadlines for two years running.
Talk about a failure to launch.
Instead, thousands of low-income Californians have continued to burn fossil fuels and clog our roads, when they could have switched to cleaner, more efficient ebikes instead — defeating the entire purpose of the program, which was the first in the nation when it passed the state legislature.
And now could end up being one of the last to launch before they finally get it going.
Or maybe if.
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Writing for City Watch, former Los Angeles city planner Dick Platkin considers what it will take to create a bike-friendly LA.
From his perspective, the problem stems from —
Reason 1: Despite bike plans adopted by Metro, LA County and LA City, Los Angeles has consistently underfunded the construction of a robust bicycle lane network
Reason 2: There is little effort to follow the official plans, no constant funding to build bicycle lanes, and too much bicycle infrastructure is built to serve new commercial projects, rather than meet actual need
Reason 3: City proposals to construct new, buffered bicycle lanes on wide boulevards often meet organized resistance by people who don’t want to lose parking or traffic lanes
Reason 4: Too many proposals for new bikes lanes come from local boosters to build stand-alone bicycle lanes so nearby real estate projects can reduce costly parking requirements
I’d say the problem is more a lack of political will among elected leaders, who listen only to the loudest voices, combined with flushing too much money down the induced-demand toilet that could go to reducing the demand for cars.
But it’s worth taking his thoughts into consideration when we consider how to fight for safer, more complete and livable streets
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Engage schadenfreude now.
Elon Musk’s Hyperloop project bites the dust, after failing to reinvent transit.
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A new book intends to empower women of color to get on their bikes.
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Gravel Bike California returns to Maverick Cycles to go deeper into the dirt around the hills of Whittier.
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‘Tis the season.
An Ohio bike nonprofit donated 137 bike and helmets for local kids in need, and has given away over 1,000 bicycles over the last eight years.
Also in Ohio, an automotive software company continued their six-year tradition of building bicycles to donate to children, many of whose parents are military members.
Forty-four Indiana preschoolers got new bicycles in a holiday raffle, courtesy of the Northern Indiana Hispanic Health Coalition.
A Virginia bike group cooperated with the local Jewish Family Services and a community tool bank to distribute new bikes to families in need.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A US judge declared open season on bike riders by federal agents, concluding that the case against an Oregon DEA agent could be dropped because he was performing his official duties when he ran a stop sign and killed an Oregon bike rider.
Bike riders in Queensland, Australia could be subjected to random breathalyzer tests to ferret out people biking under the influence, under a new proposal from the state government.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Um, okay. A Greeley, Colorado man got drunk and followed another man on his bike, while somehow swinging a 25-pound propane tank. Something tell me there’s more to this story. And chances are, we’ll never find out what it is, dammit.
A man in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood had to seek medical attention after he was struck in the eye with a hard boiled egg hurled by a member of a bike “gang.” Although the story never actually uses the word bicycle, so the perp could have been a motorbike rider.
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Local
Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will conduct another die-in on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on January 27th.
Santa Monica-based Bird has gone belly-up, as the once high-flying micromobility company filed for dissolution in bankruptcy court; the filing comes just days after West Hollywood extended its contract with the company.
An unusually succinct Westlake Village letter writer says bike lanes are a start, but bike riders need protection, not paint.
State
Caltrans continues to flush our hard-earned money down the induced-demand toilet, with a $15.7 billion shopping list of highway projects.
Sad news from San Jose, where a bike-riding man was killed when he was right hooked by a van driver turning into a parking lot; he was the 48th victim of traffic violence in the city this year.
National
Ebike sales have quadrupled in the US over the past five years. No thanks to California’s moribund voucher program.
Slate considers how American motor vehicles grew into massive killers on steroids.
Offroad.cc lists the best offroad podcasts that you must follow in 2024. No, judging by the headline, it appears to be mandatory.
Pink Bike uses AI to makes big bike tech predictions, which promptly proceeds to get much of it wrong. But at least they didn’t let the AI write it.
So much for street art. Spokane, Washington removed a guerilla sculpture depicting a woman riding a bicycle up a massive bridge support column.
More on the moron who fled the scene after running down two bicyclists riding on Colorado’s Lookout Mountain while running another rider off the road, leaving one man in the ICU with major injuries; the story makes it sound like two Mustang drivers may have been racing, without actually saying that. A crowdfunding campaign for the most seriously injured victim has raised over $41,000 of the $50,000 goal. You know, in case you have any extra money left over after donating to this site.
A Texas advocacy group speaks out about the pickup driver charged with running down and killing a couple riding their bikes earlier this year, saying “under no circumstances should anyone drive distracted.”
Illinois bicyclists are pondering their next move, after the state Supreme Court made them all second-class citizens by absurdly ruling that bikes are merely “permitted” on the streets without bike infrastructure, but not the intended users.
Streets.mn recommends being safer and more stylish on your bike at night with Reflauro, a new reflective technology devoted by 3M, and made in America by a women-owned company.
Momentum says New York needs more bike lanes like the extra-wide bike lanes on 10th Ave. Don’t we all.
Conflicting data out of New York, where bicycling deaths reached a record high, while pedestrian fatalities are reaching a historic low.
International
An 81-year old Brazilian man and his 19-year old son were both killed in a freak crash when the father went looking for his son on his bicycle, and crashed head-on into the son riding home on his motorbike.
The brother of a missing British man fears he may have ingested a poisonous mushroom while foraging in France, while on a long-distance bike tour from Scotland to India.
Maybe there really is a war on cars, as The Guardian says European cities are turning on the car by adopting varied approaches to reducing traffic congestion and pollution; Paris has joined London in having more bicycles than cars during rush hour.
Speaking of once high-flying companies, Swedish inflatable bike helmet maker Hövding has gone belly-up, after a Swedish consumer agency ruled the helmets are unsafe.
Japan’s National Police Agency is proposing fining scofflaw bicyclists up to 12,000 yen for violations such as running red lights or distracted bicycling. Which sounds scary, until you realize that converts to a tad over $84.
Competitive Cycling
Hats off to Australia’s Amanda Reid, who became the first paracyclist and indigenous person to be named the country’s cyclist of the year.
YouTube will premier the second season of the Call of a Life Time series next month, “chronicling the highs and lows experienced by key riders in the past year’s Life Time Grand Prix circuit.”
Cycling Weekly considers the silliest cycling rules UCI should do away with. Like a ban on puppy paws, for instance.
Finally…
That feeling when no one uses the new bike lanes but Santa. Or when you want an ebike trailer inspired by the hideous Tesla Cybertruck.
And that feeling when you need a lowrider bike inspired by a regional cult-favorite hamburger chain.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
Category: Morning Links / Tags: Bicycle Friendly City, bicycling, California Air Resources Board, ebike rebates, Los Angeles
Caltrans meager PCH safety efforts, a peloton ticketed for following too close, and a call for a life-saving super power
It’s the last four days of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
Last year, it took a real Chrismukah miracle to top the previous year, with more than 25 donations in the last five days.
We’ll need at least that many this time around just to catch up — let alone set a new record for the 9th year in a row.
So thanks to Steven H and Joshua H (no relation) for their generous support for SoCal’s best source bike news and advocacy.
But time is rapidly running out for this year’s fund drive.
So don’t wait.
Stop what you’re doing, and give now!
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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program this fall as promised: 0
Seriously, is anyone really surprised that the California Air Resources Board missed their latest self-imposed deadline once again?
Anyone?
Bueller? Bueller?
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If you haven’t already, sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to build the safer, more livable transportation system they promised.
Then share it with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
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Even reporters for the Los Angeles Times question whether Caltrans meager safety “improvements” on PCH will be enough to make a difference.
Writing about Monday’s performative press conference to announce a lousy $4.2 million in safety work for the 21 miles of PCH that snakes along the Pacific Coast — which works out to just $200,000 a mile — they almost immediately called the announcement into question.
While there is a process each project will have to undergo, “this is not a ‘business as usual’ approach,” Omishakin said as cars whizzed past.
After several deadly pedestrian crashes that roiled Malibu and sparked calls for change, business as usual won’t be enough, transportation activists said. Damian Kevitt, founder of Streets Are for Everyone, told The Times the “design of PCH through Malibu is simply and clearly deadly.”
“It needs to be a transformed from a highway where people can do 60 to 80 to even 100 mph through residential [areas] and businesses, with families and cyclists, unprotected, just a couple feet away,” Kevitt said.
Hopefully, Caltrans can demonstrate a little more urgency than the $34.6 million project currently underway to sync red lights along the highway, presumably to make speeding drivers stop for red while the typically non-existent non-speeding drivers on the highway will see greens.
The project was approved seven years ago, but because the highway is under California Department of Transportation jurisdiction, it had to be reviewed by the state.
“The Caltrans review process, while undoubtedly necessary for ensuring regulatory compliance and safety standards, proved to be more cumbersome than anticipated,” said Matt Myerhoff, Malibu’s public information officer.
Gee, you think?
Although red lights are typically synced to smooth traffic flow, rather than control speeds.
Meanwhile, Caltrans pledged to study PCH to determine if it can be designated as a safety corridor, in which fines for speeding can be doubled.
But f the mounting death toll on the highway isn’t prima facie proof of the problem, I don’t know what yet another study will accomplish. Then again, you could quadruple the fines, and it won’t matter if the drivers don’t get caught.
Which points to the sheer stupidity of California’s speed cam pilot program only being allowed in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, along with three NorCal cities, while completely ignoring the state’s deadliest corridors.
But still.
Members of Seetoo’s Fix PCH Action Team, including Kevitt, say the seven years it took Caltrans to allow Malibu to begin the signal synchronization project “doesn’t indicate that Caltrans is prioritizing safety at all.”
Collecting and studying the data could mean “years and years more delay before they even decide if they can slow down this highway that is known to be deadly,” Kevitt said.
Chris Wizner, another action team member, told The Times he wondered how many more deaths it would take for Caltrans to slow down PCH.
That’s easy.
The formula has always been N+1.
It will take one more death than we’ve already suffered, no matter how many there have already been.
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A Santa Barbara cop takes a turn at demonstrating he knows nothing about riding in a peloton, without saying it, as a group of Santa Barbara bicyclists got delayed tickets in the mail for following one another too closely, after one rider went down and took several other riders down with him.
Here’s the full text of the tweet.
Insult to injury rant: Group ride Santa Barbara to Ventura & back Nov. 21, a cyclist in the peloton front crashed & took down several of us. EMTs came & took me for a brain scan. I’m fine. Cop pretended to help me as he asked my name etc.
I just got a ticket for “following too close”. In a peloton. Seriously. $235 or contest it in court.
I’m tempted on principle. Would love to confront this cop & ask why he didn’t give me the ticket then & there (others also got tickets in the mail). He probably knows we would have pitched a fit.
Disgraceful. I’m lying there on the ground in paid, bloody & nauseous & this MF cop is writing me up for a traffic violation. No wonder people don’t trust the police. “Protect & Serve”. Bullshit.
Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.
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Somehow this one slipped under the radar, as Robert Leone forwards the results of the Universal Postal Union’s 2023 letter writing competition.
Okay, maybe I know why this one slipped under the radar.
Regardless, the UPU asked children to write on the following topic:
“Imagine you are a super hero and your mission is to make all roads around the world safer for children. Write a letter to someone explaining which super powers you would need to achieve your mission.”
The winner, a 13-year old girl from Kenya, requests a simple super power — the ability to write posters that will make drivers slow down, because children are the most helpless road users.
Amen.
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Thanks to Megan Lynch for forwarding the following video, which includes these key points:
- Soul-crushing car traffic makes the Yosemite experience very frustrating
- That frustration gets unloaded on retail workers there
- You should definitely ride a bike in Yosemite
- But don’t leave anything on your bike because even in Yosemite thieves will strip it to the frame
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‘Tis the season.
A San Diego group is continuing a five decade tradition of giving, by working to build 150 bikes to give to kids on Christmas Day.
A Cedar Rapids, Iowa bike shop turned into Santa’s workshop as volunteers joined staffers to refurbish 50 bikes for kids in need.
An Alabama Baptist church collected more than 300 bikes to give to area kids for Christmas.
The work of Florida’s legendary Jack the Bike Man lives on, as the charity he founded gave 100 bicycles to people in need, despite his death earlier this year.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Eureka scrapped plans for a buffered bike lane on Myrtle Street, caving to angry residents who prefer convenient parking to protecting human lives, as long as those lives get around on two wheels instead of four.
No surprise here, as compromises forced on a Brooklyn protected bike lane by people loathe to sacrifice parking or traffic lanes resulted in a project that virtually no one is happy with.
No bias here. A New York councilmember calls for mandatory licensing and registration of ebikes, rhetorically asking “How many actual ebikes do you see stopping at a red light or observing traffic laws?” Just wait until someone tells him about cars and their drivers, which are already registered and licensed, and regularly break traffic laws anyway.
Evidently, verbally abusing and repeatedly swerving a car into a woman riding a bike isn’t illegal anymore, after police in the UK “mistakenly” close the books on a road raging driver.
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Local
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton applauds yesterday’s deep dive on dooring in the Los Angeles Times.
Metro will offer free bus and train rides on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, along with free Metro Bike Share for the first half hour from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Day.
State
A man was arrested in Santa Ana Saturday after walking out of an Irvine Walmart with a new beach cruiser. Seriously, if you’re going to steal a bike, at least steal a better one.
Streetsblog zeros in on San Diego’s new Complete Streets policy, examining how advocates pushed for and won a better approach to street design.
A local San Francisco website says sales data doesn’t back up claims from merchants along Valencia Street that the new centerline bike lane has killed their business, showing just a 6% drop in retail sales during construction of the bike lanes. Although to be fair, a 6% drop can mean the difference between profit and loss for some businesses, but it’s a far cry from what they claimed.
At the same time, San Francisco website Underscore_SF says the controversial centerline bike lane was never going to work, and San Francisco should move the bike lanes to a more traditional curbside configuration.
National
GCN offers six top tips for descending on a road bike.
REI’s second-gen e-cargo bike is on sale for its lowest price ever; CNN called it the year’s best ebike, cargo or otherwise. At less than $1140, you could easily buy one with California’s ebike voucher program, and have change left over — if the voucher program ever actually launches.
More churn in the ebike world, as Harley-Davidson sold its Serial 1 ebike division to Florida ebike maker LEV Manufacturing.
Not surprisingly, bike riders in Ashland, Oregon support plans to install more bike parking in the public right-of-way.
A pair of alleged bike burglars face charges for breaking into Lance Armstrong’s storage unit — yes, that Lance Armstrong — and stealing four complete bicycles and a couple frames valued at $105,000; it’s not clear if any of the bikes were recovered.
A Texas man will face two counts of criminally negligent homicide for killing a married couple as they rode their bikes this past June; he was allegedly texting when he hit their bikes, which explains why he says he never saw them.
More on the bizarre ruling from the Illinois Supreme Court that says cities aren’t liable for injuries to bike riders due to bad pavement because streets without bike lanes aren’t intended for bicycles.
Inmates in a New Hampshire county jail are learning to repair bicycles, working towards their master bike technician certification while serving their time. Which should provide a nice incentive to commit another crime if they get released before earning their certification.
A Long Island woman faces a host of charges, including 2nd degree assault and disabling an Interlock device, for speeding through a parking lot where a triathlon was being held and slamming into a competitor riding his bike, leaving the victim with a traumatic brain injury and cervical spine fracture.
International
Toronto’s paramedic’s union said a controversial protected bike lane cost an ambulance crew 30 seconds getting through an intersection because drivers couldn’t get out of their way. Maybe someone should tell them those little car-tickler plastic posts are designed to bend, so you can drive right over them.
Sad news from the UK, where popular industry pro Nils Amelinckx died after a lengthy battle with stage four bowel cancer; Amelinckx founded the nonprofit Rider Resilience to promote the use of bicycles as medicine, as well as the bicycling wing of gear maker Lyon Equipment. He was just 36.
Grieving British parents called for mandatory speed limiters on all motor vehicles, after a speeding driver climbed the curbed and killed their 14-year old daughter as she rode in a separated bike lane.
Bankrupt Dutch ebike maker VanMoof intends to rise Phoenix-like from the ashes with plans for a new e-scooter.
The BBC examines how the Finnish coastal city of Oulu became the winter bicycling capital of the world, despite its location just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
Competitive Cycling
The Vuelta released its course for next year, starting and ending with time trials, and “savage” climbing in between.
https://twitter.com/ammattipyoraily/status/1737208276511588374?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1737208276511588374%7Ctwgr%5Efd11a704aa7aaf06f14e2637bcad18fa3438063b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-20-december-2023-305753
Finally…
Aquaman is one of us. This is what it would look like if Tony the Tiger sponsored a cycling team.
And your next e-cargo bike could haul a baby grand piano.
Or a grown-up one, even.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
66-year old man killed riding bicycle in Apple Valley collision; 2nd fatal San Bernardino County bike crash in two days
More bad news, just in time for the holidays.
The Victor Valley News Group is reporting that a man was killed riding his bicycle in Apple Valley Tuesday evening.
Although judging from the headline, they seem as concerned with the effect on traffic as the loss of a human life.
The victim, identified as 66-year old Apple Valley resident Gerald Duncan, was crossing Navajo Road north of Ottawa Road when he was struck by the driver of a southbound pickup around 5:48 pm.
He died at the scene.
The driver reportedly stopped after the crash, and cooperated with investigators.
Police appeared to blame Duncan for his dark clothing, rather than the 50 mph speed limit shown in the photo right next to his mangled bike. Or the single street light on the far side of the intersection.
Anyone with any information is urged to call San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Deputy G. Dominguez or Deputy T. Arlotti at 760/240-7400, or Sheriff’s Dispatch at 760/956-5001.
This is at least the 71st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
He was also the second bicyclist killed in the county in less than 48 hours.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Gerald Duncan and his loved ones.
Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: Apple Valley, bicycling fatality, Gerald Duncan, San Bernardino County
Much ado about nothing for PCH safety, Los Angeles Times talks dooring, and “Share the Road” told to hit the road
Just 5 days left in the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
Only one person donated yesterday. So thanks to Jeff S for his generous support to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!
We’ve fallen behind last year’s record pace, so we’ve got some ground to make up in order to top the previous year for the 9th year in a row.
So don’t wait — give now!
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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program this fall as promised: 1
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If you haven’t already, sign — and share — the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to build the safer, more livable transportation system they promised.
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Call it much ado about nothing.
Caltrans made a big deal yesterday about plans to spend a whole $4.2 million to improve safety along a 21-mile stretch of PCH in Malibu, which works out to a measly $200,000 per mile.
Not exactly the major investment they made it out to be.
According to LAist, those improvements include,
- Optical speed bars
- 13 speed safety feedback signs
- Enhanced striping to warn drivers of upcoming curves
- Painting the speed limit on the roadways, and
- Refresh signs designating the PCH safety corridor
None of which is likely to save a single life on Southern California’s killer highway.
Here’s how local radio station 99.1 KBUU, aka RadioMalibu.net, described the chest-beating news conference.
Caltrans and the state of California held a major media event on Malibu Monday, but a city clamoring for changes to Pacific Coast Highway was left empty handed.
The state Transportation Secretary travelled from Sacramento, but did not have any new traffic calming plans to disclose.
Toks Milshakin repeated the list of quick fixes already disclosed by Caltrans: a $4.2 million set of new lane striping, speed limit signage, and other small safety projects.
The news conference produced the news that the state will not be able to immediately lower the speed limit on any stretch of PCH.
No new speed study has been conducted, or will be conducted soon.
No change in the speed limit.
No changes in design.
Caltrans safety manager Lee Haber said right now, that the state cannot lower the speed limits on PCH.
And that’s just the beginning of a scathing report from the local media, which has been covering the mounting toll on the deadly highway for more than two decades.
Along with local safety advocates, who have been fighting for changes just as long.
Then there was this response, after Malibu Mayor Steve Uhring lauded Caltrans for taking time out to listen to city officials, saying he feels very confident they made some big strides yesterday.
If those strides resulted in any permanent or temporary changes, none were announced Monday.
Instead, officials stuck to the existing design and operation of the highway.
State law requires that the speed limit be computed based on the 85th percentile speed … the speed travelled by 85 percent of the cars.
PCH was designed 70 years ago with lane widths and curves to accommodate 55 mile per hour traffic … and study after study proves traffic moves at a design speed … not a speed limit.
Never mind that the urgently promised safety study necessary to reduce those excessive speeds, or do much of anything else, won’t be complete until 2025.
Seriously, take a few minutes to read the whole thing.
Because the authors clearly and concisely shred all the happy talk and lauding news reports resulting from the announcement of the state’s meager investment in improving safety on the highway, concluding,
…it is .. after all … a state highway.
One that is not going to see any major changes … anytime soon … other than 4 point 2 million dollars worth of paint and new signs.
Ouch.
Thanks to Hans Laetz for the heads-up.
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The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the problem of dooring and what to do to prevent it.
The paper views it through the lens of artist Yasmine Nasser Diaz, the widow of Hollywood producer Robert George, who was killed in October when a motorist opened their car door at Fountain and Edgemont in East Hollywood, knocking him into the path of another car.
“Dooring” and “doored,” colloquialisms among bicyclists, refer to a collision caused by a driver or passenger opening a car door into an oncoming cyclist. For some cyclists, such as Diaz, it is among their greatest fears. But collisions such as these, they say, can be prevented with greater awareness and better infrastructure.
Developing bike infrastructure in Los Angeles is complicated by logistics and competing interests. Bicyclists say L.A.’s car-centric culture hinders progress and argue that the city favors the comfort of drivers.
Yeah, you could say that.
The story goes on to cite Joshua Cohen, of BikinginLA sponsor Cohen Law Partners.
In California, motorists are mandated to not open a door “unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic,” according to the state vehicle code…
But when car doors do collide with cyclists, the fallout can range from a few bumps and bruises to serious damage. Joshua Cohen, a personal injury attorney, said he’s dealt with cases in which cyclists had severed fingers, as well as back, neck and head injuries.
“The edge of the car door where it strikes the human body — generally, if you think about the physics of that happening — it’s almost like someone striking it with a sword because the leading edge of the car door is basically a thin piece of metal,” Cohen said.
Despite that, the law is rarely prosecuted.
A spokesperson with the LAPD says arrests are unlikely to be made unless police can prove malicious intent.
Otherwise, it’s just another oopsie — even though motorists are always at fault in a dooring, because they have the responsibility to prevent it.
The decade-plus I’ve spent tracking SoCal bike deaths tells us that dooring is rarely fatal. Which is good, because it’s one of the most common forms of bike crashes — despite the LAPD stats, which show only two reported doorings this year.
Presumably, one of those is the one that killed George.
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Don’t let the door hit it on the way out.
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‘Tis the season.
The San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles surprised over 100 students at a Boyle Heights elementary school with new bicycles for the holidays.
An organization founded by a group of Sacramento high school students when they were just in elementary school is asking readers of the local paper for $5,000 in funding, after donating over 500 bicycles to kids in need over the past ten years.
Bicyclists in the Bosnian city of Mostar donned their finest Santa suits and rode through the city handing out candy to kids, to celebrate the holidays.
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Local
Streetsblog visits the new Boyle Heights’ Myers/Mission Roundabout connected to the 6th Street Viaduct, along with short bikeway segments on Myers Street and Mission Road.
State
A new bike law going into effect January 1st somehow slipped under the radar, requiring bike riders to obey bicycle traffic control devices when they differ from other traffic signals.
An op-ed from a representative for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition says despite the usual parking controversies, both bicyclists and small business owners really just want a more vibrant city.
San Francisco advocates warn tragedy is inevitable on one of the city’s Slow Streets, which is now slow in name only.
Vallejo is evicting residents of a homeless encampment just before the holidays, so the city can begin a $10 million project to rebuild the bike path they’ve been living next to.
National
Survivors of the Goodyear, Arizona crash that killed two bike riders and injured 19 others are still waiting for justice ten months later, after the county attorney passed the buck case back to the city attorney.
She gets it. A letter writer in St. George, Utah makes a detailed case that better bicycle infrastructure will improve safety for everyone.
The trial for the two Las Vegas teens accused of intentionally running down and killing former Bell CA police chief Andy Probst was pushed back to next fall, while their attorney attacked the entire grand jury system, and blamed mental, physical and emotional problems for their inappropriate courtroom behavior.
Cincinnati’s bikeshare system will be out of commission until at least early spring, as it undergoes “significant staff reductions.”
Megan Lynch forwards news that a bill in the New Jersey legislature would require low-speed ebikes and e-scooters — not the high speed, throttle-controlled ebikes — to be registered with the DMV and carry liability insurance, passing the Budget and Appropriations Committee on a 4-0 vote. Even though ebikes don’t seem to be what’s killing people on the state’s streets.
Sad news from Atlanta, where a leader of a local winter bicycling league was killed by a driver while on a ride with the group.
International
Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to save money — and the planet — by buying a secondhand bike instead of a new one, without suffering buyer’s regret.
A London website says don’t ride your bike through the Tooting neighborhood, where workers see bicycle collisions on a near daily basis. Maybe it would help if drivers would do a little less tooting and more driving.
A speeding English driver was sentenced to nearly five years behind bars for killing a 14-year old girl as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.
A new British study confirms what most of us already know, that drivers who also ride bikes, or at least understand where bike riders are supposed to position themselves on the streets, are less likely to blame the person on the bike for a close pass.
Taiwan is introducing 16 new bicycle tour routes connecting 13 national scenic areas, for your next trip to the island. You know, before China tries to take it over.
Competitive Cycling
No surprise here, as world champ Mathieu van der Poel returned to ‘cross competition, and immediately climbed to the top of the podium.
Finally…
That feeling when the kid in the store bicycle display could use a hand. Or when the local bike path goes to the dogs.
And that feeling when you emulate your hero by crashing and burning, just like the real Evel Knievel.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
Category: Morning Links / Tags: Caltrans, dooring, Los Angeles Times, MUTCD, Pacific Coast Highway, PCH, share the road, SoCal's killer highway, traffic safety
CNN looks at Malibu’s killer highway, Illinois makes bikes 2nd class citizens, and LA tops 300 murders and traffic deaths
Just 6 days left in the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!
Sadly, no one donated yesterday to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
So don’t let that happen again! Take just a moment and give now!
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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program this fall as promised: 2
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If you haven’t already, sign and share the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to build the safer, more livable transportation system they promised.
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We made the national news, for all the wrong reasons.
CNN reported on LA County’s killer highway, the four Pepperdine students killed by a speeding driver earlier this year, and the 58 people killed along PCH in Malibu in just the last 13 years.
“I should have been there and I usually would be there,” (Pepperdine senior Bridget) Thompson said. “I can just picture them in the car on the way there. I know they were listening to music and I know they were singing along.”
The girls parked and were walking along the Pacific Coast Highway when prosecutors say a BMW going 104 miles per hour slammed into several parked cars before hitting and killing Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams – all Pepperdine seniors…
Thompson is now among those demanding safety changes along the iconic Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. She helped dedicate a memorial on the scenic highway, which stretches the California coastline, featuring 58 white tires — one for each of the lives lost on the road in Malibu since 2010.
It’s a heartbreaking story, but a necessary one.
Maybe a little national humiliation is what we need to finally get some long-needed changes made.
Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.
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The Illinois Supreme Court reaffirmed a horrific ruling that officially makes bike riders 2nd class citizens on the streets.
The court ruled that cities aren’t responsible for injuries to bike riders from poorly maintained roads that don’t have bicycle infrastructure, reasoning that bicycles are allowed to use such roadways, but aren’t the intended users.
Apparently, drivers are.
Not only does the ruling absolve cities of responsibility to maintain safe streets, it also provides a disincentive to build the infrastructure that would make them liable.
And makes it clear that we’re nothing more than guests anywhere else.
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More information on the Colorado hit-and-run crash we mentioned yesterday.
The driver of one Ford Mustang was passing another on a sweeping mountain curve, and slammed headfirst into three bicyclists traveling in the opposite direction.
The driver fled the scene, then he and his passenger abandoned the car a short distance later with the airbags deployed. The driver of the other car attempted to give chase after checking on the victims, but crashed into a guardrail.
It seems almost miraculous that only one of the victims was seriously injured. A second rider suffered major road rash after flying over the car, while the third rode into a ditch to avoid the crash.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Portland finished ripping out a bike lane that had allegedly been installed by mistake, after the initial work to remove it had been halted by protestors blocking the trucks.
They get it. Velo says ebike licenses won’t make the streets any safer, and rider regulation won’t stop the 7,500 pedestrians killed by cars each year.
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Local
Yay, us. Los Angeles has topped both 300 murders and 300 deaths from traffic violence for the second year in a row.
No word yet on whether West Hollywood adopted its Vision Zero plan last night.
Santa Monica is considering a ballot measure for next November to tax parking garages to pay for transportation projects, including Vision Zero.
Redondo Beach has completed work on its portion of the new Diamond Street Bike and Pedestrian Path, after Torrance bailed on building its part of the pathway connecting the two cities.
State
Sad news from San Jose, where the Bay Area’s Mr. Roadshow died Sunday after a long battle with a degenerative muscle and nerve disease; prior to the paper’s draconian paywall, I often linked to his stories when he got it right, or to criticize when he missed the mark. Gary Richards was 72.
A Streetsblog op-ed says the contentious centerline protected bike lane on San Francisco’s Valencia Street could lead to a more pedestrianized, safer street that allows commerce to flourish — if cooler heads prevail, which seems unlikely.
National
Electrek lists their most popular ebike news stories of 2023.
Police in Goodyear, Arizona recommended that the driver who plowed into a group bike ride, injuring 19 people and killing two, face just eight misdemeanor charges after the local DA had rejected the case.
A Michigan man faces a murder charge for fatally stabbing another man in a fight that began over a bicycle. We’ve said it before — no bike is worth a human life. Just walk away.
He’s a Harvard administrator and amateur bike mechanic.
A man in the Bronx is still waiting for the ebike he ordered from Amazon, which was never delivered over a month later.
A kindhearted former Trek staffer is collecting and refurbishing bicycles to donate to people in Ghana and New Jersey, as well as homeless people in California.
An Alabama district court judge gave her former bailiff, now a college president, the new ebike she won in a raffle, to replace the bike that was stolen on his first day working for her.
International
‘Tis the season. Momentum offers a “Bikemas” guide to the best-selling bicycling gifts this holiday season.
A Canadian bike lawyer provides a guide to avoid getting doored, and what to do if you do.
Britain’s Bike Project is changing lives by donating refurbished bicycles to refugees.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is planning to charge owners of massive SUVs triple the normal parking fee in the central city, and double in other parts of the city in an effort to tax them off the streets.
Sad news from Swaziland, where award-winning travel photographer Steve Walton died after breaking his back in a fall off a narrow footbridge while riding his bike during an October safari; he was 69.
Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — a “magical ride” island hopping over bridges in the Indonesian city of Batam.
Competitive Cycling
Top triathletes are renting bikes to compete in the world championships, after the financial failure of a shipping company left many riders rides in limbo.
Orange Factory Racing is pulling out of mountain biking after 30 years.
Pez Cycling News considers what the shutdown of GCN+ and the shift of bike racing coverage to Max — formerly HBO — will mean for US cycling fans.
Finally…
When you’re riding your bike despite several outstanding warrants, put a damn light on it, already. Your next tandem ebike could have three wheels — all in a straight line.
And your next bike trailer could be amphibious.
Even if your bike isn’t.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
Category: Morning Links / Tags: 2nd class citizens, bicycling, bike lanes, Caltrans, hit-and-run, Illinois, Los Angeles, murder, Pacific Coast Highway, PCH, petition, traffic safety, traffic violence