Governor Gavin Newsom continued his longstanding tradition of brandishing his veto pen to kill bike-friendly bills passed by the state legislature yesterday.
Including a bill that would have legalized sidewalk riding throughout the state, wherever there’s a lack of bike infrastructure.
According to California Streetsblog,
His veto message says “most sidewalks are not designed for bicyclists to safely use them, and riding on sidewalks would significantly increase the risk of collisions with pedestrians.” But it doesn’t address the risk to someone on a bike who must ride in fast, heavy traffic except to tout the state’s recent investments in bicycle infrastructure – which are nowhere near enough to meet the need for them. And Newsom ignores the original impetus of the bill, which was to address racial discrimination in terms of who is likely to be stopped for riding on a sidewalk in the first place.
In other words, you’ll continue to run the risk of getting a ticket if you take to the sidewalk to avoid a dangerous intersection, usually with no posted warning whether or where it may be legal or banned.
Meanwhile, people of color will continue to run the risk of police harassment, when cops use it as a pretext to stop people riding on the sidewalk.
Then there’s this.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
On the plus side, Newsom signed Burbank Senator Anthony Portantino’s bill to require hire a “Chief Advisor on Bicycling and Active Transportation,” aka a bike czar. Although it doesn’t require them to actually listen to whoever gets the job.
And local jurisdictions will now be allowed to mount cameras on city or county owned vehicles to photograph and ticket drivers blocking bike lanes, although there’s no word on whether any actually local government currently plans to do that.
At the same time, your own photos and bike cam video will continue to be legally useless when it comes to enforcing traffic laws and bike lane violations.
Governor Newsom also signed a bill to bring greater transparency to Caltrans freeway data.
Photo by Taryn Elliott from Pexels.
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Calbike offers their response to the firing of Caltrans mobility expert and former Calbike staffer Jeanie Ward-Waller, while calling on the agency to serve all Californians, not just people in cars.
Yeah, good luck with that.
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Dr. Grace Peng reminds us that bikes mean business, in the South Bay, and everywhere.
Meanwhile, business owners in Asheville NC took aim at their own feet by opposing plans for a lane reduction and buffered bike lanes on a pair of local streets, apparently unaware that bikes mean business, and bike lanes usually result in increased sales.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An English bike rider complained about bicycling infrastructure that looks like it was designed by someone who’s never used one, after encountering a gate on a shared-use path that prevented bikes from entering.
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Local
Downtown LA News looks forward to CicLAvia’s return to the Heart of Los Angeles this Sunday.
Bike Rumor celebrates Los Angeles-based Hollywood Racks, who have been making car-mounted bike carriers for 50 years.
State
No news is good news, right?
National
Velo’s Urbanist Update reports on what we discussed recently — the conflicting studies with one showing bike commuting is down, while the other says bike riding is up.
Lifehacker offers tips on how to winterize your ebike. Some of which could actually apply here in California.
Yanko Design offers their top “clever accessories to give your bike a level up makeover,” from zip-on tire tread to an inflatable bike helmet.
No irony here. A Las Vegas Subaru dealer is now sponsoring the city’s annual Ride to Remember to mark the tenth anniversary of a man killed by a driver riding his bike.
An Albuquerque TV station suggests bypassing traffic jams by riding your bike and taking advantage of the bike valet at the city’s annual hot air ballon festival.
A Missoula, Montana writer pens a love letter to her local bike co-op.
Now you, too, can own your very own Chicago-area bike shops, as the owner prepares to shut them down after 26 years so she can retire and go on her own bike tours through Mexico and Italy.
A Minnesota writer complains about Amazon drivers parking in bike lanes, even as he admits it feels like tilting at windmills.
The wife of a fallen New York bicyclist says the city’s mayor doesn’t care if it’s safe to ride a bike in New York.
International
Bike Radar offers advice on how to recover mentally from a bicycling crash. My best advice, based on personal experience, is to ride the same route you had planned, which will take you directly past and through the crash site.
Life is cheap in England, where a driver walked without a single day behind bars despite leaving a bike rider with “serious and life-changing injuries,” then getting out of his car to swear at the victim; his victim remains unable to work more than six hours a week, and can’t ride a bike anymore.
A Philippine bike count showed a drop from last year’s record total, with continued demands for better bike infrastructure to serve the country’s bike riders, noting that the nearly 150,000 bicyclists helped reduce carbon emissions by 36.74 metric tons.
Competitive Cycling
Tragic news from North Carolina, where gifted young cyclist Zoe Clay died after crashing in a mountain bike race on Sunday; a crowdfunding campaign has already raised over $32,000 for her family.
Finally…
If you’re planning a couple nights of crime, maybe don’t ride a distinctive orange bike. If you’re going to steal a bicycle, leave the meth at home.
And that feeling when your daring cliff jump just results in an epic fall.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin
