Why people keep dying: Drunk driver kills bike rider while on bond for DUI, stoned driver with 5 DUIs killed 13-year old boy

February 25, 2026 / / Comments Off on Why people keep dying: Drunk driver kills bike rider while on bond for DUI, stoned driver with 5 DUIs killed 13-year old boy

You’ve got to be kidding.

Life is really cheap in Georgia, where a 30-year old Augusta man was sentenced to a lousy two years behind bars for the hit-and-run that killed a 62-year old man riding a bicycle, while driving at nearly three times the legal alcohol limit.

He was facing up to 15 years for first-degree vehicular homicide. Yet prosecutors negotiated a nearly minuscule plea deal, despite an extensive record of traffic crimes dating back more than a decade — including a pending case for a previous DUI.

According to the Augusta Press,

At the time of the crash, Walker had a pending DUI case from an October 2019 arrest. While awaiting trial on the vehicular homicide charge, he pleaded guilty to the earlier DUI, receiving a one-day jail sentence, probation, a $1,000 fine, and a risk-reduction program requirement from Judge Monique Walker.

Walker’s driving record spans more than a decade, including multiple speeding convictions, driving with a suspended license, attempted eluding of police, and prior DUI allegations. In 2015, he served 40 days in jail for attempting to elude police, driving with a suspended license, and a stop sign violation, as well as 10 days for driving with a suspended license and marijuana possession. His 2019 DUI case lingered in court for years before being resolved during the homicide case proceedings.

Read that again.

One damn day behind bars for driving under the influence, even after he killed someone while driving drunk yet again.

Talk about authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.

The plea deal also includes credit for time served. And since he has a record of driving without a legal license, we can expect he’ll be back on the street and free to kill again in no time.

Yet just acouple hours away in Savannah, Georgia, prosecutors have thrown the book at another DUI hit-and-run driver, who killed a popular local known as the Flag Man for riding his bike around town carrying an oversized American flag, while driving stoned and with multiple prior DUIs.

That driver faces charges of homicide by vehicle, hit-and-run resulting in death, serious injury by motor vehicle, tampering with evidence, operating a vehicle without a tag, no proof of insurance, driving with a suspended license, and failure to yield right of way to a bicyclist.

Make it make sense.

Photo from Pexels.

………

This is the cost of traffic violence.

The parents of a 13-year old Utah boy killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver told a parole board that “you never move on” from the death of a child like that.

The driver was asking for early release from a sell-deserved sentence of up to 15 years behind bars, along with a second term of up to five years — even though he had five — count ’em, five — previous DUIs.

And once again, authorities can take pride in knowing they kept a dangerous driver on the road until it was too late for a 13-year old boy.

And for his family, who will never be the same.

………

Famed DJ Diplo is one of us, recording himself riding a bikeshare bike along a busy Miami highway to catch a flight to Milan, where he performed at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Instagram post

………

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

An insurance expert criticizes New Jersey’s draconian, “knee-jerk” ebike law, which requires licensing and registration for all ebikes, regardless of power or speed, which he says will be particularly harmful to delivery riders.

No bias here. Traffic tickets issued to London bicyclists dropped by a remarkable two-thirds in just two years, but The Times summarily rejects even the possibility that bike riders are behaving better by blaming it on a drop in the police force.

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

A Scottish letter writer says you can just forget implementing strict liability for drivers who hit bike riders or pedestrians, as long as those darn scofflaw bike riders continue to run red lights and ride in dark clothing without lights.

………

Local 

LADOT is hosting a public meeting at 6 pm tomorrow to discuss protected bike lanes on Ohio Blvd, a key east-west bicycling corridor, as part of the Ohio Avenue Safety and Mobility Project; oddly, though, the Los Angeles agency is hosting the meeting at the Collins & Katz YMCA in Santa Monica. Apparently, they couldn’t find any venues in Los Angeles willing to take them.

 

State

The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition is appealing a decision to add a traffic lane and parking spaces in front of Santa Rosa’s downtown mall, which they say would make the street much riskier for people riding bicycles.

 

National

You can find a lot of things while riding your bike with friends, including a litter of abandoned puppies.

That feeling when a bike advocate is behind a Portland neighborhood group’s opposition to replacing the plastic bollards currently protecting marking bike lanes with concrete curbs.

A Portland lawyer accuses the local cops of going easy on drivers who hit bicyclists, especially if the drivers say they’re really, really sorry.

The Washington State legislature is also considering a bill that would create a new category for mopeds and e-motos between ebikes and motorcycles.

Singletracks looks at five of the best mountain bike trails in Nevada, “From high-alpine descents near Lake Tahoe to bone-dry technical lines in the Las Vegas desert.”

Travel site Islands looks forwards to New York’s massive annual TD Five Boro Bike Tour through all of the city’s boroughs. And no, I’m not making the same mistake I made with Montreal, because this time I know Manhattan is an island, as is Staten Island, Brooklyn and Queens.

That’s more like it. A 52-year old Rochester, New York man was sentenced to up to seven years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle last year.

 

International

Momentum readers share why they ride their bikes to work.

Mérida, Yucatán now officially ranks sixth among Latin American cities when it comes to bicycling, even though only 4% of city trips are made by bike.

Brompton is addressing London’s high rate of bike thefts by sending theft victims a loaner bike free for two weeks while they shop for a replacement. That’s actually a brilliant marketing move, providing a free trial of their foldies at the exact time people are shopping.

An Irish woman beats the winter blues by becoming a nearly 100-mile a week bike commuter after moving to France’s Brittany coast.

France’s 434-mile La Voie Bleue has been named the European Cycle Route of the Year at the prestigious Fiets en Wandelbeurs exhibition in Utrecht; the scenic route stretches from Luxembourg to Lyon. 

A Catalan ebike maker was the victim of a massive theft over the weekend, as burglars managed to get away with around a 120 ebikes worth the equivalent of $353,000 after breaking into a Barcelona warehouse.

New Zealand is considering changes to traffic regulations that would allow children under 12 to ride their bikes on the sidewalk for the first time, as well as mandating a roughly three-foot to 4 and a half foot passing distance for bikes and horses, depending on traffic speeds.

 

Competitive Cycling

The New York Times Athletic sports site patiently explains why 19-year old French cyclist Paul Seixas is pro cycling’s superstar in waiting.

Double Paris Olympic champ Kristen Faulkner is back on the boards aiming for track cycling gold at the ’28 Los Angeles Games, after winning two more golds last week at the Pan American track cycling championships.

L39ion of Los Angeles cyclist Jyven Gonzalez won the Elite race at the awkwardly named 4th Annual Alfred Parks “Ketch D Bull Fi Mi” Memorial Race in Belize.

Cycling Weekly examines the soaring costs of getting into youth bike racing, which threatens to keep countless kids out of the sport.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your ebike is taking notes from cars. Or when your bike seat gets a nose job.

And honestly, who among us has not asked a driver to ram us with their car, before riding a bicycle into a creek?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Bloodless account of CA Ebike Incentive killing, LA’s most dangerous intersections, and new CA bill redefines e-motos

February 24, 2026 / / Comments Off on Bloodless account of CA Ebike Incentive killing, LA’s most dangerous intersections, and new CA bill redefines e-motos

Evidently, CARB’s cold-blooded murder of the California Ebike Incentive Program was just one of those things.

At least, that’s the takeaway from a remarkably bloodless Los Angeles Times report that finally made its way into print over the weekend, a couple weeks after first appearing online.

Take this remarkably mild-mannered introduction to the story.

To offset the cost of the e-bikes, which can run in the thousands of dollars, the state launched a generous voucher program — one that heavily subsidized, and in some cases completely offset, the purchase price. Demand soared.

That’s when the problems began.

Vouchers were quickly snatched up. A website set up to manage applications crashed amid heavy demand.

Despite wide public interest, the program quietly and abruptly ended last year — a victim, in some ways, of its own success.

Now the state is pivoting, leaving cycling advocates disappointed and those who were able to snag e-bike vouchers counting their lucky stars.

No mention there, or anywhere else in the story, of the three years it took the California Air Resources Board to even issue the first voucher.

Let alone the alleged malfeasance by, and investigations into, San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, which was hired by CARB to manage the program. And failed miserably.

And then the whole damn thing collapsed, apparently because getting cleaner cars on the road mattered more than getting more cars off it.

The demand was apparent. Some cycling advocates say they were under the impression additional vouchers — that would have been funded by the subsequent $18 million in state funding — were on the horizon as soon as a new administrator of the program was secured.

But those dollars were instead diverted to CARB’s Clean Cars 4 All program, which helps lower-income Californians trade in their gas-fueled vehicles for new or used plug-in hybrid electric, zero-emission vehicles or motorcycles, she said.

“California is committed to supporting e-bikes as a clean mobility alternative to vehicles. But, ultimately, the state has a limited budget and many competing priorities,” CARB spokesperson Bradley Branan told The Times.

That’s it.

Apparently, they couldn’t find a single disgruntled applicant willing to go on the record with a single complain against how the program was (mis)managed.

And yes, that’s me over here waving my hand until it falls off.

The whole program was the very definition of a clusterfuck and a shitshow from beginning to end. Because calling it a complete and barely mitigated disaster is being far too kind.

Instead, the Times very belatedly and very politely suggests that it was just one of those unfortunate things.

You, just another California program gone bad. Nothing to see here.

And don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

Meanwhile, California continues to fall behind the ebike voucher race, as Tampa, Florida is bringing back a program that would award 248 ebike vouchers through a lottery program, offering up to $3,000 for very low income recipients.

That compares very favorably to the zero vouchers for zero dollars offered by the City and/or County of Los Angeles.

And now, California, too.

Image of the murder weapon removed from the back of the California Ebike Incentive Program and California bicyclists by Annie Gavin from Pixabay.

………

Speaking of the LA Times, the paper ranked the city’s 14 worst intersections, based on LADOT traffic counts and LAPD collision data.

Even there, the language and tone are no bolder.

And once again, they couldn’t seem to find a single traffic safety advocate to talk to. Evidently, no one picked up the phones at Streets For All and Streets Are For Everyone.

Or maybe the Times just lost their numbers.

The best they could do was a traffic engineering expert from USC, who evidently doesn’t consider traffic speed or road design a contributing factor when it comes to collisions.

Consider these milquetoast stanzas.

  • Many of the worst intersection were designed to take a lot traffic. They’ve been optimized for car movement (so pedestrians, buses cyclists come second to moving cars). This is controversial because some feel the city needs to prioritize getting solo drivers out of cars and onto mass transit and other alternatives. But most of these intersections lack protected bike and bus lanes.
  • As frustrating as the waits at these intersections can be, Moore argues that the city has generally done a adequate job of moving so many cars and is skeptical much more can be done short the type of “congestion pricing” system being tried in New York and European cities.

While I’m all in favor of congestion pricing, I doubt there are many people who would give LA traffic even an “adequate” grade.

That said, here’s the list in all its glory.

  1. Highland and Sunset
  2. Sepulveda and Lincoln
  3. MLK and Crenshaw
  4. 3rd and Alvarado
  5. El Segundo and Hoover
  6. Los Feliz and Griffith Park
  7. Pacific Coast Highway and Sunset
  8. Santa Monica and Highland
  9. Fountain and Hyperion
  10. Crenshaw and 9th
  11. La Cienega and Centinela
  12. Vermont and 28th
  13. Wilshire and Sepulveda
  14. Pacific Coast Highway and Channel/Chautauqua

Two of those are walking distance from my apartment. Which probably explains why I feel like my life is in danger every time I walk the dog.

And I’ve ridden, driven of bused through most of the rest, and can attest that they do, indeed, suck.

But I don’t think you can evaluate any intersection without considering the design of the roadways leading up to it, or the speed of the drivers approaching it.

This list should be a call to action to fix each of these. But if we only address the intersections themselves, we won’t solve the problems that put them on it.

Then again, I’m not traffic engineering expert.

So what do I know?

………

Now that’s what I’m talking about.

Calbike, Streets for All, Streets Are For Everyone, and People for Bikes have clearly heard the call, and are backing a new bill that would redefine some electric mopeds and e-motorbikes to clear up the current confusion and separate them from Class 1, 2 and 3 ebikes.

Unlike AB 1942, which would require licenses and registration for ebikes, SB 1167 would clarify what is actually an ebike, while renaming and regulating faster and higher-powered two-wheeled vehicles.

Like these, for instance.

The bill would require that an electric bicycle must have fully operational pedals and an electric motor capable of no more than 750 watts; anything else could not be legally called, marketed or sold as a bicycle or ebike.

What is currently termed a motorized bicycle would be redefined as a moped, with clearer definitions of vehicle design, power output, and a top speed of 30 mph on level ground.

The term motor-driven cycles would include electric motorcycles offering less than 3,750 watts and 5 brake horsepower.

Both categories would require that manufacturers and marketers clearly specify that they are not electric bicycles.

Dirt bikes and other electric motorbikes intended for off-highway use will be treated as off-highway motor vehicles and must display identification plates or devices, and be certified by an accredited independent lab.

And perhaps most importantly, it would not require licenses, registration or insurance for ped-assist ebikes — a requirement that would be the best way to kill the growth of ebikes, and limit their ability to replace motor vehicle use.

………

Hats off to our very own Marvin Braude Bike Trail, which leads USA Today’s list of the ten best waterfront bike paths in the US.

………

This is who we share the road with.

A driver in Redlands deliberately crashed his Tesla into a crowd of people standing outside a popular restaurant and bar at closing time, after getting into an “altercation” involving several people.

Four people were hospitalized with major injuries.

The driver then fled the scene, crashing into the curb as he made his escape. After which, someone in the crowd got their revenge by shooting up a couple of nearby businesses, neither of which probably had anything to do with it.

………

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

He gets it. A North Carolina letter writer patiently explains that bike riders already pay for the streets, and that anyone who wants to exclude bicycles from the state’s roadways because they don’t pay gas taxes might as well exclude EVs, too — then signs off that he’s “Not a cyclist or an EV owner.”

No one is happy in Manchester, England, where a key bike lane is being dug up for the third time in two years, leaving merchants, drivers and bike riders fuming.

………

Local 

Los Angeles city leaders have apparently managed to get their collective heads out of their metaphorical asses long enough to request an extension on $100 million in funding from California Active Transportation Program, rather than give the money back to the state after concluding that city staff reductions meant they couldn’t meet the deadline to finish projects in Wilmington, Boyle Heights and Skid Row.

Streetsblog reports the LA City Council Transportation Committee will discus plans for automated speed camera enforcement at their 8:45 am meeting tomorrow.

Long Beach will hold a town hall tomorrow night to discuss plans for a revamp of the city’s 2nd Street Bridge, amid reports they’re backing off plans for the promised protected bike lanes, leaving bike riders with just a thin stripe of white paint to protect them from speeding drivers.

Sad news from South LA, where an LA driver continued the city’s longstanding tradition of killing innocent people without fear of retribution, after a 30-year old woman riding a mobility scooter was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

LA Bike Boy takes a carfree trip from Venice to the venerable Huntington Library in San Marino.

 

State

Sad news from Santa Maria, where a man in his 50s was found lying dead in the street next to his bicycle after a hit-and-run, at the same intersection where a pedestrian was killed in another hit-and-run just a day before. Which is exactly how you know an intersection is a deadly disaster. 

 

National

WTF? The owner of a Boulder, Colorado bicycle and triathlon shop says his store was sold behind his back and without his consent, after a minority parter misrepresented himself as owner of the property and trademark, and sold it to Mike’s Bikes.

A Norman, Oklahoma man is planning to ride across the country to raise funds and awareness of multiple sclerosis, despite living with the disease for nearly two decades.

 

International

Banff, Alberta says it’s time to get all arty and funky with the city’s bike racks. Although the problem with artistic bike racks is that too many people don’t realize they are one.

Locals are enraged when an English bike path is closed for two years because someone living in van community did some unauthorized digging in an embankment next to the path.

A bakery manager in the UK got his stolen handmade bike back after posting the theft online, when a kindhearted stranger spotted the bike and bought it back for the equivalent of just 27 bucks.

When a British physician offered to give away her old tandem to anyone who wanted it, she didn’t expect to ship it off to a Kenyan paracycling group, who needed it for racing with the blind.

Heartbreaking story, as an Irish man tearfully recalls that his wife never rode a bike again after his eight-year old son was killed riding in front of her.

The 15-year old son of the chairman of Israel’s Ra’am political party suffered severe injuries, including a head injury, when he was struck by a driver while riding an ebike in Upper Galilee.

A San Francisco urbanist visits his husband’s family Taiwan, and wonders if the country’s “incredible network of protected bike paths” could be brought home to the Bay Area.

A travel website says Kyoto and Hokkaido, Japan have joined better known locations like Amsterdam, Tuscany and Mallorca, Spain as the world’s best bicycling destinations. But they bizarrely feel the need to illustrate it with an AI-generated photo of bicyclist riding in front of a spectacular mountain range and temples that don’t exist. 

A New Zealand farming website profiles a Kiwi dairy farmer who somehow finds time to ride his bike while running a local gravel cycling group, despite milking 450 cows twice a day.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking news from Rwanda, where a race vehicle veered into a crowd of spectators watching the Tour of Rwanda on Sunday, killing two people and injuring six others.

Trailblazing Nigerian cyclist Ese Lovina Ukpeseraye is calling it a career, just two years after she became the first cyclist to represent the country in the Olympics.

Ivanie Blondin, a gold medal winner for Canada in the women’s long track team pursuit speed skating, is one of us, with top-10 finishes in two North American crits last year.

South African Imtiyaaz “Sparkie” Schultz has made the difficult jump from Cape Town gang member to professional cyclist, after asking the local gang leader for permission to walk away from gang life so he could wash enough cars to buy a racing bicycle.

Former WorldTour cyclist and current Costa Rican national cycling team head coach Andrey Amador was hospitalized in “delicate condition” after he lost control and crashed his bike while riding with the national team.

 

Finally…

The internet has ruled — tell another bike rider his taillight is too bright, and yes, you are the a-hole. Science says the best way to get faster on a bike is to do your training rides in hot tub.

And LADOT says they didn’t mean “If you see something, say something” applies to people pooping on buses, too.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Man riding ebike against traffic killed in head-on Oxnard crash, hit-and-run; the first driver stayed, while second fled

February 23, 2026 / / 3 comments

This year just keeps getting worse.

As of this weekend, 15 people had already lost their lives riding a bicycle in Southern California this year.

Now you can add yet another victim to that grim list. This time in Oxnard, where a 40-year old man was killed riding an ebike.

And this time only one of the two drivers involved bothered to stick around afterwards.

According to a press release from the Oxnard Police Department, the victim, who hasn’t been publicly identified, was apparently riding north on the southbound side of Saviers Road near Guava Street around 6:23 pm Sunday when he was struck head-on by a 67-year old pickup driver traveling in the right lane.

That driver stopped after the crash. Police do not believe he was speeding or under the influence

The victim was knocked off his bike by the impact, landing in the next lane, where he was run over by a driver in an SUV. That person continued without stopping, dragging the ebike under their car.

The second driver stopped about a block away to dislodged the ebike from underneath the SUV, then got back in and continued driving south on Saviers. There’s no description at this time of that driver or the suspect SUV.

The victim died at the scene.

It’s not clear from the limited description whether he was riding in the bike lane when he was struck by the first driver, or if he was in the traffic lane next to it.

It’s also not clear whether he was actually riding a ped-assist or throttle-controlled bicycle, or if he was riding e-motorbike or a non-street legal electric dirt bike.

That’s an ongoing problem when anything with two wheels and an electric motor is called an ebike, regardless of how fast or powerful it is.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Oxnard Police Officer Daniel Diaz Sanchez at 805/385-7750, or email daniel.diaz-sanchez@oxnardpd.org, especially after hours. Or you can call the Oxnard Police Department at 805/385-7600.

This the 16th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the second in Ventura County; both were in Oxnard.

Five of those deaths have now involved hit-and-run drivers.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Update: Man riding bicycle killed in Hesperia collision, possibly involving two drivers; 15th SoCal bike death already this year

February 21, 2026 / / Comments Off on Update: Man riding bicycle killed in Hesperia collision, possibly involving two drivers; 15th SoCal bike death already this year

At least this time the driver stuck around.

Both of them, apparently.

According to the Victor Valley Daily Press, a man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by a driver in Hesperia early Friday.

The paper places the collision at Highway 395 and Joshua Street, a little before 5:30 am. The victim, described only as an adult male, died at the scene.

The Victor Valley News Group reports there were two vehicles at the scene, both with visible front end damage, a 2014 Toyota Camry and a 2021 Subaru Forester.

It’s possible he may have been knocked off his bike by one driver, and struck again by the second.

A photo from the scene shows a mangled blue bicycle resting on the side of the road, with what appears to be a backpack in the middle of the roadway. The bike is facing against traffic, but that could be a result of the impact, or it could have been moved following the crash.

The intersection is controlled by a red light. Lining up a street view with a directional sign in the background of one photo, it appears the crash occurred on northbound 395 just past Joshua. Both drivers look to have been traveling in the same direction.

A statement provided by the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department explained the collision remained under investigation, and “The involved parties remained on scene and are cooperating with investigators.”

With one notable exception.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Hesperia Police Department at  760/947-1500, or call the We-Tip hotline anonymously at 800/782-7463.

This the 15th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the second in San Bernardino County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 48-year old Victorville resident John Hewitt.

The Victor Valley News Group confirms that Hewitt was stuck by two separate drivers.

According to a statement from investigators,

“Preliminary findings indicated that while Hewitt was riding his bicycle he was struck by a driver of a Subaru,” the statement said. “The impact knocked the cyclist off his bicycle and onto the ground. While the man was on the ground, he was subsequently struck by a driver of a Toyota Camry.”

Both drivers remained at the scene.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for John Hewitt and his loved ones. 

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , ,

Sunday memorial for pregnant Playa crash victim and baby, comment on LA speed cam pilot, and bikes boost testosterone

February 20, 2026 / / Comments Off on Sunday memorial for pregnant Playa crash victim and baby, comment on LA speed cam pilot, and bikes boost testosterone

Apparently, we jumped the gun yesterday.

Yesterday’s post featured a Twitter/X post announcing a Thursday night ghost bike memorial for 36-year old Google executive, mom, wife and expectant mother Regan Cole-Graham, who was killed by a 87-year old driver while riding with her husband and two young sons in Playa del Rey earlier this month.

So my apologies to anyone who showed up last night expecting to honor her.

Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, will host a memorial and ghost bike installation for Cole-Graham and her unborn daughter, who the couple named Ophelia, at 10 am this Sunday.

It will be held at the site of the crash, at 8415 Pershing Drive.

I’ve written about a lot of sad things over the nearly two decades I’ve been doing this. But I can’t recall any that have hit me any harder.

Instagram post

Meanwhile, an op-ed by Jonathan Hale, described as a community activist and founder of People’s Vision Zero, says the deaths of Regan and Ophelia Cole-Graham suggests it’s time to rethink the Westside’s knee-jerk opposition to traffic safety.

Cole-Graham family photo from the GoFundMe page for Regan Cole-Graham, which has raised over $287,000 of the now $300,000 goal.

………

Speaking of SAFE, you can’t blame the organization for taking a small victory lap following LADOT’s announcement that they are finally ready for public comment on the city’s speed cam pilot program, after months of inaction.

Let’s hope they have at least one planned for Deadly del Mar.

Twitter post

According to LADOT,

On February 11, LADOT officially began a 30-day public review and comment period of the upcoming Speed Safety Systems Program Pilot.

Angelenos will have the opportunity to review the program’s policies and proposed locations of 125 speed safety systems, which are set to be placed in every council district. This is your time to ask the department questions and offer feedback on the pilot program’s policies, meaningfully contributing to the process of making our city safer, together.

Click here to provide an official public comment on LADOT’s Report to Council

To confront rising traffic deaths and injuries, the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is launching a Speed Safety Systems Program pilot across the city. The pilot program seeks to curb speeding and dangerous driving activity to make our city safer. But they can’t do it alone.

Speeding is one of the leading causes of serious injuries and deaths on our streets. In Los Angeles, around one in five fatal crashes in the city were directly attributed to speeding in 2024.

How to Submit Public Comment

You know your neighborhoods best. Your voices are essential to ensuring this program reflects community needs and advances our shared goal of safer streets for everyone.

The full program policies and recommendations are available on LADOT’s website.

To submit comments on the program, please do so through the council file. You can also send questions regarding the program to LADOT staff by replying to this email at ladot.speedsafety@lacity.org.

Thank you for your time and consideration during the process of this critical pilot program launch. Together, we can make our streets safer and reduce traffic deaths.

………

The not always bike-friendly London Times reports a small study has found that bicycling boosts testosterone levels in middle-aged men.

That’s in addition to other well known benefits such as burning fat, lowing cholesterol and boosting your immune system.

However, as with any limited study, the question is whether researchers will get the same result testing 2,800 men as they did with these 28.

Or 28,000.

………

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

No bias here. Nearly two-thirds of Chicago’s aldermen voted against a proposed ordinance that would have allowed private citizens to report commercial vehicles blocking bus lanes, bus stops and bikeways.

Ireland’s bus drivers union gets its Irish up calling for mandatory hi-viz for bike riders, insisting it would make the roads safer by making us easier to see. Even though people still manage to crash into such hi-viz items as road signs, bridges and emergency vehicles.

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

A British website places its metaphorical tongue deep inside its metaphorical cheek to criticize lycra-clad bicyclists who insist on riding in the streets instead of using bike lanes, which apparently takes all the fun and jeopardy out of it. But maybe the just do it because the bike lane is closed at one end and blocked by a parked van on the other.

………

Local 

A Los Angeles jury rejected a lawsuit alleging that an LAPD officer was intentionally killed by another cop during a 2022 bicycle training exercise at the police academy.

Santa Monica’s “Bicycle Nomad” is on a mission to honor Black history by riding historical trails across the country, such as tracing the route of the famed Buffalo soldiers, and the Underground Railroad.

The Loyola Marymount University student newspaper reports campus theft has returned to pre-pandemic levels, with thieves snatching everything from laptops to Labubus — including almost as many bicycles and skateboards as motor vehicles.

 

State

Redland’s new 3.8-mile segment of the Santa Ana River Trail is just a small part of what will eventually be a 110-mile pathway.

 

National

Road.cc reports US-based private equity giant KKR has lost its shirt, if not its ass, placing a $2.2 billion bet on bicycling by buying the Accell Group, parent company of Raleigh, Babboe, Lapierre and several other bike brands, losing all their initial equity plus another $1.36 billion since the 2022 takeover.

A Medford, Oregon man who designs riding routes for his bike club makes the case for why the city needs to do more to improve the safety of its streets.

That’s more like it. New Mexico’s state legislature passed a bill requiring student drivers to take a course on bicycle and pedestrian safety before they can get a license.

If you build it, they will come. Manhattan’s bike lanes and congestion pricing seem to be having the intended effect, as bicycle ridership over New York’s East River bridges has reached an all-time high for the fifth consecutive year.

A Philadelphia paper has honored the “tattooed, middle-aged hairstylist” who revived the Philadelphia Cycling Classic as their Citizen of the Week. Which sounds a tad 1984-ish, but still.

Sure, let’s go with that. A South Carolina woman was arrested for a hit-and-run that left a bike rider with a broken leg, as well as cuts and abrasions, insisting she had no idea she had crashed into someone because she was busy looking down at her phone and thought she just hit a sign; she was not charged with DUI, despite appearing “grossly intoxicated” when police arrested her two hours later. Never mind that distracted driving is illegal in South Carolina. Or that most rational people would have at least stopped to check for damage if they thought they’d hit something.

 

International

Cycling Weekly reports that a new, admittedly complicated tire level could solve the problem of mounting stiff tires once and for all. Unless you’re left-handed, in which case you’re screwed.

A picture of a flooded UK street looks like it could have been taken in LA yesterday.

If you build it, they will come, part two. In an annoyingly paywalled story, a Scottish paper reports that for the first time, there were more bicycles than cars on a Glasgow street during both the morning and evening peak rush hours. But at least the first two paragraphs are worth reading. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Former pro Phil Gaimon says he’s got leaked information detailing the full route of the road cycling race for the 2028 Olympics, and says he couldn’t have designed a better course himself.

But will he be on the side of the road handing out fresh cookies to the competitors? Only time will tell.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re planning to ride every stage of the Tour de France at 60 years old — despite a hip replacement and cancer diagnosis. Or when you take part in an unsanctioned, underground anti-Super Bowl bike race.

And lots of people ride with their dogs, but how many ride the entire Left Coast towing a 350-pound, life-size fiberglass rhinoceros?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Ghost bike placement tonight for pregnant woman killed in Playa, and memorial ride Sunday for Long Beach hit-and-run victim

February 19, 2026 / / One comment

Let’s start with a small correction. 

The other day, I tried to make one of my typically lame jokes, about why Islands magazine was writing about Montreal, when it isn’t one. 

Except, as Doug pointed out, it actually is. 

Which I suppose is the Canadian equivalent of not knowing Manhattan is an island. So I’ll just sit over here in the dunce corner for the rest of the day. 

Photo of one of SoCal’s far too many ghost bikes by Matt Tinoco.

………

A ghost bike will be placed tonight for 36-year old Regan Cole-Graham, who was killed by an elderly driver while riding with her husband and two sons on Pershing Drive in Playa del Rey — right where a road diet was ripped out to appease angry drivers in 2017, after being installed just months earlier.

I’m also told a heartbreaking little white Strider bike is being prepared to honor her unborn child, who died with her just two months short of full term.

Twitter post

………

Long Beach bike groups are hosting a memorial ride for Lori Ann Carreon this Sunday.

According to Bike Long Beach,

…this coming Sunday, a number of Long Beach cycling groups will gather at 4:00 p.m. at 2nd Street and Redondo Avenue for a memorial ride to remember Lori Ann Carreon, the cyclist that was struck and killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver two weeks ago. At 4:30 p.m., the group will ride together to Bixby Park (approximately 1 mile, 2 miles round trip) for a sunset candlelight vigil as they honor her life and come together in community. All are welcome. The ride will be slow and accessible to all. Please ride safely and bring a candle if you’re able.

 

I wish installations and rides like this wen’t necessary. But as long as they are, I’m glad there are still people willing to do it.

And you can get flameless candles online for as little as ten bucks, some of which look pretty realistic if you opt for the flickering variety.

………

Streetblog’s Damian Newton says the early reviews are bad on the proposed license plate-mandating ebike legislation we discussed here the other day, as bike safety advocates pan the bill.

And give him extra credit for quoting my comment that it’s just “an asinine political stunt.”

Meanwhile, Calbike wants your input to help fight the damn thing, as well as enforcing existing laws against illegally misrepresenting e-motos as legal ebikes.

………

Bike Long Beach is also hosting their next Bikes and Coffee ride Sunday morning, with a nine-mile, no-drop ride exploring the city’s aviation history.

If you’re planning to attend, sign their ride waiver. And you’re encouraged to bring a helmet, bike lock, and repair kit, as well as a bike in working order.

The latter of which would seem to be a prerequisite.

………

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

No bias here. An English driving academy questions whether bicyclists have a right to the road, while using AI slop to conjure a not-quite right image of a bicyclist riding on the road near a narrow bike path, accompanied by a couple paragraphs of AI written copy.

No bias here, either. An Irish bike lane is scheduled to be redesigned, or maybe removed, after drivers complained it was a pilot program “with no pilot,” and compared it to a “North Korean style” bike lane that left poor, afflicted motorists with nowhere to pull over if they had a flat or engine trouble, while making it impossible for two combine harvesters to pass one another, which must be a common problem there. Although some of those North Korean bike lanes look better than a lot of LA bike lanes. 

………

Local 

Eaton Fire recovery charity Lotus Rising LA will host a Lunar New Year bike ride this Saturday through Pasadena and Altadena to celebrate the Year of the Fire Horse.

 

State

Calbike is introducing their new line of bike-themed T-shirts and accessories. Some of them aren’t bad.

About damn time. San Diego is moving forward with a comprehensive plan to lower speed limits “around school zones, business corridors, key pedestrian and bicycle routes, and areas with a history of crashes.” Although in Los Angeles, that last clause could cover the entire city.

A Florida father is planning to ride across the country, from San Diego to the East Coast of Florida, to honor his sister who was killed on 9/11. With all due respect, though, riding across the country is hard, with countless unforeseen obstacles that can derail even the best plans — like when my brother was forced to ride out a tornado in a public restroom. So wake me when someone completes a ride, not when they’re planning one. 

Bike riders in San Francisco will highlight Black history and culture with a five-hour ride through the SoMa, Mission Bay and Bayview neighborhoods, culminating in a block party at the end of the ride.

Manteca has formally banned street takeovers by bicyclists, with a $1,000 fine if you’re caught participating, or a mandatory bike safety course and having their bike impounded for anyone under 16.

 

National

More than 1,100 organizations, including major bikemakers, sounded the alarm over funding cuts to bike and active transportation infrastructure, urging Congress to maintain current levels as it drafts the next national transportation bill.

Mountain Bike Action asks if a new drop bar ebike can erase the line between mountain and gravel bikes. Finally bringing this divided nation together. 

An enterprising 12-year old Bend, Oregon boy is detailing cars to raise money to buy his own ebike. You gotta applaud the spirit, even if kids that young shouldn’t be riding them — especially not throttle-controlled electric motorbikes. 

Sad news from Seattle, where a local TV station announced that a 14-year old spaniel has died, two years after he was the first dog to walk across a new pedestrian freeway overpass. No, really.

LV Sports Biz says Las Vegas paid $800,000 to a Henderson, Nevada firm for a Vision Zero study, but questions what difference that has actually made on the streets.

Over on the other coast, a 67-year old Connecticut man says the Watchman procedure has allowed him to get back on his bike, after 15 years on blood thinners. Yes, I know it’s a healthcare advertorial, but still. 

A New York bike club is suing the city over Central Park’s new 15 mph speed limit, calling it a real threat to active transportation.

 

International

Bike riders in Halifax, Nova Scotia complain that collisions are rising along with bike ridership, as the streets remain dangerous for people on two wheels.

A Welsh police captain has been forced to apologize after a “miscategorized” emergency call left an injured bike rider lying in a busy intersection for more than three hours before an ambulance arrived.

There may be dirty tricks afoot in London’s bikeshare wars, as dockless ebike firm Bolt is accusing its competitors of secretly moving the company’s bikes in the middle of the night to areas where they will get impounded by morning.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website busts a handful of ebike myths, starting with ebikes aren’t just for seniors and lazy people. Both of which could describe me these days. 

A British woman shares the highs and lows of her “magical” 6,214-mile bike ride across Africa, from Kigali, Rwanda to Cape Town, South Africa. Although getting chased by tsetse flies was probably one of the lows. 

New Zealand authorities are belatedly paving over a railroad track running through the middle of a bike path, after a 71-year old man suffered multiple injuries when his bike tire got caught in a rut.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a “Mensa reject” says you can avoid a ticket by putting your car’s license plate on the bike rack. Who needs an ebike when you’ve got an e-ski?

And nothing like pedaling a three-wheeled bike through the Moroccan desert loaded with 21 satellite dishes.

Or maybe on an artfully deconstructed and rearranged bike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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