Cunanan was riding east on Thunderbird Road at Wichita Road around 9:10 pm Monday, when he was rear-ended by an SUV driver traveling in the same direction at a high rate of speed.
The 36-year old driver remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators.
A message from his church the next day had asked for “fervent prayers” for Cunanan, as well as his wife and children.
The earlier story had said Cunanan was riding in the traffic lane when he was struck. However, that was not repeated in the second story reporting his death; there is a westbound bike lane on Thunderbird, but not headed east.
The crash remains under investigation. Any with information is urged to call the Apple Valley Station of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department at 760/240-7400, or Sheriff’s Dispatch number at 760/956-5001.
This is at least the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in San Bernardino County.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Victor Cunanan and all his family and loved ones.
There’s no word on whether the driver was ticketed or charged. And as with other similar cases, there’s no information on why Fields was riding on the freeway.
This is at least the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
I have the answer why the deceased was riding on the freeway shoulder. The section of I805 from Main St to Palm Ave is marked with signage allowing bicycles. Or at least it was, I haven’t been that way in a while. The reason is that there is no way to bike from Chula Vista to South San Diego without using the 805 without going way around. The toll road 125 is similarly marked.
I preferred the north bound side as it was relatively safer. The south bound exit at Palm is a typically chaotic, car centric CALTRANS design seemingly designed to imperil cyclists and pedestrians regardless of whether they’re on the ramp or not.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Victor Keith Fields and all his loved ones.
June 7, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Grossman sentencing Monday on hit-and-run, murder charges; and NY congestion pricing decision could jeopardize LA plan
Just 207 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Grossman was convicted on two counts of murder and gross vehicular manslaughter, and one count of hit and run for the high-speed deaths of 11-year old Mark Iskander and his eight-year old brother as they crossed a residential Westlake Village street with their parents.
The wife of Grossman Burn Center founder Dr. Peter Grossman, Grossman allegedly had Valium in her system and had downed at least two margaritas, before racing with her then-boyfriend, former Dodgers pitcher Scott Erickson.
Her attorneys argued the wealthy philanthropist and mother of two has no prior criminal record and should be spared prison time, while prosecutors contend she deserves a heavy sentence because she hasn’t shown any remorse or accepted responsibility for the fatal crash.
Their recommendation of two consecutive sentences of 15-to-life, plus four years for the hit-and-run count, would mean the 60-year old would likely spend the rest of her life behind bars.
She’s scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.
Let’s just hope the judge agrees.
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More fallout from New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s unexpected decision to kill congestion pricing in New York City.
New York Streetsblog questions whether the governor even has the legal authority to cancel congestion pricing scheduled to go into effect at the end of this month, and if she has a plan to replace the billions in lost revenue to fund the city’s transit network.
While it may seem like a New York problem, her decision matters here in Los Angeles, too. Because if it stands, that will make it almost impossible to implement congestion pricing, which has proven successful in London, virtually anywhere in the US.
Including right here in the City of Angels and Traffic Congestion.
BikeSD is sponsoring a bike ride tomorrow to show that bikes mean business, and encourage bike riders to use its coupon book to support businesses along Main Street in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood.
And vice versa.
To demonstrate that, we’ve partnered with a few businesses along 30th street that will be offering discounts for bicyclists. (2/3) pic.twitter.com/NsY7JnnRGP
Hermosa Beach is banning ebikes and electric motorcycles from the city’s greenbelt, but will still allow them on The Strand and in Pier Plaza, as long as the motor is turned off — making them impractically heavy. Banning ebikes from bike paths and walkways is legal under state law; banning them from public streets is not.
Back in 2019, a four-year old girl was tragically killed by a driver as she crossed the street in Koreatown, while holding hands with her mother.
In a crosswalk. With the light.
Alessa Fajardo and her mom did everything right as they crossed Olympic at Normandie that October day, yet she died anyway. Even though Los Angeles officials knew long before about the dangers of that area and intersection.
In fact, the school they were going to was ranked the city’s 13th most dangerous campus just six years earlier, while Koreatown as a whole was rated LA’s fourth most dangerous neighborhood for bike riders and pedestrians.
That’s pedestrians, like little kids crossing the street with their mothers.
It took four-and-a-half years, and a $9.6 million dollar settlement before anything was done about it.
Starting with the problem of each city councilmember acting like little kings in their own districts, responsible for identifying and approving any improvements before they are made.
Or not.
Neither former District 10 Councilmember Herb Wesson, who represented the district when Alessa was killed, nor his successor, Mark Ridley-Thomas, secured that funding. Ridley-Thomas was indicted on federal corruption charges, suspended from the council and later convicted and removed from his seat in late March 2022. Nobody represented the district until Heather Hutt was appointed that September.
Hutt identified and allocated $530,000 for the new signals in June 2023, but the installation work did not begin until April 2024, four months after the family’s suit against the city was settled.
District 10 staff would not comment on the record about why they could not secure the funds in 2020, 2021, 2022 and early 2023.
No surprise there.
Then again, even on the rare occasions when councilmembers really do try to do something, angry motorists too often rush for their torches and pitchforks — and threats of recall elections.
Two years before little Alessa was killed in Koreatown, the city agreed to another $9.6 million settlement, this time with the family of a 16-year old girl killed crossing — wait for it — Vista Del Mar to get to her car after leaving Dockweiler Beach.
The same beach where the kids were killed on Tuesday.
Then-CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin responded by ordering long-delayed safety improvements on Vista Del Mar, and a handful of other streets in Playa del Rey. Both because too many lives had already been lost on the deadly roadway, and because the next settlement, for the next inevitable death, would be exponentially higher.
Now just three years after that, two more people have needlessly lost their lives on that same bloody stretch of road. And despite a breathless report from Fox-11, police reports said there was no indication either driver was under the influence.
Never mind that the settlement for this one will likely be exponentially higher than the last one, since Los Angeles installed, then removed, safety improvements that might have prevented it.
Yet despite at least four deaths on the same section of roadway in just nine years, some people still seem to think they should have the unfettered, God-given right to go zoom zoom whenever and wherever they want, innocent lives be damned.
making everybody sit in traffic improves safety but it destroys quality of life. There's a whole bike path that already runs parallel to Vista Del Mar and goes all the way up Culver Blvd. There was no need for the redundant bike lane which only caused headaches for 99.9% of us
Three of the kids were critically injured when the 83-year old driver hit them head-on as they rode single file, leaving the children screaming in terror and pain amid their mangled bikes.
She was arrested at the scene, then released and taken to a hospital after police concluded she wasn’t in a “fit state” for questioning.
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Speaking of deadly roadways, here’s your chance to fight for bike lanes on PCH in Long Beach.
Reminder Long Beach residents! Join @CaltransDist7 for a public meeting to learn about an upcoming bike lane project on Thursday, 6 from 6pm to 7pm at the Guidance Center. pic.twitter.com/Lir1Cnp9ZR
— Caltrans District 7 (@CaltransDist7) June 3, 2024
A bike rider in Brussels, Belgium is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his bike by a driver who tried to pass him and his companion while driving in a clearly marked bike lane, then the enraged motorist got out and slashed the victim’s throat with a knife; the victim managed to escape with just six stitches when the driver barely missed his jugular.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Streets For All urges support for a proposed 28-mile The Hill to Sea transit corridor traversing 13 cities and unincorporated communities from Pasadena to Long Beach, which would “aggressively reduce car dependency by prioritizing high quality bus service, safe protected bike paths, and improved sidewalks for walking and businesses.”
Orange County supervisors voted to crackdown on ebikes, including restrictions on sidewalk riding, imposing speed limits and reclassifying bikes that generate more than 750 watts through their motors — even though the latter two could put them in direct conflict with existing state law.
Colorado took a step forward by creating a dedicated $7 million funding stream for “proven small infrastructure projects that improve safety for vulnerable road users,” such as bike lanes, sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements. While that’s far too little — even for a relatively small state — it’s a hell of a lot more than most are willing to commit to.
Sad news from DC, where a 34-year old White House staffer was killed while riding his bike when he crossed the center line on a sharp curve during a fundraising ride, and was struck head-on by an oncoming motorist; Jacob Thomas Brewer was the husband of Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham.
June 4, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Silence marks World Bicycle Day in City of Angels, living carfree in LA, and what a real 3-foot passing violation looks like
Just 210 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’re up to 1,178 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office in the next few days. So urge everyone you know to sign it now!
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Yesterday was World Bicycle Day.
Or as it’s known here in Los Angeles, Monday.
While other cities around the world marked it to greater or lesser degrees, Los Angeles observed the day by ignoring it entirely.
There was no official proclamation from the mayor, who seems to have forgotten we exist, after claiming to be one of us when she needed our votes.
Ditto for the city council, which offers us only vague promises that they can ignore later.
The silence was just as deafening coming from county leaders, the governor and the state legislature.
Then again, my inbox wasn’t exactly full of messages from state and local advocacy organizations using the day as a springboard to call for safer streets, better infrastructure, and other steps to get more people on fewer wheels.
Let alone the urgent need to provide safe and efficient alternatives to driving, at a time when our world is literally burning.
Instead, World Bicycle Day was just another opportunity for our elected leaders to once again swipe left, and remind us all that they’re just not that into us.
Thanks to Culver City-based multimedia producer and Loyola Marymount University Professor Emeritus Art Nomura for forwarding a couple non-commercial video series about the joys of going carfree.
The first, Carfree, Season 1, is described as a 12-part mini-documentary series released last year about the joys and challenges of living carfree, or carfree lite, in Southern California; Carfree, Season 2 is currently in production.
The second is Carfree Epiphany, a series of self-produced 30 second to two minute stories of how people have become and/or are becoming carfree. You’re invited to contribute your own video, with instructions on how to submit it included on the link.
I gave up driving several years ago. And don’t miss driving in this hot mess of a city one bit.
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Define “three-foot passing violation.”
Or at least it would be, if video evidence of misdemeanors and traffic violations counted for anything in California.
Driver hits my handlebar with her rear view mirror
Proving just how quick and easy it can be when the people in charge actually give a damn, and don’t have their skulls firmly embedded between their buttocks.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Horrifying story from Missouri, where a man was found badly injured 13 hours after somehow surviving a 22-foot fall, after he had to jump off his bike and over a concrete barrier to avoid getting run down by a hit-and-run driver.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
After three cygnets — aka baby swans — were killed along an English trail, suspicion immediately fell on reckless bicyclists, despite the lack of any actual evidence pointing in that direction. If bike riders were really responsible, there would have been feathers everywhere from the impact with the bike tires.
An LA County judge rejected wealthy socialite Rebecca Grossman’s bid to have her conviction overturned for killing two little kids as they rode their skateboard and kick scooter across the street with their parents, citing her speeding and drinking that night, as well as a previous warning from police about the dangers of speeding.
A British driver is on trial for killing a 52-year old triathlete as she was competing in a time trial in 2022, plowing into her from behind despite clear visibility and an open lane to her left — and later telling police he had no memory of the crash, but admitting that he “must” have hit her. Which would seem kinda obvious under the circumstances.
A new book argues that the Netherlands isn’t the bicycling paradise people think, and communities — even the ones filled with people on two wheels — should ask deeper questions about what their streets are really for. While the country may not be perfect, it’s still a hell of a lot better than pretty much anywhere here in the US. Especially LA.
Tragic news from Brazil, where 42-year old cycling champ Lais Saes was killed in a hit-and-run while training with three other women on a dirt mountain road, when she was struck by the driver of a utility vehicle; it took more than an hour for help to arrive at the remote location.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’ve jumped up to 1,173 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office in the next few days. So urge everyone you know to sign it now!
I’m finally starting to feel a little better, almost two months after falling and injuring my ribs and back, and re-injuring my shoulder. My ribs are almost back to normal, and my back is getting there. On the other hand, I think my torn rotator cuff is just screwed at this point.
Also, a very kind person reached out to me last week and offered to come over and help around our apartment — the second time that’s happened since my wife and I have both been injured, after another BikinginLA reader generously offered to come do our shopping for us.
I won’t embarrass them by sharing their names, but I truly appreciate their offers of help. And the kindness and generosity of the readers of this site, which I see every year during our fund drive, and throughout the year.
So my sincere thanks to both of these people, and everyone who has given from their heart to help keep this all going.
Not only did they move quickly to remove the protected bus and bike lanes, combining them into a single shared lane, but they made the move without conducting the required environmental review.
If you can make it, show up to show your support for the Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City, aka FFMCC, who filed the suit. And let me know what happens.
Here’s a press release from the group explaining the case.
Friends and Families for Move Culver City Invites Members of the Public to Attend the Hearing on June 5th for its Lawsuit Against City’s Planned Removal of Protected Bike Lanes and Pedestrian Protections from MOVE Culver City Project
Culver City, CA – Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City (FFMCC), a local advocacy group, invites members of the public to attend the hearing for its lawsuit to stop Culver City’s removal of critical infrastructure without proper California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review on June 5th at 1:30pm in Department 15 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012. The group first raised concerns and filed a lawsuit challenging the Culver City Council’s plans to remove key transportation upgrades in October 2023. The Culver City Council disregarded its own data, hundreds of public comments, letters and warnings from the community, elected officials, businesses, lawyers and environmental and mobility advocates when it first voted to begin the process of removing elements of its MOVE Culver City project in April 2023. Local advocates assert that the City Council’s approval of a CEQA exemption to these modifications is a violation of the law, as it would remove a protected bike lane and pedestrian features to accommodate an additional lane of vehicular traffic without disclosing, analyzing, or mitigating the impacts of those changes in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Despite the warning, in January 2024, the Culver City Council voted to approve funding for a construction contract related to the removal of safety upgrades in the Move Culver City Corridor.
Following the vote, FFMCC filed a lawsuit in October 2023. A copy of the opening brief can be viewed here.
“We’re confident in the strength of our case and expect the judge to rule in our favor,” says Yotala Oszkay Febres-Cordero, Chair of Friends and Families for MOVE Culver City, the plaintiff in the case. “The city clearly violated CEQA by voting to exempt the project from environmental review, ignoring the indisputable fact that replacing a protected bike lane with an additional lane for cars, and removing pedestrian safety features, poses significant threats to public health and safety. This is precisely why CEQA was enacted, to provide notice to and protect communities when a planned project generates these environmental threats.” FFMCC is represented by attorneys Ellis Raskin, Jillian Ames, and Jenny Dao of Hanson Bridgett LLP.
In moving forward with this trial, FFMCC hopes to show the City that proper CEQA review pursuant to state law must be adhered to before any environmentally hostile modifications are made to the MOVE Culver City corridor.
About Friends and Families for Move Culver City
Friends and Families for Move Culver City was formed in response to the Culver City Council’s 3-2 vote to declare modifications to the MOVE Culver City project exempt from CEQA and to proceed with the removal of protected bike lanes, pedestrian protections and safety measures, and the addition of vehicle lanes along Washington Blvd and Culver Blvd in Culver City. Following the council vote on 9/11/2023, a GoFundMe was organized which raised more than $15,000 in less than two weeks, with nearly 200 donations from community members opposing the City’s plans.
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Bike Talk talks with the author of The Art of Cycling in this week’s episode, dropping on Thursday.
Yesterday was my last day at Tern, and today, I am launching Cargo Bike Life to build a community and resources for those who want to be part of something bigger.https://t.co/iBl3tfAZjlpic.twitter.com/ruRolIqwFy
— Arleigh Greenwald (@bikeshopgirlcom) June 2, 2024
The annual AIDS/LifeCycle Ride is underway, with people from around the world riding 540 miles from San Francisco to Los Angeles this week; the fundraising ride will end in LA this weekend.
Paramedics in Anchorage, Alaska gave a young girl a new bicycle after a “distressing” incident that left her impaled by the brake lever on her bicycle, threatening her femoral artery.
Thanks to Cassandra Fulgham for her donation to help support this site — and possibly help defray that ambulance ride and ER visit. As you probably know by now, donations of an amount, no matter how large or small, are always welcome and appreciated, whatever the reason.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Unfortunately, there’s no word on how or when the crash occurred. His mother was informed by police around 10 am on the morning of the crash.
His family gathered around Edgar’s bed on Wednesday to celebrate his birthday — a day after he was rushed into surgery, and one day before he was declared brain dead.
They gathered again yesterday to celebrate Edgar’s high school graduation, before his body was wheeled into an operating room to donate his organs.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’ve inched up to 1,151 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office next week, after getting tied up with health issues this week. So urge everyone you know to sign it now!
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Beverly Hills is backsliding on their new found commitment to bike safety and Complete Streets.
The gilded city will rip out its only protected bike lane, on South Roxbury Drive next to Roxbury Park, because some drivers found the new parking configuration confusing and thought it reduced visibility when backing out of parking spaces.
Even though the city doesn’t seem to have done any actual studies to see whether it improved safety during the three years it was in place with no documented safety issues.
The planter-protected bike lane will be replaced with sharrows — even though protected bike lanes have been proven to improve safety for all road users, while sharrows have been shown to make things worse.
And never mind that the arrow in the sharrows symbol is just there to help drivers improve their aim.
However, that could put the city in conflict with state law unless cars are also banned from the street, since since state law requires bicycles to be permitted anywhere motor vehicles are allowed, with the exception of limited access highways in urban areas.
On the other hand, the suggestion to voluntarily avoid the area is probably a good idea until the ground stops literally shifting beneath your wheels.
Dear Bike Community,
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes would like to inform the Bike Community that the City will be considering prohibiting bicycles and motorcycles on Palos Verdes Drive South (PVDS) and an agenda item is planned to go before the RPV City Council on June 18, 2024.
City staff and consultants are seeing rapid and substantial rates of movement (6 to 9 inches per week, depending on location) in and around the vicinity of the landslide area along Palos Verdes Drive South.
Despite the warning signs in place, we are seeing injuries.
Out of an abundance of caution, we are asking the City Council to consider prohibiting bicycles and motorcycles on PVDS.
We are requesting the Bike Community to voluntarily consider alternate routes.
Please let us know if you have comments and questions regarding the above bicycle and motorcycle prohibition proposal.
The man poses as a prospective buyer for expensive ebikes advertised on on Facebook Marketplace and other online platforms, and shows up with cash in hand for a test ride.
But only after leaving with the bike do the victims discover the envelope full of money he left behind as a deposit is just counterfeit prop money for intended for film shoots, and marked “For motion picture purposes only” in small fine print.
In this case, the Huntington Beach victim was scammed out of $4,200.
There’s no word on how many other people have been conned, or the value to the bikes he’s stolen. However, after reporting the crime, the victim heard from several other people claiming they had also been victimized in similar scams, including in Redondo Beach and Escondido.
So watch out if you’re selling an ebike — or any other high-end bike — through an online marketplace.
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This protected bike lane on 7th Street in DTLA was agreed to as part of the approval process for the Wilshire Grand Center.
During the Memorial Day weekend, the CHP conducted a Maximum Enforcement Period (MEP) to ensure the safety of all Californians. The results of the MEP are below. The primary mission of the CHP is to provide the highest level of Safety, Service, and Security. pic.twitter.com/bFuX8sEzpf
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. El Paso police blame the victim, saying a 76-year old man died ten days after striking a car on his bike when the 22-year old driver pulled out in front of him while exiting a parking lot; needless to say, there’s no mention of a charges or even a ticket for carelessly killing an elderly man.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Streetsblog reports protected bike lanes — or what passes for them in Los Angeles — are finally coming to Hollywood Blvd this summer. However, they won’t offer any protection for tourists strolling along the crowded boulevard, other than a few flimsy plastic bollards and whatever cars may be parked alongside it.
The Los Angeles Times highlights six “must-see stops” along the beachfront Marvin Braude Bike Trail. Never mind that the bike path would extend to Malibu by now, instead of stopping at Will Rogers State Beach, except for a misguided campaign to halt the extension over the optics of spending millions to build it.
As we noted yesterday, the California legislature has rejected Governor Newsom’s call to gut the state’s Active Transportation Program; Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry explains just how awful the cuts would be. Not to mention the draconian cuts also shows the lack of actual climate bona fides for our ostensibly “climate champion” governor.
A woman in San Mateo County was convicted of second-degree murder and other charges for the drunken crash that killed a 60-year old bicyclist in 2022; 33-year old Samantha Mei Hartwell qualified for the murder count thanks to her previous DUI convictions.
An op-ed in a Boulder, Colorado paper suggests that instead of conducting a road diet to improve safety, bike riders should just ride on quieter neighborhood streets. Never mind that the purpose of a road diet is to tame a dangerous roadway, and the bike lanes are usually a tool to do that. And no one would suggest that drivers should be forced to take a slower, circuitous route filled with stop signs just to get where they’re going.
May 30, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Taking Newsom to task for climate arson Active Transportation cuts, and bike bills still active in state legislature
Just 215 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’ve inched up to 1,151 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office later this week, so urge anyone who hasn’t already to sign it now!
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My apologies, once again.
Yesterday’s unexcused absence was the result of too many demands on too little time, resulting in my blood sugar circling the drain.
I’m just trying to get through one day at a time, while devoting myself full-time to caring for my injured wife, our uninjured dog and our ultra-messy apartment, while still trying to squeeze in enough time to write about bikes and do the work I love.
Because I really don’t know how I’m going to make it through the next several weeks until she finally gets back on her feet.
Schneider takes California Governor Gavin Newsom to task for his ill-advised budget cuts to the state’s Active Transportation Program, in the face of the ongoing climate emergency.
California has ambitious climate goals: By 2045, the state wants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 85%, drop gas consumption 94% and cut air pollution 71%. The largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California is the transportation sector, with passenger vehicles making up the largest portion of that.
Curbing pollution from passenger vehicles won’t be easy. And if the state invests in the wrong infrastructure, those goals could become impossible. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal would be a big swerve in the wrong direction.
The $600 million Newsom calls for cutting from the ATP, at a rate of $200 million a year, won’t begin to make a dent in the state’s massive budget shortfall — let alone California’s bloated $18 billion highway fund.
Yes, that’s $18 billion, with a B.
Yet Newsom seems to think shifting the money from the already underfunded Active Transportation budget to filling potholes and widening highways will somehow send a message.
About what, I don’t know. Because it barely adds up to more than a rounding error in the state transportation budget.
Newsom might as well pile the money in the middle of the 5 Freeway and torch it, for all the difference it would make for the state’s highways. Which would probably cause a lot less harm to the environment than what he has in mind.
Yet that $200 million missing from the state’s Active Transportation budget could fund up to 200 miles of separated, mixed-use pathways. Or 2,000 miles of the kind of separated bike lanes that Los Angeles transportation officials like to pretend are protected.
Or even adequately fund California’s moribund joke of an ebike rebate program.
Any of which could actually get people out of their cars and benefit the environment, rather than continuing to do harm.
We can only hope the state legislature rejects Newsom’s proposed budget cuts.
Actually, we can do more than that. A lot more.
Like reach out to our elected representatives and demand — okay, politely request in the strongest possible terms — that we stop flushing massive amounts of money on wasteful highway spending, and put it to far more climate-friendly use.
Here’s what Schneider has to say.
…This month, the commission approved the controversial expansion of Interstate 80 between Davis and Sacramento, which will also cost hundreds of millions of dollars — equivalent to all funded active transportation projects in 2023. Why would we pump more money into projects that work against our climate goals?
The Senate Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, under climate champion and Chair Sen. Scott Wiener, would most likely be amenable to rejecting the proposed cuts to active transportation. If so, it’s critical that L.A.-area Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Budget, gets on board as well. It would take both the Senate and the Assembly to override the governor’s proposal.
As we noted before, the bold initiative to require speed limiting devices on all new cars has been modified to instead require easily ignored warnings for speeding drivers. It was also changed to accommodate the trucking industry’s reluctance to require life-saving sideguards, in an apparent attempt to keep their trucks as deadly as possible. .
The legislature also voted to keep bike riders in bike lanes at risk of right hooks by drivers. Although they probably wouldn’t phrase it quite like that.
And Oceanside Assemblymember Tasha Boerner’s bill to require a separate ebike license for anyone without a driver’s license has thankfully been amended to allow a local pilot of ebike age restrictions and an education diversion program for bicycling tickets, which is already allowed under state law.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
No bias here. A Washington resident blames speeding bicyclists after his doorbell cam captures video of a woman stepping onto a trail in front of a bike rider, who rings his bell in warning, before she gets hit by another bike rider coming the opposite way. Which sounds a lot more like someone crossing the trail without paying attention.
The somewhat less-than-urbanist San Diego Reader says the bike lanes in Serra Mesa are out of control, road diets don’t always work, and the people of San Diego never voted for bike lanes. Except they did, when they elected officials who openly supported bike lanes. And just a hint — it’s not the bikes or bike lanes that make traffic back up, it’s too damn many cars.
The UC Davis student newspaper looks at the history of biking culture in the bike-friendly city. Although as frequent contributor and UC grad student Megan Lynch likes to point out, both the campus and the city could be a lot friendlier.
The Guardianreviews Matthew Modine’s Hard Miles, the fact-based movie where he leads a group of troubled Colorado teens on a grueling 700-mile, two-wheeled journey of discovery.
A North Carolina woman offers bike safety tips, seven months after she was sideswiped by a reckless truck driver while riding her bike, resulting in a long journey to recovery.
Parents in Manchester, England are up in arms over a bike path “plonked” in the middle of a playground, forcing kids to cross it to use various equipment. As much as I hate to admit it, I wish I could say all bike riders are conscientious, polite and safety-conscious, but human nature dictates some will always be otherwise.
An “independent” study commissioned by Lime says London could reduce rental bicycle clutter on the city’s streets by simplifying ebike rules and creating more dockless bikeshare parking.
More proof bikes mean life in disasters, manmade and otherwise. According to Cycling Weekly, “A Palestinian paracycling team based in war-torn Gaza now uses its bikes to transport food and supplies to local neighborhoods while keeping the Paralympic dream alive.” Seriously, I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Now you, too, can have your name and logo on the Visma-Lease a Bike team jerseys for the Tour de France. I’d buy space for a BikinginLA patch, but somehow I don’t think an annual income in the high five figures would cover the cost.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’ve inched up to 1,151 signatures, so don’t stop now! I’ll forward the petition to the mayor’s office later this week, so urge anyone who hasn’t already to sign it now!
Known as “Sam, Sam the bicycle ma’am,” Guyan co-founded the Whittier Wheelman with her husband Bob, and wrote a bicycling column for the Whittier Daily News.
She leaves behind four children, seven grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces and nephews
While California’s seemingly moribund program stuck on endless delay, a study of an ebike rebate program in Saanich, British Columbia shows that up to 76% of recipients were first time ebike buyers, depending on the amount of the rebate. And after a full year, they were using their new ebikes three to four days a week, and driving an average of 30 miles a week less than they did before.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Demonstrating the same sense of entitlement they often accuse us of, London drivers threaten to go to court to force the city to reopen a roadway to an exclusive millionaires playground, after it was closed to cars to improve safety for people on bicycles. Although chances are the real reason has a lot more to do with keeping people out of the rich people’s neighborhood than it does with bike safety.
A British man will spend a well-deserved 12 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a 44-year old man and a 16-year old boy as they rode their bikes, and will be banned from driving for another 13 years; he got out of his car to look at the victims before driving off and crashing into another car, injuring a woman and her children.
Belgian star Wout van Aert bounced back from a devastating high-speed crash in March’s Dwars door Vlaanderen with a podium finish in the Tour of Norway, positioning him to return to the Tour de France.
