December 9, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Man riding bicycle struck and killed by 2nd driver after Coachella hit-and-run; 19th fatal SoCal bike hit-and-run this year
A man riding a bicycle was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Coachella Thursday night, then left in the road for another motorist to finish the job.
The victim was reportedly riding south in the 54000 block of Grapefruit Blvd, north of Palm Street, when he was run down from behind by a heartless coward, who fled the scene, around 11:35 pm.
He was then struck by a second driver, who stuck around after the crash and called 911.
There’s no word on whether he was riding in the traffic lane when he was struck; a street view shows a two lane highway with a minimal paved shoulder he could have been using.
It’s also not clear how long after the initial impact he was struck by the second motorist, or if he could have survived if the first driver had the basic human decency to stop after hitting someone.
Unfortunately, no description is available for vehicle used in the hit-and-run, or for the person driving it. Anyone with information is urged to call CHP Officer Windsor at 760/772-5300.
This is at least the 67th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.
At least 19 of those SoCal bicyclists have been the victims of heartless hit-and-run drivers.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.
December 8, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Safety crackdown in Mission Viejo, Shimano parts may be built by slave labor, and bike book wins non-fiction award
Colorado Congresswoman and pistol-packing grandma Lauren Boebert is accused of dipping into campaign funds to cheer her boyfriend to a 774th place finish in the prestigious Leadville 100 mountain bike race, a month before they were caught fondling one another during a performance of Beetlejuice in a Denver theater; no word on whether she’s paid back the funds.
December 7, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Murder charge in Cervantes hit-and-run, Major Taylor Congressional medal, and bike rider injured in Texas mass shooting
Sadly, there were no donations yesterday. Which means you now have just 17 days left to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
The teenager, who hasn’t been publicly named due to his age, is charged with killing 29-year old Leobardo Cervantes in a high speed hit-and-run July 9th.
Cervantes was riding at at the intersection of California Ave and Harding Street in Long Beach when he was struck with the boy’s car, who reportedly used it as a weapon to attack Cervantes.
He died from his injuries two weeks later.
There’s no word on why the boy slammed his car into Cervantes bike, or what evidence led investigators to conclude the act was intentional.
However, it follows a series of similar attacks on bicyclists by teenaged drivers stretching from Huntington Beach to Las Vegas.
The driver was arrested in jail, where he was already being held on other charges.
Illinois Congress member Jonathan L. Jackson will introduce a bill today to honor Taylor, which would make him only the second bicyclist to receive one, following America’s only remaining Tour de France winner.
Let’s hope it’s something our severely divided Congress can actually agree on.
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A person riding a bicycle was lucky to survive the country’s latest mass shooting.
A 35-year old English driver was sentenced to life in prison for the vehicular murder of a 23-year old man, after driving up on the sidewalk to kill the victim as he sat on his bike, then responding with a laughing face to a post about the victim’s injuries; he’ll have to serve at least 20 years before he’s eligible for parole. Which will be 20 years too soon.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British man has been jailed for riding his bike, after he rode to a probation meeting despite being legally prohibited from using a bicycle or e-scooter, following multiple assaults against women after riding up to them; he’ll serve 11 months behind bars for violating the ban at least twice.
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Expressionist artistic image of corgi riding a bicycle
A Santa Monica letter writer complains about concrete curb-protected bike lanes, arguing that the white plastic car-tickler bollards are better because they don’t trap riders and debris in the bike lane. On the other hand, they don’t keep cars out, either.
Oakland will pay a 57-year old man $6.5 million dollars after he suffered spinal and brain injuries when he hit a seam in the pavement as he rode downhill in a new bike lane; Oakland officials were aware of the dangerous conditions after receiving numerous complaints, but chose to ignore it.
Former Tour de France winner, admitted doper and successful cycling team leader Bjarne Riis is finally retired from the sport, and is now living in Switzerland and selling heat pumps imported from Lithuania.
December 6, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on New report calls traffic cams “underutilized resource,” and just 15 days left to launch CA ebike incentives by fall deadline
A new report from the Governors Highway Safety Association, in association with State Farm, calls automated traffic cams an “underutilized tool in the fight to reduce dangerous driving behaviors that contribute to more than 100 people dying on U.S. roads every day.”
Focus on safety: Revenue generated by safety cameras should be used to support program start-up and maintenance costs, with any excess revenue dedicated to traffic safety initiatives such as infrastructure enhancements or increased education.
Proper site selection: Cameras should be installed in locations that have crash, injury or fatality data justifying their use, particularly if these incidences involve vulnerable road users. Determining if other countermeasures, such speed calming, could be deployed to address the traffic safety problem should also be considered.
Community participation and engagement: Members of the community where the safety cameras will be deployed must be part of the planning and implementation process. Meaningful public engagement that begins early can help bolster public acceptance and trust.
Equity: Research has repeatedly confirmed that people of color are disproportionately impacted by traffic crashes and deaths. All decisions about safety camera programs – including public engagement during the planning process, where cameras are placed and how fines are structured – should be viewed through an equity lens.
Transparency and accessibility: Jurisdictions should share the data used to inform the decision-making process when considering whether to create an automated enforcement program. Where and when the cameras will be deployed should be highly publicized, so drivers are not caught by surprise.
Reciprocity agreements: Jurisdictions should create reciprocity agreements with neighboring states that address out-of-state violators who fail to pay traffic safety camera fines.
However, at least in Los Angeles, red light cameras are a no go, after the city council banned them over a decade ago, in response to drivers who didn’t like getting caught breaking the law.
We’ll see how they like speed cams.
And maybe one day Los Angeles will get its collective head out of its metaphorical ass long enough to accept that saving lives is just a tad more important than enabling people to get away with driving dangerously through red lights.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A Los Angeles letter writer responds to LA Times letters editor Paul Thornton’s call for better bike infrastructure for his 46-mile round trip ebike commute by complaining about taking traffic lanes “away from the many who need them for the benefit of the few who consider cars evil,” even though Thornton never expressed any negative comments about cars, or the people who drive them.
No bias here, either. A self-described bike-riding English farmer describes a conflict with a “profusely red-faced, slightly rotund middle-aged man, dressed from head to toe in figure-hugging fluorescent Lycra and a bike helmet, windmilling his arms and frothing at the mouth with rage” while trying in vain not to tip his bicycle, in what Road.cc calls a clearly fictional, or at least exaggerated, account.
The San Francisco Standard asks if the city has killed its most important business corridor through significantly scaled back plans for a pedestrianized street that has resulted in no car traffic, but no foot traffic, either.
Life is cheap in New Zealand, where a drunk and stoned driver got 11 months of home vacation detention for killing a 61-year old bike-riding grandfather, while driving an unregistered car at over five times the legal alcohol limit; but at least he’ll have to pass the victim’s ghost bike every day as he bikes to work, after losing his license for three years.
December 5, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Better bike lanes beat hi-viz for safety, commuting 46 miles — each way — by ebike, and Sunset4All gaslit by O’Farrell
Which means you have just 19 days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy.
It was a slow weekend while I was out of town for my sister’s birthday, but the fund drive is still ahead of last year at this time.
Please join me in thanking Bonnie W, Patt M, Plurabelle Books and Damian K, who says he’s only here for the corgis, for their generous donations to keep all the freshest bike news and corgi pics coming your way every day.
There is one proven way to lower the risk of cyclists being killed: adding quality bike lanes.
A quality bike lane works for cyclists of even the most novice of levels to help them feel comfortable moving around their community. Usually, they’re separated from the road, or at the very least partitioned in a way that provides freedom of movement and opportunity to get around.
Hi-viz and fluorescent gear won’t stop inattentive drivers from hitting cyclists. It won’t stop a driver angered by the mere inconvenience of having to share the road. Unfortunately, it won’t stop drivers who mean well but don’t see a cyclist either. It’s a bike lane. More specifically, it’s separated bike lanes that improve cyclist safety.
It’s worth taking a few minutes from your day to read the whole thing.
Because he’s right, even though I ride with enough lights to guide Santa’s sleigh these days.
Tell that to someone who says you can’t use a bicycle for LA’s long commutes.
That was until I bought an electric bike and just this week started using it to ride the 46-mile round trip between home and work.
On Tuesday morning, by which time L.A.’s rush-hour traffic had fully rebounded from its holiday break, getting from Alhambra to El Segundo by e-bike took 90 minutes. The electric motor flattened hills and helped with attaining traffic speed sooner.
The commute home lasted 80 minutes. That’s 46 rush-hour miles in less than three hours — typically what it takes in a car, and less than the same journey on Metro rail.
But as we’ve all learned by now, even the best bike commute isn’t all sunshine and roses.
Thornton says bicycle safety is dangerously backsliding due to a lack of safe bike infrastructure, even as cities rush to catch up.
To L.A.’s everlasting shame, traffic deaths have ballooned to crisis proportions since then-Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the goal of eliminating them completely by adopting Vision Zero in 2015. That year, according to the group Streets Are for Everyone, 203 people died in L.A. traffic; in 2022, 312 were killed.
Once again, it’s worth taking a few minutes from your busy Tuesday to read it.
Because he succinctly captures both the risks and the opportunity ebikes present, on a personal level.
Heuston says that at the time his group formed, safety problems with the Sunset corridor were already on many radars. The section of Sunset made it on the LA department of transportation’s Vision Zero High Injury Network, a list of the most dangerous roadways in Los Angeles. And safer biking on Sunset fit with Los Angeles’ Mobility Plan 2035, a blueprint launched in 2015 to transform LA’s streets into “complete streets” – roadways that can be safely used by bikers, pedestrians, cars and mass transit alike – by the year 2035. Furthermore, in 2015 the LA Metro Active Transport (Mat) program identified the Sunset corridor as high priority for safety improvements because it would make a significant impact on resident use of active modes of transportation, as well as the Metro.
The clear solution was creating protected bike lanes along the corridor, which studies have shown can improve safety for everyone on the street.
With Heuston leading the charge, activists were buoyed by the idea that they were advocating for something so many agreed should be done. “We were hoping this could be a model project,” says Heuston. “Sunset is this iconic boulevard in the most iconic ‘car-centric’ city in North America. The idea was: if we can change it here, then we can change it anywhere.”
They had community buy-in thanks to countless events like the coffee walk gathering and long hours spent talking to various groups, lots of volunteers and the support of their city council – or so they thought.
Unfortunately, Heuston and the other volunteers were gaslighted by former CD13 Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, who told them to hire expensive independent traffic engineers to create plans and renderings for the project.
So the plans and renderings crowdfunded by the group just ended up in the circular file.
Hugo Soto-Martinez, who defeated O’Farrell for District 13 in the 2022 general election, says his predecessor lied to the group. Studies conducted by third parties aren’t accepted by the city. O’Farrell was “just sitting on the project”, Soto-Martinez said.
And yes, once again, it’s worth taking the time from your busy day to read the whole thing.
If for no other reason than to fully grasp the frustrations bike and safety advocates experience dealing with our auto-addled city leaders.
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Dr. Grace Peng calls your attention to a proposal to improve bike-carrying bus service in the Bay Cities. And wants your support to put an actual ebike user on the Redondo Beach Ebike Task Force.
Preferably her.
This is RBCC 12/5/23 Item N.3. Click on eComment link on the Agenda/Calendar page https://t.co/z8akW8NTmm
In your eComments to Item N2, please nominate Dr Grace Peng to the RB e-Bike Task Force. My e-Bike is my main mode of transport around the Beach Cities. I also took graduate -evel classical mechanics https://t.co/z8akW8NTmmpic.twitter.com/083LHvAIzz
This is who we share the road with. A Bellevue, Washington driver turned a local restaurant into a drive thru, the easy way.
Thanks to Ralph Durham for the heads-up.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A Claremont, California letter writer applauds himself for striking a nerve with the “bike lane fanatics,” then proceeds to say a recent survey showing overwhelming local support for bike lanes doesn’t pass the smell test. Which evidently, is the only proof he requires. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.
No bias here, either, as London’s Daily Mailaccuses the city’s mayor of chopping down a historic palm tree to make room for “yet another bike lane for his beloved cycling constituents,” before conceding that the tree was merely moved to another location.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Bakersfield police arrested one person and seized seven bicycles after a large group of bicyclists took over city streets on Saturday, allegedly causing traffic hazards and disturbing the peace, as well as engaging in thefts, vandalism and at least one assault with a deadly weapon.
LA Weekly takes a long-delayed look at Mobility Plan 2035, which promised a transformation of Los Angeles streets when it was passed by the city council in 2015 — but fails to mention that it was promptly shelved and forgotten, in a story with the depth of something written by AI.
Santa Monica’s mayor proudly proclaims that the city will soon be the bicycling capital of the world, warning Amsterdam to watch out as she opens the new protected intersection on 17th Street. Correction: I originally misidentified the mayor of Santa Monica as a man, rather than a woman. But with a name like Gleam, I had a 50/50 shot. Thanks to Joe Linton for setting me straight.
A Fullerton writer calls for safer bike and pedestrian detour around construction zones. Something that’s just as needed in Los Angeles, where construction work too often reminds us that people walking and biking barely enjoy second-class status.
A 30-year old Chicago woman faces charges for the drunken death of a 59-year old man riding a bicycle in October, while running three stop signs and driving in the bike lane, with a BAC two and a half times the legal limit.
Good question. The parents of a Newfoundland teenager want to know why the driver who hit him was able to get behind the wheel despite a lifetime ban on driving, after the man fled the scene after hitting the kid as he was riding his bike.
We’re already way ahead of last year at this time, both in the number of donations and the amount of donations!
So please join me in thanking D-J H and Stephen H, who gave yesterday.
And each of the other 35 people who’ve so kindly opened their hearts and wallets to help keep Southern California’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
Rght after begging for your hard-earned money may not be the best time to mention that I’ll be tied up with a family matter over the weekend, so there won’t be a new BikinginLA post on Monday.
But we’ll be back bright and early on Tuesday to catch up on anything we missed over the weekend.
Because evidently, that’s the only way someone can be responsible for killing two innocent people, and mowing down a group of people on bicycles like an overgrown lawn.
Quintana-Lujan told investigators his steering locked up and he was unable to control his pickup, which was pulling a trailer at the time of the crash. Although you’d think a forensic examination of the truck would be able to determine whether that was true.
Mitchell tried to position her lack of action as a refusal to let the case go by referring it to the city prosecutor in Goodyear AZ, where the crash occurred.
However, that means Quintana-Lujan could be charged with just a misdemeanor, at best, making the whole damn thing just another fatal “oopsie.”
In addition to the recently installed guard rails separating the bike lane from traffic lanes in the park where Boyes was killed, San Francisco has secured $1.2 million in funding to install protected bike lanes connecting Golden Gate Park and The Presidio.
Normally I say that once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive safely, but the allegation that Low was under the influence probably had more to do with his deadly driving skills than his advanced age, although there’s no word yet on just how drunk he was.
Witnesses testified at a preliminary hearing this week that Sean Richard Miron crashed into another vehicle as he fled the scene of the original crash, leaving Suisun City resident Christopher Blake Sudat lying in the roadway next to his shattered bicycle.
Miron was detained, along with his passenger, at the second crash, where officers said he appeared to be under the influence. Police also recovered a semi-automatic pistol with an illegal threaded barrel from Miron’s pickup, even though he was barred from having a weapon as a convicted felon.
He faces the murder count due to three prior DUI convictions, suggesting he likely signed a Watson advisement indicating he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving under the influence.
However, even without that, his prior convictions indicate he was well aware of the dangers of driving while intoxicated before he sat down behind the wheel that night.
Miron faces charges of murder, hit-and-run causing death, hit-and-run driving resulting in property damage, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of an assault weapon.
Then again, if Miron had been charged in Southern California, he could probably plead out on a misdemeanor and walk with time served.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A driver in Boston’s South End parked in the bike lane, leaving a note tucked under his windshield wiper reading, “I don’t care that I’m parked in a bike lane. Just go around me!!” To which bike-riding commenters to the local website responded both emphatically and poetically.
A “mean spirited” saboteur continues to put bike riders outside a London subway station at deliberate risk by tossing thumb tacks in a protected bike lane — and has somehow managed to go uncaught for the past two years. Although we can probably surmise that police indifference could be the likely cause for why they’ve gotten away with it so long.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Florida city manager is asking for the public’s understanding after he wrecked his bike following a night of drinking. Although I’d much rather see a drunk on a bicycle than behind the wheel of a multi-ton vehicle.
Um, okay. The Journal of the Congress for the New Urbanismexamines the successful Move Culver City project, calling the 1.3-mile bus lane and bike lane installation the first quick build Tactical Urbanism project in the Los Angeles area — without mentioning that the newly conservative city council voted to rip it out, or that the city is being sued to keep that from happening.
Pasadena police will mark today’s first day of December with a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation, ticketing anyone who commits a traffic violation that could endanger either group — even if it’s the bike rider or pedestrian who commits it. So as usual, ride to the letter of the law until you leave the city, or you could be the one who gets a ticket.
An Arizona man reminisces about his life on two wheels, and dreams of coming back in the next life to live and ride in Amsterdam. But it’s the archival photo of young boys riding for Western Union that’s worth the click.
Momentumexplains what daylighting intersections means, and how it enhances the safety of bicyclists. Governor Newsom signed a daylighting bill passed in the last legislative session, which will require open spaces on the curbs near intersections to improve visibility.
While US traffic deaths continue to climb, Great Britain saw a significant decline in bicycling fatalities, with deaths dropping nearly 25% over the past year. Which is more evidence that the dangers on American roads are due to official indifference, as other nations show that reducing deaths is possible when they’re willing to make the necessary changes.
GCN asks if the high cost of entry to cycling is killing the sport. Maybe at the highest levels, but you can spend as much or as little as you want and still compete, if you’re willing to build your own bike and do your own wrenching.
Thanks to Kathryn R, Kathleen S, Bryan B and Kent S for their generous donations to help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
So stop what you’re doing, and join them by giving now!
Besides, how can anyone resist this much AI-created bike-riding corgi cuteness?
In addition to being an age-group national champ, Boyes held the national record for the “flying start” 500-meter time trial.
His death led to demands for protected bike lanes on Arguello Blvd in the park, where officials have recently narrowed traffic lanes and installed guard rails protecting bike lanes in response.
Which is yet another opportunity to mention that California’s ebike voucher program continues to suffer from a failure to launch, over a year after it was originally promised.
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I want to be like him when I grow up.
The latest BMX star on YouTube is just 71 years old. Then again, if he was any younger, he’d probably be on TikTok.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Once again, someone riding a bicycle has been intentionally injured by a driver in a stolen car, as security cam video showed a driver in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania deliberately ram a 72-year old man riding a bicycle, who escaped without serious injuries; the driver has been identified, but no word on whether charges have been filed. This appears to be part of a troubling nationwide trend, possibly inspired by a TikTok stolen car challenge.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A San Francisco TV station reports on efforts to put age restrictions on throttle-controlled Class 2 ebikes, as 71% of Bay Area children who suffered bicycling injuries were hurt riding ebikes. Although that stat could just reflect the popularity of ebikes with kids under 18, and says nothing about whether the kids were on ped-assist or throttle-controlled bikes.
The rich get richer. Long Island City in Queens, New York received three new protected bike lanes on Wednesday. Although the guy riding in icy temperatures in the photo is somehow choosing to ride in the buffer, rather than the actual bike lane.
And we’re off to a great start, well ahead of last year’s record pace, thanks in part to the kindness and generosity of yesterday’s Giving Tuesday donors.
So let’s all thank Ben F, Bernard B, Anne F, James Z, Catherine D, and Jennifer P for their generous donations to help keep Southern California’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.
It was a light news day in the world of bikes yesterday.
Which is a good thing, since I got another shot in my eye to control bleeding in the retina yesterday, and can barely see my screen to write these words.
Yet another reminder, if we need it, that diabetes sucks.
So if you’re at risk or have any of the warning signs, do whatever it takes to get or keep your blood sugar under control. Because you don’t want this crap.
And forgive me if I screw something up, because I seriously can’t see half of what I’m reading or writing this time.
Although the paper might not have characterized it quite that way.
Some pointed out, not incorrectly, that throttle-controlled ebikes that can easily exceed common bicycling speeds should more appropriately be regulated as underpowered electric motorcycles, rather than bicycles.
While others point out that, despite the hysteria, the story makes clear that there have been no reported collisions between pedestrians and ebike riders in the area in the past two years.
Which means they’re trying to fix a problem that has so far resulted in no reported injuries, while ignoring the ongoing carnage caused by motor vehicles just feet away.
Still, no one should ever ride a bike at speed around pedestrians, who can be even more unpredictable than we are. And who face just as much risk, if not more, in a collision with someone on a bicycle, regardless of the bike’s power source.
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A new British report from Lime titled Tackling the Gender Pedal Gap considers concerns preventing women from bicycling, topped by worries over poorly lit streets and isolated riding routes.
Anti-social behaviour (36%) and fear of harassment from other road users (34%) were also listed as major deterrents for female cyclists. Only one in five women said they felt safe cycling alone at night and four times as many women as men (82%) said they view cars as a safer transport option when it’s dark.
The same likely holds true in this country, serving as yet another reminder that women face dangers on the streets that most men don’t.
And that they should be directly involved in all bicycle planning decisions.
Bicycling Australiarecommends holiday gift ideas for bicyclists. Although it should be noted that some things may not be available in this country or could be sold for a different price. And you may have to install or use it upside down.
But given that most traffic laws weren’t written with bike riders in mind, it can sometimes be necessary to break the rules to protect your own safety.
Just bear in mind that, like civil disobedience, you might do it for the right reasons, but still have to suffer the consequences.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A 40-year old Portland, Oregon man was sentenced to three years behind bars for a violent attack against two people participating in the World Naked Bike Ride earlier this year. Robert Earl Houchins received a bias crime enhancement for yelling homophobic slurs as he struck the riders across the back with a metal pipe; fortunately, neither victim was seriously injured.
A San Francisco letter writer says the real danger on the new Valencia Street centerline bikeway isn’t the people on the 30-pound bicycles, it’s the people in the two-ton cars.
National
He gets it. A writer for the Brown University student newspaper says bike helmets are ineffective because they’re a piecemeal solution to a societal problem, and it shouldn’t be up to the individual to be solely responsible for their safety while riding a bike. Before anyone fires off an angry comment, the writer isn’t anti-helmet, and neither am I. I never ride without mine, but recognize that bike helmets should always be seen as the last line of defense when all else fails, not the first.
I want to be like her when I grow up. A 78-year old English woman has been named one of the UK’s most exceptional women in cycling after riding the full length of the country, then following it up by riding 200 miles from Yorkshire to London.
The Belgian region of Flanders has installed speed cams on bicycle-priority streets to ticket anyone exceeding the 18 mph speed limit, including people on bicycles. Although identifying someone on a bicycle from a speed cam photo could be problematic — and licensing bicyclists isn’t likely to help, given the small size required for a bicycle.
Cycling News reports Shimano was struck by hackers who blackmailed the Japanese component maker, threatening to release a massive trove of data if they failed to pay up — then followed through by releasing information including confidential employee details, financial documents, a client database, and other confidential company documents. Which means it’s possible your personal information may have been compromised if you’ve dealt directly with the company.
November 28, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Give a little for bikes on Giving Tuesday, windshield bias in Santa Monica, and the case of the doubly purloined Pinarellos
So if you have anything left after giving to our holiday fund drive — or maybe the other way around — send a little love to some of the groups out there working to keep you safe and informed.
Evidently, she’s not a fan of the city’s Big Blue Bus. Or the continuous rumble of Metro buses on the coastal boulevards.
She starts with the story of her ex-husband’s bicycling crash, when he was run down from behind by a driver who questioned why he failed to see him as he rode home from dinner on Pico Blvd.
Because it was dark? Because the lights there are dim? Because it was late and maybe he was tired?
Because accidents happen. No one need be at fault. And yet, the city bears some responsibility for promoting biking before it’s truly safe, for making it ever-more-maddening to drive a car, and for absolutely refusing to create any realistic public transportation options.
I’ve been horrified to since read about two more recent bike accidents, one fatal. The city council’s solutions are all about increasing safety and visibility — and adding more fines. Safety is a good thing, certainly. But better biking is not a full-scale transportation option. And the current practice of incessantly writing parking tickets is already anti-resident, punitive, and un-Santa Monican. The real problem is that it is nearly impossible to drive a car peaceably anywhere in Santa Monica and it is only getting worse. The city has not invested in public transportation. We need safe, reliable, cheap public transportation, not more rules and more fines.
Except that “accidents happen” shouldn’t be an excuse for carelessness.
Cars are big, dangerous machines, and it’s not unreasonable to expect their operators to pay attention to the road directly ahead of them, and stop before hitting people or objects directly in their path.
Is that really too much to ask?
As for promoting bicycling before it’s truly safe, she’s got a point.
But that’s how you make it safe, by making improvements to the streets and encouraging people to use them, and using that increase in ridership to justify the next round of improvements.
Which shouldn’t be necessary, but it is. Because people like her inevitably complain about the inconveniences they face from each little incremental change on the streets.
That’s followed with more talk about the dangers of riding a bicycle, and holding onto one, along with the usual litany of all the reasons why bicycling is impractical.
Except that people do it every day, under exactly the conditions she complains about.
Also, it can be hard to keep a bike in Santa Monica. I, too, had been regularly biking until my electric bike got stolen from behind my house, and then my beach cruiser. And a biking-first policy isn’t inclusive. Plenty of people can’t rely on a bike — like parents of young children, the elderly or disabled, grocery shoppers, those needing to take important meetings free of sweat and errant hair, anyone who has to get anywhere else in LA.
Never mind that bikes, especially ebikes like the one she used to own, serve as effective mobility devices for the elderly and disabled, while cargo bikes are surprisingly efficient for grocery shopping and transporting young kids.
And as a former ebike owner, she should know as well as anyone how well they work for getting you places virtually sweat-free, especially in Santa Monica’s cool coastal climate.
She’s not wrong about the need to improve public transit, in Santa Monica and throughout Southern California.
But she is wrong about the practical benefits of bicycling, and the need for a virtually carbon-free form of inexpensive transportation as we confront a looming climate crisis.
Not to mention that bikes are fun.
Maybe a little lingering resentment towards her bike-riding ex is tainting her thinking.
The theft was so successful, they staged an encore just 20 hours later, returning to snatch another seven Pinarellos worth more than $109,000.
So if you happen to see a struggling bike team riding brand new Pinarellos next year, it may be more evidence that the cycling financial model really is in trouble.
Or maybe that’s just how they haze rookie riders these days.
Bicycling also says Peter Sagan coulda been a contender. Or at least even greater than he was. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.
And please join me in thanking everyone who’s given so far for their kindness and generosity in supporting this site.
Thanks to James L, David R, Eric L, Arthur B, Stephen T, Scott R, John C, Joni Y, André V, Glenn C, Jordan G, Michael G, David M, Joseph R, Michael S, Mark J, Stephen M, Patrick M, Steven F, Steven S, Brian N, Robs M, and Smiling Corgis.
Let’s hope tomorrow’s list is just as long. So donate today!
Weiss writes how wealthy Cheviot Hills residents successfully fought the installation of the Expo Bike Path after unsuccessfully fighting the Expo Line train, resulting in the notorious Northvale Gap that has forced bike riders and walkers to use difficult bypass routes.
And how they’ve used means both legal and otherwise to deter outsiders from besmirching their neighborhood.
But there may finally be light at the end of the tunnel, after ten long years.
As for finally closing the Northvale Gap, I am cautiously optimistic now that Katy Yaroslavsky is the Los Angeles City Councilwoman for Cheviot Hills. She is pro-active-transportation and is also on the Metro board. Already, her office has obtained additional funds from Metro to close the Northvale Gap. Her staff regularly meets with relevant departments (LADOT, Engineering, City Attorney) to solve problems. The latest (2022) fact sheet available through LADOT’s “Exposition Bike Path (Northvale Segment)” website says “Construction is anticipated to begin Spring 2024.” The Council Office expects construction to start some time in 2024.
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In an op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider says the city needs safe streets, not more signs warning drivers to “watch your speed.”
The official responses to proven traffic hazards are woefully inadequate — mere gestures, if even that.
In 2021, after Monique Muñoz was killed on Olympic Boulevard at Overland Avenue by a driver going more than 100 miles per hour, the city placed a “Watch your speed” sign, politely asking drivers to slow down. Unfortunately, in the over two years that have passed, the city has yet to meaningfully redesign Olympic Boulevard to prevent a crash like this from happening again.
People don’t drive based on signage. They drive based on the design of the street. In the case of Olympic Boulevard in West Los Angeles, the design screams “wide open highway,” a lot like the Pacific Coast Highway. Hazardous as this is to all people (including drivers), it is most dangerous to pedestrians and cyclists.
Take a few minutes from your busy Cyber Monday to read the whole thing, because, as Schneider concludes, “The problem is carnage in the streets, and we know the solutions.”
Indeed we do.
We just need leaders with the courage to implement them, which seems to be sadly lacking in this town.
CicLAvia looks forward to their final event of the year, as the nation’s most successful ongoing open streets festival finds its way to South LA this weekend.
Which would normally give us another opportunity to chide California for the interminable delay in launching the state’s ebike rebate program, but screw it.
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Of course Bill Nye the Science Guy is one of us.
"There's no machine known that is more efficient than a human on a bicycle. Bowl of oatmeal, 30 miles – you can't come close to that." -Bill Nye, science communicator
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. Georgetown historian Thomas Zimmer writes on Mastodon that certain members of the far right are promoting “aggressive anti-bikeism” as part of their political agenda, even though bicycling is far less socialist than the massive public subsidies paid for cars. Unfortunately, I can’t embed his post, but you can read this thread and other Mastodon posts without having an account with the social media company; thanks again to Megan Lynch for the link.
Britain’s Daily Mail offers a panicked assessment of the “staggering 10,000 cyclists” delivering fast food across Scotland’s cities and towns, saying they pose a threat to pedestrians and even cars by flouting traffic regulations and riding on sidewalks. Never mind that an additional 10,000 people driving cars to make fast food deliveries would pose an greater risk to everyone.
West Hollywood will team with the West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition to host a WeHo Mobility Popup on Santa Monica Blvd tonight, giving away free bike lights on a first-come, first-served basis for people with bicycles, along with other complimentary giveaways for everyone.
In a rare occurrence, someone was killed in a bicycling crash, and it wasn’t the person on two wheels. A driver in San Gregorio was killed when he struck a bicyclist riding on the shoulder, then went off the road and struck a tree; compounding the tragedy, the bike rider was hospitalized with what was described as severe injuries.
Sad news from Lodi, where a 56-year old homeless man was killed riding his bike after allegedly swerving head-on in front of a 19-year old driver; investigators blamed the victim for possibly being stoned
Bloomberg’s CityLabtalks with the mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey about the steps the city has taken to improve street safety, which has resulted in no traffic deaths for the past six years. And proves that Vision Zero is achievable — if our leaders actually give a damn, and have the political will to make the tough choices.
