Las Vegas teen filmed vehicular murder of former Bell police chief, and “car-owning” WeHo bicyclist decries Fountain plans

September 18, 2023 / / One comment

Now we know why it’s murder.

It took about two weeks after the crash for Las Vegas police to determine that the killing of retired Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst in an August hit-and-run was intentional.

The reason became evident this weekend when horrifying video of the collision surfaced and quickly went viral.

In the video, which was AirDropped to students at a local high school at the end of last month, the teenage driver and his passenger(s) can be seen cursing at passing cars, before spotting Probst riding his mountain bike in a bike lane.

This is how TMZ described the lead-up to the crash.

The 17-year-old driver and his passenger were cruising down a street in Las Vegas on August 14, coming up behind Andreas Probst as he rode his cycle in the bike lane. Filming with his cell phone, the passenger was chuckling with the driver as they plotted to run over Probst. You can hear them say, “Ready?” and “Yeah, hit his ass.”

So much for any question of intent.

According to The Daily Mirror,

The vehicle is seen in the footage coming up behind a red-clad man riding a bicycle alongside the road. The motorist pulls into the bike lane behind him, honks his horn, and purposefully strikes the cyclist’s back tire, sending him flying with the encouragement of his buddies.

The passenger records Andreas lying helplessly on the side of the road behind the vehicle. “Damn that n* got knocked out!” the passenger says as the driver can be heard stepping on the gas.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal says, despite attacks from rightwing sources including Elon Musk, James Woods and Fox News commentator Greg Gutfeld, not only were they aware of the video within hours of the crash, they were instrumental in getting it to the police.

The Review-Journal’s coverage of the incident was also heavily criticized by readers who posted screenshots of a news obituary that ran in the Review-Journal on Aug. 18 — more than a week before the video surfaced — with a headline describing the incident as a “bike crash” and not an intentional killing.

In fact, a source had contacted the Review-Journal about the existence of the video more than two weeks ago, and a reporter had instructed the caller on how to forward the video to Metropolitan Police Department detectives investigating the case. Nine hours later, police announced that the incident had been deemed a homicide.

The Review-Journal also reports the passenger has not been charged, which seems inexplicable unless they were captured on the video screaming in horror at the deliberate carnage.

Hint: they weren’t.

At the very least, such a heinous crime would seem to call for a felony conspiracy charge, since both the driver and the passenger appear to have been planning the fatal assault.

It also calls into question whether the teenaged driver arrested for last week’s vehicular rampage in Huntington Beach that killed one man riding a bicycle and injured two others was a copycat attack.

It’s possible he may have seen video of the Las Vegas murder, or one of the other similar video circulating online, and attempted to copy them.

Or he may have simply lashed out on his own, for reasons known only to him.

………

No bias here.

Writing for WeHoVille, a “car-owning bicyclist” rides his bike down the sidewalk along Fountain Ave, to demonstrate that few people currently ride bicycles along the deadly thoroughfare, and insist that two years of construction to install a protected bike lane will devastate the businesses along the half block that actually has them.

Never mind that his own decision to ride on the sidewalk, rather than risk riding in the street, makes the case for building the bike lanes.

Let’s be clear: While WeHo talks a big game about “uplifting” marginalized people and “amplifying” their voices, the city’s pedestrians — those blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about — are silently struggling just to get from Point A to Point B every day, as they’ve done for decades.

But fixing sidewalks isn’t glamorous, and that’s why WeHo hasn’t given a fuck thus far.

Even now, the impetus for reconstructing Fountain Avenue wasn’t to benefit pedestrians or disabled people. They were an afterthought.

Installing bike lanes, the cause celebre of every young politician and hip urban planner, was the point of this project.

Never mind that many of the “blue-collar, minimum-wage earning people the city claims to care so much about” are forced to ride their bikes to work along busy, dangerous corridors choked with traffic.

And not many use the sidewalks, because they can’t afford to live there.

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When is a bike lane not a bike lane?

When it’s a parking lot.

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Streetsblog celebrates yesterday’s NoHo CicLAmini.

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

A St. Louis moonlight bike ride was cancelled at the last minute as people were gathering at the start line, because drivers had moved the barricades blocking roadways along the route, and a third-party company hadn’t secured it.

An English bike rider is left waiting in vain for the police to do something after he catches a punishment pass on his bike cam, as the driver yells at him to “Get off the fucking road.”

No bias here. A Singapore website accuses an ebike rider and a motorist of road rage for engaging in a heated dispute in the middle of the roadway. Never mind that the bike rider was minding his own business until the impatient driver started honking at him for no apparent reason.

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

Tragic news from New York, where police are looking for a hit-and-run bike rider who killed a 69-year old woman as she was crossing a “chaotic” intersection. Since the bicyclist was on a bikeshare bike, police should be able to access user and GPS data to determine who was using a bike at that time and location. Which raises the question of why they apparently haven’t yet.

An ebike-riding man is recovering from injuries and faces sexual assault charges, after a Virginia woman flagged down a passing car when the man groped her on a bike path, then smiled as he rode away; she was able to catch up with him and apparently kicked his ass, knocking him off his bike and placing him in a chokehold until police arrived.

A Toronto cop was hospitalized, and a bike rider faces charges, after the cop was hit by someone who was allegedly riding his bicycle erratically and weaving between pedestrians in the city’s Entertainment District.

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Local 

Metro’s new rush hour bus and bike lanes on La Brea Blvd are officially open for business. But that hasn’t stopped anyone from using them — and loving them — already.

Streetsblog says Metro has installed new plastic bollards to protect the First Street bike lanes, which could be the first step in meeting their commitment to on bike/walk connections the promised for Metro’s new subway stations. However, it’s worth noting that the new bollards are spaced too far apart to keep motorists from driving or parking in the bike lanes, and won’t actually protect anyone from anything.

West Hollywood will consider a program to implement a bicycle repair station pilot program at tonight’s city council meeting.

Culver City is moving forward with plans for both painted and protected bike lanes along the southern section of Overland Blvd, at the same time the city is trying to rip out the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes through downtown.

Santa Monica’s ebike voucher program for low-income residents is set to begin next year; qualified people could receive up to $2,000 to purchase an ebike and accessories.

 

State

Huntington Beach will consider new ebike regulations at tomorrow’s city council meeting; the proposed ordinance would create different classes of electric bikes — which the state has already done — while providing for criminal or civil citations, and adding a section for unsafe riding. However, all of that may be moot and illegal, since regulating ebikes falls under the authority of the state, along will all other traffic regulations. 

A La Jolla father calls for action on traffic safety measures after his 14-year old son suffered broken bones in his hand and foot when he was struck by a driver in a left cross crash, as he rode his ebike in a marked bike lane; the driver was waved through the intersection by another motorist, and failed to see the kid on his bike.

San Diego faces concerns about meeting the city’s climate goals, after a crackdown on e-scooter providers dropped ridership 80%.

The days of having The Snake to yourself could be coming to an end, with plans in place to reopen the curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road in the Santa Monica Mountains to motor vehicles next year.

A San Jose councilmember denies striking a bike-riding man with his car, despite three witnesses who say he gave the man money after running him down; he claims it was a near miss, and he only gave money to help the victim, who appeared to be homeless.

San Francisco Streetsblog says bicyclists are furious that protected bike lanes are no longer on the table for Arguello in the Presidio, when champion cyclist Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this year.

 

National

The Manual says don’t bother buying an e-mountain bike because government regulations limit where you can ride it. However, a travel website disagrees, listing ten of the best trails around the US where ebikes are welcome.

A Park City, Utah columnist says “Bike thieves suck” after her ebike and foldie are stolen from her building’s garage, apparently because she locked them together rather than to a fixed object. Although even that wouldn’t stop a determined thief with enough time. 

The local community came through for a five-year old Texas boy after his bike was stolen; within minutes of his father posting news of the theft online, he had offers for two bikes.

An 80-year old New York man was murdered by a black-clad man on a bicycle who circled the area apparently waiting for the victim to return home from a party, then rode up and shot him two times point blank in front of the victim’s horrified wife, in a killing caught on video; using a bike allowed the killer to approach his victim quickly and silently, without drawing undue attention.

A reminder that Hugh Jackman is one of us, after he’s spotted riding bikeshare bike through New York’s Tribeca neighborhood a day after announcing his separation from his wife of 27 years.

More proof bike riders are tough, as a man in Baton Rouge, Louisiana walked himself to the hospital, despite three stab wounds in his back, after three people stabbed him and stole his bike and wallet, then left him bleeding on the sidewalk.

 

International

Residents of a Toronto neighborhood jeered the borough mayor when he said a new bike path had nothing to do with the traffic death of a woman as she walked along the newly narrowed roadway.

Montreal’s mayor is demonstrating the political courage to close a popular park roadway to motor vehicles, and reclaim Mount Royal Park for bike riders and pedestrians. In other words, the kind of courage we seldom see in Southern California. Let alone Los Angeles.

The murder bug has apparently spread across the pond, as two men face attempted murder charges for deliberately running down a bike rider on the streets of Glasgow.

Nineties pop icon Jason Orange is one of us, as the tabloids say the Take That star is virtually unrecognizable riding a bikeshare bike through the streets of London. Even though all of them seem to have spotted him.

A radio station remembers the day 65 nude women rode bicycles around London’s Wembley Stadium to film the video for Queen’s iconic hit Bicycle Races. 

Wales has become the first country in the UK to drop speed limits from 30 mph to 20 mph. Because 20 is plenty in urban areas.

After courts awarded her the equivalent of over $620,000 for the death of her husband, a British woman decried the “inhuman” response of city leaders, who blamed him 100% for his own death after he was killed by a garbage truck driver as he rode his bike.

A French consortium pans to build a nearly 3,000 foot, 900 kilowatt solar panel bike path along the Rhône River capable of powering over 700 homes. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. 

A Belgian bicyclist shown on video kneeing a five-year old girl in a viral video from Christmas Day 2020 has now won a defamation suit against the girl’s father, after a court fined the bike rider the equivalent of a dollar, concluding he didn’t intend to hurt her.

Heartbreaking story from India, where a 17-year old girl was killed when someone on a passing motorbike grabbed the traditional stole she was wearing as she biked home from school with a friend, causing her to fall into the path of another motorbike rider; two suspects were shot by police after they attempted to escape following their arrest, stealing a rifle and firing on the cops as they fled.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, as a Singaporean bicyclist jumped off his bike to save someone who had fallen into a canal, along with members of the country’s civil defense force.

Helmet use has tripled among Japanese bike riders in the wake of a new law requiring them, although the lack of punishment for violating the law means it’s still only up to 13.5%.

An Aussie man warns bike riders to beware of swooping magpies, after he nearly lost an eye when one attacked him two year ago.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s official. Twentynine-year old Colorado resident Sepp Kuss won the Vuelta on Sunday, days after his own teammates attacked in an apparent attempt to wrest the red leader’s jersey from his shoulders.

Kuss is the first American to win a grand tour since Chris Horner won the Vuelta in 2013, and just the second person to win one grand tour after riding in all three.

Guyana’s junior cycling team was left standing at the airport, instead of flying to the Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships, because someone apparently forgot to check the airline’s strict no baggage policy, which includes racing bikes.

 

Finally…

A mountain biker demonstrates why actual wheels usually work best. Yes, you can get a DUI while riding a horse in California.

And there may be bicycle-riding ghosts out there, but this probably ain’t one of ’em.

Especially since that video seems awfully familiar.

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A special thanks to Steve Fujinaka for a very unexpected and generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way that lifted my spirits over the weekend. 

Donations are always welcome and appreciated, whatever the reason.  

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Culver City non-explains MOVE bike lane removal, Ethan Boyes ghost bike burned at Burning Man, and NoHo CicLAmini

September 15, 2023 / / Comments Off on Culver City non-explains MOVE bike lane removal, Ethan Boyes ghost bike burned at Burning Man, and NoHo CicLAmini

Call it a non-explanatory explanation.

A statement from the Culver City Communications & Public Information Manager purports to explain the city’s move to modify the highly successful MOVE Culver City project — including the bizarre plan to exempt the move to re-add another traffic lane under California’s CEQA environmental regulations.

Except the only time CEQA is even mentioned is in the first paragraph, and then only in passing.

At its meeting on Monday, September 11th, 2023, the Culver City City Council voted 3-2 to ratify plans to modify the MOVE Culver City pilot project, including a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption. MOVE Culver City is a city-led effort that reimagines city streets as public spaces and prioritizes moving people more efficiently and safely in the design of the street.

The story goes on to add that the re-imagined project will include new bike boxes at seven locations, which wouldn’t be necessary if the city wasn’t removing the current protected bike lane, and moving to a shared bus-bike lane.

And in doublespeak Orwell would be proud of, he describes the goal of the MOVE project as improving “the infrastructure and services for mobility alternatives and to offer the community equitable, convenient, and sustainable mobility options.”

It’s hard to imagine how removing a protected bike lane, and forcing bikes and buses to share a single lane, accomplishes any of those goals.

Meanwhile, the crowdfunding campaign to fight the changes is now approaching 80% of the modest $10,000 goal.

Hopefully, it will meet that soon.

Or better yet, exceed it.

………

In a surprisingly moving gesture, the ghost bike for San Francisco bicycling champ Ethan Boyes was burned in the bonfire at Burning Man,

The bike had disappeared after officials at the Presidio ordered it removed, and passed among friends until it was taken to the event to be burned.

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A reminder that the North Hollywood CicLAmini — a shorter version of CicLAvia intended to encourage walking over bicycling — rolls this Sunday.

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Joni Yung sings the praises of Pasadena’s new Union Street protected bike lane, suggesting she may have misjudged the wealthy, traditionally white and conservative city.

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Good point.

If LA schools really cared about student safety, they wouldn’t resort to part-time safety measures.

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LADOT wants to know what you think about how to improve Westside walking and biking conditions.

And no, burn it all down and start over probably isn’t a winning idea.

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Here’s your chance to weigh in on the long-overdue proposal to extend the Ballona Creek bike path to the creek’s eastern terminus.

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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 teenaged bike rider was injured when they were struck by driver while taking part in a Salinas rideout, as the group popped wheelies and wove through traffic in front of the local high school. But despite several references to getting hit by a car, the lengthy story never once mentioned that it might have had a driver.

No bias here, either. Nowhere in this six paragraph story about a Wisconsin hit-and-run that left a 39-year old woman riding a bicycle with significant injuries, does it mention that someone was driving the vehicle that hit her.

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Local 

What could possibly go wrong? The Los Angeles City Planning Commission backed a proposal to install 80 digital billboards on sites owned by Metro, which could generate up to half a billion dollars in ad revenue over a 20 year period. After all, it’s not like the flashing billboards are distracting, or anything.

Police continue the hunt for five men who burglarized Irwindale Cycles early Monday morning, including two men who got off the Metro L (Gold) Line in Pasadena with four bikes still bearing the shop’s price tags.

While we continue the endless wait for California’s ebike rebate program to finally go live, Santa Monica is planning to offer vouchers up to $2,000 to eligible low-income residents to buy ebikes and accessories.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department will conduct another in the area’s ongoing series of bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations in Carson today. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets ticketed.

 

State

California Streetsblog marks the passage of California’s speed cam pilot program in the state legislature, observing that it’s now up to Gov. Newsom to sign it. Given his track record on traffic safety issues, cross your fingers but don’t hold your breath.

Encinitas considers actions to prevent additional ebike deaths, including sharrows, reduced lane widths and bike lanes, as well as lowering the speed limit on part of Coast Highway 101 and a installing rubber traffic circle roundabout on Quail Gardens Drive. But someone should tell them that sharrows are worthless, and have been shown to actually increase the risk to people on bicycles. And people on regular bikes are at risk, too. 

A Marin paper says San Raphael is keeping its promise to improve safety for bike riders. Although it’s hard to square that with the ongoing efforts to remove the bike lanes from the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge. 

A 19-year old Roseville driver faces a felony hit-and-run charge after striking a 61-year old bike rider and driving off, leaving the victim with minor injuries. Although something doesn’t add up, since California’s felony hit-and-run statute only applies in cases of major injuries or death; a crash resulting in minor injuries should be charged as a misdemeanor. 

A Gold County bicycling columnist offers safety advice while reviewing bike laws, but neglects to mention under his section about taking the lane that bicyclists can legally use the full lane on any substandard lane, which means any lane too narrow to safety share with a motor vehicle — and these days that means a large truck or SUV, not a compact sedan.

 

National

He gets it. A Colorado writer says instead of blaming the victim, it should be up to drivers to operate their vehicles safely and not hit bike riders or pedestrians. But please, can we finally drive a stake through the overly tired “safety is a two-way street” cliche once and for all?

New York-based Priority Bicycles is introducing a belt-drive foldie for just $799, which is an exceptionally low price for the category.

New York residents and industry leaders argue that allowing four-wheeled, “high-speed” — aka 20 mph — delivery cargo bikes in bike lanes will get someone killed. Just wait until someone tells them about all those high-speed drivers in the big, dangerous machines.

Maryland will provide another $25.5 million for bicycle, pedestrian and trail projects.

He gets it, too. After getting hit by a truck while riding a bicycle, a Charleston, South Carolina English professor and local Democratic Party co-chair says a local street needs a bike lane, not another ghost bike.

 

International

After being forced to close 750 campus dorm rooms due to structural defects, an English university promises to give a free bicycle to any student moved off campus.

Harry Styles and James Corden are both one of us, as they take to bikeshare bikes for a leisurely “bromance” ride through London’s Primrose Hill neighborhood.

India’s “bicycle” political party is in the midst of the country’s longest bicycling political rally at 37 days and over 1,600 miles, and counting.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports that cycling fans took to social media to express their outrage over Jumbo-Visma’s dick moves tactics in Wednesday’s stage 17 of the Vuelta, as both Jonas Vingegaard and Primož Roglič attacked their own teammate, American race leader Sepp Kuss. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Road.cc declared the end of the Jumbo-Visma civil war on Thursday, however, as Vingegaard and Roglič worked to protect Kuss’ lead, while Remco Evenpoel won the stage from the break, although longtime cycling director sportif Johan Bruyneel was not impressed with Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel’s tactics.

The Tour of Britain could see a return of the women’s race next year.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your friends talk you into crashing your bike into a naked pedestrian, who proceeds to beat the crap out of you. If a tank can pass a bike rider safely, a driver should be able to, too.

And it wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t so painfully true.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Killer driver arrested in HB rampage, CA daylighting bill passes Senate, and Seattle cop thinks dead peds are funny

September 14, 2023 / / 3 comments

They found the killer. And he’s just a kid.

Police in Huntington Beach arrested a suspect Tuesday night in the killing 70-year old Huntington Beach resident Steven Gonzales as he rode his bike in the city, as well as injuring two other bike-riding men, in Sunday’s 45-minute vehicular rampage.

The suspect, officially described only as a male juvenile between 14 and 18, is being held in Orange County Juvenile Hall on one count of felony murder, and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

He was arrested after police found the car used in the attacks on the 6000 block of Warner Ave, just half a mile from the last reported assault.

There’s no word on whether he was with the car, or if it had been abandoned. Or whether it belonged to the suspect or his family.

There’s also no word on a motive for the attacks, but it could have been a copycat attack based the East Bay Area attacks from earlier this year, in which young people in stolen cars attempted to door or strike people riding bicycles or e-scooters.

It could also have been for any number of other reasons, from a hatred of bicycles to perceived racial or political factors in the deeply red community.

Or he could have just been looking for easy targets.

The tragedy in all this is that one man is dead, and another’s life could be effectively over.

Gonzales was needlessly killed, apparently simply for the crime of riding a bicycle on a warm summer night. His family and loved ones will now have to find a way to go on without him.

At the same time, his young killer is likely to remain in juvenile custody until his 21st birthday, at the very least. Or could face life in prison if he’s charged as an adult, or even the death penalty.

Which means his family had better get used to living without him, too.

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California intersections could get a little safer after a proposed statewide daylighting bill survived the legislature’s cutoff day for bills to pass; AB 413 would improve visibility by banning parking within 20 feet of an intersection.

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This is who we share the road with.

A Seattle cop joked about a woman killed by another cop as she was walking, bizarrely bursting into laughter after confirming she was dead. He added that the city should just write a check for $11,000 because she was only 26 and “had limited value.”

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Streets For All will mark my birthday with a beer-fueled Santa Monica meetup on the 24th.

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

Bike riders and pedestrians complain about drivers illegally using an Iowa bike path.

Toronto police are looking for a hit-and-run motorcyclist who appears to have intentionally struck a bicyclist while riding in a bike lane, leaving the victim with severe orthopedic injuries.

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Local 

Santa Monica will conduct another bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operation today and tomorrow, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line.

Campus police at the University of Southern California gave out bike bells and safety brochures to students in an attempt to improve bicycle safety on campus. Then again, if the school was really concerned about student safety, they’d ban cars on campus, and improve the infrastructure on and around the bike-unfriendly school. 

 

State

Encinitas and Solana Beach are cracking down on scofflaw bicyclists in an attempt to improve safety, particularly among younger bike riders. Although if they really want to improve safety, they should focus on the people in the big, dangerous machines, instead. 

San Diego takes a major step forward to revitalize the Kearny Mesa area by resurfacing Convoy Street, adding bike lanes while removing over 200 parking spaces to create a “sexy street.”

The jury has begun deliberating in the Riverside murder trial of Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez for intentionally ramming 46-year old Benedicto Solanga with his truck, as Solanga walked his bike with another person.

They get it. Sacramento is attempting to meet the city’s climate goals by installing more bike lanes.

 

National

New NASA-inspired airless bike tires promise to never go flat, using shape memory nickel-titanium alloy coils to create a ride as smooth as pneumatic tires. And they can be yours for the low, low price of $500 a pair, while promising to last as long as you do.

Speaking of bike tires, Pirelli is extending the recall of their P Zero Race TLR tires to the US and Canada, after a report of rapid air loss resulting in a minor injury. In other words, it suffered a flat. 

Three of Portland’s five councilmembers rode their bikes in the city’s latest open streets event, even though the program is on the chopping block.

A kindhearted Bryan, Texas woman gave a man a new ebike after learning he had to walk nearly two hours to and from work because his bicycle broke down.

A Minnesota website highlights what they call the state’s most scenic bike trail.

A Kalamazoo, Michigan neighborhood is getting a new brightly colored, bicycle-themed mural.

New York councilmembers voted to create the first city-run trade-in program for ebikes and lithium-ion batteries, in an attempt to halt deadly battery fires.

A New York op-ed says congestion pricing will have the added benefit of creating more space for bicycles on city streets.

Amazon is letting its fleet of e-cargo delivery bikes sit idle on the rooftop of its New York building, apparently because of a desire to get rid of the building, rather than any problem with the bikes themselves.

DC protestors blame bike lanes for this summer’s decline in business — even though they haven’t been built yet. And somehow prefer having a dangerous “six-lane highway” in front of their homes to taking steps to improve it.

It takes a major schmuck to knock an elderly Georgia man off his bicycle in an effort to steal it in a strong-arm robbery,

A 13-year old girl became the latest bike-riding police victim, suffering critical injuries when she was run down by a cop while riding across a Tampa, Florida street. Police naturally blamed the victim for riding “75 feet west of the crosswalk,” as if she had any obligation to ride in a crosswalk, or somehow wasn’t allowed to cross mid-block even though drivers do it all the time leaving parking lots and spaces; a better question is why the hell didn’t the cop see a kid on a bicycle directly in front of the patrol car.

 

International

Bike Radar recommends the best fingerless bike gloves. 

Momentum offers advice on how to dress for success while bike commuting. Or hopefully before bike commuting, but whatever works.

Momentum also says the new Brompton collaboration with adventure broadcaster Bear Grylls could be huge; the bikes start at a relatively reasonable $2,500.

The road leading up Montreal’s iconic Mount Royal will be closed to motor vehicles within six years, with the roadway replaced with trees, and bike and walking paths.

Bike-riding BBC broadcaster Jeremy Vine had a scary incident when a truck driver traveling in the opposite direction made an illegal turn, then started to reverse while he was behind it, forcing him to bang on the back for the driver to stop.

Authorities in Scotland’s Orkney Islands hope to ease tensions between local motorists and cruise line passengers who disembark to bike on the islands, often in large groups, in time for next season.

The British government is now considering laws to rein in dangerous bicycling, after an MP raised the issue in Parliament. But Cycling Weekly says the country’s Conservative government has its priorities wrong because the real risk stems from dangerous driving, not bicycling.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian cyclist Nathan Van Hooydonck is awake and remarkably, without serious injuries, just one day after he was resuscitated by paramedics and placed in a medically induced coma after falling ill and accelerating into traffic at a busy junction while driving with his pregnant wife.

Vuelta leader Sepp Kuss saw a lack of support and respect from his own teammates on Wednesday’s stage 18, after his fellow Jumbo-Visma cyclists Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard attacked, dropping his lead to just eight seconds.

Today’s stage takes the Vuelta into Spain’s high mountains one last time.

L39ion of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams will be forced to serve his 60 day suspension for causing a crash in a Colorado crit from April 13th through June 13th, causing him to miss a number of important races.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the overly cautious driver behind you isn’t one. And if you’re planning to steal a bicycle, make sure it’s not a bait bike — and leave the meth and replica gun cigarette lighter at home.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Both sides rest in Solanga vehicular murder case, and Culver City bicyclists crowdfund to save protected bike lane

September 13, 2023 / / One comment

We could have a verdict before the end of this week.

Both sides rested Tuesday in the murder trial of 33-year old Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez, who is accused of using his truck to run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga in Riverside two years ago.

Gutierrez allegedly flipped Solanga off as Solanga walked his bike with another person, then made a U-turn to come back to slam into Solanga, killing him.

Prosecutors have not said if the men knew each other, or why he attacked Solanga with his truck.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

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No bias here.

A Culver City councilmember says kids are much better off riding on circuitous side streets than in the direct, protected bike lane he wants to rip out.

He’s got a point.

Studies have shown that bicyclists are exposed to higher particulate levels when riding next to busy roadways. But it’s unclear whether those particulates have a measurable effect on lung function.

Meanwhile, a new crowdfunding campaign has been established to fight the council’s blatantly illegal decision to replace the bike lane with another lane for motor vehicles, bizarrely claiming it would have no environmental impact and doesn’t require a CEQA review.

As of this writing, it’s raised nearly half of the modest $10,000 goal in less than 24 hours.

https://twitter.com/bikinginla/status/1701845885712568829

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The California state legislature has approved the bill to establish a limited speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach, as well as three NorCal cities — as long as they meet a number of preconditions.

The state Senate also passed a bill legalizing sidewalk riding everywhere in the state, overriding any local prohibitions.

Assuming the governor signs it, of course.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1701704009709425101

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More proof that lane reductions and protected bike lanes work. Someone please tell the Culver City Council.

Oh wait, they already know.

………

Let’s pause our bike news for a moment for a couple of brief help wanted notices.

Los Angeles Walks is hiring an Incoming Executive Director to manage the pedestrian advocacy group; you have until the end of this month to apply.

And if any planners out there are looking for work, Oregon could be looking for you.

Statewide Recreation Trails Planner (Limited Duration)

In this capacity, your role will revolve around being a planner and fostering partnerships. This will involve the facilitation of high-level trail planning initiatives, requiring close coordination with various stakeholders, including state and local agencies, tribal governments, trail advocacy groups, and trail user constituencies. You will also be tasked with the development of comprehensive processes to manage all stages of trail project delivery effectively. Building internal and external partnerships will be key to ensuring the efficiency and success of these processes and systems, all while prioritizing the department’s Mission in your decision-making.

Thanks to Alan Thompson for the heads-up. 

………

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

Police in Downey are investigating after a man was captured on video randomly shoving a man off his bike while he rode with another man along the riverbed on Florence Ave, moments after attacking another bike rider.

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

San Diego is cracking down on ebikes and e-scooters on beach boardwalks, two years after an unenforced and universally ignored ban went into effect.

………

Local 

LA County broke ground on the 3 mile, $8.1 million Vincent Community Bikeway, which will combine a creekside bike path with on-street protected bike lanes through the unincorporated community.

Streetsblog looks at Pasadena’s new Union Street protected bike lane.

More on the effort of three Santa Monica city councilmembers to stop truck drivers from parking in the city’s bike lanes, which has been a problem as long as the city has had them.

 

State

Caltrans and the California Office of Traffic Safety are launching a new “Safety is Sharing. Safety is Caring.” public awareness campaign to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety. Probably because they couldn’t come up with anything more boring and less impactful, despite their best efforts. 

San Francisco bicyclists are taking to social media to complain about drivers illegally using the controversial new centerline protected bike lane on Valencia Street,

 

National

The bike industry’s ebike battery recycling program has collected 43,000 pounds of batteries since it began two years ago.

Direct marketing brand Canyon is having a sale on a number of their bikes, across the categories.

Popular Seattle-based ebike maker Rad Power Bikes is out with their updated new lineup, as the financially troubled company commits to using only UL certified lithium-ion batteries.

Once again, Burning Man attendees abandoned hundreds of slightly used, but very muddy, bicycles, which are going to the Reno Bike Project to find loving new homes.

Heartbreaking story about the death of Colorado endurance bicyclist Greg Bachman, who was killed by a Kansas driver the night before last years Unbound Gravel race; his widow calls out anti-bike bias from Kanas Highway Patrol, which destroyed evidence, failed to examine the driver’s phone or the victim’s GPS, and went out of their way to incorrectly blame the victim.

Omaha bike riders are calling for better “road awareness” from both bicyclists and motorists after a noted local cardiologist was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

A three-day Iowa Underground Railroad bike ride will explore 136 miles of the state’s abolitionist history.

Kindhearted Missouri cops surprised a man with a new bike after the one he used to get to work was stolen.

New York City councilmembers slammed the city’s transportation department for falling behind on building new bus and bike lanes, which are legally mandated by the city’s transportation master plan. Which is what happens when city leaders actually give a damn, and draft a plan with real teeth, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name. 

 

International

Momentum explores the top styles of bicycles for active aging.

The annual, worldwide, women-only Fancy Women Bike Ride rolls this Sunday, though there doesn’t appear to be one scheduled for anywhere in Southern California.

A columnist for a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan newspaper says the road to safer bicycling in the city is sadly “paved with blood,” suggesting that despite deaths and injuries, the debate about safe bicycling always seems to come down to cost. Sadly, it seems to be the case everywhere that nothing happens until it’s too late.

Montreal, Quebec’s ghost bike group marked its tenth anniversary by filling a busy intersection with 645 pairs of white shoes, indicating the number of people killed while walking in the province over the past decade.

Britain’s Conservative government is considering new laws to confront dangerous bicycling, including a pledge to create a “death by dangerous cycling” law, after concluding the existing laws are old and inadequate.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian pro cyclist Nathan van Hooydonck was injured in a car crash after becoming unwell while driving with his pregnant wife on Tuesday; an update from his Jumbo-Visma team indicated his condition was “not critical,” despite earlier reports.

American race leader Sepp Kuss lost time to his own teammates in the Vuelta yesterday, after Jumbo-Visma’s Jonas Vingegaard attacked to win stage 16 and move just 29 seconds behind Kuss.

L39ION of Los Angeles co-founder Justin Williams has reportedly been suspended for a second time in consecutive years for causing a crash in last month’s Audi Denver Littleton Criterium; reports also indicate Thomas Gibbons was fined for swearing after Williams caused him to crash.

Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton overcame “trench foot, freezing rain, wildfire detours, mental demons and a busted derailleur” to record the fastest ever time on the Tour Divide bikepacking route, completing 2,670 miles and 192,000 feet of climbing in 12 days, 12 hours, and 21 minutes. But his time won’t go down as a new record, because the camera crew that accompanied him isn’t allowed under official rules.

Anyone betting the National Cycling League wouldn’t make it to their second season should collect your winnings, as the fledgling US bike racing league laid off two-thirds of the riders they had under contract.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can build your very own dream cargo bike.

And you think you’ve got bike skills?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday

September 12, 2023 / / Comments Off on Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday

It’s the 16th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, the solo crash that laid me up for four months. And in a roundabout way, set me on the path to bike advocacy, and starting this site. 

Yet somehow, I’ve never thanked those bees properly for not killing me that day. 

Image by Gerd Altmann for Pixabay.

………

No update yet on the search for a rampaging hit-and-run driver who appeared to intentionally run down three bike-riding men in separate incidents in Huntington Beach Sunday night, killing one man.

Keep your eyes open for a black Toyota four-door sedan, with significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side. Even if the car turns out to be stolen, it could provide vital clues leading to the killer.

If you see the car, or have any other information, call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times quotes Mario Obeja, vice president of the Southbay’s Beach Cities Cycling Club, saying attacks from road-raging drivers are all too common.

………

Police are asking for the public’s help in identifying two men photographed riding the Metro A (Blue) Line with several brand-new bikes that appear to have been stolen from Irwindale Cycle, with price tags from the shop still attached.

The men, apparently part of a group of five who burglarized the shop early Monday morning, were last seen as they exited the train at Pasadena’s Memorial Park station at 5:30 am.

A crowdfunding campaign is raising money to help the shop, which faces the risk of closing after losing $40,000 worth of bikes in the theft.

………

CicLAvia is hosting their second CicLAmini open streets event on Sunday with a one-mile excursion along NoHo’s Lankershim Blvd, along with brief legs extending along Magnolia and Chandler.

There’s easy access from B (Red) Line subway at the North Hollywood Metro Station, directly across from the CicLAmini route.

Meanwhile, SAFE, aka Streets Are For Everyone, is looking for volunteers to help them work the event.

And while we’re on the subject, SAFE is also looking for volunteers to help assess the condition of LA County bike paths.

………

Streets For All is hosting CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt for their latest virtual happy hour tomorrow evening; Hutt was appointed by the council to replace recently convicted councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Streets For All is also calling for support for a pair of motions at tomorrow’s LA City Council Public Works Committee meeting to the accelerate the design, construction, and implementation of transportation infrastructure projects, and create better coordination between city agencies who build and maintain public infrastructure.

………

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

A British man accused the local police of doing nothing after thieves broke into his home and stole four high-end mountain bikes worth more than $54,000; he spent the equivalent of $7,500 to track them down and fly to Poland to recover them.

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

A Singapore driver complains that many cyclists think they’re “king of the road” and expect everyone else to give way, after a spandex-clad bicyclist taking part in a group ride pounded on his car’s hood in retaliation for honking at them. No, he shouldn’t have honked. But violence is never the right answer. 

………

Local 

A producer for LAist’s How To LA podcast discusses how he lives carfree in the car capital of the world.

Altadena residents discussed local traffic safety issues at a popup event that featured a demonstration bike lane, mini-park and a curb extension.

Culver City’s newly conservative city council is trying to abuse California’s CEQA laws as an excuse to rip out the existing Move Culver City protected bike lane.

Santa Monica councilmembers will discuss a proposed study of how to keep drivers out of bike lanes at tonight’s council meeting, along with repurposing taxi stands and extending the city’s shared mobility program.

 

State

Calbike is calling on you to contact your state Assemblymember to support SB50, which would ban the sort of pretextual traffic stops too often used to target Black and Latino bike riders.

Streetsblog calls for everyone to complete Calbike’s rider survey of Caltrans Complete Streets efforts, or the lack thereof, as the statewide advocacy group prepares to issue a report card of state-controlled routes that double as local streets.

The CHP says a 71-year old Paso Robles man suffered a concussion and broken nose when he rode his “performance bicycle” into uneven pavement on the shoulder of a state highway near Cambria, blaming his unfamiliarity with the roadway and riding too fast for conditions. But not for Caltrans’ failure to maintain a safe road surface. 

A crowdfunding account for a 55-year old Hayward bike rider killed by a hit-and-run driver has raised over $36,000, as police continue to look for the Mercedes driver who left him dying in the roadway.

 

National

Cycling Weekly says the sport has a body image problem, as bicyclists face pressure to conform to a lithe physical standard.

Electrek offers tips on how to ride your ebike around cars and the people who drive them, and live to tell the tale.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 47-year old man killed by a Nebraska driver while riding his bike on Sunday was identified as a “talented and compassionate” Omaha cardiologist.

Police in Massachusetts still haven’t filed any charges against the driver who killed an 86-year old man as he rode his bike last week.

A 13-year old Long Island boy is clinging to life, the victim of a cop responding to a 911 call with lights and sirens as the boy was riding his bike.

A Baltimore basketball player faces charges for the hit-and-run crash that injured a bike-riding man, but still hasn’t been served with a warrant a full year later.

 

International

Momentum lists the top ten bicycle-friendly North American cities to visit this fall. Needless to say, Los Angeles isn’t one of them.

More proof we face the same problems everywhere, as a bike rider in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan decries the city’s hostile environment for bicyclists after a 36-year old man was killed by a driver while riding his bike.

British Cycling, the UK’s governing body for all things bike-related, joined with a law firm to publish a paper in Parliament complaining about a “hazardous leniency” in sentencing drivers who kill or injure bicyclists and pedestrians, which “enables even the most persistent and reckless offenders to evade justice.”

Volkswagen is the latest carmaker to get into the ebike business, announcing a bike-building partnership with the Netherlands’ Pon Holdings.

 

Competitive Cycling

When you’re finishing the final climb of a major stage race near your hometown, you might as well enjoy a beer with your drag-wearing brother.

https://twitter.com/LukeRowe1990/status/1700966228645294464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1700966228645294464%7Ctwgr%5Ea7b0bd62c429d26e5cfdd2075644b6817edf2195%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-11-september-2023-303775

Finally…

Chances are, your mountain bike won’t look any better with a mullet than you would. Biking along an LA River wall of mulch.

And that feeling when you singlehandedly halt a slow speed stampede.

Although maybe they’d just never seen anyone in spandex before.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Update: Killer driver arrested after 3 Huntington Beach bike riders struck — one fatally — in apparent vehicular rampage

September 11, 2023 / / 2 comments

This time it’s murder.

A Huntington Beach bike rider has been killed after a rampaging driver appeared to intentionally target three people riding bicycles in less than an hour Sunday night.

According to KABC-7, the attacks started around 10 pm when a man was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding in a crosswalk at Warner Avenue and Edwards Street, suffering minor injuries.

That was followed half an hour later as a second man suffered minor injuries when he reported being deliberately sideswiped by a hit-and-run driver just a few blocks away on Edwards Street at Brad Drive.

Then as police were investigating that crash, a third victim who had been riding a bicycle was found lying in the street less than a mile away near Heil Avenue and Springdale Street around 10:45 pm, suffering from major injuries.

He died at the scene.

At this time, none of the victims have been identified.

Huntington Beach police investigators believe the same driver was responsible for all three crashes, in a single night of vehicular mayhem.

Witnesses describe the vehicle as appearing to be a black Toyota four-door sedan, which suffered significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066; anonymous tips can be submitted to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and fifth that I’m aware of in Orange County.

It also appears to be the second intentional murder of a bike rider in the county this year, following the February death of Dr. Michael John Mammone in Laguna Beach.

Update: KTLA-5 talks with another bike rider, who says he was also chased by a driver who tried to strike him on Sunday night. He had to ride between two cars to escape. 

A neighbor who witnessed the fatal crash says the driver never slowed down after hitting the victim, and that the car may have been a Volvo rather than Toyota. So look for a black sedan with major damage to the right front. 

They also report Huntington Beach police are struggling to identify the man who was killed. 

Which is yet another reminder to always carry some form of ID with you. And preferably something that won’t be stolen if you become incapacitated, like a RoadID or some other form of wearable identification. 

Update 2: Now two lives could be effectively ended. 

KABC-7 reports police have arrested an unnamed juvenile for using a car as a weapon to attack at least three people riding bicycles, murdering a 70-year old man and injuring two others. 

There’s no word on possible charges, but it’s likely the kid will face at least one felony murder count, as well as charges of assault with a deadly weapon. If he’s tried as a juvenile, he could be held until he turns 21; if the Orange County DA charges him as an adult, he could spend the rest of his life in prison. 

Or worse. 

The victim has been identified as 70-year old Huntington Beach resident Steven Gonzales.

No motive has been announced for the attacks, but it could have been a copycat of the East Bay Area attacks from earlier this year, in which young people in stolen cars attempted to door or strike people riding bicycles or e-scooters.

The difference is, no one was killed then. 

Update 3: According to The Daily Pilot, the boy was arrested Tuesday night on one count of homicide and and two counts os assault with a deadly weapon after they found the suspect’s vehicle in the 6000 block of Warner Ave.

He’s being held in OC Juvenile Hall. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Steven Gonzales and all his loved ones.

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

Despite ebike panic, the real danger comes from drivers; and Manhattan Beach approves likely illegal bike crackdown

September 11, 2023 / / Comments Off on Despite ebike panic, the real danger comes from drivers; and Manhattan Beach approves likely illegal bike crackdown

My apologies once again for last week’s unexcused absence. 

I’m still struggling to adjust to taking insulin with meals multiple times a day, and relearning what and when to eat. 

Every time I think I have my diabetes figured out, they change my meds and I have to start all over again. 

Last week that resulted in wild, more than 200 point swings in my blood sugar levels, which is over twice the normal range. And which inevitably knocks me on my ass whether I’m too high, or too low. 

But hopefully that’s behind me now, and we can ease back into all the latest bike news. Although it could take me a few days to catch up on everything. 

………

He gets it.

The Los Angeles Times’ Ryan Fonseca writes that the recent panic over ebike safety obscures that fact that the real danger stems from cars, and the people who drive them.

Not from the ebikes themselves.

In fact, despite the recent bicycling state of emergency that ensued after 15-year old Brodee Champlain Kingman was killed in a collision while riding an ebike in Encinitas, 88% of ebike crashes since 2020 also involved someone driving a motor vehicle.

Here’s just part of what Fonseca has to say.

I noticed a car-sized hole in much of the media coverage and government response; overwhelmingly, the collisions and injuries and deaths resulted from a car driver hitting a bike rider. But you wouldn’t necessarily know that from reading news articles or government reports.

The focus on young e-bike riders’ safety can obscure the bigger crisis: People driving cars and trucks are killing more people on our roads.

………

Manhattan Beach announced a crackdown on bike riders in the beachside city, although they may have gone just a tad too far.

Okay, a lot too far.

According to the city’s website, the new restrictions include —

  • Prohibits riding on City sidewalks, plazas, grass areas, the Strand, parking structures owned or operated by the City, County, or State, and Veterans Parkway.
  • Prohibits riding at speeds over 15 miles per hour on the Marvin Braude Bike Trail (i.e. Beach Bike Path), and maintains the current “Walk Only Zone” on both sides of the pier.
  • Requires wearing of properly strapped helmets for all riders under 18 years of age;
  • Requires riders to use bike lanes where possible, and on streets without bike lanes, to ride close to the right curb or edge of roadway.
  • Requires riders to ride in single file and not more than two abreast.
  • Prohibits riding on the back of a bicycle or e-bike without a seat.
  • Prohibits speeding, racing, or stunt activity.
  • Reaffirms requirements to yield to pedestrians at all times.

The regulations call for a $500 fine for a first violation, $750 for the second, and $1,000 for each additional infraction within one year of the person’s first citation.

Although state law already covers some of these, like requiring bike riders under 18 to wear a helmet, and for bicyclists to use bike lanes on streets that have them, even though they’re allowed to leave the bike lanes for any number of reasons.

However, Manhattan Beach oversteps their authority when tinkering with traffic regulations, which are exclusively the authority of the state, not local governments.

That includes requiring bike riders to ride next to the curb, when state law only requires riding as close to the curb as practicable. They also can’t legally prevent bicyclists from taking any lane that is too narrow to safely share with a motor vehicle, or when traveling at the normal speed of traffic.

Nor can they require bicyclists to ride single file, or prohibit riding more than two abreast in a single traffic lane, which is permitted under state law.

Never mind that the requirements to ride single file and not more that two-abreast are self-contradictory. And those fines are meaningless if they exceed what the state allows for the same violation.

If it’s a violation at all under state law.

It’s also worth noting that the restrictions on sidewalk riding could go out the window if AB 825 passes in the state legislature, which would legalize sidewalk riding statewide, and is signed into law by the governor.

Which is a damn good reason to ask your state representatives to support it.

And if you get a ticket for violating any of the new restrictions on any surface street, get yourself a damn good lawyer.

………

Pasadena’s first protected bike lane is officially open for business.

https://twitter.com/RyFons/status/1700624986132844911

State Senator and congressional candidate Anthony Portanino joined Pasadena officials in opening the new 1.5-mile Union Street Protected Bike Lane, the area’s first two-way protected bike lane.

Students from all five South Pasadena schools, from elementary through high school, turned out for a bike ride to mark the grand opening of the new Union Street bikeway.

A Pasadena writer celebrates the bikeway’s opening, but expresses concerns that not enough outreach has been done to educate bike riders and drivers about the risks of a two-way bike lane, as well as regretting that the project didn’t include a bike lane on Colorado Blvd, as well.

……..

It’s now been a full two years since California approved what would, and should, have been the nation’s first ebike rebate program.

Which is too damn long to wait.

Instead, we’ve seen countless other cities and states move forward with programs of their own, without the endless delays we’ve had to endure.

But at least they’re finally accepting applications from retailers to participate in the program, so maybe there’s hope.

But don’t hold your breath.

………

Irwindale bike shop Irwindale Cycles may be forced out of business after 25 years, after three men stole 17 bicycles worth $40,000 in an early morning break-in two weeks ago.

A crowdfunding page to help the owners meet business expenses and replace the purloined bikes has raised nearly half of the modest $10,000 goal.

………

BikeLA says you, too, can become an LCI.

………

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

No bias here. A New York bike rider got a summons from the NYPD for riding his bike on the sidewalk when he tried to keep cops from parking on it.

You’ve got to be kidding. After a Florida bike rider was injured in a collision, the local TV station can’t even be bothered to mention that the car had a driver.

No bias here, either. A driver in the UK walked without charges, or even a ticket, despite reversing down a country road at a bike rider following a punishment pass — and running over a dog in the process — after police investigators concluded he probably just wanted to talk with the person on the bike, who was warned not to shout at any drivers in the future. All I can say is they’re damn lucky that wasn’t my dog. 

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

A Singaporean bicyclist is being investigated for an alleged road rage attack on a driver’s car, after denting the car’s hood with his fist in response to the impatient driver honking at him.

………

Local 

The LA Times considers the challenges Woodland Hills drivers are having adjusting to reverse diagonal parking on Ventura Blvd, which allows for more parking spaces while eliminating the risk of dooring bicyclists. Never mind the risk we face from drivers backing up in the bike lane.

Beverly Hills to planning to install bike lanes on Beverly Blvd, which would connect to planned bike lanes in West Hollywood.

Culver City cops busted a pair of would-be bike thieves who tried to steal a bicycle from a Rite-Aid on Culver Center Drive in broad daylight.

The curvy, 2.4-mile stretch of steep canyon road through the Santa Monica Mountains known as The Snake could reopen in January, after closing to motor vehicles for the past four years due to damage from the Woolsey fire and subsequent mudslides.

 

State

Calbike wants you to take the State Highway Complete Streets Survey.

A jury has been seated in the murder trial of Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez for intentionally running down and killing 46-year old Riverside resident Benedicto Solanga with his pickup, as Solanga walked his bike with another person; Gutierrez allegedly flipped Solanga the bird as he drove by, then made a U-turn to come back and ram into him.

Someone riding a bicycle in Indio was hospitalized after they were struck by a driver Sunday afternoon.

A new study suggests that fears that a proposed road diet and wide, protected bike lanes on San Francisco’s Grand Avenue could delay buses are unfounded.

Critical Mass returned to Lake Tahoe after a decade, in response to a Caltrans proposal to increase speed limits.

 

National

NPR explains why journalists often use a passive voice to describe crashes, after a listener complains about a headline saying 17-year old fallen cyclist Magnus White was hit by a car, not a driver.

Las Vegas bicyclists installed a ghost bike to honor former Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst, who was allegedly murdered when he was intentionally run down from behind by a 17-year old driver in a stolen car.

A writer for an Apple website used his iPhone to document a 4-day, 253-mile tour of central Minnesota.

A Buffalo NY writer gets her first new bike at age 70, after a lifetime of bicycling.

Now that’s an open streets event. Thousands of DC-area bike riders turned out to enjoy a whopping 20 miles of carfree streets.

 

International

Momentum highlights North America’s best bike trails, including NorCal’s 25.4-mile Buzz Johnson Trail.

Canadian national park officers shot and killed an aggressive coyote in Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton that had chased people on bicycles, after a second coyote bit a woman when she got off her bike last week.

The National Review offers a photo essay of the decennial Knutsford Great Race on Penny Farthings.

Police in the UK pulled an accused terrorist off a bicycle as he rode along a London canal path, four days after he escaped prison by strapping himself to the bottom of a food delivery truck.

An Indian driver faces murder charges after security cam video shows him intentionally running down a 15-year old bike-riding relative, just because the boy had told him not to urinate near a local temple.

A South Korean bike path may smell of exhaust from the cars speeding by on either side, but its solar panel covering provides power for around 500 homes, as well as shade for the riders using it.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colorado’s Sepp Kuss is just six days from rolling into Madrid wearing the Vuelta’s red leader’s jersey, after making the surprising leap from top domestique for Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard to leading them by more than a minute and a half.

Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel continued to attack on Sunday, seeking a second consecutive stage win after falling out of the overall battle after his disastrous stage 13 ride up the Col du Tourmalet on Friday.

Belgian Wout van Aert won his second Tour of Britain, despite being forced to fight for the win on the final stage.

L39ion of Los Angeles cyclists Kendall Ryan and Ty Magner won the women’s and men’s elite races in the penultimate race of the American Criterium Cup series, but it was American Cycling’s Danny Summerhill who clinched the men’s Crit Cup title.

Instagram users came through for former US crit champ Rahsaan Bahati and his Bahati Foundation by locating his team’s abandoned trailer in Long Beach after it was stolen and ransacked, with $15,000 worth of equipment taken.

Sixteen-year old US national age group time trial champ Gray Barnett got his $12,000 racing bike back after the airline lost it, thanks to an Apple AirTag, which tracked it across the Atlantic.

 

Finally…

When you’re on the run from the cops, try not to run past a boy willing to loan them his bike. Trying out the cheapest ebike on Amazon to answer the burning question, “how bad can it be?”

And The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards begrudgingly signs autographs for bicyclists riding next to his limo. Thanks to Westside Wheelmen for the heads-up. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: ,

Three-year old Odalys Navarro killed by hit-and-run dirt bike rider in Mead Valley; 17 year old boy arrested

September 9, 2023 / / One comment

Some things are just too sad to process.

Like the needless death of a toddler as she rides a bike next to her mother.

And the arrest of a teenaged boy for the hit-and-run that took her life.

The Los Angeles Times reports that three-year old Odalys Navarro died Monday, four days after she was run down from behind by someone on a dirt bike as she rode her bicycle in the rural Riverside County community of Mead Valley.

Her mother, who is five months pregnant, was also seriously injured in the August 31st crash.

The CHP places that crash near the intersection of Steele Peak Drive and Palm Street shortly after 7:30 pm, as they were coming home from the park on the dirt sidewalk.

The motorcycle rider fled the scene.

This is how Rubi Navarro, the victim’s mother, described the crash on a crowdfunding page.

It was a Thursday afternoon 8/31 that was supposed to be filled with joy and laughter, tragedy struck. A hit-and-run incident involving a motorcycle left my child and myself lying on the ground, fighting for our lives. It is difficult to put into words the pain and anguish my family has endured since that fateful day.

My little girl, who was only 3 years old going on to 4 in about a month and I were walking home from the park when the motorcycle came out of nowhere. The impact was severe, leaving both of us with life-threatening injuries. The reckless driver, without a shred of humanity, callously fled the scene, leaving my family shattered and broken.

CHP investigators later found the suspect and his dirt bike, and booked the 17-year old boy on charges of vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run causing fatal injuries.

His name was withheld because he’s a juvenile. Which means that, unless he’s charged as an adult, he can only be held until he turns 21, even if he’s convicted.

The crowdfunding campaign to pay Odalys Navarro’s funeral costs, and her and her mother’s medical expenses, has raised a little more than $5,000 of the $25,000 goal.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the CHP’s Riverside investigators at 951/637-8000.

This is at least the 34th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and sixth that I’m aware of in Riverside County.

There’s nothing sadder than a ghost bike for a child.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Odalys Navarro and all her family.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

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

Move along, nothing to see here — diabetes edition

September 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on Move along, nothing to see here — diabetes edition

My apologies.

I’ve been dealing with major blood sugar swings this week. Wednesday’s post was canceled due to a major blood sugar crash, while today’s was due to a blood sugar spike.

Both knocked me out for several hours, making it impossible to get anything done.

So I’m going to take the rest of the week off, and try to get things back under control.

I’ll see you back her next week.

Just one — or two — reminders that diabetes sucks.

Category: General / Tags:

Why Vision Zero is failing in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and why you can’t get there from here in Playa Vista

September 5, 2023 / / Comments Off on Why Vision Zero is failing in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and why you can’t get there from here in Playa Vista

Vision Zero is now nine years old in California, yet people keep dying on our streets.

The Los Angeles Times looks at why, examining the failure of Vision Zero in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the latter just two years away from the deadline by which it’s supposed to end traffic fatalities once and for all.

Not that anyone in city leadership seems to notice.

Or care.

But San Francisco, like Los Angeles, has spent the better part of a decade making such changes as part of an ambitious pledge to reduce traffic-related deaths to zero. Neither city is close to achieving that goal…

“It’s been an abject failure,” said John Yi, the executive director of Los Angeles Walks, a nonprofit that works with immigrants and communities of color to build safer pedestrian infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

Last year, 312 people were killed in car crashes and 1,517 were seriously injured, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Bicyclists and pedestrians represented 57% of deaths and 41% of severe injuries, though most people in Los Angeles travel by car.

The paper correctly points the finger at deadly speeds, noting efforts at the state level to lower speed limits and legalize speed cams.

But lowering speed limits will only do so much good in a state where they are universally ignored, and drivers routinely travel 10 to 15 miles above whatever limit in nominally posted.

And get angry if they’re stopped for doing so, apparently believing it’s their God-given right as Californians to travel above the speed limit.

Graphic by tomexploresla

Meanwhile, so much has been given away to appease the windshield-addled crowd that California’s proposed bill to legalize speed cams will be limited to a limited effect, in a limited number of cities.

Including a built-in 10 mph cushion above the limit, as state lawmakers seem willing to sacrifice human lives rather than force drivers to take their damn feet off the gas.

The simple fact is, our traffic engineers and planners know what it will take to end traffic deaths, but city and state officials are simply unwilling to do it.

Let alone fund it.

They lack the political will to make the wholesale changes necessary to channel and slow motor vehicles, and the heavy-footed, mistake prone people in them.

Let alone reimagine our transportation system for the 21st Century, abandoning the failed model that’s driven deaths, congestion and climate change for the past century, and moving towards a cleaner, healthier and more efficient model focused on transit and active transportation.

Which is not to say private motor vehicles must go away. But they must be deprioritized, no longer the first choice to transport individuals and goods, but the last.

So instead, we’ve found ourselves nibbling at the edges, adding crosswalks and beacons that work until they don’t. And counting on drivers to pay attention and obey the law, rather than reimagining roadways to force them to.

In the end, the problem causing Vision Zero to fail isn’t speed.

It’s money. And political leadership, or the lack thereof.

Neither of which our elected officials have been willing to invest.

………

Evidently, you can’t get there from here.

Joni Yung comes up with a complicated workaround to get to and through Playa Vista.

………

Call it a ciclovía with spectacular views.

A portion of Coast Road, aka Old Coast Road, through Big Sur in Monterey County is being closed to cars for repairs through the end of this year, but will remain open to bikes, hikers and equestrians.

The soils in the area of the slip out are not stable and adding to the danger, there is a redwood tree along the cutslope (hill) that is encroaching in the travel lane. From the edge of the tree to the edge of the erosion, there is approx. 8-ft, 10-inches of road width remaining. The downhill side is an approximately 12-ft drop into a creek. This is very narrow for any vehicle, car or truck. This reduced width could potentially be a concern for a motorist unfamiliar with the area.

However, despite the name, this isn’t Highway 1 along the coast, but a smaller inland roadway.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

Twenty-three people were injured, some seriously, when an SUV driver plowed into a Denny’s restaurant in Rosenberg, Texas, southwest of Houston; fortunately, none of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening.

Police blamed a combination of speed and a wet roadway. Yet amazingly, the driver was not arrested or even ticketed at the scene.

………

Apparently, you can add bicyclist to director, producer, writer, actor, blogger and political commentator, because Bob Cesca is one us.

https://twitter.com/bobcesca_go/status/1697747529419333917

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the tip.

………

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

No bias here. After a bike rider was seriously inured when he was left-crossed by a driver who violated his right-of-way, a Kansas City TV station was quick to blame the victim for hitting the back of the driver’s car. Even though they’d be unlikely to blame a driver who hit another car in the same situation.

Um, okay. A road raging West Virginia driver threatened to kill a bike rider with a pickax and poison the victim’s food if he ever ordered from the pizza place where the man works, apparently just for riding his bike on the street. Or maybe merely existing on the planet.

A London bus driver has been metaphorically rapped across the knuckles by his employer for tailgating a bike rider, then getting out of his bus and swearing at the victim, before attempting to call the police because the guy on the bike “got on his nerves.”

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

Pioneering Chicago drill rapper Lil Reese bought a local hip hop DJ a new bicycle to make up for stealing the man’s bike when they were both kids.

A Michigan man faces charges for threatening cops with a large metal rod after he was stopped for riding his bike on a freeway; police found two concealed butcher knives and a vial of pepper spray after managing to de-escalate the situation.

A group of bicyclists in the UK were stopped by police for riding 40 mph in a 30 mph zone, but allowed to leave with “appropriate words of advice,” since there’s no speed limit for bicyclists.

………

Local 

Hermosa Beach will now require students to complete an ebike safety course before they can ride theirs to school.

 

State

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who left a bike-riding 14-year old Corona boy lying seriously injured in the street.

Bakersfield motorists are slowly adjusting to green bike lanes on the streets famously trod by the late, great Buck Owens.

A pair of Bakersfield contractors were credited as heroes after they chased down a thief who stole a bike from the house they were working on, and returned it to its owner.

 

National

Federal funding for bicycle safety projects is at risk in the upcoming budget battle, after House Republicans zeroed out funding for RAISE grants, while a Senate budget bill continues them.

A writer for Electrek lists his favorite biking gear so far this year, whether for electric or conventional bikes.

Scottsdale, Arizona is fighting the battle over semantics, attempting to reach the Bike League’s Platinum Level without using the term “road diet.”

A Utah woman was arrested for drunk driving after killing a teenage boy riding a bicycle, telling police she consciously choosie to hit the soft, fragile person ahead of her rather than the hard car coming in the opposite direction.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico man was found guilty of murder for shooting a man he accused of riding his stolen bicycle. One more reminder that no bike is worth a human life. 

Life is cheap in Kansas, where a driver was sentenced to just 41 months for killing a woman walking a bicycle, after prosecutors pled down from 2nd degree murder to involuntary manslaughter.

A repeat DUI driver in Iowa was resentenced to a mere 40 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike rider, after an appellate court ruled his original 55-year sentence was out of line.

Thousand of bicyclists took to Chicago’s famed DuSable Lake Shore Drive on Sunday to participate in the carfree Bike the Drive, although the the registration-only fundraising ride was the opposite of an open streets event.

After someone posted a video to X, nee Twitter, of bike riders flowing through a plaza supposedly in the Netherlands, while complaining about being unable to build something like that in the US, commenters were quick to point out that the video was several years old, and showed a public plaza in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Few New York delivery riders are taking advantage of a program to trade-in older, fire-prone ebikes for safer new ones, citing complicated logistics and the cost of a trade. Meanwhile, fire investigators are on the lookout for fake UL stickers affixed to older, unapproved batteries.

Life is cheap in Louisville, Kentucky, where a woman failed to stop after killing a 61-year old man riding a bicycle, but apparently that wasn’t enough to merit a traffic ticket, let alone an arrest.

A Louisiana Catholic priest will have his commitment to forgiveness sorely tested after a thief was caught on video stealing his bicycle in broad daylight.

 

International

Momentum says research confirms that physical activity can improve brain power in children and youth, so if you want your kids to do well in school, get them to bike there.

An English driver was charged with the equivalent of reckless driving and DUI for the head-on crash that seriously injured a bike rider, after he apparently got tired of waiting at a red light, and went around another car onto the wrong side of the road. The crash was caught on video, but be warned it’s hard to watch.

A “rampaging” British driver is being held on a psych evaluation on suspicion of murder for deliberately running down and killing a pedestrian and a bike-riding man, before crashing into a building and attempting to run away.

A 44-year old woman reached the end of a 3,000-mile bike ride around the circumference of mainland Britain on a bamboo bicycle to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

The pope now has his own personalized bike jersey to go with the bikes he no longer owns or rides.

A vigilante bike patrol in a Finish city has now reclaimed nearly 1,300 stolen bicycles after “cracking the code” to figure out where bikes end up after they’re stolen.

The Philippines is considering amending the law to allow the state to charge road raging drivers on the victim’s behalf, after a bike rider failed to come forward in a road rage case caught on video.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colorado’s Sepp Kuss took the leaders jersey in the Vuelta on Friday and retained it through the weekend, becoming the first American to lead a Grand Tour in a decade. However, Remco Evenepoel called him an outsider, downplaying Kuss’ chances and saying he “kicked a hornet’s nest full of majestic eagles!” Um, okay. 

A reminder to keep your friends close and your pets closer, as a small dog causes chaos when he ran out into the Tour of Britain peloton, causing at least one rider to go over his handlebars.

A Kiwi triathlete was caught on video being taken out by her own teammate as they rode side-by-side in the bicycling portion of a French triathlon; fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured in the “brutal” “horror” crash.

Twenty-two-year old Danish cyclist Mattias Skjelmose won the second annual Maryland Cycling Classic on Sunday afternoon in a more than two minute breakaway.

 

Finally…

How to get your kids to school by bike. Walking your bike through the mud of Burning Man.

And anyone can let their dog hang out of the the car window, why not let your pet bull hang out of the sunroof?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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