Morning Links: LA Council revives Vision Zero funding, New York and Chicago show what can be done

May 19, 2017 / / 2 comments

Maybe they care after all.

Or maybe they were just stunned by the outrage.

Just days after the LA City Council’s Budget Committee zeroed out funding for Vision Zero in the city’s proposed budget — while saying they had no intention of doing exactly that — the full council passed a final budget allotting $27.2 million for Vision Zero over the next year.

Which is still nearly $53 million less than LADOT GM Seleta Reynolds says is needed to meet the mayor’s goal of reducing traffic fatalities 20% by the end of the year.

Let alone eliminating traffic fatalities entirely by 2025.

Surprisingly — and not surprising — the vote was unanimous to adopt the budget; not surprising, since the council usually votes in lockstep, but surprising that safety curmudgeon Councilmembers Koretz, Cedillo and Ryu went along.

It’s just a fraction of the amount New York spends on Vision Zero each year — let alone the additional $400 million in Vision Zero funding the city will spend over the next six years.

But it’s a start.

Only a start.

………

Demonstrating what Los Angeles could — and should — be doing, New York’s infamous Boulevard of Death has gone two years without a traffic fatality after being selected by the city as a Vision Zero Priority Corridor.

NYC added bike lanes, increased space for pedestrians and slowed traffic on Queens Boulevard, choosing to save lives at the risk of slightly inconveniencing drivers.

Meanwhile, as Chicago increased bike infrastructure 135% over the past decade, crashes dropped 54%, deaths and serious injuries fell 60%, and ridership jumped 167%.

Now that’s how Vision Zero is supposed to work.

………

Just in time for Bike Week, the Bike League announces two new Bicycle Friendly Businesses in California, including one in Los Angeles.

And strangely, the Coronado City Hall, where residents complained that bike lanes make them dizzy and compared them to desecrating their daughters.

………

The Sacramento Bee celebrates local rider Evan Huffman’s breakaway victory in Wednesday’s 4th stage of the Amgen Tour of California, while Thursday’s Big Bear stage ended in a surprising sprint finish after nearly four hours of climbing.

Bicycling looks at how Toms Skujins’ Cannondale team reacted to his crash in the Tour of California.

………

Local

After surviving this year’s election, CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo thanks voters and touts his accomplishments, barely hinting at the raging discontent that nearly cost him his seat. Meanwhile, defeated challenger Joe Bray-Ali swears to hold his nemesis accountable “…for every misstep, every false move, every idiotic proposal…”

The Daily News looks at Wednesday’s North Hollywood Ride of Silence.

LA’s Fox 11 discovers it’s Bike Month after nearly three weeks.

Burbank residents took to their bikes for Thursday’s Bike and Walk to Work Day in the city; no word on whether more people strapped on their sneakers.

Nothing like inciting a little panic about Pasadena traffic due to a confluence of events in the city, including the finale of the Tour of California; the Pasadena Star-News shows it’s possible to take a more measured tone.

Long Beach is collecting unloved and unwanted bicycles this Saturday to help find them a new forever home.

 

State

Bike Month puts the spotlight on bicycling in Solano Beach, thanks to the local advocacy group.

Thousands of San Diego residents took advantage of the 100 Bike to Work Day pit stops in the county.

An arrest has been made in the hit-and-run murder of a Barstow bike rider, who was deliberately run down after an argument with a pickup driver.

A Santa Barbara chiropractor says wear your darn helmet, already.

A candidate for the Olympic track team was injured in a collision with a trash truck in Santa Barbara while he was riding his bicycle; he was riding, rather than running, due to an ankle injury.

San Francisco’s Ride of Silence was longer this year to remember the too many people killed while riding their bikes in the city.

The Sacramento Bee maps where you’re most likely to get hit by a car while riding your bike in the capital city, just in time for the start of the city’s bikeshare system.

 

National

Clean Technica says no, 80% of private cars will not disappear from American roads in the next 13 years.

Bicycling talks with long distance cyclist Brody Levin about how to have the ultimate bikepacking adventure.

Pro wrestler Dean Ambrose is one of us, as he talks about crashing his mountain bike a week before Wrestle Mania.

A Portland man is suing the police department claiming that he was just trying to ride his bike home from work when a cop stopped him, knocked him to the ground and arrested him, apparently for the crime of riding while black.

Seattle has the right idea. Instead of Bike to Work Day, they celebrate Bike Everywhere Day. Meanwhile, a Seattle bike rider writes a thank you note to everyone who came to her aid following a collision on Monday.

Forget toilet plunger protected bike lanes. A Texas bike club designed and built their own four-ton steel truss bike and pedestrian bridge.

An Arkansas newspaper looks at the annual Remember the Removal Bike Ride, a 950-mile bike tour following the route of the 1830s Trail of Tears that devastated the Cherokee Nation.

A Chicago woman is suing the police department, claiming that she was struck by an unmarked police SUV while riding her bike, and the officer falsified the report to blame her for the crash.

Caught on video: Columbus, Ohio drivers are using an off-road bike path to bypass heavy traffic.

That’s more like it. A Pennsylvania man gets five to ten years behind bars for causing the chain reaction crash that led to the death of a woman on her bike; he was driving despite a suspended sentence and had synthetic marijuana in his system.

The war on bikes continues, as four Virginia bicyclists were attacked with a paintball gun from a passing car.

A Florida doctor somehow feels the need to point out that pro cycling is dangerous before offering safety tips for bike riders. Just like you should always point out how dangerous F1, NASCAR and IndyCar racing is before telling drivers to buckle their seatbelts.

 

International

Caught on video too: This is how quickly a dooring happens. And how close it can come to disaster.

Bike Radar offers six reasons you should leave your headphones at home on your next ride.

Political campaigning was suspended in Wales after former First Minister Rhodri Morgan collapsed and died while riding his bicycle.

Once again, a bike rider is the hero, as a Scottish man riding his bike home from work rescued a fawn drowning in a canal.

Former MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden remains in extremely critical condition in a Milan, Italy hospital with severe brain damage.

 

Finally…

Yes, your Ganesha bike shorts are offensive. Why teach people how to bike around cars when you can teach people how to safely drive around bikes?

And this is what happens when you get your bike too close to a crossing gate.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Morning Links, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Petition to ban bikes on Mandeville, Mowery moves on, and LA leaders keep our streets dangerous

May 18, 2017 / / 6 comments

They just don’t get it.

Todd Munson forwards news of an online petition calling for a ban on bicycles on Mandeville Canyon and Westridge Roads in West LA.

Which as of early Thursday morning, had managed to collect a whopping 70 signatures — 44 of them anonymous.

Maybe someone should point out that an anonymous signature is the same as no signature at all. Which leaves just 26 people brave, and mistaken, enough to put their name where their mouth is.

Mistaken, because California law allows bicycles on any public roadway where motor vehicles are allowed, with the exception of some limited access highways.

Which means that the only ways to ban bicycles from those roads is to —

A) Change the state law;

B) Start a crowdsourcing campaign to raise the several million dollars it would take to buy the roadways from the city, and convert them into private streets; or

C) Ban all motor vehicles from the streets, requiring residents to walk up the steep hillsides to get to their homes.

Personally, I’m all in favor of the last option; if they want to get rid of bikes, they can give up their expensive cars and massive SUVs. At which point they’d complain about all the damn hikers clogging the streets.

Then again, there is one other option.

They could accept that the public roadways belong to the public, and that anyone who wants to use them is entitled to do so, for any reason, using any form of street legal conveyance. And then slow the hell down and learn to drive safely.

But that’s not likely to happen anytime soon.

Which is not to say the people on bikes aren’t part of the problem.

We can all make a point to be more courteous and ride safely, and make room for others on the road to get by when it’s safe to do so.

Even if we’re the only ones who do it.

………

Congratulations to Michelle Mowery on her new job with the City of Long Beach.

It was under her leadership as Senior Bicycle Coordinator for LADOT that Los Angeles was named a Bicycle Friendly Community in 2012.

She spent years struggling with LADOT’s notoriously auto-centric senior engineers — and often, the city’s more vocal bike advocates. But showed what she could do when she finally got the chance under former Mayor Villaraigosa.

Too bad the progress they made has come to a screeching halt since then.

………

Here’s a must read from Curbed’s Alissa Walker, who asks why city leaders want to keep LA streets dangerous.

Meanwhile, LA transportation advocates call on Mayor Garcetti to keep his promise to use Measure M funds to improve safety on LA streets, accusing the city of backpedalling on Vision Zero.

………

Bring a bike — or a helmet — and ride free on Metro buses and trains today.

And don’t forget tonight’s Bike from Work Handlebar Happy Hours, in Claremont, Downtown LA and Santa Monica, just to name a few. Just try not to be like the beer-toting guy at the bottom of this post.

………

The highlight of the Giro so far: Belgian cyclist Victor Campenaerts asked out the woman of his dreams by writing a message on his chest before competing in Wednesday’s time trial; fortunately, she said yes, especially since he was fined the equivalent of $87 for “damaging the image of the sport.”

Cycling Weekly asks if Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin can hold the leader’s pink jersey all the way to the Giro’s finish in Milan.

Wednesday’s fourth stage of the Amgen Tour of California finished with a five man breakaway in Santa Clarita. The Daily News says today’s fifth stage Mt. Baldy finish will be a contest to see who has the best legs.

Heartbreaking news from San Jose, where a cyclist was killed just hours after posting a video from the Tour of California as he was riding on the same descent where Toms Skujins crashed during Monday’s stage 2; he went over his handlebars trying to stop when he encountered a fire truck coming uphill as he was descending on a narrow road.

Bicycling says pro cycling has to address the risk of concussion, like pro football is just beginning to do.

………

Local

The LACBC offers advice on what to do if you get a ticket riding your bike. Which is timely advice, since the tone-deaf LA County Sheriff’s Department celebrated Bike Week by cracking down on bike riders in Malibu yesterday.

This is all it takes to commute to UCLA from Santa Monica by bicycle.

Damien Newton talks with Bike SGV education director Jose Jimenez about the county’s first bike traffic school.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever robbed a 72-year old Irwindale man at gunpoint as he rode his bicycle home from a doctor’s appointment, after cutting him off with their car.

Writing for the International Journal of Transportation Innovation, the LACBC’s Tamika Butler asks uneasy questions about the role of Vision Zero in a racist society, and whether the engineers and policy makers responsible for implementing it have the skills to rectify inequity in city planning.

 

State

Thousands are expected to take part in San Diego’s Bike to Work Day.

Two dozen riders turn out for the Ride of Silence in Riverside, joining riders from around the world.

KTLA-5 talks Bike Week with Jenson USA in Riverside.

Bike-friendly Redlands ups the ante by making plans for another 26 miles of bike lanes.

Caltrans plans to install green bike lanes on both sides of the exceptionally wide five lane main street through Joshua Tree. Not just to improve safety for bike riders, but to save the lives of pedestrians.

Bad news from Turlock, where a man on a bike was run down from behind by a pickup driver. Note to Turlock Journal: When someone is hit by a truck doing nearly 60 mph, it really doesn’t matter if he was wearing a helmet. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

 

National

A real estate website says yes, it is possible to live in the suburbs without a car.

A new nationwide insurance policy promises to provide liability coverage for bike riders anywhere in the US. Although here in California, your car insurance should cover you on your bike.

Blind Paralympic cyclist and Iditarod musher Rachael Scdoris-Salerno announces plans to run for Congress as an Oregon Democrat.

In yet another example of allowing dangerous drivers to remain on the road until they kill someone, an Oregon driver gets three and a half years for killing a bike rider, by driving with bald tires that caused his truck to fishtail in wet weather. He admitted to receiving somewhere between 30 to 40 tickets for driving with a suspended license, but would just buy another cheap used car when his got impounded.

Colorado passes a bill that will allow the state to suspend driver’s licenses drivers who flee the scene of an injury collision, regardless of whether they’re convicted. Which is something I’ve been advocating for years.

Slap, meet wrist. A Wisconsin woman was sentenced to 11 months behind bars for killing a bicyclist while texting — to be served one week a year on the anniversary of his death, apparently for the next 50 years.

Revenge is a dish best served cold when a squirrel makes you do a faceplant off your bike, as long as you’re a Chicago alderman.

Surprising no one, the NTSB concludes that the Kalamazoo crash that resulted in the death of five cyclists was due to a drugged driver, as a judge rules the driver’s prior DUI arrest can’t be used as evidence. The victims were remembered during Wednesday’s Ride of Silence.

Boston’s mayor says cyclists and pedestrians need to take more responsibility to avoid crashes, and “be more cognizant that a car is a car.” Because so many people who walk or ride bikes have no idea that getting hit by a car can hurt, apparently.

A Florida writer tells drivers to thank a cyclist. Or if they can’t manage that, at least put down their phones.

 

International

We missed Global Bike to Work Day by one week; riders logged 276,818 commutes on Strava, breaking the previous record by nearly 200,000.

Maybe there’s a forgotten network of 1930s separated bikeways here in the US, too.

Volvo’s LifePaint ad has been banned in the UK for misleading imagery; the reflective spray, which the company said works on any surface, was designed to work on dry textiles and fibrous materials, not bike frames, as the ad suggests.

Caught on video: Evidently, things are no different on the Emerald Isle than anywhere else, as an Irish cyclist records a 52-second highlight reel of punishment passes.

It took a bike thief just three seconds to make off with a Dublin bikeshare bike using a technique posted online.

Motorcycle legend Nicky Hayden was seriously injured in a bicycling collision in Italy on Wednesday, reportedly suffering severe head and chest trauma.

Adding insult to injury, a road-raging Kiwi driver tried to punch a bike rider and spit in his face after trying to ram him into a fence.

 

Finally…

If you have to get run down by an 80-something hit-and-run driver, at least make it a Rolls Royce. If you’re riding drunk and carrying a beer on your bike, try to avoid people driving at nearly four times the legal alcohol limit.

And our own Phil Gaimon reaches new heights in his Clif Bar commercial debut on Kimmel.

Category: Bike Access, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Ride of Silence tonight, Finish the Ride on Sunday, and Cedillo wins re-election in CD1 fight

May 17, 2017 / / One comment

Don’t forget tonight’s Ride of Silence in Pasadena and North Hollywood.

There are also rides in a number of other cities throughout Southern California.

………

One event I missed in Monday’s seeming exhaustive listing of Bike Week events was this Sunday’s Finish the Ride: Ride, Run, Walk and Roll Challenge at Griffith Park.

………

Jezebel asks what happens when a bike-friendly LA city council candidate turns out to be an internet troll?

Sadly, this is what happens, as Joe Bray-Ali went from a likely upset winner to losing to anti-bike incumbent “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo in a landslide, ending what may have been the dirtiest LA city election in memory.

It shows just how much damage was done by the revelations of Bray-Ali’s online history trolling a racist website when he couldn’t muster more than 30% against the single most unpopular member of the city council.

And now we, and the residents of CD1, have to live with him for the next 5-1/2 years.

………

Italians are tanking the Giro, which now has a new leader wearing the pink jersey.

In today’s spoiler-free update on the Amgen Tour of California, Tuesday’s third stage was won by that famous guy who rides a bike.

Latvian rider Toms Skujins has been put in a concussion protocol following his dramatic solo fall in Monday’s Tour of California, while last year’s Best Young Rider is just this year’s spectator.

Never mind that some people might actually enjoy watching a bike race, just frighten them with scares of a traffic nightmare. Forget the bike race, let’s talk about what cyclists eat.

And something tells me LA ex-pro Phil Gaimon is having more fun now chasing racers than when he was one of them.

………

Local

Los Angeles Magazine looks at five ways biking is getting easier in LA, from Metro’s Bike Hubs to new infrastructure.

Stan’s Bike shop posted video from yesterday’s Blessing of the Bicycles.

Culver CityBus will give you free fare with your bike or bike helmet for Thursday’s Bike to Work Day.

Burbank will celebrate Bike and Walk to Work Day on Thursday. Because setting aside just one lousy day to encourage and celebrate bike commuting just isn’t good enough.

Pasadena will hold a public meeting next Thursday to discuss the city’s Traffic Reduction and Transportation Improvement Fee.

Seriously? Unable to come up with the $1 million bail, a Long Beach man has been behind bars for nearly a year awaiting trial on felony charges of assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon and resisting an officer — all for throwing his bike at the cop who tried to stop him for riding without a headlight.

 

State

Encinitas officials are working to make the city safer for bicyclists.

Talk about not getting it. Apparently, the solution to traffic deaths in Palm Springs isn’t taming dangerous drivers, it’s making people — and their dogs — wear reflective hi-viz vests just to take a damn walk.

A teenager is donating the money he’s raised for the Tour of Novato to his high school robotics club.

Sad news from Lake Tahoe, where a bike rider was killed in a collision.

 

National

It turns out your bicycle is faster than your car. Mathematically speaking, anyway.

How to get your dream job working for Trek Bikes. I was once recruited to write advertising for Trek, but couldn’t convince my wife to move to Minnesota.

Kendal Jenner is one of us. Just not very good at it, apparently.

The founder of PayPal is one of us, too, and says his obsession with cycling makes him a better entrepreneur.

Always wear a helmet when you ride a Denver bike path to protect yourself from flying cars.

It takes a real jerk to steal a three-year old Rhode Island girl’s birthday bicycle before she even gets it.

The annual Police Unity Ride takes bike-riding cops from around the country on a 300 mile journey from New Jersey to DC to honor fallen officers.

Caught on video: Surveillance video captured the moment an NYPD patrol car smashed into a bike rider who appeared to be crossing the street mid-block. Which is just as horrible to see as it sounds.

Just days after a New Orleans cyclist was shot in the back with a pellet gun, a Mobile, Alabama woman was shot repeatedly with a pellet gun from a passing pickup while riding her bike; fortunately, she wasn’t seriously hurt and was able to get the truck’s plate number.

Caught on video too: A Florida 7th grader somehow managed to walk away after he was run down by a fishtailing hit-and-run driver. Warning: The video is very hard to watch, even knowing the kid came out okay.

 

International

A new high-tech fiber promises to make carbon frames lighter, stronger and less brittle than ever before. And they float, too.

Britain’s EconoTimes lists ten reasons we should all love cyclists. This should be required reading for everyone who drives a car. Or serves in government, at any level.

A British cyclist learns what it’s like when an airline breaks his bike in half, then refuses to do anything about it.

Israeli and Italian bicyclists rode 118 miles from Florence to Assisi to honor legendary cyclist Gino Bartali, recognized as a Righteous Gentile for his work saving Jews in WWII. Why he isn’t a candidate for sainthood, I will never understand.

 

Finally…

Face it, you’re not really a cyclist until you can speak the language. Just call him the bike lock whisperer.

And why ride your bike when you can dance with it?

 

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

Barstow bike rider murdered in deliberate attack; driver still at large

May 16, 2017 / / 3 comments

A manhunt is on in San Bernardino County after a bicyclist was killed in what police describe as an intentional attack.

According to the Desert Dispatch, 40-year old Barstow resident Bennett Warner was riding his bike westbound on Main Street around 12:53 pm Monday when he was approached by a man identified as 22-year old Raymundo Alberto Rodriguez-Cordova of Barstow.

The two men got into an argument, after which Warner rode into a parking lot on the 1000 block of Main. Cordova followed Warner in his pickup and accelerated into Warner, slamming him into a parked car.

Cordova fled the scene following the crash, leaving Warner to die later of his injuries.

There’s no word on what the two argued about, whether it had to do with road rage or a personal dispute between the two men.

Police are looking for an older model pickup, possibly a 1993 Chevy S10, black with red or primer markings on the front, Kansas plate 180GRS.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Tom Lewis at 760/255-5187.

This is the 22nd bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in San Bernardino County.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Bennett Warner and all his loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Injuries and Fatalities, Road Rage, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , ,

Morning Links: Zero vision instead of Vision Zero in Los Angeles, and bike riders really do make better lovers

May 16, 2017 / / 2 comments

So much for Vision Zero being a priority in Los Angeles anytime soon.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports that the new budget the city council will vote on later this week won’t include dedicated funding for the campaign to end traffic deaths in Los Angeles.

Even though the council’s Transportation Committee had voted to devote 60% of Measure M return funds to stop killing bicyclists and pedestrians.

And even though LADOT General Manager Seleta Reynolds estimated it would take $80 million to meet the mayor’s goal of reducing traffic fatalities 20% this year. Let alone ending them by 2025.

And even though the mayor’s own budget had included a woefully inadequate $16.7 million for Vision Zero.

Instead, the council’s Budget Committee voted to zero out funding for Vision Zero, while saying it was no one’s intention to zero out funding for Vision Zero. They promised to circle back at a later date to consider giving some unspecified piece of the pie to improve safety, while channeling much of the funding to repaving streets.

And we’ve learned from experience what their promises are worth.

As Linton wrote,

Despite LADOT having submitted a Vision Zero work plan with costs (see budget memos 130 and 131), Krekorian and Englander both asserted that directing monies to LADOT for Vision Zero was – in Krekorian’s words “buying a pig in a poke” – paying for an unknown quantity lacking “specific expenditures.” The Bureau of Street Services has not submitted an expenditure plan, but can pour money into its perpetually backlogged repaving programs, which divide expenditures by 15 for the 15 council districts….

In an interview with Streetsblog this morning, Bonin expressed frustration that his colleagues were praising the city budget for its no-kill animal shelters, while not yet dedicating any money to no-kill sidewalks. Bonin said that it didn’t make any sense for the council to put off Vision Zero funding that would prevent deaths and save lives. Bonin further stated that he is continuing to push for a genuine city commitment to Vision Zero.

So for now, at least, it’s exactly what so many of us have feared.

LA may have a Vision Zero plan. But zero commitment to follow through.

………

Forget those reports from a few years ago that bicycling can cause erectile dysfunction or other sexual problems.

Because a new study shows no significant negative impacts for men or women; in fact, cyclists scored higher in sexual function than non-riders.

But we already knew that, right? And so did our undoubtedly very pleased significant others.

And you can stop riding those cut-out and cutoff saddles, because bike seats didn’t matter, either.

………

Metrolink will be hosting a Bike Week Twitter Party this evening.

………

As a public service, no more news about today’s elections in CD7, and especially, CD1 until we have actual results, and can kiss this seemingly endless election cycle goodbye.

You’re welcome.

………

Cycling Weekly takes advantage of a rest day at the Giro to catch up with who’s out of the race. America’s best hope took a hit as Tejay van Garderen cracked on Sunday’s stage, dropping four minutes behind the leader.

Monday’s stage 2 of the Amgen Tour of California featured a long breakaway, a dramatic finish, and snakes. And Kiwis.

Latvia’s Toms Skujins was pulled from the race by his Cannondale-Drapac team despite somehow managing to get back on his bike following a particularly nasty solo fall during Monday’s race.

Team Sky’s Ian Bosewell wants to rebuild fans’ trust in American cycling by showing the new generation of riders can succeed without doping; he’s going to participate in a bike giveaway at the Hollywood Boys and Girls Club the day after the race’s Pasadena finish.

The AToC will roll along the Central Coast in today’s stage 3, finishing in Morro Bay.

………

Local

KNBC-4 wishes you a happy Bike Week.

The Daily News says business owners are struggling to deal with the increasing homeless encampment along the Orange Line bike path in Van Nuys, with open drug dealing and prostitution, as well as people turning the bikeway in an open air toilet. I’ve heard from several riders who no longer feel safe riding the bikeway, and asked an LAPD officer to look into it; he reported that they couldn’t be legally removed because they’re on private property.

The LACBC reports Culver City will get a Metro Bike Hub next year.

The County Board of Supervisors will consider a proposal to proceed with the San Gabriel Valley Greenway Network at today’s meeting.

 

State

Coronado suffered a rash of bike thefts, averaging nearly one stolen bike a day over an 11 day period.

The long-planned CV-Link multi-use pathway around the Coachella Valley gets final approval, after excluding Rancho Mirage and Indian Wells from the route. Which they will regret once it’s built and the bizarre resistance to the pathway fades away.

Nearly 300 chefs from around the US will depart from Santa Barbara on their bikes today, riding 300 miles to raise $2 million to help end child hunger; you can donate or sponsor a rider here.

It’s time for the four-day Great Western Bicycle Rally in Paso Robles next week.

Santa Paula police bust the bike-riding suspect who allegedly set a man on fire as he slept on a bench; the victim is being treated Los Angeles with burns over 50% of his body.

Writing in the Fresno Bee, a conservation advocate seems to believe the prospect of allowing bicycles in American wilderness areas will crack the final seal holding back the two-wheeled apocalypse.

Sad news from the Bay Area, where a bike rider was killed in a crash on Mount Hamilton near San Jose. And a 15-year old boy was killed by a train while crossing a bridge in Manteca in the Central Valley.

Once again, San Francisco bike advocates form a human barrier to create a temporary protected bike lane.

 

National

Police departments across the US are going undercover to catch drivers texting behind the wheel. Except in Southern California, of course.

A Oregon paper asks readers whether there should be a tax on bicycles. And gets a response saying bicycles take up more room than cars do. No, really.

A 62-year old legally blind Idaho man has regained his freedom now that he can safely ride a bike on a Boise bikeway.

A Colorado man has been cited for careless driving after the tandem bike he was piloting veered onto the wrong side of the road and sideswiped an SUV, injuring two children on the bike.

The DIY toilet plunger protected bike lane movement has now spread to Omaha NE.

The former Governator took advantage of Houston’s bikeshare system while he was in town to give a commencement address.

A Michigan woman gets six months in jail for a fatal collision with a bicyclist because she had THC in her blood, even though she had the right-of-way and, according to her lawyer, police concluded there was nothing she could have done to avoid the crash.

Heartbreaking news from Indiana, where a driver lost control swerving to avoid a bike rider who had fallen while crossing the roadway and collided with a truck, killing an 11-year old girl in the passenger seat.

It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Ohio Bike Lawyer Steve Magas, who talks about Bike Week and the challenges facing Cincinnati’s growing bicycling community.

Once again, a bike rider has been struck by a cop responding to a call, this time in New York.

The LACBC’s Tamika Butler delivered the keynote address at last week’s Transportation Alternatives’ Vision Zero Cities conference, asking if Vision Zero can work in a racist society.

Eight hundred riders turned out for a South Carolina bike race — including some of NASCAR’s top drivers.

Caught on video: The moment a New Orleans cyclist was shot with a pellet gun was captured on bike cam by one of his fellow riders; fortunately, he’s now out of the hospital.

 

International

Cycling Weekly takes a look at knee pain and what to do about it.

Brit bike scribe Carlton Reid’s effort to resurrect Great Britain’s forgotten bike highways of the 1930s continues to gain traction. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

A British army vet with early onset Alzheimer’s is riding across the country to raise funds to fight the disease that killed his father and grandfather in their 40s.

An Irish advocacy group says horses are treated better on the country’s highways than cyclists are.

In a terrifying, yet ultimately harmless crash, a South African cyclist was dragged behind a semi-truck after a hook from the truck got caught on his jacket.

A New Zealand bike advocate is concerned by a plan to let children, as well as older and disabled cyclists, ride on the sidewalk, saying it would put kids at greater risk from cars backing out of driveways. But evidently, running over older bike riders is perfectly okay.

One thousand riders from a dozen countries around the world turned out for a two day Chinese Gran Fondo.

 

Finally…

As long as they’re removing statues of Confederate leaders, New Orleans might want to rename a bikeway or two. Red Bull says tall bikes will save the world.

And don’t steal bikes, dude. Especially from America’s biggest bike race.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Morning Links, Vision Zero / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Update: Bike rider killed in collision with Metro bus in LA’s Hyde Park neighborhood

May 15, 2017 / / 17 comments

For the second time in less than two weeks, a bike rider has been killed in a collision with a Metro bus.

According to KCBS-2, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was hit by the bus around 3:15 pm Monday near Crenshaw Boulevard and Brynhurst Avenue. He or she became pinned underneath, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Unfortunately, no other details are available at this time.

A street view shows two lanes in each direction on Crenshaw, with the street narrowed due to construction on the Crenshaw Line on the center median.

This comes just ten days after 13-year old Ciara Smith was killed when she was hit by a Metro bus in Redondo Beach.

This is the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 12th in Los Angeles County; it’s also the third in the City of Los Angeles.

Update: David Wolfberg provides more information about this tragedy, along with photos from the site. 

The ghost bike was placed last night.  We learned from after-the-crash witnesses that the bike and victim had been dragged for half a block on southbound Crenshaw before stopping just north of Brynhurst – literally between a billboard for a personal injury attorney service to the north on the east side of Crenshaw (“Don’t wait, Call 8!” you can see on the street view) and the Harrison-Ross Mortuary on the west/south.    Apparently there’s also a pedestrian & bike safety billboard on the other side of of the personal injury one – I’ll check that tonight.
The Google Map view (see street view link above) from January still holds except the cones are gone – so, two lanes of not so great pavement between curb and k-rails.  There’s even a worn out sharrow in front of Highly Favored Hair Studio.  Last night, instead of slowing down for a construction zone, cars were speeding and speeding up as they passed us, and we nearly witnessed another crash as a car stopped just north of the ghost bike to pick up a passenger from the sidewalk.  I worry not just for cyclists, but for everyone here including construction workers who park (in a heavily guarded lot) a block down on the NW corner of Crenshaw and 48th then must cross into the construction area.
We’re told the victim was male.   A reply on NextDoor indicates the victim was a minor.  We had guessed, given the timing, that it was a kid biking home from school.  I don’t want to speculate too much, but it did not look like an intersection crash where the bike flew in from out of nowhere.  I could picture a rider trying to hug the curb and coming across the rough patch adjacent to the sharrow (check street view at 4427 Crenshaw) and faltering in front of the bus.

Update: According to a comment by the victim’s sister, his name is Luis Alvarez, a 21-year old resident of Cicero, Illinois. The family has started a GoFundMe account to bring him back home and pay funeral expenses. 

According to the LAPD’s South Traffic bike liaison, Alvarez apparently passed the bus on the right, then was hit by the bus when he attempted to move back to the right to make a right turn onto Brynhurst. There’s no word yet on whether the bus was stopped or moving prior to the crash; however, a street view does not show a bus stop on that corner. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Luis Alvarez and all his loved ones.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , ,
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