Angry security guard rams car into kid on bike, burnout driver slams into Inglewood crowd, and crowdfunding for Marvin Cortez

June 17, 2025 / / Comments Off on Angry security guard rams car into kid on bike, burnout driver slams into Inglewood crowd, and crowdfunding for Marvin Cortez
Day 168 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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A security guard for a San Raphael shopping mall faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon and child abuse for allegedly using his patrol vehicle as a weapon.

The 66-year old guard is accused of running over a kid riding a bicycle after he became angry when a group of children took down the caution tape blocking off part of a two-story parking garage.

He drove away after the crash, but returned later to turn himself in.

The young victim was hospitalized with injuries that were described as non-life threatening.

But you have to wonder what the charges would have been if he had used a gun instead of a motor vehicle.

The only difference is the size of the weapon.

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This is who we share the road with.

At least six people were injured when a driver doing burnouts “to get attention” lost control and plowed into a crowd of people standing on an Inglewood sidewalk protesting ICE immigration raids.

KTLA-5 reports the victims included 14 and 16 year old kids.

Fortunately — and surprisingly — the victims’ injuries were not believed to be serious.

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A crowdfunding campaign is raising funds for a memorial for Marvin Cortez, the 37-year old man killed by a driver while riding his bike on Stunt Road in Calabasas on Saturday.

The story of his death is also beginning to change, as witnesses claim the driver was out of control, and rumble strips in the center of the roadway make it unlikely that Cortez would have been riding on the wrong side of the road, as initial reports claimed.

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South Pasadena, Alhambra and San Gabriel will host a five-mile open streets event from 3 pm to 8 pm this Sunday.

Which means you could double up, and do the Historic South Central meets Watts CicLAvia and the Active Streets: Mission at Twilight the same day.

Twitter post

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

Denver, Colorado spent $200,000 to make a downtown street more dangerous, removing flex posts from a protected bike lane because people complained about visual clutter, choosing prettier slight lines over human lives.

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Local 

The Santa Monica city council approved a pilot program allowing bicyclists to ride in select bus lanes in the city.

 

State

The YMCA in San Diego’s Mission Valley opened its own $300,000 skate and bike park, creating what could become a training facility for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

A Santa Ana bike thief was busted on a local bike trail after police located him thanks to an AirTag hidden on the bike.

The University of California’s Berkeley Library marks the retirement of a librarian who rode the San Francisco to LA AIDS/LifeCycle Ride six times, stating that librarianship and bicycling are both “powered by compassion, care, and a sense of community.” I would have said the latter was powered by strong legs and a good crank, but what the hell do I know?

A British woman rode her bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles — or most of the way, anyway — in search of “real American cuisine,” from Berkeley’s Chez Panisse to The Apple Pan on Pico Blvd in LA, and on to the original McDonalds in Downey.

 

National

Hit-and-run alerts help, but they’re not perfect. Authorities in Colorado sounded the alarm after a man was found dead next to his bicycle, urging any witnesses to the hit-and-run to come forward, but the coroner later determined there were no traumatic injuries that could have led to his death, and the cause of death remains undetermined.

Even tiny Basalt, Colorado gets it, issuing ebike rebates for the second year in a row to get residents out of their cars.

Police in Pittsburgh PA are looking for a pair of hit-and-run drivers who critically injured a man riding a bicycle in what appeared to be a street race; the drivers were caught on a security cam traveling side-by-side at a high rate of speed before slamming into the victim.

Vermont will now allow bike riders to cross a street on the pedestrian signal, legalizing something many riders already do — although the law won’t take effect for another year.

 

International

A London council is accused of installing “prohibitive, discriminatory” barriers on a steep ramp at the exit of a park in order to stop possibly nonexistent speeding bicyclists, forcing people with disabilities and families in cargo bikes onto a busy road with no bike lane, while ignoring a January compromise agreement.

A motor vehicle once again became a weapon of mass destruction when the 87-year old driver of a motorhome slammed into a group of four Swiss bicyclists in Cher, France, killing two people in their 60s and critically injuring a third. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive — especially a vehicle that can weigh seven tons or more.

Malaysian roads are under increased scrutiny after a man riding a bike was killed due to cracked pavement, just a week after 15 students were killed in a bus crash, as statistics show one person is killed every two hours in the country due to traffic violence.

 

Competitive Cycling

USA Cycling offers an insiders guide to mountain biking in Bentonville, Arkansas, revealing what they claim makes it the perfect training ground for the USA Cycling National Mountain Bike Team.

Aussie sprinter Michael Matthews was forced to drop out of next month’s Tour de France when doctors diagnosed him with a pulmonary embolism.

You might not win Wisconsin’s Tour of America’s Dairyland, but your mutt could be selected as the Dog of the Day.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be a car, sort of. Your next e-cargo bike could come with a detachable rickshaw-style rear seat for your family, or maybe the in-laws.

And that feeling when a century ride to select the ultimate road bike ends up in the ER.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Passive aggressive Paris bikelash screed, cops blame San Diego ebike victim, and four years for Magnus White killer

June 16, 2025 / / Comments Off on Passive aggressive Paris bikelash screed, cops blame San Diego ebike victim, and four years for Magnus White killer
Day 167 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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No bias here.

London’s Sunday Times has apparently dropped its paywall once again so more people can read a passive aggressive post on the reputed Parisian bikelash.

Where, by their telling, people on bicycles in Paris are entitled hipsters who endanger old people, while the humble bicycle itself is seen as “a symbol of aggression, every-man-for-himself and urban chaos.”

Of course it is.

And of course, it’s all part of the proverbial war on cars.

But it is the behaviour of the cyclists themselves and their apparent disdain for the code de la route that appears to be provoking many Parisians.

Many drivers, already resentful at losing precious road space to dedicated cycle lanes, dismiss those on two wheels as bobos, a catch-all term for privileged hipsters. Matters have been worsened by the proliferation of delivery riders, usually under time pressure and often astride heavy electric machines that can go at 30 mph or more.

Never mind that the European Union limits ebikes to just 15.5 mph.

Then there’s this.

Nine out of ten cyclists (88 per cent) admitted to having broken traffic rules in a survey in Paris and nine other French cities last October. Some 75 per cent confessed to riding on pavements, 55 per cent to turning without signalling and the same number to running red lights.

Young riders appeared the most reckless: three quarters said they did not wear helmets or reflective clothing, and a quarter admitted pedalling without lights.

Because as everyone knows, French drivers are the most courteous, respectful and law-abiding motorists on the Continent.

Right?

But at least they get this part right.

But is an unequal battle: cars and other motor vehicles were responsible for the overwhelming majority of the 451 pedestrians and 222 cyclists killed in France last year, according to provisional official figures from the French Road Safety Observatory.

By contrast, three pedestrians were killed by bicycles and six by electric scooters. Though tiny in comparison, this was higher than in previous years.

Although maybe the fact that bicycle and e-scooter ridership has boomed in Paris since the mayor began reconstructing the streets to build a bike and pedestrian friendly 15-minute city.

So an increase in injuries and fatalities is to be expected — especially when electric motorbikes continue to be misidentified as bicycles.

But maybe, with traditional British disdain for their Gallic neighbors, the problem isn’t the bicycles.

It’s that the riders on them are, yes, French.

Perhaps, though, it is not the town planning that is the main problem.

Chantal from Nancy said that the cyclists were just as bad in her home city. “They’re all French,” she said. “The French mentality is that even if something is banned, you still do it and it doesn’t matter.”

Then again, it always helps when you get find someone from France to complain about the French.

Kind of like a self-identified cyclist complaining about bicyclists.

Photo from Pexels. 

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San Diego police were quick to blame the victim after a 54-year old woman suffered serious injuries in a collision while riding an ebike early Saturday afternoon.

Investigators said she left a bike lane too soon while on northbound on Fairmount Ave, where it merges with Montezuma Road, and hit the side mirror of a car in the next lane.

Although another way to look at it is the driver was likely passing closer than the three-foot distance required to pass a bike rider under California law, or they probably wouldn’t have made contact.

Chances are, blame could also be placed on a poorly designed roadway that required her to leave the bike lane in the first place.

Maybe someone from San Diego could tell us more. But at first glance, this one doesn’t seem to pass the smell test.

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There’s justice, finally, for Magnus White.

The 24-year old Ukrainian immigrant who killed the 17-year old rising US Cycling Team member on a Colorado roadway after drinking and staying up all night was sentenced to four years in state prison, after she was convicted of felony vehicular homicide – reckless driving.

Yeva Smilianska will be required to spend at least three years of that sentence behind bars.

She could have been sentenced to anywhere from two to six years — or could have walked with probation.

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There’s a new bike path steering bicyclists around the tennis courts at Griffith Park.

Twitter post

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Who needs a tour bus when you’ve got a bicycle?

Twitter post

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

Embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams panders to Brooklyn voters by vowing to remove three blocks of a protected bike lane after local residents raised safety concerns. Although he may find there are more bike lane supporters than critics in the city.

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Local 

Today is the last day to submit comments on the Draft PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study to improve safety on SoCal’s killer highway.

 

State

A writer for the San Francisco Standard reports on what it was like to be a 44-year old, chubby trans woman taking part in the final AIDS/LifeCycle ride, although organizers announced they will hold two three-day rides next year.

 

National

People For Bikes says the 16-year old federal Bicycle Commuter Benefit is on the chopping block, as House Republicans voted to eliminate the meagre $20 a month tax rebate meant to encourage bike commuting.

Five Colorado bicyclists were injured, and three hospitalized, when they crashed while riding in a group of 12 riders outside of Sterling in the northeastern part of the state on Saturday; the good news is there was no car or driver involved.

 

International

Momentum writes in praise of spandex-free slow bicycling.

Tom’s Guide explains six essential checks to get your bike ready for the summer. They pretty much get it right, although most of us here in SoCal probably started months ago — if we ever stopped.

Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura shared photos of his visit to Havana, playing basketball with local kids and riding in one of Cuba’s bicitaxis, aka pedicabs.

A CBC reporter explains that Toronto’s bikeshare system has become a victim of its own success, and is looking to New York’s Citi Bike for solutions to meet its high demand.

People in Montreal and Quebec City are being discouraged from riding their bicycles by garbage bins, semis, cars and other obstacles on bike paths. In other words, kind of like pretty much everywhere else. 

Britain’s Aston Martin teamed with titanium hand-built bikemaker J.Laverackit to create “the most bespoke, advanced and meticulously engineered road bicycle ever made,” employing state-of-the-art design processes and manufacturing techniques more commonly found on Formula 1 cars.

Smithsonian examines how Sweden’s 60-year old Vätternrundan became the biggest recreational ride on the planet, offering 196 miles around the country’s Lake Vättern.

A writer for Travel + Leisure recommends a luxury bicycle tour as the best way to see Romania’s medieval villages, castles and vineyards, as well as the ghosts of its communist past.

That’s more like it. After a Singaporean man was killed in a collision after falling off his bicycle, Malaysian officials took responsibility for the poor condition of the roadway, blaming “crocodile cracking” caused by heavy vehicles, and ordered immediate road repairs.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here. Slovenian star Tadej Pogacar dominated the Critérium du Dauphiné, winning nine of the 21 stages — including the Queen stage — even as rival Jonas Vingegaard put up a fight.

Ouch. Legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx chats with his old rival Roger De Vlaeminck, as the two men trash the current generation of riders, arguing that they don’t race often enough or hard enough, and get dropped too easily.

A 50-year old Iowa math teacher is tacking the 2,745-mile, Canada to Mexico Tour Divide for the second time.

French cyclist Romain Bardet called it a career after 14 years, including two podium finishes in the Tour de France, as the pro peloton showed its respect.

https://twitter.com/picnicpostnl/status/1934303154063171852

 

Finally…

If you’re going to preach the gospel, it might as well be from a bicycle on a cross-country ride. Who needs a touring bike to ride across the country when you’ve got a BMX?

And when life gives you an attempted murder charge, just go for a bike ride.

Twitter post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: 37-year old man riding bicycle killed in apparent head-on crash on Stunt Road in Calabasas Saturday morning

June 14, 2025 / / 9 comments

Note: This story has changed considerably following the initial report. As usual, I’ve left the original version as is and added the updates below, so you can see how our understanding of the events has developed. So please read all the way to the end to get the full story. 

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My News LA is reporting that a man was killed riding a bicycle in Calabasas Saturday morning.

The victim, identified as 37-year old Marvin Cortez, was struck by a 25-year old Calabasas man while riding on the wrong side of Stunt Road, south of Mulholland Highway, around 9:25 am.

Cortez was reportedly riding north in the southbound lane when the driver rounded a blind curve, and crashed into him head-on.

He was taken to a hospital, but died in the ambulance before he arrived.

Stunt Road is a popular route for road cyclists in the hills between Malibu and Calabasas; it’s possible Cortez cut the corner while descending, and was in the wrong spot at the wrong time.

There appears to be some confusion about where he is from. The story leads off by calling Cortez a Los Angeles man, but concludes by saying the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner did not disclose his city of residence.

This is at least the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County.

Update: BikeLanesLA casts doubt on the initial reports, pointing out that it’s unlikely Cortez would have crossed the rumble strips at the center of the roadway. 

Twitter post

Update 2: A crowdfunding campaign has been established to raise funds to help pay memorial expenses for Cortez. As of this writing, it has raised over $27,000 of the $35,000 goal.

Here is how Melanie Gideon, who established the campaign, describes him.

Marv found his greatest joy in the simple, beautiful things—riding his bike like the world depended on it, sharing quiet moments with those he loved, and making everyone around him feel seen, heard, and cherished. Whether it was through his endless jokes, his goofy grin, or the calm comfort of his silent presence, he had a rare gift: he made life feel lighter, even on the heaviest days.

He was the small, funny guy in the room—the one whose energy made everyone feel at home. He didn’t need the spotlight to shine; he was the reason the room was warm in the first place. Marv was the kind of friend who’d sit with you for hours, say nothing, and still make you feel more whole just by being there. He always showed up—reliably, gently, and fully himself.

And he found his greatest love in Johanna. Their time together was filled with deep connection, laughter, and shared joy. It was a love that grounded him and made his vibrant spirit even brighter.

Update 3: A witness to the crash contradicts the original report.

Kate says she was hiking with two friends on the Calabasas Peak Trail, and was just above the trailhead when they all heard a loud engine reverberating through the canyon, even before they saw a black American muscle car roaring south towards the ocean, “like it was on a racetrack.”

They were alarmed by the speed he was traveling at, then moments later they heard a loud “pop” and saw debris flying through the air. 

From where they stood, they saw the car in a ravine, and watched as the driver got out and walked up to the road so he could see what he had done. 

Other bike riders soon arrived and surrounded the victim as she called 911. She saw them searching for something, possibly the victim’s bike. 

The ambulance came speeding up the roadway, yet still not as fast as the driver had been going. Then departed slowly after the paramedics unhurriedly tended to Cortez, which suggested to her that he may have died on impact. 

She isn’t sure about the speed limit, but thought it might be 25 mph due to the many switchbacks on Stunt Road, well below the speed the driver appeared to be doing before the crash. 

The location near the trailhead places it between two sweeping curves, which should have slowed the driver. That suggests it may be more likely the driver was on the wrong side, rather than Cortez, if he rounded the curve at speed. 

It’s also possible that both Cortez and the driver were in the same lane, traveling in the same direction at the time of the crash, which is the understanding Kate and her friends had, although she stresses that they can’t be sure. 

It may be that reports Cortez was on the wrong side of the road rely only on the word of the driver, who has a vested interest in blaming the victim, whether consciously or not.  

Kate also mentioned that they had said hello to a very friendly man “with brown hair and a beard” riding a bicycle, and hoped it wasn’t Cortez. 

If it wasn’t, it’s very possible he may have seen what happened, or at least saw the driver before the crash. 

And yes, Kate says she and her friends remain very disturbed by what they witnessed. As someone who counsels trauma victims, she now finds herself dealing with what she usually helps others with.

Having witnessed something like that myself, I can testify it remains troubling years later. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Marvin Cortez and all his loved ones. 

Thanks to Kate for sharing what she witnessed.

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

When Streets Are For Everyone says everyone, they mean everyone; and join Bike LA for South LA CicLAvia feeder ride

June 13, 2025 / / Comments Off on When Streets Are For Everyone says everyone, they mean everyone; and join Bike LA for South LA CicLAvia feeder ride
Day 164 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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It was a light news day in the world of bikes yesterday, so let’s get right to it. 

I mean, it’s not like anything else happened Thursday, right?

Ice photo by Dragon77 from Pixabay. 

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Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, responds to the recent ICE raids and the protests that followed by stressing that when they say everyone, they mean everyone. 

At Streets Are For Everyone, our mission is simple: improve the quality of life for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers alike by reducing traffic fatalities to zero. This mission does not exclude any Angeleno from our work. We strive to make streets safer for everyone, regardless of their mode of transportation, income, housing status, or immigration status. That means pushing for equitable design, advocating for justice, and demanding infrastructure that protects our most vulnerable neighbors.

The ongoing immigrant raids across Los Angeles, including the deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops (and now Marines), did not make the streets safer. In fact, they worked to sow fear and discord across our communities.

Long after this current moment of ICE raids is over, our most vulnerable neighbors will continue to live in fear of moving around the city, of taking the bus, or simply walking down the street.

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Bike LA, nee Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, is hosting a CicLAvia feeder ride along the new Rail-to-Rail trail through South LA next Sunday.

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1933156710337966273

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

No bias here. Washington DC unraveled two years of community work by unceremoniously removing barriers protecting a two-way bike lane, apparently because some people thought it was ugly and didn’t even bother to tell anyone before they did it, safety be damned. DC bike riders weren’t too thrilled by it, either.

A road-raging Florida woman says she drove down a multi-use path chasing a 14-year old boy riding an ebike, just so she could tell his parents he was riding too fast, apparently confused what “multi-use” means. So why is it always Florida?

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

The news director for a Wisconsin radio station complains about having to jam on the brakes to avoid a couple of stop sign-running bike riders. On the other hand, reckless drivers don’t seem to bother him at all. And why do people always feel the need to remind us that getting run over by a car or truck “doesn’t end well for the bicyclist,” as if that will somehow come as a surprise to anyone?

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Local 

A UCLA student was knocked cold by an attacker while riding his bike on campus and woke up to find his cellphone missing; the suspect was described as male, 5’6″ tall and wearing a black hoodie and black pants.

Santa Monica received $875,000 from SCAG — the Southern California Association of Governments — to improve and expand their neighborhood greenways.

 

State

GT Bicycles has cut ties with extreme mountain biking pioneer Hans ‘No Way’ Rey after a remarkable 38 years, as the Aliso Viejo-based bikemaker continues to shed sponsorships.

Santa Cruz County is encouraging residents to get out of their cars by launching their own ebike incentive program, with vouchers ranging from $300 to $1,200. That compares favorably to LA County’s program offering absolutely nothing. 

San Francisco moved the center-running Valencia Street protected bike lane back to the curb, but evidently forget to protect all of it.

A Chico bike park will now serve alcohol, for anyone who needs a few drinks to give it a try. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

 

National

Say what? Hawaii’s governor targets a bill prohibiting “high-speed electric devices” from the state’s roadways, arguing that it could ban electric cars and probably violates the US Constitution clauses regulating interstate commerce and banning discrimination against groups and individuals.

Denver removed plastic bollards from some protected bike lanes because drivers kept knocking them over, and concrete barriers last longer with less maintenance, anyway.

That’s more like it. A Colorado woman was sentenced to five years behind bars for fleeing the scene after killing a man riding a bicycle, until her lawyer called hours later to turn her in.

A Boston letter writer corrects a recent editorial, pointing out that it wasn’t the bike lane’s fault when a speeding driver jumped the sidewalk and hit a man riding a bicycle head-on.

Writing for Streetsblog, a New York man channels the spirt of 1970’s bicycle philosopher Ivan Illich, arguing that he would probably agree with the mayor’s 15 mph speed limit for ebikes, and wouldn’t be a fan of bicycle delivery riders, either.

Speaking of Gotham’s ebike-riding delivery riders, the city’s Department of Transportation is distributing four hundred fire-safe, certified ebike batteries to cut down on the risk of fires.

A Pennsylvania woman says she settled for riding just 10,000 miles in the year leading up to her 50th birthday, because it was too cold to ride 12,000.

A Virginia man blames a new bulb-out for making him fall off his bike, insisting that he didn’t see it on a road he rides regularly until it was too late.

 

International

No one else was around when a well-known Canadian paracyclist came to, after he was run down from behind while training in Whitehorse, forcing him to flag down a motorist with one good arm because the other one is now paralyzed — yet somehow, police aren’t even treating it as a hit-and-run.

A Guardian op-ed says cars already made pedestrians second-class citizens, and we can’t let driverless cars push us off the street entirely. If pedestrians are second-class citizens, imagine what that makes us. 

They get it. The New Zealand government is installing a dozen ebike charging stations along trails in Hawke’s Bay and Wellington to boost bicycle tourism, at a cost of nearly a half-million dollars.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s other ex-Tour de France winner talks with Cyclist about the dark years following his fraudulent doping denials, and the redemption that was years coming.

 

Finally…

That feeling when electric bike pumps are great, but you’d rather do it the old-fashioned way. Call it the Wonka Chocolate Factory of cargo bikes, but without all the golden tickets.

And your next $3,500 electric scooter could look like a Cyber Truck.

Which ain’t necessarily a good thing.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

More bike and transportation bills advance in CA legislature, LA committees advance bike bills, and tariffs raise their ugly heads

June 12, 2025 / / Comments Off on More bike and transportation bills advance in CA legislature, LA committees advance bike bills, and tariffs raise their ugly heads
Day 163 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Calbike reports on the California legislature’s halftime progress on a number of bicycling and transportation-related bills.

In addition to the bills we discussed yesterday, measures advancing from one chamber to the other include:

  • AB 382 lowers the speed limit around schools from 25 mph to 20 mph.
  • AB 720 reforms automated red light cameras to make the system more equitable and effective.
  • AB 1014 would give city’s more flexibility to lower speed limits on non-freeway state routes.
  • A number of bills further regulating ebikes also moved forward.

However, AB 981, which would have established a pilot program to require intelligent speed assist for drivers convicted of reckless driving, was held over for next year.

On the other hand, a bill that would have redefined electric motorbikes that exceed the state’s 28 mph speed limit for Class III ebikes died due to opposition from the DMV and the motorcycle industry.

And thankfully, AB 612, giving fire departments more authority over bikeway planning, died a merciful death. As we’ve seen, fire officials frequently oppose projects that would improve safety over misplaced fears it could slow their trucks; firefighters claimed protected bike lanes on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista caused dangerous delays, but LAFD’s own stats showed response times only dropped by a few seconds after the lanes were installed.

Meanwhile, Calbike says they’re working with Caltrans to “ensure the agency takes active transportation safety seriously and better implements Complete Streets on its highways,” after accusing the agency of ignoring a 2024 law mandating Complete Streets.

Photo from California State Assembly website.

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A joint session of the LA City Council Transportation and Public Works Committee approved motions for better bike path maintenance, bus cam enforcement of drivers parking in bike lanes, and how to implement Measure HLA, requiring the city to build out the mobility plan when streets are resurfaced.

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People For Bikes announced its support for a bipartisan bill in the US House that would remove tariffs on bicycle components to accelerate domestic bike manufacturing.

But they could still be subject to the 50% tariff on steel and aluminum, which are already driving up bike prices.

Exactly what the industry doesn’t need as it struggles to recover from the post-pandemic bike bust.

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

Apparently, former KNBC sportscaster Fred Roggin is spending his retirement working as a Palm Springs commentator, tackling the ever-popular subject of bike riders rolling stop signs. Never mind the drivers who do the same thing in their multi-ton SUVs. 

Police in the UK are looking for a road-raging mountain bike rider who evidently didn’t take kindly to getting hit by a driver, walking over to his car and assaulting him.

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Local 

Metro posted the results of their survey asking for the public’s budget priorities; unfortunately, biking and walking improvements are nowhere to be seen, although bikeshare showed increased support “when filtered by (its) respective geographic zones.”

Works for me. CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt is proposing closing portions of four streets to convert Leimert Park’s Stocker Plaza into a public park.

Today is the last day to register for the cycling competition at the Pasadena Senior Games. And get your comments for the proposed 380-acre Haskell Canyon Bike Park in Saugus by end of day today.

 

State

Trump is expected to sign a measure today that will block California’s mandate banning the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035. Okay, how about a mandate banning all cars within ten years, instead? 

 

National

She gets it. A writer for Streetsblog says empty bus and bike lanes are a feature, not a bug, because they move traffic more efficiently than all those lanes clogged up with cars.

Cycling Savvy posted video of Mighk Wilson’s recent webinar on data-driven planning for bicycling.

Bike Magazine says modern cross-country and short-travel mountain bikes may just be the ideal bikes for most riders.

Bad news from Las Vegas, where motorcycle deaths in Clark County have gone up 16% — and bicycling fatalities have more than doubled.

The Phoenix New Times examines the case of a Latino man shot in the back by police during the altercation that followed a pretextual traffic stop, after two cops pulled him over because he was riding his bike without a light near a drug house; he somehow allegedly pulled a gun and fired a shot at them, despite being dogpiled by both of the officers, whose body cams conveniently fell off during the struggle.

That’s more like it. Boulder, Colorado has taken an old storage space next to a bus stop and converted it into a free garage for bicycles — which is a great way to encourage more people to ride.

Heartbreaking news from Texas, where a 12-year old Houston boy was killed by a hit-and-run driver after he was chased by a dog before losing control of his bike and falling into traffic. Seriously, there’s a special place in hell for anyone who would take off and leave a kid to die in the street.

The Illinois legislature passed a handful of bike and pedestrian safety bills, including one giving every human-powered device and low-speed electric bicycle the same rights and responsibilities as two-wheeled bicycles, effectively legalizing recumbents, adaptive bikes and adult tricycles.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Illinois driver took off after striking a kid riding his bike in a crosswalk, and had to be stopped from fleeing by a witness — yet police cited him for a couple of lousy traffic violations, while giving him a walk on the hit-and-run.

New York is installing protective daylighting barriers at Brooklyn intersections to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians.

That’s more like it, too. Louisiana’s governor signed a new bill imposing a mandatory sentence of at least two years for hit-and-run resulting in death or great bodily injury, without the possibility of probation, parole or a suspended sentence.

 

International

A Toronto city council committee concluded that only bicycles should be allowed in bike lanes, which are currently governed by a mixture of rules depending on what type of lane it is.

Former British cycling star Chris Boardman says the ebike panic is misplaced when 99.5% of road deaths are caused by the people in the big dangerous machines — not the ones riding on two wheels with a battery attached.

He gets it, too. A Dutch engineer says forget mandating bike helmets and focus on building bike lanes, which too often lose out to funding public transportation in local communities.

 

Competitive Cycling

I want to be like him when I grow up. Thirty-time mountain bike, road and ‘cross national champ Fred Schmid is still lining up for Unbound Gravel at 92-years old.

The International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency issued a joint statement condemning the Enhanced Games, a pro-doping alternative to the Olympics where failing a drug test means not taking any. So if Lance is still looking to make a comeback, the door is wide open. 

 

Finally…

If you’re going to place an AirTag on your kid’s bike, make sure you’ve got the right bike. The two-year old daughter of a Legend is one of us, too.

And if anybody ever says I died doing what I love, I will come back and haunt them to the end of their miserable days.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Good news and bad news as CA legislature hits halftime, and “oopsie” shouldn’t get killer drivers off the hook

June 11, 2025 / / Comments Off on Good news and bad news as CA legislature hits halftime, and “oopsie” shouldn’t get killer drivers off the hook
Day 162 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Streetsblog provides a halftime report from the California legislature, as bills move to one house after passing in the other.

Or die an ignominious death upon failing.

Among the winners so far are AB 954, aka The Bike Highways Bill, and AB 891, Quick-Build Project Pilot Program.

The former would set up a pilot program to connect existing bikeways into bike highways, while the latter would instruct Caltrans to use quick-build designs to improve state roads.

Among the other bills also passing in the Assembly was AB 366, allowing interlock devices for drivers convicted of DUI.

Bills passing in the state Senate included SB 71, streamlining CEQA environmental review requirements for public transportation, bike and pedestrian projects that would reduce car dependency.

Also passing the Senate was SB 445, which imposes a deadline on local agencies to review permits for Complete Streets and sustainable transportation projects.

Dying for this year were a bill that would have placed a statewide bond issue to fund sustainable transportation projects on next year’s California ballot, and one to allow victims of climate disasters or their insurers to sue oil companies to recoup their losses.

Meanwhile, the long awaited Stop As Yield, aka Idaho Stop, law that would allow California bike riders to treat stop signs as yields — and possibly roll through red lights after coming to a complete stop — will have to wait until we have a new governor in two years.

It wasn’t introduced this year because Gavin Newsom already vetoed two previous versions of the bill.

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This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Life is cheap in Los Altos, where a man walked without a day behind bars for the distracted driving death of a 38-year old woman riding a bicycle after he was sentenced to probation and community service; he had faced up to six years for felony vehicular manslaughter. Not a single year, as the story suggests.

And life is equally cheap in Michigan, where a former cop walked without a day behind bars for killing an 83-year old man riding a bicycle, after he was sentenced to 12 lousy months of probation; the victim had just finished a ride across the country, and was on his way back home to Florida.

So what’s the point of even having traffic laws, if overly lenient judges won’t even hold drivers accountable for killing someone when they break them?

Just saying “oopsie” shouldn’t be good enough.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

A San Francisco woman has filed suit against Waymo after she was doored by the passenger of a Waymo self-driving cab, and prevented from taking evasive action by another Waymo cutting across the bike lane.

A new website tells you everything you always wanted to know about where and how to bike in and around Lake Tahoe. Okay, not literally in, unless you’ve invested in waterproof bike lube. 

 

National

CNN recommends the best bike shorts for a more comfortable ride, according to “seasoned cyclists.” Which raised the question of how were they seasoned, and whether they should be grilled, baked or air fried.

The rich get richer, as Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community Boulder, Colorado could soon get a protected bike lane on a dangerous stretch of one of the city’s main drags.

Kindhearted residents of five Iowa counties collected over 200 donated bicycles to restore and distribute to community members.

That’s more like it. A 25-year old Missouri woman was sentenced to ten years behind bars for the drunken collision that killed a 25-year old man riding a bicycle last year.

Hundreds of people turned out for a Slow Roll memorial ride to remember a 38-year old Ohio woman who was killed when an 18-year old driver crossed onto the wrong side of the road, slamming head-on into her and another woman riding their bikes together, along with a third person who escaped the crash. Maybe if we had a turnout like that when someone gets killed here, we could see some real change in LA, for a change. 

This is how Vision Zero should work. An Ohio city received a $1.4 million grant to install new sidewalks and shared-use paths where two young boys were struck by a driver while riding their bikes last year; a nine-year old boy was killed, while a 10-year old survived with serious injuries.

Streetsblog says if New York’s mayor really wants to improve traffic safety, the city should take advantage of a one-year old state law allowing it to lower speed limits to 20 mph, rather than scapegoating ebike riders, since NYC drivers injure over 9,600 pedestrians each year, leaving less than 40 due to all other causes.

Speaking of New York, the highly publicized crackdown on ebike riders is turning out to be, in the words of the bard, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” as judges are simply putting the vaunted criminal summonses on hold pending dismissal.

Philadelphia advocates are racing to get a bike lane approved by City Hall, for the streets around City Hall, in advance of a summer repaving project and before the city council takes the rest of the summer off.

Apparently, Florida drivers don’t know how to avoid curbs, because they keep crashing into the barriers for a new curb-protected bike lane in Palm Springs.

 

International

Now you, too, can bike your way to better brain health and away from dementia, which is good news for all of us.

Britain’s Cyclist Magazine recommends the best Father’s Day gifts for bicycling dads. Even though the best gift is just more time to ride.

The BBC has finally realized that bicyclists with bike cams aren’t “vigilantes” or “grassing snitches,” belatedly concluding that cameras help bring dangerous drivers to justice and are often the only recourse riders have. Although California law doesn’t allow them to be used against drivers for traffic violations or misdemeanors, technology be damned. 

Dutch ebike brand VanMoof is back from the dead with two new models, after it was rescued from bankruptcy by the electric scooter division of McLaren.

A local campaign by a group of young Scouts in Romania has blossomed into a nationwide movement to build safe bike infrastructure, in a country where kids under 14 are banned from biking on public streets.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as a writer for the BBC rides Morocco’s 520-mile Route of the Caravans, offering a view of the country few tourists ever see.

A new Chinese-made ebike conversion kit promises to install the first time in just three minutes, and ten seconds thereafter, while offering one of the smallest and most portable sizes yet; a crowdfunding campaign will launch soon offering an early bird price of just $349. Although how that could be affected by Trump’s on-and-off tariffs is TBD. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Seriously? The solo Race Across America, aka RAAM, kicked off in Oceanside CA yesterday, sending competitors over 3,000 miles virtually nonstop to Annapolis, Maryland. But the only mention anywhere in the news comes from a radio station in Osage Beach, Missouri.

 

Finally…

When you’re the king’s sister-in-law, of course you wear $900 pumps to a mountain bike park. That feeling when an apparently AI-written story recommends five scenic cyclist-friendly trails, but can’t be bothered to tell you where they are.

And this is pretty much the opposite of sticking the landing.

Instagram post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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