Lower income people bike more than wealthier Americans, and city council committees consider transportation

March 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on Lower income people bike more than wealthier Americans, and city council committees consider transportation

A new US study disproves the widespread belief that only wealthy people ride bicycles, observing that lower income people tend to walk and bike more than wealthier Americans.

After controlling for a number of observed and unobserved factors, we find that individuals in low-income, car-owning households are associated with up to 14% more walking trips and 33% more cycling trips in a week compared to higher-income households, on average.

However, the authors note that higher-income households use active travel significantly more than low-income, car-owning households in urban areas, while the opposite holds for suburban and rural areas.

Their conclusion is that active travel is often driven by necessity and lack of other viable options.

We need to flip that script, and move to where people of all income levels choose active transportation because it’s the most convenient option, not because they don’t a choice.

Photo by cottonbro studios from Pexels. 

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Streets For All calls attention to measures being considered by LA council committees tomorrow.

The Transportation Committee will consider the installation of speed tables to minimize speeding, and reimagining the intersection of Ventura Blvd & Woodman Ave to improve safety at its 2 pm meeting.

Meanwhile, the Public Works Committee will meet at 3:30 pm to address sidewalk repairs while preserving street trees, among other matters.

The group offers a toolkit to help you call into the meetings, and submit public comments.

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About damn time.

Note the bike on the escalator in the background, too.

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This is what it looks like when an Aussie bicyclist gets left-hooked by a driver who just keeps going without slowing down.

https://twitter.com/Ravener85/status/1632833785321644032

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

No bias here. The chair of a Brooklyn community board endorsed speeding in school zones, and blamed bike riders for “almost” killing someone every minute. Sure, let’s pretend the streets are littered with the bodies of people who were “almost” hit by someone on a bicycle. As opposed to the ones who were “almost” missed by drivers, but weren’t. 

No bias here, either. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina says you have to drive to the damn beach, banning bicycles of any kind all summer, from 10 am to 4 pm.

Or here. A British writer, who somehow seems to think it’s her job to enforce bike laws, says the recent conviction of a woman who pushed an elderly rider off her bike and into traffic, where she was killed, gives scofflaw bicyclists permission to illegally ride on sidewalks. And not that pedestrians should be more accepting of people who aren’t willing or able to ride on dangerous streets.

How to write a headline — and news story — through a strictly windshield perspective.

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Local 

Longtime SoCal civic leader Rick Cole writes about how to make Pasadena bike-friendly, instead of the state’s fifth most dangerous city its size for people on bicycles.

 

State

An East Bay Area letter writer argues that ebikes pose a danger to other trail users, while another says blame bad riders, not the bikes.

A newish bike rider celebrates the monthly East Bay Bike Party, which rolls this Friday; last month’s was marred by car occupants who targeted bike riders with intentional doorings.

 

National

Axios dumbs down the Biden administration’s push to reconnect communities divided by freeway construction in the 50s, 60s and 70s, usually low-income and predominately populated by people of color.

Bloomberg says don’t buy into the popular theory that Gen Z is turning against driving, arguing that generational preferences aren’t enough to overcome decades of auto-centric development.

Jalopnik explains why automakers are suddenly obsessed with making ebikes. That’s easy — money.

The newest iteration of Trek’s Verve+ ebike tops out at 28 mph. Which means it can only be ridden by someone over 16 and requires a helmet in California, and many other states that have adopted a version of the Golden State’s ebike regulations, and is banned from Class I and Class IV bike paths and cycle tracks. 

Hundreds of Honolulu bike riders turned out for an annual memorial ride to remember an 18-year old high school student killed by a drunk driver while riding his bike a decade ago.

The Seattle Times says bike helmet use remains high a year after the county repealed its helmet mandate, with 91% of the bike riders they observed donning a skid lid; the law as repealed due to uneven and inequitable enforcement that too often targeted the homeless and people of color.

That’s more like it. A New Mexico bill would require any town with 10,000 or more residents to install protected bike lanes when making other roadway improvements. Yet we can’t even get Los Angeles leaders to commit to installing the painted bike lanes in the already approved mobility plan during planned street work.

Family members say a 65-year old Houston driver who killed a bike rider — and drove home with the victim’s bike still jammed under his car — was partially paralyzed following a recent stroke, and thought he had a flat tire. Although if someone’s health makes them so dysfunctional they don’t even know they hit a grown man on a bicycle, maybe they shouldn’t be driving.

Security footage shows an unattended ebike battery burst into flames, leading to a fire that destroyed a New York grocery store and damaged adjacent buildings, injuring seven people.

The New York death penalty case agains convicted bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov is expected to go to the jury after closing arguments today.

 

International

Bike Radar writes about how to recover from a bicycling injury. Based on my own experience, the key to any recovery is patience.

Momentum jumps on the anti-sharrow bandwagon, writing that the painted chevron symbols made sense in theory, but are now useless and possibly dangerous in practice. You know my take on sharrows. They’re an effort by transportation officials to thin the bike herd, and the arrows are just there to help drivers improve their aim.

A confused British Columbia driver somehow ends up in a two-way curb-protected bike lane, and can’t figure out how to escape.

Havana, Cuba held a well-attended weekend bicycle festival to highlight the benefits of pedal power, including a “friendly and inclusive” Critical Mass ride.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a van driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a bike rider in a dangerously close pass, after the judge suspended the already too light four-month sentence.

Great idea. A German marketplace provides an opportunity to buy and sell refurbished “used approved” ebikes, bringing them within the reach of more buyers.

An Aussie website marks tomorrow’s International Women’s Day by examining three women who all ride bikes, but for different reasons.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Danish world champ Mads Pedersen donned the leader’s yellow jersey by winning a mad bunch sprint in the second stage of the week-long Paris-Nice stage race.

VeloNews says Tom Pidcock’s breakaway victory in the Strade Bianche was won on the descents, where he never looked back until the very end.

Now you, too, could ride in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, as USA Cycling is holding a series of track cycling tryouts looking for riders with the potential to compete at the highest levels, particularly athletes from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.

 

Finally…

You can find a lot of things riding a bike — but hopefully not a murder victim. Even Bing’s AI chatbot says it’s time to go carfree.

And nothing like running a horse in a bike race.

https://twitter.com/ttpdcst/status/1632015952916148230?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1632015952916148230%7Ctwgr%5E9a7b79d1e4ed6c05d802ca07dd757693dacacc0d%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdefector.com%2Fwannabe-cyclist-horse-steals-the-show-at-a-spicy-strade-bianche

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Save Amestoy bridge over 101 Freeway, Denver ebike rebates huge success, and LA ends automatic street widening

March 6, 2023 / / One comment

I saw my first Waymo autonomous taxi in the wild as we passed through Beverly Hills over the weekend. 

I assume the name comes from costing you way mo’ than you think it should. Or maybe it’s just way mo’ dangerous.

And I’m happy to say the corgi is doing better, and was back to her old bad self after sleeping all day Friday. And so am I.

We’re still concerned about what caused it, but hopeful it’s nothing serious.

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It was less than six months ago that Caltrans tore down a longstanding pedestrian bridge over the 101 Freeway in Encino, after deciding it was too low for today’s ever expanding vehicles.

Local residents were happy to see it go, complaining that it drew homeless people and pollution. And had no interest in a replacement since they could cross the freeway at Louise Avenue.

Which is fine, if you’re in a car. For people on foot or bikes, that means a long and dangerous walk to get to the nearest underpass, then braving speeding and distracted drivers to traverse busy on and off-ramps.

Now the agency is asking for feedback on a second bridge about a mile away at Amestoy Ave.

Since its construction in 1958, the Amestoy Avenue bridge has aged considerably and no longer meets certain standards. Aside from needing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) upgrades to the pedestrian ramps, the bridge railing and fencing have also rusted and are in need of replacement. In addition, certain aesthetic elements could be improved to better match the character of the surrounding community. Those could include upgrades to landscaping, lighting and fencing, among other options.

Caltrans seeks community input to determine whether to demolish the bridge permanently, keep it and instead provide upgrades, or neither demolish or upgrade the bridge. The Department is offering multiple ways to provide feedback, including an online survey and two in-person opportunities to talk with project team members.

Note the key word “demolish,” which once again would be a disaster for anyone who walks or bikes in the area, and needs to get to the other side of the freeway.

You can offer feedback online here, or in person at the Balboa Sports Center, 17015 Burbank Blvd, on March 18th from 10 am to noon.

So take a few minutes to fight the deadly automotive hegemony of the southern San Fernando Valley, and preserve a much-needed alternative to driving.

Meanwhile, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton accuses Metro and Caltrans of pulling a bait-and-switch on the 71 Freeway in Pomona.

The long-planned 2-mile long highway widening project was approved with the promise of a pedestrian overcrossing; however, Linton says the agencies have quietly scaled the project back to around 1.5 miles, with no pedestrian component anymore.

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We’ve already seen the overwhelming popularity Denver’s ebike program, as new rebate vouchers have been snatched up within minutes of becoming available.

A new report from People For Bikes and the Rocky Mountain Institute, et al, shows just how successful it’s been in achieving the program’s goals of getting people out of their dirty cars, and onto clean and efficient two-wheeled transportation.

And even shows significant financial and environmental benefits over electric vehicles.

  •  Those surveyed rode their ebikes an average of 26 miles per week, replacing 3.4 round trip vehicle trips.
  • 71% of respondents reported using their gas vehicles less often after purchasing their ebike.
  • 29% of respondents indicated they were new bike riders.
  • 67% of the funding went to income qualified residents.
  • Income qualified residents were using their ebikes nearly 50% more than standard voucher recipients.
  • 65% of redeemers using Ride App were riding their ebike at least once daily, and 90% were riding weekly.
  • The average trip length of Ride App users was 3.3 miles, with 84% of trips less than 5 miles, and 65% of trips less than 3 miles.
  • During this time period, shared bike and scooter trips in Denver reached the highest ridership since the launch of shared micromobility, demonstrating the complementary nature of the two city-supported programs.
  • On a per-mile basis, ebikes cost 40% less to operate than EVs and nearly 75% less than ICEVs.
  • RMI found that, in terms of operational emissions, ebikes emit 3% of the CO2e emissions as EVs and 1% of the CO2e as ICE vehicles.
  • Denver’s ebike incentive program saved 0.94 lb 2 per dollar spent, for a total of 2,040 MT 2 avoided emissions per year.

In addition, another new study shows most Denver residents appreciate the city’s efforts to build out a bike network of protected bike lanes and neighborhood bikeways to create a safer and more enjoyable street experience, but don’t feel the city’s paint and plastic flex-posts have made them demonstrably safer.

As has been said by many others, paint ain’t protection. And neither is a flimsy car-tickler plastic post.

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The LA City Council voted to end automatic street widening that has somehow been blamed on non-existent bike lanes.

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Thanks to Ted Faber for forwarding news that the Ballona Creek bike path was closed west of Overland last week. Let me know if it’s still closed.

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Rich City Rides is the East Bay Area equivalent of South LA’s Eastside Riders, a social nonprofit that uses bikes to benefit the greater community.

They have just five weeks to raise $6 million to buy the building they currently occupy, or face eviction and possible closure. And are currently just one percent of the way there.

So if you’ve got a few extra bucks laying around — or maybe a few million you don’t need — send them whatever you can so they can keep making a difference for their disadvantaged community.

And keep the community rolling.

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This is who we share the road with.

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

Dr Grace Peng writes about the sheer financial folly of a proposal to rip out the Move Culver City bus and bike lanes through the downtown corridor, so impatient drivers can go zoom, zoom at the expense of everyone else, at least until they clog it up again. She also discusses how the transit lanes have helped a low-income teacher survive without a car.

No bias here. The head of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency fanned the flames of bike hate, stating a “rise in incivility is absolutely people on bikes who are behaving like arrogant, horrible people,” and agreeing with an audience member that bike riders don’t yield. Except for all of us who do, that is. And if you want to talk about arrogant, horrible people, maybe start with the ones who operate a big, deadly machine killing anyone they don’t like, or just don’t see.

Portland bike riders are under attack, as a local bar owner reported repeated attacks from motorists as he rode his bike home after closing, including getting shot with a pellet gun, and a driver who repeatedly tried to hit him in an attack that only ended when he got off his bike and hid in the bushes.

Someone sabotaged a bike lane in New York’s Prospect Park by strewing it with thumbtacks; Streetsblog accurately describes it as a terrorist attack, though police likely won’t. But should.

Edinburgh, Scotland is reinstalling bollards on a formerly protected bike lane, just weeks after they were removed over fears that bike riders might crash into them, after drivers took advantage of the lack of barriers to start driving in the bike lane and parking on the sidewalk.

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

You can’t get much lower than the guy who rode his bike up to steal a van belonging to a cat rescue group — with the cats inside. The good news is, a later tweet reports the van was recovered after being abandoned, with ten rescued feral cats still inside.

British broadcaster Jeremy Vine reports his first bicycling crash of the year — which implies he expects more — was caused when another bike rider ran a red light and crashed into him.

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Local 

LAist looks at the seven official candidates and three write-in candidates for the CD6 council district seat vacated when Nury Martinez resigned last year in the wake of racist comments on a leaked recording. Meanwhile, the LA Times endorses homeless advocate Marco Santana for the post.

Work is beginning next Monday on the long-awaited Cordova Street bike lanes in Pasadena, with completion expected by the end of the year. Thanks to the Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition for the link. 

Speaking of Pasadena, a city council committee voted to move forward with a pilot ebike incentive program, overriding the city’s power company, which prefers a wait-and-see approach.

The newly rebranded BikeLA, formerly the LACBC, has restarted their membership dues program after allowing it to go dormant for the past few years, with an individual annual membership $45, and family membership $100 for up to four people.

The New York Times talks with Santa Monica-based long-distance cyclist and model Erick Cedeño, who followed the route of the famed Buffalo Soldiers on the US Army’s 1,900-mile ride on what was state-of-the-art fixed-gear bikes from Fort Missoula, Montana to St. Louis in 1897.

 

State

Calbike offers an overview of a long list of new bills in the state legislature, including pilot programs for speed cams and Stop As Yield — aka the Idaho Stop — along with bills to stop pretext stops and searches. But what once again remains missing is any effort to address the epidemic of hit-and-runs in the Golden State, where drivers flee in anywhere from a third to half of all crashes. 

A San Diego teenager faces a long, painful recovery after suffering a broken pelvis when he was run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver while waiting to make a left turn on his ebike in Point Loma Heights. Demonstrating once again that there is no lower form of scum than a heartless coward behind the wheel. Thanks to OB Cycler for the heads-up. 

That’s more like it. The San Diego County Board of Supervisors is considering a plan to require builders in the Ramona area to offset car traffic caused by their projects by funding bike, pedestrian and transit infrastructure. The question isn’t why are they doing it, but why doesn’t state law already require it?

A Santa Barbara woman was lucky to escape with moderate injuries when she was struck by a train while riding next to the railroad tracks.

Oakland’s Luckyduck Bicycle Cafe is going down for the last time, after announcing plans to close at the end of this month; owners blamed the closing in part on a burglary, a flood and effects of the pandemic.

 

National

Here’s one way to get conservatives onboard for banning right on reds, as the Daily Mail describes it as a socialist innovation that gained popularity in the communist Eastern Block, but which confuses most European visitors to the US.

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss explores bicycling’s political divide to explain why more “avid” bicyclists don’t become active in political advocacy. On second thought, don’t bother. His badly misguided take just isn’t worth it. 

Bicycling magazines Road Bike Action and Electric Bike Action bit the dust, after their publisher shuttered both titles.

If your kid has a Ouwoer Kids Bike Helmet purchased on Amazon, the Consumer Product Safety Commission urges you to destroy it, then send a photo to the company for a full refund.

The family of the Arizona woman killed in the Goodyear AZ mass casualty crash, which injured 17 bike riders while killing two others, remember her as full of energy; her alleged killer was released from jail after the county attorney’s office sent the case back for further investigation. Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for the victims has raised over $157,000 of the $200,000 goal in one week.

A Houston, Texas hit-and-run driver didn’t get away with killing a bike rider, after a witness spotted him driving with the victim’s bike still stuck under his car and followed him home.

The New Yorker points out that the world is still moving towards heavier vehicles, when it should be doing exactly the opposite. Meanwhile, a bill in the California legislature would increase registration fees for heavier vehicles like massive trucks and SUVs.

The Washington Post reports on the rapid increase in interest in the 15-minute city, in which everything you need can be found within 15 minutes of your home, along with the whackadoodle conspiracy theorists who insist it’s really an attempt to trap you in your neighborhood and deprive you of your freedom.

While we’re at it, WaPo also considers the ugly fights over ebike access on beautiful country trails. Then again, people are probably fighting over access to the ugly ones, too.

 

International

The Guardian reports the rapid increase in vehicle weight is resulting a huge jump in tire particulates, which now account for nearly 2,000 times the amount of particulates from motor vehicle exhaust.

Toronto is considering raising the fee for bikeshare bikes to keep e-delivery riders from hogging them.

They built it, and they came. After building out a network of bicycle superhighways and limiting motor vehicle access to the city center, bike traffic in London now exceeds that of motor vehicles. And yes, it’s good news when the bike box isn’t big enough. Demonstrating what can happen in Los Angeles, or any other city with the foresight and political will to reimagine their streets. Which, on second thought, would seem to count LA out.

Hundreds of people rode their bikes past London landmarks in a call to make bicycling safer for women, who make up only 31% of the city’s bicyclists.

A Glasgow driver pled guilty to killing a bike rider while driving on the wrong side of the road, with six different drugs in his system, including street Valium, Methadone and morphine. But other than that, he was in great shape to drive, right?

The British woman who knocked a 77-year old woman off her bike for the crime of riding on the sidewalk has been sentenced to three years behind bars; the victim was killed when she fell off her bike and into traffic, where she was struck by a motorist.

Someone should sic an angry leprechaun on whoever stole a Dublin city counselor’s e-cargo bike when she ducked into a store to buy supplies for a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website highlights what they call the world’s five best cycling routes, including San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge Loop.

Sad news from India, where the deputy superintendent of police for Haryana state was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle; there’s no word on whether he was on or off duty at the time.

Uganda is drawing bicyclists to a nearly 1,000-mile offroad bike trail through the African plain, combining “breathtaking nature, extraordinary wildlife, and cultural immersion.”

A reminder that women bike riders face dangers most men don’t, as women in Melbourne complain that plans for a new 1.5 mile enclosed elevated tunnel wouldn’t have any escape routes for women in danger.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-three-year old Tom Pidcock rode off in a solo breakaway to become the first British rider to win the Strade Bianche; Rouleur calls Pidcock’s “pure, instinctive” attack bike racing at its best.

France 24 says pro cycling’s tech wars are turning the sport into Formula 1.

The 70-year old founder of the Ineos cycling team could be the next owner of the storied Manchester United football soccer team, if he can outbid the Qatari royal family.

Five-time Czech Olympic mountain biker and cross-country skier Katerina Nash was able to avoid a four-year doping ban when she convinced investigators she failed a drug test because she dropped her dog’s medicine on her skin. No, really. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new sunglasses let you see behind you, too. Or when the pockets on your new bike shorts won’t even hold a candy bar.

And notice the advanced Reverse Superman position.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Update: Hit-and-run driver kills man on bicycle in early morning San Pedro collision, few details available

March 5, 2023 / / One comment

A nearly three-week streak without a bicycling death in Southern California ended early Saturday morning.

And once again, a hit-and-run driver was to blame.

According to My News LA, the victim was riding north on Pacific Avenue in Venice when he was run down from behind at 12:40 am.

The victim died at the scene.

The site puts the location at just south of Channel Street; however, that address doesn’t seem to exist. Those two streets actually meet in San Pedro, several miles south near Long Beach.

There is a Channel Pointe in Venice, but that doesn’t intersect with Pacific, so it’s unclear just where the crash occurred.

There was no ID or description given for the male victim.

According to police, the driver did not stop or identify themself before fleeing the scene. The only description of the suspect vehicle is a small, light-colored vehicle, which doesn’t give much to go on.

And as usual, the LAPD did not use either the city or state hit-and-run alert system to ask for the public’s help in finding and identifying the victim’s killer.

However, they did urge anyone with information to call the LAPD South Traffic Division Detectives Moreno and Flannery at 323/421-2500 between 8 am and 5 pm Monday through Friday, or 1-877/527-3247 any other time.

Which is far from the same thing.

This is at least the ninth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it also appears to be the first in the City of Los Angeles.

Four of those deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Update: The victim has been identified by the Daily Bulletin as 51-year old Oscar Montoya, no city of residence given. 

The paper also clarifies that the crash occurred on Pacific Avenue, just south of Channel Street, in San Pedro, not Venice. 

Update 2: The LAPD has provided security cam video from the scene, showing the suspect vehicle as the driver briefly paused before speeding away. The car is described only as a light colored vehicle, possibly a Toyota Scion, although it looks more like a Kia Soul to me. 

A Good Samaritan attempted to provide aid, but to no avail. 

This is how Montoya’s adult son described him. 

“He was a loving man. If you ask anybody, they’ll say he was this big teddy bear. He was, like, this big man that you could run up into and give him a big hug and he would embrace you with open arms,” Joshua told KTLA. “He was a family man, he was my father.”

Meanwhile, Twitter user Guy Paddock reports that he frequently rides that route, even though he finds the gap in the bike lane on Pacific terrifying.

Update 3: Police arrested 27-year old Anisha Marie Lockhart, accusing her of being the driver who killed Montoya. 

According to KCAL News, 

“On March 7 … citizens provided tips that led detectives to the suspect’s vehicle, a 2009 Scion XB, which was taken into custody,” police said. “On March 9 … South Traffic Division Detectives utilizing department
resources and other tips from citizens apprehended the driver, Anisha Lockhart.” 

She was reportedly under the influence at the time of the crash, and on her way to another bar when she slammed into Montoya, who was just picking up an order from a food truck. 

Lockhart was being held on $100,000 bond, on a charge of felony hit-and-run. 

Meanwhile, it’s likely that someone will receive the $50,000 reward if Lockhart is convicted. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Oscar Montoya and all his loved ones. 

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

Move along, nothing to see here — corgi edition

March 3, 2023 / / 2 comments

My apologies.

My work on today’s post was interrupted when our corgi became ill last night, and I ended up sitting up and holding her almost all night.

So no new post today, but we’ll be back on Monday to catch up on anything we missed.

Stay safe out there. And show your loved ones a little extra this weekend, whether they have two feet or four.

Category: General /

South LA has city’s most dangerous intersections, DTLA worst neighborhood; self-driving cars aren’t out to kill us — yet

March 2, 2023 / / One comment

No surprise here.

A new study by personal finance site MoneyGeek, straying just a tad outside their lane, confirms what we already knew.

The most dangerous intersections in Los Angeles are in South LA.

LA’s Vision Zero High-Injury Network has already revealed that many of the city’s deadliest corridors were located in South LA.

Now, after examining nearly 14,000 collision reports from 2020 to 2022, MoneyGeek has counted 86 Los Angeles intersections which have had ten or more deaths or serious injuries over the three-year period.

Four of the top five were in South LA — including three on deadly Manchester Blvd.

  1. S. Vermont Avenue and W. Florence Avenue (19 injury crashes)
  2. W. Manchester Avenue and S. Normandie Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  3. Victory Boulevard and Lindley Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  4. W. Manchester Avenue and S. Vermont Avenue (18 injury crashes)
  5. E. Manchester Avenue and Avalon Boulevard (18 injury crashes)

Map courtesy of MoneyGeek

The company also crunched the numbers on the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods, with DTLA coming out on top with over twice the number of intersection crashes of any other neighborhood.

Just more evidence of the failure of LA’s vastly underfunded and unimplemented Vision Zero program, which has just two years left to meet its goal of ending traffic deaths by 2025.

Which seems pretty damn unlikely, given last year’s record fatality count.

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Bicycling’s Joe Lindsey examines the tech industry’s insistence on beta testing of self-driving cars on American streets, using bike riders and pedestrians as unwitting guinea pigs. Or maybe crash test dummies.

Along with the lack of regulation that puts us all at risk.

An article of faith among proponents of autonomous vehicles is that the vast majority (94 percent is the figure often cited) of traffic crashes are caused by human error. Cyclists make up a relatively small portion of overall road deaths in the United States, but they’re killed at higher rates than vehicle occupants. Aside from a slight dip in 2020 when we drove less early in the pandemic, cyclist fatalities have risen for over a decade, and in 2021 the annual total jumped five percent to an all-time high of nearly 1,000, according to preliminary data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

He goes on to look at the death of Elaine Hertzberg, who was walking her bike across a Phoenix street when she was run down by one of Waymo’s autonomous vehicles.

Although blame for the crash was put on the human operator, who was distracted watching videos on her phone, rather than the road ahead.

Zoom out more, and the data tells a similar story. Uber’s ATG test fleet had driven more than two million autonomous miles before Herzberg’s death. Waymo claims that it has surpassed 20 million miles total. Altogether, autonomous vehicles in California drove more than four million miles in 2021. That’s tens of millions of miles driven over years of testing, with one death. That may sound impressive, but the most recent fatality statistic for human driving in the U.S. is 1.33 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Autonomy literally has a long drive before it can show that it can match, let alone exceed, human safety performance, even such as it is.

And outside of those sporadic data disclosures and California’s reporting system, there are few ways to monitor progress. Without federal regulation, there’s not even a widely accepted benchmark for how safe autonomous vehicles should be to use as a target. “I understand there’s a balance between innovation and regulation, but right now that oversight isn’t happening,” says Homendy, herself a cyclist. “It’s disappointing.”

One point in favor of autonomous vehicles, though, is the complete and total lack of road raging drivers.

So at least if one of those runs you down, you’ll know they probably weren’t aiming for you.

As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

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

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A British driver walked without a single day behind bars for chasing a 16-year old boy with her car, then intentionally knocking him off his bike, all because one of the boy’s friends accidentally clipped the wing mirror on her car.

A driver on the island of Jersey is demanding that charges against her for crashing into a teenage bike rider be dropped, arguing that it will be impossible to get a fair trial because prosecutors failed to turn over evidence in a timely manner.

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

A British teenager could face charges for assaulting a cop who tried to stop him, after leading police on a high speed bicycle chase through the streets of town.

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Local 

Metro offers an update on Measure M projects, including closing the gaps in the LA River bike path in the Central Cities and San Fernando Valley.

Readers of the Los Angeles Times agree that LA drivers are getting worse, though one letter writer blames the paper for encouraging less enforcement of minor infractions.

 

State

Volunteers look back on five years of maintaining the La Jolla Bike Path. Which the city should do but doesn’t.

Builders in rural San Diego County could soon be required to fund bike lanes, sidewalks and transit as a condition for permitting.

An op-ed from a member of Fresno’s Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee argues that the city can reduce bicycling and pedestrian deaths, and Vision Zero is the way to do it.

Oakland’s Slow Streets program is making a comeback, after it was ended last year for a lack of funds.

Napa will get its first buffered bike lane later this year.

 

National

Amazon’s Woot outlet site is offering a one-day discount on mostly low-end ebikes, although there are a few midrange Schwinns in there, too.

PinkBike considers the relative benefits of buying your next bike from a bike shop versus buying online.

Forbes recommends what they consider essential gear for bike commuting, all of which would be helpful, and none actually essential. The only thing you really need to bike to work is a bike. 

Seattle’s “top-to-bottom” review of the city’s Vision Zero program received a lukewarm reception, as some advocates argued it lacks ambition and is short on details on how to actually fulfill the program’s mission to end traffic deaths.

A bill in the New Mexico legislature would require cities to consider adding space for bike riders when reworking roadways, and includes $5 million in funding for protected bike lanes. Wake me when they require bikeways, rather than just considering it. 

They get it. The Dallas Morning News calls for adopting the Idaho Stop Law in Texas, arguing that it would improve safety for bike riders, as well as drivers.

Texas is nearing completion of a 130-mile bike and pedestrian trail through the northeast section of the state, taking bicyclists within a short ride or a long walk of the Arkansas border.

Singletracks talks with an Arkansas man who uses his mountain bike to conduct outreach to homeless youths.

Christian singer Amy Grant says she leaned into her faith after suffering a significant traumatic brain injury going over her handlebars in a Nashville crash last year.

A Harvard Fulbright scholar sings the praises of foldies following his move to London.

A Saratoga, New York man describes surviving last weekend’s horrific Goodyear, Arizona crash that took the life of his friend; he avoided the crash by just feet as he attempted to reach the lead group.

New York is examining ways to bring peace to the drives in the city’s Central Park, as pedestrians, biker riders, runners and horse carriages compete for space.

The Philadelphia Inquirer says bikeshare ebikes are gaining popularity in Philadelphia’s low income communities of color, saying they’re not just for white guys in Lycra anymore.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana is planning to add 65 miles of bike paths in the coming years, committing to include a bike path with every new roadway project. More proof that places where I’ve lived only get better after I leave.

Tampa, Florida will offer 180 vouchers good for up to two grand off the price of an ebike, with eligible recipients selected through a lottery.

 

International

A writer for the Prince George Post questions whether traffic fines in British Columbia should be tied to the driver’s income, suggesting that a European-style progressive punishment program could be fairer and more effective.

National Geographic recommends eight European cities to discover by bicycle, starting with Stockholm and ending in Helsinki.

The CEO of British foldie maker Brompton says the company is fighting a war of attrition against copycat rivals that mimic its designs.

Vice examines how Dutch bikemaker VanMoof made ebikes cool. Except a) not everyone thinks ebikes are cool, and b) VanMoof is just one of literally hundreds of ebike makers with varying degrees of coolness. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The new Denver Disruptors cycling team participating in the newly formed National Cycling League will make their professional debut in Tucson this weekend.

Netflix has dropped the trailer for its upcoming series focused on the Tour de France. Read this one on Aol if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Professor by day, cargo bike momma by night. And your next cargo bike could have room for five.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Ped deaths skyrocketed in 2022, a call to keep bikes off sidewalks, and LA County supervisors to explore expanding board

March 1, 2023 / / 3 comments

Yes, the streets just keep getting more dangerous.

Despite the spread of Vision Zero in cities throughout the US, the number of pedestrian deaths on American roadways continued to skyrocket in the first six months of last year, rising at nine times the rate of population growth.

According to the latest fatality estimates from the Governors Highway Safety Association, a total of 3,434 people were killed by drivers as they walked through June of last year, an average of 19 per day.

Estimates for the full year will be released later this spring. There’s no word yet on the number of bicyclists killed over the same period.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

Speaking of pedestrians, frequent Coachella Valley contributor Victor Bale offered his own thoughts on a new bill that would issue a statewide ban on prohibiting sidewalk riding whenever there is a lack of bicycling infrastructure.

In addition to cycling, I walk. I walk a lot. I think nothing of walking 3 miles to my local coffee shop and another 3 miles back. In a typical week I walk over 30 miles. All this walking allows me to observe cyclists on sidewalks and here’s what I see much too often: Cyclists on cruiser type bikes with very wide handlebars, no lights, no bell, no helmet, going much too fast and often very distracted since autos are not a concern. And cyclists passing walkers without a verbal warning.

I’ve had close calls with cyclists passing me from behind. It’s dangerous for both of us because here in the IE many sidewalks are narrow and they don’t have a buffer between a walker and the curb. Cars are close enough and now add a cyclist passing from the rear and the danger to both of us has increased.

Adding a vehicle to a sidewalk where often families are strolling with young children and baby carriages is a very bad idea that endangers everyone.

As a frequent walker myself, I get his point.

I’m seldom happy about having to share a sidewalk with someone on a bike. And yes, they too often ride recklessly, which no one should ever do around pedestrians.

But I also recognize that there are times when I’m riding that the roadway just feels too dangerous, and I’ll briefly take to the sidewalk in an attempt to preserve my own life.

As has been said, no one rides on the sidewalk if they feel safe on the street.

So maybe there’s a compromise in there somewhere that would keep both bike riders and pedestrians safe .

………

While the motion to expand the LA County Board of Supervisors we mentioned yesterday failed, a motion to explore expanding it passed unanimously.

Currently, the five supervisors each represent around 2 million people — more than 2.5 times the size of a US Congressional district.

It matters because we’ve learned the hard way that nothing happens to support bicycling and traffic safety without political will. And the closer you are to your representatives, the better chance you have of making your voice heard.

And as we’ve seen with the Los Angeles City Council, too much power in too few hands invites corruption.

………

Following the turmoil at a number of bicycling websites — particularly the ones now under the Outside umbrella — some of the top bike reporters are founding Escape, a new membership cycling site launching this month.

It’s not clear yet if stories will be paywalled for nonmembers, but you can back their efforts by signing up for a $99 yearly membership on either link above.

And yes, I plan to when sign up I get a little more money in later this month, to help keep you informed.

………

The crowdfunding campaign for the victims in the Goodyear, Arizona crash that killed two people and injured 17 others has now raised more than $110,000 of the $120,000 goal.

………

Bicycling says a indigenous Guatemalan nongovernment organization is making ingenious use of pedal-powered machines to “simplify otherwise exhausting manual labor all while minimizing its carbon footprint and honoring its Mayan heritage.” As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

………

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

No bias here. Newspaper readers in Aberdeen, Scotland are debating whether bike riders should be required to wear hi-viz. I’m okay with that, as long as drivers have to paint their cars high-intensity yellow with reflective trim.

A British bus driver faces charges for punching a man to the ground in a road rage attack, after becoming impatient following the man and his 11-year old son on their bikes.

No bias here, either. A very auto-centric petition in the UK would require the removal of Low Traffic Neighborhoods and “underused” bike lanes if they lack public support; LTNs are somehow blamed for “demonizing motorists” instead of just making space for everyone else.

Or here. Cops in Scotland have apparently decided it’s just not worth tracking down the impatient driver who knocked a man off his bike. My apologies to whoever sent this one to me for losing your name today, but thank you for doing it.

https://twitter.com/AlanMyles8/status/1629990008064036865

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

Horrifying story from Key West, where a male reporter was threatened with rape merely for writing about a planned crackdown on ebikes and e-scooters in public parks.

………

Local 

Look who’s back! It’s been a long time since we’ve heard from the Militant Angeleno, who reports on his — presumably masked — experiences at Sunday’s CicLAvia, including a visit to the home of Daniel LaRusso in the original Karate Kid.

Urbanize takes a look at the three options for a Complete Streets makeover of Colorado Blvd in Eagle Rock when the NoHo to Pasadena bus rapid transit lane goes in. Walk Eagle Rock recommends Option 2, with option 1 as a second choice.

 

State

California state legislators are exploring ways to heal neighborhoods severed by highway construction in the 50s and 60s, by finding a way to reconnect what were usually low income neighborhoods, predominantly filled with people of color. The easiest way is simply to tear down the damn freeways, and convert the space to parkways.

The CEO of the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, defends the transportation agency against accusations that it’s too focused on highways at the expense of transit, bicycling and walking. Although he doesn’t address the last two, except in passing. 

A small group of Cal Poly SLO students are putting their education to work designing and building their own bicycles.

 

National

Cycling Weekly considers the best urban bike helmets for safer city riding, while Road Bike Rider answers the burning question of whether you need a seat bag on your roadie.

Cycling Weekly also features a Zwift fan who’s unapologetically ridden 55,000 miles without leaving his basement.

Squeezing in one last story for Black History Month, Bicycling examines the Black bicyclists who paved the way for sport and culture. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else online, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Hawaii is starting their ebike rebate program today, offering up to 20% of the purchase price up to $500. Just one more ebike rebate starting before California’s long-delayed rebate program, which would have been the first in the country when it passed the legislature. 

Now you, too, can ride your bike on a real Austin, Texas Circuit of the Americas race track. Making motor noises while pretending you’re a sports car is optional.

Great idea. A Catholic missionary is embarking on a planned 6,000-mile ride from New Orleans to the East Coast, then across the US to Seattle, and down to San Francisco, to raise funds to open a cafe to employ people with special needs.

Money well spent. Lidenhurst, New York is using a $7,500 grant to preserve two antique bicycles, an 1882 Penny Farthing and a 1900 direct-drive bike.

A Streetsblog op-ed writer says New York’s streets are so bad they should be illegal.

Sad news from Massachusetts, where a 19-year old man was found dead after he was last seen pushing his bicycle with a flat tire.

A couple dozen protestors temporarily blocked a Pittsburgh intersection to protest a crash that critically injured a bike rider 12 days earlier.

A Roanoke VA B&B owner explains how discovering bamboo bicycles changed her business model.

 

International

Bike Radar covers ten essential bike maintenance tips for beginning riders.

Condé Nast Traveler offers a guide to touring Vancouver’s indigenous heritage and natural beauty by bicycle.

The European Cyclists’ Federation has created a new online dashboard to determine how friendly various European cities are for cargo bikes.

Britain’s ill-considered breakup with the European Common Market, aka Brexit, is pushing a British children’s bikemaker into the red.

A new study from the UK shows e-scooter riders are less likely to wear a helmet and more likely to be seriously injured than bicyclists.

Swedish bike brand Balans is currently crowdfunding to build two bikes it claims will be the world’s most theft proof; the traditional 8-speed bike goes for around $1,671 while the ebike sells for about $2,732. including shipping to the US and Canada.

A new Spanish study analyzed the skid resistance on five types of bike lane surfaces, including asphalt pavement, concrete pavement, smooth and rough painted tiles, and cobble pavement, concluding that painted cobble and smooth painted tile pavements shouldn’t be used “due to their low and variable skid resistance, as well as the high vibrations they cause to users.”

Tragic news from India, where three boys were killed by a speeding driver as they rode a pair of bikes to school, with two boys sharing a single bicycle.

Fans of folding bikes set a new record for the largest Brompton gathering in Malaysia, with 631 of the bikes.

A Singaporean flight attendant is finally back on her bike, eight years after an unexpected turn on a mountain bike cost her most of her pancreas.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pro cyclist Antonio Tiberi, from the tiny Republic of San Marino, was fined the equivalent of $4,240 and suspended from the Trek-Segafredo team for testing out his new air rifle on the neighbor’s cat. And his neighbor just happens to be the country’s minister of tourism. Once again, you can read the second link on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Sad news from Bangladesh, where a young cycling medalist was killed when he was struck by a signal bar while taking a selfie on a running train; he was returning home after winning two silver medals and a bronze medal in a youth competition.

Hundreds of pro and amateur cyclists from around the world are expected to turn out for this weekend’s 38th annual, three stage Tucson Bicycle Classic.

VeloNews examines the bright prospects for Kenya’s Team Amani in the wake of team leader Sule Kangangi, one of the country’s best-known cyclists, who was focused on “growing a professional East African cycling culture by fighting for more opportunities to race against the world’s best.” Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. Which it probably will. 

 

Finally…

“Let’s ride to Luckenbach, Texas, with Waylon and Willie and the boys…” A new study from the University of Duh shows more people rode bikes during the pandemic bike boom.

And your next three-wheeled, egg-shaped car could be an ebike.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Arizona toll rises to 19 including two dead, how to protect yourself on two wheels, and Ballona Creek path could be extended

February 28, 2023 / / 2 comments

Make that 19.

The number of victims in Saturday’s bicycling massacre in Phoenix suburb Goodyear, Arizona has risen to two dead and 17 injured.

NPR reports the victims of the crash have been identified as a woman from Goodyear and a man visiting from Michigan, both 61-years old. Eight people remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition.

According to the AZ Central website,

Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo also offered his condolences to those whom the fatal collision had impacted.

“We have a tight-knit cycling community, so this has deeply affected many across the West Valley,” Pizzillo said at a news conference at the city’s police station. “But a tragedy like this affects the entire community of Goodyear.”

Twenty-six-year old driver Pedro Quintana-Lujan reportedly told police his steering had locked before the truck drifted right and ran down the riders, likely one and two at a time. One victim said he wasn’t actually struck by the truck, but by the bodies of victims piled on its grill.

Police report there is currently no indication that the crash was intentional. The results of a blood test to determine if the driver was under the influence are still pending; however, as Arizona Bike Law points out, police would have needed evidence of intoxication in order to get a warrant for the blood test.

According to AZ Central, court documents show Quintana-Lujan told police he had smoked marijuana with his wife the previous evening, roughly 11 hours before the collision.

There’s no report on whether police are looking at distraction as a possible cause, or have examined Quintana-Lujan’s phone.

The victims were participating in a regular weekly ride sponsored by the West Valley Cycle bike club. They were among 20 riders in the second of three groups taking part in the ride when the driver mowed them down, spewing bodies in every direction.

Which means only one person on a bike managed to avoid becoming a victim. Chillingly, no one was likely aware of the driver before he plowed through the entire group.

“No one really saw the truck because he pretty much hit the back of the group and came all the way through the group,” (club founder David) Herzog told NPR.

The driver was in a massive Ford F-250 pickup, designed with a flat front grill that would have acted as a sledge hammer when driven at speed; a trailer being pulled by the truck would have added mass while limiting maneuverability.

Quintana-Lujan faces a raft of charges after prosecutors threw the book at him, including two counts of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault; at last report, he was still being held on $250,000 bond.

A crowdfunding campaign for the victims has raised nearly $80,000 of the $120,000 goal.

On a personal note, I’m having a hard time coping with this one, and all the emotions it brings up. Like mass shootings, mass casualty crashes like this just shouldn’t happen. 

Photo from Pexels.

………

BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette emailed to say the 65-year old bike shop worker seriously injured in the Goodyear crash that we mentioned yesterday had just helped him with his bike last month.

He also reminds all of us of something we have discussed here before, that one of the best ways to protect yourself is to max out the coverage on your own automotive insurance, which also covers you on your bicycle.

Buy the maximum Auto Uninsured/Under insured motorist ($500k min.) & excess Umbrella ($2M) coverage with a UM/UIM “rider” (not just liability) because YOU then control the amount of coverage, instead of relying on the defendant drivers insurance limit, if any, or if in the “course & scope of employers coverage”.

Mass crashes like this may prove difficult getting full compensation, as there will be multiple victims to apportion damages. So spending the money on strong insurance coverage is a critical family & financial planning investment as a bicyclist.

He explains more in this blog post from 2016.

Frequent contributor and San Diego bike advocate Phillip Young also offered his thoughts on how to avoid being a victim of a motorist.

A brightly colored bicycling kit especially with bio movement (bight color with movement) and a rear view mirror may save a trip to the emergency room (ER) or morgue. Easily seeing cars from behind with a mirror is essential situation awareness.

Wear brightly colored bicycling kit [Yellow Chartreuse (best), White (2nd Best) or Orange (3rd Best)]:

  1. Jersey
  2. Helmet
  3. Reflective vest
  4. Shoes, shoe covers, or socks and pants (bio movement)
  5. Front and back blinky lights. (lights with bio movement are the best on arms and legs)
  6. Spoke reflectors, front and rear reflectors, and other reflectors
  7. Rear view mirror (Third Eye bar end mirror is the best)

I can’t argue with any of his advice, although my personal take is to wear colors that contrast with the environment you’ll be riding in. Dark colors can be effective in bright daylight, while light or hi-viz colors are a must at night; we’ve all seen Ninja cyclists decked out entirely in black.

Or maybe we haven’t, which is exactly the problem.

I also believe in using multiple bright running lights, day or night, with a steady white light and flashing white light in front, and three flashers in back.

That’s based on the advice of bike crash survivor Mark Goodley, who researched the optimal approach to lights following the collision that nearly killed him.

I’ve never felt the need for a mirror, since I could usually sense a car coming up from behind before they got close enough to pose a danger. But now that I’m older, I find I get surprised more often, making a mirror a valuable safety tool.

And Young is absolutely right about wearing something attention-getting on your legs. I wear reflective ankle bands at night, and should probably up my shoe and sock game during the day, to ensure drivers see them pumping up and down.

I’ve been known to strap a light to my ankle, though that’s not always easy or comfortable.

I also advise adding front and rear facing bike cams, which could be the only way to provide your side of the story in a serious crash, because the cops will talk to the driver while you’re being hustled away by paramedics.

………

Today’s must read comes in the form of an op-ed from Streets For All Founder Michael Schneider.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Schneider bemoans the days when kids could walk and bike in their own neighborhoods.

Half a century ago, it was very common for kids to disappear into their neighborhood and play with other kids, often arriving by bike. This included the school commute. In 1969, 48% of children 5 to 14 walked or biked themselves to school. By 2009, this was down to 13%.

The result has been an enormous increase in children arriving by car. Anyone with school-age children is likely familiar with long and chaotic car dropoff lines in front of schools all over Los Angeles. The same applies to kids’ playdates, activities, sporting events, etc. — usually, children arrive and depart by car.

A large part of the problem — pun intentional — is the ever increasing size of motor vehicles, crowded into streets and lanes that remain the same size they were decades earlier.

The 1973 Honda Civic was 140 inches long and 59 inches high. Today, a Honda Civic is 168 inches long and 70 inches high. A 2015 Ford Mustang is 63% larger than its 1964 predecessor. A 2018 Mini Cooper is 61% larger than its 1950 counterpart. A 2013 Land Rover is 43% larger than a 1981 model. And a modern-day pickup truck or SUV is larger than a World War II-era Sherman tank.

As cars get larger, they squeeze space in existing roads, leaving even less room for pedestrians and cyclists. Where a kid on a bike might have been able to fit comfortably between parked cars and moving cars before, they are now more likely to be perilously sandwiched between them. Even just crossing the street has become harder because of the awful blind spots for drivers of modern,massive SUVs.

It’s more than worth a few minutes of your day to read the whole thing.

Because there’s no clearer sign that our cities have failed us than the way they’ve failed our children.

………

Speaking of Michael Schneider, it looks like he won a major victory in the effort to extend the popular Ballona Creek Bike Path to near where the creek rises to the surface at its eastern end.

………

An effort is underway at the state legislature to ban bans on sidewalk riding, in the absence of safe bikeways.

As the tweet suggests, allowing people to ride their bikes on the sidewalk when there’s no bike infrastructure present enables them to decide what is safest and most comfortable way to ride in that situation, without fear of getting a ticket for trying to protect your own life

However, it’s important to remember that pedestrians have the right-of-way, and we all have to ride safely and courteously around them.

Another bill sponsored by Streets For All would eliminate jail terms for transit fare evasion.

Now if we could just get someone to introduce a bill to permanently revoke drivers licenses from hit-and-run drivers.

Finally, the transportation and safety PAC is hosting their next virtual happy hour a week from tomorrow, with Culver City Vice Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin.

………

The winds of political reform are finally blowing in Los Angeles County, as Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Holly Mitchell are proposing an expansion of the five-member Board of Supervisors, traditionally known as the five little kings for the power they’ve enjoyed over the years.

With the two sponsors on board, they just need one more vote to pass the motion.

And yes, that’s a good thing.

https://twitter.com/LindseyPHorvath/status/1630282154113650689

………

Pasadena’s Municipal Services Committee will receive a report at this afternoon’s meeting recommending the city reject a proposed ebike incentive program; ActiveSGV calls for comments calling for rejecting the rejection.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1630311877296427008

………

Has it really been that long?

Culver City-based street safety and bicycle education nonprofit advocacy group Walk ‘N Rollers is celebrating their 11th anniversary next month.

………

Gravel Bike California rode up to the snow that fell over the weekend above the San Fernando Valley.

………

This is what a city does when it’s serious about fighting climate change.

https://twitter.com/Anne_Hidalgo/status/1630460341678112769

That tweet translates to:

Fighting pollution also means supporting Parisians in their transition to other means of transport.

This is what we do by offering numerous financial aids for the purchase of bicycles.

………

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

No bias here. A writer for City Watch with a severe case of windshield bias calls for free transit use while rejecting bicycling out of hand, suggesting that “bike lanes and other traffic-“calming” measures are probably the worst approach since these practices constrict traffic flow creating more congestion, increasing engine idling, and in many areas exacerbating the inability for trucks to make deliveries, moms to drop off kids, or even to back into a parking space if that rara avis should become available.” You can read her full misguided take, if you can navigate the site’s seemingly interminable popups. 

A Kiwi man says local officials laughed at him when he requested separate bike paths and underpasses for bicyclists at a new roundabout that’s under construction, warning that the dangerous design could result in a bike rider being killed in the first year.

………

Local 

Streetsblog offers a wrap-up on Sunday’s successful CicLAvia in the San Fernando Valley, along with a schedule of upcoming CicLAvias; the next one will be Mid City meets Pico-Union the day before April’s Tax Day. Get your taxes done early so you’re not stuck at home with a pile of receipts, when you could be out enjoying the carfree streets.

The long-awaited Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle and Pedestrian Path on the new $1.5 billion Long Beach International Gateway Bridge is slated to open in May, following the completion of demolition work on the former Gerald Desmond Bridge; the path is named for longtime local bike advocate Mark Bixby, who was killed in a Long Beach plane crash along with four other community leaders.

If you need a cop to come out to a relatively minor crash in Long Beach, better tell the dispatcher you think the driver is drunk or stoned or you won’t see one.

 

State

California is offering $33 million to underserved communities to launch and support new and existing shared mobility projects, including bikeshare.

San Luis Obispo is considering allowing bike riders onto the sidewalk.

 

National

A Honolulu TV station considers bicycling as part of their Multimodal Mondays.

Hiking advocates question proposals in the Montana legislature that would allow ebikes anywhere that bicycles are allowed, including off-road trails. One thing that often gets lost in that debate is that ebikes provide backcountry access to countless people who would not be able to enjoy it otherwise. 

Dallas has combined 39 miles of existing bike trails with 11 miles of newly built bikeways to create a 50-mile loop around the city.

Oops. WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker almost didn’t become one of the most decorated aviators in American history, after cracking his skull attempting to fly his bicycle off a Columbus, Ohio shed in an attempt to imitate the Wright Brothers flight.

The family of a fallen New York bicyclist is suing the city for $100 million, alleging that nothing was done to fix the corridor she was riding on despite five previous deaths in less than two decades. They may have a case, since they can prove the city was aware of the problem, but didn’t correct it. Although the eventual settlement will be far lower than what they’re asking.

A Central Pennsylvania public radio station shares a poem about the intersection of bicycling and Alzheimer’s from Pennsylvania poet Henry Israeli.

Florida’s Highway Patrol is wrapping up their hit-and-run awareness month by telling drivers to stay at the scene after a crash, after Tampa Bay saw over 300 drivers flee this month.

 

International

Bike Radar examines how to prevent hand and wrist pain when you ride. A good padded handlebar tape and padded bike gloves help. So does relaxing your death grip on them in stressful situations.

A South London bike shop owner surprisingly argues that expanding the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone will just cause chaos. Although the fact that he owns nine cars, and it would cost him the equivalent of nearly $100,000 to make just three of them compliant with the new rules, might have something to do with it.

It only took 18 months, but a London truck driver has finally been charged with killing a pediatrician who was biking to work after taking it up during the pandemic. But whoever designed the city’s Holborn gyratory, where eight bike riders have been killed in the last 15 years, should face charges, too.

A new dockless bikeshare service named Fredo aims to provide last-mile connectivity in suburban France. Although things did not end well for Fredo in The Godfather II. 

Austria gets serious about multimodal commuting by offering a subsidy of up to the equivalent of $636 on the purchase of a folding bike, but only for people with an annual transit pass; the country is also offering a subsidy of half off the price of an ebike, up to a little over $1,000.

Fatal car crashes surged in Germany last year; not surprisingly, bike riders and pedestrians remained among the most vulnerable victims, with death rates rising for both groups.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reports on the new study showing stolen Dutch bicycles usually remain in the city where they were taken, continuing to contribute to the local economy. Even if the original owners are screwed.

Arevo says they’ve fulfilled 96% of the more than 2,800 Indiegogo orders for their new Superstrata custom carbon bikes and ebikes, which are being 3D printed and assembled in Vietnam.

Tragic news from the Philippines, where a 14-year old boy was killed when he failed to round a corner on his bicycle, and rode off a 33-foot cliff; family members blamed the crash on a broken brake.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly says the opening weekend of the bike racing season has seen a shift from Jumbo-Visma to Soudal-Quick Step as the classics team to beat. And no, I didn’t know they have earthquakes in the UK.

Cycling Weekly’s point was driven home by the remarkable feat of Jumbo-Visma rider and Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard winning all four stages of the O Gran Camiño.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can have your picture taken on a giant bicycle with Mexican conchas for wheels. That feeling when selling your bicycle means a more than 13 hour, 43-mile walk home.

And bbenfulton reminds us that reggae legend Peter Tosh was…uh, half of us, too.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

AZ driver plows into club ride killing 2 and injuring 11, a successful CicLAvia, and a more walkable bikeable Eagle Rock

February 27, 2023 / / 2 comments

It’s happened again.

Just 18 months after a driver plowed through a master’s bike race in Show Low, Arizona, killing one man and injuring seven others, another driver has done virtually the same thing just 200 miles away.

According to multiple sources, a pickup driver towing a trailer plowed through a group of bicyclists with the West Valley Cycling club in the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear, Arizona Saturday morning, killing two people and leaving eleven others with “very serious injuries.”

One woman died at the scene, the other victim died after being taken to a local hospital. At least one of the injured bike riders was still in critical condition a day later.

The driver, 26-year old Pedro Quintana-Lujan, was booked on charges including two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment, and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation.

CNN reports that Maricopa County jail records show Quintana-Lujan was being held on $250,000 bond.

The owner of a Phoenix Trek bike shop said one his employees was among the injured, saying it will be a long time the 65-year old man will be able to work again.

Another bike shop owner said a recently retired friend and customer had already undergone two surgeries to stabilize his cerebral spine, with more in his future.

No word yet on whether Quintana-Lujan was distracted or under the influence. Or why he was apparently unable to see a couple dozen people on bicycles directly ahead of his truck.

Thanks to Victor Bale and Phillip Young for the heads-up.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

………

By all accounts, the year’s first CicLAvia was a success, even if the cold and cloudy weather may have dampened turnout.

Spirits clearly weren’t dampened, however.

Even one of California’s newly elected state senators was among the people enjoying the carfree street.

And for one day, at least, the San Fernando Valley looked a lot like Paris and Guadalajara.

………

You have just two more weeks to voice your support for a bikeable, walkable and livable Colorado Blvd through Eagle Rock.

………

The bizarre 15-minute city conspiracy theory continues to gain ground, as proponents argue that the benign urban planning philosophy is somehow “a plot by ‘tyrannical bureaucrats’ to take our cars and control our lives, which could lead to a real-life Hunger Games scenario.”

Um, okay.

Meanwhile, CNN reports an Oxford, England politician received death threats — many from outside the country — for proposing a plan to filter traffic using traffic cams to limit drivers from cutting through a neighborhood at peak times.

As we’ve discussed before, nothing in the 15-minute city concept prevents motorists from leaving their own neighborhoods, or driving through the city. It merely means that everything you need for daily life should be found within 15 minutes of your home.

According to CNN, the conspiracy theory originally gained traction among Q-Anon theorists and climate change deniers. And Fox News and other conservative media were only happy to fan the flames.

Which led to this —

In December, Canadian clinical psychologist and climate skeptic Jordan Peterson posted a tweet attacking 15-minute cities: “The idea that neighborhoods should be walkable is lovely. The idea that idiot tyrannical bureaucrats can decide by fiat where you’re ‘allowed’ to drive is perhaps the worst imaginable perversion of that idea.”

In early February, UK politician Nick Fletcher raised the conspiracy in Parliament, calling 15-minute cities an “international socialist concept” and claimed they “will cost us our personal freedom.”

And last weekend, online theories spilled into real life protests, as thousands of people, many from outside the area, took to the streets of Oxford to protest the traffic filtering and 15-minute city proposals.

Let’s hope the world regains its sanity. Because walkable, bikeable 15-minute cities are the solution.

Not the problem.

………

Legendary jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon was one of us.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1630070221812944896

………

A young Elizabeth Taylor was one of us, too.

………

A backwards Penny Farthing was apparently the BMX of its day.

More proof you can carry anything on two wheels.

Or one, even.

And nothing actually says your unicycle has to have a wheel.

Click on the photo to see the full image. Trust me, it’s worth it. 

………

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

A Cleveland website says an Ohio legislator needs to explain his overreach on bike lanes, which would have banned a planned center lane cycle track in Cleveland.

Apparently having no grasp of physics, and little on reality, nearly two-thirds of British drivers believe aggressive bicyclists are a threat to their safety, and a bigger danger than they were just three years earlier.

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

An Ontario, Canada man faces charges for getting off his bicycle, and using it to assault a woman pedestrian after demanding money from her.

A lawsuit by a Taipei ebike rider backfired after a judge ruled he was at fault for riding into the back of a double parked car, saying he had plenty of room to go around it.

………

Local 

He gets it. Paul Thornton, the Letters Editor for the Los Angeles Times, asks if LA drivers have suddenly become more okay with endangering lives, arguing that “sitting behind a steering wheel can turn a reasonable person into a borderline psychopath, willing to threaten the life of anyone in the way.” Which was one of the many reasons I quit driving, because I didn’t like who I became behind the wheel.

A letter writer in the Times argues that the best way to protect yourself is to ride with a camera facing in every direction, and get a good lawyer.

Pomona has received a $11.3 million grant to build a 3.5-mile trail along the San Jose Creek that will take pedestrians and cyclists from Cal Poly Pomona to the LA County Fairplex.

 

State

California Walks and UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, aka SafeTREC, are offering free training on how to assess current conditions and identify ways to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Costa Mesa quietly revoked its bike licensing requirement last week, after similar licensing laws were banned as part of last year’s Omnibus Bike Bill passed by the state legislature; two Costa Mesa safe streets advocates were instrumental in getting the ban included in the bill, after discovering the city’s licensing requirement had been used primarily to target the homeless and people of color.

Ebike collisions continue to rise in San Diego’s coastal North County area. Although a rise in injuries could simply be attributable to an increase in ebike ridership.

Melissa Gonzalez, the San Diego driver facing a slap on the wrist for killing Matthew Keenan in a wrong way, head-on crash as he rode his bike in Mission Valley two years ago, defied expectations by pleading not guilty, and will face trial in May, as his widow demands more accountability for the crash.

That’s more like it. A 35-year old man was sentenced to 16 years and 4 months to life behind bars for the drunken Palm Springs motor vehicle crash that killed a 56-year old man. Although as Victor Bale suggested in forwarding this, if the victim had been on a bicycle, he probably would have gotten a slap on the wrist, too.

Troubled pop star Britney Spears received a warning from Ventura County animal control after her two-year old doberman escaped her Thousand Oaks compound, and bit a 71-year old man riding his bicycle nearby.

Up to a thousand people are expected to turn out for Saturday’s Solvang Century Bike Ride through Santa Barbara County

Berkeley is inviting low-income residents to apply for a lottery to get an ebike for long-term use as part of a city-funded program. Although they define low-income a lot differently than I do, with incomes up to $74,000 for an individual, or $106,000 for a family of four. 

 

National

A writer for the Competitive Enterprise Institute says we won’t need more lithium and other rare minerals for EV batteries if we just ban cars and suburbs. Except he somehow seems to think that’s a bad thing.

The president of a Colorado trucking association calls on Denver to rethink its Vision Zero program, arguing that deaths will continue to soar without an increased emphasis on enforcement of traffic laws.

A Texas driver accepted a plea for seven-years behind bars for killing a well-known 67-year old Galveston physician as she was riding her bike last March.

An “activist” bicycling group in Rochester, New York is riding to protest police violence and fight for a more inclusive society.

That’s more like it. After a Manhattan taxi driver jumped the curbed after hitting a bike rider, trapping two people under the cab, New York’s mayor announced that a three block section of Broadway where the crash occurred will be closed to motor vehicles between 8 am and 11 pm. Then again, the street was already a bicyclist’s paradise in the 1890s.

Life is cheap in New York, where a US Postal Service driver faces just one month behind bars and a lousy $250 fine after being convicted of misdemeanor failure to yield for killing a 71-year old man riding a bicycle in a right hook crash; his attorney tried to blame the victim for his own death, insisting he could have braked to avoid the impact. Spoken like someone who has never been right hooked on a bike. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

A quick-thinking Atlanta cop is credited with saving the life of a bike-riding man, who collapsed unexpectedly moments after the officer waved him through an intersection.

The Tampa Bay Times says a 40-year old woman riding a bike has been killed by Florida Highway Patrol car. Which was apparently driving itself, since the story doesn’t mention a human being, let alone a sworn officer, having anything to do with the crash.

 

International

Move Electric examines how common ebike theft is, and what you can do to prevent it.

They get it, too. A Canadian website says Toronto’s Vision Zero plan is all that stands between bike riders and total road anarchy, with “lot more fear, anger and impatience on the roads, and the veneer of civil behavior badly eroded.”

An American woman was left with a nearly $17,000 hospital bill after hitting a pothole while riding her bike on a Scottish roadway.

A day after we mentioned a British woman on trial for pushing a 77-year old woman off her bike, she was convicted of manslaughter, and will be sentenced on Thursday; she claimed she was just gesturing wildly as she complained about the woman riding on the sidewalk, and may have inadvertently hit her. The jury clearly didn’t believe her, either.

Road.cc considers why former BBC host Dan Walker’s call to wear a helmet is controversial, after he credited his with saving his life.

Stockholm, Sweden is getting its first bicycle street, where bicycles will receive priority over other forms of traffic. Which has no known equivalent in Southern California, let alone Los Angeles. 

They get it. A South African website says bicycling could solve transportation problems in Cape Town, calling for an integrated transportation network with bicycling at its heart.

A new documentary looks at the two decade old case of a disabled Japanese man who died in custody, after fleeing from police on his bicycle when they tried to stop him for “acting suspiciously.”

Bicycling Australia chooses their gear of the year, noting the bicycling products that captured their attention. Many, if not most, of which should be available here in the US. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The New York Times offers a deep dive profile on 33-year old individual pursuit world champ and record holder Ashton Lambie, who was working at a bike shop and randonneuring before he took his first ride on a grass velodrome in Kansas, on a borrowed bike, less than seven years ago. And won, of course.

Twenty-three-year old world champ Remco Evenepoel added another notch on his belt with a victory in the UAE Tour.

Colombian Egan Bernal will not be racing in this week’s Paris-Nice after being sidelined by a knee injury, as he returns to racing after last year’s near fatal training crash.

USA Cycling could be looking for you, as the national cycling body set off a “new talent-identification program aimed at underrepresented and more diverse communities” for its track cycling program. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with feral LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to use our ebike’s turbo boost to outrun a pack of hungry wolves; thanks again to Phillip Young. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about being trampled to death by elephants, either.

And unlike most bike-riding dogs, cats don’t need a basket.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Advice for riding in the rain — just don’t, CicLAvia rolls Sunday rain or shine, and psych exam for confessed Mammone killer

February 24, 2023 / / 2 comments

Let’s start with what’s anticipated to be a freakishly heavy winter storm, which is just beginning to pelt Southern California with rain as I write this.

BikeLA, nee LACBC, dug deep into its archives to pull out some good tips for riding in the rain, like making sure you can be seen in low visibility, and avoiding puddles since you have no way of knowing what’s underneath.

Even if it is a lot more fun to coast through them.

But if the storm turns out to be as bad as they’re predicting, with two to four inches of rain at the coast, and more in higher areas, and snow levels down to 2,000 feet, you’re probably better off just sitting this one out.

So unless you absolutely have to ride your bike, just stay safe and leave it at home for a couple days.

Then bring it out for Sunday’s CicLAvia on Sherman Way through Canoga Park,  Winnetka and Reseda in the San Fernando Valley, when the city is supposed to briefly dry out before another series of storms rolls in on Monday.

You can even visit the Metro Art Bus at CicLAvia, and get a baby popup art bus of your very own.

And yes, CicLAvia is scheduled to take place, rain or shine.

Photo by Tetyana Kovyrina from Pexels.

………

Speaking of which, BikeLA has canceled this weekend’s planned Griffith Park Mountain Madness Ride due to hazardous weather conditions.

………

The judge overseeing the murder case against Vanroy Evan Smith has appointed a pair of mental health experts to examine the 39-year old Long Beach man, after his attorney questioned whether Smith is competent to stand trial.

No shit, considering he claims to be both God and Jesus, all rolled into one, and therefore entitled to kill anyone he wants.

Assuming the court rules he’s unable to understand or participate in the case against him for the alleged murder of Dr. Michael Mammone as he rode his bike in Dana Point — which is a pretty safe bet at this point — Smith would be sent to a state mental hospital for treatment.

The case could then resume when and if he’s ever found competent to stand trial.

As heinous as this crime was, Smith is a clearly a victim of our country’s failed mental health system, and should have had treatment for his mental illness long before he became a danger to Mammone, or anyone else.

Unfortunately, though, we can’t put America’s mental health system on trial.

And from all appearances, it will be a long time before Smith ever sees a courtroom for murdering Mammone with his car and knife, if he ever does.

Or before Mammone ever sees justice.

………

She gets it.

Climate advocate Rebecca Tiffany makes the case for why 16 is too young to get a driver’s license.

Then again, I know some people a hell of a lot older who shouldn’t have one, either.

………

Gravel Bike California calls Ventura County’s Rock Cobbler one of gravel’s hardest and most beloved events, asking if sheer survival has ever been so much fun.

Although it’s a sad commentary about our world when such a joyful cycling film has to start with an “in memoriam” panel.

………

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

Talk about not getting it. Less than a month after People For Bikes named a fully separated Bloomington, Indiana bike lane the 5th best new bike project in the US, a local mayoral candidate wants to redesign it to make it safer for other road users. Because apparently, bikeways are there to protect buses and emergency vehicles, too. Thanks to Ben Fulton for the heads-up.

No bias here. After a bike rider leaves a sign pleading for vandals to stop slashing bike tires at a Vancouver bikeshare dock, someone responded with their own sign reading “Too bad, so sad. Us motorists want our parking spots back.”

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

There’s almost a special place in hell for the lightless, masked bike rider who almost knocked over 89-year old TV legend Joan Collins as she got out of a cab on a street closed to traffic. And probably almost stepped out in front of him.

………

Local 

A columnist for the LA Times takes a ride in a self-driving Waymo robotaxi, and envisions a world where Jevons Paradox — which argues that making something easier or more plentiful induces people to use it more — will lead to even more paralyzing traffic congestion on the city’s streets.

Metro is accepting applications from community-based organization and other nonprofits to redistribute the roughly 5,000 unclaimed bikes left on the transit system to people in need, including resource-challenged communities and people experiencing homelessness. Although from what I’ve seen, some homeless people already have more bikes than the rest of us.

 

State

This is who we share the road with. A 39-year old man faces charges for deliberately trying to run over pedestrians at Santa Ana’s MacArthur Intermediate School; fortunately, the attack came after school hours, and he doesn’t appear to have succeeded in hitting anyone.

Bakersfield approves a new traffic calming program, after 80 fatal collisions involving pedestrians or bicyclists in just the last three years.

A Berkeley website examines how a proposed bike lane project fell victim to the city’s culture wars.

San Francisco public radio station KQED takes a deep dive into the nation’s first Critical Mass ride in July, 1997, when thousands of bicyclists took over the streets of San Francisco to demand safer streets, calling it the “night that changed San Francisco cycling forever.” And they have a point; in the quarter century since, the city has gone from near zero to over 463 miles of bike lanes, paths and trails. Thanks to Ravener for the link. 

Sebastopol moves forward with plans to build dangerously unsafe bike lanes on a road that advocates say is too busy, too steep and too narrow, because any changes now would jeopardize the entire road project. Which is certainly worth needlessly killing or maiming a few people down the road, right?

A Santa Rosa man says he wouldn’t still be here if his companions on a bike club ride didn’t know CPR.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on how to protect yourself by briefly controlling the roadway to prevent unsafe passes — like when you’re riding an ebike 20 mph uphill.

Consumer Reports offers advice on how to prevent ebike battery fires.

Hawaii could take a different approach to ebike rebates, offering anyone over the age of 16 up to $500 in rebates every year.

He gets it. New Seattle DOT Director Greg Spotts, until recently LA’s Director of Street Services, ordered a top-to-bottom review of the city’s Vision Zero program to halt a recent trend in the wrong direction. Which is exactly what LA needs to do, once Mayor Karen Bass decides who will run LADOT, now that former GM Seleta Reynolds is working for Metro. 

I don’t think they’re going to make it. According to a Colorado public radio station, my bike friendly hometown aims to end traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2023. Although further into the story, it seems the real date is actually ten years off. Which is good, since they already had two people killed riding bikes just last week.

Cleveland bike advocates were in a celebratory mood after a state legislator pulled an amendment that would have banned bikeway projects in the middle of a street in any large city, which would have killed a planned centerline separated bike path.

The father of convicted Manhattan bike path terrorist Sayfullo Saipov testified in an effort to save his son from the death penalty, saying he hadn’t seen him in 13 years, and didn’t expect to ever see him again.

Construction is set to begin next year on a planned 175-mile bike path stretching from Manhattan to Montauk on the far end of Long Island.

A West Virginia TV station makes the case for why the state should be ranked higher than 18th in the US for mountain biking.

Virginia bizarrely responds to a near-record rise in traffic deaths by cutting funding for transportation projects. But a clause in the new federal infrastructure bill could require the state to spend 15% of traffic safety dollars on bike and pedestrian projects.

In a truly bizarre case, a Florida driver faces charges for driving away after right hooking a 61-year old man riding a bike but not before getting out to look at the victim — and leaving his passenger behind.

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, after a Florida man interrupted his bike ride to pull an 85-year old man out of his wrecked car — then turns out to be the victim’s physical therapist in the hospital.

 

International

London bike thieves use an angle grinder to steal a cargo bike from a bike hanger on a public street in broad daylight

The UK’s troubled British Cycling is responding to recent controversies and a dramatic decline in bike sales by scrapping the group’s ambitious goal to increase its current 150,000 membership to a quarter million before next year’s Paris Olympics.

A British woman says she may have “unintentionally” put her hand out to protect herself, even though witnesses say she was heard yelling “get off the [expletive] pavement” before knocking a 77-year old woman off her bike and into the path of an oncoming car, where she was killed.

A new Swiss report says ABS brakes really do improve safety, maneuverability and stability for ebikes and cargo bikes.

Forget batteries. Because your next Chinese-made foldie could be hydrogen powered.

An Australian jury acquitted a man on murder charges after he fatally stabbed a fellow boarding house tenet who he thought was stealing his bike to sell for drugs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports that former Los Angeles-based women’s cycling team LA Sweat will not participate in the new National Cycling League, citing concerns about a lack of transparency from NCL organizers. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Twenty-three-year old British cyclist Tom Pidcock defended his breathtaking descent filmed in LA’s Tuna Canyon against accusations he was being reckless and putting his racing season at risk. Although it’s no different than what he would do in a race.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you wish you, too, could roar down the mountain with a bike-riding lion, unicorn or dinosaur on your jersey. Or you still want the most wildly impractical, tantalizingly rare and defiantly weird bike Trek ever made.

And who needs a nightclub when you have a bicycle-based Irish disco on wheels?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Repeat drunk driver kills OC pedestrian, support Culver City mobility lanes, and bike-riding French Resistance fighter dies

February 23, 2023 / / 2 comments

You might want to rethink plans to ride your bike for the next few days. 

The forecast for LA County is calling for dangerously heavy rains and high winds, with flooding in low-lying areas and blizzard warnings for higher elevations. 

So even with the best rain gear, the smart money is on staying home if possible, or finding some other way to get around. 

Hopefully, it will clear up before Sunday’s Valley CicLAvia. 

Photo by energepic.com from Pexels.

………

This is why people continue to die on our streets.

A repeat drunk driver is on trial for murder and DUI for killing a pedestrian while speeding through an Orange crosswalk in 2021; 40-year old Sitani Pinomi still had a BAC of .10 several hours after the crash.

Pinomi was convicted on two previous DUI charges, and had signed a Watson advisement acknowledging that he could be charged with murder if he ever drove drunk again and killed someone.

Which he allegedly did.

Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late.

………

This past weekend, my wife and I visited Culver City for the first time since those heady pre-pandemic days, and were struck by how pleasant the city’s Mobility Lane Project made walking in the downtown area.

And how restricting car traffic made other modes more inviting than driving, which is kind of the point.

Now the city is conducting a survey to gauge support for the project, which could be little more than a fig leaf for the city council’s newly empowered conservative majority to rip the entire thing out.

So take a few minutes, and share your love for the city’s safer and more welcoming streets, so maybe they’ll think twice before removing them.

………

The Washington Post remembers World War II’s Girl Partisan of Chartres, after the death of heroic French freedom fighter Simone Segouin,

Her battlefield experience began when she was just 14, recruited by the resistance commander she later married as he hid out on her father’s farm.

The teenager helped him exchange messages with other resistance members on a bicycle she had stolen from a German patrol outside a hotel in Chartres after slashing the tires of their other bikes.

She repainted her bike and, in the guise of a sweet-faced farmer’s daughter carrying baguettes in a basket, moved around the German-occupied countryside without suspicion. Her bike, she said, was her “reconnaissance vehicle.”

She later learned to use handguns, rifles and submachine guns, as well as becoming an expert in explosives and guerrilla tactics. Yet was still just 18 when she captured 25 German soldiers as Allied troops rolled into Chartres, then fought with them to liberate Paris.

She was 97-years old when she died Tuesday.

………

BikeLA, the former LACBC, is teaming with CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman to host a feeder ride to Sunday’s CicLAvia, beginning 9 am at the Balboa Orange Line Station, RSVP requested.

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Sycamore Canyon riders are being told you can’t get there from here, at least for the next week.

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The self-proclaimed Lock Picking Lawyer demonstrates why saving a few bucks on a cheap lock isn’t worth it.

………

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

Once again, someone has sabotaged a British bike trail, as a 41-year old bicyclist suffered a concussion, broken collarbone and three broken ribs after hitting a wire strung across the trail, in what witnesses said was an apparent attempt to steal his bike.

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

Seriously? The local paper takes up the charge after a single UK pedestrian complains about bicyclists riding at “breakneck speeds” in Sheffield’s pedestrianized town center.

………

Local 

Sad news from North Hollywood, where a man in his 20s was killed when a driver rear-ended the e-scooter he was riding on Vineland Ave near Riverside Drive early Wednesday.

Streets For All is hosting an information session March 1st for anyone considering running for their local neighborhood council. And yes, they want you to.

The Los Angeles Times says distrust of politicians is running high in the CD6 special election, following the resignation of former Councilmember Nury Martinez after she was heard making racist remarks on a leaked recording.

Pasadena Now considers plans to close several miles of the Pasadena Freeway to motor vehicles for a few hours, and open it up to bike riders, skaters and walkers for October’s ArroyoFest.

Streetsblog reports Pomona will build a bike path along San Jose Creek from near Ganesha Park to Cal Poly Pomona, providing a safer route to several local elementary schools.

New Congressman Robert Garcia, former mayor of Long Beach, announced a $30 million grant for the Shoreline Drive Gateway project, which will demolish the northbound half of the existing Shoreline Drive to create new park space, including a new bike path.

 

State

The NRCDC says it’s time to cut polluting projects from the state transportation budget, and realign spending with the state’s climate priorities.

The California YIMBY website — that’s Yes In My Back Yard — examines how NIMBYs have hijacked the state’s CEQA anti-pollution laws to block housing and other needed developments.

Ventura County’s Carpinteria Creek Bike Path has reopened, following repairs due to January’s rains. And just in time for this weekend’s coming deluge.

An “avid” Bakersfield bicyclist for the past four decades calls out the poor quality of the city’s bike lanes, saying biking the streets of Bakersfield just isn’t safe anymore. There’s a Buck Owens joke in there somewhere, but it’s escaping me at the moment.

For a change, a bikelash works in our favor, as Palo Alto agrees to rethink a proposal to ban ebikes from local preserves after residents complained about the plan

 

National

House Beautiful offers “ingenious bike storage racks that won’t cramp your style,” many of which actually aren’t. Unless you consider a barn or storage closet a bike rack.

It turns out that one of the two people killed riding bikes in my bike-friendly Colorado hometown was a 76-year old retired FBI special agent and Vietnam vet, who was riding the bike his wife gave him for Christmas.

A Colorado artist and frame painter describes how riding her bike made her fall in love with the state again, saying her bike feels like a drawing tool.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Chicago FedEx driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, claiming he just didn’t see a little old lady crossing the street with her walker before he slammed into her with his truck, killing her.

A Minneapolis news site deflates internet conspiracy theories over why protected bike lanes get plowed faster than traffic lanes when it snows; the answer is simply that there are no parked cars blocking bike lanes. Or at least, there shouldn’t be.

A bikelash worked in our favor in Ohio, too, where an outcry from bike riders defeated a proposal to strip local control over bike lanes from the Ohio budget.

New York Streetsblog proposes a lithium battery trade-in program to reduce the number of dangerous old ebike and e-scooter batteries at risk of fires, with newer, safer models.

Life is cheap in New York, where a USPS driver faces a lousy misdemeanor charge and summons for failing to yield and exercise due care for killing a man riding a bicycle two years ago, despite a long record of reckless driving both before and after he was hired.

The Washington Post seems shocked that older Americans are participating in extreme sports like Ironman triathlons and the Iditarod Trail Invitational, tackling the Alaskan backcountry in subzero temperatures by bicycle, foot or skis. My own brother was in his 60s when he ran his sled dog team in the Iditarod four times, and his 70s when he tackled his first major cross-country bike tour.

 

International

Momentum Magazine offers advice on what to do if bike riding is a literal pain in the back.

The British bike boom has officially gone bust, as bike sales in the UK have dropped to their lowest level in two decades.

British news anchor Dan Walker was unconscious for 20 minutes after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike, which suggests that his bike helmet may have kept his skull intact, but didn’t prevent a traumatic brain injury, aka TBI. Meanwhile, drivers complain that he was wearing dark clothing and wasn’t riding in the glass-strewn bike lane.

After bike-riding Brit broadcaster Jeremy Vine blasted a “maniac” van driver for a right cross turn directly across his path, drivers slam him for not dressing like a hi-viz clown.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a truck driver walked without a single day behind bars for a “perilous maneuver” that resulted in the death of a bike-riding man; a judge imposed community service and a lousy 15 month license suspension.

The self-governing island of Jersey is introducing what they call the world’s first smart cycling scheme, which will use smart bike lights to collect data from individual bike rides, including routes and destinations, as well as road conditions, busy spots and conflicts.

Fans of Dutch bikes can now get an e-Gazelle, starting at the equivalent of four grand.

Your next ebike could have no chain or belt, or any other kind of direct propulsion system, thanks to a new German ride-by-wire drivetrain.

 

Competitive Cycling

Yes, British cyclist Tom Pidcock can descend faster than you. Or me, anyway.

 

Finally…

The right seat could keep gravel riding from being a pain in the butt. When you’re riding your bike at 1 am, with eight — count ’em, eight — active warrants and carrying meth, put a damn light on it, already.

The bike, that is, not the meth.

And not only is Jimmy Carter one of us, so is his wife Roselyn.

https://twitter.com/paulvaldezsf/status/1627818357272592386

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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