Morning Links: Hard-hitting real-life safety PSA, and Big Blue Bus leaves bike-riding boy stranded in the rain

December 21, 2015 / / 2 comments

This one’s hard to watch, but sends a hard-hitting message.

A bike rider left his bike cam running as a driver drifted into him, from the actual crash all the way through to the emergency room, which has now been turned into a public service announcement by Sasquatch Films.

You can see the car start to drift into his lane while the rider is distracted by the car on his right; watching his fingers twitch as he lies on pavement post crash is one of the most haunting images I’ve seen.

Thanks to Tony K of Black Kids on Bikes for the link.

………

BBB ComplaintSometimes common sense needs to prevail.

A rider who goes by the Twitter handle of Cloud Rider writes that he and his 5-year old son were denied service on a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus during Saturday’s rain storm.

According to his complaint, the driver wouldn’t let him put the boy’s bike with a 16” wheel on the front rack, even though it fit. And wouldn’t let them bring the bike on board the bus, either, leaving them stranded in the rain.

Metro drivers are allowed to use their discretion on whether to allow bikes onboard if the racks are full and there’s room on the bus. If Santa Monica drivers don’t have that authority, they should.

And anyone who would leave a five-year old standing in the rain, regulations or not, doesn’t belong behind the wheel of a public bus.

………

‘Tis the season.

Seventy needy Jurupa Valley kids get new bikes and helmets courtesy of Santa Claus.

A Palm Spring restaurant and bar donates 100 bicycles for needy children.

Lompoc riders give 120 bikes and helmets to children of military families.

Soledad police give out 100 bikes to local children, while Hollister police give 103 bikes.

Texas cyclists rode to deliver 500 teddy bears to sick kids at a children’s hospital.

Twenty-seven Chattanooga children received bikes from a local co-op.

Florida’s legendary Jack the Bike Man gave out around a thousand bikes and helmets in a single day this weekend.

But the gold medal goes to the widow of North Carolina’s Bicycle Man, who carried on his work two years after his death by giving away 1,300 bikes.

………

Local

Burbank compromises on a proposed ban on riding bikes on a bridge over the LA River used by equestrians, allowing bicyclists to walk their bicycles over the dirt covered span.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson learns a lesson in pre-holiday compassion post injury.

 

State

Mark your calendar for next April, when you can join former pros Jens Voigt and Freddie Rodriguez in riding the course for the third stage of the Amgen Tour of California at the L’Etape California.

 

National

A bike-riding Colorado busboy returns an envelope with $3,000 in cash that someone left behind; he got a $300 reward for his honesty.

The judge declares a mistrial in the case of a Missouri mayor accused of intentionally running down a bike rider in a dispute; witnesses said they saw the mayor turn his wheel into the rider.

A pair of bike thieves simply walked out with a $7,000 mountain bike from a Chicago bike shop.

Blue Bloods star Bridget Moynahan is one of us, riding her bike around the Big Apple to stay fit and spend time with her son.

An Atlanta columnist gets his knickers in a twist when bike riders object to his road raging anger directed at a cyclist he somehow concluded was riding slowly just to antagonize driver. Evidently, like many angry drivers, he thinks he has the ability to read minds to determine why people on bikes do what they do, usually incorrectly.

A local paper urges Savannah GA officials to go slow in contemplating a ban on bikes in a popular park, which is a key link in a major bike route.

 

International

A new study shows eating just one and a half ounces of dark chocolate every day can improve your cycling performance. Now they just need to prove beer makes you a better rider, too.

Over 80% of bike thefts in one English town go unsolved.

A British bike rider was seriously injured when someone shoved him from behind into a tree; it wasn’t clear whether his assailant was in a car or on foot.

A Welsh stunt cyclist who was paralyzed in a failed trick tried to sell his bike to raise funds to make his home more accessible; fans pitched in to raise four times the £7,000 — over $10,000 — he had asked for, in just 24 hours.

An Indian Paralympics cycling champion rides 900 miles with just one leg to support wounded vets, and says losing his leg was a blessing in disguise.

Authorities blame aggressive drivers for a dramatic increase in cycling collisions.

 

Finally…

Yarn bombing Down Under. Bike parts hardly ever blow up, but evidently, they can shut a freeway down.

And a bike rider rescues an adorable puppy on the side of the road.

………

Thanks to TheBigBlueFish for contributing to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, which is now entering it’s final few days.

Don't make her beg. Support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

Don’t make her suffer such indignity for nothing. Give to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive while you still can.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bike Cam Video, Car vs Bike, Morning Links /

Weekend Links: LA Times gives LADOT a data-driven push, ‘Tis the season and a fat bike for the zombie apocalypse

December 19, 2015 / / 2 comments

Maybe what LA needs is a good push.

Which is exactly what the LA Times gave it Friday, with a deep dive into the world of bicycle collisions using the CHP’s SWITRS data to identify the ten most dangerous streets for bicycling.

Not surprisingly, Figueroa, which has been in the news far too much lately, makes the list, coming in third, behind only Venice and Vermont, which led the way with 230 bicycling collisions over the past five years.

Others included Western and Sunset, along with the parallel east/west boulevards of Pico and Olympic.

Surprising, Van Nuys is the only street in the San Fernando Valley to make the list, followed by Downtown’s Main Street and Wilshire Blvd.

Going back to Vermont, the paper found that when drivers were found at fault, it was mostly for failing to yield, speeding and improper turns, while riding salmon was the main reason cyclists were blamed for collisions.

And they suggest that separating bikes from cars with protected bike lanes, or at the very least, painted lanes, is a good start if the city’s Vision Zero is going to succeed.

Let’s hope LADOT is listening.

Not to mention the mayor and the city council.

………

‘Tis the season.

A Redding group teams with Coke to give 60 bikes to foster kids, as well as recently adopted kids.

An Ohio group donates 246 bicycles through the Toys for Tots program.

When a Pittsburgh PA man wanted to give away a few bikes in honor of his daughter and grandchildren, he went on Facebook asking people to nominate six deserving kids. Instead, contributions poured in to buy more bikes; he’ll now be donating at least 35 bikes to needy kids.

Rhode Island police dip into their own pockets to buy a bike for a young girl after hers is stolen.

A North Carolina group donates three truckloads of bikes to less fortunate kids. Although the local TV station seems to think it was news from the future.

………

Don't make her beg. Support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

Don’t make her beg. You only have six more days to support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive.

………

Local

Voting on where Metro’s new bikeshare stations should be located in DTLA ends at the end of the month.

A UCLA public health website says the new Wilshire Blvd bus-only lanes should be called a bus, bike and a**hole lane due to a lack of enforcement against aggressive drivers who use it illegally.

A new video discusses what the future of LA streets could be, including drone footage of the recent CicLAvia in Downtown LA.

A Santa Monica letter writer suggests making Arizona Avenue a greenway like the new Michigan Ave greenway.

As we mentioned yesterday, Redondo Beach’s Harbor Drive separated bikeway made People for Bike’s list of the nation’s top 10 new bike lanes.

A bystander’s video suggests sheriff’s deputies may have killed a Long Beach bike rider after one of them accidently shot his own partner.

 

State

The Voice of San Diego looks at what stands in the way of a proposed international bike lane across the border with Mexico. Besides Donald Trump, that is.

The San Jose paper examines at what went wrong with a planned bike & pedestrian bridge in Palo Alto.

 

National

Honolulu attempts to finance a bikeshare program by asking donors to adopt a bike for $1,000.

Nebraska’s Supreme Court bizarrely rules that a railroad may have been at fault for a boy’s death after he rode his bike around the crossing guards; his mother’s lawyer argued that the first train was too loud for him to hear the second train that killed him, while blocking it from view.

Cincinnati considers a 42-mile bikeway circling the city, though a business writer questions whether supporters will actually see it built in their lifetimes.

Streetsblog remembers the man who saved New York cycling by fighting a 1980s Midtown bike ban.

Bikes really do mean business. September’s world championships in Richmond VA brought in $89 million in direct spending, with a total economic reach of $170 million.

Raleigh NC installs bike lanes and sharrows around the town; naturally, drivers are confused and say cars should come first because there’s more of them. By that argument, people should always come before cars.

A Florida man is shot in the legs when he refused to let go of his bike when four men tried to jack it. Rule number one: Never forget your life is worth more than your bike.

 

International

A Canadian bike shop is refurbishing donated bikes to give to Syrian refugees when they arrive.

Police are looking for a road raging Brit cyclist who reached into a car and rode off with the driver’s keys. Something I have been tempted to do many times, wrong though it may be.

The owners of the Tour de France reject proposed reforms for pro cycling, and have pulled the race from UCI’s new WorldTour calendar for 2017.

Muslim cyclists in Australia will ride for peace on the one year anniversary of Sidney’s Lindt Café attack.

 

Finally…

Who needs GPS when your bike seat can tell you where to go. Charlie Brown had a kite eating tree, but at least it didn’t eat bicycles. Or anchors.

And just what every Angeleno needs for LA traffic or the zombie apocalypse — a camo fat bike with a gun rack in the back.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Water-blocked in a Santa Monica bike lane, and real sportsmanship in a Spanish bike race

December 18, 2015 / / 5 comments

Water keeps posing a risk to cyclists, and El Niño hasn’t even started yet.

Wes High wants to know why a Sparkletts truck has to park in a Santa Monica bike lane to make a delivery, when there’s plenty of parking just a couple spaces up the road.

Why indeed?

Then again, that’s nothing new in Santa Monica.

………

Caught on video: When the third place rider in a Spanish race suffered a flat shortly before the finish, he picked up his bike and ran for the finish line. A competitor followed closely behind, refusing to pass even though it would have meant a podium finish.

Unfortunately, not all of the day’s bike racing news showed sportsmanship, as Olympic track cyclist and US national champ Bobby Lea gets a 16 month ban for doping; he claims it was an accident. Then again, so does everyone else who gets caught these days.

A Dubai cyclist gets a four year ban for doping.

And the official pro cycling team of India’s Uttar Pradesh state gets to share just one bicycle between all 21 cyclists on the team. On the other hand, the state government has distributed 4,500 bikes to the poor, though you’d think they could spare a few for their racing team.

………

‘Tis the season.

The San Luis Obispo Sheriff’s Department donated 167 bicycles to children in need, while another 33 bikes went unclaimed.

Twenty kids get new bikes and helmets from the Tulare County Sheriff’s Police Athletic League.

Two hundred children in Pacheco, CA got new toys and bikes through Toys for Tots, thanks to the generosity of one woman.

An anonymous donor gave a St. Helena, CA girl a new trek mountain bike to replace one she lost in a fire; her two-year old sister got a new tricycle, too.

And a Maui car dealer gave away 250 bikes to kids from the local Boys and Girls Club.

………

Help keep LA's best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

Just in case you have any spare change left after your holiday shopping…

………

Local

The LA Planning Commission approves minor amendments to the Mobility Plan, which had been stripped from the approved plan a few weeks ago to address a lawsuit filed by the non-profit group Fix the City; more serious amendments to remove streets from the plan will be considered after the first of the year.

Speaking of Fix the City, they re-filed their lawsuit to address the city council’s action to address their initial lawsuit. Odd that a group named Fix the City is fighting LA’s efforts to do exactly that, attempting to use the courts to undo six years of public process.

The Bike League looks at the LACBC’s efforts to build bike equity in the cities of southeast LA County.

Bicycling profiles Boyle Heights’ Ovarian Psychos Cycles, sponsors of monthly Luna Rides and the annual Clitoral Mass.

CiclaValley offers advice on what to wear for those cold LA winter bike rides. Relatively speaking, of course.

 

State

San Diego attempts to fix a dangerously congested intersection by increasing capacity and changing signal light timing; the redesign will also include much needed bike lanes and sidewalks.

Santa Ana approves a citywide bike safety program, including workshops to teach bike safety skills, light and helmet distribution, and certifying new cycling instructors.

The San Jose paper discusses how drivers can politely toot on the horn to warn cyclists they’re approaching. Unfortunately, there’s no such thing; as one person notes, even a light tap can startle a rider and cause a dangerous fall.

San Francisco’s Market Street bike counter records its one millionth rider. Meanwhile, the city completed a road diet and added cycle tracks to improve safety on a dangerous street after two boys were hit by a drunk driver. People get hit by cars in LA all the time, but it seldom results in a significant safety improvement to the street where it happened.

Marin County “foot people” complain the county is catering to mountain bikers after cyclists are given access to just six of the 50 miles of trails in local preserves.

 

National

Lifehacker offers a practical guide to urban bicycling. Which actually offers some pretty decent advice, for a change; thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

People for Bikes looks at America’s 10 best new bike lanes. You don’t need any fingers to count how many are in Los Angeles, but the new Harbor Drive cycle tracks in Redondo Beach check in at number nine.

Bicycling looks at what eight top bicycling cities have done to promote safer cycling. CicLAvia draws as more people in one day than Minneapolis drew all year with their eight Open Streets events.

Lincoln NE gets a two-way protected bikeway spanning 17 blocks through the downtown area. Which as Better Bike’s Mark Elliot points out, is 17 more than Beverly Hills has; then again, LA isn’t much better.

The DC-area AAA objects to an increase in fines targeting dangerous drivers, complaining that they don’t address law-breaking cyclists and pedestrians. Maybe because people on bikes and foot don’t pose the same risk to others that speeding and distracted drivers do.

 

International

E-bikes are becoming more popular, but at the loss of bicycling’s long time carbon neutrality. Meanwhile, the Netherlands is developing standards for e-bike helmets, which will be required in the country by 2017.

Bike lanes could be included on a new bridge spanning the international border between Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

A Toronto website says “vigilante” cyclists posted a video showing the dangers riders face in designated bike lanes. “You keep using that word…”

A Zimbabwean cyclist sets a new record by riding the length of Africa from Cairo to Cape Town in just 38 days.

 

Finally…

Seriously, don’t throw your bike at a car that just barely missed you, and don’t punch the driver through the open window, no matter how much you think they deserve it. Don’t quit mountain biking when the snow falls; just replace your wheels with skis.

And you don’t have to worry about cold weather flats if your tires don’t have any air in them.

………

In case you missed it yesterday, here’s a link to the second piece in our new Describe Your Ride series; we’ll have a third one on tap next week.

 

Category: Bike Cam Video, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Describe Your Ride: A very fast ride home through the San Fernando Valley

December 17, 2015 / / 2 comments

We recently started a new feature in which bike riders tell us about the everyday experience of riding a bike, wherever and however they ride.

Or in this case, show us. 

kdbhiker with a very fast paced video condensing an 18-mile roundtrip ride from Burbank to Lake Balboa via the Chandler/Orange Line bike paths to just 35 seconds. 

If you’d like to share your ride with us, just send it to the email address on the About BikinginLA page. It can be a rant, rave or anything in between, from a few sentences to a detailed description. Or any other format you think tells the story best, wherever you ride.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

 

Category: My Ride / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: New VR bike lets you pretend to pedal a pony; SoCal group named America’s Best New Bike Club

December 17, 2015 / / One comment

It’s said that nothing kills a bad product like good advertising.

But the question is, what effect does excruciatingly bad advertising have on a new product? Like this virtual reality stationary bike that lets you pretend you’re pedaling a race car. Or a pony.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up; my apologies to Mike for misspelling his name earlier.

………

Congratulations to SoCal juniors and adult bike club GS Andiamo, which was named the country’s Best New Bike Club of the Year by USA Cycling. Thanks to David Huntsman for the news.

………

‘Tis the season.

San Diego school police give bikes, helmets and locks to 29 elementary students, while 143 needy kids get bikes at a National City school.

San Luis Obispo County sheriff’s deputies will give bikes refurbished by honor farm inmates to kids in need for the 26th year; last year they donated 175 bikes and helmets.

Four Oklahoma and Missouri area businesses band together to donate 200 bikes to kids in need.

A Tampa bike giveaway goes on despite the death of the program’s founder; 515 kids will get new bikes this year.

………

Help keep LA's best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

Support BikinginLA. Because the next step is performing as a spandex-clad bicycling superhero on Hollywood Blvd. And no one wants to see that.

………

Local

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the death of a 17-year old pedestrian on Wednesday shows the need for safety improvements on North Figueroa.

Work is underway to widen Agoura Road in Agoura Hills, including sidewalks and bike lanes.

 

State

San Francisco’s take on an Idaho Stop law barely passes, but without the votes to overcome the mayor’s threatened veto.

Sad news from Sacramento, as a lightless bike rider was killed shortly after dark on Tuesday. Always carry lights with you this time of year, even if you don’t expect to be out after dark; even a slight delay or a flat can mean riding home later than planned.

The Sacramento Bee takes a look at bikepacking in the backcountry.

Davis cyclists will present new bikes to two teenage racers who were deliberately run down by a crazed driver in a stolen car last summer.

A Davis bike thief is busted with meth, two loaded guns and a large quantity of stolen mail, along with five high-end stolen bikes. There’s got to be a punchline in there somewhere.

 

National

A new medical study offers advice for parents of children with ADHD, who are more likely to have collisions and close calls when riding their bikes across the street.

Apparently, there’s a reason bicyclists don’t seem to get sick as often as other people.

Bicycling offers advice on how to stay safer on every ride, and honors a woman who broke sex and racial barriers by taking to two wheels in the 1890s.

Evidently, if you want to stop bike theft in Portland, it takes an intern.

After tackling the man who just stole his bike, a Texas rider talks it out and lets him go with a fist bump instead of calling police.

The Missouri mayor charged with deliberately ramming a cyclist before fleeing the scene insists the rider blew a stop and swore at him before grabbing the car and falling down on his own.

DC vows to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.

 

International

A London man faces charges for stabbing three people in the back as he rode by them in a series of separate incidents.

Bad enough we have to deal with drunk drivers. A Welsh cyclist was seriously injured when a drunk woman kicked his bike as he rode past her.

A UK website asks if your bike could be a fake.

A British man is about to complete a 12,000 mile ride from Australia to the UK to raise money for a children’s hospice.

A Facebook post tells the story of an Indian man who spent four months riding through eight countries to be reunited with his Swedish wife in the 1970s, only to learn he had married into the royal family. True or not, it’s a nice enough story to wish it is.

The seven best places to ride a bike the next time you’re in the United Arab Emirates.

Australia tries out a glow-in-the-dark bike path, which is expected to replace electric lights with over eight hours of illumination.

Representatives of a Thai airline ride through the country in matching yellow jerseys. “We all ride in a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton, a yellow peloton…”

 

Finally…

A cherubic-looking bicycle-riding car thief is busted for the 20th time, which is an impressive rap sheet for a 12-year old. When you’re running away from home, making your escape by riding your bike on a busy freeway probably isn’t the best choice.

And caught on video: Sometimes the debris in the road is just trash, sometimes it’s an alligator.

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , ,

Morning Links: Turning Vision Zero into an unfunny joke, adventures in traffic blocking, and CicLAvia the Musical

December 16, 2015 / / 2 comments

No bikes involved this time.

But sadly, a 17-year old high school student was killed while walking in a crosswalk on North Figueroa yesterday, apparently unaware that classes had been cancelled due to a terrorism hoax.

This is the fourth traffic fatality on the street in the last six months, with three pedestrians and a cyclist losing their lives on a street that was supposed to have been made safer by now.

And would have been, if Councilmember Gil Cedillo hadn’t unilaterally killed a fully funded, shovel ready road diet for reasons he has yet to fully explain, instead bizarrely claiming he was halting the safety project in the name of safety. Yet as yesterday’s tragedy clearly shows, his inaction has merely helped keep a dangerous street deadly.

Unfortunately, we live in a city where councilmembers oversee virtual fiefdoms, thanks to the reluctance of their fellow councilmembers or the mayor to challenge them for fear of retaliation against projects in their own districts.

This has to change.

If Cedillo is unwilling to admit his mistake, someone in city leadership or LADOT has to find the courage to stand up to him to protect the lives of our fellow Angelenos.

Otherwise, people will continue to die needlessly.

And our much-vaunted and fought-for Vision Zero will be nothing more than a very unfunny joke.

………

Today’s theme is bizarre court cases involving allegedly traffic-blocking bike riders.

A Louisville KY bike and pedestrian advocate rejected a plea deal on charges of blocking traffic and running a red light, insisting that bicyclists aren’t required to use bike lanes. Or stop at red lights, for that matter.

A Pennsylvania bike rider faces charges for repeatedly obstructing traffic by slowly riding his bike in the middle of the road; a prosecutor hints he may be trying to get hit after receiving a settlement from a drunk driver for a 2007 collision. Or he could just be taking the lane on a narrow street, like bike riders are instructed to do.

………

Help keep LA's best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

Help keep LA’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming to you every morning.

………

‘Tis the season.

For the seventh year, the Burbank Bike Angels will donate over 120 refurbished bikes to children of local low-income families.

A Rochester NY bike shop donated 20 bikes to an organization serving children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, for the second year in a row.

………

Local

Democratic legislators ask Obama for funding to start planning and design work for the restoration of the LA River, which could include extensions of the LA River bike path.

LADOT is looking for a Planning Assistant. Riding a bike should be an added requirement for the job, though.

CiclaValley offers 100 seconds of bike commuting from the Valley to DTLA.

 

State

The Orange County Bicycle Coalition says anti-bicycle bigotry is growing, as local residents fight plans for long-promised bikeways.

San Diego approves a new climate action plan, including a commitment to cut car trips in key transportation zones by 50% within 20 years.

SF Gate says nice try on San Francisco’s first raised bike lane, but it doesn’t actually keep cars and trucks out.

 

National

Pro ‘cross racers offer advice on how to avoid high bike fees when you fly.

The Federal Highway Administration provides Case Studies in Delivering Safe, Comfortable and Connected Pedestrian and Bicycle Networks.

The family of a Portland driver accused of fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist while driving stoned says it was just an accident and he’s really an awesome person. Except when running down bike riders while too high to drive, evidently.

A New Mexico man is arrested for his seventh DUI, just three months after being released from prison for killing a bike rider in 2005 while driving at three times the legal limit. Yet somehow, despite repeatedly proving he’s incapable of resisting the temptation to drink and drive, he’s still allowed behind the wheel.

Forget skiing. If you’re looking for a little winter adventure, try fat tire cycling through the Minnesota snow.

The Wall Street Journal says New York safety advocates say more needs to be done even though traffic deaths are declining. After all, it’s Vision Zero, not Vision Slightly Better.

A Savannah writer nails it. “A legion of scofflaw cyclists cannot inflict the amount of pain, suffering and death as one young man driving a Dodge Durango.”

 

International

Unbelievable. A Costa Rican cab driver denies doing anything wrong after pulling out from the curb and hitting three lead riders of a bike race after police had cleared the route; fortunately, no one was badly hurt.

A road raging bus driver deals with a confrontation with a London cyclist by running over his bike.

A candidate for London mayor offers a six-point plan to make the city a “byword for cycling around the world.”

A British man gets life in prison for intentionally driving his car into his bike-riding romantic rival.

Police are looking for a Brit rider who threw a woman down a flight of stairs after becoming enraged because her dog was not on a leash.

An Indian paper calls speeding and luxury cars a killer combination. Meanwhile, 110 CEOs from all over the world will ride over 500 miles on a week-long expedition through the country, and a champion para-cyclist explains how he didn’t let losing a leg stop him.

Brisbane, Australia’s Green Party proposes a network of protected bike lanes, which would allow cyclists to ride in safety to within two blocks of any location in the downtown area.

 

Finally…

Go ahead and win the world championships, as the prestigious former British Medical Journal says the rainbow jersey isn’t cursed after all. What it’s like to ride a bike to your own wedding.

And presenting CicLAvia, the musical.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee