Bass ignores mobility plan in State of City, MOVE removal violates CEQA, and LA Engineering greenwashes LOS climate fire

April 18, 2023 / / One comment

This doesn’t bode well.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gave her first State of the City address yesterday, with a focus on the city’s efforts to build housing and end homelessness, as well as increasing the size of the LAPD, LAFD and 911 services to improve safety.

What Bass did not mention was traffic safety, Vision Zero, the mobility plan, bikes, pedestrians, transit or alternative transportation.

We’ll see where her priorities lie when she releases her first city budget this morning, and whether any of that will be given the funding they need.

But right now, it looks like we’re going to be an afterthought.

If that.

Photo by Aayush Srivastava from Pexels.

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Carter Rubin of the Natural Resources Defense Council, aka NRDC, makes a compelling argument in favor of the very successful MOVE Culver City Complete Streets project.

And keeping it right where it is.

The project is under fire from the newly auto-centric conservative majority on the Culver City council, which wants to rip it out so cars can once again go zoom, zoom without having to make room for anyone else.

Here’s just a part of what Rubin has to say.

A recent analysis of the corridor shows MOVE Culer City has delivered substantial benefits with few tradeoffs.

  • A 52% increase in bus ridership
  • A 32% increase in cycling activity
  • A 18% increase in pedestrian activity
  • Only a 2 minute increase in average peak period travel time for people in cars

Hard-won progress deserves defending. So this week, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) sent a letter to the City Council expressing our support for the MOVE Culver City initiative. In doing so, we joined over 20 other organizations that advocate for sustainable, safe, healthy and equitable transportation.

He also notes that removing the project could violate state environmental laws, as well as federal civil rights requirements.

In our letter, we make the case that any action by the city to increase the number of lane-miles available for mixed-flow vehicle traffic would require analysis, disclosure, and mitigation of potential environmental impacts pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City must comply with CEQA before making any final decision on a project that changes conditions on the ground today.

Full removal of MOVE Culver City would entail adding approximately 2.6 lane miles of vehicular lanes to principal arterial highways, which is likely to significantly increase vehicle miles traveled, according to the state’s official CEQA guidance. That increase in VMT would contribute to additional greenhouse gas emissions impacts, as well as criteria air pollution, including ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and PM10 and PM2.5, from tailpipe exhaust and brake, tire, and roadway wear.

Further, we note that the City is required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to analyze changes to transit service that might disproportionately affect people of color, immigrants and other protected communities who ride transit.

Or to put it more succinctly,

https://twitter.com/CarterRubin/status/1648064537290215424

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They still don’t get it.

The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering is proposing widening a one-mile section of Alameda Street in Wilmington near the Port of Los Angeles, increasing the street to three lanes in each direction to boost automotive throughput and the largely discredited Level of Service.

But they’re throwing us a bone by adding a bike and pedestrian trail to greenwash their work while they set the climate on fire.

Maybe they could just give us the trail, and skip the damn climate bonfire.

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Go Human is awarding grants up to $40,000 to improve traffic safety in your own community.

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Walk Bike Long Beach invites you to for a morning of bikes and coffee this Saturday.

Celebrate Earth Day this Saturday on your bike! We’ll do the usual group ride to get some coffee — this time aiming for Belmont Heights. Then back to Pedal Movement.

For EXTRA CREDIT, keep rolling with us and climb Signal Hill for a chat with the Sierra Club about the threat of future oil drilling in our community.

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Nice to hear from our bike-riding state senator and Congressional candidate.

Now we just need to get the rest of ’em on bikes, too.

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Hard to tell just where this is, but it looks like it might be the Santa Monica Civic Center complex.

Or maybe SaMo High.

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In case you were looking for something to hang on the wall of my office, this will do nicely, thank you.

Of course, you’d also have to buy me an office.

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

No bias here. Officials in a Massachusetts town are up in arms after state officials begin work to remove a traffic lane and install bike lanes on a local bridge, insisting no one told them about the plans; one city councilmember actually insists there’s not enough bike traffic on the bridge to justify a bike lane, apparently forgetting that most people don’t enjoy risking their lives in traffic with safe infrastructure.

No bias here, either. A British Columbia letter writer complains that a “boondoggle” bike lane “smacks of ‘fiscal irresponsibility’ and ‘catering to cycling interests’ over the concerns of taxpayers,” apparently forgetting that people who ride bikes pay taxes, too.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos from Sunday’s Pico Union meets Mid-City CicLAvia.

South Pasadena Active Streets was honored by state Assemblymember Mike Fong for their work organizing bike buses for local elementary school students.

The Pasadena Star News looks forward to this weekend’s 626 Golden Streets through San Dimas, La Verne, Pomona and Claremont in the San Gabriel Valley. Assuming you can get past the paper’s paywall, that is.

 

State

Bakersfield’s popular Kern River Bike Trail will be closed until further notice for maintenance work.

San Francisco moves to make the city less livable with a proposal to rip out the pandemic-era parklets in front of restaurants.

Speaking of San Francisco, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is calling for quick action on Arguello Blvd, where masters champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes was killed recently; the organization notes the Presidio street is used by hundreds of families, commuters and competitive athletes every day.

Just like the failure of the $1 billion 405 Freeway widening project here in Los Angeles, the engineer behind the Bay Area’s $600 million project to widen the 101 Freeway admits that it accomplished nothing, as traffic congestion goes from bad to worse. Just one more argument to invest in transit, rather than flushing more money down the toilet on highway projects. Or widening streets to move more cars.

 

National

Streetsblog complains that Biden’s EV Revolution will pay Americans to drive some really dangerous pickups and SUVS that pose a risk to everyone on the road around them, particularly people walking and biking.

The Washington Post reports that men face a higher risk of dying than women at every stage of life, with the male sex accounting for 71 percent of pedestrian deaths and a whopping 87 percent of bicyclist deaths.

Road Bike Rider explains how to pack for a bike tour, while Cycling Weekly offers lessons learned from going tubeless.

Cycling News considers the best budget bike helmets. But neglects to include any of those budget prices.

A lawyer offers advice on what to do after a hit-and-run or road rage incident. Or both.

The internet is still going crazy over the square, tread track bike wheels.

A 19-year old Bend, Oregon man is building his own sustainable mountain bike company.

A Las Vegas writer takes a pleasant bike ride through the city to examine new construction in preparation of this fall’s Formula 1 race.

Great idea. North Dakota fourth and fifth graders are teaching kindergarten kids how to ride bikes.

If you build it, they will come. Bike ridership is outpacing motor vehicle use in Ann Arbor, Michigan, thanks to new protected bike lanes and banning right on red in some locations.

Maine considers a Stop as Yield law, allowing people on bicycles to roll stop signs instead of coming to a full stop, when its safe to do so.

New York’s city council is considering new regulations to combat ebike and e-scooter battery fires.

Tragic news from Virginia, where a 26-year old woman was killed while she was teaching her 6-year old daughter how to ride a bike, along with her boyfriend; they were all run down from behind by a 36-year old woman.

A New Orleans driver faces up to 15 years behind bars for the hit-and-run death of a “beloved” local butcher as he was riding his bike six years ago; no word on why it took so long to bring the man’s killer to justice.

 

International

Forbes considers the best bike computers. Even though the most enjoyable rides usually come when they’re broken.

Bikeshare is booming in Mexico City.

That’s more like it. A new British Columbia bill would require speed limiting devices on all heavy duty commercial trucks, while mandating a “safer road environment” for bike riders and pedestrians.

A new memorial bench handcrafted by a fellow bike rider honors a legendary Scottish man who wrote about bicycling for the local paper.

No surprise here, as a new report shows people in London’s poorest areas face the biggest risk of traffic injuries or death. Just like in Los Angeles, and most major cities. 

Next time you’re in the Dutch city of Nijmegen, make sure to stop at the Velorama National Bicycle Museum, the country’s only museum devoted to the invention and growth of the now-ubiquitous bicycle.

The hit-and-run epidemic has spread to Spain, where a British tourist was killed when he was run down by a heartless coward who fled the scene.

A Russian man is riding his bike around the world to promote traditional Turkish music.

 

Competitive Cycling

Russell Finsterwald and Heather Jackson claimed victory in the men’s and women’s elite categories in San Diego’s Belgian Waffle Ride, while the race retired the number 12 in honor of 2022 winner Moriah “Mo” Wilson, who was murdered in Austin, Texas last year.

It was another stage win for L39ION of Los Angeles cyclist Skylar Schneider, who won her second in a row to conclude the women’s Tour of Redlands, while Blue Ridge Twenty24’s Emily Ehrlich claimed the overall victory in the GC.

L39ion of Los Angeles founders Justin and Cory Williams announced the launch of their third co-ed, multi-racial city-based cycling team in Austin, Texas, following the launch of another team in Miami. They may be single-handedly — okay, double handedly — doing more to ensure the survival, growth and spread of cycling in this country than anyone else.

Bicycling explains the new National Cycling League and how it works, and whether it fulfills the promised fan-first professional cycling experience. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

What good is a wearable computer if the health data thitey measures is wrong? When life gives you speeding drivers, give them your own DIY traffic sign saying “slow the f*ck down.”

And that feeling when you sprain your ankle falling off a bike just before your widely panned set at Coachella.

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

April 17, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

As we discussed Friday, the Los Angeles Planning Department’s recent report on the state of the city’s mobility plan is, as Streetsblog’s Joe Linton put it, “vacuous.”

Streets For All was a little harsher in their judgement.

Telling City Council and the general public that 67% of the mobility plan is complete just because it’s been started is an insult to our intelligence.

As they’ve previously reported, the actual figure is closer to three percent in the seven years since the transformational plan was overwhelmingly approved by the city council.

At that pace, the city will be lucky to complete ten percent by the 2035 expiration date.

If that pisses you off as much as it does me, let the city council know how you feel.

Especially since a Freudian slip by LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto seems to recognize just how little vision the city has when it comes to traffic safety.

Graphic by tomexploresla.

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As new Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares for her first State of the City speech and releasing her first budget, the Daily News says she’s likely to focus on homelessness and alternatives to armed police responses.

But that may not be not all she should focus on, according to the paper.

Michael Schneider, CEO of Streets For All, which advocates for street improvements such as additional bike or bus lanes and other pedestrian improvements, said he doesn’t expect Bass to increase funding to the city’s transportation department – but that she should.

In L.A., traffic fatalities surpassed 300 last year, the first time in two decades the city had reached that grim milestone, according to a report this year. From 2021 to 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased by more than 19% while cyclist deaths rose 24%.

“I understand why the mayor is so laser-focused on homelessness … but we are a big, multi-faceted city,” Schneider said. “We need to be able to do multiple things at the same time. And right now, we’re not. The mayor’s office is paying almost zero attention to transportation. Angelenos are paying a price for that.”

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By all reports, Sunday’s Mid-City Meets Pico Union CicLAvia was another typical success, with a good time had by all.

Or nearly all, anyway.

Unfortunately, though, there’s not a lot of information available yet.

Although a story from KCBS-2 demonstrates how to write about CicLAvia while saying virtually nothing. But at least this story from KABC-7 had a little useful information.

KNBC-4 had a good report from the scene, but it doesn’t appear to be online yet. So check their website later.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1647698155562209280

The next CicLAvia will be considerably shorter, as the event moves to Watts with the first-ever CicLAmini.

But really, there’s no reason to wait that long.

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How to bring joy to a bike advocate’s heart.

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The people who want to rip out the Move Culver City bus and bike lanes insist no one uses them.

Evidently, this is what no one looks like.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1647685802917494786

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That DIY handlebar basket is pretty impressive.

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Apparently, spokes must be hard to draw.

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

A writer for San Francisco Streetsblog is harassed by cops wrongly accusing him of running red lights, while ignoring violations by wrong way motorists.

No bias here. An Ohio radio station bizarrely tries to tie ebike battery fires to Democratic politicians who support alternative transportation.

There’s a special place in hell for the Aussie driver who appeared to deliberately target a bike rider, then dragged his bike 100 yards down the road as he lay sprawled on the ground.

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

Police in New York are looking for a couple men who are using the city’s bikeshare ebikes to snatch headphones off women’s heads.

Classic English rock group The Hollies got off the ground when lead singer Allan Clarke swapped the Christmas bicycle his dad gave him for an amp, to his father’s chagrin.

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the convicted British child killer who rode his bicycle around his English community the day of the Queen’s funeral, in an attempt to intimidate witnesses. Because bicycles are so intimidating, apparently.

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Santa Clara County could get the region’s first bicycle superhighway, if the county transportation authority approves plans for a 10-mile protected bike lane between San Jose and Santa Clara.

A Sacramento TV staton says Pebble Beach’s 17-Mile Drive’s $11.25 entry fee doesn’t apply to bike riders, who can ride one of California’s most celebrated scenic roadways without charge. Now if we can just get them to charge drivers to use the state’s other roads, too.

 

National

Singletracks says the bike shortage pendulum has swung the other way, creating a glut of used bicycles on the market.

SRAM has applied for a patent to make bike wheels from natural fibers including flax, hemp, jute, kenaf and sisal to improve comfort, control and safety, as well as avoiding carbon fiber’s interference with electronic signals.

Even car-centric website The Drive recognizes the danger SUVs pose to people on bicycles due to their ever-higher hood lines and sheer bulk.

The Denver community steps up to save a nonprofit bike shop after the owner died, and his daughter took over.

A Rhode Island magazine says it’s an uphill battle for bicyclists in the state, as people who began riding during the pandemic compete for road space with drivers who think they own the streets.

Data from New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare demonstrates the need for safer routes through the city’s Central Park.

A Pennsylvania teenager founded his own nonprofit group to repair used bicycles and donate them to people in need, as well as staging clinics to teach people how to ride them safely.

DC bicycling and pedestrian death spiked 37% last year.

 

International

Bike Radar raises the lid on the best commuter bike helmets.

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is one of us, as she goes for a sunny, and apparently joyful, Brazilian bike ride, without soon-to-be ex Tom Brady.

Hundreds of people turned out for a bike ride to honor a fallen Hamilton, Ontario patrolman.

Bikes and dogs are now allowed on Montreal’s metro system anytime, as long as you avoid morning and evening rush hours.

A Welsh woman operates a thriving e-cargo bike-based business selling Masala Chai tea, thanks to a government program that provided her with the bike.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with a 150-mile bike route past the scenic coast and castles of Kent, England. Or take a 158-mile journey through Italy from Assisi to Rome, past seven abbeys and three archeological sites.

Scottish stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill got his ten grand bike back, two years after it was snatched in a burglary, along with over $4,000 worth of other items.

A quartet of British teenagers were arrested for an attempted strong-arm bikejacking that left a man with broken fingers and a swollen face after he was brutally beaten with a metal bar.

Fans of the iconic Dursley Pedersen bicycle, with its unique uptilted diamond-shaped frame, turned out in Pedersen’s Danish hometown to mark the bike’s 130th anniversary.

A new German study shows riding a bicycle can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, as well as high blood pressure and obesity — and the benefits of riding an ebike almost equal a traditional bike.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling bicycling blog predicts a rosy future for bikes, with bicycles now considered an essential element of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

A Nigerian woman goes viral when a brief video shows her riding a bicycle with her three kids onboard, including a toddler strapped to her back.

A Zimbabwean paper profiles a local bike mechanic who maintains a busy business at his outdoor shop in a suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital city.

Mongolia’s capital of Ulan Bator addressed traffic congestion by hosting an event in the city’s central square to boost the use of bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian Tadej Pogačar won Sunday’s Amstel Gold one-day classic, after Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu van der Poel opted to sit it out; Pogačar says he owes van der Poel a thank you note for his advice on when to attack.

Pogačar won despite allegations of an unfair advantage after a pass by close-driving race vehicle.

With his victory, Tadej Pogačar became the first cyclist to win Paris-Nice, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold the same year.

VeloNews takes a dive into Strava data from competitors in last week’s Paris-Roubaix to demonstrate why it’s called The Hell of the North.

L39ion of Los Angeles swept both crits in stage four of the Tour of Redlands, with Skylar Schneider winning the women’s race and Cory Williams taking the men’s race; Schneider’s sister Samantha also made the podium after sprinting for third.

Former professional triathlete Heather Jackson made a successful transition to gravel, winning the women’s San Diego Belgian Waffle Ride with a solo breakaway; no word yet on who won the men’s race.

How to write about the United States Pro Cup Mountain Bike Series wrapping up in Fayetteville, Arkansas without mentioning who won.

 

Finally…

Your next e-foldie could be made by an iconic German car speaker company. That feeling when your wife somehow objects to you performing bike stunts dangling from a hot air ballon 2,000 feet above the ground.

And anyone can build a tall bike.

Bur how about a double decker bike for four?

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Taking LA Planning to task for “vacuous” self-congratulatory report, and bike rider seriously injured in South LA hit-and-run

April 14, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s start today with a must read piece from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton.

In it, Linton takes the Los Angeles Planning Department to task — deservedly — for producing what he calls “an astonishingly vacuous report” that’s ostensibly a status report on implementation of the city’s mobility plan.

Yet one that he says ignores all the multimodal facilities included in Planning Department’s own plan.

Almost as if they are, in reality, the LA Lack of Planning Dept.

According to Linton,

In 2015, the city approved the Mobility Plan, with hundreds of miles of new bus and bike lanes, pedestrian improvements, and a Vision Zero policy to end L.A. City traffic deaths by 2035. Safe streets advocates loved it. Reactionaries hated the plan so much they sued to block it.

Then the city largely ignored the plan. Bus speeds slowed. Bikeway implementation tanked. Approved bus and bike networks, supposedly slated to be completed in around 20 years, languished. Seven years after plan approval, only three percent of planned bus/bike facilities had been implemented…

Yet the Planning Department somehow gives itself an undeserved pat on the back, claiming to have accomplished 76% of the mobility plan’s Action Programs.

While that may sound like they’re making real progress, those Action Programs have nothing to do with putting paint on the street. Let alone the long-promised barriers and networks that might actually provide some protection and connections for people on bicycles.

Instead, Linton describes them this way.

“…a sort of obscure plan appendix that lists 173 tasks assigned to various city departments. The Action Plan includes things like: roadway safety outreach, wayfinding, analysis of unpermitted mountain biking in city parks, and periodic updates of LADOT’s Manual of Policies and Procedures.”

He ties their massive success in rearranging the massive pile of papers on their collective desks back to last year’s fiasco with the city council’s non-approval of the Healthy Streets LA initiative — which does nothing more than require the city to live up to its commitments, and build out the mobility plan they already passed when streets in the plan get resurfaced.

That’s it.

But evidently, that’s just a bridge and resurfaced roadway too far for the city.

He describes how the city council, led by now-disgraced racist Council President Nury Martinez, voted to adopt their own ordinance mirroring Healthy Streets LA.

One that wouldn’t contain the requirement to build out the mobility plan, but would, in actuality, leave it up to the council to decide whether or not to actually fulfill their obligations.

And you can probably guess how that would go, if you’ve been paying attention so far.

Last August, the council made it sound like the ordinance would happen right away. Then-president Martinez stated that city staff would “report back on my motion within the next few weeks.” Councilmember Nithya Raman spoke of the council “match[ing] the urgency that I hear from all of you [safe streets advocates] today.”

Then very little happened. The city continued to repave streets, nearly always ignoring the Mobility Plan. Councilmembers continued to block approved bus and bike facilities. More than seven months later, city departments have not shared any draft ordinance.

During that time, city departments, including DCP and Transportation (LADOT), went on the offensive to undermine the Mobility Plan and Healthy Streets L.A., asserting that approved bus lanes and bikeways are not actually a plan, but just “aspirational… guidance.”

Now where have we heard that before?

That’s exactly what the city’s bicycling community heard from an LADOT official within weeks of the 2010 bike plan’s passage, which was later subsumed into the city’s mobility plan.

We were told, while still celebrating our hard-fought victory, that the whole damn thing was merely “aspirational.”

Something the city has more than lived up to by living down to their extremely limited aspirations.

As Linton mentions above, we’re still waiting for that draft ordinance mirroring Healthy Streets LA to come back for a reading, let alone a vote, a full eight months — not weeks — after it was promised.

There was hope after the last election that the city’s new progressive councilmembers would light a fire under our sleepy governing body, and we might actually see some action on our streets.

But it seems just the opposite has happened. And the council has managed to douse whatever fire they might have had.

As I said, it’s a must read. So what are you waiting for?

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Someone riding a bicycle was seriously injured in a hit-and-run near Adams Boulevard and Trinity Street in South Los Angeles early Thursday morning.

No description was available for the suspect or their vehicle. Or for the victim, apparently.

As always, there is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injuries in the City of Los Angeles. Although there’s not a lot to go on this time.

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A new survey shows the relationship between California drivers and bicyclists is among the worst in the country, with four out of ten bike riders rating it less than harmonious.

The only real shock is that it’s that low.

But there may be hope, according to The Thousand Oaks Acorn.

The survey found that 75% of drivers empathize with cyclists’ frustrations, such as being overtaken too closely, while 81% of cyclists said they understood the challenges that drivers must deal with while navigating busy local streets.

So there’s that, anyway.

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Gravel Bike California stops to sniff, if not the roses, the superbloom of flowers brought on by the recent rains on the Carrizo Plain.

Thanks to Zachary Rynew for the heads-up.

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

San Francisco Streetsblog says a proposal for bike lanes on a commuter route and tourist attraction between Sausalito and San Francisco is already seeing a bikelash.

After a British bicyclist is understandably outraged and profane when a van driver cuts him off in the country’s left-handed equivalent of a high-speed right hook, the driver threatens a defamation case when he gets review bombed. As if you can somehow be defamed over something you actually did.

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

An Edinburgh columnist applauds anyone who has the courage to ride a bike on the city streets, but begs bike-riding men to cover their butt cracks. Or “bahookie” in the local parlance, apparently.

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Local 

The LA County Sheriff’s deputies who lost their jobs for fatally shooting 18-year-old Andres Guardado in the back as he ran away have now been charged with abducting a skateboarder, and threatening to dump him in gang territory, then injuring him crashing into a parked car while trying to run down a group of teenage bike riders with their patrol car.

No bias here. A WeHo paper says the city wants to take away your “right” to make a right turn on a red light, while saying the maneuver is a factor in just 1% of crashes. Which means it’s responsible for around 400 deaths every year, which probably matters to the victim’s families, even if it doesn’t matter to them. And I don’t recall right on red being included in the Bill of Rights, but maybe I missed that day. 

The Source says take Metro to Sunday’s CicLAvia, with three train stations within 1.5 miles of the route.

Colorado Boulevard looks forward to next week’s 626 Golden Streets Heart of the Foothills in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

State

Streetsblog says a bill authorizing speed cams is up for a hearing in the state legislature for the umpteenth time; it should have no problem in Laura Friedman’s Transportation Committee, but could face opposition before the Appropriations Committee, where good traffic safety bills go to die.

A San Diego TV station reports city council members responded to a recent hit-and-run by continuing to discuss the city’s Vision Zero Plan “to eliminate but also prevent traffic collisions, bicycle and pedestrian injuries and deaths,” which seems to be the same thing. Although I would be overjoyed just to hear Vision Zero discussed in the Los Angeles council chambers.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the ghost bike honoring 58-year old Nelson Esteban, who was killed by a driver while riding in Palm Springs last month.

Half Moon Bay has banned ebikes from the city’s section of the Bay Area’s Coastal Trail, citing congestion and speeding. Just wait until someone tells them about the cars on the local streets and highways.

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mr. Roadshow explains why bicyclists don’t pay for the roads the same way drivers do. But then the paper hides it behind a paywall as “premium” content, reflecting a basic misunderstanding of how the internet works. Although you can read it for free if you’re willing to accept their daily emails. 

 

National

Early rock and roll cover artist Pat Boone is one of us, riding his bike, playing tennis and golf, and lifting weights to keep fit at 88 years old.

In a very bizarre case from Reno, a hit-and-run driver in a stolen truck collapsed and died as he tried to flee on foot, after a second crash as the bike rider he hit in the first one was chasing him.

Seventeen-year old junior national-level mountain biker Cayel Holmgren is in the ICU with a severe traumatic brain injury after he was knocked off his bike by hikers illegally using a bike-only Colorado trail; doctors say it will be up to two years before he can get back on a mountain bike.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 91-year old Lewiston, Maine man still rides his bike ten to twenty miles every day.

Atlanta bike computer and tech company Wahoo Fitness appears to be on the financial ropes, after its credit rating dropped for failing to meet its debt service obligations.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers eleven reasons to ride a foldie. Must have been a slow news day. 

Tragic news from the UK, where a body was found in the woods that appears to be a man who recently went missing after he was released following six months in prison for killing a 79-year old woman in a bicycling hit-and-run; police say they aren’t treating the death as suspicious, which speaks volumes.

German prosecutors conclude that protestors didn’t cause a bicyclist’s death by delaying paramedics with a road block last Halloween.

Sad news from Italy, where two-time world mountain bike champ Dario Acquaroli died while riding his bike Easter Sunday; he was found unconscious on the ground near Bergamo in northern Italy. He was just 48.

David Hasselhoff is one of us, riding a bike to capture the culture and beauty of Munich. And he’s a train guy, too.

Good question. A Japanese letter writer asks why obey the country’s new mandatory helmet law if there’s no penalty for breaking it?

 

Competitive Cycling

Another good question. Bicycling asks how can we truly support women’s cycling in the face of cancelled races? Unfortunately, this one’s not available on Yahoo or AOL, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Cuban sprint sensation Marlies Mejias won the first stage race in her first Redland’s Classic, while Denver Disrupter’s Noah Granigan out-sprinted L39ion of Los Angeles cyclist Robin Carpenter on the men’s side.

The National Cycling League made its debut in Miami last weekend, part of a four stop race series.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a fun round of Governator pothole-filling blame game. How do we love bike commuting, let me count the ways.

And nothing like riding a bicycle 2,000 feet above the ground.

………

Happy Songkran to the Thai American community.

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Hit-and-run motorcyclist busted, non-bike friendly candidates set for CD6 special election, and Venice Blvd looking up

April 13, 2023 / / 2 comments

Once again, my apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

Let’s just say it’s yet another reminder than diabetes sucks. And that you don’t want this crap if there’s anything you can do to avoid it. 

Because right now, the only thing that compares to my excessively high blood sugar is just how low I feel each and every day, both physically and emotionally. 

But at least I’m well enough to write this.

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Let’s start with a little good news.

The LAPD has made an arrest in the case of the heartless coward who ran down a Boyle Heights teenager, then got back on his motorcycle and rode off, leaving the boy bleeding in the street.

Thirteeen-year old Joshua Mora was crossing Whittier Boulevard in the crosswalk on March 30th when 29-year-old Banning resident Erwin Majano allegedly slammed into him.

Mora lost his right leg as a result of the impact.

At last report, Majano was being held on $50,000 bond; he was arrested following a tip from the public. Which means someone will likely receive the standing $25,000 reward upon conviction.

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The June runoff election to replace disgraced former Councilmember Nury Martinez in CD6 is set.

Imelda Padilla, field deputy for Martinez, will face Marisa Alcaraz, environmental policy director and deputy chief of staff to City Councilmember Curren Price.

Martinez resigned last October when a recording surfaced capturing her making racist and otherwise offensive comments in a conversation with CD14 Councilmember Kevin De León and former CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo, along with a powerful union head.

Both candidates are City Hall insiders. And neither were endorsed by Streets For All, and only Padilla even bothered to respond to the group’s candidate questionnaire — and said nothing about bikes, walking or transit.

Yet one will be the district’s next councilmember — in part because a shameful 11.4% of eligible voters turned out to determine who will represent the other 88.6%.

Meanwhile, California State Assemblymember Miguel Santiago will challenge De León in next year’s election, after De León resisted loud calls for his resignation.

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Things are looking up on Venice Blvd.

https://twitter.com/LADOTofficial/status/1646242189108756480

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When is a bike lane not a bike lane? When it might be slightly inconvenient for a Hollywood film crew to park somewhere else.

Yes, the film industry is important to Los Angeles. But this isn’t their backlot, and we live and work here too.

Note: I removed the name from this tweet since it came from a private account.

 

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Speaking of Streets For All, they join a busy bike weekend with Saturday’s fundraiser and community bike ride.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1645635630632779776

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Day One is offering you the chance to try out a GoSGV ebike this weekend.

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Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition teams with South Pasadena Active Streets for a feeder ride to 626 Golden Streets a week from Sunday. 

The open streets event will feature 6.5 miles of blissfully carfree streets through the Heart of the Foothills, in San Dimas, La Verne & Shirley, Pomona and Claremont. 

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

A Houston man was shot and killed while riding his bike following an apparent road rage altercation.

A Wisconsin man pled not guilty to four counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, even though he admitted to police that he strung cords across a bike path in the middle of the night four times, injuring at least one person. He faces up to 50 year behind bars and a fine of $100,000 if he’s convicted on all four counts — yet he was released on a paltry $1,000 bond. Indicating just how seriously the judge doesn’t take the crime.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a road raging driver got just 21 months behind bars for brake-checking a bike rider before driving away, leaving his victim sprawled in the roadway with life-changing injuries.

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

An Aussie mountain biker suffered a concussion, bruises and a broken thumb when her descent was interrupted by a throttle-controlled ebike rider rapidly riding uphill, despite a ban on ebikes on the trail.

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Local 

California’s former Governator takes things into his own hands, and fills a pothole near his home himself. Except it wasn’t a pothole, it was a gas line trench, which will now have to be dug up again.

 

State

California Walks teamed with the relatives of traffic violence victims to demand passage of a bill that would create a speed cam pilot program in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale and Long Beach.

This is who we share the road with. Police in Santa Ana are looking for the heartless coward in an older black Cadillac DeVille who flipped an 11-year old boy through the air and kept going without stopping; fortunately, the victim wasn’t seriously injured, and his companion wasn’t struck. Thanks to How The West Was Saved for the heads-up. 

San Francisco bike riders took a slow ride through the Richmond District to remember fallen bicyclist Ethan Boyes, and demand a protected bike lane on Arguello Boulevard; they’ll hold a Ride of Silence next month to remember all the victims of traffic violence.

Golden Gate Express says bike messengers are thriving in San Francisco, despite operating in the tech capital of the world.

 

National

Popular The War On Cars podcast looks at Hollywood’s negative depictions of bicycles, where someone riding one is either depicted as a loser or about to suffer serious misfortune. Or both.

Bicycling considers whether toxic masculinity is contributing to bicyclist, pedestrian and motorist deaths from traffic violence. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, oh hell yes. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you. 

Streetsblog complains that Amtrak’s frustrating patchwork of policies deters bicyclists from using the passenger rail service, frustrating their most obvious clientele with policies that allow bikes on one line, and deny them on another.

BMX pro Nigel Sylvester has created a first-of-its-kind hardshell bike case for traveling with a BMX bike.

Sure, let’s go with that. A Las Vegas woman claims she was carjacked before the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a man riding a bicycle, arguing that it wasn’t her behind the wheel, despite being covered in glass shards from the shattered windshield.

A Las Vegas bike rider suffered a broken leg when they were struck by a Nevada Highway Patrol officer. No word on who was at fault, but you can guess who will get the blame.

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for a Phoenix man who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering a young woman and a teenager as they rode their bikes along a canal 30 years ago.

He gets it. A Utah columnist argues that cities need to prioritize people, not cars. Which is exactly what Los Angeles will do on Sunday, and four cities in the San Gabriel Valley will do next week. Now we just need to do it every day.

This is who we share the road with, too. Horrifying story from Denver, where a man is on trial after pleading insanity in the road rage shooting of a mother and two of her three sons; he allegedly shot her in the back as she tried to protect her kids, then moved in for a failed kill shot to the head, before fatally shooting her 13-year old son and wounding the 8-year old.

Kindhearted University of Nebraska–Lincoln engineering students are helping the local Bike Kitchen meet its goal of repairing 1,000 bikes to donate to kids and adults in need.

Bighearted residents of Seabrook, Texas rallied around a hit-and-run victim who was injured when a driver smashed into her adult tricycle; less than two hours after a volunteer firefighter posted about the crash, she had up to five replacement bikes to choose from.

About damn time. Chicago has installed concrete curbs to protect a bike lane on the Northwest Side where two people were killed riding bikes in recent months.

No surprise here, as a Michigan study shows SUV drivers cause 55% more injuries to bicyclists than drivers of cars in the event of a collision.

Uber is funding a program to get ebikes with dangerous non-certified lithium-ion batteries off the streets of New York, allowing thousands of delivery riders to trade-in their bikes for newer, safer models.

A DC bike protest called on the World Bank to stop funding fossil fuels.

Baton Rouge, Louisiana will extend and add lighting to the city’s Mississippi River Levee Path, which forms a link in the 3,000-mile-long Mississippi River Bicycle Trail. I used to ride that pathway over four decades ago, when I first got the little blue Trek I rode for 25 years.

In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a Florida man has been arrested for the high-speed crash that killed a bike rider. A security cam captured him doing 90 mph in a 40 mph zone moments before he slammed into the victim, knocking him more than the length of a football field from the point of impact; he has several previous citations for excessive speed, including doing 115 mph in a 45 mp zone just a year earlier. Yet he was somehow allowed to keep driving until he killed someone.

 

International

Momentum Magazine offers “six fantastic and affordable commuter bikes” for spring riding. And for once, when a magazine says affordable, they actually mean it, with price starting at just $499.

Cycling Weekly considers how far is too far to commute to work. I once met a RAAM competitor who trained by commuting from his home in Steamboat Springs, Colorado to his job in Denver and back everyday, a distance of 156 miles — even in the winter.

Forbes says Wednesday’s Bicycle Day, which marks the anniversary of when the inventor of LSD discovered its hallucinogenic properties while riding his bike home from the lab, will soon overtake the next day’s 4-20 as the world’s most important celebration of the psychedelics community.

An environmental group warned bike riders against using toxic glue containing benzene, toluene and other hazardous substances to repair bike tires.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a Mexican Paralympian’s custom adaptive handcycle from his Playa del Carmen home. Seriously, anyone could tell it’s made for someone with special needs just by looking at it.

Montreal is using snow clearing and studded bike tires to keep its bikeshare system going year-round.

A 52-year old Scottish man is on trial for stealing famed stunt cyclist Danny Macaskill’s $10,000 stunt bike, in a burglary that netted over $15,000 worth of goods from Macaskill’s home.

Life is really cheap in the UK, where a 70-year old driver was fined a lousy £153 plus £324 court costs — the equivalent of $191 and $405, respectively — for dooring a bike rider while attempting to brush the crumbs from a sausage roll off his lap, and leaving the victim with a fractured foot and torn ligaments. And they wonder why people keep dying on the streets. Thanks to Victor Bale for the link. 

Britain’s Cycling Goalkeeper topped the sports pages after making a last-minute save for Wrexham, the lower-tier soccer club saved by Hollywood owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenne.

An Irish man is riding across the US to raise funds for charity, despite suffering from terminal brain cancer. Or maybe because to if.

VeloNews has more information on the death of Ukrainian elite and masters road cyclist Kostantin Deneka, who was killed by Russian forces while fighting for his country while serving with a special forces unit of the Ukraine defense intelligence.

There’s no justice in Malaysia, where the woman who killed eight teenagers riding modified bicycles was allowed to walk free, after an appeals court voided her conviction and six-year sentence.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 37th Redlands Classic stage race kicked off with a 2.8 miles circuit race on Wednesday, with women completing 14 laps and men 20; Cycling Utah says the race has a stacked field for both sexes.

Cyclist remembers “cycling phenomenon” Beryl Burton, calling her Britain’s greatest rider and the woman who beat men.

Indiana University explains what’s new with the school’s iconic Little 500 bike race this year, including dumping Schwinn for State Bicycles; the race was made famous by Breaking Away.

 

Finally…

Once again, if you’re illegally riding a gas-powered bicycle with a suspended driver’s license, put a damn light on it. Or if your bike gets a flat tire, just hop on your trusty steed and ride to school.

And that feeling when you go from bike racing to shredding in a metal band.

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Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing the final day of Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Busy bike weekend coming up, fight to preserve Move Culver City, and Chubby Checker resurrected to stop doorings

April 11, 2023 / / Comments Off on Busy bike weekend coming up, fight to preserve Move Culver City, and Chubby Checker resurrected to stop doorings

Before we start, let’s take a moment to thank Cohen Law Partners for renewing their sponsorship of this site for another year. 

It’s thanks to them, and our other sponsors, that I can to do this full-time, and keep bringing you all the best bike news and advocacy every day. 

Hopefully, you never need a good bike lawyer. But I’d trust any one of the people over there on the right if it was my life and rights on the line. 

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BikeLA invites you to kick off your CicLAvia weekend festivities with their Earth Month edition of the Cruise & Connect ride series this Saturday.

The advocacy nonprofit, formerly knows as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, aka LACBC, promises a 15-mile “relaxed and fun-filled ride along the scenic LA River Bike Path.”

That’s followed the next day by the Mid-City meets Pico Union CicLAvia, the second of eight planned open streets events presented by CicLAvia and Metro this year, including two new CicLAminis.

Best of all, California’s seemingly endless series of atmospheric rivers resulted in a disaster declaration for most of the state, including Los Angeles County.

Which means you have an extra six months to do your taxes. So you can enjoy a bike-filled weekend without worrying about getting them done.

Thanks to Atticuz for the heads-up. 

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Speaking of BikeLA, the advocacy group is helping bicycle researchers at Portland State University conduct a survey for ebike owners.

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Former Culver City Councilmember Alex Fisch continues to fight for the Complete Streets makeover of downtown Culver City, despite the conservative NIMBY takeover of the council that ousted him.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1645634068363759616

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New York resurrects early rock and roll legend Chubby Checker to rebrand the Dutch Reach as the New York Twist in an effort to prevent doorings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEEqUud8YaI

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

A Las Vegas writer explores a “spectacular” 34-mile trail through the foothills of Boulder City. But has to dodge a lost motorist blissfully traveling along the paved pathway.

No bias here. NIMBYs in New York’s wealthy Upper West Side are getting out the torches and pitchforks to fight a plan to convert an abandoned newsstand into an ebike charging stand and rest space for low income delivery workers, calling it a “horrendously inappropriate location” and a “very, very dangerous thing to do.”

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

A San Antonio bike rider apparently faked a crash to rob a Good Samaritan who stopped to help. Although the story is hidden behind a paywall, so it’s hard to say for sure.

A Chinese man learns the hard way that when you’re smuggling 6,000 microSD cards hidden inside your bicycle, try not to look so guilty when you go through customs.

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Local 

Streetsblog offers more information about the new Westwood Connected campaign announced by Streets For All last week to improve safety and connectivity for people who choose to travel the car-choked Westwood streets by some other means.

Metro is offering free Earth Day rides on Saturday, April 22 in recognition of “transit’s role in improving our environment and public health…and fighting climate change.” And yes, that includes the full Metro Bike system.

 

State

Bad news from San Jose, where police are investigating a hit-and-run that left a woman riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries.

A Sacramento school is investing $6,000 in bicycles and helmets to teach every kindergarten student how to ride a bike.

 

National

Momentum Magazine says bicycling in a dress or skirt is not as difficult as you might think. Unless you live in Tennessee, where you may be subjected to a physical inspection to verify you have the right to wear one.

Lebanese-American author Nassim Taleb is one of us, returning to bicycling after discovering that weightlifting alone isn’t good for your heart.

A handful of Portland riders ignored the rain, and donned their finest wool garments for the city’s annual Tweed Ride. Which is actually the kind of weather tweed is made for, anyway. 

They get it. A university student newspaper says Tacoma, Washington needs a Vision Zero program to make traffic fatalities a completely avoidable tragedy. Although with a few notable exceptions — hello Hoboken — American Vision Zero programs have had decidedly mixed results. And that’s if they actually get funded, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis we could name.

A Denver website profiles bike shop owner Scott Baker, saying he turns bicycles into an art form.

Upscale Colorado resort town Vail is joining Denver and nearby Avon in offering an ebike rebate program, with residents who buy one from a local bike shop eligible for rebates up to $500.

New York is on pace to have its deadliest year ever for bicyclists, with ten people killed riding bikes already this year, despite the city’s rapid expansion of protected bike lanes. As usual, read the second link on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

More tragic news from New York, where two children became the latest victims of defective ebike batteries; their father and three other children were able to jump out of a window to escape the fast-moving flames, but they were unable to escape.

A Philadelphia woman is launching the free Black Girl Joy Bike Rides to promote joy, self-care and a sense of community for Black women.

 

International

Forbes goes beyond the usual suspects to “vet” the seven best gravel bikes, three of which are actually retail for less than four grand.

The UK’s rapid prime minister churn has resulted in the latest Conservative government’s scrapping of the Zero Emission Transport City project, putting plans for 1,000 bike hangers and 250 electric buses in Bristol at risk.

A European website explains why you should consider Türkiye, the country formerly known as Turkey, for your next bicycle tourism trip.

 

Competitive Cycling

Steamboat, Colorado gravel race SBT GRVL is teaming with nonprofit organization Ride for Racial Justice to increase equity in gravel racing.

A participant in a Belize cross-country race says he’s “еmоtіоnаllу brоkеn іntо а thоuѕаnd ріесеѕ lіkе а рuzzlе” after crashing into a traffic control cop while trying to gain time at a roundabout.

 

Finally…

Vienna considers requiring bike parking in multi-family housing — no, the other Vienna. Put your money into bike helmet stocks.

And who needs tires when you can have square treads, instead?

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Protest calls for safer streets, more on death of masters track cycling champ, and not guilty plea in San Pedro hit-and-run

April 10, 2023 / / Comments Off on Protest calls for safer streets, more on death of masters track cycling champ, and not guilty plea in San Pedro hit-and-run

Dozens of people turned out on Saturday to demand safer streets and justice for Josh Mora, who lost his right knee when he was run down by a motorcyclist as he was walking in a Boyle Heights crosswalk March 30th.

According to KCBS-2,

Mora’s injury is far from the first to happen on the one-mile stretch of Whittier Boulevard between South Boyle Avenue and South Lorena Street. According to the Transportation Injury Mapping System, between 2013 and 2022 there were 225 crashes resulting in injury or death.

“Enough is enough,” said Damian Kevitt, the founder of the non-profit organization Streets are for Everyone. “People need to slow down.”

Kevitt went on to add that local residents have been pleading for safety improvements at the crosswalk for years, including safety cameras and other security devices.

Meanwhile, San Francisco’s KRON-4 reports there were calls to pass AB-645, which would legalize speed cams around schools and dangerous streets.

Like in Boyle Heights, where the traffic fatality rate is 53 percent higher than the overall city, with more traffic deaths than any other L.A. neighborhood over the past five years.

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More on the needless killing of masters cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes in San Francisco. Boyes was hit head-on by a speeding driver who swerved onto the wrong side of the road in the Presidio National Park last week.

CNN reports Boyes was a 10-time national champion and held the world record in the 1,000-meter time trial for the men’s 35-39 age group at the time of his death.

San Francisco police are working with federal prosecutors on the investigation, since Boyes was killed in a national park.

A San Jose velodrome said Boyes would be remembered as a wonderfully kind human being on and off the bike, who always had a smile on his face and never failed to make people laugh. We could all do worse than to be remembered that way.

The New York Times considers Boyes death in the context of the city’s failing Vision Zero program, saying the crash occurred on a narrow and curvy stretch along a heavily used bicycling route that has been a safety concern for years.

Local bike advocates demand safety improvements in the wake of Boyes death, as one man says he shouldn’t have to feel like he’s risking his life just riding to school with his three-year old son.

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Twenty-seven-year old Anisha Lockhart pled not guilty to the hit-and-run death of Oscar Montoya as he rode his bike in San Pedro early last month.

The 51-year old Montoya had just picked up a meal from a food when he was allegedly run down by Lockhart’s speeding car. Police arrested Montoya five days after the crash, based on tips from the public.

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In case you ever wondered why those plastic car-tickler bendy posts aren’t protection.

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A new video refutes the myth that no one uses New York’s bike lanes, with 321 people on bikes passing through a single intersection in a single half hour during rush hour, compared to a little more than 500 motor vehicles.

And it notes that no one rode salmon, despite the city’s reputation for wrong-way bicyclists.

Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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North Carolina Public Television offers a feature on Charlotte CyclingSavvy Instructor Pamela Murray, calling her a local bike hero.

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

No bias here. A London website reports that bicycling trip segments have tripled in the city over the past 20 years — but then goes on to question whether concerns about road safety, “though perfectly right and proper,” have taken undue precedence, and been overly influenced by campaigners and “misplaced public opinion.”

No bias here, either. London’s Daily Mail tries to stir up controversy by sharing photos of 19 bike riders rolling through a floating bus stop as passengers are getting on or off. Buried in the story is the fact it took place over five hours at multiple locations, along with the fact that the bus stops are new and it will take everyone time to adjust to them.

An Edinburgh, Scotland bike rider is justifiably angry after police refuse to do anything about a dangerously close pass by a bus driver, because “everyone was in their own lanes.”

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

When a Zimbabwe man applies for a job as a postman, the only requirement is knowing how to ride a bicycle, which he’s never done. So he says he does anyway; needless to say, it does not go well.

A Sydney, Australia bicyclist “went berserk” and repeatedly smashed the window of a packed bus, leaving it shattered, as one person commented the city is becoming totally lawless “like San Francisco.” No word on what set him off like that, but we can all probably guess. But nothing justifies violence, no matter how deserved it may seem in the moment.

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Local 

A new coalition of Westwood Village and UCLA groups unveiled the new Westwood Connected campaign, which calls for a rail stop on the UCLA campus, pedestrian improvements, and protected bike lanes on Galey and Wilshire, as well as the long fought for bike lanes on Westwood Blvd. And it actually has a chance now that anti-bike lane former Councilmember Paul Koretz is gone.

Prolific character actor Michael Lerner passed away over the weekend at 81; the Oscar-nominated performer appeared in films ranging from Barton Fink, Elf and The Candidate, to Harlem Nights and Eight Men Out. Although the highlight of his career was undoubtedly playing a bicycle salesman in The Brady Bunch.

 

State

Two people were killed, and a pedestrian and a man riding a bicycle were injured, in an apparent street racing crash involving a motorcyclist and the driver of an Audi, who crashed into a minivan in Fullerton.

Ojai votes to move forward with a $6.2 million makeover of the city’s Maricopa Highway, including two-way sidewalk level bike lanes in front of the high school.

The CHP reports a man riding a bicycle in Oakhurst made a suicide swerve Saturday afternoon, striking the side of a large pickup as he allegedly began to make a U-turn. Which is probably bullshit; most alleged suicide swerves are likely the result of overly close passes, rather than careless bicyclists.

A kindhearted Stockton school supervisor bought a new bike for one of his middle school students, after the boy’s bike was stolen from the school’s campus.

This is who we share the road with. A 13-year old boy took the family car out for a joyride, causing a three-car crash near Sacramento that killed one woman and injured nine other people.

Bad news from Northern California, where a hit-and-run driver was arrested for killing the 59-year old finance director and treasurer for the town of Loomis as he was riding his bike to train for an ultramarathon.

 

National

Salon says yes, it’s possible to transition humanity to a carfree — or at least, car-lite, future, without compromising quality of life.

USA Today offers tips on how to resurrect your bike for spring riding if it’s been sitting in your garage all year.

Fortune talks with Forward health systems CEO Adrian Aoun, who rides his bike for mental clarity, calling it his meditation. I’ve long considered bicycling to be a moving meditation, allowing you to get out of your head and become one with the world around you. 

Washington state’s Complete Streets law is starting to show results, with any state highway project over $500,000 now required to evaluate whether fix any gaps in existing bicycle and pedestrian networks. California could have had a similar requirement, if it wasn’t for Gavin Newsom’s veto pen. 

Two University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers teamed with the owner of the Anchorage Trek bike shop to ride the Iditarod Trail on fat tire bikes, pedaling 1,000 miles across the frozen tundra to finish in 18 days and four hours.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a custom adaptive wheelchair bike from an athlete in my ostensibly bike-friendly hometown.

The workers at a Little Rock, Arkansas Trek bike shop were lucky to survive after they were forced to take shelter underneath a moveable metal staircase when a tornado tore the roof off the building last week.

Bighearted Flint, Michigan women’s light middleweight boxing champ Claressa Shields hosted an Easter egg hunt and bike giveaway on Saturday.

Jalopnik reports on the NYPD’s ongoing failure to ticket drivers who park in bike lanes, with less than 2% of complaints resulting in citations. Thanks again to Victor Bale.

A Malaysian newspaper recommends touring New York by bike, saying it’s safer than you think. And offers safety advice that goes beyond the usual admonitions to wear a helmet.

The head of the New York Civil Liberties Union is one of us, as the civil rights advocate rides her bike to the farmer’s market on Sundays while her husband walks alongside.

She gets it. A North Carolina letter writer complains about impatient drivers who “have little time to pay much attention to that pesky cyclist who is in their way.”

 

International

Bike Radar considers the lifestyle changes you can make to keep riding into your 70s.

If Shimano has their way, you may soon ride with cleats that move automatically to adapt to riding conditions.

Four international cities are showing how to rethink mobility and put people first.

A former British Columbia city council candidate blamed a curb-protected bike lane after his car got high centered on it, while local bike riders blamed the man behind the wheel.

Owen Wilson is one of us, going for a London ride on a Brompton foldie.

Sad news from Ukraine, where 28-year old cyclist Kostya Deneka was killed in a Russian bombing while fighting for his country near Bakhmut.

A Kenyan writer considers why a bike’s drivetrain is always on the right.

Now that bike helmets are required for all bike riders in Japan, people are having trouble finding them.

The Philippines commemorated the 81st anniversary of the infamous Bataan Death March with a fundraising bike ride for the upkeep of Bataan Death March markers and other World War 2 historic sites.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Mathieu van der Poel swept to victory at Paris-Roubaix, claiming three of the five Monuments so far this spring, with Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia still to come.

Belgium’s Wout van Aert made the podium at Paris-Roubaix, but had to settle for second after a late puncture forced him to watch Mathieu van der Poel ride past on the way to victory.

What was likely Peter Sagan’s final Paris-Roubaix came to an early end when he was caught up in a crash with several other cyclists with around 100 miles still to go.

Canada’s Alison Jackson won the women’s Paris-Roubaix on Saturday with a sprint through the Velodrome, following a major crash that left most of the favorites behind.

Cycling News considers the concussion protocol for pro cycling.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re planning to ride through 11 countries on a $125 tandem. Or when you really, really want to look stylish and glam on your bike.

And when you’re carrying meth and fentanyl and weed on your bike, put a damn light on it already.

The bike, that is, not the drugs.

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Masters champ Ethan Boyes killed by SF driver, complications of comparing traffic death stats, and Justice for Josh tomorrow

April 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on Masters champ Ethan Boyes killed by SF driver, complications of comparing traffic death stats, and Justice for Josh tomorrow

Heartbreaking news from San Francisco, where Masters champ and US record holder Ethan Boyes was killed by a speeding driver Tuesday afternoon.

Boyes was riding at a “treacherous” intersection in the city’s Presidio when a witness says the driver careened onto the wrong side of the road, hitting Boyes’ bike head-on.

Advocates have long called for protected bike lanes on Arguello Blvd where he was killed; it’s unclear whether that might have saved Boyes, depending on the type of protection used.

For a change, the driver was also injured, though his injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.

Photos show the San Francisco resident at the VELO Sports Center in Carson last September, and again in November.

https://twitter.com/VELOSportsCtr/status/1573736328767758336

Track cycling advocate and former US team member David Huntsman describes Boyes as “a friend to everybody.”

………

Bicycling says comparing bicycling traffic death for American cities, and one year to another, is complicated.

The magazine considered the report we discussed yesterday, which showed Los Angeles was the second worst city in the US by one measure, and 16th by another.

Neither of which is anything to be proud of.

The magazine suggests that year-to-year comparisons can be misleading, since it takes nearly a decade to get an accurate sense of whether things are trending up or down.

Still, it’s troubling when data backs up the feeling many cyclists have, of hostility from drivers—the seeming inability to share roads and look out for more vulnerable users. Business Insider reported that in 2020, 938 people riding bicycles and other two-wheeled non motorized vehicles powered by pedals or riding tricycles and unicycles (referred to by the NHTSA as pedalcyclists) were killed in motor-vehicle crashes—9 percent higher than the 2019 figure, NHTSA reported. Several hundred other cyclists were killed in non-traffic accidents, according to the National Safety Council.

It’s easy to sense when a place feels kind or aggressive toward people on bikes. Even when nothing technically goes wrong, cyclists can tell when they’re around drivers who wished they didn’t have to share the road…

Of course, it’s not a simple story. To show a complete picture we would have to look at things like weather, unemployment, infrastructure, and other population statistics. But when so many people on bikes are killed by drivers in specific areas, it’s alarming to say the least.

Alarming, indeed.

Let’s hope LA city officials are paying attention. Because homelessness and housing unaffordability, while important, aren’t the only major issues this city faces.

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

………

SAFE, aka Streets Are For Everyone, forwards a reminder about tomorrow’s protest to demand justice for Josh Mora.

The teenager lost his right leg when he was struck by a hit-and-run motorcyclist while crossing Whittier Blvd.

 

………

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

No bias here. Key Biscayne, Florida approved escalating fines for repeat offenders who break the rules riding an ebike or e-scooter, while one councilmember said “As far as I’m concerned, I’d love to take them out all together.”

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

A Memphis man was responsible for a one man crime spree, as he used his bicycle to rob six people, including carjacking a pickup, then used the truck to rob a seventh person, all in 30 minutes; he bizarrely stole money and cellphones from two men as they ate lunch, then returned their cellphones, before coming back and taking them again.

A seven-year old British girl was left with multiple fractures when she was run down by a hit-and-run, bike-riding woman on a narrow pathway that bicyclists aren’t even supposed to use.

An English bike rider suffered a broken ankle when a man grabbed her handlebars and pulled her off her bike, in an apparent random attack.

Now we know why the UK woman below wasn’t using the spacious red bike lane, as Road.cc readers describe it as a “rollercoaster,” “littered with stones” and potholes that guarantee a flat, and filled with stops and starts.”

https://twitter.com/NathanielJHall/status/1643880941926903809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1643880941926903809%7Ctwgr%5E3ecb8a413784429906bc0470e89578dcd7f87e6f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fmailonline-accuses-cyclists-not-using-bike-lane-300449

………

Local 

Los Angeles traffic safety PAC Streets For All is getting into bed with bikewear maker Cleverhood, offering a 15% discount on the brand’s rain gear with a Streets For All crest, with the PAC getting 20% of the purchase price.

 

State

San Diego Magazine offers a beginner’s guide to urban bicycling.

Writing for a San Jose website, the executive director of the Mineta Transportation Institute calls for transition to a holistic, Safe System approach to stop the carnage on American roadways.

Sad news from Turlock, where a man in his 50s was killed when he was hit by a train while riding across the tracks, apparently going around the lowered crossing gates.

Kindhearted Sacramento cops arrange for a new bike for a 74-year old man after the bicycle he uses as his only form of transportation was stolen while he was in a market.

Plans for a new bike bridge over a busy highway will connect the north and south segments of West Sacramento.

 

National

Curbed reports problems at Lyft could “spell trouble for its near monopoly on the country’s bike-share market.” LA’s Metro Bike system is operated by Bicycle Transit Systems, so it shouldn’t be a problem here.

Gear Patrol considers how to pick the right class of ebike to meet your needs, while ABC News offers everything you need to know about ebikes, from battery safety to pedaling.

Mountain bike legend Gary Fisher is getting into the ebike business, with plans to offer a subscription service for around $100 a month.

A Portland bike shop owner is calling for change after his store was burglarized for the fourth time in less than a year.

Washington state officials are considering proposals to fund $2 million for ebike lending libraries, and another $5 million for an ebike rebate program.

A Houston TV station examines the case of a female Army vet who went for a bike ride four years ago, and was never seen again.

He gets it. A Chicago letter writer says instead of arguing about bike lanes, motorists should all just slow down and drive safely.

Life is cheap in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where a 72-year old man got a lousy 30 days behind bars for veering his pickup off the road, and killing a 15-year old kid riding his bike just a block from his home, after prosecutors dropped two felony counts in a plea bargain.

An Indianapolis paper rides along with the city’s Black Girls Do Bike cohort.

A Connecticut transportation advocate calls on the legislature to approve the recommendations of the state’s Vision Zero committee, including legalizing speed and red light cams.

New York installs the city’s first double-lane bike lane, with enough room to comfortably pass another bike rider or hold a conversation while you ride side by side.

 

International

Cyclist says Trek’s new top-tier MIPS helmets are faster and airier, as the company ditches the Bontrager name.

Men’s Journal suggests seven “wild new mountain bike trails and destinations” in the US, France and Mexico.

A London writer calls for banning “horrid” e-scooters, saying the only good thing about them is that drivers probably “hate their riders more than us cyclists.”

Life is cheap in Wales, where a delivery driver was sentenced to just ten months behind bars for killing a rising cycling star, even as the judge said that video of the crash showed poor judgement and a lack of attention from the driver.

A bighearted Dublin, Ireland bike shop owner repaired nearly 1,900 used bikes and donated them to Ukrainian refugees.

French bike sales were up 50% last year over 2019 figures.

National Geographic recommends an ebike tour of Italy’s “spectacular” Sella Ronda region, allowing your bike to take the strain out of the uphill climbs.

Australian bicyclists continue to be at risk, nearly a decade after a coroner’s inquest into the death of bike rider called for sensors to eliminate blind spots on large trucks.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks at the Roubaix velodrome, the final point where the iconic Paris-Roubaix race could be decided after 161 miles of cobble hell.

The Dutch Jumbo-Visma cycling team will ride Paris-Roubaix with images of brains on their heads to promote helmet use.

VeloNews looks at the American pioneers at Paris-Roubaix, including George Hincapie’s second place finish in 2005, and Leah Thomas’ 12th two years ago on the women’s side. Once again, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bicycling says you can stream the women’s Paris-Roubaix on Peacock tomorrow, assuming you’re willing to get up at 6 am Los Angeles time. Read it on AOL this time if the magazine blocks you. 

Cycling Tips says L39ion of Los Angeles pro Lance Haidet’s story is the story of modern American bike racing, as the 25-year old cyclist competes in road, gravel, ‘cross, and cross-country.

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with banks of LA drivers, but as least we don’t have to worry about riding into snowbanks. Now you, too, can own a vintage NFL bicycle hubcap — assuming your bike has hubs, that is.

And why wait until the bikes leave the shop before running them down with a bus?

………

Happy Easter!

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover. 

And Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA among deadliest cities for bike riders — or not, and $25,000 reward for hit-and-run motorcyclist who cost boy his leg

April 6, 2023 / / One comment

Nothing like passing out from high blood sugar, then picking up your laptop and starting work at 1 am. 

So if I screw up or miss anything, my apologies in advance. 

Then again, that’s no different from most nights these days.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

………

Los Angeles is one of the nation’s deadliest large city for people on bicycles.

Or maybe not even in the top 15, depending on how you measure it

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, reports LA saw 12 people killed while riding bicycles in 2020, the latest year for which detailed traffic safety stats are available.

That comes in behind only New York’s 17. And tops Houston, Texas and Jacksonville, Florida with ten each, followed by Chicago and Detroit with eight.

But on a per capita basis, we’re not even close.

Tucson, Arizona led the nation with 1.26 deaths per 100,000 residents, followed closely by Detroit with 1.2 per 100,000 people.

Los Angeles was all the way down at number 16, with a relatively paltry 0.30 per 100,000 residents. Or we could be 20th, since we were tied with Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Chicago and San Jose.

Despite leading the US in sheer number of bike riders killed, New York didn’t even make the top 20 on a per capita basis.

But however you look at it, it’s still too damn many.

Then again, even one traffic death is one too many.

………

The LAPD is continuing the hunt for the hit-and-run motorcyclist who slammed into a 13-year old boy in a Boyle Heights crosswalk.

Joshua Mora was crossing Whittier Blvd at Osme Ave when he was struck by the speeding motorbike rider, who left him sprawled and bleeding in the street as he angrily got back on his bike and sped away.

The crash cost Mora his right leg.

There’s a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible — thanks to the city’s standing hit-and-run reward program — while a crowdfunding campaign for the victim has raised slightly more than the $30,000 goal.

Meanwhile, a protest will be held at the site this Saturday to demand justice and safer streets.

………

Streets For All will host their next virtual happy hour on Wednesday, with new CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky.

………

The National Association of City Transportation Officials, aka NACTO, is looking for a new director of engagement.

Which sounds like a position better suited to The Batchelor, but it pays up to 150 grand.

………

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

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail gets its knickers in a twist over a bike-riding woman ignoring the country’s widest bike lane. Never mind that there are any number of reasons why she might not have used it.

………

Local 

The LAPD’s Olympic Station held a BBQ fundraiser on Wednesday to help send four of their fellow officers to the annual New Jersey to DC Police Unity Tour to honor fallen police officers.

A writer for the Los Angeles Times walks all 25 miles of Sunset Blvd in a single day. That’s long been one of my favorite LA bike rides, taking you through a microcosm of virtually every type of LA neighborhood from DTLA to the coast. Although it’s a lot more fun if you do it when it’s not choked with cars and drivers.

 

State

A father in Aliso Viejo credits an Apple AirTag with recovering his daughter’s stolen ebike, reclaiming it from the thief himself when sheriff’s deputies were unable to find it. Although you should be cautious about that doing yourself, since you never know if the thief might be armed.

San Diego’s ArtReach will auction off Electra bicycles designed by local artists, to benefit young people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to art programs.

Berkeley is indefinitely postponing a bike and pedestrian friendly redesign of Hopkins Street, citing pervasive staffing shortages, as well as unresolved safety issues and regulatory concerns.

Streetsblog reports San Francisco’s approval of an unpopular two-way, centerline bike lane on Valencia Street makes more sense when you consider it was the only option presented to the city’s transportation board.

 

National

LiveStrong rates the best bicycling shoes. I can’t comment since I’ve never worn anything but Sidi. 

Bicycling makes their picks for the year’s 12 best ebikes, topped by the $2,700 Specialized Globe Haul ST cargo bike. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Good question. Transportation for America says in theory, streets are for people, so why aren’t they in practice?

Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus offers his thoughts on the city’s continuing decline in bicycling rates, which began a decade ago.

Consider it the world’s wildest Ciclovía, as Yellowstone National Park opens its gates to bike riders tomorrow, before opening to motorists later this month.

Kindhearted Tennessee cops dug into their own pockets to buy a new bike for a 10-year old boy, after spotting him running next to his bike-riding friends because he didn’t have one.

We recently mentioned a three-year old boy in Maine whose Spider-Man bike was stolen when he went into a store with his mom; now a bighearted woman who can’t even afford shelter for herself used what little money she had to buy him a new one.

The NYPD tickets less than 2% of drivers in blocked bike lane complaints. Which makes sense, since they’re often the ones blocking them.

A Pennsylvania man wants out of prison for vehicular homicide in the death of a 15-year-old boy killed while the kid was riding his bike with friends; he says he’s a good person who always tries to do the right thing, but the local paper says the only thing missing from his parole petition is remorse.

DC is pushing back plans for a 2.7-mile redesign of Connecticut Ave that would reduce speeds and remove parking, and could include spacious seven-foot wide bike lanes.

Six months after they were installed, new bike and pedestrian lanes on a Maryland roadway have eliminated crashes for people walking and biking, while increasing travel times just 30 seconds for morning motor vehicle commuters.

A Virginia bike shop worker blames distracted drivers for most crashes. And he should know, since his last job was more than two decades as a cop.

 

International

Bike Radar explains everything you always wanted to know about fat tire bikes, but were afraid to ask.

Women working in the bike industry say it still has a long way to go to achieve equity and equality.

A British Columbia driver blames poorly designed bike lanes for why he high-centered his car on a concrete lane divider, while bike riders say it’s his own damn fault.

Video captures a violent brawl as a gang tries to steal a London delivery rider’s bicycle.

Flemish officials have set a goal of having over 30% of all trips in Flanders taken by bicycle by the end of this decade.

99 Percent Invisible relates how the Netherlands reclaimed their country from motor vehicles, forever cementing it in the minds of everyone who opposes bike lanes by insisting “This isn’t Amsterdam!”

BMW is jumping on the ebike bandwagon with plans to introduce Mini electric bikes by the end of the year. That’s Mini branded bikes, not tiny bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

The bike racing season is gaining speed, as Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen took the victory in the Netherland’s Scheldeprijs, while a resurgent Mark Cavendish finished third in his best result of the year.

GearJunkie considers why the punishing cobbles of Paris-Robaix are the toughest one-day bike race on the pro calendar.

Muscle and Fitness explains everything you need to know about the nascent National Cycling League.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you challenge a three-time Olympic track cycling champ to an ebike race. It only took the indictment of a former president to empty New York’s bike lanes.

And if you’re going to protest Trump’s indictment dressed as the Q-Anon Shaman, try to stay on your bike.

https://twitter.com/thomas__barker/status/1643396957837352960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1643396957837352960%7Ctwgr%5E03b9ab090824d0df7da1b1e9de6e7df818c1efcb%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newsweek.com%2Ftrump-supporter-crashing-bike-new-york-viral-video-1792671

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover tonight. 

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Newport Beach bike rider recovering from crash, and LA Times approves of taxing oversize SUVs and legalizing speed cams

April 5, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s start with some good news for a change.

I reached out to the lawyer representing the family of the Newport Beach bicyclist who was severely injured riding at Newport Coast Drive just south of San Joaquin Hills Rd on Sunday, March 26th.

I’m told that he is now conscious and sitting up, and his injuries are not considered life-threatening. However, he does have a number of injuries, and faces a long road to recovery.

There does not appear to be a crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses at this time. But I’ll let you know if that changes.

The news is good, though. And far better than we could have expected, given the circumstances.

………

It was a good day for traffic safety in the editorial pages of the LA Times.

The paper’s editorial board took on the problem of ever-expanding trucks and SUVs, and the danger their hulking profiles pose to pedestrians.

And yes, to people on bicycles, too.

The heavier, taller vehicles now make up 80% of car sales in the U.S., and a growing body of research shows they are more deadly when drivers hit pedestrians and cyclists. The mass of SUVs and trucks means they take longer to stop and strike with more force.

They also have larger blind spots than smaller cars. With reduced visibility, drivers turning at an intersection are more likely to hit pedestrians, according to one study. Drivers are also less likely to see small children directly in front of the vehicle. With a higher profile, when a SUV or truck crashes into a person, the front hits the chest and head for more traumatic injuries.

Unfortunately, federal regulators are doing absolutely nothing to rein in automakers to demand smaller and safer vehicles for people outside of their armored and padded passenger compartments.

Which leaves it up to states to step into the breach.

That’s why California legislators are looking into emulating Washington DC by tying registration fees to vehicle weight, as the paper suggests it shouldn’t be a controversial bill.

As EV technology improves, the battery packs are expected to become smaller. But that advancement will be of little help if automakers and consumers continue to buy vehicles with little regard to their danger to people in front of the windshield. Federal regulators should push automakers to design vehicles that are safer not just for the driver but for the pedestrians and bicyclists. Until that happens, California lawmakers can pass AB 251 to help create momentum for change.

The same day that editorial appeared online, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider argued in the Times that California needs to stop dragging its feet on life-saving speed cameras.

Speed is the single biggest factor in determining the severity of a car crash, and yet California has resisted the most obvious tool to slow down traffic: speed-enforcement cameras. Still, the state has learned a few lessons over the years from experiments with red-light cameras, and there’s now a bill in Sacramento that could deploy similar technology to lifesaving effect.

Without speed cameras, cities face an untenable choice: Let drivers flout traffic laws and allow vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists to die, or increase enforcement by police — which fuels conflict and casualties. If anything, California is moving toward reducing traffic stops, which can be a pretext for harassing Black and Latino drivers.

A new bill in the state legislature sponsored by Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Laura Friedman (D-Burbank), would address that by establishing a speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach and San Francisco.

Which is a good first step.

But it also means if you live or ride in Orange County or San Diego, you’re screwed. Or anywhere else in the late, great Golden State, for that matter.

Schneider writes that Assembly Bill 645 addresses concerns that killed two previous attempts to pass a speed cam bill by ticketing the owner of the vehicle, rather than attempting to determine who is driving.

Although arguably, opposition by CHP and police unwilling to give up the job security posed by the state’s ever-present and eternal problem of speeding drivers had as much, if not more, to do with the failure of two previous bills.

Never mind the reluctance of California drivers to take their foot off the gas pedal, or face consequences for failing to do so.

If Sacramento allows these pilot programs, we should see an almost immediate safety improvement. Indeed, if drivers know that they’re likely to be caught by an automated speed camera, they’ll be less inclined to speed in the first place. Slowing down will save lives…

Yet every arterial in Los Angeles has at least a 35-mph posted speed limit, with drivers routinely reaching 45 mph or faster. Even a recent state action that allowed Los Angeles to lower speed limits didn’t make much of a dent; the main result was the limit returning to 35 mph on some streets where it had crept higher.

It’s no wonder, then, that traffic fatalities soared to a two-decade high in Los Angeles in 2022, especially in light of massively large trucks and SUVs currently popular on our streets. No one should have to fear for their life while crossing a street or riding a bike in Los Angeles — a city where a pedestrian is killed once every three days.

No one, indeed.

California’s addiction to speed, and the state’s failure to take substantive action to rein it in, has resulted in a state of quasi-legal mayhem on our streets.

Taxing oversized vehicles out of existence and legalizing speed cams could be valuable first steps in actually doing something to save human lives on our streets.

Besides the usual thoughts and prayers, that is.

………

Bike to the Culver City council meeting on Monday to fight to keep the successful Move Culver City bus and bike lanes, which are in danger of being ripped out by the council’s new conservative majority.

………

If you feel the need for speed, USA Cycling is looking for you at next weekend’s Mid-City Meets Pico Union CicLAvia.

Just remember to cool your jets when you leave the booth and rejoin the throngs of CicLAvia celebrants.

https://twitter.com/CicLAvia/status/1642980122797182977

………

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

Police used DNA evidence to arrest a man for allegedly stringing wires at neck level on paths used by Madison, Wisconsin bike commuters. Although they undercharged him with first-degree recklessly endangering safety, since it was clearly a deliberate attempt to injure or maim innocent people; it should be charged as felony assault with a deadly weapon, at the very least.

British residents call a new separated bike lane junction “confusing,” “a bit of a pain” and “a total waste of taxpayers’ money,” even though it looks pretty self-explanatory in the photo.

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

Mark your calendar for two weeks from today, when the annual Bicycle Day celebrates the discovery of LSD by a Swiss chemist who dropped a tab before attempting to ride his bike home.

………

Local 

More than 80 people turned out for the inaugural Bike Ride for Alan at Dockweiler State Beach on Sunday to honor community leader Alan Nishio, as he enters hospice care after battling a rare cancer for the past 17 years.

 

State

The brother of 68-year old fallen bicyclist Bradley Catcott has filed a lawsuit blaming the Carlsbad State Beach park ranger who engaged in a chase with the drunken motorcyclist who killed him while riding at speeds of up to 100 mph. Although this could just be a case of going after the state’s deep pockets, instead of the motorcyclist’s limited liability coverage.

San Diego has opened the new $148 million replacement for the aging Mission Bay Bridge, complete with bike and pedestrian pathways.

Doubly sad news from Bakersfield, where a man riding a bicycle was killed in a hit-and-run Monday night, less than 24 hours after a pedestrian was killed in another hit-and-run.

The festival guide for Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic is now available online, just over two weeks before it takes place.

San Francisco approved plans for two-way, centerline bike lanes on Valencia Streets, despite the opposition of almost everyone.

 

National

Jalopnik reports the average car payment is now $730 a month, while the percentage of Americans paying more than $1,000 a month in car payments has nearly tripled in just two years, jumping from 6.2% to 16.8%. But tell me again that bikes are expensive, and bicycling is just for the wealthy.

Business Insider makes the case for improving bike and pedestrian safety by requiring sideguards for buses and large trucks, which advocates have demanded for years with no response.

A science blogger details the physics underlying your bike ride in easy to digest, non-scientific terms.

Streetsblog argues that Chicago bike lane haters aren’t completely wrong, noting that the city’s disconnected network can be improved, and that bikes shouldn’t be sharing streets with fast traffic — which they say is a better argument for lowering speed limits than banning bike lanes.

Massachusetts now requires a four-foot distance to pass any vulnerable road user, including anyone walking, biking, scooting, skating or rolling. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

He gets it now. A New York driver changes his mind about opposing bike lanes after hearing the heartbreaking testimonies of bike riders who feared for their safety at a community meeting.

A Louisiana bike rider is dead because a semi-truck driver somehow couldn’t wait to pass until they both cleared a curve in the road. But apparently it’s okay because the driver was sober.

Tampa, Florida is just the latest city to offer ebike rebates, good for up to two grand, before California finally gets its long-delayed ebike rebate program off the ground.

 

International

Momentum Magazine explains how to give your bike a spring tune-up and cleaning, while We Love Cycling addresses how to make your own DIY bikepacking bags.

Toronto could address police harassment of speeding bicyclists in the city’s High Park by turning the park over to fast riders for morning rides.

Life is cheap in the UK, where the father of a fallen bicyclist calls the nine-month suspended sentence that allowed the driver who killed him walk without a day behind bars a farce; the 74-year old driver failed to brake or swerve, despite being able to see the victim for at least seven seconds before the fatal crash.

France is creating a new generation of bike riders with a national “universal bicycling” program for middle school students.

A Japanese newspaper calls the country’s new bike helmet law an opportunity to ensure safety. Even though studies have shown helmet laws depress bicycling rates, reducing the safety in numbers effect that has been shown to improve bike safety.

 

Competitive Cycling

Rouleur explores the effects of the “brutal pavé of Paris-Roubaix” on the human body. Which is the best rhyme I’ve heard in ages.

French women’s champ Audrey Cordon-Ragot walked away from her Zaaf Cycling Team, claiming she hasn’t been paid or reimbursed for expenses for the last three months.

You can cross the annual Tour of Walla Walla off your bike racing calendar, after the Washington race was permanently cancelled after nearly 25 years.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a bright green snake wrapped around your bike frame to convince you your next ride can wait. Always ask if you can smoke the weed in your pocket if you get caught with a stolen bike, because they probably won’t let you do it in jail.

And nothing like a darn good slogan to improve traffic safety.

And yes, that was sarcasm.

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover tonight. 

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Mitt Romney calls bike lanes “height of stupidity,” it’s Election Day in CD6, and BikeLA is hiring HR and finance manager

April 4, 2023 / / Comments Off on Mitt Romney calls bike lanes “height of stupidity,” it’s Election Day in CD6, and BikeLA is hiring HR and finance manager

No bias here.

Business Insider looks at the prospects for ebike tax credits and bike safety measures on Capitol Hill, and says, in effect, don’t hold your breath.

According to the magazine, Congressional Republicans are a long way from being convinced to do anything for bikes, especially in the GOP-controlled House.

Consider this from Susan Collins, often considered the party’s relatively moderate voice of reason.

“We’re over-subsidizing electric vehicles as it is now,” Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, told Insider in the Capitol this week. “I don’t want to add to the unfairness of the current system where electric cars are free riders and don’t pay to help maintain our roads and bridges through a gas tax or any kind of surcharge.”

Then there’s the very wealthy Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who pans a new bill to increase bike and pedestrian safety and doesn’t want to subsidize rich people like him.

And thinks bike lanes only cause congestion.

“I’m not going to spend money on buying e-bikes for people like me who have bought them — they’re expensive,” he said. “Removing automobile lanes to put in bike lanes is, in my opinion, the height of stupidity, it means more cars backing up, creating more emissions.”

Never mind that he could afford to buy an electric jet without subsidies, let alone an ebike. And yes, that is a thing.

The problem is, too many of the rest of us can’t.

And never mind that the myth of bike lanes causing traffic congestion and emissions has been a favorite talking point on the right, when studies show bike lanes actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions as efficiently as highways create them.

The real problem, however, has little or nothing to do with bikes, or giving them a safe piece of the roadway.

According to The Insider,

The opposition to pro-bicycle policy has to be understood in the larger context of the culture war and conservative fears of Democrats’ climate-friendly agenda, said Tim Carney, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

“There is a widespread suspicion on the right today that liberals want to take away their way of life,” Carney told Insider. “This idea that the left knows there’s only one right way to live, it’s the way that we want to live and we’re going to force it on you. That is in the background of the mind of every conservative, and so when they hear more bike lanes, they think, ‘Okay, what is that code for?'”

Which makes the bizarre conspiracy theories surrounding the concept of 15-minute cities make more sense. Or at least as much sense as a completely whackadoodle conspiracy can, anyway.

But there may be some slight glimmer of hope, as Carney says to frame the story in terms of building safer and more interconnected communities for children and families.

“What parents need now is the ability to set their kids free and have them be safe,” Carney said. “Better bike safety, and better bike trails and lanes make life easier and more fun for your average suburban parents and for the kids. It also builds resilience and independence among kids, and makes us have fewer snowflake kids when they get to college.”

We can only hope.

You can read the story on MSN if the magazine blocks you. 

Photo of US Capitol at night by Trev Adams for Pexels. 

………

Today is Election Day in LA’s 6th Council District, in the special election to replace disgraced Councilmember Nury Martinez.

The LA Times has endorsed Marco Santana, while Streets For All split their endorsement between Santana and Antoinette Scully.

So if you live in the district, get out and vote like your life depends on it.

Because it just might.

………

BikeLA, the bike advocacy organization formerly known as the LACBC, is looking for a full-time finance and HR manager.

And no, that doesn’t stand for Home Runs, even if it is baseball season.

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No, they’re not there to help improve your aim.

https://twitter.com/viggyswam/status/1642950283490738177

Thanks to Marcello Calicchio for the heads-up. 

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Seriously, this is effing gorgeous.

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Call him the drum and bass Pied Piper.

A DJ with a bike-mounted sound system led hundreds of English bicyclists on a “mind blowing” ride through the streets of Bristol.

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

No bias here, either. A “flash mob” of angry anti-bike lane protesters blocked a new British bike lane by parking their cars on it.

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

A Visalia, California man wanted for several violent felonies led police on a bicycle chase as he tried to escape arrest, which only ended when he was struck by a driver while attempting to ride on a highway.

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Local 

Bike bag brand Fierce Hazel designs their True Grit line of bags and pouches using sustainable repurposed fabric right here in LA, although they’re actually made in Vietnam.

Long Beach bike riders will have to cope with the closure of the bike lane on north side of E. Third Street between Linden and Atlantic avenues for a movie shoot tomorrow.

 

State

Caltrans released a five-year progress report on the state transportation agency’s first-ever statewide bicycle and pedestrian plan, including developing active transportation plans for each of the agency’s 12 districts. Although I can write that report in just two words — not enough. 

This is who we share the road with. Heartbreaking news from Orange County, where an allegedly stoned driver jumped the curb in Los Flores and drove up o the sidewalk, killing an infant boy in his stroller while seriously injuring his parents. Thanks to Larry Kawalec for the link.

Encinitas is beginning work on a two-way cycle track on the west side of Coast Highway 101, along with traditional bike lanes on either side of the road for higher-speed bicyclists, with work expected to be completed by June.

San Jose’s mayor and police chief got on their bikes to promote public safety and refocusing on basic city services, including housing everyone on the streets. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass rides a bike, as does LAPD Chief Michael Moore, so maybe we could get them both on bikes sometime.

San Francisco is scheduled to approve plans for a highly contentious two-way, center-running cycle track on Valencia Street today, which has been very unpopular with bicyclists.

Streetsblog explores the new curb-protected bike lanes currently taking shape on Oakland’s Telegraph Avenue, which barely survived efforts to kill them last year.

Bicycle co-op and community advocacy organization Rich City Rides has started a $6 million capital campaign to raise funds to buy its Richmond location and three other buildings; the owner has given them until the end of June to raise the money. So if you have an extra million or two lying around, they can use the help.

 

National

Forbes makes their picks for the best bike locks. And wouldn’t mind if you bought one, so they could make a few bucks.

A writer for political site Outside the Beltway badly misses the point as he considers yesterday’s very Shoupista piece in The Wall Street Journal arguing that America has too much parking, concluding that it’s too pro-developer, and that Americans need their parking spaces. Never mind that everyone who doesn’t drive subsidizes free parking for those who do, in the form of higher rents and home prices, and inflated retail prices to cover the cost of building and maintaining massive parking lots.

Portland is hiring a polling company in an effort to learn why bicycling rates have dropped significantly in what is largely regarded as one of the country’s most bike-friendly cities.

That feeling when a bike rider is struck by a semi-truck driver by surprise, in Surprise.

Congratulations. Oregon says it’s legal to briefly cross the centerline in a no passing zone to get around an obstruction on the right side of the roadway. And yes, you’re the obstruction.

A Chicago driver finally faces charges for aggravated driving under the influence in last June’s death of an 83-year old man who was killed while riding his bike around a nearby forest reserve, like he did almost every day.

New York is marking Earth Day by banning cars, at least temporarily, and opening the streets to people, with seven signature and 23 community-organized Open Streets locations throughout the city.

Virginia authorities are offering a $15,000 reward in the hit-and-run death of a 70-year old former Commonwealth’s Attorney — the equivalent of a district attorney — who was run down by a driver while riding his bike.

Even nature is out to get us. An unsuspecting Virginia bike rider was lucky to escape without serious injuries when a large tree branch broke off and fell on him, as a door cam captured the crash.

Tragic story from Mississippi, where an Air Force Wing commander’s 30-year career didn’t prepare her for the trauma she experienced when she and two friends were run down by a driver on the last day of a bike and kayak race across Florida that injured her, and killed one of her teammates.

 

International

There’s a special place in hell for the Scottish bike thief who stole a bicycle from an 11-year old boy at a playground, then flashed a gun at a Good Samaritan who tried to get it back.

A Philippine fundraising ride will mark the 81st anniversary of the brutal WWII Bataan Death March, following the route traveled by American and Filipino soldiers captured by the Japanese.

A new Aussie study confirms that women face many barriers to bicycling that keep them from riding, not the least of which is access to safe infrastructure.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a sleeping driver got a whole two years behind bars for fleeing the scene after dozing off and slamming into a man taking part in a group training ride — but could get out after just nine months.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly offers five things they learned from Sunday’s Tour of Flanders, including that 23-year old Brit Fred Wright can ride with the big dogs.

British cyclist Ethan Hayter took the opening stage of the Tour of the Basque Country in an uphill sprint to the finish.

Russian Petr Rikunov won the first stage of the “prestigious” Ho Chi Minh City Television Cup Vietnamese stage rage.

Here’s video of the Tour of Flanders crash caused by Polish cyclist Filip Maciejuk we mentioned yesterday. Oops.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can take a bike tour of Taiwan without leaving Indiana. Who needs puncture-resistant bike tires when you’ve got tennis balls?

And never buy a bike helmet at a garage sale. Or morph a story about bike helmets into a completely different topic without warning, for that matter.

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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