CA ebike incentive program launches tomorrow — no, really — and El Segundo bike lanes leave something lacking

December 17, 2024 / / Comments Off on CA ebike incentive program launches tomorrow — no, really — and El Segundo bike lanes leave something lacking
Just 14 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet no city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

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Just eight days left in the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Terese E for her generous, if somewhat lonely, donation keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way from around the corner, and around the world. 

But time is rapidly running out for this year’s fund drive. So what are you waiting for?

Stop what you’re doing and give now! 

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It’s now 362 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The California Ebike Incentive Program is finally scheduled to launch tomorrow, so get your application in. They offer these tips to get ready, for better or worse.

Let’s just hope they’re up to the task and have everything ready for the launch after this interminable delay.

We’re counting down the days to our official application launch on December 18, 2024 at 6pm PST — just a few days away!

To help you get ready, here’s a quick checklist of documents you’ll need to have ready when you apply. Documents need to be in a digital format to be uploaded. Digital file types include, but are not limited to PDF files, scans, JPEG or PNG file formats.

  1. Proof of California Residency – California Driver’s License, AB 60 License, or California ID card. The document must be current/valid and issued by the California DMV. If the address on the identification is not up to date, this is a listof documents you can submit.
  2. Proof of Income Eligibility – Provide documents to verify that your annual gross household income is at or below 300% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The easiest form to submit is a Federal Tax Transcript, easily downloaded or requested by mail from: tax records and transcripts. If you don’t file taxes, refer to this list of acceptable documents.

Taking a few minutes now to gather these documents will help streamline your application so you’re all set to apply as soon as the window opens.

WHAT CAN I DO NOW TO GET READY?

With just a few days ​until the launch of our electric bike incentives, let’s make sure you’re prepared.

Here’s what you need to focus on:

1) Check your eligibility – Click HERE to learn more about eligibility.

2) Watch our how-to apply video – Click HERE to watch our step by step application process video.

3) Prepare your income verification documents – Click HERE to learn more about income verification.

4) Have your current/valid California ID ready and ensure your ID is up to date to avoid any delays.

5) Watch our 2 online training videos – Click the links below to watch our training videos prior to applying.

6) Check out our FAQ’s – Click HERE to review our FAQ page.

For more information, please visit our website ebikeincentives.org.

Let me know how it goes if you apply.

Because to be honest, I’ve kinda lost interest in the whole damn thing.

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South Bay Forward reports El Segundo has striped new bikes on the city’s newly resurfaced streets.

But the news apparently ain’t pretty.

You can submit your own feedback here.

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Seriously, how whacked out does someone have to be to hit a person riding bicycle hard enough to throw him 65 feet through the air, and have no idea they did it — even though the victim’s bike was still embedded in the bumper of the driver’s car?

A 35-year old man in Boca Raton, Florida faces charges for killing a 41-year old man riding a bicycle, seven hours after he took Adderall, Vyvanse and Gabapentin, despite telling investigators he’s in rehab.

And just moments after he passed another man riding in the same bike lane “so closely (the bike rider) could touch the vehicle.”

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‘Tis the season.

America’s Got Talent host Terry Crews, a former linebacker for the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles, teamed with current members of the team to give new bicycles to hundreds of students at Compton’s McNair Elementary School.

A San Jose nonprofit founded by a surgical nurse has given away over 50,000 bicycles over two decades.

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels took part in a DC bike giveaway, where the Raising Cane’s restaurant chain gave away 100 bikes to kids from the Boys & Girls Clubs.

Over 400 donated bicycles are sitting in a North Carolina Salvation Army warehouse waiting for families to come get their free bike.

A Miami car dealer gave dozens of “gently used” bicycles donated by community members to children from the local Boys & Girls Clubs, for the 42nd straight year.

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

Once again, a UK bike lane has been intentionally sabotaged by “anti-bike psychos” who covered it with caltrops, a multi-spiked weapon dating back to the Roman era, resulting in crashes that caused at least one victim to suffer hearing loss; adding insult to literal injury, victims complained that Scottish police just “didn’t give a shit” when informed of the crime. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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Local  

Don’t forget tonight’s virtual meeting of the Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council to discuss the proposed protected bike lanes on deadly Forest Lawn Drive — or at least what passes for protection here in Los Angeles. The project is opposed by Forest Lawn and Mount Sinai cemeteries, in an apparent attempt to drum up more business.

 

State

PeopleForBikes announced the ten winners of their 2024 Industry Community Grants, including ten grand each going to Calbike, Rich City Rides and the East Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Velo recommends five winter bicycling destinations where you can leave your thermal clothes behind, including San Diego and Palm Springs.

Bike Magazine calls Natural State a must-see mountain biking movie; the film premiered in San Luis Obispo earlier this month.

 

National

America Walks has opened applications for their Community Change Grants program to provide mini-grants to organizations working to make walking — and apparently, bicycling — safer and more inviting; one recent grant went to a program to assess pedestrian and bicycle safety in Aptos.

A writer for Cycling Weekly discusses what he learned riding his fixie 100 miles through Arizona’s Sonoran Desert; he calls the bike the best $400 he ever spent.

A Colorado woman pled guilty to tampering with evidence for deleting a text proving she was driving while distracted when she killed a ten-year old boy riding a bicycle; she’s also being tried this week on a second misdemeanor charge, careless driving resulting in death. The crash occurred just an easy nine mile ride from where I grew up.

That’s more like it. A 51-year old Pennsylvania man will spend up to 17 years behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that killed a 31-year old father as he was riding a bicycle.

The Franklin, Tennessee police department locks the barn door after the horses escape, conducting a DUI operation in honor of a 54-year old man killed by a drunken Ft. Campbell soldier while the victim was riding his bike.

According to a new lawsuit, a “deeply religious” business owner is dead because a driver high on “Galaxy Gas,” aka nitrous oxide, killed him in a collision as he rode his ebike on an Atlanta sidewalk; the driver bought a canister of the gas labeled for food and beverage use only at a local smoke shop an hour earlier, and allegedly drove around doing “whippets” to get high.

 

International

Momentum explores the top 15 family-friendly North American bicycling routes and destinations from Alberta, Canada to the Florida Everglades.

A British Columbia letter writer says the city’s multi-use paths are great for recreation, but not so much for bike commuting, and the bike lanes aren’t much better.

 

Competitive Cycling

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website asks if there should be a salary cap for pro cycling, after Tadej Pogačar got a $2.3 million raise that increased his annual pay to $8.3 million. Although that pales in comparison to Shohei Ohtani’s $70 a year — let alone Cristiano Ronaldo’s $200 million in on-field earnings.

Aleix Espargaro took an early retirement from Gran Prix motorcycle racing to join a professional cycling team, just not as a cyclist; he’ll serve as an ambassador for Lidl-Trek team.

Cycling West recaps last weekend’s US national ‘cross championships.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a fully functional, and yes, rideable, steel framed bike too small for a corgi — and named Big Boy, of course. Colnago wants you to wear their clothes off the bike, too, as long as you have $890 to spend on a polo shirt.

And that feeling when your bike stunt garners a round of applause from the ladies who lunch.

Instagram post

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Fixie rider suffers major injuries in Oxnard, ebike rider injured in San Diego hit-and-run, and mass casualty crash in Australia

December 16, 2024 / / Comments Off on Fixie rider suffers major injuries in Oxnard, ebike rider injured in San Diego hit-and-run, and mass casualty crash in Australia
Just 15 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

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It’s Day 18 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just nine days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy! So thanks to Patt M, Stephen H, Scott G, Michael M, Jim M and Joseph M for their generous donations over the weekend!

Time’s running out for this year’s fund drive. So don’t wait, give now! 

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No bias here.

A 44-year old man riding a fixie suffered major injuries when he was struck by a driver in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood Friday morning.

Yet the local paper somehow felt the need to note that he didn’t have brakes on his bike, and wasn’t wearing a helmet, even though there’s nothing in the article to suggest either was a factor in the crash.

It’s unlikely his lack of a helmet caused the crash, and it’s not relevant to his injuries unless he suffered a head injury, which is not noted in the story.

It also doesn’t say the victim ran the stop sign or was unable to stop before riding out in front of or crashing into the driver, which is the only reason his lack of brakes should matter.

The point isn’t that the paper shouldn’t have reported those facts, but that they need to connect the dots to show why they’re relevant.

Or just leave them out if they can’t.

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An 18-year old man suffered a broken bone in his arm when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding an ebike in a bike lane in San Diego’s Pacific Highlands Ranch on Tuesday.

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Another mass casualty crash, this time in Australia, where two people were killed and four others injured when a woman crashed her car into a group of people competing in a bike race.

Her car continued on before crashing into a tree and bursting into flames; the 30 year old driver and a man in his 60s died as a result.

No word on why she was apparently unable to see or avoid a large group of people on bicycles directly in front of her.

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The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council will host a special meeting tomorrow to consider the proposed protected bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive.

The desperately needed safety improvement is opposed by the cemetery and mortuaries, in an apparent attempt to drum up more business.

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‘Tis the season.

A Bakersfield man has given away dozens, if not hundreds, of bicycles and toys over the past 30 years, in an effort to make every kid’s Christmas special.

Volunteers in French Camp worked throughout the year to refurbish 250 bicycles to give to local kids for the holidays.

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It’s now 361 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch on Wednesday, so get your application in; Calbike with host a webinar on today to go over the application process.

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

No bias here, either. A Staten Island site calls for requiring licenses & registration for ebikes and e-scooters to “stop the carnage,” after 46 people have been killed riding ebikes in New York since they were legalized five years ago. Never mind that the stat counts people killed by negligent and distracted drivers, as well as other cases where the person on the ebike may have been the victim, rather than the one at fault. 

The Urbanist offers a video discussing “the extreme lies that (Ontario Premier Doug) Ford has passed off to justify bike lane removal” in Toronto, while someone posted a banner over a freeway asking what bike lane was responsible for this traffic. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the last link.

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

A Laguna Beach woman complains about reckless teens riding ebikes, including one who crashed into her husband’s car but rode off without stopping, before disappearing down a trail. But from the description, it sounds like what she’s really talking about are electric motorcycles.

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Local  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is poised to appoint a new member to the Metro board to replace termed-out Councilmember Paul Krekorian; San Fernando Valley leaders say she has to appoint someone else from the Valley.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the new Pacoima Wash walk and bike path in San Fernando, and the modular curb-protection added to the protected bike lanes on Main Street in DTLA.

 

State

Streetsblog offers more information about the open letter from a large number of bicycling groups urging state leaders to focus on the real threats to safety, and stop hampering the adoption of ebikes.

Desert Hot Springs will install new bike lanes and crosswalks as part of a $9.7 million infrastructure project to fix deadly section of Palm Drive.

Sad news from Merced, where a man was killed after allegedly riding his bike through a stop sign, and was struck by a driver on the cross street.

A group of San Francisco merchants are abusing California’s CEQA laws to halt the city’s plan to move the Valencia Street protected bike lane from the center of the roadway to a curbside position, which was never the intent of the regulations.

San Francisco public television station KQED examines the ongoing saga of the barrier-separated bike and pedestrian path on the upper deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; five governmental bodies have voted unanimously against a proposal to convert the lane to a motor vehicle breakdown lane on weekdays, while a petition protesting the plan has gained just under 3,100 signatures.

An op-ed from a Marin County supervisor and a local pediatrician make the case that ebikes are vehicles and not toys, urging parents to do their homework and think twice before buying one for their kids.

 

National

A Washington State police chief wasn’t held responsible for pulling out of an alley in front of a man riding a bicycle, after the victim admitted to riding “hella fast” on the sidewalk, in a town where sidewalk riding is prohibited; fortunately, the bike rider only suffered a bruised knee.

Speaking of Washington, Governor Jay Inslee celebrated the news that the Bike League named the country’s best place to ride a bicycle. Somehow, I can’t imagine California Governor Gavin Newsom even noticing or acknowledging something like that. Thanks to Mike Burk for the tip.

Nice gesture from the City of Cincinnati, which declared Saturday “Bicycle Santa Day” to honor a longtime local bike advocate who died recently of pancreatic cancer, and was known for riding his bike dressed as Santa Claus.

US Weekly summarizes the case against Sean M. Higgins for killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they were riding their bikes along a New Jersey highway, when Higgins reportedly tried to pass another driver on the right, while allegedly under the influence.

Police in Alabama are asking for the public’s help identifying a man who was killed riding a bicycle at an intersection where ten people have been killed by traffic violence in 16 years. Seriously, the intersection should have been redesigned after the first death, not the tenth, if then, And this is yet another a reminder to always have some form of ID with you when you ride.

 

International

Momentum recommends the 15 best holiday gifts for the bicyclist in your life. Even if the bicyclist in your life is, well, you. 

A writer for Pink Bike shares his photos and story of a mountain biking adventure through Ecuador.

They get it. A Buenos Aires paper says the Argentinian city should expand its bike lanes, not remove them, noting it’s the parked cars that block the streets, and that bicycling is the solution, not the problem.

Hundreds of people turned out for a London Santa ride to raise money for charity.

A UK bike rider won the equivalent of more than $5,000 in damages against a hit-and-run driver who ran him down from behind, saying all the driver had to do to avoid it was stop and say “sorry.”

Membership in British Cycling has dropped by 15,000 in the two years after the nonprofit organization signed Shell Oil as a sponsor, as bicyclists have complained about the “nauseating greenwashing” deal.

A Czech man learns the hard way that his satellite-enabled Garmin is illegal in India, thanks to a 1933 law that predates both Garmins and satellites. Thanks to D-J Haanraadts for the link. 

An 86-year old Australian man known as “Mr. Fix-It” has donated a handful of his whimsical handcrafted bicycles reimagined from used bikes and parts, with features such as misaligned wheels or unusual frames that offer a quirky riding experience.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Slovenian paper talks with the parents of triple Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar; his secret advantage was that neither of them knew anything about cycling.

Legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx says he’ll never ride a bike alone again after fracturing his hip when he crashed on a railroad track in a drizzling rain, lying alone in fear and pain before others came by to help him.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be 3D printed and look like a normal bike. Riding a bike can give you new hope and help you feel at home, even in a new country.

And probably not the best idea to attack the cops who try to give you a breathalyzer test for biking under the influence.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Man critically injured in Thousand Oaks crash, CA 4th most Bike Friendly State, and new AASHTO Bike Guide released

December 13, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 18 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

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It’s Day 15 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Douglas M, Nina M and Carter R for their generous donations to keep bringing SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy to your favorite screen every morning.

Now it’s your turn. So stop what you’re doing and give now! 

Because I have it on good authority that any donations made today will probably counteract any bad Friday the 13th luck today. 

Unless it doesn’t, of course.

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A 37-year old man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle near West Hillcrest Drive and Citation Way in Thousand Oaks Wednesday night, although the local paper makes it sound more like he hit the car.

The victim remained hospitalized in critical condition yesterday.

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The Bike League released their latest rankings of the country’s most bike-friendly states, with Washington moving up to the top spot, followed by Massachusetts, and Oregon slipping to third.

Next up comes California in a surprising fourth place on the list of Bicycle Friendly States for 2024.

Although how that’s possible without excluding Los Angeles, and probably San Francisco, from consideration is kinda questionable.

Meanwhile, the group warns that even the best states aren’t doing enough to protect people riding bicycles, let alone the rest of them.

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AASHTO, aka the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, has released the 5th edition of the industry-standard AASHTO Bike Guide.

The guide provides comprehensive standards for “the planning, design, and operation of bikeways along streets, roads, and highways, as well as on off-street paths in urban, suburban, and rural settings.”

According the organization,

The guide encourages a flexible approach to design bikeways and emphasizes the role of the planner, designer, and engineer in determining appropriate bikeway types and design dimensions based on project-specific conditions and existing and future performance.

It provides information to assist in choosing the appropriate combination of features, design values, and materials to create the design, while considering the context of the project area and surrounding environment, AASHTO said…

Revised chapters include those on bicyclist operation and safety; bicycle planning; design of shared use paths; design of shared lanes and bike lanes; maintenance and operations; and bicycle parking, bike share site location, and end-of-trip facilities.

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Nina Moscol forwards word that The Squeaky Wheel Bike Shop in Palmdale was violently broken into last week when someone smashed a vehicle into the front of the store.

She notes that owners Bob & Shilo Vigil provide support for the local community biking programs in the greater Palmdale area, and the shop is a registered vendor for California’s new ebike incentive program, as well as sponsoring and coaching the local inter-mural youth MTB team.

So if you find yourself in the area, stop in and buy something before the holidays, because they could use the business right now.

And keep your eyes peeled for people selling bikes with prices that seem too good to be true. Because they probably are.

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‘Tis the season.

Longtime Watts philanthropist “Sweet” Alice Harris hosted a Christmas bike giveaway for community kids.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department hosted a bike giveaway for the 35th consecutive year, donating 200 bicycles refurbished by inmates at the local Honor Farm. So the inmates do all the work, but the sheriff gets the credit? Seems fair. 

Restaurant chain Raising Cane’s donated a total of 400 bikes to the Boys & Girls Club of Harlem, and will host a bike riding clinic for any kids who don’t know how to ride one.

A Savannah, Georgia group gave 170 bikes to kids at eleven of the city’s public schools.

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It’s now 358 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch December 18th, so get your application in; Calbike with host a webinar on Monday to go over the application process.

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

Good question. A Boston op-ed says bike lanes save lives, so why are people still complaining?

Electrek considers the “strange logic” backing the push to require license plate on New York City ebikes; immigrant rights groups are teaming with a hospitality industry nonprofit to fight the bill.

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

A London woman wants to know why the city is suddenly full of bicyclists charging at pedestrians, after she was knocked down by a bike rider as she was crossing the street; a bike-riding witness told the guilty rider “You’re the kind of prick who gives the rest of us a bad name.”

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Local  

The story doesn’t appear to be posted online yet, but KNBC-4 reports that Walk ‘n Rollers stolen trailer has been recovered, but without the 15 grand worth of bikes and gear they used to teach little kids bike safety; the trailer full of gear was snatched by thieves last month.

Streets Are For Everyone says any donation to the group will be matched dollar-for-dollar right now.

 

State

The State of California claims it invested nearly $13 billion in just the last year to enhance transportation safety, and increase accessibility for people who walk and bike. Although you’d think with that kind of money, the results might be a little more noticeable.

A coalition of over 30 bicycle and active transportation advocacy groups are calling on the state to better regulate illegally operated electric motorcycles, which are often mistakenly called ebikes. Now if they’d just push to reclassify throttle-controlled bikes as electric motorcycles.

A new road diet and parking-protected bike lanes on San Diego’s Rancho Mission Road is raising safety concerns among residents, who claim crashes have increased dramatically since they were installed. However, it’s not unusual for collisions to increase after any change to road designs; what matters is what happens over the long term after drivers adjust to the changes.

Speaking of San Diego, board members for SANDAG, aka San Diego Association of Governments, will discuss whether to increase the budget for a 3.3-mile bike plan at today’s meeting, after estimates came in least 20% higher than expected.

San Luis Obispo finally gets around to rolling out its Vision Zero program, more than eight years after it was approved by the city council, with a goal of eliminating serious collisions by 2030.

Bike riders and local residents in San Carlos are calling for safety changes after a 31-year old Palo Alto woman was killed on a highway overpass, where plans call for a pedestrian bridge that might have spared her life.

The California Coastal Commission signed off the plan to permanently close a section of San Francisco’s Great Highway to motor vehicle traffic

 

National

Bicycling says your stiff neck could be causing the numbness in your hands when you ride. Although the story is locked behind their paywall, so you’re out of luck if the magazine blocks you. 

A writer for Velo lists “five totally random bike events” she wants to do next year, including the “fringey” Speed Project Los Angeles to Las Vegas ultra-endurance race.

An Oklahoma City off-road tri national champ responded to a serious crash that laid her up for a couple years by forming a bike club for the city’s elementary and middle school students.

 

International

People in the South London borough of Merton say you have to be brave to ride a bicycle there, where bike infrastructure lags behind other areas of the city.

They get it. Bicycle Scotland says “Nobody should be allowed near a driving license until they’ve undertaken a comprehensive cycling course” to gain “first-hand awareness of at-risk road users” and how to drive safely around people on bicycles.

An English Parliament member warns of “devastating consequences” if the country doesn’t do more to improve bike infrastructure in rural areas, where riders face added dangers on country roads.

France modified its traffic laws to allow bicyclists to legally ride side-by-side, as well as have additional lights on their bikes, as long as they’re not flashing.

Once again, a driver has somehow managed to plow into a group of bicyclists, this time in Western Australia, where two riders were seriously injured when the driver apparently failed to see the group riding in the same direction.

 

Competitive Cycling

Three-time Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar rejects calls to slow pro cyclists to improve safety by arguing that “Tech always gets faster – it’s on riders to not do stupid things,” and that “modern bikes break every time you crash.” The problem is that sometimes, so do the people riding them.

Our old buddy Lance offered to give Jake Paul an “ass whooping” when the sometime MMA fighter and former Disney star sort-of but not really challenged the seven-time ex-Tour de France winner to a bike race.

 

Finally…

Who needs a a bike horn when you have a Vietnamese painted frog? When the bike parking is covered, who cares if it stinks?

And when in doubt — or in Toronto — blame it on the bike.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Increased charges in Gaudreau brothers deaths, Calbike gets 2025 agenda right, and Glendale boots Brand bike lanes

December 12, 2024 / / One comment

My apologies for last night, when I suffered from an embarrassing case of premature publication, mistakenly hitting the Publish button long before today’s post was ready.

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Just 19 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

………

It’s Day 14 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Daniel M, James Z and Herb S for their generous donations to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

So what are you waiting for?

Stop what you’re doing and give now! 

………

Now they’re getting serious.

The charges against Sean Higgins, the driver accused in the allegedly drunken crash that killed NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his hockey playing brother, have been upgraded from vehicular homicide to first-degree aggravated manslaughter.

According to The Columbus Dispatch, aggravated manslaughter is defined in the New Jersey’s criminal code as “when a person ‘recklessly causes death under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life.'”

The brothers were in New Jersey for their sister’s wedding, and were riding their bikes on the night of August 29th, when Higgins allegedly tried to pass another car on the right and slammed into the two men on the shoulder of the highway.

Higgins could be sentenced to 10 to 30 behind bars years for each manslaughter count; he also faces additional charges for DUI, hit-and-run, tampering with physical evidence, and reckless driving.

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Yes, please.

Calbike announced its agenda for the coming year. And this time, it looks to be right on the money.

  • Bicycle Highways — Creating a pilot program to establish numbered highways for bicycles in two major metro areas, allowing for speeds up to 25 mph
  • Shared Streets — Develop a new roadway classification where vulnerable road users would have the right of way at all locations
  • Quick-Build Pilot Program — A program to expedite development and implementation of safe, protected bikeways on the state highway system
  • Bike Omnibus Bill — Including clarifying that bike riders wouldn’t need to signal if they need both hands to control their bicycle
  • Bicycle Safety Stop — Otherwise known as an Idaho Stop, allowing bicyclists to treat stop signs as yields
  • New Bikeway Classification — Create a new Class 5 category for bicycle boulevards
  • Clarifying Ebike Policies — Including making it clear that illegal electric motorcycles aren’t ebikes

Now if they’d just try to do something about the state’s unacceptably high rate of hit-and-run drivers.

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The Glendale City Council followed Culver City’s lead by overruling staff recommendations, and voting to remove the city’s only protected bike lane — an ill-advised action likely to make them liable for any bicyclist who gets injured on the street after it’s removed.

Instagram post

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It’s now 357 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch December 18th, so get your application in; Calbike with host a webinar on Monday to go over the application process.

Although to be honest, I’ve kind of lost interest in the whole damn thing.

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

A Utah man faces charges for allegedly ramming into a bike rider during a road rage confrontation; the driver swears he was just trying to politely tell the victim to stay in the bike lane when the rider became enraged and broke his side mirror, and he didn’t mean to hit him — even though witnesses say it appeared to be intentional.

No bias here. A New York councilmember called for mandatory ebike registration to combat “The scourge of e-bikes in our streets, on our sidewalks, and even inside our buildings (that) continues to wreak chaos, injure and maim people, and, tragically, take lives,” resulting in 47 deaths in five years; even the Department of Transportation says it’s a bad idea. And even though most victims were killed in battery fires or by drivers while riding ebikes, rather than caused by them. And they continue to lump ped-assist ebikes together with mo-peds and high-speed, throttle-controlled virtual motorcycles.

Brussels, Belgium is banning bicycles and scooters from the city center, known as the Anspachlaan; a bike advocacy group says all bicyclists are being punished for the anti-social behavior of a very few. Which is exactly how it usually works.

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Local  

Metro is finally moving forward with plans to improve transportation for the upcoming LA Olympics, including 14 miles of bus priority lanes, 23 miles of bus corridor enhancements and 60 new Metro Bike Share stations, as well as a number of new first mile/last mile improvements, including new protected bike lanes. Although three and a half years isn’t exactly a lot of lead time to make a number of major changes to the streets.

 

State

An 18-year old San Diego man suffered a broken leg when he was stuck by a hit-and-run driver, while riding his ebike in a bike lane in the North City neighborhood.

Sad news from Bakersfield, where a man was killed when he fell off his bicycle, and oncoming “vehicle…failed to avoid colliding with” him. Hats off to the Bakersfield Californian for somehow managing to absolve the driver of any agency and responsibility for killing him. 

Speaking of Bakersfield, a cop with a strong case of windshield bias responded to a traffic calming project by blaming the victims, arguing that even though it succeeded in slowing traffic, that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer crashes because it doesn’t account for pedestrians who step out ten feet in front of drivers, leaving “literally no time for the driver to do anything,” or bike riders “with no lights, wearing black clothing, riding the wrong direction in the bicycle lane.”

 

National

Streetsblog has more on the new handlebar-mounted “dashcam” for bikes being developed by a pair of Arizona universities, which are designed to automatically capture images, location data, and other critical evidence when a vehicle passes dangerously to someone on a bicycle.

A pair of Oklahoma men face charges of 1st-degree murder for shooting a man in the back, after accusing him of stealing a bicycle belonging to one of the men’s 10-year old daughter; witnesses never bothered to call 911 because they didn’t think it was a big deal and didn’t want to get involved. As we’ve said many times before, no bicycle is worth a human life. Just let it go, for God’s sake.

Good question. A Massachusetts TV station wants to know why there are utility poles and orange construction barrels in the middle of a new $22 million raised bike lane. Which looks a lot more like a patchwork sidewalk repair job, to be honest.

 

International

Cycling Weekly talks with American adventurer Neal Bayly, cofounder of the Wellspring International Outreach, who recounts memorable rides through Ukraine and Peru, as well as Bhutan’s Tour of the Dragon, described as the world’s toughest single-day mountain bike race; Bayly says he bikes so much his motorcycle buddies are getting pissed off.

Speaking of Cycling Weekly, the magazine says those bigass bike computers are just getting silly.

A Toronto bike advocacy group has filed suit over the new Ontario law that gives the provincial government the final say on local bike lanes, allowing them to remove a number of popular Toronto bike lanes over the objection of local leaders; the group alleges the new law deprives bicyclists of their legal rights to life and security.

Meanwhile, a Toronto bike advocate suffered a broken leg when he was doored while riding in a painted bike lane. Which makes a far better case for improving the city’s bike lanes than removing them.

A Melbourne, Australia radio station considers the eternal question of what if bicycles had to be registered, as the head of a driver’s organization says all road users should pay for the road — even though bike riders already pay for more than our fair share of the roadway, and studies have shown bike registration costs more to operate than it would bring in.

 

Competitive Cycling

Remco Evenepoel is joining with the Belgian Post Office to raise awareness for the dangers of dooring, after suffering multiple fractures and other injuries when he was doored while training in Belgium; the 2022 Vuelta champ aims to get back on his bike in February, and hopes to compete two months later.

 

Finally…

No, bike racks don’t belong in the middle of the sidewalk. Who needs a bike cam when there’s one built into your helmet?

And Colin Jost is one of us, too.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

High hoods increase risk from speeding, drivers know dangers but do it anyway, and PCH Feasibility workshop postponed

December 11, 2024 / / Comments Off on High hoods increase risk from speeding, drivers know dangers but do it anyway, and PCH Feasibility workshop postponed
Just 20 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 
Then again, it’s hard to make much progress when they failed to fund it, did next to nothing and never took it seriously.

………

It’s Day 13 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to James T for his generous, if somewhat lonely, donation to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming to your way every day.

So don’t wait — donate now! 

Meanwhile, I’ve been battling some sort of respiratory virus this week. Fortunately, I’ve been vaxxed up the yin-yang against every virus known to man, and some that haven’t been discovered yet. 

………

They’re finally starting to get it.

NPR reported yesterday that a new study from the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety examining real-world crashes showed that higher speeds are worse for pedestrians, regardless of vehicle height, but those risks are amplified for vehicles with taller front ends.

The IHHS concluded the risk of a serious injury or a fatality increased as the speed in a crash went up, and went up much faster for taller vehicles than it did for shorter vehicles.

Which is exactly what bike and pedestrian safety advocates have been saying for some time.

According to NPR,

It’s the latest study to find that taller vehicles are more dangerous for pedestrians. The majority of vehicles sold in the U.S. are SUVs and light trucks with higher front ends that are often 40 inches or taller, and safety advocates say that’s one reason why pedestrian fatalities nationwide are up more than 75% since reaching their lowest point in 2009. Our fondness for larger vehicles prompted Representative Mary Gay Scanlon, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, to introduce a bill that would require federal safety standards for hood height, as she told NPR in August…

Federal regulators at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have taken steps, too. In September, the agency proposed crafting rules for vehicle design to minimize the risk of pedestrian head injuries, among other things. Those design changes would be a good step, says Jessica Cicchino at IIHS. But she’d like to see changes to roads, too, starting with lower speed limits.

Let’s hope that progress continues under the incoming presidential administration.

But I wouldn’t count on it.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

According to AAA, most people who responded to a recent survey agreed that behaviors such as speeding or driving while impaired are very or extremely dangerous.

But many of those same motorists admitted to engaging in these behaviors at least once in the 30 days prior to responding to the survey.

And even safe drivers had the same disregard for potential consequences of their actions as their riskier counterparts.

Which suggests that maybe there’s no such thing as a safe driver.

Present company excepted, of course.

………

Caltrans announced that tonight’s public workshop to discuss the PCH Master Plan Feasibility Study has been postponed due to Malibu’s 3,000+ acre Franklin Fire.

We would like to inform you that the workshop regarding the Pacific Coast Highway Master Plan Feasibility Study scheduled for Wednesday, December 11th, 2024, has been postponed due to the ongoing fires in the region.  The safety of all participants is our top priority, and we believe this decision is in the best interest of the public and everyone involved.

We will be scheduling a meeting to discuss the workshop content at a later date, which will be communicated to you as soon as it’s determined.

On a side note, we’d also like to share that the Draft Pacific Coast Highway Master Plan Feasibility Study document for public comment is nearing completion and will be posted in our Caltrans Engagement Portal soon.  We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time.

Thank you for your continued support and please stay safe.

Meanwhile, PCH is closed between Tuna Canyon Road to Kanan Dume Road as a result of the fire, while Malibu Canyon Road is closed from Mulholland Drive to PCH, and Topanga Canyon Blvd is closed to all but local traffic.

And remember that highly toxic smoke can and will travel anywhere downwind of the fire, so use caution riding along the coast for the foreseeable future.

A simple rule of thumb is if you smell smoke, don’t ride.

Period.

………

‘Tis the season.

Road.cc recommends “very last minute” Christmas gift ideas for the bicyclist in your life. And yes, it’s okay to buy something for yourself and hide it in a drawer until after the holidays, just in case you don’t find it under your tree or Chanukah bush, as the case may be.

Bicycling Australia offers a Christmas gift guide to their favorite bike things.

Boise, Idaho’s Boise Bike Project will answer requests from 630 area kids for their free dream bicycle this Saturday.

Outcast emcee Big Boi gave $750 bicycles to Atlanta middle school students for the second year in a row. But you’ll have to settle for reading the caption and the first couple paragraphs, because the rest of the story is locked behind a paywall.

………

It’s now 356 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch December 18th, so get your application in.

No, really.

………

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

Six people have now been pushed off their bicycles by masked attackers on mo-peds in Bristol, England; a woman was also sexually assaulted by three men sharing a mo-ped.

………

………

Local  

Los Angeles Public Press says there’s a glaring lack of bike lanes in Southeast Los Angeles, but local residents are working to change that.

 

State

Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry says the California Transportation Commission has capitulated, and will now include Complete Streets requirements to guidelines for the state’s largest highway funding program.

A San Francisco Redditor says the city’s protected bike lanes are better in theory than practice, because what passes for protection doesn’t keep drivers from parking in them. Although things aren’t much better down this way, either. 

 

National

Bicycling commits bike blasphemy, saying there’s more to life than just riding a bicycle. But most of the story is hidden behind their paywall, so you’re out of luck if the magazine blocks you. 

Seattle Department of Transportation Director — and former LA Streets Services head — Greg Spotts announced his resignation after a little more than two years on the job, in order to find work closer to his mother and father, which could be difficult since they live on opposite coasts. But maybe this is a chance for Los Angeles to get back someone they never should have let get away in the first place.

People For Bikes named Michigan’s Mackinac Island the world’s most bicycle friendly city, scoring a 99 or better out of a possible 100 point in four categories. Although it’s not hard to be bike friendly on an island where cars are banned.

A wider sidewalk could have saved the life of a Boston bike rider, according to the leader of a safety advocacy group; the project had been approved, but construction wasn’t scheduled to begin until two weeks after the man’s death.

A new study from Connecticut’s Hartford Hospital is looking for older bike riders who have passed out while actively riding their bikes, then remained unconscious for several minutes, with no defensive injuries.

A Streetsblog New York op-ed says the city council’s proposal to register ebikes is “impossible to enforce, unnecessary and won’t even work,” while another post called it a Trojan Horse that would fuel anti-immigrant policing.

 

International

I want to be like her when I grow up. A 70-year old Bolivian woman conquered Bolivia’s “Death Road,” making her the oldest-ever competitor in the country’s 37-mile Skyrace, which she had helped found.

Taking a page from Culver City’s playbook, city officials in Bristol, England swear bicyclists will be just as happy with bus lanes as they would have been with bike lanes. Although in Culver City, we already had bike lanes until they ripped them out and replaced them with bus lanes.

 

Competitive Cycling

As we noted yesterday, this is your chance to buy a bike that’s been under your favorite cyclist’s butt during a Grand Tour or some other race.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can ride your mountain bike on an elevated monorail line. That feeling when you get busted at the airport for the crime of having a Garmin in your bag.

Or when you need advice from a car company on what bikes to buy to start riding with your family.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Update: Woman walking bicycle killed in double Fullerton collision; 1st driver stayed afterwards, 2nd driver fled

December 10, 2024 / / 4 comments

These days, there’s a one-in-three chance a Southern California driver will flee the scene after a fatal crash involving someone on a bicycle.

Yesterday, a pair of Fullerton drivers changed those odds to 50/50.

According to the Fullerton Observer, a woman was killed while walking a bicycling in the eastbound lanes of W. Orangethorpe Ave at Jefferson Ave around 8 pm Monday.

The victim was walking in the left lane of the six lane roadway when she was truck, first by a 32-year old driver in a black Lexus, then by the driver of light-colored pickup truck. Only the first driver bothered to stick around afterwards.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, died at the scene.

There’s no word on why she was walking in the left lane, although it’s possible she was just trying to cross the busy street.

This crash occurred just 2.3 miles from where another man was killed riding his bike on West Orangethorpe Ave and Campus Drive in April.

Anyone with information is urged to call Fullerton Police Traffic Accident Investigator Feaster at 714/738-6812, or via email jfeaster@fullertonpd.org. Anonymous tips can be sent to the Orange County Crime Stoppers at 1-855/TIP-OCCS.

This is at least the 54th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in Orange County.

Nineteen of those 54 deaths have involved hit-and-run drivers.

Update: Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin forwards news that the victim was 49-year old Cassandra Lea Morris; no address was given. 

One contributing factor is that crosswalks on the street are located half a mile apart, which would have meant going well out of her way if she was attempting to cross the street when she was killed.

Speed could have also been a factor on such a wide, straight street with limited traffic signals, which could easily have encouraged drivers to travel faster than the posted speed limit. 

This post from northocbikes and mikeocbike offers more context. 

Instagram post

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Cassandra Lea Morris and her loved ones. 

Thanks to Bill Sellin for his help in identifying the victim. 

 

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