January 1, 2025 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: Man riding a bicycle killed in New Year’s Day Rancho Mirage crash; first SoCal bicycling death this year
Well, that didn’t take long.
Just over ten hours into the new year, we’ve already seen the first person killed riding a bicycle in Southern California this year.
According to the press release, the driver of the SUV cooperated with investigators, and there was no indication that drugs or alcohol were factors in the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Riverside County Sheriff’s Deputy Thomas of the Palm Desert Sheriff’s Station at 760/836–1600.
He was described as a world-famous golf photographer, known for “capturing and showcasing the beauty and subtleties of landscapes and golf courses worldwide.”
December 24, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Vision Zero fail 8 days away, 2x CicLAvia donations now, and cop threatens 13-year old for riding on sidewalk with no lights
Just 8 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.
Thanks to William C, Steven F, Lorena C, Justin C and Joel F for their generous support to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!
This will be my last regularly scheduled news update this year, as I prepare to embark on my annual post-Christmas mental, physical and emotional breakdown, if I can just make it through tomorrow.
We’ll be back bright and early on January 2nd to catch up on anything important we may have missed over the next week.
And I’ll be around in case any breaking news needs your attention.
So please accept my best wishes for the holidays, however and whatever you celebrate. And may you and yours have a very healthy, happy and prosperous year to come.
Just remember to be careful out there, whether you’re riding, driving or walking. Because I don’t want to write about you or anyone else, unless maybe you interrupt your ride to rescue kittens from a burning building or something.
And a special thank you to everyone who has donated to this year’s fund drive. I can’t begin to tell you just how grateful I am.
Let’s just hope next year isn’t quite as challenging as this one has been.
Then he tackled the boy when he got off his bike, telling him to put his hands behind his back. And ended up threatening to tase the kid after he got scared and ran into his garage, while his brother called for their mom.
Yet the local police department insists the cop didn’t do anything wrong, although they did decide they need to rewrite the policy to require officers to identify themselves at the beginning of an encounter.
Gee, ya think?
And maybe teach their cops how not to escalate a situation that begins with a very minor traffic infraction committed by a little kid.
LA Metro will offer free rides all day today and New Years Eve on a buses and trains; the Metro Bike bikeshare will also be free from today through January 1st by using the code 010125.
State
Calbike considers the best and worst of 2024, from legislative wins to removal of the MOVE Culver City bike lanes. Although they criticized the short rollout time for the state ebike voucher program, without mentioning the botched launch itself.
Palo Alto is the latest California city to adopt Vision Zero, committing to eliminating traffic deaths within ten years. Let’s just hope they have better luck than some other CA cities I could name — and by “luck” I mean commit the money and resources necessary to actually improve safety, rather than just shove the plan on a shelf and forget about it.
Even though the local paper felt the need to note that he was riding brakeless, and wasn’t wearing a helmet, even though there’s no indication either had anything to do with it.
However, there’s still no word on how the crash occurred, or who may have been at fault. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with investigators; he hasn’t been ticketed or charged, though the crash remains under investigation.
And yes, the paper still felt the need to comment, without context, that Rodriguez didn’t have brakes or a helmet.
Whether his bike had brakes only matters if he was somehow unable to stop before riding out in front of the driver or crashing into him. And Rodriguez’ lack of a bike helmet shouldn’t make any difference unless he suffered a head injury, or his other injuries may have been survivable if he had one.
Anyone with information is urged to call Oxnard Police Officer Ivan Sanchez at 805/385-7749, or email ivan.sanchez@oxnardpd.org.
This is at least the 55th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the sixth that I’m aware of in Ventura County.
December 23, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Fundraiser for Long Beach woman injured in hit-and-run, more on CA ebike voucher fail, and undercharging killer drivers
Just 9 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.
Thanks to Jame S, Paul F, Patti A, David A, Penny S, SAFE, Patrick M and San M for they generous donations to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!
We usually never hear about bike riders injured by drivers unless someone gets killed.
If then.
That was the case once again in Long Beach this past October, when a staff member with the Long Beach Beer Lab suffered a spinal injury when she was struck by a cowardly hit-and-run driver while riding her bike to work.
A crowdfunding campaign has raised over $8,500 of the relatively modest $10,000 goal, which will likely cover only a small fraction of Julie’s medical expenses.
So it’s okay if you skip donating to the BikinginLA Fund Drive this year, as long as the money goes to help her out, instead.
“E-bikes help address two pressing problems in the state: pollution from transportation sources and the need to increase mobility options for people who need the boost the most,” said Lisa Macumber, Branch Chief of CARB’s Equitable Mobility Incentives Branch. “The program is a reflection of California’s innovation in finding air quality solutions and its commitment to ensuring that no one is left behind in a zero emissions future.”
And by targeting the program to lower-income people who need it the most — presumably meaning those without other means of transportation — they appear to be aiming it at people who would otherwise use relatively clean mass transit, as opposed to those who drive dirty gas-burning private vehicles.
Which would have exactly the opposite effect of addressing pollution from transportation source.
Just two more example of how badly this program has been planned and rolled out.
Yet she was only charged and convicted on a misdemeanor for killing the little boy, along with a second misdemeanor count she previously admitted to for deleting texts from her phone — including one sent just 11 seconds before the crash.
Kindhearted cops in Gilbert, Arizona gave a new bike to a six-year old girl, after hers was stolen during a recent trip to the park, when officers saw a post from the girl’s mom on Nextdoor.
San Francisco cops fatally shot a security guard as he worked outside the Dior store in Union Square, after a bizarre chain of events that began when an ebike rider allegedly scratched his SUV; he then hit two girls coming out of a Chipotle when he jumped a curb while chasing the bike rider with his car.
The Los Angeles Times considers the furor over the planned closure of San Francisco’s beachfront Great Highway, which will be transformed into a walking and biking path, as auto-centric residents launch a recall attempt against a local councilmember who backed the plan — apparently forgetting that the proposal was approved by city voters in not one, but two recent elections. Never mind that part of the highway is already falling into the sea.
Construction began on a “controversial” protected bike lane in Denver, after the city scaled it back to preserve parking spaces; a driver crashed into a home on the street Thursday night, which could have been prevented if the bike lane had already been in place.
Organizers of Cleveland’s St. Paddy’s Day parade claim they’re being pushed off their preferred street by a new bike lane, which the city’s mayor termed a “$25 million…once-in-a-generation infrastructure investment to improve traffic safety, provide equitable transportation options, and beautify the street.” Seriously, how much room do a bunch of drunk people need to stumble down the street, anyway?
Yet another study has confirmed that people who bike to work tend to live longer — this time an 18-year study involving more than 82,000 Scottish adults, which showed that bike commuting “significantly lowers the risk of early death, hospitalizations, and a range of chronic illnesses.”
A Thai social media influencer learns that hard way that if you’re going to film a video on the train tracks to promote bicycling to your followers, maybe do it after all the trains have passed.
Mathieu van der Poel is considering skipping next year’s Tour de France to concentrate on winning a world title in mountain biking, after underwhelming performances since making his debut in 2021.
That feeling when local officials ban parking in a bike lane, only to realize it was a typo. We may have to deal with flighty LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about getting chased by an ostrich; thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.
Just 11 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.
Thanks to Samer S for a generous donation to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming to your favorite screen every morning.
This year’s fund drive has seen 54 people give anything from $5 to $500. And trust me, I appreciate every dime, because I know how hard it can be to donate when money is tight.
Quite a few cyclists use Forest Lawn to get to car-free roads inside Griffith Park. It’s one of the flattest routes from the East San Fernando Valley to central parts of Los Angeles. Some cyclists avoid Forest Lawn because of speeding car traffic there.
Many drivers use Forest Lawn Drive to cut through the park to get on and off the 134 Freeway. Though the posted speed limits are 40-45 mph, drivers often exceed 50 mph on a road with limited visibility due to curves. Predictably, this situation results in crashes, injuries, and deaths.
According to the city Transportation Department (LADOT), from 2013 to 2023 Forest Lawn Drive saw 83 crashes, including three deaths/serious injuries. In December 2022, a driver was crushed to death (and another hospitalized) in a two-car crash in front of Forest Lawn Memorial Park.
Yet for the cemeteries and their supporters, that’s no big deal. I guess when you have thousands of bodies already, what’s a few more?
Never mind all the close calls people have experienced that haven’t resulted in actual collisions. Which is why I stopped using the street, regardless of whether I was driving or riding.
According to Linton, commenters at a pair of recent public meetings, including a representative of the cemeteries, voiced concerns about a lack a lack of data from the city, and creating a permanent traffic disaster.
Even though the city had gone back to the drawing board after the initial designs were presented, conducting more traffic studies and watering down the project.
And even though the city had just presented their data, which showed that the project, which would reduce the current two lanes in each direction with one lane each way, along with bike lanes and a center turn lane, would have no noticeable effect on traffic times.
You can guess what the reaction was, often prefaced with “no one is against biking,” or the evergreen “I’m a cyclist myself.”
As Linton relates,
(Forest Lawn Memorial Parks CEO Darin) Drabing termed the city’s safety improvements “unbelievable,” “unfathomable,” “unnecessary,” and “punishing.” “I just find it unfathomable that we would have to take away fifty percent of the traffic flow in order to… make [bike lanes] more prominent and more secure.” (Note the LADOT does not anticipate taking away any of the traffic flow, but expects that reducing four lanes to three will easily accommodate existing and anticipated traffic.)
Mount Sinai’s Randy Schwab noted that he was in “total agreement” with Drabing. He spoke of “traffic accidents” occurring there “on a blind curve” but then reiterated his opposition to planned safety measures. “Bicycle activity is relatively low” on Forest Lawn Drive and, according to Schwab, “to reduce the traffic by cars by fifty percent” would be “catastrophic” and result in “back up throughout the area.”
Maybe someone could explain to them that a) the project is intended to improve safety for all road users, not just add bike lanes; and b) maybe the reason that “bicycle activity is relatively low” is that people just don’t feel safe riding there.
At the end of one of the meetings, Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council voted 14-3 to oppose the project.
Which isn’t saying much, of you’ve ever attended one of their meetings.
I have, and vowed never to go back after the rude reception I received, particularly from the head of the NC, who runs it like her own fiefdom.
Fortunately, the Neighborhood Council is merely an advisory board, and the final decision rests with CD4 Councilmember Nithya Raman, who generally supports bikeways.
But money talks. And in Los Angeles, it too often screams, especially when huge corporations like Forest Lawn get involved.
So if you ride, drive or walk along Forest Lawn Drive — or would like to, if the damn thing felt any safer — take a few minutes to read Linton’s full article, and voice your support for the project on LADOT’s survey form.
Because we’re all going to end up someplace like Forest Lawn or Mount Sinai eventually.
But most of us would like to put that off as long as possible.
That’s true whether you were one of the estimated 100,000 people left frustrated when they tried to apply, or what’s probably an even larger group who decided in advance that it just wasn’t worth the effort, expecting the launch to go pretty much the way it did.
Count me in the latter group.
The only real surprise is that the demand didn’t crash the website, which I would have bet on.
The sad part is we can’t expect them to make any changes, because the launch went off as designed.
So they will continue to dribble out the remaining $35 million in funding just a few million at a time, throttling applications because the group hired to manage the vouchers apparently can’t handle the demand.
To call this a failure is being kind.
But it’s also a success, because this is exactly what they intended.
As long as you keep a clean driving record in California, you won’t have to take another driver’s test for decades, if ever.
Which means many, if not most, drivers on our streets have never been tested on recent law changes, and may not be familiar with them or modern street treatments.
So drivers end up confused by something that is only new to them. And too often, local officials respond by reversing the changes, rather than educating the drivers.
Keeping the roadway, and the people on it, just as dangerous as ever.
………
Gravel Bike California rockets around the hills of Whittier.
And if you might even get to see a recruitment ad for the CIA first, like I did.
A local men’s service organization in Navasota, Texas is hosting its third annual Bike and Electric Scooter giveaway this weekend, with plans to distribute over 1,000 bikes and scooters to kids. And no, I never heard of Navasota, either.
Police in San Luis Obispo arrested a 44-year old Bend, Oregon woman for the the July 23rd hit-and-run that killed an 87-year old man riding a bicycle, and injured a 74-year old rider; she had previously been arrested for a second crash that occurred minutes later, while driving at over four times the legal alcohol limit.
Fuming British residents slam “eco-vandalism” after ten trees were removed for a new bike lane, “all for the odd cyclist.” I freely admit to being more than a little odd, but…oh, they meant it the other way. Never mind.
Just 12 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.
Thanks to Stephen C and Todd T for their generous donations to bring you all the best bike news and advocacy from around the corner, and around the world.
The California Ebike Incentive Program actually launched yesterday, so we can finally stop our failure to launch countdown, after nearly a full year since it’s previously promised launch date, and three-and-a-half years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law.
Now if they could just a) get their collective shit together, and b) at least make some effort to meet the demand.
I’m told this was the typical experience for people attempting to apply for an ebike voucher.
1) Attempt to login at exactly 6 pm
2) When that fails, attempt to login again, and again
3) Keep trying to login until you finally get in
4) Get a message saying you are in a very long line to apply
This message was received by someone attempting to apply at exactly 6:30 pm and 23 seconds.
That was followed by,
5. Attempt to login again an hour later
6. Get the following message when they finally let you in
So far, everyone I’ve heard from has had a similar experience. And I’ve yet to hear from, or even about, anyone who actually got a voucher.
Though I’m sure there has to be someone, somewhere.
Seriously, though we’ve been predicting this for months, if not years.
The initial funding of a paltry $3 million is ridiculously low for a state of 38 million people, even when limiting applications to lower-income residents, ensuring that demand would far exceed the available funds.
And outside administrator Queue-it appeared to throttle the application process, ensuring that only a handful of people fortunate to get in on the first or second try would even get a chance to apply.
I’m told the problem may have stemmed from Queue-it launching the program a few minutes early, so that people who attempted to log in at 6 pm had already been blocked by those fortunate few who coincidentally tried to login ahead of time.
Unless, of course, those people somehow knew the window would open before 6 pm. But that would be cheating, right?
At lease the website didn’t crash, as has happened in other states.
Let’s be honest, though.
This program, as now established, is just an underfunded joke.
Not around 1,500, which is how many ebike incentives were predicted to be funded in the first round.
And without the interminable three-month between application windows faced by ebike buyers.
While those EVs are much cleaner than gas-powered cars, they are still cars. They take up just as much space, and pose just as much risk to others as any other car, while contributing the same amount of particulate pollution from brake, tire and roadway wear.
Ebikes don’t.
Ebikes can easily replace car trips of up to ten miles – which represents the overwhelming majority of motor vehicle trips — while removing nearly one car for every ebike pressed into service.
Ebikes are also much cleaner than even zero-emission vehicles, requiring significantly less energy to operate, and contributing almost no wear and tear to the road surface.
And ped-assist ebikes work to improve the health of the user, unlike motor vehicles, which reduce life expectancies with every mile driven.
Never mind that limiting ebike rebates to lower-income residents is counterproductive in a state with more cars than people. Or that Pedal Ahead, the group administering the program for the California Air Resources Board, is currently the subject of a criminal investigation by the state DOJ.
Other cities and states have tied vouchers to a commitment to replace or reduce motor vehicle usage, making them more efficient at replacing motor vehicles than California’s misguided approach of only funding ebikes for people who may not be able to afford a car in the first place.
But at least the launch wasn’t a total shitshow.
So there’s that.
………
Early indications are that the lane reduction and protected bike lanes on east Hollywood Boulevard are improving safety, according to councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez.
But as usual, that’s not good enough for local business owners, who complain that their apparently nearsighted customers can’t see their stores, since they now have to park a few feet from the curb.
Sure, that makes sense.
They also complain that drivers have to wait while other cars park, and that fewer lanes cause traffic to slow down.
Which is kinda the point, yes.
Although that would seem to benefit local businesses by making their businesses more apparent to drivers who would otherwise speed past, just like they did before.
Ghost bikes make drivers uncomfortable, which is exactly the point, reminding them to drive safely because the cost could be another human life.
And they make city officials uncomfortable, because they offer a stark reminder of their failure to build streets that protect the lives of their residents.
So while they may offer some silly excuse like ghost bikes are unsightly, or get in the way — as if officially sanctioned objects like homeowner trashcans don’t — the real real reason can be found in their red faces, sweaty brows and tight collars.
This is who we share the road with. A police chase has once again taken the life of an innocent victim, this time in Fullerton, where a driver fleeing from the cops caused a multi-vehicle pileup, killing a woman in her 60s; this was the suspect’s second crash of the chase, which really should have convinced pursuing cops to break it off and track him by other means just a tad less risky to the public.
It’s back behind bars for a former Florida bridgetender convicted of failing to look before opening a drawbridge while a woman was walking across it, causing her to fall to her death; she will now serve ten years for violating her probation for the original conviction by smoking cannabis to help her sleep. Then again, I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I caused that, either.
A Toronto collision sent two pedestrians and a man riding a bicycle to the hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, after they were collateral damage in a multi-vehicle crash. Once again pointing out the danger motor vehicles and the people who drive them pose to everyone around them.
December 18, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Los Angeles ranks 15th in new Urban Mobility Readiness Index, and making sense of New York ebike registration
Just 13 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.
As long as you’re willing to view a brief ad, that is.
………
UC Berkeley and the Oliver Wyman Forum have released this year’s Urban Mobility Readiness Index, which ranks 70 cities worldwide on the basis of how well they’re preparing for the future of transportation.
Momentumreports has Paris moved up six spots to second in the index, behind only San Francisco, thanks to a “generational” investment in bicycling infrastructure and public transportation, while de-emphasizing motor vehicles as it moves to create the 15-minute city.
San Francisco retained first place for the second year in a row due to its heavy investment in autonomous vehicles and electric vehicle charging facilities.
Although an autonomous car is still a car, and still takes up the same amount of space on the roadway, while using the rest of us as beta testing subjects. Willingly or otherwise.
As for Los Angeles, we check in at a surprising 15th, despite a mediocre score for sustainable mobility and a deservedly dismal rating for public transit. What saves us is a second-place score for technology adaptation.
Yet without breaking down how the crashed occurred, or who was at fault.
Here’s what PeopleForBikes has to say about it.
Over that same roughly five-year period, the number of people who lost their lives in New York City in a crash involving only an e-mobility device climbed from zero a few years earlier to 11 in 2023. That same year, eight cyclists and two pedestrians lost their lives in crashes that did not involve an e-mobility device or motor vehicle. As one might expect, crashes involving motor vehicles were the deadliest, taking the lives of another 22 cyclists, nine e-mobility users, 101 pedestrians, and 112 vehicle occupants. Despite the grim data clearly showing the dangers posed by motor vehicles to all road users, there has unfortunately been an increased focus on e-mobility devices (collectively and often incorrectly referred to as “e-bikes” in the public discourse) as particularly threatening. As the data clearly shows, New York City streets do present a real and present danger for operating an e-bike or e-scooter.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) both issued reports showing that the growth in popularity of e-mobility devices over the last five years has led to a significant increase in crashes and fatalities nationwide. Appendix B to the NTSB report reveals exactly where these fatalities occurred. Of the 53 reported e-bike fatalities nationwide from 2017 to 2022, 25 occurred in one of the five boroughs of New York City and two more occurred in neighboring cities in New Jersey. New York City had 47% of nationwide e-bike fatalities even though its residents only account for about 2.5% of the U.S. population. So just why is that?…
What is it about New York City in particular that led it to have both 72% of the fire deaths and 47% of the e-bike related deaths from traffic violence? This may be an instance where we should blame the e-bikes, because New York City has a type of e-bike that exists nowhere else on the planet.
According to group, the problem is that Gotham officials made a major boo-boo when they approved ebikes just five years ago, creating Class 3 for throttle-controlled ebikes offering a top speed of 25 mph, which is significantly faster than allowed in other states.
What happened in New York City was that no major e-bike manufacturer was willing to make an e-bike that (1) wasn’t legal to sell or operate anywhere else and (2) was likely subject to federal motor vehicle safety regulations.
The result should have been foreseeable in 2020 but has now become painfully clear in hindsight. Thousands of cheap e-bikes with unsafe speed capability and low quality batteries were made by a few foreign companies and sold to a vulnerable population. The names of these companies are well known to authorities. These companies do not have to bother with quality control, safety compliance, or product liability insurance because they are largely beyond the reach of government regulators and our judicial system. These low-quality e-bikes and batteries were sold not through traditional bike shops, but through e-bike stores that popped up all over the city to cash in on the growing demand for food delivery.
However, New York’s heavy-handed approach requires regulation of all ebikes, including ped-assist bicycles and otherwise safely-made bikes that meet restrictions from other states.
PeopleForBikes offers a few broad suggestions, starting with eliminating the city’s uniquely dangerous Class 3 classification, and modifying federal rules that allow inexpensive ebikes shipped directly to consumers to bypass federal restrictions and inspections.
But whatever the answer is, requiring registration and license plates for slower, ped-assist and safely-made ebikes isn’t it.
Visitors who come to city centres by bike or on foot visit more frequently and spend less per visit compared to those who arrive by car. Over a longer period, however, cyclists and pedestrians contribute significantly more to city centre spending than commonly thought. In short, they represent an underestimated group for the economic vitality of city centres.
This is a key finding from a national Dutch study conducted by the Platform for City Centre Management, BRO, and Movares on the relationship between spending and visitors’ choice of transportation. The study, conducted in collaboration with 18 Dutch city centres, took place in September 2023. Currently, in 2024, the study is repeated with 20 other Dutch and Flemish city centres.
That finding has held firm whether the study involves downtown areas or the effects of suburban bike lanes.
So you’d think business owners would fight to get bike lanes and pedestrian amenities, rather than fighting them.
But you would be wrong.
Whether in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago or virtually any and every other city, they consistently shoot themselves in the tootsies by opposing the very bike and pedestrian projects that would benefit their bottom lines.
………
Clearly, not everyone is a fan of the new South Bay bike lanes. Take a look yourself, and let them know what you think.
………
Let’s take a trip to the not too distant past, and take a look at bicycles in the USSR.
It’s now just two days short of a full year since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failureto 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 US Department of Transportation has introduced an updated equity tool, allowing “state and local governments to prioritize transportation investments that benefit disadvantaged communities.” Although equity is not expected to be a priority for the next administration. Or transportation, for that matter.
Bristol, England will finally install closed-circuit TV cams on a popular bike trail to combat a rampant rate of bikejackings, which has led many riders to abandon it and take their chances on the roads. Which raises the obvious question of how can it be so popular if no one uses it anymore?
British Cycling is setting its sights on the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics, with a record breaking £38.95 million pound investment — the equivalent of over $49 million — in its cycling and paracycling teams.
December 17, 2024 /
bikinginla / 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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
December 16, 2024 /
bikinginla / 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.
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!
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
US Weeklysummarizes 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.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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.
