Update: Man riding bicycle killed after allegedly running red light in San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood early Tuesday

March 10, 2026 / / No comments

For the second time already this year, someone has been killed riding a bicycle in San Diego’s Pacific Beach neighborhood.

But at least this time, it wasn’t a little kid.

According to multiple sources, a man was killed after allegedly riding his bike in front of an oncoming car early Tuesday morning.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding south on Fanuel Street at Grand Ave shortly before 1 am, when he attempted to turn right onto Grand and was struck by the westbound driver.

He died at the scene.

There are sharrows on Grand, which could have given him an illusion of safety.

However, there’s no explanation at this time why he turned in front on the oncoming motorist, although it’s possible that he may have gone into the traffic lane to avoid parked cars in the residential neighborhood.

Police said that alcohol was not a factor in the crash.

Anyone with information is urged to call San Diego County Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-888/580-8477; it’s not clear why they don’t want people to call the police directly.

This the 18th bicycling fatality that I’m aware of in Southern California this year, and the third in San Diego County.

Update: The victim has been identified as 60-year old Jamison Kimbrough. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jamison Kimbrough and his loved ones.

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

Move along, nothing to see here — the world is spinning around, the world is upside down edition

March 10, 2026 / / One comment

My apologies once again.

Sunday’s migraine left me vertically challenged, with a major case of vertigo. Hopefully my world will stop spinning around, and we’ll be back on Wednesday.

Fingers crossed.

Category: General /

Move along, nothing to see here — exploding head edition

March 8, 2026 / / No comments

My apologies.

Whether it’s due to the time change, the change in weather, or the blood sugar roller coaster I’ve been on today — or any combination thereof — I’m down for the count with a killer migraine.

I’ll be on Tuesday when my head’s not exploding.

Category: General /

Marathon crash ride early this Sunday, LA blocks the will of 2/3 of voters, and US Bicycle Leadership Conference

March 6, 2026 / / No comments

We mentioned it the other day.

However, David wants me to remind you about Sunday’s Marathon Crash Ride, which follows the traffic-free route of the LA Marathon in the wee hours before all those runners and walkers take it over.

And he’s not the only one who thinks it’s one of the year’s best bike rides in LA every year.

Photo by Laurence Hamdy from Pexels.

………

Los Angeles has replaced the heady scent of asphalt with the pungent smell of bullshit.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the sad two-year history of Measure HLA, and the city’s so-far successful efforts to block any progress in implementing the measure.

HLA has a very simple premise. The measure, championed by Streets For All and passed with a two-thirds margin by Los Angeles voters, requires that the city implement its already approved mobility plan anytime a significant portion of a street in it gets resurfaced.

But instead of following the clear will of the voters, the city has implemented a lousy 300 feet — the length of a football field, sans end zones — since the measure was passed.

City officials have gone so far as to invent the entirely fictional descriptive “large asphalt repair” instead of resurfacing streets, leaving just a small strip of unpaved asphalt to avoid triggering the requirements of HLA, as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Consider this one section from Linton’s article.

June 2024 – City departments started announcing that they had an HLA plan. LADOT and StreetsLA stated that they were working together on “a joint work plan” for the coming fiscal year starting July 2024. As of June 4, DOT and StreetsLA claimed that their HLA work plan “is currently being finalized and will be made publicly available in coming weeks.” In late June LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo stated that DOT had submitted its list of project-ready Mobility Plan corridors to StreetsLA.

For several months Streetsblog requested that the city share the HLA work plan. In September, StreetsLA claimed that the “StreetsLA/LADOT work plan for FY 24-25 is in the final stages of assessment, and we expect it to be finalized this month. This work plan will serve as this fiscal year’s blueprint for bicycle facilities that require resurfacing or other paving treatments in order to be implemented.”

No plan, draft or final, was ever released.

HLA gives the public the option of suing the city if they fail to implement the measure when a street is resurfaced. But there’s no legal recourse when Los Angeles officials simply refuse to resurface anything.

At this point, the only apparent option is to remember that this is an election year, with a primary in June and the general election in November, as Mayor Karen “Do Nothing” Bass is up for re-election, along with half of the city council.

Which makes this the best possible time to pressure candidates to commit to implementing Measure HLA. Or simply pull the lever for someone else in the voting booth.

I’ve spoken to a number of people in recent weeks, of all political stripes. And I’ve yet to find anyone who plans to vote for Karen Bass.

Myself included.

………

People For Bikes is bringing their Bicycle Leadership Conference to Dana Point for three days, starting on St. Patrick’s Day.

Which is appropriate, because it’ll cost you a lot of green to get in.

Here’s a (very long) press release for the event.

Bicycle Leadership Conference Convenes Industry’s Most Senior Leaders at a Defining Moment for the Bike Business

PeopleForBikes will host the 2026 Bicycle Leadership Conference (BLC) March 17–19 at the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa in Dana Point, California, bringing together the most senior concentration of bicycle industry leadership in the event’s history.

The gathering comes at a pivotal moment for the bike business as leaders across the industry navigate continued trade volatility, waning consumer confidence, margin compression, evolving e-bike regulations, participation shifts, and increasing pressure to define and protect the bicycle category.

Headlining the conference are three of the most influential figures in modern bicycling:

  • John Burke, President of Trek Bicycle
  • Phoebe Liu, CEO of Giant Group
  • Mike Sinyard, Founder of Specialized Bicycle Components

Together, their presence reflects a rare alignment of executive leadership, global manufacturing scale, and multigenerational industry stewardship.

Burke will present the U.S. Congressman James L. Oberstar Awards for Outstanding Advocacy Leadership. Liu will deliver a keynote focused on ESG integration and long-term supply chain strategy. Sinyard will outline his vision for expanding youth cycling participation through Outride as a foundation for sustained industry growth.

The 2026 conference also features California State Senator Catherine S. Blakespear, who will join a session focused on the growing e-moto problem at a time when states are reconsidering electric bicycle definitions. Her participation underscores the industry’s active engagement in protecting the three-class e-bike framework and ensuring high-powered electric motorbikes are not misrepresented as e-bikes. This distinction is critical to safety, access, and protecting the e-bike category nationwide.

A Leadership Agenda for a Complex Market

The BLC program is structured around four themes: leadership and vision, market forces and public policy, innovation and technology, and data and intelligence.

Sessions will address federal trade and tariff strategy, e-bike classification and category protection, youth cycling participation, artificial intelligence, operational efficiency, cross-category profitability, and the launch of the PeopleForBikes Data Suite.

“We are not spectators in this moment,” said Jenn Dice, president and CEO of PeopleForBikes. “When trade policy is debated, this industry has a voice and must lean in. When category confusion threatens our future, this industry has a coordinated response. The leaders in this room are not just reacting to change, they are directly shaping what comes next.”

Over the past year, PeopleForBikes led senior-level engagement across federal agencies, Capitol Hill, and state legislatures while organizing industry comments, model legislation, and rapid-response communications on trade and category issues. The 2026 BLC builds on that coordination, bringing CEOs into direct alignment around shared priorities rather than isolated advocacy.

“This is where collaboration becomes leverage,” said José Maldonado, chief marketing officer and BLC director at PeopleForBikes. “Trade strategy, e-bike category protection, infrastructure investment, and participation growth are not separate conversations. They require senior alignment and collaboration. The concentration of executive leadership at this year’s BLC reflects that understanding.”

Alignment Beyond the Stage

The BLC week opens with a reception featuring remarks from Burke and recognition of Oberstar Award honorees Daniel Langenkamp and Jill and Michael White, families who became national advocates for safer streets in response to personal tragedies.

Morning group rides — including guided road rides, mountain bike rides led by Hans Rey and Richie Schley, and a townie e-bike ride, provide small-group environments for extended discussion among executives.

PeopleForBikes will also present its Bicycle Leadership Honors, recognizing industry members whose lifetime achievement, rising leadership, outstanding service, catalytic change, and philanthropic guidance are shaping the future of bicycling and the bike business.

Early registration data reflects presidents, founders, CEOs, general managers, board members, and international trade leaders representing major global brands, retailers, suppliers, and advocacy organizations.

Registration remains open, but limited spots are available.

See the full 2026 BLC agenda and register today.

………

Calbike wants you to demand a more complete state highway bill.

Demand a Better 2026 SHOPP

Every two years, California approves a massive spending plan for the state’s highways. It’s called the State Highway Operations and Protection Program (SHOPP) and at several billion dollars per cycle, it’s the single largest pot of money Caltrans controls. It funds repaving, bridge repairs, safety upgrades, and more across thousands of miles of state roads.

It also, by law, must fund safe infrastructure for people who walk, bike, and take transit. That law is the Complete Streets Bill, sponsored by CalBike, SB 960, passed in 2024. It requires that each SHOPP make measurable progress toward 10-year targets for bike lanes, sidewalks, and crosswalks on the state highway system. It was a hard-won victory, an acknowledgment that California’s highways aren’t just for cars, and that Caltrans has a legal obligation to build streets that work for everyone.

The California Transportation Commission has the authority to approve or reject the SHOPP, and to recommend that Caltrans fix it before they do. Send them a message now and tell them to stand up for Complete Streets.

Click through for an email response form and sample message.

………

It’s looks like the long hope-for extension of the Ballona Creek bike path is really becoming a reality.

Twitter post

………

It also looks like the long-gestating Mid-City Greenways are finally taking shape.

Bluesky post

………

ActiveSGV wants to know what you want the San Gabriel Valley to be, on behalf of the San Gabriel Valley Collaborative.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/2029600251372335140

………

Metro Bike is hosting a virtual bikeshare workshop on Thursday. Although just to be clear, it’s the workshop that’s virtual, not the bikeshare.

You’ll also get a free 30 day pass for participating.

………

Our old friends Walk ‘n Rollers is hosting a Westwood ride on March 21st.

Speaking of which, their Walk ‘n Roll Festival will take place in Exposition Park from 11 am to 3 pm March 14th, complete with free bike skills courses, helmets and tuneups.

………

Clearly, Black Girls Do Bike. And have for a very long time.

Bluesky post

………

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

No bias here. British bike riders were in disbelief after a traffic safety group tells bicyclists to give parked cars a one meter — roughly three feet — passing distance to avoid getting doored, but fails to offer any advice on how motorists can avoid dooring someone.

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

A Singapore bike rider got hit with a hefty five grand fine for blocking a traffic lane for half an hour when he mistakenly thought a driver had “inched out” while he was riding in a crosswalk.

Spanish motorcycle racer Aleix Espargaró was criticized after a driver posted video of him passing cars on the left while descending on a training ride on his bicycle, pretty much riding like he would on a motorbike.

Instagram post

………

Local 

Cafecita Coffee will host a group bike ride this Sunday for International Women’s Day, beginning and ending with coffee at Cafecita. Although with a route that includes Mulholland Drive, the ride promises to be scenic, but not exactly family friendly. 

If you’re not busy Tuesday night, Metro Bike wants your input on where the bikeshare system should expand.

 

State

The inaugural Bike the Coast Ventura come back to Ventura coast for the first time this June, offering rides of 17, 35 and 65 miles.

 

National

If you’re one of the 40,000 people who bought a Concord 360 Degree Rechargeable Light-Up bike helmet from Walmart, the Consumer Products Commission says to stop using it immediately because it poses a risk of death in the event of a crash or fall. Which is probably a bad thing.

An Ashland, Oregon school has offered the nation’s only standalone certified training program for bike mechanics for more than 40 years.

Rad Power Bikes is apparently rising from the dead, after South Florida-based Life EV bought what’s left of the moribund Seattle e-bikemaker in bankruptcy court.

A 57-year old Brooklyn man riding a bicycle was repeatedly stabbed by a woman who approached him at 3 am, and attacked him with a sharp object for no apparent reason.

A professor of environmental management and the principal of Urban Cycling Solutions joins the parade condemning New Jersey’s draconian and wrong-headed crackdown on ebikes.

Bicyclists in Columbia, South Carolina say the state’s capital is on its way to becoming a bicycling city.

Georgia Public Radio observes a ghost bike ceremony for a fallen bicyclist, killed by a motorist outside of Macon last year.

 

International

The father of a five-year-old girl who was knocked down by a bicyclist on a Belgium pathway on Christmas Day 2020 has won his appeal of a lawsuit filed by the guy on the bike, who claimed he was defamed by a viral video of the incident; not only was the case dismissed, but the bike rider was ordered to pay the equivalent of nearly $2,400 in costs after the judge concluded the video was a matter of freedom of expression.

The Irish Times says there’s a reason there’s only one bicycle parked outside a Dublin school, as the lack of a bike lane means it’s not safe for people walking, let alone riding a bicycle.

A writer for Cycling Weekly takes extreme riding to the limits with a snowy nine-hour ride through Norway in the middle of winter.

 

Competitive Cycling

Three-time winner Tadej Pogačar now has a dirt section of the Strade Bianche course named for him, just days before the Saturday race.

Aussie pro Michael Matthews is out of action for the foreseeable future after breaking both his wrists in a training crash.

And this is what a real cyclist looks like.

Bluesky post

 

Finally…

Yes, bicycle gymnastics really is a thing. Your bike helmet has an expiration date.

And what’s so funny about someone riding a Penny Farthing?

Or peace, love and understanding, for that matter.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Op-ed argues ebike laws are “tyranny on wheels,” dad modifies ebike to do 60 mph, and Palm Spring bike rider critically injured

March 5, 2026 / / 2 comments

He gets it.

In a Washington Post op-ed, a Virginia bicyclist and writer builds an effective case that new laws cracking down on ebikes are going too far, “making a basic form of transportation and a familiar element of childhood less accessible.”

In fact, he calls said laws “tyranny on wheels.”

Kevin R. Parker explains that ebikes make the bicycles that gave him a sense of freedom as a child more accessible for people who might not want, or be able, to ride.

But laws like New Jersey’s draconian new restrictions that treat every form of ebike the same destroys that newfound accessibility.

The justification for New Jersey’s legislation is safety. A 13-year-old boy was killed on an e-bike when he collided with a landscaping truck in September, and there are real safety concerns for riders and pedestrians when it comes to faster and more powerful e-bikes. E-bikes that hit high speeds can be a problem. But the law doesn’t distinguish between different kinds of e-bikes when it comes to licenses, registration and age limits. A 70-year-old on a pedal-assist bike riding to the grocery store is treated identically to a teenager on a powerful e-bike doing 40 mph. The proposed regulations are a blunt instrument that restricts transportation options and increases cost for people,

New Jersey isn’t alone. Cities across the country are debating new regulations, and not just for e-bikes. After Murphy signed the bill into law, New Hampshire introduced a bill requiring a $50 annual registration fee on all bicycles that operate on paths, roads or trails funded by state or local government, including children’s bikes. In California, progressive Bay Area communities have moved to ban or restrict e-bikes on paths and in public parks — the same communities that spent years and millions promoting alternatives to cars, now cracking down on the most effective alternative.

We’ve seen similar moves up and down the Southern California coast, as cities crack down on ebikes of every kind, repeatedly conflating electric motorcycles and non-street legal dirt bikes with far slower and less powerful ped-assist bikes.

The answer, Parker says, isn’t found in the usual progressive arguments. Instead, he offers a case that should appeal just as well to conservatives, if not better.

Freedom.

Activists fighting e-bike restrictions frame it as climate policy or transportation equity. The political language focuses on progressive political priorities. There’s a stronger argument to be made based on personal liberty: State governments are restricting personal mobility and imposing licensing and registration on bike riders across the board. There are reckless e-bike riders who break the rules of the road and put themselves and other citizens at risk. If they violate the speed limit, ignore traffic lights or blow through stop signs, local law enforcement should hold them responsible. But by pursuing aggressive blanket regulation, policymakers are making a basic form of transportation and a familiar element of childhood less accessible.

Works for me.

Hopefully, it will work for members of the California state legislature when they consider SB 1167, which would redefine electric bicycles, mopeds and motorbikes to create a clear distinction between them.

This is how I explained it last month.

The bill would require that an electric bicycle must have fully operational pedals and an electric motor capable of no more than 750 watts; anything else could not be legally called, marketed or sold as a bicycle or ebike.

What is currently termed a motorized bicycle would be redefined as a moped, with clearer definitions of vehicle design, power output, and a top speed of 30 mph on level ground.

The term motor-driven cycles would include electric motorcycles offering less than 3,750 watts and 5 brake horsepower.

Both categories would require that manufacturers and marketers clearly specify that they are not electric bicycles.

The bill represents a rare case of successfully splitting the baby, allowing restrictions on high-power electric motos while maintaining the freedom offered by lower-speed ped-assist ebikes.

Let’s hope it passes intact.

And not the other one.

………

Apropos of the above discussion, an Orange County candidate for Father of the Year faces charges after his son was seriously injured running a red light and crashing into a car on a modified ebike.

it seems dear old dad helped his son convert the bike to an electric motorcycle by replacing the pedals with motorbike pegs, removing the 20 mph speed governor, and rewiring the engine to do up to 60 mph.

Let’s hope he at least bought the kid a helmet.

………

Bad news from Palm Springs, where a bicyclist was critically injured in a collision yesterday morning, after allegedly riding into the path of an oncoming vehicle, and being struck by the driver.

That driver’s car was then rear-ended by another driver, because of course it was.

However, only person on the bike was injured.

………

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

You’ve got to be kidding. A Pennsylvania driver is accused of intentionally hitting a boy on a bicycle in a road-rage incident that lasted multiple blocks; the man claimed he didn’t hit the kid on purpose, even though security video shows him blaring on his horn before attempting to cut the boy’s bike off, then ramming him from behind at a red light even though he had plenty of room to stop. He also claimed “he would have never struck the kid if the kid had stayed in his lane,” and bizarrely blamed the boy for purposely trying to upset him. Somehow, I’m guess that the only thing the kid did to purposely upset him was riding his bike in front of the guy’s car. 

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Streetsblog’s StreetSmart podcast offers a comprehensive compendium of what transportation bills are moving forward in the California legislature, and what isn’t.

A 61-year old heart transplant recipient set out from Ocean Beach on a 3,000-mile bike ride to St. Augustine, Florida to raise awareness about the need for organ donors. Meanwhile, Southern California drivers do their part to create more every day. 

A Hesperia family is hoping to win an adaptive bicycle for their 13-year old special needs son who suffered more than a dozen strokes after getting a virus two years ago, leaving him with permanent brain damage.

An Oakland man received a $400,000 settlement after he suffered a fractured skull, concussion, multiple spinal fractures, broken nose, ligament tears, and lacerations to his face, neck and shoulders when his bike hit a pothole that was obscured by shadows and a bend in the road.

The Bay Area’s Caltrain commuter line does exactly the wrong thing to address overcrowded bike cars by banning oversized bikes, such as cargo bikes, as well as bikes with panniers, both commonly used by bike commuters, instead of merely adding more space. Because that would just be crazy, right?

No bias here. An editorial from The Marin Independent Journal argues that a $52.6 million plan to re-open the 142-year old abandoned railroad Alto Tunnel for use by bicyclists and pedestrians is just too costly to consider. Never mind that it’s a fraction of the estimated $270 million cost to build a new highway bridge, which they didn’t seem to have a problem with. 

A Davis petition calls on the city to recognize and improve the nation’s first bike lane, built nearly 60 years ago.

 

National

Swedish pop star Zara Larsson is one of us, joining Portland’s weekly elementary student bike bus before her concert in the city.

A Florida couple finds sea lions and romance on a stormy bike-and-surf odyssey along the Oregon coast.

A handful of Chicago drivers staged a protest at the site of a half-finished protected bike lane, saying it didn’t help bike and e-scooter riders who were struck by drivers there. Um, maybe because it’s not finished yet, and there’s nothing to keep cars out of it yet.

Sometimes, I don’t even know what to say. An Ohio ebike rider was killed, and a driver injured, when the ebiker tried to turn left into a church parking lot and struck the side of the other man’s SUV — then they were both stuck by the driver of a second car when the first driver got out to check on the original victim.

New York Mayor Mamdani is requesting $25 million build 500 long-promised bike lockers across the city.

 

International

A website for “the world’s urban leaders” examines how cities are making the European Declaration on Cycling a reality, which recognized bicycling as a fully-fledged mode of transport for the first time.

That’s more like it. After bicyclists packed a Winnipeg, Manitoba city council committee meeting to demand temporary protected bike lanes, the committee voted to make them permanent, instead. Although they’d have to be pretty damn strong barriers to keep out the speeding driver who killed a bike rider in 2024, doing up to 100 mph.

London’s bikeshare system marks International Women’s Day by naming a whole ten bikes after notable women bicyclists. Although something tells me most women would just prefer a safer place to ride them.

Speaking of ebikes, a writer for the London Telegraph calls them the future of bicycling holidays for mid-lifers. Which is evidently a kinder, gentler term for middle-aged. Or maybe it’s just shorter.

An Aussie writer explores the dark side of the bicycle marketplace by deciding to buy and return a hot bike to its rightful owner, and ends up going for a ride with a self-described “licensed gun outlaw.”

 

Competitive Cycling

A new documentary tries to answer what separates world-class cyclists from elite ones.

Former Tour de France Femmes champ Demi Vollering says “it’s very important to keep speaking up” about periods, nutrition and health affecting women’s cyclists.

Cyclist explains “everything you need to know” about this Saturday’s Strade Bianche Classic, which marks its 20th year.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a mountain of “gross stuff” threatens to melt into a bike lane graveyard. Don’t they say, dirty bicycle drive train, dirty mind?

And okay, even I think that’s funny.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

SF judge retires after elderly killer driver walks, most US bike lanes just paint, and LA drivers kill record number of animals

March 4, 2026 / / One comment

Good riddance.

The San Francisco judge who let an elderly driver off the hook for killing an entire family of four announced he’s riding off into the sunset.

And it can’t happen soon enough.

The Voice of San Francisco reports that 69-year old Judge Bruce Chan is retiring this year, one month after announcing he’ll let 80-year old Mary Fong Lau walk without a day behind bars, and three years before he’s set to face the voters again.

Because something tells me voters might have a long memory in this case.

It was just short of two years ago when Lau plowed her car into the bus stop where 40-year old Diego Cardoso de Oliveira and his wife, 38-year old Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto were waiting with their two children, 1-year old Joaquim Ramos Pinto de Oliveira and 3-month-old Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, after celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Diego and Joaquim were killed instantly, while Matilde and Cauê died days later in the hospital.

Lau was driving on the wrong side of the divided roadway at 70 mph at the time of the crash. Yet Chan bizarrely ruled that there was no point in punishing her, because she’s old and really, really sorry.

Which must be why she tried to hide her assets before the inevitable lawsuit.

According to the website,

As if the family of the victims hasn’t suffered enough, last month, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan expressed sympathy for the now 80-year-old Lau and stated it was unlikely she would serve any jail time or even a community service mandate after pleading no contest to four felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter…

After Lau changed her plea from not guilty to no contest, Chan said his duty “was to balance the deaths with the other factors of the case.” Those factors included Lau’s age, her lack of criminal history, and “her remorse,” as well as the fact that her own husband had died in a car accident early on in their marriage.”

Chan even injected some hearsay into the proceedings, saying that in the hospital after the crash, “Lau tearfully told medical staff she wished she could trade places with the family.”

Chan said jail time would mean Lau would probably die in prison. As opposed to her victims, who just died in the street and the local hospital.

Instead, he said he’d sentence her to a lousy two to three years probation. But at least she won’t be able to drive — legally, anyway — until her probation ends.

So we can expect Lau to get her license back when she’s 83, with the blood of four innocent lives on her record.

Seems reasonable.

But as writer Susan Dyer Reynolds notes, remorseful people don’t usually hide their assets.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in July 2024, the surviving parents of Cardoso de Oliveira and Ramos Pinto filed a wrongful death civil suit against Lau. In May 2025, the relatives filed another civil lawsuit, this time asking a judge to void alleged financial transfers that Lau made after the first civil lawsuit was filed. The victims’ families accused Lau of transferring her ownership interest in several properties to new limited liability companies and selling properties to third parties, including her son-in-law, thereby transferring millions of dollars to avoid potential financial penalties from the civil suit. Hiding assets doesn’t sound like remorse to me…

Me, either.

So if you wonder why people keep dying on our streets, overly lenient judges like Chan are a damn good place to start.

But at least he won’t be around much longer to let any other killer drivers walk.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets, part two.

An estimated 77% of bike lanes in the US offer nothing but paint for protection.

And a new study in the Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research shows that nearly two-thirds of those are on high-stress roads — aka, “fast, multi-lane corridors where traffic speed and volume make riding uncomfortable for most people.”

In other words, like virtually every bike lane in Orange County and much of Los Angeles, county and otherwise.

………

Sadly, humans aren’t the only victims of traffic violence.

LA Reported says the number of animals killed by LA drivers reached a new high last year, with 33,458 deaths reported, including everything from family dogs and cats to deer, squirrels and birds.

………

The annual Marathon Crash Ride returns to the streets of Los Angeles in the wee hours of Sunday morning, following the route of the LA Marathon before all those runners take over.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. A 55-year old man was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor battery after he somehow threw his car into reverse at high speed, backing over a curb and slamming into people sitting on the stoop of a Long Beach building, killing a 20-month old toddler and hospitalizing a 45-year old woman and a 12-year old girl.

 

State

A proposed San Diego ordinance would ban kids under 12 from riding Class 1 and 2 ebikes, as well as prohibiting a passenger from any ebike without a permanent passenger seat; children under 16 are already prohibited from riding Class 3 ebikes.

A 51-year old Hesperia man was hospitalized with major injuries, and his dog killed, when they were struck by a van driver while walking his bike across the street early yesterday morning. But you’ll have to get around the paper’s paywall to read the whole story. 

Alameda’s mayor writes that the city’s efforts to make roads safer for all users is paying off.

This is who we share the road with, part two. A Sacramento website reports that Black pedestrians are disproportionately more likely to be killed on the city’s streets, illustrating the story by describing a 26-year old South Sacramento man who was struck by a driver while crossing the street, then repeatedly run over by multiple drivers — all of whom fled the scene, and none were ever brought to justice.

 

National

A proposed IRS regulation could mean that bike couriers and pedicab drivers could write off their tips.

A Mesa, Arizona woman has filed a pair of $15 million claims against the city and county, after her 71-year old father was killed while riding an ebike when the lane he was riding in suddenly ended in a large pothole and a patch of gravel, with no warning in the dark because the stop sign was on the ground and there were no streetlights.

No surprise here. After the police chief of Greeley, Colorado hit a 15-year old bike rider while driving off-duty, the state police charged the kid, not the cop, for failure to yield.

An 82-year old Iowa man spends his winters repairing and refurbishing bicycles in Tucson, Arizona, before going home in the spring to work on more bikes.

That’s more like it. A Texas man was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for the hit-and-run that killed a popular 38-year old bike rider four years ago, and reporting his car stolen in an effort to cover up the crime. Does that ever work?

Indianapolis adopts Vision Zero, vowing to end traffic deaths by 2035. Let’s hope they take it more seriously than Los Angeles did. 

New York’s city council rakes the city’s new transportation commissioner over the coals for the miserable job expanding bike lanes done by the previous administration, with one councilmember arguing that meeting just 50% of the city’s goals earns it a “big, fat F;” however, the new DOT head won’t commit to doing any better.

Residents of Maplewood, New Jersey are raising funds for the leader of a local bike bus after a hit-and-run driver left him with life-threatening injuries; a crowdfunding page has raised nearly $40,000 of the $55,000 goal.

A Virginia driver says he’ll be riding a bicycle now after the war with Iran caused gas prices to spike. So there’s that, anyway.

Seriously? Police in Raleigh NC have no intention of filing charges against the driver who killed a 65-year old man riding a bicycle, even though he was in a crosswalk with the green light, apparently because a) the victim was riding against traffic, and/or b) because the driver wasn’t drunk — even though the investigation is still ongoing, for no apparent reason. Never mind that crosswalks are bidirectional, and being under the influence isn’t the only way a driver can be at fault. And be forewarned, there’s no way to opt out of the cookies if you click on the damn link. 

 

International

Road.cc takes you on a tour of the wonderful world of the year’s best bicycling shoes for beginners.

A writer for Cycling Weekly explains why his high-end bike tires cost three times as much as his crappy car tires.

A London law firm says they get contacted by an average of ten people a month who have been injured riding Lime bikes in the city, even though the company says 99.99 percent of journeys end without incident.

An Irish detective was awarded the equivalent of nearly $290,000 after he was suspended for three years for the crime of loaning a farmer an unclaimed bicycle that had sat for a long time at the police station during the pandemic.

Ireland’s transportation authority says active transportation takes up to 660,000 cars off the road every day in the country’s five largest metro areas. It could here, too, if people felt safer walking and biking.

 

Finally…

If this ebike bill passes, you’d better get used to lentils. How to make the bike of the year even better.

And now you, too, can be a super secret motor doper.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee