Tag Archive for active transportation

Nearly a death a year on Vista del Mar, no statute of limitations for CA hit-and-runs, and fight fed cuts to active transportation

March 24, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 83 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

It’s even worse than we realized.

Last week, I mentioned that at least five people have been killed on Vista del Mar since former Mayor Eric Garcetti ripped out the road diet that was installed in 2017, after Los Angeles shelled out nearly $10 million to settle a lawsuit over the death of a 16-year old girl crossing over to the beach.

Now it turns out, according to LADOT, another 14 people were killed along Vista del Mar from 2003 to 2016.

That’s 19 lives needlessly lost in less than 23 years on the short, four-mile roadway, thanks a wide four-lane design that makes the seemingly bucolic beachfront street a virtual speedway for anyone with a heavy foot.

Yes, an average of nearly one death a year.

So maybe the three-county PCH isn’t SoCal’s killer highway after all, at least on a per-mile basis.

………

About damn time.

Somehow, we missed the news last year that the California legislature passed Carson Assemblymember Mike Gibson’s bill to eliminate the statute of limitations for hit-and-run.

AB 2984, named for the three-year old son of Gibson’s wife, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver 36 years ago, was signed by Gov. Gaven Newsom and is now law.

Which means the driver, who was never caught, could now be prosecuted if they ever find them.

Along with all the other heartless cowards who think they’ve gotten away with it, in a state where the overwhelming majority of hit-and-run drivers are never caught, let alone tried.

Gipson also sponsoring a bill in the current session that would require that drivers convicted of reckless driving install intelligent speed limitation systems in their cars, similar to how a breathalyzer can be required for drunk drivers.

Which is also about damn time.

………

This is exactly what I’ve been warning about.

Whatever your politics, cuts to funding for active transportation puts your safety, and everyone else’s, at risk.

So fight back.

Meanwhile, several states have banded together under the Clean Rides Network to find ways to fund projects the feds have abandoned.

And yes, California is one of them.

………

Streets For All is hosting a virtual lunch tomorrow with Dr. Ian Walker, who they describe as “an Environmental Psychologist who studies motonormativity – the shared bias that prevents us from judging motorized transportation rationally.”

………

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

Once again, someone appears to be deliberately sabotaging a bike trail, as a volunteer group warns about shards of barbed wire intentionally placed on Sacramento’s American River Parkway; so far, the only damage is flat tires, but someone could easily be seriously injured as a result of a blown tire.

A woman in Houston, Texas says a road-raging driver tried to intentionally ram her as she road her ebike, then yelled obscenities and attempted to provoke a confrontation when she tried to take a photo of the driver’s license plate; police say they are investigating.

No bias here. A writer for The Telegraph accuses “rich, Lycra-clad cyclists” of tearing through red lights while riding “hugely expensive” bikes paid for by taxpayers as part of Britain’s Cycle to Work rebate program, as if getting well-off people out of cars and onto bikes somehow doesn’t benefit everyone. Let alone all the not-so-well off people who have also benefitted.

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

A Miami cop has been disciplined for sitting on her ass while a dispute between a bicyclist and a motorist devolved into a full-on assault on the driver by bike riders taking part in an apparent rideout, remaining in her patrol car while the riders “kicked, punched, stomped, smashed a window and even hurled a bike” at the victim’s car.

………

Local  

City Watch looks forward to April 6th’s Koreatown Meets Hollywood CicLAvia.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reviews the documents, and says it will probably be up to a judge to determine whether Measure HLA, which requires that the city build out the mobility plan whenever streets get resurfaced, applies to Metro.

The former South Bay Bicycle Coalition, now known as SBBC+, offers a community proposal to reconfigure Redondo Beach’s Prospect Ave as a Complete Street.

A new play in Long Beach looks at life through the eyes of a child riding a red bicycle.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department is offering a $30,000 reward for the men who shot and killed Jose Manuel Rangel, following a confrontation on the Clara Street Bridge in Cudahy two years ago as he rode his bike home after visiting his mother.

 

State

Calbike has come out in opposition to AB 612, which would give fire departments more power to veto street safety projects, despite their obvious lack of traffic engineering training; as we’ve seen, fire fighters often oppose projects designed to save lives, citing unspecified delays in response times that are seldom born out in real life.

No bias here. The San Diego Union-Tribune questions whether it makes sense to pursue the city’s “preposterous” climate goals, arguing that its commitment to building transit and bike lanes is an “embrace of what feels like costly and empty virtue signaling.”

San Francisco becomes the first California city to install speed cams under a pilot program allowing a limited number in three Northern California and three South California cities, as well as on PCH in Malibu. Meanwhile, Los Angeles continues to sit on its ass and do nothing, as usual, as speed-related deaths continue to mount. 

 

National

A writer for The Atlantic sings the praises of ebikes, saying they may be slower than a car, but make your family life so much richer; meanwhile, another writer says they’re great, but not for everyone.

Bloomberg sings the praises of the late, great autodidact and polymath Lewis Mumford, who called out the dangers of overly car-centric cities over 70 years ago.

Take your dog or cat with you everywhere with a new $300 combination pet stroller/bike trailer that converts to a backpack. Hopefully without the animal in it.

Houston lawmakers decide to reinvent the wheel, sponsoring a bill to study whether bike lanes improve safety, as if all the other studies showing they do somehow don’t apply in Texas.

Maine’s highest court has sided with a 62-year old man who was ticketed for not riding single file as he was out with a friend, ruling that the state’s requirement to ride as far to the right as practicable is so vague it’s unenforceable, since only the person riding can decide how far to the right is safe to ride.

Seriously? A Boston cafe owner worries about the survival of her business after a new road diet and bike lanes were installed, as if being located on one of the city’s most dangerous streets for pedestrians is somehow good for her business.

 

International

No surprise here, as the world’s happiest countries are also places with the highest bicycling rates.

A writer for Momentum shares the most important things she learned on her first bike tour.

Bike Magazine shares the world’s ten most popular mountain biking destinations for your offroad bike bucket list.

Hundreds of Londoners turned out for the return of a drum and bass bicycle rave, led by a bicycling DJ and his cat.

More proof that bikes are good for business, as a rural Scottish cafe catering to bicyclists says if they didn’t they wouldn’t even be in business anymore.

A rising British comedian warns about the dangers of drunken bicycling after crashing his bikeshare bike while riding under the influence.

Life is cheap in Ireland, where a 29-year old mother of three will spend just four years behind bars for the hit-and-run death a 68-year old man riding a bicycle, while driving at not one, not two, not even three times the legal alcohol limit, but a full nine times over the line — yes, nine — after downing a dozen martinis before getting behind the wheel.

Famed painter Henri Matisse’s brother-in-law was one of us, as the struggling artist tried to borrow 150 francs to buy a Van Gogh in 1899, only to learn the other man had blown 500 francs on a new bicycle.

A 66-year-old Chinese grandmother has already biked solo through 12 countries across three continents, on a monthly pension of just $414 a month, despite taking up bicycling just a dozen years ago.

Bike riders in Sydney, Australia may soon have fewer stair to climb, with a $39 million ramp longer than two football fields replacing the stairs they’re currently forced to climb if they want to bike across the harbor.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch pro Mathieu van der Poel won Milan-San Remo after an early attack by Tadej Pogačar failed, leading to a three-way sprint to the finish joined by Filippo Ganna.

A British company plans to bring the world’s best cyclists back to the US next year for the first time since 2019, the five-stage Tour of Colorado will launch in September, assuming they can get all the necessary permits and clearances, and get it on the pro calendar.

 

Finally….

Your next bike seat could play grab-ass while you ride. Your next bicycle could be a knitting machine; thanks to Steven Hallett for the heads-up.

And build a custom bike for the tallest man in America, and make a friend for life.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Freezing federal bike lane funding to Make America Drive Again, and bipartisan active transportation safety bill introduced

March 13, 2025 / / No comments
Day 72 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

The good news is, it turns out I don’t have the same virus I had before, after all.

The bad news is, I’ve got Covid instead, after carefully avoiding it for the first five years of the pandemic.

Good times.

So let’s see if I can get through this tonight. 

………

No surprise here.

As expected, a leaked memo shows the Trump administration will freeze all future bike lane and green infrastructure grants, so they can review them.

And yes, probably cancel anything issued during the Biden administration if the money hasn’t already been spent.

But don’t put it past them to attempt to claw some funding back, as they have already threatened to do with California’s high speed rail.

According to Streetsblog,

The memo cited as its authority five executive orders issued by the Trump administration that take aim at the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility goals of the Biden administration, as well as the previous president’s efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation’s transportation system, which Trump and Duffy have characterized as a so-called “Green New Deal.”

Those efforts were a centerpiece of previous DOT secretary Buttigieg’s strategy to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, from which he allocated billions of dollars in discretionary grants to sustainable and equitable modes — but now that Duffy and Trump are holding the reins, they’ve signaled that they’ll use the same programs to vastly expand America’s consumption of fossil fuels instead.

Because really, what could be the downside to Making America Drive Again?

I mean, aside from more traffic deaths and serious injuries, more congestion, worse smog, and the utter destruction of our planet.

………

Meanwhile, a bipartisan, bicameral active transportation bill was introduced in both houses of Congress this week.

The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act would expand federal funding for local governments to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

This legislation is named in honor of Sarah Debbink Langenkamp, the American diplomat and mother who was killed while riding her bicycle in Maryland, just two weeks after being evacuated from Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

But as much as I appreciate the gesture, the bill’s chances in the current political climate make a snowball in hell look pretty good.

………

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

Oh, okay then. Boston’s mayor says she removed the plastic posts “protecting” some of the city’s bike lanes because they kept getting run over by drivers and looked awful. And yes, drivers seemed to take that as an open invitation to drive in the bike lanes.

No surprise here. Internal Ontario engineering documents show ripping out Toronto bike lanes won’t reduce congestion, but could make streets significantly more dangerous for everyone.

No bias here. The UK’s Traffic Watch says London traffic is grinding to a halt as road restrictions “squeeze the lifeblood” out of the city, while bike riders say the real problem is just too damn many cars.

Bike Radar responds to Sir Julian Lewis’ call in the British Parliament for mandatory bike bells, saying “cycling doesn’t need more bad ideas from unserious politicians.”

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Local  

Metro is fast at work at the new LAX Transit Center, with the new bike path and people mover readily visible.

Pasadena residents are calling for safety improvements to protect bicyclists and pedestrians on North Fair Oaks Avenue, while reminding city leaders that we’re people, too.

 

State

A Moorpark man suffered serious head injuries when he was left hooked by a driver who was apparently more concerned about turning left into the driving range than looking for someone on a bicycle.

That’s more like it. An Oregon woman now faces a murder charge in the death of a 87-year old man riding a bicycle, after fleeing the scene when she crashed into him and another man he was riding with; that’s in addition to the previous vehicular manslaughter, DUI and hit-and-run charges.

 

National

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Oregon pickup driver walked without a single day behind bars for killing a woman riding a bike with her son; he originally faced 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000, but an overly lenient DA and judge gave him a Get Out of Jail Free card, despite his long history of speeding.

“Dozens” of New Yorkers, led by a state Assembly member, demonstrated in support of a law that would require ebikes to carry license plates and be registered with the DMV. Although you’d think a legislator could get more people to turn out if they actually cared about it. And unless there were more people than you can see in the photo, that ain’t dozens.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A “beloved” Virginia elementary school principal suffered life-threatening injuries and faces a long road to recovery after he was struck by a driver while riding his bike home from school.

 

International

Momentum lists ten “hidden gem” bike routes to add to your bike bucket list, none of which are in California, of course. Although the only hidden thing about the Great Divide route is it can be hard to find in places. Or so I’m told.

A writer for Cycling Weekly fondly remembers his first road bike, despite it being “taken prematurely” from him.

A bike commuter for more than 20 years explains 13 mistakes beginning riders make.

Life is cheap in England, where a distracted food delivery rider walked without a single day behind bars for killing a man on a bicycle, despite riding an illegally modified ebike.

The pandemic bike boom is definitely over, as bike sales in the UK dropped to the lowest level in 50 years. Or maybe they’ve just reached the saturation point, and everyone who wants a bike has already got one, or four. It could happen. 

It will now cost you five US dollars every year to register your bicycle in the Zimbabwean city of Marondera.

 

Competitive Cycling

Belgian Tour de France stage winner Victor Campenaerts says he’s “not the next Remco [Evenepoel] or Jonas [Vingegaard] or Tadej [Pogačar],” instead, he’s “just a good cyclist.”

This year’s Redlands Bicycle Classic will take place April 9th through 13th.

 

Finally….

What’s biking through a little flood waters between friends? Drivers aren’t even waiting for bikes to leave the shop to run them down anymore. It’s not just a bike lane, it’s a parking space for your mobile workshop.

And protect your bike with the stench of death for the low, low price of just 280 bucks.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , ,

New Flax bike book out now, Hollywood Complete Street plan announced, and Senate bill promises local bike/ped funding

March 22, 2024 / / Comments Off on New Flax bike book out now, Hollywood Complete Street plan announced, and Senate bill promises local bike/ped funding
Just 284 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’re up to 1,022 signatures, so keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

And that’s my copy of Flax’s new book up there. 

………

It’s now 93 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

No bias here. A group of merchants in the UK claim a new bike lane has killed their businesses, even though the project actually added 80 parking spaces.

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Local 

Over 80 kids and adults took part in South Pas Active Streets’ Park-to-Park family bike ride in South Pasadena last Saturday, sponsored by seven local groups.

 

State

Police in Orange busted a bike thief who stole a bicycle from a 14-year old boy while he was playing with friends.

Sad news from Watsonville, where a 58-year old bike rider died in the hospital, a week after being injured in a collision; police investigators said the victim was following the law when he or she was struck by the 31-year old driver.

A Berkeley father calls for safe streets after he and his son survived a collision when a driver hit the cargo bike they were riding.

A Gold Country cycling columnist says don’t let bad behavior define bicyclists, and it’s never appropriate to flip off a driver. No matter how much they might deserve it. 

 

National

Marketplace says cargo bikes offer a solution to package delivery trucks clogging city streets.

Forbes offers a “complete and comprehensive” guide to the year’s best bike brands.

A 24-year old Colorado woman was arrested for a fatal hit-and-run, two months after she knocked a 43-year old man off his bicycle and left him to die on an embankment on the side of the road; the victim wasn’t found for more than two days after the crash. Drivers like that should face a murder charge for making the conscious decision to let their victims die rather than stop and call for help. 

Kindhearted Idaho cops gave new bikes to a pair of cousins, after the five and four-year old boys survived getting hit by an intoxicated driver.

They get it. A Kentucky radio station says motorists need to watch out for bicyclists. True, in every sense.

Hoboken, New Jersey will now require ebike delivery riders to be tested, licensed, and wear a high-vis vest with a registration number; the city has gone seven years without a single traffic death.

DC shows how to launch an ebike rebate program similar to the highly successful Denver ebike voucher plan, just six months after it was unanimously approved by the city council. Not three years or more, like bumbling and incompetent California’s moribund plan. 

 

International

A 32-year old Austin, Texas man became the first openly gay man to ride a bike around the world, traveling 27,461 miles across 37 different countries in 280 days, and raising nearly $19,000 for for LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit The Trevor Project.

Momentum takes a look at the bike bus movement, and why kids love it so much. Short answer, because it’s fun. Longer answer, because it’s a lot of fun.

Thanks to the Church of Scotland, bike riders will have a new 1.6-mile path between two small villages, after the church donated a parcel of land for the project.

Life is cheap in Scotland, where 69 year old man walked without a day behind bars for killing a 22-year old French-American bike rider while driving with an obscured windshield, and dragging her more than half the length of a football field; the lawyer representing her family writes that drivers hold the key to keeping bicyclists safe, and mere sentencing won’t cut it.

The Daily Mail joins “London’s patron saint of cycling” on a ride through the city’s streets to see if it really is a death trap, while a former British news host calls out the aforementioned saint, BBC host Jeremy Vine, after he was nearly hit by bicyclists blowing through a red light. Because as we all know, every bike rider is responsible for the actions of every other misbehaving bicyclist.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website recommends the five best bicycling festivals to visit this year.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from Australia, where a 62-year old man was killed while competing in the Indian Pacific Wheel Race, seven years after popular ultra-endurance rider Mike Hall was killed in the first edition of the race; another competitor was injured in a separate incident.

Arkansas’ Joe Martin Stage Race has been cancelled for this year; one of just four remaining UCI sanctioned races in the US, and the longest-held stage race in America — assuming it returns next year, as promised.

The popular Belgian Waffle Ride, aka BWR, will return to North City in San Marcos on April 27-28.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you can’t find a place to do handstands and splits on your handlebars. And hell hath no fury like a bicyclist with a GoPro.

……... 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Why Vision Zero is failing in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and why you can’t get there from here in Playa Vista

September 5, 2023 / / Comments Off on Why Vision Zero is failing in Los Angeles and San Francisco, and why you can’t get there from here in Playa Vista

Vision Zero is now nine years old in California, yet people keep dying on our streets.

The Los Angeles Times looks at why, examining the failure of Vision Zero in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the latter just two years away from the deadline by which it’s supposed to end traffic fatalities once and for all.

Not that anyone in city leadership seems to notice.

Or care.

But San Francisco, like Los Angeles, has spent the better part of a decade making such changes as part of an ambitious pledge to reduce traffic-related deaths to zero. Neither city is close to achieving that goal…

“It’s been an abject failure,” said John Yi, the executive director of Los Angeles Walks, a nonprofit that works with immigrants and communities of color to build safer pedestrian infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

Last year, 312 people were killed in car crashes and 1,517 were seriously injured, according to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation. Bicyclists and pedestrians represented 57% of deaths and 41% of severe injuries, though most people in Los Angeles travel by car.

The paper correctly points the finger at deadly speeds, noting efforts at the state level to lower speed limits and legalize speed cams.

But lowering speed limits will only do so much good in a state where they are universally ignored, and drivers routinely travel 10 to 15 miles above whatever limit in nominally posted.

And get angry if they’re stopped for doing so, apparently believing it’s their God-given right as Californians to travel above the speed limit.

Graphic by tomexploresla

Meanwhile, so much has been given away to appease the windshield-addled crowd that California’s proposed bill to legalize speed cams will be limited to a limited effect, in a limited number of cities.

Including a built-in 10 mph cushion above the limit, as state lawmakers seem willing to sacrifice human lives rather than force drivers to take their damn feet off the gas.

The simple fact is, our traffic engineers and planners know what it will take to end traffic deaths, but city and state officials are simply unwilling to do it.

Let alone fund it.

They lack the political will to make the wholesale changes necessary to channel and slow motor vehicles, and the heavy-footed, mistake prone people in them.

Let alone reimagine our transportation system for the 21st Century, abandoning the failed model that’s driven deaths, congestion and climate change for the past century, and moving towards a cleaner, healthier and more efficient model focused on transit and active transportation.

Which is not to say private motor vehicles must go away. But they must be deprioritized, no longer the first choice to transport individuals and goods, but the last.

So instead, we’ve found ourselves nibbling at the edges, adding crosswalks and beacons that work until they don’t. And counting on drivers to pay attention and obey the law, rather than reimagining roadways to force them to.

In the end, the problem causing Vision Zero to fail isn’t speed.

It’s money. And political leadership, or the lack thereof.

Neither of which our elected officials have been willing to invest.

………

Evidently, you can’t get there from here.

Joni Yung comes up with a complicated workaround to get to and through Playa Vista.

………

Call it a ciclovía with spectacular views.

A portion of Coast Road, aka Old Coast Road, through Big Sur in Monterey County is being closed to cars for repairs through the end of this year, but will remain open to bikes, hikers and equestrians.

The soils in the area of the slip out are not stable and adding to the danger, there is a redwood tree along the cutslope (hill) that is encroaching in the travel lane. From the edge of the tree to the edge of the erosion, there is approx. 8-ft, 10-inches of road width remaining. The downhill side is an approximately 12-ft drop into a creek. This is very narrow for any vehicle, car or truck. This reduced width could potentially be a concern for a motorist unfamiliar with the area.

However, despite the name, this isn’t Highway 1 along the coast, but a smaller inland roadway.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

Twenty-three people were injured, some seriously, when an SUV driver plowed into a Denny’s restaurant in Rosenberg, Texas, southwest of Houston; fortunately, none of the injuries were expected to be life-threatening.

Police blamed a combination of speed and a wet roadway. Yet amazingly, the driver was not arrested or even ticketed at the scene.

………

Apparently, you can add bicyclist to director, producer, writer, actor, blogger and political commentator, because Bob Cesca is one us.

https://twitter.com/bobcesca_go/status/1697747529419333917

Thanks to Erik Griswold for the tip.

………

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

No bias here. After a bike rider was seriously inured when he was left-crossed by a driver who violated his right-of-way, a Kansas City TV station was quick to blame the victim for hitting the back of the driver’s car. Even though they’d be unlikely to blame a driver who hit another car in the same situation.

Um, okay. A road raging West Virginia driver threatened to kill a bike rider with a pickax and poison the victim’s food if he ever ordered from the pizza place where the man works, apparently just for riding his bike on the street. Or maybe merely existing on the planet.

A London bus driver has been metaphorically rapped across the knuckles by his employer for tailgating a bike rider, then getting out of his bus and swearing at the victim, before attempting to call the police because the guy on the bike “got on his nerves.”

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

Pioneering Chicago drill rapper Lil Reese bought a local hip hop DJ a new bicycle to make up for stealing the man’s bike when they were both kids.

A Michigan man faces charges for threatening cops with a large metal rod after he was stopped for riding his bike on a freeway; police found two concealed butcher knives and a vial of pepper spray after managing to de-escalate the situation.

A group of bicyclists in the UK were stopped by police for riding 40 mph in a 30 mph zone, but allowed to leave with “appropriate words of advice,” since there’s no speed limit for bicyclists.

………

Local 

Hermosa Beach will now require students to complete an ebike safety course before they can ride theirs to school.

 

State

There’s a special place in hell for the hit-and-run driver who left a bike-riding 14-year old Corona boy lying seriously injured in the street.

Bakersfield motorists are slowly adjusting to green bike lanes on the streets famously trod by the late, great Buck Owens.

A pair of Bakersfield contractors were credited as heroes after they chased down a thief who stole a bike from the house they were working on, and returned it to its owner.

 

National

Federal funding for bicycle safety projects is at risk in the upcoming budget battle, after House Republicans zeroed out funding for RAISE grants, while a Senate budget bill continues them.

A writer for Electrek lists his favorite biking gear so far this year, whether for electric or conventional bikes.

Scottsdale, Arizona is fighting the battle over semantics, attempting to reach the Bike League’s Platinum Level without using the term “road diet.”

A Utah woman was arrested for drunk driving after killing a teenage boy riding a bicycle, telling police she consciously choosie to hit the soft, fragile person ahead of her rather than the hard car coming in the opposite direction.

An Albuquerque, New Mexico man was found guilty of murder for shooting a man he accused of riding his stolen bicycle. One more reminder that no bike is worth a human life. 

Life is cheap in Kansas, where a driver was sentenced to just 41 months for killing a woman walking a bicycle, after prosecutors pled down from 2nd degree murder to involuntary manslaughter.

A repeat DUI driver in Iowa was resentenced to a mere 40 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike rider, after an appellate court ruled his original 55-year sentence was out of line.

Thousand of bicyclists took to Chicago’s famed DuSable Lake Shore Drive on Sunday to participate in the carfree Bike the Drive, although the the registration-only fundraising ride was the opposite of an open streets event.

After someone posted a video to X, nee Twitter, of bike riders flowing through a plaza supposedly in the Netherlands, while complaining about being unable to build something like that in the US, commenters were quick to point out that the video was several years old, and showed a public plaza in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Few New York delivery riders are taking advantage of a program to trade-in older, fire-prone ebikes for safer new ones, citing complicated logistics and the cost of a trade. Meanwhile, fire investigators are on the lookout for fake UL stickers affixed to older, unapproved batteries.

Life is cheap in Louisville, Kentucky, where a woman failed to stop after killing a 61-year old man riding a bicycle, but apparently that wasn’t enough to merit a traffic ticket, let alone an arrest.

A Louisiana Catholic priest will have his commitment to forgiveness sorely tested after a thief was caught on video stealing his bicycle in broad daylight.

 

International

Momentum says research confirms that physical activity can improve brain power in children and youth, so if you want your kids to do well in school, get them to bike there.

An English driver was charged with the equivalent of reckless driving and DUI for the head-on crash that seriously injured a bike rider, after he apparently got tired of waiting at a red light, and went around another car onto the wrong side of the road. The crash was caught on video, but be warned it’s hard to watch.

A “rampaging” British driver is being held on a psych evaluation on suspicion of murder for deliberately running down and killing a pedestrian and a bike-riding man, before crashing into a building and attempting to run away.

A 44-year old woman reached the end of a 3,000-mile bike ride around the circumference of mainland Britain on a bamboo bicycle to raise awareness of the climate crisis.

The pope now has his own personalized bike jersey to go with the bikes he no longer owns or rides.

A vigilante bike patrol in a Finish city has now reclaimed nearly 1,300 stolen bicycles after “cracking the code” to figure out where bikes end up after they’re stolen.

The Philippines is considering amending the law to allow the state to charge road raging drivers on the victim’s behalf, after a bike rider failed to come forward in a road rage case caught on video.

 

Competitive Cycling

Colorado’s Sepp Kuss took the leaders jersey in the Vuelta on Friday and retained it through the weekend, becoming the first American to lead a Grand Tour in a decade. However, Remco Evenepoel called him an outsider, downplaying Kuss’ chances and saying he “kicked a hornet’s nest full of majestic eagles!” Um, okay. 

A reminder to keep your friends close and your pets closer, as a small dog causes chaos when he ran out into the Tour of Britain peloton, causing at least one rider to go over his handlebars.

A Kiwi triathlete was caught on video being taken out by her own teammate as they rode side-by-side in the bicycling portion of a French triathlon; fortunately, she wasn’t seriously injured in the “brutal” “horror” crash.

Twenty-two-year old Danish cyclist Mattias Skjelmose won the second annual Maryland Cycling Classic on Sunday afternoon in a more than two minute breakaway.

 

Finally…

How to get your kids to school by bike. Walking your bike through the mud of Burning Man.

And anyone can let their dog hang out of the the car window, why not let your pet bull hang out of the sunroof?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan

September 1, 2023 / / Comments Off on Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan

Welcome to your last pre-Thanksgiving three-day weekend — not to mention the opening weekend for college football. 

Which means you can count on a higher than usual percentage of drunks and otherwise intoxicated people on the roads. 

So the usual protocol applies. 

Ride defensively. And if you’re riding anytime after noon today, assume every driver you see has had a few. 

Chances are, you won’t be far off. 

I expect to see you back here bright and early Tuesday morning. And I don’t want to have to write about you, unless maybe you pull a pack of puppies out of a burning building or something. 

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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A 33-year old Riverside man is going on trial for murder with a deadly weapon enhancement, for the alleged road rage killing of a man riding a bicycle.

Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez reportedly made a U-turn to reverse direction and run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga from behind following an apparent traffic-related dispute between the two men.

Gutierrez was arrested three weeks after the July, 2021 vehicular assault, and continues to be held on $1 million bond.

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This is who we share the road with.

LA’s second ghost tire memorial was installed yesterday to honor the three Uber passengers killed in a high speed crash in South Los Angeles.

The victims, including two sisters, were riding in the back seat of the Uber when 31-year old Gregory Black slammed into them while racing through red lights at up to 100 mph.

Black, described as a known gang member with an extensive rap sheet, was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and held on $4 million bond.

So much for the myth that bail is based strictly on the suspect’s ability to pay. And not a reflection of how seriously prosecutors take the crime.

Black was already serving a five-year probation following his release from prison for attempted murder.

Meanwhile, a 17-year old Las Vegas boy faces a murder charge for intentionally killing a bike-riding man, after video posted online indicated the fatal hit-and-run two weeks ago wasn’t an accident.

The teen was allegedly driving a stolen car and already fleeing an earlier hit-and-run.

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Metro unveiled the LA County transit agency’s new Active Transportation Strategic Plan on Tuesday.

According to Southern California Newsgroup’s Steve Scauzillo, the plan will “create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.”

Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.

Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.

The plan has a focus on equity, improving service and safety first in areas where fewer people own cars, including including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

But as we’ve seen with the City of Los Angeles, it’s one thing to make a plan, and another to implement it, as ActiveSGV’s special programs director Wesley Reutimann pointed out.

He said Metro should redirect budget dollars from highways toward completing bikeways and walkways. But getting the OK from cities and landowners can gum up the works. Metro is also asking cities to help fund the projects or apply for grant dollars. This can delay or nix projects altogether, he said.

“Long story short: Metro did a plan (in 2016) and most of it was never implemented. It just feels like this plan update is window dressing,” Reutimann said.

Even a fraction of what the agency wastes on highway engorgements could go a long way towards actually implementing this plan.

Let’s hope someone over there figures out how to do that.

………

This will be great if it actually happens.

And that’s a big if.

A pair of Los Angeles City Council motions call for streamlining operations between LADOT, LA Street Services, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Bureau of Street Lighting, as well as developing a five-year infrastructure spending plan for the city.

Correction, they both call for a pair of studies on how to do it.

Which is what the Los Angeles city government does best — study problems, rather than actually solve them.

And as we saw with the city council alternative to the Healthy Streets LA initiative, those 60 day deadlines can easily slip to a full year, if ever.

So this will be great if it actually happens. But we’ve been here too many times before.

Let’s hope someone holds the city’s feet to the fire and makes it happen this time.

………

A Denver TV station provides more information on the crash that severely injured professional ultra endurance bicyclist Jay Petervary as he was attempting to set a new record for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Investigators concluded Petervary was riding on a mountain highway in central Colorado when he was rear-ended by a 16-year old driver, who may have been speeding, while attempting to pass on a “straight on a wide, open road with no trees or obstructions.”

Petervary says he landed about 20 yards from his bike, skidding face first on the roadway.

He is now focusing on his recovery while his wife organizes his transport back home to Idaho, his future care and the legal repercussions. Donations are still being accepted for the Be Good Foundation. As of Thursday morning, he had raised about $9,500 of the $20,000 goal.

Petervary has a lengthy history with long-distance racing. The sponsored athlete has competed for 25 years, exploring new routes and races. But he also loves providing experiences and opportunities for others, he wrote on his website. He has adopted the mantra “Ride Forward” in not only his athletic endeavors, but in his business, relationships, friendships and more.

“It also meant to not have regrets or get bogged down in the past but also reflect and learn to move forward more fluidly,” he wrote online.

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While we’re catching up on crashes, an Arizona TV station talks with the Flagstaff bicyclist who was sideswiped by the driver of a passing RV, taking out around a dozen riders on a group ride like so many bowling pins.

Saturday, Wallace was biking on Lake Mary Road with a local cycling group, “Team Pay and Take” when he was hit in the head by an RV’s side mirror. His helmet came off, and he then crashed into multiple cyclists behind him, causing a pileup. “I mean, these people are like family,” Wallace said. “You know you ride with them every week. My partner was on the ride as well and she crashed right behind me. So your first thought is just like is everyone OK?”

Wallace said the person driving the RV stopped and cooperated with police, but this is an important reminder to share the road as it’s state law to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space. “I think it’s just a sad point that when we get behind the wheel of a car, we don’t see our fellow humans out there as someone who has someone to go home to after the ride,” Wallace said.

No word yet on whether the driver will faces charges; at last report, he was only ticketed for an unsafe pass.

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Good question.

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There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a handcycle from a disabled paracyclist.

https://twitter.com/SiebeforORD1/status/1697281499496886388

Some schmuck did the same thing in St. Louis, too.

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Canada’s prime minister is one of us. And so are his kids.

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No surprise here, as a new Belgian study shows you’re twice as likely to be killed in a collision with a bigass pickup or SUV than with a typical passenger car.

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What’s the point of bike skills, if you can’t use them to clear a little litter off the road?

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Why settle for a hoverboard when you can turn it into a LEGO-like DIY Franken-ebike?

With sideways wheels, no less.

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

No bias here. The editor of WeHoVille continues his campaign against bike lanes in the city, citing the removal of the MOVE Culver City project as a warning for West Hollywood, while mischaracterizing the highly successful project that was removed by Culver City’s newly conservative council.

No bias here, either. Residents of León, Guanajuato, Mexico protested plans for a new bike lane, arguing that “about 8 cyclists pass the whole morning,” while official stats say over 65 times that many people ride it every day. Never mind that many more would probably ride there if they felt safer. 

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Local 

Far from abandoning bike lanes, Culver City is proposing mostly 2.5-mile protected bike lanes for lower Overland Ave below Venice Blvd.

Pasadena will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony a week from tomorrow for a new 1.5-mile-long, two-way protected bike lane on Union Street between Arroyo Parkway and Hill Ave; the project, which includes a 1/3-mile bicycle boulevard, is the first of its kind in the city.

Claremont residents debate whether to protect kids on their way to and from school with safety improvements including a curb-protected bike lane, but what’s the life of a little kid when it might inconvenience older bike riders or someone ordering pizza? Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

Shaq is one of us, riding a custom-made 36″ mountain bike nicknamed The Thompson Beast.

 

State

The CHP has introduced a free, learn-at-your-own-pace online ebike safety class, as required by a new bill signed into law by Governor Newsom last year; the bill was authored by Encinitas Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, who is behind the current effort to require licenses to ride ebikes — and who snatched the state’s latest effort to pass a Stop As Yield law from the jaws of victory.

San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick calls on the city’s transportation agency to tow drivers who park in bike lanes, after talking the staff at a bagel shop into refusing to serve a driver who parked in a protected bike lane in front of the shop. Note to traffic engineers and planners — if someone can park in it, it’s not protected.

Oakland residents are calling for more protected bike lanes, after the tragic death of a four-year old girl who was doored while riding on the back of her father’s bike. And yes, she was wearing a helmet and strapped into her seat.

 

National

A new study provides some of the data we’ve been missing on pediatric ebike usage, showing that while riders of regular bikes under the age of 18 were more likely to suffer injuries, ebike riders were 2.4 times more likely to suffer severe injuries requiring hospitalization.

A writer for Electrek takes the contrarian view to the current ebike panic, arguing that we need more teenagers on ebikes, not fewer.

Retired Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon accurately called Lance Armstrong a cheater when the ex-Tour de France winner argued trans athletes should compete in their own division, when both were competing on the Fox show Stars on Mars.

Outside says you should spend at least $250 on bike bibs, arguing that high-end bibs will literally save your ass. I’ll reserve comment, since I’ve never spent more than a fraction of that, and my ass is still firmly attached.

Washington state is set to begin a $1,200 ebike rebate program next year, as well as establishing a series of ebike lending libraries across the state.

Boulder, Colorado threatens to beat California to the ebike rebate punch with the city’s second round of ebike vouchers, before California gets around to issuing its first.

An 83-year old Iowa man was killed by a 77-year old driver, which once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive. Anyone who can still ride at that age deserves better. Then again, so do the rest of us.

A 30-year old Milwaukee man has been arrested for the hit-and-run, street racing crash that killed an 11-year old boy, even though police were quick to blame the victim for veering into traffic and not wearing a helmet.

A Vermont armed robbery suspect made his getaway from the cops by car, on foot, on a stolen bicycle and a purloined sailboat; at last report, he was still on the lam.

Streetsblog explains a new, “very controversial bill from a noted opponent” of increased bicycling that would require ebike registration in New York City.

Madonna is still one of us, riding around New York with friends and her personal trainer, just weeks after surviving a life-threatening infection.

That’s more like it. A Louisiana semi-truck driver is facing a negligent homicide charge for killing a man riding a bicycle by sideswiping the victim while attempting to pass his bike on a curve; the charge is an upgrade from an initial ticket for violating the state’s three-foot passing law.

New Orleans workers organize the first e-bikeshare employees union. Which is actually the second, because Metro Bike employees beat them to it, unless you want to split hairs since LA’s system includes both ebikes and regular bikes

A Florida transit bus driver has been busted for hit-and-run after allegedly crashing into a bike rider, then just continuing on his route rather than stopping; fortunately, the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

 

International

Cannondale is the latest bikemaker to jump on the e-cargo bike bandwagon, with the bikes premiering in Europe this fall for the equivalent of $4,300.

Momentum offers ten reasons why cargo bikes top mini vans as the perfect family vehicle.

An English town swears their new ban on bikes in the city center won’t target disabled or “old and slow” bicyclists, after police ticked an 82-year old man for violating the ban.

A Welsh cop who was tailing two ebike-riding teenagers just before the crash that killed both of them now faces a criminal probe for dangerous driving; the deaths sparked riots when the cops denied following the boys.

Dockless scooters have been scoured from the streets of Paris, on the eve of a ban overwhelmingly approved by voters.

Dutch ebike-maker VanMoof will live on, after the company was purchased out of bankruptcy by Britain’s Lavoie, which makes high-end scooters based on McLaren’s Formula 1 tech; current VanMoof owners appeared to welcome the purchase.

Germany’s Buycycle is bringing its online marketplace for used and refurbished bicycles to the US. Let’s hope they have some mechanism in place to weed out stolen bikes. 

An Italian city counselor warns bicyclists not to ride in Milan because it’s too dangerous; the city is attempting to improve safety by requiring sensors on heavy vehicles to detect bike riders and pedestrians.

An Indian woman is calling for a fresh approach to urban planning, saying the country needs a greater emphasis on bicycling to boost the enrollment of girls in both urban and rural schools, increase productivity for individuals, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Philippine bicyclists and motorcyclists reject a proposal for a shared lane along a busy roadway. Seriously, just because they’re both called bikes and have two wheels doesn’t make them compatible.

 

Competitive Cycling

American super-domestique Sepp Kuss soloed to victory in the sixth stage of the Vuelta, high-fiving fans the final 50 yards; meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel lost time to key rivals Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, as he handed the leader’s jersey to France’s Lenny Martinez.

The annual Tour of Britain kicks on in Manchester tomorrow; Cycling Weekly offers a complete guide to the race.

 

Finally…

When life gives you a No Cycling sign, just turn it into a heart. That feeling when it takes longer to certify a record for riding around the world than it did to set it.

And why pedal through Burning Man when your butt can do the work?

@spotlightrose

Wierd people doing weird shit! #burningman

♬ original sound – Annie Bond

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

OCTA touts active transportation, El Monte Complete Streets meeting tonight, and Rosarito-to-Ensenada Bike Ride cancelled

July 12, 2023 / / 2 comments

Bike Month may be over, but the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, apparently didn’t get the memo.

Or maybe they just want to extend the joy a little longer.

The agency announced several recent successful active transportation projects, including “strong” progress on The OC Loop, which will eventually offer 66 miles of continuous trails, and is now approximately 88% complete.

They’ve also competed Safe Travels Education Program, aka STEP, safe walking and biking safety campaigns in at least 25 public elementary schools, and worked with a social media influencer to develop an ebike safety tutorial that’s received over 1 million views on Instagram.

Photo by Maria Orlova from Pexels.

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El Monte is hosting a public meeting tonight to discuss a Complete Streets project at Valley Boulevard and Main Street.

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The popular annual Rosarito-to-Ensenada Bike Ride has been cancelled, with organizers saying the ride had been halted due to “reasons beyond their control.”

Although given the level of cartel violence in Mexico these days, it’s not hard to hazard a guess why, especially since it would be hard to insure.

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People Powered Media says say hello to my little friend.

And give it a name.

Click on the screenshot to go to the original tweet

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Seriously, who didn’t have this on their San Francisco Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane bingo card?

Click on the screenshot to go to the original tweet

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

A Toronto driver was captured on video driving across a wide bicycle bridge, forcing bicyclists to cringe as they walk their bikes along the wall.

A British man was hospitalized with two broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and a collapsed lung, and coughing up blood after crashing his bicycle into garden waste “maliciously” strewn across a bike path.

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

More on the bike-riding burglar who broke into Bibi’s Boutique on Pico Blvd in LA’s Pico-Robertson neighborhood, before pedaling off with over $3,000 in cash and merchandise.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton takes a look at the new Higuera Street Bridge replacement project over Ballona Creek in Culver City, including new protected bike lanes on the bridge, and a new — not improved, as I wrote earlier — ramp to the bike path below.

Glendale officials rallied in support of AB 645, which would create a speed cam pilot program in three SoCal cities — Glendale, Long Beach and Los Angeles — along with three cities in Northern California.

 

State

Police in Irvine busted a pair of alleged bike thieves who’d were arrested while ghost riding four stolen bicycles; the also had outstanding warrants, and were carrying burglary tools and drug paraphernalia.

A travel site describes what it’s like to bike across the the Golden Gate Bridge from Sausalito to San Francisco.

 

National

Red Bull calls Just Ride “the most entertaining podcast in cycling.”

Gear Patrol says it just might be worth it for ebike riders to invest in a bike helmet that exceeds minimum standards. Then again, it might be worthwhile for any bike rider. 

ET phones home with the best Prime Day deals on ebikes to cruise in comfort this summer; while Men’s Journal offers their own take on the same subject.

A 30-year old Aberdeen, Washington man was arrested for randomly attacking a man riding a bicycle for no apparent reason, while under the influence of a “stupendous” amount of alcohol; he also kicked a cop in the face and head-butted a hole through the window of the patrol car he was locked in.

A 27-year old Utah man turned himself in for Sunday’s fatal hit-and-run that took the life of a 59-year old man riding a bicycle. Although that would have given him plenty of time to sober up if he was under the influence at the time of the crash. 

Police in New Mexico charged a 29-year old man with murder for fatally shooting a man riding a bicycle on a local trail, for no apparent reason; the man had previous run-ins with several other people in the community, including firing a shot at the local high school cross-country team.

Good question. Students at Montana State University want to know why a man was handcuffed by campus police for riding his bike through a stop sign.

Security cam video shows the head of Fargo, North Dakota’s marathon fall off his bicycle before being run over and killed by a pickup driver, explaining why the driver wasn’t charged.

Heartbreaking news from Massachusetts, where a seven-year old little girl who had disappeared while riding her bike was found dead under nine feet of water a local river.

New York bicyclists are marking next week’s 141st birthday of legendary artist Edward Hopper with a bike ride from The Whitney Museum of American Art in Manhattan to his birthplace of Nyack NY and back — entirely which is appropriate since he was one of us.

A new multi-use trail will connect 17 commutes in South New Jersey’s Camden County; it will become part of a network offering 850 miles of interconnected trails.

DC could become the latest city to offer ebike rebates, with up to $2,000 off the price of an e-cargo bike, and $300 to replace crappy, fire-prone lithium-ion batteries. Meanwhile, Los Angeles responds with <crickets>. 

This is who we share the road with. After an Alabama police chase ended in a crash, officers discovered the armed suspect who allegedly stole the car was just eight-years old. Yes, 8.

Sad news from Miami, where the city’s beloved Jack the Bike Man died after suffering a heart attack last week at 81-years old; his annual holiday bike giveaway donated thousands of refurbished bicycles to children and adults in need for more than 20 years.

 

International

Momentum Magazine offers advice on how to deal with the inevitable bikelash, including advice to stay calm and respectful in confrontations. Which can seem almost impossible in the heat of the moment.

Lumos is now offering a stripped-down version of their original Ultra lighted bike helmet, with a removable rear light to reduce weight.

A British coroner concluded that all it might have taken to save the life of a 52-year old woman who died in a solo fall off her bike was a sign warning about the badly degraded roadway. Or maybe they could have just fixed the damn road in the first place. 

An 18-year old Idaho man is back home following his third place finish in the weeklong, 688-mile Ascend Armenia bikepacking race, which featured a whopping 83,000 feet of elevation gain.

Bike riders in Hyderabad, India say they’re satisfied with the progress on a new 14-mile, three-lane separated and covered cycle track.

 

Competitive Cycling

Veteran Basque cyclist Pello Bilbao jumped six spots in the Tour de France general classification, from 11th to 5th, in a bold six man breakaway, while dedicating his win to fallen Bahrain-Victorious teammate Gino Mäder, who died after riding off the road in last month’s Tour de Suisse.

Velo examines five times fans and dogs caused race-changing mayhem at theTour de France.

Bicycling is wowed by artist James Arnold’s animations of the upcoming Tour de France Femmes. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

When you’re busted for riding your lightlessbike carrying a metal straw full of coke — and not the kind you drink. Or when carrying weed and meth on your bike leads to a Picayune arrest.

And that feeling when your new foraging bike was designed by a celebrity chef and environmentalist.

Because everyone needs a dedicated bike for foraging.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

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

Still no word on launch of CA ebike rebate program, and active transportation bills face Tuesday state senate committee vote

July 7, 2023 / / Comments Off on Still no word on launch of CA ebike rebate program, and active transportation bills face Tuesday state senate committee vote

Like the song says, waiting is the hardest part.

Because there’s still no word on when the California ebike tax rebate program will begin.

At last word, they were expected to launch in the second quarter of this year, which ended last Friday.

The program has already spent a quarter of the allotted $10 million for administration and overhead, leaving just $7.5 million available for ebike vouchers.

It’s being administered by San Diego’s Pedal Ahead, which operates an ebike loan-to-own program for San Diego residents.

Meanwhile, Calbike offers a slightly different version, saying the program was scheduled to have a soft opening in four undisclosed regions last month, before opening statewide in a few months.

They cite a $13 million budget, anticipating it will fund between 4,000 and 7,000 ebike vouchers.

So if the soft openings do happen and exceed anticipated demand, it’s possible there might not be anything left by the time it gets to you.

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Calbike reports five active transportation-ish bills will come up before the state Senate Transportation Committee this Tuesday.

The bills include another attempt to get the Stop as Yield bill past Governor Newsom’s veto pen, as well as bills mandating daylighting at intersections, requiring climate-first transportation planning, and legalizing sidewalk bike riding statewide.

The fifth bill would establish a pilot program for free youth transit.

The link above includes a form to contact your state legislature to voice your support for any or all of the bills.

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

No bias here. After a little kid was struck by a driver in Wales, Britain’s Sky News reports the ten-year old “cyclist” suffered life-changing injuries. I believe the word they were looking for there was child. 

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

No bias here, either. New Jersey letter writers say a bike rider who is suing a councilmember for the hit-and-run crash that reportedly left him with serious injuries doesn’t deserve a red cent because he ran the red light, regardless of whether the councilwoman fled the scene. And, uh, because he was wearing flip flops.

Bike riders in Barrie, Ontario were fined $180 each for running a stop sign in a community safety zone, as officials stressed “Stop signs are for everyone, including cyclists.” While bike riders should observe the law, they have a much better view of the road and pose significantly less danger to others around them, which should be reflected in any fine, but usually isn’t. Thanks to How The West Was Saved for the heads-up. 

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Local 

Metro has received over half of the $80 million in grants distributed across six SoCal counties by the Southern California Association of Governments Regional Council, aka SCAG; the funding represents the first local distribution of a $237 million state Regional Early Action Planning, or REAP, grant for transportation and housing efforts.

Streetsblog says the new curb-protected bike lanes on Santa Monica’s 17th Street are “amazing;” the bike/ped improvements include Southern California’s first European-style curb-protected intersections.

 

State

The California legislature restored full funding for the state’s active transportation programs, after Governor Newsom had attempted to cut it by half a billion dollars.

CleanTechnica reports fossil fuel companies are spending millions to defeat a pair of climate reporting bills in the state legislature.

Fullerton celebrated the 4th of July with their annual bike parade.

Orange County has received $13.3 million in SCAG grants to fund innovative transportation projects designed to reduce motor vehicle use, including a number of bike-friendly projects around the county.

A built-in tracker on a stolen ebike led San Diego police to a parolee illegally in possession of a stolen shotgun, illegal drugs and the purloined bicycle. Although I’m not sure you can legally posses a stolen weapon. 

A San Francisco woman who has been hit by drivers twice while riding her bike reflects on the differences between biking in the Bay Area and in Belgium, where she is visiting. Like not getting hit by motorists, for instance.

Sacramento is investing $16 million in building more protected bike lanes in the downtown area.

A Rancho Cordova bike shop is asking for the public’s help to bounce back from the challenges of the pandemic, by attempting to crowdfund a quarter of a million dollars to keep it alive until their business can stabilize.

 

National

Bloomberg’s CityLab writes that businesses are learning to love bike lanes as downtown areas continue to struggle, saying the need to rethink urban cores is encouraging business improvement districts to reconsider the wisdom of prioritizing motor vehicles.

The Consumer Products Safety Commission is recalling 84,000 woom ORIGINAL balance and pedal bikes due to a problem with the stem and handlebars, which can detach and cause a fall.

Washington US Congressman Rick Larsen is one of us, riding his bike as part of a bicycle town hall for a local community.

A Colorado man is recovering after two weeks in the hospital with a broken collarbone, shoulder and damaged skull, as well as “really bad road rash all over his body” after falling off his bike during a fundraising ride to fight human trafficking.

A Minnesota man faces charges for running over and dragging a bike-riding bystander, following a drunken road rage argument with another driver at a Wisconsin riverfront boat launch, while his own young kids were in the car.

Disappointing ruling from a Minnesota appeals court, which dismissed a lawsuit from the father of a 13-year old boy who was killed by a driver while riding his bike to school, ruling that the city, county and school district can’t be held accountable for dangerous conditions on the roadway.

A Youngstown, Ohio company donated 120 bicycles to kids during National Bike Month, part of a promotion promising to donated a bike to a child in need for every sale.

Columbus, Ohio is the latest city to offer residents ebike rebates, with up to 150 vouchers ranging from $500 to $1,200, depending on household income. Meanwhile, Californians continue to wait for what was the nation’s first ebike rebate program when it was originally approved 19 months ago. 

A 47-year old Burlington, Vermont man faces charges after chasing bike riders and pedestrians on a waterfront bike path, and threatening them with a box cutter.

A New Jersey man learns the hard way not to snatch an unattended kid’s bike.

Community members in Covington, Louisiana are asking for prayers for a 17-year old boy who collapsed while riding his bike, and was found unconscious in the roadway.

 

International

More proof life is cheap in the UK, where a speeding, distracted student driver who ran down a Manchester, England milkman riding his bike to work got a lousy 14 months behind bars; the victim was just weeks from retirement when he was killed by the driver, who couldn’t be bothered to slow down or hang up his phone, and shouldn’t have been driving alone in the first place.

A Scottish man has set a new record for riding 250 miles coast-to-coast across the country in 23 hours and 8 minutes.

Thousands of people lined the funeral route for a pair of Welsh teenagers who were laid to rest together, after they were killed in an ebike crash while being closely followed, if not pursued, by the cops.

A new documentary follows the inner and outer journeys of a pair of Indian women as they take part in the London-Edinburgh-London endurance cycling race.

 

Competitive Cycling

After getting dropped yesterday, Tadej Pogacar bounced back to win Thursday’s stage 6, putting himself back in contention at 25 seconds behind the leader.

Like Adam Yates before him, 2022 Giro champ Jai Hindley’s time in yellow lasted just a single day, as last year’s Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard slipped it on at the end of stage 6.

American Neilson Powless is back in polka dots as the Tour’s best climber.

Velo explains the Tour’s confusing team tactics.

USA Cycling has announced their team for the track cycling worlds before they even held the US track championships at Carson’s Velo Sports Center this weekend. Which means whoever wins the nationals risks being left off the worlds team entirely, despite being crowned as the US track champ. Thanks to Steve Fujinaka for calling out what’s been bugging me since learning about the US worlds team.

A Vancouver paper says questions are being raised about safety and oversight in the wake of a teenage mountain biker’s death during a downhill race in British Columbia last weekend.

Bicycling reports that track and gravel champ Ashton Lambie’s latest challenge is taking on sailing’s iconic America’s Cup. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Don’t wink at a woman while riding a bike in Ottumwa, Iowa. Now you, too, can join a pot-smoking bicycle club.

And your bike may soon be able to talk to cars.

Although I’m sure many of us would prefer to share a few choice words with their drivers, instead.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

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

Pedestrian deaths reach 4 decade high, USDOT caves on cutting truck side deaths, and Buena Park needs your input

June 23, 2023 / / One comment

If you think things are bad out there, you’re right.

While estimates from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggest that total US traffic deaths dropped a modest 3% in the first quarter of this year, the news for pedestrians is every bit as bad as you might think.

In fact, Streetsblog reports pedestrian deaths reached a 41-year high last year, topping the previous year’s 40-year high, while erasing decades of progress in reducing fatalities for people outside of motor vehicles.

And horrifyingly, that is with only 49 states checking in.

According to new estimates from the Governors Highway Safety Association, “at least” 7,508 people on foot were killed by drivers on U.S. roads last year — an estimate, that notably, excludes the entire state of Oklahoma, which failed to deliver its preliminary totals this year due to technical difficulties but has averaged 92 pedestrian deaths in recent years.

If that estimate sticks, U.S. walkers will have experienced a stunning 77-percent increase in deaths since 2010, rising at a rate more than three times faster than the rest of the traveling public, for whom fatalities increased 25 percent over the same period.

While the total doesn’t include bicycling fatalities, a rise in one usually corresponds with rise in the other.

The GHSA report suggested that common factors in pedestrians deaths include large arterials designed to prioritize vehicle speed, the ever-increasing size of motor vehicles, and dark road conditions.

You can add to that a lack of safe sidewalks and crosswalks, and all the multiple and varied forms of driver distraction — including distracting video and touchscreen systems installed directly into the dashboard.

The GHSA reports that “in the absence of urgent action to address those systemic factors, safety officials are begging drivers themselves to be more careful.”

Sure, that’ll happen.

Notably, pedestrian deaths are estimated to have dropped 20% in California, tied by South Carolina, and exceeded only by New Jersey’s 27% decrease.

So we may be doing something right.

Photo by Kaique Rocha from Pexels. 

………

Meanwhile, according to a report from Pro Publica, the US Department of Transportation allowed trucking lobbyists to review an unpublished report recommending sideguards on all large trucks.

The goal of the report was to save lives by preventing bike riders and pedestrians from getting trapped underneath turning trucks, or from overly close passes.

Needless to say, trucking firms rejected the modest cost of sideguards, which are already required in the European Union, apparently preferring to pay higher insurance fees and the occasional legal settlement when they actually kill someone.

And making it clear that the USDOT exists to maintain corporate profits, rather than save human lives.

Here’s what the Bike League had to say on the subject.

………

Orange County bike advocate Mike Wilkinson sends word of an important active transportation survey in Buena Park.

THIS IS IMPORTANT! Buena Park is developing its first Active Transportation Plan. This is a rare opportunity for people who bike or walk to tell the city what they need.

There are two surveys. One is near the top of the page linked here, and it asks for basic information about biking and walking in the city. Scroll down further, and there is an interactive map that allows you to click on streets or intersections that need to be improved. It’s a little complicated, but please take your time to figure out how to use it, and then let the city know what needs to be done!

………

Wealthy NIMBYs in San Diego’s Pacific Beach used their cars to protest permanent safety installations on Diamond Street, claiming they will somehow cause more traffic emissions.

And missing the irony entirely.

………

Rhodes scholar, country singer-songwriter and actor Kris Kristofferson is one of us, or at least he was in his college days at Oxford.

………

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

A Colorado letter writer somehow surmises that an ebike rider’s torn pants leg means he’s already crashed his bike, because there couldn’t be any other possible explanation for fashionably torn jeans. And questions whether the state’s ebike rebate program pays for the bike helmet he apparently lacks, too.

………

Local 

People Powered Media says the new bike lanes on Venice Blvd are far from ideal, in part because they encroach on the gutter, and were laid over the existing broken roadway.

Claremont is ending its micromobility pilot program, and making the city’s shared mobility ordinance a permanent part of the city’s municipal code.

Meanwhile, West Hollywood will decide at Monday’s city council meeting whether to permanently approve the city’s micromobility program, or reinstate the city’s previous ban on rental ebikes and e-scooters.

Police in Santa Monica busted a bike-riding homeless man for robbing a Wells Fargo Bank of $1,100, after stopping the man while he was still in possession of the money.

 

State

Bike-riding Encinitas Assemblymember Tasha Boerner is making her third consecutive attempt to pass a California Safety Stop, aka Stop as Yield, aka Idaho Stop law, after Governor Newsom vetoed the bill two years ago; last year she pulled the legislation after it passed both houses of the legislature to avoid another threatened veto.

Police in San Bernardino busted a bike thief who preyed on an autistic man as he made his twice daily coffee run.

Ventura will ban bikes and e-scooters from the city’s pedestrianized Main Street in the downtown area.

 

National

If you’re going to tour Roswell, New Mexico, do it from the seat of a bike. That way, there will be some evidence left behind after the aliens grab you. 

Milwaukee concludes that sharrows may work in some limited contexts, but are pretty much useless in most cases.

Kindhearted Illinois sheriff’s deputies bought a new bike for an 11-year old boy after his was stolen.

A Duluth, Minnesota columnist says if you hate potholes, trying riding a bike more often to do less damage to the roadways. Or none, even.

A writer for The Guardian says the four people killed recently in a New York ebike battery fire won’t be the last if nothing changes.

 

International

Velo says your next fully 3D-printed titanium roadie could retail for a mere $18,600.

Soccer great Lionel Messi is one of us, enjoying a bike ride with his family in Venezuela before reporting to his new team in Miami.

Glasgow, Scotland is empowering women refugees from Afghanistan and Iran by teaching them how to ride bicycles.

London’s annual Parliamentary Bike Ride draws Members of Parliament, local officials and bike advocates to promote bicycling in the city, putting active transportation over party politics.

Germany’s Schwalbe is bringing its rubber-free Aerothan thermoplastic polyurethane material to bike tires, saving 5 grams per tire — or a whole 0.17 ounces.

Inside EVs says Yamaha’s new ebike motor is a weight weenie’s dream come true at just 5.7 pounds — over five ounces lighter than the previous version.

Life is cheap in Australia, where a 20-year old woman walked without a single day behind bars for killing a 75-year old bike-riding grandfather, because the judge concluded “her remorse is self-punishing.”

He gets it. The Aussie academic behind the recent study showing drivers see bike riders wearing helmets and hi-vis as less than human says “If you have a safe and normal cycling culture, how could you see people as anything but human?”

 

Competitive Cycling

Your new 2023 US national time trial champs are former national and world time trial champion Chloé Dygert, and Giro stage-winner Brandon McNulty.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the US can’t even manage to crack the list of the world’s most livable cities. Or when a $10,000 stolen bike isn’t a typo.

And if anyone has me on their Secret Santa list this year, this will do nicely.

 

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Deliberate vehicular assault in Point Loma hit-and-run, CA ebike rebates, and comment on Redondo Beach Blvd plan

April 28, 2023 / / Comments Off on Deliberate vehicular assault in Point Loma hit-and-run, CA ebike rebates, and comment on Redondo Beach Blvd plan

Now we know what happened.

This past Monday, we called attention to a bicyclist seriously injured in a hit-and-run in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood last week.

Tristan Gonzalez, a former San Diego police helicopter pilot and a high school mountain bike league board member — and, I’m told, a really nice guy — was riding on Catalina Blvd near Bernice Drive when he was run down by the driver around 4:50 pm.

He posted about the crash from his hospital bed, describing the suspect as a white male around 35-45 years old, wearing a lighter colored baseball cap, and driving a smaller white pickup truck with an extended cab and non-tinted windows.

According to San Diego’s CBS8,

He said he first encountered the driver of a white Toyota Tacoma a block earlier near Catalina Boulevard and Narragansett Avenue. He said he sensed the driver was getting dangerously close to him. At one point, he said the driver hit the handlebars of Gonzalez’s bike.

Gonzalez said he approached the truck and looked into the window. He said the driver stared straight ahead and didn’t acknowledge him.

As they both continued down Catalina toward Bernice, he sensed he was about to be hit.

“All of a sudden, I hear honking. I hear a car speed up, and sure enough, the same white truck came up alongside me,” said Gonzalez. “I just had time to look over and to see it was the same truck and to see the driver steer and turn the truck and speed right into me. I went flying and landed in the street with several injuries.”

To make matters worse, I’m told a witness pulled over to help, but accidentally left her car in drive, only stopping when Gonzolez’ helmet was wedged between the front tire, fender and bumper as a wheel chock.

He was hospitalized with a broken hip, clavicle and punctured lung. The good news is, he was scheduled to be released on Wednesday.

Police are reportedly taking the incident seriously, investigating the crash as an assault with a deadly weapon. Although it should be considered attempted murder.

A still photo taken from a doorbell video shows the white extended cab pickup.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the San Diego Police Department.

Photo depicts Tristan Gonzalez from his hospital bed. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

………

Streetsblog has more information about California’s ebike rebate program, which we mentioned yesterday, saying it’s on track for a soft launch in June, and full operation in the third quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, Bicycling examines the growing list of ebike incentives offered by cities and states across the US. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

………

Here’s your chance to comment on plans for the Redondo Beach Blvd Active Transportation Corridor Project.

………

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

No bias here. A Vancouver, Washington letter writer can’t comprehend why the city has so many bike lanes when it rains eight months out of the year, suggesting no one is going to ride their bike to work in the rain. To paraphrase a famous quote of unknown origin, the person who says no one will do it shouldn’t interrupt those who are doing it. 

Shades of Culver City. A Toronto mayoral candidate swears he’s not anti-bike lane, even as he threatens to rip out a busy bike lane on a major street.

An anti-bike member of the British Parliament called for removing a bike lane where 59 people have been injured in the past year as a result of a pale line painted the same color as a curb, creating an optical illusion; he has also used racist terms in the past in criticizing bike lanes. Or they could just paint one or the other a different color, and solve the whole problem.

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

Frequent British tabloid target Jeremy Vine was criticized for not stopping to help while riding his bike past a crash scene. Even though dashcam video shows the BBC presenter stopping to talk with someone before riding on.

Bike riders in the UK are warned against the increasingly common practice of bike commuters “half-wheeling” by riding with half a wheel’s length in front of another bicyclist.

………

Local 

The LA Times gets it, saying walking to school shouldn’t be deadly, in the wake of the crash that killed a mom and critically injured her daughter as they crossed the street to get to the girl’s school. Then again, biking to school shouldn’t mean risking life and limb, either.

Metro says this year’s Bike Week is scheduled for May 15-19 and Bike Day, formerly known as Bike To Work Day, will be Thursday, May 18. Let’s just hope it doesn’t fizzle out for lack of interest like it did last year.

Speaking of Metro, the Los Angeles County transportation agency says upgrades will be rolling out for their bike locker program in the coming months, starting with the Culver City Expo Line Station.

Finishing our Metro trifecta, the agency invites you to join their commissioned artist Geoff McFetridge and Ride-On! Bike Shop/Co-Op on a 5-mile community bike ride from the Ride-On! Bike Shop in Leimert Park to the K Line’s Westchester/Veterans Station. 

 

State

The family of fallen Encinitas bicyclist Jennings Worley have begun settlement talks in a lawsuit against Shea Homes, three years after Worley, a leading scientist working on a cure cystic fibrosis, was killed when moving truck driver right hooked him turning into one of the builder’s developments. Which raises the question of how many CF patients will needlessly suffer because he isn’t there to develop a treatment for the devastating disease. 

A California website calls the bike and pedestrian Redding Sundial Bridge an architectural marvel promoting art, culture, and environmental sustainability.

A San Diego letter writer says cutting parking in the city’s Balboa Park for new bus and bike lanes doesn’t help the environment. Apparently confusing smog-belching cars for some cleaner form of transportation — like buses and bikes, for instance. 

 

National

Writing for the New Yorker, novelist Joyce Carol Oates offers a novella centering on a bicycle crash.

Prolific author Judy Blume is one of us, shown riding bicycles with her husband in a new documentary.

Bike Rumor looks at 3D-printed banana holders.

Writing for Outside, Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss offers a defense for biking in the suburbs. You can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Bike Portland says a relatively minor shift in how the city will regulate a few parking spaces is being “framed as a sinister scheme by PBOT to ban trucks across a swath of downtown Portland,” while hurting local businesses at the same time.

Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes continues to hemorrhage employees, undergoing its fourth round of layoffs.

A Spokane, Washington website says 750 bike riders have been struck by drivers in the city since 2014, along with 1,500 pedestrians, and examines what can be done to stop the carnage.

A 23-year old Illinois woman was sentenced to four years behind bars for killing a man riding an ebike while she was high on weed.

New York is deploying streetlight-mounted artificial intelligence-enabled sensors to “collect anonymized data on modes of transportation such as cars, buses, trucks, bicycles, scooters, pedestrians and others and the paths they take,” and how they interact on the streets.

Grubhub will provide free use of ebikes to at least 500 New York delivery workers, along with access to over 50 hubs where workers can store bikes, exchange batteries and collect delivery rider gear.

 

International

Road.cc explains what all-road bikes are, describing them as “drop-bar bikes that are fast and capable on any kind of road surface from smooth asphalt all the way to light gravel tracks.” In other words, what we used to call a “bicycle.”

Canadian ebike maker Velec announced an “innovative” anti-theft protection program offering replacement bikes and unlimited roadside assistance anywhere in Canada. Which is pretty much what VanMoof innovated five years ago. 

Two-time Tour de France champ Gino Bartali is the subject of a new musical premiering in London’s West End theater district for his heroism saving Jews under the nose of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini during WWII.

The truck driver who killed a 74-year old British man as he rode his bike was spared prison time when the victim’s wife pleaded with the court to show him mercy.

Bike riders in Hyderabad, India are pleased with progress being made on a long-awaited, three-lane, 15 mile cycle track.

No surprise here. Danish Crown Princess Mary is one of us, as she’s spotted riding a bike on a royal visit to her native Australia.

 

Competitive Cycling

Mathieu Van Der Poel plans to skip major mountain bike races to focus on road racing until after this year’s Road World Championships.

Seventeen-year-old Coronado High School Junior Eddie “Shreddie” Reynolds is officially turning pro, and will henceforth ride for the Kona Bikes Factory Team. When I was a junior in high school, I was just happy to ride my bike carrying a Sousaphone without falling.

LA-based L39ION of Los Angeles is launching three new cycling kits designed by Rapha, while L39ION founder Justin Williams announced the formation of the new Circuit Racing International Tour, or CRIT, bike racing league, calling it the future of cycling.

 

Finally…

When you’re carrying meth and fentanyl on your bike, with four outstanding warrants, try not to almost fall off in front of the cops. Fall of your bike, and your jeans turn into airbags, even if they make you look like a old-time motorcycle cop.

And your next new cranks could cost more than most people’s bikes.

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Fighting bike dismount law at Redondo Pier, active transportation lost in LA budget, and free Earth Day Metro Bikes

April 19, 2023 / / 5 comments

Happy Bicycle Day!

Which may not be exactly what you think. Or maybe it is.

Photo shows a bike dismount sign in Manhattan Beach, because I don’t have one from Redondo.

………

I’ll let someone else start things off today.

Daryll Strauss writes that the Redondo Beach City Council was hearing a recommendation from city staffers last night about the long-standing requirement to walk your bike on the beachfront bike path as it passes the city pier.

Not to mention the ridiculous 5 mph speed limit as the bike path snakes through the pier parking garage, which makes it a challenge to keep your bike upright while getting anywhere close to it.

Redondo Beach Pier has a bike path that travels through the pier parking garage. The RBPD has begun a maximum enforcement ($300 ticket) policy requiring bicyclists to walk their bike through the garage through the south end of the pier. A distance of about 300 yards.

The laws in the city allow police to enforce a walk your bike requirement anywhere signs are posted, and signs can be posted anywhere city staff wants. There are signs and flashing lights that say walk your bike when flashing, but they flash all the time.

The South Bay Bicycle Coalition and the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission have recommended loosening the restrictions, but the recommendations from city staff is to keep the status quo.

This topic is on the agenda for the Redondo Beach City Council meeting tonight.

The staff recommendations are ludicrous. They don’t provide any data to justify their recommendations and make specious arguments. It basically comes down to the fact the police can’t legally enforce a speed limit so they’ll make it “walk your bike”. Their safety concerns for bicycles riding through turns, at an arbitrary 5mpg, are outright ludicrous and can be mitigated with textured pavement. It’s also ironic that they just installed a skate park on the pier which would have much larger safety issues.

I ride this route regularly. I completely understand walking my bike where the bike path crosses the main entrance of the pier when there is significant pedestrian traffic, but the majority of the restrictions are ridiculous.

This is the beginning of the process, so there may be an opportunity to change these rules if the city council doesn’t rubber stamp the staff recommendation tonight.

I always thought the requirement was absurd when I used to ride through there on a semi-regular basis.

Unfortunately, I received this too late to get the word out for last night’s meeting. But hopefully we’ll let you know if they reconsider it at a future meeting.

………

As expected, Los Angeles Mayor Bass released her first budget yesterday.

It will take someone with more financial acuity than I possess to dig into it and see what she’s budgeted for alternative transportation, bikes and Vision Zero, and how it compares to previous years.

But a cursory examination didn’t reveal any mention of it in the budget, or in LAist’s detailed look at the budget. Which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence.

But maybe I’m not looking in the right place.

This is what she had to say on the subject when she was campaigning for mayor. We’ll see how much actually made it into the budget.

8. Prevent Traffic Fatalities and Champion Walking and Biking

Los Angeles has one of the highest rates of traffic fatalities in the nation 11 – and those deaths disproportionately impact communities of color and low-income neighborhoods. 1213 That is unacceptable. Traffic safety is a public health issue.

Meanwhile, survey after survey shows that Angelenos don’t feel safe getting around their neighborhood on foot and by bike – even though they want to. 1415 Angelenos shouldn’t have to worry about being struck by a car when they’re trying to bike to work or walk their children to school. Bass will stand up for safe streets, and prioritize accessibility for the most vulnerable members of our community.

As Mayor, Bass will:

  • Treat street safety as the public health crisis it is, and leverage all available city resources to address unsafe speeds and save lives.
  • Prioritize first and last-mile access to transit so that all Angelenos can use the region’s growing rail and bus network.
  • Invest in street safety infrastructure that saves lives.
  • Create family-friendly bicycle and pedestrian routes to connect neighborhood destinations and transit stops.
  • Support and expand monthly open streets events across L.A. like CicLAvia that bring communities together.

………

Metro Bike is offering free rides for Earth Day this Saturday.

………

BikeLA, the former Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, supports a more equitable distribution of street space on Eagle Rock Blvd.

………

The fight to preserve the MOVE Culver City streetscape — and keep it from reverting to the car sewer it used to be — comes to a head on Monday.

https://twitter.com/BikeCulverCity/status/1648361017196548100

………

ActiveSGV is hosting a bike ride through Covina on May 6th.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1648453853682061312

………

Berkeley bike riders demonstrate the right way to do a die-in, starting with having enough bodies to actually get some attention.

https://twitter.com/WarrenJWells/status/1648519850753671170

………

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

No bias here. San Jose’s Mr. Roadshow agrees with motorists who demand that bike riders should pay their fair share for the roads we ride on, neglecting to consider that we already pay more than our share for the negligible damage we do to the streets — unlike the massive SUVs that threaten our safety while destroying our streets, and our world. Unfortunately, you’ll have to sacrifice your email address if you want to read it, however.

A New York man faces charges after intentionally driving his car up onto a sidewalk in an effort to run down a kid riding a bicycle, claiming the boy had attempted to steal his property. Which is not an excuse for attempting to use deadly force, as he’s about to learn the hard way.

Police in Surrey, England are looking for a man who stepped out of the darkness to attack a man riding a bicycle with some sort of weapon; the attack was captured on security cam, but the attacker’s face was hidden by a balaclava.

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

An Illinois man faces up to 30 years behind bars for riding his bicycle over a homeless man sleeping in a parking garage, then attacking the victim with both ends of an axe; the horrific assault only ended when the victim was able to reach an emergency phone.

A Singapore man was hospitalized with a brain bleed after he was struck by a “peloton of crazy cyclists” while riding his bike, none of whom stopped after the crash.

………

Local 

Metro is hosting a virtual community meeting this afternoon to discuss the Rail to Rail Active Transportation Corridor Project, which will create a walking and biking pathway through Inglewood and South LA.

Santa Monica is planning safety improvements to deadly Wilshire Blvd, including “special markings at four intersections (to) create dedicated space for cyclists to safely cross Wilshire Boulevard.”

 

State

Bills to authorize speed cams and camera enforcement of bike lanes passed their first committee hearings in the state legislature; unfortunately, a bill that would rip out the bike lanes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and replace them with another lane for motor vehicles did, too.

San Francisco bike advocates rallied to demand protected bike lanes on Arguello Blvd, where masters cycling champ and world record holder Ethan Boyes was killed earlier this month.

 

National

Distracted driving kills ten people a day in the US.

Fast Company says it’s time to undo bikeshare’s original sin, and subsidize it like the public asset it is.

In a surprising move, outdoor co-op REI is pulling out of ostensibly bike-friendly Portland.

A North Carolina paracyclist made a remarkable recovery to complete Monday’s Boston Marathon riding a recumbent handcycle, after he was severely injured in a collision with a pickup driver last July while training for the Para-Cycling Road World Championship.

Heartbreaking news from Florida, where an 83-year old man was murdered by a heartless hit-and-run driver, after he was struck by a motorcyclist while trying to ride his bike across the street; the motorcycle rider was critically injured, as well. Seriously, anyone who can still ride a bike at that age deserves a hell of a lot better. Then again, so does anyone else.

More bad Florida news, as Dartmouth College football coach Buddy Teevens had his leg amputated, as well as suffering spinal injuries, as a result of last month’s collision while he was riding his bike home from a restaurant; police naturally blamed him for the crash, and never bothered to test the uninsured driver for drug or alcohol use.

 

International

GCN demonstrates how to wrap handlebar tape on drop bars.

Winnipeg, Manitoba is holding an online auction of unclaimed bikes. The only problem is you’ll have to go there to pick it up if you win. 

England and Wales are on the verge of banning bicycle tires and inner tubes from being dumped in landfills, requiring them to be recycled, instead.

The parents of a young Scottish woman complain that “society has accepted death as a cost of getting from A to B,” after she was killed while riding her bike earlier this year.

Britain’s self-governing island of Jersey is the latest jurisdiction offering ebike rebates, with the equivalent of $372 for a standard ebike, or twice that for a cargo-ebike.

Remarkable news from France, where the 50-year old man who received the first double arm and shoulder transplant two years ago was able to ride a bicycle for the first time after losing both arms when he was electrocuted by power lines 25 years earlier.

The world’s longest purpose-built bike and pedestrian tunnel has opened in Norway, running 1.8 miles under a mountain.

Traffic deaths are up in the Netherlands, as the country suffers the highest bicycling death toll in nearly three decades — especially for riders over 75.

Switzerland is encouraging its citizens to bike to work this spring.

A Spanish man rode his bike 378 miles in just 20 hours to raise awareness and respect for people on bicycles. He certainly earned my respect.

An Indian man has developed a DIY ultrasonic dog repellent to stay safe riding his bike. Although maybe he could make it just a tad smaller before it hits the market.

Your next Taiwanese smart ebike could have a frame made of interlocking carbon triangles crammed with all the latest tech.

In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until it’s too late, Australian officials gave the visually-impaired driver who killed a 66-year old man riding a bike an unconditional driver’s license, despite failing the minimum vision test requirements and almost hitting parked cars during his driving test.

 

Competitive Cycling

The governing body for time trials in England, Scotland and Wales is introducing a standard road bike category to encourage more people to take part; no word on why Northern Ireland bike riders weren’t invited to play.

Indiana University’s student newspaper looks forward to the school’s iconic Little 500 bike race this weekend; the race was made famous by the equally iconic Breaking Away. Which is the movie that inspired me to buy a bike and start riding as an adult.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a loose plastic bag makes its home in your spokes while you ride. Now you can carry your bike across your back like a backpack; just be careful walking through crowds or going through doors.

And forget the diamond, and buy your beloved an engagement bike, instead.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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