Tag Archive for auto-centric society

77-year old man critical after Burbank hit-and-run, scooter injuries triple in just 5 years, and making NYC more car-friendly

January 18, 2024 / / Comments Off on 77-year old man critical after Burbank hit-and-run, scooter injuries triple in just 5 years, and making NYC more car-friendly
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to hear the dangers we face just walking and biking on the mean streets of Los Angeles.

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

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Bad news from Burbank, where a 77-year old man suffered life-threatening injuries when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bicycle.

KCAL News reports the crash occurred around 7:20 Tuesday morning near Clybourn Avenue and Oxnard Street.

He was reportedly riding south on the east sidewalk, on the northbound side of Clybourn, and was struck by the driver of an eastbound black sedan as he attempted to cross Oxnard.

As we’ve pointed out before, sidewalks are bidirectional, and there is no right direction on a sidewalk or crosswalk, painted or otherwise.

Anyone with further information is urged to contact Burbank Police investigators at 818/238-3103.

Let’s hope he makes a full and fast recovery.

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A UCLA report indicates scooter injuries saw a huge jump over a recent five-year period, along with a similar increase in severe injuries, according to Santa Monica Daily Press.

With the rise in riding comes a tangential, and substantial, increase in scooter injuries. According to new UCLA-led research, scooter injuries nearly tripled across the United States from 2016 to 2020, along with a similar increase in severe injuries requiring orthopedic and plastic surgery over the same period. The study, published January 9 in the peer-reviewed Journal of the American College of Surgeons, compared national trends in scooter and bicycle industries as well as the implications of these injuries on the healthcare industry…

Scooter-related injuries led to major operative interventions 56% of the time, compared to 48% for bike-related injuries. Scooter riders were also shown to have higher odds of experiencing long bone fractures and paralysis than bicycle-related injuries. Both groups were similarly likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries.

However, the study did not differentiate between e-scooters and regular scooters.

It also doesn’t appear to take into account the rapid growth in e-scooter usage over that same period, which could easily equal or exceed the rise in injury rates.

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A writer for The New Yorker offers an extremely tongue-in-cheek essay on how to make the city more car-friendly, including these notations —

⬩ Every year, thousands of pedestrians (drivers on the way to their cars) are injured or killed at crosswalks. We must remove all crosswalks before anyone else gets hurt.

⬩ Take out the two bad traffic lights under the green one.

⬩ Why do bicycles (slow cars with no windows) have entire lanes dedicated to them? What’s next? Lanes for skipping rope? Hopscotch lanes? Lanes dedicated to pugs with GoPros riding skateboards? Sounds a little silly to me.

It’s well worth the few minutes it takes to read the whole thing, although some items are very Gotham-centric.

Until you realize that it’s not that different than what you hear from some of the entirely serious motoring groups.

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28 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 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.

After a Canadian woman was injured by a speeding driver while on a charity ride around Lake Ontario, her insurance company filed suit — not against the driver, who was convicted of killing another victim in the crash, but against the group organizing the ride and her own father, who founded it.

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Local 

The Malibu Times reports that PCH isn’t the only deadly roadway in and around the coastal city, as the area’s popular canyon roadways cause increasing concern. As anyone who has ever encountered a speeding driver taking a wide turn on a canyon road can attest.

Congratulations to Pasadena, as PeopleForBikes ranked the city’s Union Street Complete Streets project as the 6th best new bike lane in the US; Santa Monica’s 17th Street project was rated 16th. Needless to say, Los Angeles didn’t make the list.

A 20-something Kiwi tourist raves that Los Angeles is all it’s cracked up to be, including a bicycle tour around Hollywood and Melrose, which she calls her favorite LA experience.

 

State

After criticizing cuts to the state Alternative Transportation Program budget, Calbike crafts their own alternative People-First Mobility Budget, a transportation spending plan “that gives residents more mobility options, improves health, increases equity, and helps us meet our state climate goals.”

The Press Democrat says the area where a San Jose woman was killed crashing into a fallen tree after failing to negotiate a curve on her bike is known for deadly crashes.

More bad news from Northern California, after a Sacramento driver was arrested for the hit-and-run death of a 55-year-old woman, who died a day after she was run down as she rode her bike.

 

National

Despite receiving just 1.5 inches of snow, New York bike riders faced treacherous commutes after officials failed to clear snow and ice from the city’s bridges. Which also puts a lie to the common myths that no one will ride a bike in the winter, or in bad weather.

She gets it. Former New York transportation chief Janette Sadik-Khan told a local public radio station that “Death and injury on our streets aren’t just unconscionable. They’re avoidable.”

A DC letter writer says the city must step up to prevent more traffic deaths, in the face of the mayor’s “indifference to tackling the carnage on our streets.”

 

International

Shockingly, those little car-tickler plastic bendy posts aren’t enough to keep cars out of a London bicycle superhighway, or keep it from being the city’s most dangerous intersection for bike riders.

More on the nearly eight in ten women who say they experience verbal, physical and sexual harassment and intimidation at least once a month while riding their bikes in London, as more that one in five report giving up bicycling as a result of the abuse.

The hit-and-run epidemic has reached London, climbing to a record high 7,708 incidents in 2021, up 14% from the year before.

The UK bike market is bouncing back from its recent slump, with new bicycle sales predicted to climb 12% this year to 2.1 million bikes, with total sales reaching the equivalent of nearly $1.27 billion.

A new Swedish study says it will take more than better bike lanes to get people on their bikes, as too many of today’s bikeways are geared towards people who already ride, instead of encouraging new riders.

Latvian bike riders younger than 16, and e-scooter riders under 17, will now be required to wear bike helmets.

An African website talks with pro cyclist Kenneth Karaya, the first Kenyon to podium in an ultra-distance race.

Pro cyclist Rohan Dennis was directed to enter his late wife’s funeral through the back door, after he was arrested for fatally running Olympic gold medalist track cyclist Melissa Hoskins as she clung to the hood pf his pickup.

 

Competitive Cycling

Twenty-year old rising Mexican cycling star Isaac Del Toro made a “brilliant” solo attack in the last mile to win stage two of the Tour Down Under.

Twenty-two-year old US national road champ Quinn Simmons is using the Tour Down Under as a springboard to the spring cycling classics, including the Strade Bianche.

The head of the CPA pro cyclists union says they don’t have the resources to defend every cyclist accused of doping, so they won’t help anyone. So you’re on your own if you get busted for putting a little something extra in your water bottle. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when the phrase crappy bike path becomes all too literal. Or when no one knows what the hell those bike lane markings mean.

And how to ride to work without becoming a cyclist.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

South Pasadena plans car-centric remake of Fair Oaks Ave, and anti-growth email scandal in car-centric Redondo Beach

November 15, 2022 / / Comments Off on South Pasadena plans car-centric remake of Fair Oaks Ave, and anti-growth email scandal in car-centric Redondo Beach

It looks like South Pasadena is going the wrong way.

The town of just 26,000 people sandwiched between Los Angeles and Pasadena is proposing a plan to remove bulb-outs on Fair Oaks Ave, optimizing the street for motor vehicles while making it less safe for everyone else — particularly bike riders and pedestrians.

Here’s what Streets For All had to say.

THIS TUESDAY (today), the City of South Pasadena’s Mobility and Transportation Infrastructure Commission has an item on its agenda(item #3 – staff report here) to consider how to implement over $11M in federal funds for road safety improvements. Unbelievably, city staff seem to think that removing pedestrian bulb outs are a safety improvement (for whom!?). Additionally, the vast majority goes to car infrastructure – new signals, new lanes, and new cameras to monitor congestion.

It’s 2022 and we know the cost of traffic violence all too well in the Los Angeles area. There is no room for 1990s thinking using 2022 dollars. Make your voice heard.

BEST: MAKE PUBLIC COMMENT LIVE 11.15 at 6:30PM

EMAIL PUBLIC COMMENT BEFORE NOON ON 11.15

Meanwhile, Dr. Grace Peng offered her thoughts, including sharing her open letter to the South Pasadena city council.

Dear South Pasadena Mobility and Transportation Infrastructure Commission –

I oppose your staff’s recommendation to use federal dollars to make Fair Oaks Ave less safe.

Fair Oaks is a very wide and busy street. Crossing it within the allotted pedestrian signal time is already difficult for the mobility-impaired. Bulb outs reduce the distance, and make vulnerable road users safer.

The proof is right in front of us. I looked up South Pasadena in the Transportation Injury Mapping System.

The bulb outs were installed around 2010. Between 2011 and 2021, Fair Oaks Ave has seen fewer pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths than the narrower Mission St. This is a good indication that traffic calming elements on Fair Oaks are working. Stay the course.

Since Covid, there has been an increase in injuries on Fair Oaks, and in the whole region.  Do not allow cars to pick up speed while making right turns. This only increases the severity of injury and the risk of death to pedestrians. 

I live in Redondo Beach, where the death of a 13 year old girl at an unsafe intersection cost our city $33 Million in a wrongful death lawsuit. No amount of money will make that family whole again. And our city coffers suffer as well due to sharply increased insurance premiums. As a mother and daughter (to a mobility-impaired senior), I am begging you to improve, not remove pedestrian safety infrastructure. 

The $11 M in Caltrans funding could pay for pedestrian scramble signal timing changes. This would temporally separate vulnerable road users and cars/trucks in the intersections.  This would facilitate vehicle turns and improve safety.  Do this instead.

Grace Peng, PhD

PS I concur with the Streets For All recommendations below:

The ~$11M is coming from the canceled 710 North project; instead, the funds should be used to improve transportation for all modes in South Pasadena.

The vast majority of funds are proposed to be spent on cars – new signals, new turn lanes, new traffic monitoring cameras – none of these expensive items will help the residents of South Pasadena get out of cars, which are the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California!

Most egregiously, staff is proposing to REMOVE pedestrian bulb outs on Fair Oaks Ave – pedestrian bulb outs are a proven safety element that help save lives by enabling pedestrians to spend less time in the street when crossing. Removing them is contrary to every possible best safety practice.

I ask that you throw out these staff recommendations and start over. Build a true multi modal street. Add protected bike lanes (implement your own bike plan!) and more pedestrian improvements. Consider bus-only lanes in the city. With an average trip of only 3 miles, if you build safe alternatives to the car, many residents will use them, improving traffic, air quality, safety, and helping fight climate change.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Photo by Aayush Srivastava from Pexels.

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At least it’s not as bad as the recently released recording of racist and otherwise offensive comments by three LA city councilmembers, two of whom still refuse to do the right thing and resign.

But emails between the mayor of Redondo Beach and various councilmembers and supporters sure as hell ain’t pretty.

The emails center on the majority-white city’s efforts to block housing projects, particularly those offering housing for low-income residents, as well as offensive racial “banter” in private conversations.

The emails were released as part of a freedom of information request filed by attorneys for a developer looking to redevelop the city’s pier, which was blocked by a public vote.

Redondo resident Dr. Peng says officials purposely undermine transit and active transportation projects to create anti-housing furor.

It’s also worth noting that local officials are insisting that ebike riders obey the law; drivers, not so much.

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Streets For All continues a strong run in this election cycle, as two more candidates endorsed by the transportation PAC claimed victory, including new LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath; a click on the lower right panel reveals 15 candidates and propositions who’ve won with their endorsements, with no losses — yet.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1592339958219837440

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

Ann Arbor, Michigan goes back to the drawing board after local residents insist on keeping their on-street parking instead of a new bike lane, even though the homes appear to have fully functional driveways. And bizarrely argue that street parking improves safety, while bike lanes don’t — exactly the opposite of the actual effects.

An English bike rider suffered a broken leg after he was knocked off his bike by a road raging pedestrian following an argument between the two men.

It was evidently a bad weekend for people on bikes in the UK, as a second bike rider was hospitalized with serious head injuries when he was viciously attacked by a road raging driver.

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

Police in the UK are looking for a pair of hooded teenagers who rode up on bikes before demanding money and belongings from two 17-year old boys, but ended up riding off empty handed.

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Local

No surprise here. The Los Angeles Daily News reports Metro’s proposal to “simplify” it’s fare structure, which masks a dramatic fare increase, came in for overwhelming criticism during yesterday’s problem-plagued virtual meeting.

Santa Monica collected over $5 million in Development Impact Fees in 2022, adding to a pot of $11.4 million set aside for transportation projects, including $3.4 million for bikeways in 2024; the city spent nearly $1 million of the fund for active transportation projects this year.

 

State 

Petaluma announced plans for a bicycle boulevard on the city’s west side.

San Francisco safe streets advocates celebrate after last week’s election resulted in a victory to keep JFK Promenade in Golden Gate Park permanently carfree.

A Tulare County woman faces up to four years behind bars for the hit-and-run that killed a man walking his bicycle earlier this month; Shay Dejonge is being held without bail after entering a not guilty plea.

 

National

The Bike League is now offering an online Bicycle Friendly Drive Training course. Which most drivers will undoubtedly rush to take.

No surprise here, either. A new study from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health shows that bike lanes may be the most cost-effective way to improve public health.

Bicycling reports on the Bike League’s latest list of Bicycle Friendly Universities; congratulations to SoCal’s Santa Monica College, UC San Diego and the University of San Diego. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Wired reports that the pandemic bike boom is still going strong in cities that invested in bike infrastructure, but faltering in those that didn’t — like Los Angeles, for instance. Meanwhile, the magazine also recommends the best ebikes for elderly riders, only one of which is an adult tricycle.

Cycling Weekly says it’s been a rough year for Seattle’s Rad Power Bikes, after the company has faced lawsuits, layoffs and a recent recall.

A 67-year old Washington woman has set a Guinness world record as the oldest woman to ride across the US from coast-to-coast.

Three men face charges for recklessly riding their bikes in Salem, New Hampshire, after they were stopped as part of a rideout group weaving in and out of traffic.

The Guardian reports “everyone is scared” after ebike batteries are alleged to have caused 200 fires in New York, resulting in six deaths. Although other reports suggest that the problem stems from delivery riders using low-cost refurbished lithium ion batteries with mismatched chargers. 

New York could get another large pedestrian plaza before Los Angeles gets its first, as the city starts the process of removing cars from Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, after previously making Times Square carfree.

You can now ride your bike between Hoboken and Jersey City on a new curb and plastic bendy post-protected two-way bike lane.

 

International

A Vancouver writer calls on the city to keep the bike lanes through the city’s Stanley Park, which the city council recently voted to remove.

Tesla insists a crash that killed a Chinese motorcyclist and a high school student on a bicycle wasn’t its fault, despite data taken from the vehicle that failed to show the Model Y SUV applied its brakes before the crash.

Melbourne, Australia officials were urged to rip out a series of popup bike lanes, after an independent review found they either offered limited benefit, or actually increased the risk to bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Hats off to American Hannah Roberts, as the 21-year old Olympic silver medalist won her third consecutive BMX Freestyle world title.

A 31-year old former pro cyclist from the Isle of Man will spend four years behind bars after he was busted for dealing coke; Christopher Whorrall blamed his downfall on hitting rock-bottom after an injury ended his career.

 

Finally…

Apparently, its against the law to fix an illegally obscured license plate. When you’re already the most wanted man in town, put some damn lights on your bike.

And when is a bike lane not a bike lane? When horn-honking drivers use it to bypass traffic, while insisting people on bikes get the hell out of their way.

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the heads-up.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Stripe DTLA bike lanes when fixing streets, Pomona bike rider gravely injured, and new bill ends CA’s auto-centric past

June 8, 2021 / / 3 comments

Los Angeles is finally getting around to repaving the streets of DTLA that have been torn up for five years of construction on a new subway connector line.

The problem is, they’re busy restoring them to the same failing, incomplete streets they were before.

While LADOT has made great progress building bike lanes in Downtown Los Angeles — the only neighborhood in all of LA that can claim an actual bike network — they’re still stuck in 1990s thinking, falling far short of what they could, and should, be doing.

This is what the longstanding B.I.K.A.S. — aka Bicycle Infrastructure Knowledge Activism and Safety — blog has to say on the subject.

After adding great new transit stations and new transit service – why restore streets back to the way they were in 2014? Why not upgrade them – adding first/last mile bike lanes to access the new stations?

Street restoration includes several wide streets with plenty of space for bike lanes: Flower Street, Hope Street, Alameda Street, and Temple Street. In addition, the city of L.A.’s Mobility Plan designates protected bike lanes on First Street and Second Street. Short new lanes on Third Street would connect a southbound Flower bike lane to its couplet partner northbound on Figueroa.

If Metro and the city of L.A. act now, they could implement numerous new bike lanes improving downtown’s already fairly good network of bikeways. Implementing them when post-construction streets are due for resurfacing saves the city time and money.

Make that pennies on the dollar compared to what it would cost to strip off the auto-centric painted lanes to add bike lanes at a later date.

Although no one has ever accused Los Angeles of thinking long term.

The blog calls for sending “respectful” emails to city officials, including our future ambassador to India, encouraging them to “implement a first/last mile Regional Connector bikeway network.”

Personally, I’d say demand, rather than encourage. But then, I’ve always been a pushy little son of a mother — especially when my safety and that of others who take to two wheels is concerned.

You’ll find a sample email there you can modify to make you own.

Or just use your own words.

But don’t let them get away with reverting to last century infrastructure in the only LA area where we’re actually making some real progress.

Map shows planned first/last mile bikeway network, from Metro Regional Connector street reconstruction page via B.I.K.A.S.

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Prayers or good thoughts may be called for, whatever you’re comfortable with, after a man was struck by a driver while riding his bike in Pomona Sunday night.

The victim was reportedly in grave condition after paramedics found him unresponsive fallowing the 9:31 pm crash near Fairplex Drive and Arroyo Avenue.

No ID was provided for the victim, and no explanation given for how the crash occurred. However, the driver remained at the scene, and was not considered to be under the influence.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Pomona PD Traffic Services Bureau at 909/802-7741.

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Now here’s a bill we should all be able to get behind.

Calbike is calling for your help to support AB 1147, from Burbank legislator Laura Friedman, which would finally move California out of its auto-centric past and present to a safer and more livable future for all of us.

Imagine a separated, limited access bikeway that gives you a frictionless ride across town or commute to work. That’s not science fiction or the fever dream of a Copenhagen urbanist. Bicycle highways and 15-minute neighborhoods, where most amenities and services are within a 15-minute bike ride, are just two of the forward-thinking concepts in AB 1147.

AB 1147 reorients transportation planning away from the car-choked past and towards a climate- and human-friendly future. It’s a visionary piece of legislation authored by Assemblymember Laura Friedman.

The bill has passed the Assembly, but it faces a tougher fight in the Senate. It needs all the help it can get. Sign the petition to show your support…

AB 1147 also envisions 15-minute neighborhoods, where shops and services are an easy bike ride from homes. Please sign now to help us pass this essential legislation.

I just signed it.

So what are your waiting for?

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A new campaign links Paris, New York and London in a data and persuasion driven effort to get their mayors to embrace car-reduction policies.

And renounce once and for all their auto-centric ways.

Car Free Megacities’s dashboard shows the striking similarities and also the differences between London, Paris and New York — the metrics the cities can use to learn rapidly from each other and take actions that will save lives, make streets healthier, pleasanter places and deliver critical progress toward urgent climate goals.

Maybe if we begged them pretty please we could get them to include a certain Left Coast megalopolis that desperately needs to renounce the error of its ways.

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Good Twitter thread from the estimable Peter Flax on the fallacies behind the usual calls for helmet laws and bike licenses, which once again raised their ugly head in NYC.

And coming soon to an anti-bike rant near you.

It’s worth clicking through on the tweets below to read the whole thing.

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It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Claremont Cyclist Michael Wagner, author of CLR Effect, who asks “When is a bike lane not one?”

Answer, “When it is transformed into a garbage collection lane. One of many similar instances we encountered during Saturday’s Ride Around Pomona.”

Sad to see that the blight of bike lane trash bins extends so far east of East LA.

And yes, it’s my fault we don’t hear from Michael more often, since he’s always got something worthwhile to say.

So check it out.

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Don’t count on securing your own Metro bike locker anytime soon.

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These days, we all feel like refugees on SoCal streets.

Thanks to David Drexler for the photo of a proposed Beverly Hills “refuge.”

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Phillip Young calls our attention to a free exhibit of Italian steel at La Jolla’s The Museum Of __, which is apparently still trying to define just who and what they are.

But as long as they want to talk bikes, I’m okay with that.

3 Italian Steel Bicycles

From the Collection of Ron Miriello
June 5, 2021 through July 17, 2021

The Museum Of__ is pleased to present an exhibition of vintage steel bicycles handcrafted and built throughout Italy between 1978 and 1986 from the personal collection of Ron Miriello, a San Diego-based graphic designer, artist, and Italophile. For decades, Italian steel bicycles have been synonymous with finely detailed craftsmanship and storied histories, from their hand-painted lettering and unique details etched in steel, to headtube badges and wool jerseys celebrating the pride of their cities and villages.

Though once there was a bicycle maker in most every Italian town, streamlined manufacturing has shifted the bicycle world’s ethos and desire for more advanced technologies. A globalized industry has challenged the future of these family-run operations in favor of mass-production, but their stories of dedication to the craft continue through a community of devoted collectors of these steel wonders around the globe.

The exhibition is open from 11 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, at 7655 Girard Ave in La Jolla.

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

New York police are looking for a man who repeatedly punched a man in the face as he rode a Flatbush train with his bike, after they had an argument on the train.

A road raging Pennsylvania driver beat a bike-riding man with a golf club after trying, and failing, several times to swerve into him.

A 30-year old Welsh woman justifiably told off a male driver for making sexual remarks as she was riding her bike. Which is just one of the many things that can drive women off their bikes. So stop it, already. 

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Local

Spectrum News 1 looks at the recent rankings from PeopleForBikes, which shows Los Angeles trailing far behind other large cities when it comes to bicycling.

The cable news site also examines the LACBC’s virtual LA Rivers Challenge, which is continuing throughout this month.

LA casual bikewear brand Swrve gets a well-deserved shoutout in the New York Times, as they examine the shorts staffers will be wearing in comfort this summer.

 

State

A La Jolla cardiologist probably saved his own life by promising to tell police he was injured in a mountain biking crash, rather than suffering a severe beating at the hands of his neighbor, who pled to 19-years behind bars.

That feeling when you freak out after spotting creepy cloaked men in the middle of the desert on Google Earth, including one with a bicycle. Only to discover it’s an art exhibit in the middle of Death Valley.

In a bizarre disconnect, a study from Oakland’s Department of Transportation confirms that protected bike lanes are the safest. But they want to rip out the successful protected bike lanes on iconic Telegraph Avenue anyway.

 

National

Next City says Europe has taken great strides to reduce the dangers motor vehicles pose to bike riders and pedestrians, but automakers on this side of the Atlantic have yet to address America’s addiction to deadly SUVS, as well as their own insistence on making them bigger and deadlier with every passing model year.

The Manual recommends bicycling gifts for adventurous dads. But Road Bike Action thinks you’d rather have some colorful national park bike socks.

Survivors of the Kalamazoo Massacre reunite five years later to remember the five bike riders killed by an extremely intoxicated driver, who also injured four other bicyclists; Charles Pickett Jr. was eventually sentenced to 40-75 years bars for their deaths.

A three-year old Brooklyn nonprofit “builds, donates and rents adapted bikes to kids and adults with disabilities unable to use standard bikes.”

A New York state senator commuted to work by bike over the weekend — 164 miles from Queens to the state capitol in Albany.

 

International

Road.cc recommends 15 birthday presents for the bicyclist in your life, starting at the equivalent of $21. Even if the only bicyclist in your life is you.

For people who can never spend too much on bikewear, Britain’s Rapha introduces their first mountain bike collection.

The Dutch Grand Prix is asking motorsports fans to bike, rather than drive, to watch the F1 race amid the country’s coastal dunes.

A 68-year old Nigerian man vows to keep riding the bicycle he bought 40 years ago for the equivalent of less than six dollars, saying only death can separate him from his beloved bike.

BTS fans call the new song Bicycle by band member RM that we linked to yesterday a masterpiece, as a website offers an English translation of the first verse and bike-friendly chorus. Then again, their fans would probably think it’s a masterpiece if he read a box of corn flakes.

Two Philippine men were killed by a bomb blast as they were riding their bikes past a mine site, which was targeted by a rebel group.

 

Competitive Cycling

Jumbo-Visma cyclists Sepp Kuss and Jonas Vingegaard came up short during the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, but sport director Grisha Niermann insists they’re on the right track for next month’s Tour de France.

VeloNews offers a middle-of-the-action photo essay from this past Saturday’s Gravel Unbound race in Kansas, formerly known as the Dirty Kanza.

 

Finally…

James Joyce as a mediocre bike racer. Probably not the best idea to flee from the police on your bicycle after pointing a pretty damn realistic cap gun at a driver.

And now you know why there’s so many typos on here. She’s a hard worker, but can’t type worth a damn.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask. 

And get vaccinated, already.

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

Car-centric LA weakens plans for bike/ped friendly Union Station, Mulholland Hwy closed by fire, and cars cost everyone

August 17, 2020 / / Comments Off on Car-centric LA weakens plans for bike/ped friendly Union Station, Mulholland Hwy closed by fire, and cars cost everyone

Is it really any surprise that Los Angeles is watering down plans to make the entrance to Union Station more walkable and bikeable?

Writing for Streetsblog, Joe Linton spells out in detail how Metro’s longstanding plans to re-envision the station’s forecourt area and surrounding streets have run into the city’s typical auto-centric roadblock.

For the past half-decade, Metro has been planning upgrades to Union Station to make the site easier and safer to access on foot and by bike. The L.A. Union Station Forecourt and Esplanade Improvements project includes upgrades on the Union Station grounds, which Metro owns, as well as upgrades to nearby streets, which are controlled by the city of Los Angeles.

The latest version of the project plan removes and waters down some core pedestrian aspects of the project. Why? Because, even in its most transit-accessible and most heavily walked core downtown areas, Los Angeles city departments are unwilling to prioritize the safety and convenience of people walking – instead they are insisting on car-centric standards that foster more driving.

Then there’s this.

What is perhaps most sad about the new design is that it ignores the significance of connecting Union Station and El Pueblo. If the city of L.A. won’t prioritize walkability at the front door of the region’s most heavily-used transit hub and at in its historic walkable core, is there anywhere where Angelenos can expect safe and convenient places to walk? Continuing to apply outdated late-20th-Century one-size-fits-all standards erodes what already works in these precious historic places.

As Linton points out, it takes leadership to fight for safer, more walkable and bikeable streets.

And that’s exactly what’s missing right now.

Former CD14 Councilmember José Huizar was an advocate for Complete Streets, and might have fought some of these changes. But with a federal indictment for bribery hanging over his head, he was effectively out of the picture long before his fellow councilmembers kicked him out.

And don’t get me started on LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, who should be stepping up to fight for the original Metro plan as part of his LA Green New Deal plan to reimagine the way we get around this city.

But in typical Garcetti fashion, has been largely missing in action.

You have until Wednesday the 26th to offer your comments.

And politely suggest that LA get its collective head out of its piston-driven ass, and return to the original plan.

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Calbike is urging you to reach out to your state representative to support SB 288.

New bike lanes and improved public transit are critical to California’s recovery. Now is the time to fast-track key sustainable transportation projects, but environmental regulations more appropriate for oil refineries than bike lanes can delay such projects by years. We don’t have years. 

Senate Bill 288 would make it easier to build bike lanes, bus lanes, and light rail lines by eliminating unnecessary review regulations, while preserving important opportunities for public involvement.

Contact your Assembly Member today and tell them to vote Yes on SB 288.

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If your planned riding route takes you on Mulholland Hwy, check to make sure the road is open after a fire closure on Sunday.

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The next time someone says bicyclists should have to pay for the streets we ride, show them this.

And tell them maybe we aren’t the ones being subsidized.

………

Advocates continue to call on bikemakers and retailers to stop selling to police departments, accusing police of using their bikes as weapons and shields.

Like this confrontation in Chicago Saturday afternoon.

https://twitter.com/luz_mayancela/status/1294802015483318276

Unfortunately though, that prediction about police not getting any bikes this time was wrong.

I’m of two minds when it comes halting the sale of police bikes.

While we’ve all been shocked at the way they’ve been used by some departments — and continue to be used — I believe bike cops are a net benefit to the community under normal conditions, getting officers out of their cars and closer to the public they’re supposed to serve.

The question is how to limit the use of those bikes to those normal conditions.

………

Good point.

https://twitter.com/may_gun/status/1295245773932658689

………

Megan Lynch also forwards word that the director general of the Mexico City mayor’s office is actively destroying the commercial bikes people rely on to earn a living.

For those for are Español challenged, like me, that translates to

AMAZING! The General Director of Government of the Mayor’s Office Miguel Hidalgo, presumes more than 140 confiscated tricycles, which means that more than 140 families this man “Hegel Cortés Miranda” took away the livelihood that they bring to their families every day.

Another tweet describes the owners as men and women who perform a service to the community by selling “water, sweet potatoes and bananas, coffee and bread…tamales or atole.”

Call me crazy, but maybe the middle of a worldwide pandemic isn’t the right time to put struggling merchants out of business.

………

That feeling when you invite your friends over to the world-class bike park you built in your backyard.

………

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

A British man was left “a bloody mess” after a passenger in a passing car pushed him off his bike as he was riding home after working a night shift, and forcing him through the rear windshield of a parked car; he suffered muscle damage to his arm and leg, as well as cuts and bruising to his face. His attackers reportedly drove off laughing. Really funny, alright.

………

Local

The Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council will discuss a proposal for a roundabout at 4th Street and New Hampshire at tonight’s virtual meeting.

Urbanize LA offers more information about the proposal for a Complete Streets makeover of iconic Melrose Ave, part of the city’s High Injury Network, which could be a model for how we can re-envision the entire city.

Glendale is holding a virtual public hearing tonight to discuss plans to repave La Crescenta from Honolulu to Verdugo — including adding sharrows to the lightly travelled four lane street, where drivers routinely exceed the 40 mph speed limit.

A Santa Clarita bike rider was apparently injured in a collision Sunday afternoon. Although it’s hard to tell from an article that just says a “patient” was sent to the hospital, fails to mention if the car had a driver, identifies the rider as a pedestrian on a bike, and somehow blames the bike rider for “accidentally” running into the car — yet with enough force to shatter the windshield.

Malibu will replace the failing 96-year old bridge over Trancas Creek on PCH with a new, wider bridge with bike lanes and shoulders in each direction.

Disappointing news from Santa Monica, where the city has pulled the plug on the popular Breeze bikeshare, after concluding that there’s no way to make it work under the current conditions. That comes on the heels of UCLA, Pasadena and West Hollywood also cancelling their docked bikeshare systems, raising the question of whether LA’s Metro Bike can survive in its current form.

 

State

Encinitas approves a $13 million pedestrian and bike railroad undercrossing to connect residents with the beach and restaurants.

After a ten-year old Lafayette boy was killed when a delivery driver ran into his bike, his parents started the Live Like Leo Memorial Foundation in his memory; it’s raised over $200,000 in less than three weeks.

Sad news from Stockton, where a 41-year old man was killed in a collision while riding his bike.

Guess? founder Maurice Marciano is one of us, as he faces an extend period of rehabilitation and therapy for undisclosed injuries following a bike crash near his Napa home.

 

National

Nice piece from the New York Times, as they follow along with a small group of teenagers riding across a divided country in the middle of a pandemic.

The last surviving Denver newspaper says the popularity of ebikes is skyrocketing, with one user observing that “you don’t realize how fabulous they are” until you try one.

A 65-year old South Dakota man has written a book about his bicycling journey from Pierre SD to North Pole, Alaska, completing his 2998-mile journey in just 42 days.

NPR says bicycling is on fire right now, as the pandemic changes the way people get around.

The Chicago Tribune says the coronavirus bike boom is beyond what anyone expected.

A New York State assembly member with horrible taste in sport coats will bike 116 miles to campaign for re-election in the state’s 116th district. God forbid that’s actually a suit.

A New York bike rider was killed during a crash-filled rampage by a utility truck driver who slammed through a number of vehicles “as if they were toy cars.”

Philly bike riders will have to keep their pants on for another year, after Covid-19 cancels the city’s annual Naked Bike Ride.

Nearly $600,000 has poured in for the family of five-year old North Carolina resident Cannon Hinnant, who was shot point blank by a neighbor as he was riding his bike, apparently executed for the crime of riding on his lawn.

A pair of kindhearted Florida deputies bought a new bike for a waitress so she wouldn’t have to keep walking to work after hers was stolen.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers an absolute beginner’s guide to ebikes, including answering the eternal question of whether you have to, you know, pedal them.

A five-year old English girl is kicking off her training wheels and riding in a 5k charity ride, raising the equivalent of nearly $200 for struggling families so far.

Heartbreaking story, as a British coroner ruled that the death of a 51-year old man was the direct result of getting hit by a driver as he was riding his bike 36-years earlier.

Traffic violations for bicycling infractions fell dramatically in London as the city expanded its bikeway network, despite the increase in ridership inspired by the coronavirus bike boom.

The president of Estonia is one of us, joining in on a 621-mile NATO bike ride.

Mumbai’s 24 new bicycle councilors took the the streets on India’s Independence Day to call for making the city a bicycling destination.

Heartbreaking story from India, where the relatives of a 71-year old man suspected of dying from Covid-19 were forced to carry his body to the graveyard by bicycle after local authorities refused to send an ambulance.

Once again bike riders are heroes, as a group of disabled bike riders rode 155 miles across Cambodia to deliver food to people starving as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. So much for the myth that disabled people can’t ride bikes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Talk about a cursed race. Rising star Remco Evenepoel is out for the season after suffering a fractured pelvis and bruised lung when he struck the wall of a bridge during a descent in the Il Lombardia, somersaulting over the edge and down a steep ravine. The 20-year old Belgian cyclist had already won the Tour of Poland and Volta a Burgos this year, earning comparisons to the legendary Eddy Merckx for his all-around riding skills.

Meanwhile, German national champion Maximilian Schachmann suffered a broken collarbone when a driver somehow entered the course near the finish of the Il Lombardia and turned across his path, claiming she didn’t know about the race.

Germany’s Andre Greipel and Tony Martin blasted the organizers of the Criterium du Dauphine, complaining about gravel and potholes on the roadways; race leader Primoz Roglic was one of the many crash victims.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you cancel the race, and everyone shows up anyway. Clearly, baseball skills don’t go away just because you’re on a bicycle.

And a little light bike reading for the young adult in your life.

Or maybe you.

We won’t tell.

https://twitter.com/may_gun/status/1295112053720399875

……

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Morning Links: Iconic LA interchange condemned Angelenos to car hell, and 2nd US e-scooter death in DC crash

September 24, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Iconic LA interchange condemned Angelenos to car hell, and 2nd US e-scooter death in DC crash

Nice piece in The Guardian from LA’s Nate Berg, who says one of the most famous — and infamous — buildings in LA is a freeway interchange.

He singles out 1948’s groundbreaking four-level freeway interchange in DTLA, which set the standard for cities around the world.

For better or worse.

And helped condemn the city’s residents to a life dependent on cars; an unwilling addiction we’re still fighting to overcome.

………

Sadly, it was almost inevitable.

The nation’s second e-scooter death was announced over the weekend, as a man riding one was killed in a DC collision, just weeks after a Dallas man died after falling off a scooter — a crash his family blamed on a hit-and-run.

And no bias here, as a tech website unfairly puts the blame on Lime for the deaths.

………

Brandi D’Amore forwards news that Bike Index is rapidly nearing their 5,000th stolen bicycle recovery. Just one more reason to register your bike right now.

And if you want to donate to Bike Index, here’s the link.

………

Local

Nice gesture from 3rd District LA Councilmember Bill Blumenfield, who introduced a motion in the council (scroll down to the ninth page) that would allow permanent memorial signs calling for safer driving where bike riders were killed. If they did the same for pedestrians, there’d be a sign on nearly every corner. Thanks to TJ Knight for the heads-up.

CiclaValley offers his thoughts on placing a ghost bike for the victim of last week’s bicycling crash in Winnetka, saying it didn’t have to happen.

Loyola Marymount University held its own Bike Week last week to introduce students to bicycling on campus.

Writing for the Pasadena Star-News, Steve Scauzillo offers lessons learned from Pasadena’s failed Metro Bike bikeshare program, placing the blame on a lack of sponsorship and safe streets.

 

State

San Diego’s Bike IB rolled from Imperial Beach yesterday to encourage women to be more comfortable riding a bike.

Thousand Oaks opened a new park offering six miles of trails and a bicycle skills park.

San Jose residents turned out in force to celebrate the city’s fourth annual open streets event.

 

National

Wired considers the nation’s stubborn bicycling gap, saying American cities are either cycling cities, or hardly one at all.

The conservative AASHTO guide has finally added design standards for protected bike lanes.

The Electrek website looks at the new ebikes introduced at last weekend’s Interbike bike show in Reno, while a writer for Singletrack compares the show with earlier editions in Las Vegas.

Bicyclists in a St. Louis suburb have started a petition calling for a Complete Streets ordinance that would require it to consider bike riders and pedestrians in any street project.

Milwaukee bike riders are worried about the city’s new streetcar after a number of riders have been injured on the tracks, months before it actually opens.

A Wisconsin letter writer says, contrary to common perceptions, bike riders already pay more than their fair share.

A new Minnesota study shows drivers are less likely to buzz bicyclists in bike lanes, especially in protected bike lanes.

No bias here, either. A Detroit writer complains about a growing sense of entitlement and invulnerability among pedestrians, blaming the victims for the rising rate of pedestrian deaths. If she thinks pedestrians are entitled, just wait until someone tells her about drivers. Or just hands her a mirror.

An Ohio bike shop owner says yes, riding a bike on the sidewalk is dangerous, but sometimes it’s the best choice.

Streetsblog says charging a New York bus driver who killed a bicyclist with a misdemeanor for violating the victim’s right-of-way is like “letting Jack the Ripper off with a misdemeanor for soliciting a prostitute.” Yet somehow, a British tabloid still finds a way to blame the victim. A video showing the crash was released last week. However, I wouldn’t recommend watching it; there are some things you just can’t unsee.

Definitely no bias here, as an Annapolis, Maryland newspaper asks if a new downtown bike lane broke the city.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old Virginia man still rides his age on his birthday.

A New Orleans website says the city is literally walking and biking away from their cars.

 

International

Sony introduces a set of wireless earbuds that are designed to enhance environmental sounds, allowing you to hear both your music and the noises around you.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A British expert in human and molecular genetics who was researching hearing and sight loss in children was killed in a collision with a London black cab driver.

An English woman still has her bike because a bystander intervened to stop a young thief as he was riding off with it.

A man in the UK is riding 200 miles on his seven-year old daughter’s pink bicycle to raise awareness of the brain tumor that killed her three years ago.

Britain is planning to connect a network of existing horse trails to create a 1,000-mile offroad bikeway running the entire length of the country.

A British high school has ordered students to place numbered license plates on their bikes so people can report any antisocial behavior to the school. However, anyone who arrives on foot or by car is apparently welcome to carry on, antisocial or otherwise.

A road raging Irish cab driver intentionally brake checked a man, knocking him off his bicycle after arguing with him moments earlier; the whole incident was caught on video.

Oslo, Norway is taking a number of steps to actively discourage driving in the city center to “give the city back to the people.” Which drivers naturally see as a war on cars.

Three-quarters of Swiss voters agreed to enshrine bicycling in the country’s constitution to protect the rights of bike riders, forty years after voters protected hiking and walking. And no, that’s not likely to happen here in the US anytime soon.

A Venice, Italy design exhibition features the work of British bespoke bicycle maker Hartley Cycles, founded by a former artist and jewelry maker.

A bicycle ambulance program is saving the lives of people suffering from malaria in Zambia, and could be rolled out across Africa.

Collisions between bike riders and kangaroos are on the rise in Australia, and expected to double the normal annual total as a drought brings the wild animals out of the bush.

An Aussie mom has forbidden her teen children from bicycling after concluding the country’s drivers are too aggressive behind the wheel.

 

Competitive Cycling

British Cycling officials have approved adding a sixth day to the women’s Tour of Britain, which already offers prize money equal to the eight-day men’s race.

 

Finally…

Seriously, stealing a kid’s bike is bad enough without taking a dump on their lawn. How to lie and beg your way into a new bike.

And Trump ordering the removal of bike lanes is just a bad joke.

For now, anyway.

………

Join the Militant Angeleno and BikinginLA for the first-ever Militant Angeleno’s Epic CicLAvia Tour at the Celebrate LA! LA Phil 100 CicLAvia this Sunday!

Just RSVP to MilitantAngeleno@gmail.com. We want to guarantee a relatively small group to make sure we can keep the group together, and everyone can hear.

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

Morning Links: No Carmageddon on Venice Blvd, auto-centric capitalism, and four-wheeled scofflaw cyclists

July 26, 2017 / / 2 comments

Yesterday, I wasted far too much of my life.

Hours, in fact, that I will undoubtedly regret on my dying day, trying in vain to defend the Mar Vista and Playa del Rey lane reductions, both here and on Twitter.

And yes, I should know better.

But I’m a firm believer in engaging with people of all viewpoints, in hopes that I can correct inaccurate beliefs, and that I might learn something from them. And maybe, just maybe, we could come to some kind of a consensus.

Hopes that were quickly dashed on the rubble heaps of online discourse.

The best one, by far, was a comment from someone complaining that traffic backups caused by the Venice Blvd Great Streets project had pushed cut-through drivers onto the surrounding side streets. So he insisted that since the project included bike lanes, bike riders should be licensed and taxed to mitigate the problems caused by… drivers.

Uh, sure.

However, the primary argument cited by virtually everyone opposed to the projects was the accusation of soul crushing traffic congestion causing total gridlock and destroying the vehicular lifeblood of the communities.

But as the song says, it ain’t necessarily so.

Yesterday, we included a bike cam video made by Jon Phillips as he rode on Culver Blvd through Play del Rey, showing almost no congestion during the evening rush hour. Though as we noted, that was just one trip, and another journey at another time might have shown something different.

John Montgomery thought of that.

The author of the excellent Digital Slurry website, he set out to explore traffic on Venice Blvd following the lane reductions, and made a point of riding at different times of day, and on multiple days, to get a feeling of what traffic is really like on the street.

What he found was similar to what Phillips found on Culver. Traffic did back up at times, but it started flowing again once the light changed. And at least part of the problem appeared to stem from poor synchronization of traffic lights.

But don’t take his word for it. Or mine.

Read his report and watch the videos, whether the full 14 minute version, or the three minute highlight reel.

And decide for yourself is this is really the return of Carmageddon.

Which turned out to be no big deal, either.

………

Montgomery also forwarded this screen shot from the North Venice Beach Nextdoor, giving what may be the single most bizarrely auto-centric and capitalistic perspective ever on using a bicycle for transportation.

Meanwhile, the other argument used anytime the subject of bicycling comes up is the accusation that bike riders don’t deserve equal treatment on the streets because we all break the law anyway.

So he set out to record those scofflaw cyclists in action.

And this is what he found.

………

Sad news from Iran, where a 19-year old member of the national women’s cycling team was killed in a car crash.

Next month’s Colorado Classic four-stage race is attempting to reinvent pro cycling by charging a fee to participate in a music festival and view the final two stages.

Cyclists participating in Sunday’s Manhattan Beach Grand Prix will race backwards in pursuit of a total $21,500 purse.

……….

Local

LADOT has selected a new polymer color treatment for green bike lanes that was developed in conjunction with the film industry. Because Hollywood should always have the last word when it comes to traffic safety.

REI will open their first flagship store in LA County next month, taking over an old Sports Authority location in Burbank.

A Pasadena bike rider stole a 64-year old man’s backpack, then discarded it after rifling through it and stealing two beers. Let’s at least hope they were crappy beers.

West Covina is hosting a community open house – workshop tonight to discuss the city’s proposed Active Transportation Master Plan.

The Santa Monica Lookout talks with the rest of the SaMo city council about how they go carfree at least part of the time; the first part of the story appeared on Monday.

The rich get richer. Construction will begin on Monday on another east-west bike boulevard in bike friendly Long Beach.

 

State

Pink’s seven-month old son is one of us, too.

A Simi Valley bike tour operator could be out of business after thieves stole over $25,000 worth of high-end mountain bikes out of his garage.

San Diego is looking for people to adopt one of the city’s 54 largely abandoned bike and pedestrian counters.

Lompoc is experimenting with closing streets to cars for a weekly Friday evening market, while the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition gave dozens of kids refurbished bicycles to take advantage of it.

A DUI hit-and-run driver faces up to ten years in prison after pleading guilty in the death a Watsonville cyclist last year; she was also texting at the time of the crash, as well as driving with a suspended license.

San Francisco’s Public Works Department will enforce a proposed ban on bike chop shops, rather than the police. Because why would you want to arrest anyone for trafficking in stolen bikes and parts?

Dockless bikeshare is getting closer to LA, as Spin is moving into South San Francisco after colonizing Seattle.

No justice for the Sacramento running legend who was hit by a bicyclist on a river pathway, because prosecutors aren’t sure if California’s hit-and-run statutes apply to bikes ridden on trails instead of streets. Here’s a crazy idea: File charges and let a judge decide if the law applies. Because that’s what they do.

 

National

Most US students can legally drive a car before they’re old enough to legally ride a bikeshare bike, even though a bikeshare membership can be provided for a fraction of the cost of busing them to school. We should be encouraging students to ride any kind of bicycle rather than clogging the roads with more buses and cars. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson and David Drexler for the heads-up.

Streetsblog says autonomous cars should have to rely on their own sensors, rather than forcing bicyclists and pedestrians to wear sensors to avoid getting run over.

If you ride offroad, book your trip to Oregon now, where they’ve just opened a 668-mile singletrack course that covers the entire state.

A Colorado Republican legislator is shocked that anyone was shocked that he proposed taxing bicycles.

A generous Milwaukee man bought a stolen bike for $20 to return it to its owner after she posted the theft on Facebook.

A university website profiles MIT emeritus professor David Gordon Wilson, author of Bicycle Science, which they call the industry bible for bike design.

Talk about getting Vision Zero wrong. After a New York cyclist was killed in a hit-and-run, the NYPD responds by cracking down on bike riders, rather than the people in the big dangerous machines. Thanks again to Mike Wilkinson.

A proposed New York state law would require all bicyclists in New York City to wear bike helmets, including users of the Citi Bike bikeshare — even though there’s only been one fatality, and just 50 injuries requiring medical attention, in over 43 million Citi Bike rides. The real question is why the law would only apply to NYC; evidently, no one else in the state has heads worth protecting.

After a kindhearted South Carolina cop fails to recover a boy’s stolen bicycle, he buys him a new one.

A group of three boys and two girls in their early teens have been arrested for beating and stomping a 19-year old Orlando man, stealing his bike and sandals, and throwing away his groceries.

 

International

Bike Radar offers advice for how to manage riding during your period. Assuming you have one, of course.

The war on bikes continues, as a Canadian jogger stepped on a nail-filled board concealed on a bike trail.

The Guardian’s Peter Walker says that no matter what the safety issue, bike-hating commenters always shift the blame to cyclists. Which is exactly what’s happening in Mar Vista and Play del Rey, and pretty much everywhere else in Southern California; more proof that cyclists face the same issues virtually everywhere.

Caught on video: A British bike rider is shown riding through a red light as cars turn into his lane. No, seriously. Don’t do that.

After a 91-year old English man was killed in a collision while participating in a time trial, the proposed solution is banning bikes from divided highways, rather than expecting people to actually pay attention when they drive.

A 15-year old Irish boy received a twelve-month sentence for bashing another boy over the head with a board to steal his bicycle, on top of the eight-month sentence he’s currently serving for threatening to kill someone else. Along with his previous 24 convictions. Did I mention he’s only 15?

Caught on video too: An Irish cyclist gets doored; notice the driver not rushing to his aid.

World Bicycle Relief has distributed 78,000 bicycles in Zimbabwe after a 2010 New York Times story about a then 17-year old man who longed for a bike instead of walking nine miles to school.

The Guardian says cycling campaigns focusing on women and girls are changing the dynamics on African roads.

More Malaysian office workers are choosing to bike to work.

An Aussie writer says drivers in Western Australian can’t handle the concept of an Idaho Stop Law.

 

Finally…

No, Graeme Obree is not a fictional character. Now you, too can ride a modern take on a commie bike.

And now you won’t have to choose between a Bianchi and a Ferrari.

 

Category: Bike Cam Video, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA Times columnist takes his anger out on us, and a section of LA River path closed for two years

September 25, 2015 / / 2 comments

Take a breath, George.

Abraham Lincoln had a habit of writing angry letters to let off steam, then placing them in his desk, unsigned and unsent.

Maybe LA Times Capitol Journal columnist George Skelton should take the hint.

In his Thursday column, Skelton reported that his planned trip to Lake Tahoe with his daughter over the weekend was derailed when they ran into a road closure to accommodate an Ironman triathlon — not a bicycle race, despite how he characterized it. And was so incensed he responded by calling for a tax on all bike riders.

Which is like demanding that joggers and pedestrians pay for the sidewalks and crosswalks they use just because the LA Marathon keeps you from crossing the street, as Keith Pluymers pointed out.

Except they already do.

In fact, we all do. Just as we all pay for the roads Skelton seems to think are exclusively financed by motorists.

Even gas taxes and auto registration fees, which he seems to think bike riders don’t pay — even though the overwhelmingly majority of people who ride bikes also own and drive cars — only cover a fraction of the cost of building and maintaining our streets and highways.

The rest comes out of the same income and sales taxes we all pay, whether we travel on two wheels or four.

Or none.

He also seems to forget about those similarly freeloading electric car drivers, who don’t pay a penny more in gas taxes than bike riders do. And hybrid owners, whose relatively high mileage means they pay a fraction of the taxes other drivers pay when they fill up.

Then there’s the simple matter of why drivers are expected to pay for those roads.

It’s not for the privilege of driving on them, as Skelton seems to presume. It’s because those multi-ton vehicles cause exponential wear and tear on the roadways every time they’re driven on them.

Bicycles don’t. Period.

Even at the peak of my out-of-shape weight following my father-in-law’s stroke, when I packed 220 pounds onto a 15 pound bike, my impact on the road was infinitesimal compared to even the lightest motor vehicles. Never mind the massive SUVs so common in California they should replace the grizzly on the California flag.

It’s true that bike lanes aren’t free.

But striping lanes costs just pennies on the dollar compared to the cost of building a roadway to accommodate cars and trucks. Let alone the more than $1 billion — that’s billion, with a b — it cost to put HOV lanes on the 405 through the Sepulveda pass.

And as anyone who’s driven there lately can attest, that’s barely made a dent in the infamous 405 traffic congestion. If that.

Skelton doesn’t address the question of who would have to register their bikes with the state. Does the toddler on her trike have to pay the same fee as the roadie slicing curves on Mulholland?

What about the immigrant worker who can’t afford a car or public transportation? Do we slap him in leg irons if he rides an unregistered bike on the streets of our fair state?

Finally, there’s the question of who would administer the fees he calls for.

The DMV has already said they don’t want the job. The sort of small fees he suggests — such as the $3 licensing fee charged in Long Beach — wouldn’t begin to cover the millions required to administer and enforce a program to register every single bicycle in the late, great Golden State.

And any fee high enough to cover the costs would only serve as yet another barrier to bicycling, at time when we should be lowering those barriers to encourage more people to bike to improve their health, and the health of the cities they live in.

Let alone removing a few more cars from our overly congested streets.

In fact, a recent study showed that every mile traveled by bike results in a net economic gain of 42 cents to society, while every mile traveled by car results in a net loss of 20 cents.

Which means we should be getting a rebate, not charged extra taxes on top of those we already pay.

Skelton should have known better.

And probably would have if he’d just taken long enough to cool off; even a few minutes with Google could have corrected his misassumptions before they ever got into print.

Instead, a respected reporter who usually offers valuable insights into the inner workings of our state government apparently let his anger get the better of him.

And instead of taking it out on the Ironman sponsors, Caltrans or the local governments who permitted the race, he chose to take it out on you and me.

This is one column that should have been placed in his desk drawer. And left there.

Permanently.

Thanks to Noel Smith for the heads-up.

………

Just in case you needed a reminder — which is highly unlikely if you ride LA streets — this is what a too-close pass looks like, courtesy of On My Bike in LA.

https://youtu.be/MngTvS3J9Po

………

LA area cyclists are about to lose one of the few safe places we have to ride thanks to the never-ending drive to increase capacity for cars.

A one-mile section of the La River bike path will be closed for two full years between Riverside Drive and the 134 Freeway.

Yes, two years.

All because Caltrans is adding carpool lanes to a section of the 5 Freeway. The construction will impact a section of the bike path that runs nearby, and the closure is for our own safety, according to the notice.

Thanks for looking out for us. No, really.

Bike riders will be diverted onto Zoo Drive and Western Heritage Way, near where Finish the Ride founder Damien Kevitt was struck by a hit-and-run driver who dragged him onto the 5, nearly taking his life.

So if anyone happens to get hit by a car while bypassing the construction zone for the next two years, I’d suggest getting a good lawyer who can reach into the deep pockets at Caltrans.

And yes, I can recommend a few.

………

Mike Wilkinson forwards advice on what to do if you’re the first on the scene following an injury collision. It’s written from a motorcyclist’s perspective, but the advice holds true for non-motorized riders.

………

Welcome to the US. An unidentified cyclist training for the world championships was hit by a car that was somehow allowed to cross the course; fortunately, the victim was not seriously hurt.

Bicycling talks with U23 silver medalist Emma White; the 18-year old is the first American woman to podium in the world junior time trial since 2007.

School students get days off for snow days, teacher training days, religious holidays, and now, UCI world championships race days.

Alberto Contador makes plans to exit stage left after the Rio Olympics next year. Bike racing’s governing body announced next year’s women’s WorldTour with a 60% increase in competition days. Women continue to ride in the back of the bus, though, and there’s still no women’s equivalent to the men’s Grand Tours.

Taylor Phinney discusses the pain of time trials versus the pain that comes from a devastating injury, while the Wall Street Journal’s Jason Gay offers perhaps the best Taylor Phinney profile yet. And a gofundme account has raised $80 to buy Phinney a muffin.

Yes, a muffin.

………

Local

South LA cyclists demand the Central Avenue bike lanes promised in the mobility plan. And rightfully so.

Bike Portland talks with our own transportation maven Seleta Reynolds.

The latest podcast from Streetsblog’s Damien Newton is a talk with new CicLAvia Executive Director Romel Pascual.

A man is under arrest for murder after shooting another man near West 6th and Lafayette Park, then stealing a bicycle at gunpoint before being captured by police.

Los Angeles Magazine offers five tools to make shopping by bike easier. Although they somehow forgot messenger bags, which were developed by bike messengers for a reason.

 

State

An anonymous tip has led San Diego police to the car used in a hit-and-run that seriously injured a woman riding her bike last week; it was found at a repair shop, apparently getting fixed to hide the damage. Although the local NBC station seems to think the car was acting on its own.

Trial began on Thursday for the wrong-way, allegedly high driver who slammed into 10 riders on San Diego’s Fiesta Island, leaving one permanently disabled.

The San Diego Union-Tribune puts the Coronado anti-bike hysteria in context, saying it’s part of a backlash against increased tourism on the penisula. Maybe tourists should respond by taking their money somewhere else.

Palm Springs cyclists get a new mobile bike repair truck.

Bittersweet story from Camarillo, as a woman is spending her final days touring California by bike with her boyfriend; she was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer shortly after kicking a two decade addiction to meth. Camarillo’s US Bike Company gave them new bicycles after theirs were stolen in Big Sur.

Caught on video: The San Francisco police captain who ordered a crackdown on scofflaw cyclists rolls a stop himself while on his bike. Maybe he was just trying to fit in.

Evidently, San Francisco cyclists will be on the Critical Mass to Hell this weekend.

Sad news from Shingletown, near Redding, as a bike rider was killed Thursday evening when a 17-year old driver drifted onto the shoulder where she was riding.

 

National

The National Bike Challenge hit 35 million miles 10 days before the scheduled end of the program, a whopping 50% increase over last year.

You can now ping your bell to tell you where you parked your bike. Although if you can’t find where you parked your bike, it’s usually a sign it may not be there anymore.

The Portland paper road tests the city’s new bikeshare bikes.

The standard controversy erupts over a road diet in my hometown, with drivers complaining about traffic backups and unused buffered bike lanes, which riders avoid because they don’t connect to anything and dump them back into traffic with no warning.

Denver tries on a protected bike lane for size; for a change, local merchants joined safety advocates in pushing for changes on the busy street.

That’s one way to steal a bike. A woman walked into an Ohio Wal-Mart, set a rack of pajamas on fire, and walked out with a new bike.

Some schmuck stole a 1980 Schwinn 12-speed from a 92-year old WWII vet in Troy NY; he only rode it twice before hanging it up in his garage.

Now those are some serious choppers. A New York bike thief imitates the city’s infamous rats and uses his teeth to gnaw through a bike lock. Yes, his teeth.

A Philadelphia website says the pending papal visit is the perfect opportunity for drivers to experience a Road to Damascus conversion to bike commuting.

That Delaware DuPont exec on trial for killing a man on a bicycle in a hit-and-run last year claimed he thought he hit some tree branches. And yet his young sons saw the bike spinning away and asked if he’d just killed a cyclist. Schmuck.

All Washington DC students will now learn to ride a bike in the second grade. This should set the standard for every city, including LA.

Atlanta officials sign off on 31 miles of new bike lanes.

By his account, a 70-year old Georgia driver was doing everything right when those crazy bike riders started yelling at him, and he accidently ran into one trying to get away. Sure, that sounds credible.

FL police blame a teenage bike rider for not riding in the crosswalk after he’s injured in a collision. Of course, if he had been in the crosswalk, they would have blamed him for that.

 

International

Now those damn Canadians are trying to take credit for the Popebike.

No bias here. The CBC apparently thinks the value of a victim’s bike has something to do with why a left turning driver ran him down in the bike lane and fled the scene.

Serious injuries among British bike riders are going up three times faster than the increase in miles ridden.

Brit bike couriers protest to demand a living wage.

 

Finally…

Evidently, the key to success as a champion lumberjack is riding a bike. Regardless of what the Standard thinks, a combination breathalyzer/bike lock is not a blow to bike-riding boozers as long as its use remains voluntary.

And this gnome-lookalike perv should be locked away until he’s 87. But you’ve got to admire his bike handling skills.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Gloria Molina wonders where all the poor cars will park, and KFI’s John and Ken go on the attack

February 16, 2015 / / 10 comments

It’s going to be a very interesting election year.

While my attention has been focused on the race to replace outgoing councilmember Tom LaBonge in CD4, bike-friendly councilmember Jose Huizar has been fighting for his political future in the face of a challenge from termed-out county commissioner Gloria “Where are we all going to park?” Molina.

That was her response to a recent debate question over development replacing parking lots in Downtown LA — even though DTLA already has more parking spaces per hectare than the downtown of any other major city on earth, according to UCLA parking meister Donald Shoup.

Oh, the poor cars.

While Huizar stood on his record as a champion of complete streets, Molina criticized his support of bike lanes, saying the community hadn’t been adequately consulted. That despite the extensive public meetings held in the multi-year process that lead to the adoption of the city’s 2010 bike plan.

Simply put, if anyone feels they weren’t adequately consulted, it’s because they didn’t care enough to get involved.

Evidently going after the afraid of change demographic, Molina complained about the increased density that has finally brought DTLA back to life after decades of decline. And has previously called for completion of the unneeded and largely unwanted 710 Freeway — which she later recanted after the forum, apparently after realizing most of the voters in the district oppose the project.

In effect, it was a debate over Huizar’s efforts to move forward to a more livable city based on complete streets, and Molina’s desire to turn back the clock to LA’s auto-centric past.

You can probably guess where I stand on the matter.

And yet the Times has inexplicably endorsed Molina; DTLA Rising’s Brigham Yen endorses Huizar.

Molina has also been endorsed by CD1 Council Member Gil Cedillo, singlehandedly responsible for killing the long planned, full funded and much needed road diet on North Figueroa.

Which should be the final nail in Molina’s coffin.

At least it is for me.

So if there’s any doubt, let me make it perfectly clear. Huizar has been one of the most effective members of the city council in recent years. And with the possible exception of Joe Buscaino, has done more to improve the quality of life in his district than any other councilmember.

Which is exactly what his constituents elected him for. And why he has my unqualified support in next month’s election.

Meanwhile, Bike the Vote LA has released a complete slate of endorsements for multiple candidates in races throughout the county.

And yes, Huizar is on the list, along with Nadine Diaz, who is also running in the district.

……..

Streetsblog’s Damien Newton somehow managed to keep his cool when KFI shock jerks — excuse me, jocks — John and Ken repeatedly misrepresented the facts on bicycling and bike advocacy in LA. Then kept interrupting Newton to insist he was lying when he tried in vain to correct them.

You can listen to it here if you have the stomach for it.

Personally, I couldn’t take more than a few minutes; frankly, I have better things to do than listen to that kind of crap.

The problem is too many people don’t. Presumably, they believe the kind of kneejerk anti-bike, auto-centric misinformation — to put it kindly — John and Ken were trying to shove down Newton’s throat.

Joe Linton politely took them to task afterwards for incorrectly insisting that half of the roadway on some unnamed streets in Downtown LA had been given over to bicycles.

Of course, the thing to remember is that John and Ken, and other blowhard TV and radio hosts like them, are entertainers, not journalists.

Their job is to draw listeners and increase ratings for the station. And any controversy, real or imaged, helps do exactly that.

The truth has nothing to do with it.

……..

More reaction to SB 192, the proposed legislation from Glendale State Senator Carol Liu that would make California the first state to require helmets for all bike riders, as well as requiring reflective high visibility clothing after dark.

CiclaValley says the law would place a financial burden onto bikes but only have a trace impact on safety, while Boyonabike says it’s not the bikes, the helmets or the hi-viz, it’s the cars, stupid.

San Francisco’s SFGate says a mandatory helmet law would deflect attention from more pressing road dangers, like all those dangerous streets and drivers.

And the Fresno Bee tries to have it both ways, saying Liu should look at incentives to encourage, rather than requiring, helmet use. But that cyclists need to clean up their act or a helmet law may be necessary, as if being forced to wear a helmet is somehow punishment for bad behavior.

……..

Mark your calendar for May 15th to meet retired Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Robert Friend as part of a fundraiser for Ride 2 Recovery.

If you’re not familiar with them, the Tuskegee Airmen were not only among the greatest heroes of World War II, but paved the way for the Civil Rights Era by proving they were as good, if not better, than anyone else in the air. On either side.

My dad, who fought in both Europe and the Pacific, always wanted to meet one of them so he could thank him for the job they did in the face of incredible racial injustice.

If I get the chance on May 15th, I’m going to do it for him.

……..

Local

Caught on Video: The previously mentioned LA Councilmember Joe Buscaino works with the LACBC to distribute bike lights through Operation Firefly.

Metro’s presentation from the recent Bicycle Roundtable is now available online; CiclaValley offers the condensed version — including coming arrival of Bike Hubs, along with Complete Streets and the long-desired triple bike racks on buses.

Tres shock! Police in the Biking Black Hole of Beverly Hills are filming a bike safety video; a clip posted online shows an impatient driver harassing a cyclist. And no, not to encourage that sort of behavior. I think it was Helen’s Cycles Dan Weinberg who sent that to me; please forgive me if I got that one wrong.

Cycling in the South Bay has a great suggestion on what to do with that unused mountain bike gathering dust in your garage — a bikeless South LA high school mountain bike team needs it if you don’t.

The next Women Bike, Women Lead event sponsored by Multicultural Communities for Mobility will be a ride from Downtown to South LA.

Ride or walk for a great cause, with the 2nd Annual Bike-A-Thon and Hike-A-Thon to raise funds for Bikes4Orphans.

Bust out your woolens, CICLE is hosting their annual Tweed, Moxie and Mustaches Ride on Sunday, March 1st.

 

State

Newport Beach’s popular Back Bay Drive will be closed for resurfacing through the end of the month.

The hit-and-run epidemic has spread to our neighbor to the south, as 23 San Diegans lost their lives to drivers who fled the scene last year. Thanks to sponsor Michael Rubinstein for the heads up.

A San Diego writer says you can save $12,000 a year just by kicking your car to the curb.

Palm Desert cyclists ride to remember handcyclist Rose Peters, who lost her life earlier this year.

If you’re selling a bike, Santa Barbara police say don’t accept a set of keys as security for a test ride.

Unbelievable, or at least I wish it was. An Antioch driver is under arrest for getting out of his vehicle and stabbing a bicyclist in a road rage incident; fortunately, the victim’s injuries were not life-threatening.

A writer for the Modesto Bee says cyclists need a share of the road, and not just in the form of ghost bikes.

 

National

I don’t think this is what Springsteen had in mind when he wrote Blinded by the Light, as a Washington driver plays the universal Get Out Of Jail Free card after running down a bike rider.

Seattle is trading parking spaces for bus and bike lanes. And needless to say, not everyone is happy about it.

A Michigan group wants your help to provide adaptive bikes to special needs kids. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

Maybe you recall the case of the asthmatic Chattanooga cyclist who was harassed, nearly run off the road, and pepper sprayed by a group of teenagers in a truck, then threatened with arrest himself after he reported the crime. Now he’s filing suit against the teens and their parents, as well as the local sheriff’s department and the cop who tried to coerce him into dropping the charges.

A Baltimore letter writer says bike riders should share the costs, responsibilities and accountabilities of motorists, conveniently forgetting we’re not the ones in the big dangerous machines that kill people, damage the roadways and harm the environment.

 

International

Yet another way cyclists are vulnerable on the streets, as a Manchester, UK rider is subjected to racist abuse, knocked off his bike and punched in the head as he made his way to work.

Women’s pro cycling continues to gain a foothold in the Grand Tours, with a women’s race scheduled before the final leg of the Vuelta. Although it would be nice if they were given more than a single token race at any given tour.

Syrian women fight to stay on their bikes in the war torn county.

Tasmanian cyclists get the equivalent of a three-foot law on roads with speed limits up 37 mph, increasing to nearly five feet at higher speeds.

 

Finally…

Caught on video: A Brit motorist defends her actions after being caught reading a book while driving. The Desert Sun says the Tour de Palm Springs is not a race, then calls it exactly that in the caption.

And this is so not the way to promote women’s cycling.

 

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Weekend Links: Trucker blames victim in Chinese video, and registration opens for Finish the Ride 2015

December 27, 2014 / / One comment

Perspective is everything.

Recently, we linked to a horrifying security cam video of a Chinese bike rider being run over by a massive semi-truck; fortunately, the victim miraculously survived, apparently unscathed.

To a bike rider, it seems pretty obvious that the truck overtook the rider before right-hooking him.

Yet from a trucker’s perspective, it’s the cyclist’s fault for riding into the truck’s blind spot, and not looking over his shoulder before crossing the intersection.

And if that doesn’t scare the crap out of you, it should.

Because far too many people excuse dangerous driving and instead blame the victims; the writer even acknowledges that the truck driver never seemed to notice the cyclist on the road directly in front of his truck as he turned.

Yet somehow, it’s the rider’s fault.

It shouldn’t be up to the rest of us to stay the hell out of the way of the big dangerous machines.

Thanks to Michael Eisenberg for the heads-up.

……..

It’s happened again.

An Oregon driver faces manslaughter charges after hitting a man crossing a busy street, then driving 11 blocks with the dying victim on the roof of her car before stopping to dump his body and flee the scene.

At least this time it wasn’t a cyclist. Not that it makes it any better.

……..

‘Tis the season.

Fontana groups give new bikes to over 200 low income kids. Four hundred bicyclists take part in the second annual Riverside Christmas Ride. Volunteers in National City donate dozens of bikes to kids in the community.

Santa Cruz police replace a bike stolen from a middle school girl who had earned it by making good grades. Los Banos police donate seven refurbished bikes to fourth and fifth graders. Eighty-five Oroville kids get refurbished bikes in an annual giveaway program from the local sheriff’s office.

Chicago bike messengers help deliver over 1,000 toys donated to the Marines’ Toys for Tots program. And a North Carolina man gives more than a thousand new and refurbished bikes to kids.

……..

Registration is now open for the 2015 edition of Finish the Ride, now billed as a Ride, Run, Walk ‘N Roll, to call attention the epidemic of hit-and-run and make the streets safer for all of us.

Last year’s event had a huge turnout, and this year’s on April 19th event promises to be even bigger and better, with more options and more challenging courses available.

And yes, I plan to see you there.

……..

Local

Rick Risemberg says you’re not so special anymore, because more of them are becoming us.

The LACBC is asking for your signature on a petition to create a world-class Beverly Hills Greenway on Santa Monica Blvd through the Biking Black Hole, instead of keeping it the same dangerous street it is now, as city officials seems to prefer. And yes, I’ve signed it.

Streetsblog wants your help determining the city’s Livable Streets Business of the Year; personally, I’d throw the extremely bike-friendly Timbuk2 store in Venice into the mix, as well.

 

State

A petition urges Governor Jerry Brown to amend state law to allow drivers to briefly cross a double center line when safe to do so in order to pass a cyclist. Brown previously vetoed an earlier version of the state’s three-foot passing law because it contained that exact provision. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

Riverside officials discuss a possible pedestrian bridge over Highway 91; it’s not clear if it would be open to bikes, as well.

Palm Springs is scheduled to become more bike friendly next year, including 250 miles of marked bike lanes.

A Santa Barbara cyclist suffered head injuries when she was hit by a car; for a change, police respond by urging everyone to slow down.

Sad news from Santa Cruz, as a bike rider was run down from behind and killed by a hit-and-run driver; it takes until the second paragraph of the story for the local TV station to acknowledge that the truck was not acting on its own. Thanks to John McBrearty for the tip.

A Calaveras woman’s bike is stolen six weeks before a planned cross-country ride, so she decides to backpack through Oregon, instead.

 

National

Honolulu struggles to keep drivers from parking in a new protected bike lane; it might help if they moved the parking meters next to the cars instead of leaving them on the curb next to the bike lane.

Bike lawyer Bob Mionske talks bike light requirements, at least as they apply in Oregon; most of what he says applies here, as well.

New York district attorneys prove to be the weak link in the city’s Vision Zero plan.

 

International

A British Columbia court awards $100,000 to a cyclist injured by a road raging driver.

The man who would be king, Britain’s Prince Charles, says streets must be reclaimed from cars.

A Danish study suggests hi-viz can reduce your risk of a collision nearly 50%.

Bike crashes are up in Melbourne, except on the city’s most popular street for cyclists.

 

Finally…

Bono brings the arm he shattered in a New York cycling collision out in public for the first time. Although it looks more like he’s trying to hide it and himself from the paparazzi than trying to show off anything.

……..

Thanks to Karen Scott for her extremely generous gift to help support this site. 

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

Charge filed in death of bike-riding Cal Poly Pomona student Ivan Aguilar; is the university really at fault?

May 30, 2013 / / 11 comments

A bike-riding college student is dead.

The driver who took his life faces a relative slap on the wrist.

And the campus where he was killed appears to be doing little or nothing to protect cyclists on campus.

Instead, Cal Poly Pomona seems to be hiding behind California’s devastating 85th Percentile Law to justify plans to raise speed limits on campus, making it even more dangerous for anyone on foot or two wheels.

Or at least, that was the gist of a Twitter conversation I had with representatives of the school Wednesday morning.

The outpouring of grief that followed the death of Cal Poly Pomona student and cyclist Ivan Aguilar should have spurred immediate action to tame what is reportedly dangerously out of control traffic on campus, where numerous students have reported feeling unsafe walking or biking.

Yet four months later, no changes have been made to protect students and faculty — not even on the street where Aguilar lost his life. And none are currently planned.

In fact, the school’s new 2013 traffic study doesn’t even include the words bicycle, bicyclist or pedestrian, according to a story by Beau Yarbrough in the Daily Bulletin.

Kind of makes it hard to make meaningful improvements when nothing is considered except speeding motor vehicle traffic flow.

Although to be fair, they have talked about bikes.

Key word being, talked.

But traffic plans that don’t even consider non-motorized transportation show just how out of touch campus leaders are. And how far the school has to go to make it safe for anyone, let alone everyone, whether on two feet, two wheels or four.

Apparently, those students are right to be afraid.

Especially when the death of a popular and promising young man leads to nothing more serious than a misdemeanor charge with a maximum penalty of just one year in county jail.

According to the Daily Bulletin, CPP Civil Engineering student Gonzalo Aranguiz Salazar will face a charge of misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter without gross negligence.

In other words, pretty much the mildest charge authorities could file under the circumstances, while still holding someone accountable for the death.

Is that justice?

I have no idea.

I’ve yet to see any description from any source of how the collision occurred. No word whatsoever on how fast the driver was going, or if he broke any traffic laws leading up to the impact with Aguilar.

Apparently, it’s on a need to know basis.  And no one with knowledge of the investigation seems to think you or I need to know.

We’re just expected to accept that the charges are fair and appropriate given the top secret circumstances.

Sort of like we’re supposed to trust that campus administrators have the safety of their students at heart, on a campus that does not include a single inch of bicycling infrastructure.

Beverly Hills, meet your collegiate counterpart.

In all honesty, I’m not sure Salazar is the one who should be facing charges.

But you can’t charge a college with living in the auto-centric past and favoring motorists at the expense of every other road user. As much as it may be deserved.

But something tells me Cal Poly Pomona won’t make the list of bicycle-friendly universities anytime soon.

Update: Gottobike forwards a quote from American bike racer Ted King that seems oddly appropriate to this discussion:

It is impossible to find solutions when you’re busy making excuses.

And Boyonabike reminds me of something I let slide from the Daily Bulletin story about the Salazar charge, and shouldn’t have. 

The story quotes Megan Chaney, director of Clinical Programs and Experiential Learning and Associate Professor of Law at the University of La Verne College of Law, explaining why a misdemeanor charge may be appropriate in this case.

“A lot of time when somebody plows into somebody in a crosswalk or an intersection, it’s just an accident,” Chaney said Wednesday. “We put the onus, the responsibility on the driver, not the pedestrian, unless they’ve done something really horrible….”

“You’re allowed to look at the radio; that’s why you’ve got a radio. You drop your water bottle and look down to pick it up,” she said. “You really weren’t acting with any sort of criminal culpability. “

That’s the problem.

As a society, we’ve chosen not to hold drivers responsible for all but the most extreme actions behind the wheel. The collisions that result from carelessness, distraction or relatively minor violations of the law are excused as mere accidents, and left for the insurance companies to deal with, with little or no consequences for the drivers involved.

And that’s why we continue to have 30,000 +/- deaths on American streets each year.

It may be the current legal standard. 

But actions that result in the death or serious injuries of others should never be accepted. Or excused. Motor vehicles are, by their very nature, dangerous machines, and their operators can and should be expected to use the same caution behind the wheel that we expect from those involved in any other hazardous situation.

When life is taken more seriously than simple convenience on our streets, then — and only then — will anyone be safe on our streets.

Category: Bikes & the Law, Legal Cases, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,
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