Tag Archive for bicycling injuries

Update: Boerner introduces bill to require ebike licenses, ban young riders; and bike rider severely injured in Moreno Vally crash

July 17, 2023 / / One comment

The news isn’t great on the bill to create an ebike licensing program.

Sponsored by 77th District Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, AB 530, which cannibalized an earlier bill, would —

1) Prohibit anyone under 12 from riding any class of ebike.

2) Require a photo ID for anyone over 16 who doesn’t have a valid driver’s license.

3) Existing state law requires that anyone riding a Class 3 ebike, defined as a ped-assist bike capable of speeds up to 28 mph, to wear a bike helmet that meets standards from the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Correction: I originally wrote that the bill would require an ebike license for anyone who doesn’t have a driver’s license.

However, that understanding came from the press release posted below, which says the bill would “Require an online written test and a state-issued photo identification for those without a valid driver’s license.”

I’m told that the bill actually requires that anyone over 16 without a driver’s license would be required to carry photo ID to ride an ebike, though I’m not sure what that would be, since not everyone has one. 

The bill would also establish a working group with a goal of creating a license for ebike riders. 

Although as we’ve repeatedly been told, there’s no way to create a bicycle license that would pencil out financially, so I’m not sure that would work out. Not to mention all the other reasons bike licensing isn’t viable. 

I don’t actually have a problem with the first requirement. Ebikes are powerful machines that young children may not be able to handle. Although I’d exclude handicapped children who may not be able to ride a standard bicycle.

I do have a problem with requiring a license for any adult to ride any kind of bicycle, electric or otherwise. There are countless reasons why someone might not have a driver’s license, which have nothing to do with their ability to ride a bicycle.

Someone who has been riding a bicycle for 20, 30 or 40 years is perfectly capable of riding an ebike without having to pass a test to get a license. And it creates a very slippery slope to the demands of some drivers that all bike riders should be licensed.

Once we require licenses for one group of bicyclists, it’s a very small step to require them for all.

Never mind that it’s exactly the wrong thing to do when California is literally on fire, overly congested traffic is grinding to halt, and our air and climate are fouled by motor vehicles.

We should be encouraging alternatives to driving, rather than throwing up still more barriers.

What would make far more sense is to create a separate class for throttle-controlled ebikes, which require no physical exertion to operate, and can easily reach speeds beyond what inexperienced riders are capable of safely controlling.

Like this one. Or this.

I’m sure Tasha Boerner’s heart is in the right place — although I’d like to know why the hell she pulled AB 73, which would have allowed bike riders to treat stop signs as yields when safe to do so, when it appeared to be on track to pass the legislature.

Especially since I’ve heard Gavin Newsom may have looked more favorably on it this time, after vetoing two earlier versions of the bill.

But this bill, AB 530, should be dead on arrival without major revisions.

Photo by Maxfoot from Pixabay.

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Sad news from Moreno Valley, where a man riding a bicycle was severely injured in a head-on collision Friday night.

The victim was riding east on Box Springs Road at Pine Cone Lane around 9 pm when he allegedly crossed onto the wrong side of the road, and was struck by the driver of a 2006 Honda Civic.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Deputy Andrew Galbreath of the Moreno Valley sheriff’s station at 951/486-6700.

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CicLAvia is teaming with LADOT to explore the newly extended protected bike lanes and safety improvements on Venice Blvd this Sunday, though the street will remain open to motor vehicles.

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Streets For All is back with their monthly virtual happy hour on Wednesday, with Caltrans District 7 Director Gloria Roberts as special guest.

Which means this is your perfect chance to ask questions about safety improvements and Complete Streets requirements on state roadways.

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A Shakespeare put it, “’tis true ’tis pity, and pity ’tis, ’tis true.”

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

Talk about not getting it. A London writer and bike rider says we don’t need any bike cam vigilantes, arguing that a road raging driver who went ballistic after being challenged for texting behind the wheel wasn’t endangering anyone because he was stuck in stationary traffic. Never mind that texting drivers often lurch forward without looking after someone honks at them for not moving when the light changes. 

A road-raging Porsche driver ran over a bike after a group of bike riders participating in a London ride-out blocked the driver’s path.

A couple in the UK were ordered to remove their DIY cargo bike parking space after the local council concluded that the planter they used for protection might hurt the poor cars.

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

Police in Northern Ireland have spoken to a bike rider regarding his conduct, after the “intolerant and ignorant” man shouted obscenities as he rode past a Protestant parade. More proof that The Troubles aren’t entirely in the past.

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton visits my neighborhood to offer his thoughts on the new peak-hour bus lanes on La Brea Blvd, which he suggests could be even quicker and cheaper to build; he also notes that CD10 Councilmemember Heather Hutt is working to maintain the street’s auto-centric focus by indefinitely blocking the project south of Olympic Blvd. It’s worth noting that Hutt, who cites a lack of public consensus for blocking the project was appointed by the council to fill a vacancy, and has yet to face the voters.

 

State

Solana Beach officials discussed the city’s response to mounting ebike injuries, after neighboring Carlsbad and Encinitas declared a local state of emergency earlier this year.

The Ventura County Transportation Commission wants your input on planning the future of mobility for the county.

San Francisco Streetsblog takes a self-guided, unofficial tour of the new Gilman Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge over I-80, even though it’s not scheduled to open until October.

A Chico driver may have saved the life of a bike rider, stopping her car to intervene when she saw around eight pit bulls attacking a man riding his bike on a bike path, before the dogs turned on her; the dogs were captured at a nearby homeless encampment after both victims managed to get away

 

National

A travel website wants you to explore Mexico City by bicycle.

Streetsblog reposts a Substack article offering advice on how to talk to strangers to accomplish your bike and transit goals, saying even if you’re an introvert, you have to win others over to your cause.

Oregon officials are planning to build a 172-mile bicycle network in the scenic southwest portion of the state, though just what form it will take is still to be determined.

A new Oregon law reduces the penalties for biking under the influence, as lawmakers recognize the reduced damage an intoxicated bike rider can cause, compared to people in the big, dangerous machines.

A tragic warning about riding in extreme heat, after an Arizona man in his 70s died from apparent heat-related causes after suffering a flat, and attempting to walk his bike to a nearby fire station to wait for his wife.

This is who we share the road with. An Idaho woman is in a medically induced coma after she was run down by a 14-year old driver on the 4th of July while riding her bike; she was in treatment for a meth addiction and 120 days sober when she was injured. A crowdfunding campaign to defray her medical expenses has raised just over ten percent of the $50,000 goal.

A Nebraska bike rider became the latest person to be run down by a cop while riding a bicycle, after he was right hooked while riding on the sidewalk.

There’s a special place in hell for the adult thief who pushed a Detroit boy off his bike as the kid was riding it, then pedaled off on it; the thief turned himself into the police, while a state legislator gave the boy a new bike.

An Indiana man will spend the next 35 years behind bars after he was convicted of attempted murder for shooting a man on a bicycle in the back, while shouting that the victim had stolen his car.

A Kentucky state park worker is being praised for jumping into the water to save a ten-year old boy who accidentally rode his bike off a 15-foot cliff, then dove back in to retrieve the boy’s bicycle.

They get it, too. The leaders of a Boston-area city want the city’s police to stop ticketing bicyclists who ride through red lights without putting anyone else at risk.

Tragic news from DC, where a fixture in the local bicycling scene was fatally gunned down early Saturday; 27-year old Dzhoy Zuckerman was killed just blocks from his home by an unknown attacker. No word on whether he was riding his bike at the time, or any motive for the shooting. A crowdfunding campaign to support his partner has raised over $3,800 of the $10,000 goal in the first few hours.

 

International

Bike Biz asks if rising bicycle prices have become a barrier to sales.

A small new Canadian study suggest one factor causing crashes is that drivers just aren’t looking for people on bicycles.

A man riding his bike across Canada to raise awareness for mental health lost all of his gear when someone stole his bike outside a Winnipeg coffee shop; he says he was warned about Winnipeg.

A new Scottish study concludes that drivers are more likely to be at fault in crashes with bicyclists.

They must be doing something right, as British bicycling deaths drop 24% to their lowest level in 30 years. Exactly the opposite of what’s happening in this country, for reasons that should be self evident.

Forty people from four continents, including survivors of the 2017 New York bike path attack climbed the Grand Colombier before the Tour de France stage to honor the victims of terrorism.

Now you can carry your kids with what is in effect a three-wheeled ped-assist pedicab, thanks to a collaboration between Germany’s Cube and BMW.

A Singapore writer says it’s not easy being a casual bike rider in the island city-state. But apparently, it’s not any easier being a serious bicyclist, as 26 Singaporean roadies were fined for exceeding the limits on group rides, which specify no more than five bicyclists can ride together at any given time.

 

Competitive Cycling

This year’s Tour de France is threatening to descend into chaos, marring what is turning into an epic battle between Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogačar.

Exhibit one is the race motos that halted an attack by Pogačar on the Col de Joux Plane on Saturday’s stage 14, which may have kept him from claiming the yellow jersey.

Velo questions whether the race motos could prove decisive, as Pogačar lost out on a time bonus that could have cut Vingegaard’s lead to just four seconds, while the riders and passengers of both motos were suspended for one whole stage for their transgressions.

Exhibit two is a mass crash shortly after the start of Saturday’s stage that forced three riders to abandon, while holding up the race for half an hour to attend to the injured cyclist; two other riders were forced to abandon when they both crashed on a fast descent shortly after the restart.

Exhibit three is another mass crash on Sunday’s stage, when a spectator taking a selfie came in contact with American rider Sepp Kuss, triggering a massive chain reaction crash.

Vingegaard responded to questions about increases in speeds, as he and Pogačar have broken several climbing records in recent years, crediting it on improving bicycle tech, while acknowledging that he can understand why people would wonder if he’s on something.

American riders Neilson Powless and Lawson Craddock lit up Sunday’s “monster climbing stage” in stage 15, as Powless defended the King of the Mountain jersey he’s worn for two weeks, while Craddock just missed the podium with a career-best fourth.

UCI has reversed its policy for transgender cyclists, ruling that transgender women who transition after puberty will be barred from competing in women’s cycling events in all categories and disciplines. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Huh? A bizarre story from South Korea, where a transgender cyclist says she won a woman’s race to prove a point to “selfish” trans athletes that biological men are physically superior to biological women.

Citing a recent court decision, a Colorado landowner is now requiring liability waivers from all the competitors, support staff and spectators for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race, after allowing the race to traverse his land for the previous four years he’s owned it. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can carry a concealed weapon on your bicycle (just give a fake birthday to get past the NRA’s intrusive age check). That feeling when your bike brand shares a name with a late rock star.

And when popping wheelies and bunny hopping makes you “the NBA of the streets.”

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

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

Beloved Trader Joe’s staffer on life support after Reseda bike crash, and following in Pee Wee’s tire tracks

June 13, 2023 / / 2 comments

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first.

According to KTLA-5, a 65-year old Trader Joe’s worker is on life support after he was run down by a motorist Thursday morning.

George Pareta was riding his bike on his way to work at the Reseda Trader Joe’s when the driver made a sudden turn in front of him, sending him flying through the air.

There’s no word on whether it was a right hook or left cross crash, however.

Pareta was rushed to a local hospital once paramedics were able to revive him, after his heart had been stopped for nearly half an hour following the crash.

Compounding the tragedy, Pareto’s son came upon the crash scene as he rode his bike along the same route to visit his father at work, recognizing his dad’s bike even though he had already been taken away.

His family is now faced with a heartrending choice “…between keeping him the way he is in an unresponsive state or taking him off life support,” while still hoping for a miracle.

A crowdfunding campaign for the beloved father, avid cyclist and spin instructor has already raised over $40,000 of the $50,000 goal to help pay his medical expenses.

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Urbanize reports on long-delayed plans to convert Westwood’s Broxton Street to a pedestrian plaza next month.

Although maybe not quite as long as they suggest, which, judging by the second date, would have been over 1,700 years before Westwood Village was even imagined.

Planning for the Broxton Street plaza dates to 2015, when the Westwood Village Improvement Association began circulating a petition seeking support for the project – which then called for the plaza to be built one block to the north between Weyburn and Le Conte Avenue. While the project was approved in 208 by the L.A. city Council, pandemic-induced staffing shortages and other setbacks within LADOT delayed implementation until now.

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Gravel Bike California’s Zachary Rynew finds himself riding in the famed tire tracks of Pee Wee Herman, if not with the same panache.

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

The former head of New York advocacy group Transportation Alternatives writes that new signs on New Jersey’s riverfront roadway requiring bicyclists to ride single file feel like a desecration — although it’s better than the total ban on bikes that existed before he negotiated a right to ride the roadway, albeit to the right only.

A Toronto website corrects the myths regarding the city’s bike lanes in the face of calls to rip up existing protected bike lanes, as well as anti-bike arguments that create a bikelash putting bicyclists in further jeopardy from angry motorists.

Missing the point entirely, an English mayoral candidate calls for banning the annual World Naked Bike Ride, calling for a return to common decency and self-respect. The point of riding naked is calling attention to driver inattention, as in “can you see me now?”

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

A 36-year old Indianapolis woman will spend a year behind bars, and another year on probation, for riding her bike across town with her two unrestrained babies in a milk crate attached to the bike with just a bungee cord.

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Local 

Metro, BikeLA — formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — and Metro Bike operator Bicycle Transit Systems have received a grant to conduct bikeshare training classes, complete with safety education and a firsthand demonstration on how to use bikeshare, along with a meal from a local business, a bike helmet, a 30-Day Metro Bike Share pass, and a group ride.

 

State

The Santa Barbara bike shop owner who gave a new kid’s Specialized bike as a birthday gift for four-year old British Prince Archie says she picked it for the bike’s gender neutral design, so he can pass it down to his sister.

 

National

A Streetsblog op-ed calls for dropping the term micromobility, arguing that SUVs, pickups and passenger cars should not be the benchmark for measuring other forms of transit, large or small.

Gear Junkie reports on the best women’s mountain bikewear from three passion-driven brands you’ve never heard of, while Outside site Velo discusses the best unreleased and new-to-this-country ebikes they saw at the e(Revolution) 2023 ebike trade show.

Tragic news from Colorado, where a missing 16-year old boy who disappeared after setting out on his mountain bike over a month ago has been found dead in a secluded canyon.

This is who we share the road with. Longtime Broadway and Hollywood actor Treat Williams was killed in Connecticut yesterday when a driver left-crossed his motorcycle.

Grieving mother Amy Cohen has gone on a hunger strike, along with three other supporters, over the refusal of the New York State Assembly Speaker to bring Sammy’s Law to a floor vote; the common sense bill named for her son would allow New York City to set its own speed limits, rather than having them set by the state. She’ll discuss the bill with Bike Talk, in a new episode that drops tomorrow. 

The star of a one-man Off-Broadway play about former President Dwight Eisenhower is one of us; John Rubinstein rides a bikeshare bike roughly 40 blocks to the theater every night, as he waits for his own bike to arrive from Los Angeles.

NPR rides with Atlanta’s oddly plural Ampersand Bikes Club, discussing how bicycles can provide strength, joy, and a way to create a protected space for Asian bike riders, even if protecting that space isn’t always easy.

A new Roanoke, Virginia traffic safety campaign urges drivers to change lanes to pass someone on a bicycle.

An LA website — no, the other LA — says riding a bike seems even smarter, now that you can buy a bicycle for the cost of a few tanks of gas.

 

International

Momentum Magazine writes that it should never be too late to start riding a bike.

Bike Radar offers a guide to the best titanium gravel bikes you can buy this year.

Life is cheap in Ontario, where the driver who killed a Hamilton bike rider walked without a single day behind bars, after he was sentenced to a lousy $12,500 fine and two years probation. And he can keep driving “for work purposes,” freeing him to kill again.

Apparently, Toronto’s anti-bike lane mayoral candidate is also opposed to paying for stock photos, after someone spotted the telltale signs of AI created images on his website, like streets and parks that don’t actually exist, and a women with three arms; the election is in two weeks. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

A new UK study shows that bikeshare really does convert non-bicyclists into more regular riders, as 60% of bikeshare users began riding after at least a year of non-riding, while 66% reported riding more often than they did before joining a bikeshare program. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

The clock is running out on Britain’s proposed “death by dangerous cycling” law, which will struggle to get passed before the county’s next parliamentary election.

The Spectator makes up for yesterday’s criticism of Italy’s proposal to require bike helmets, licensing and registration, and liability for bike riders with an op-ed calling the country’s crackdown on bicyclists long overdue.

An Indian college student completed a 1,250-mile bike ride that touched on three international borders, to call for saying no to drugs.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling looks at the stars of Netflix new colon-heavy show Tour de France: Unchained: Season 1, while noting that Tadej Pogačar, Primož Roglič and Geraint Thomas will be skipping the tour this year; Wout van Aert calls the show disturbing, saying it’s focused on commotion. Once again, read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

A writer for Defector says he got his ass kicked participating in last week’s 200-mile Unbound Gravel, calling it America’s dirtiest bike race.

New Zealand cyclist George Bennet may struggle to continue in this week’s Tour of Switzerland after finishing at the back of the peloton following a crash in stage two.

The second place finisher in the North Carolina Belgian Waffle Ride calls for a separate category for trans athletes after the women’s race was won by a trans woman, while defending the right of everyone to compete, regardless of how they identify. Meanwhile, Fox News reports tennis legend Martina Navratilova was not a fan of the result.

 

Finally…

Why settle for off the rack when you can configure your own ebike design? Your next flat bike pedals could be made of foam.

And a fat-tired ebike foldie for people into weird

looking bikes.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Congestion pricing rears its not-so-ugly head, NYT talks with LA’s Entitled Cyclist, and Long Beach bike rider critically injured

May 31, 2023 / / 5 comments

On a personal note, my 75-year old adventure cycling, ex-Iditarod mushing brother is setting out today on yet another cross-country bike ride. 

He’s taking a train to Oregon, then riding down the coast before turning east, and riding to Minnesota, up into Canada, and possibly on to Buffalo and New York City if conditions allow. 

And yes, I want to be like him when I grow up.

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Congestion pricing could be back on the table for Los Angeles County.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Metro’s long-awaited study into the feasibility of instituting a congestion pricing scheme on local highways is expected to be released this summer, after it was allegedly delayed by Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins because she didn’t want it to become an issue in last year’s election season.

Years in the works, the plan promises cleaner air, smoother rides and more funds to the agency’s coffers in the future. Studies show it could reduce harmful air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions by pushing more commuters to use public transit, while making roads less hellish for those who pay to use them…

The pilot program is part of a larger push among major cities to rethink how to deal with traffic that eats up commuters’ lives and pollutes communities as vehicles creep along. California has been quietly setting the stage for road pricing for years.

The good news is that Metro is restoring its pre-pandemic route schedules, which should make transit marginally more attractive to current non-transit users, though the steady drumbeat of new of crime, homelessness and drug use on county trains could have the opposite effect.

The bad news is, with a few notable exceptions like DTLA, Santa Monica and Long Beach, the LA-area bike networks necessary to get defecting motorists on two wheels don’t currently exist.

And they’re not likely to be coming in the near future without a massive and unexpected investment in our streets.

Photo by Jeff Weese from Pexels.

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The New York Times talks with Tom Morash, aka the Entitled Cyclist of Twitter, Instagram and YouTube fame.

Morash is a 41-year-old lighting programmer who works in the film and TV industry in Los Angeles, where he has lived for some 16 years. When he first arrived, he used to take his car everywhere, like most Angelenos. But the city’s traffic jams soon crushed any desire to drive.

After talking to a co-worker who cycled to work, he decided to try it. He never looked back. Now he always cycles the 12 miles or so that take him to most of his jobs.

Yes, cycling can be scary, he acknowledges. Drivers cut him off, text at the wheel, exceed the speed limit, open their doors without looking and park in the bike lane. “But I can’t imagine choosing to be in a car,” he said.

It’s worth investing a few minutes of your day to get to know someone who uses his bike and social media voice to make a difference.

And whose bike makes one in his own life.

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Bad news from Long Beach, where a woman was critically injured in a collision while riding her bike on Pacific Coast Highway near Long Beach City College Monday night.

The eastbound victim allegedly swerved onto the opposite side of the roadway, where she was struck by the westbound driver, who remained at the scene.

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You have one more day to sign up for a month of bikeshare for a single buck.

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

Houston police are looking for a group of young men who have been brutally attacking and robbing bike riders on a city bike trail, with five riders viciously beaten and another shot in the past two weeks; one man was tackled from his bike, pistol whipped and robbed of his wallet and phone, while another had his bicycle stolen after getting hit with a shovel.

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

The LAPD had arrested an alleged bike-riding serial arsonist for setting up to 30 cars on fire in the Sunland-Tujunga area. Demonstrating once again that bicycles are the most efficient choice for whatever crime spree you have in mind. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the heads-up.

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Local 

Streets For All reminds us to tell the federal government to make auto makers consider pedestrian safety in crash testing. And add bike riders while they’re at it. 

This is who we share the road with. A road raging Tesla driver and a motorcyclist got into fist fight in a Pasadena street, following a verbal confrontation between the two men, as well as the driver’s mom.

A Redondo Beach letter writer complains that a planned 200-foot long bike path extension in Long Beach will cost $6,000 per foot, compared to adding a freeway lane, which he says would cost just $500 a foot. Actually, the California Policy Institute says adding a freeway lane in an urban environment costs $62.4 million per lane mile, or about $11,800 a foot. Correction, Jim Lyle points out it’s actually $118,000 per foot, not $11,800 as I wrote. My only excuse is I was an English major. 

 

State

Calbike is urging you to contact your state legislators to support a series of bills they term the Biking Is Not a Crime slate for 2023, including bills that would legalize sidewalk riding, ban police pretext stops, and decriminalize transit fare evasion. Although the best solution for that one is to adequately fund transit and make it free.

The Fullerton Observer says the Orange County city refused to improve bike safety in the face of opposition from motorists, rejecting a proposal to remove a traffic lane and improve bike lanes when Associated Road is repaved for water main work.

A project to widen El Camino Real in Del Mar from two lanes to four, while adding concrete median, sidewalks and bike lanes has been put on hold, after a judge ordered an additional environmental review.

Closing arguments began Tuesday in the hit-and-run trial of a 43-year old Bakersfield driver accused of seriously injuring two people as they rode their bikes, while driving with a blood alcohol level over three times the legal limit; the defense attorney blamed the victims for riding in the traffic lane without the required lights and reflectors.

Sonoma bicyclists say the city has a lot more work to do if they want to get more people out of cars and onto bikes.

 

National

Yesterday was National E-Bike Day, officially registered as such by Lectric eBikes to mark their fourth anniversary.

Mobility justice groups are working to reverse decades of disinvestment to make Black neighborhoods better for biking and walking; the story begins with the killing of South LA bike rider Dijon Kizzee, who was shot 19 times by LA County Sheriff’s deputies for what began as a traffic stop for riding salmon.

Tragic news from Las Vegas, where a motorcyclist is dead, and a bicycle rider critically injured, following a high speed collision between the two.

Outside rides Utah’s new 190-mile Aquarius Trail bikepacking path, sandwiched amid the state’s “spectacular wilderness” between Bryce and Zion national parks.

The Idaho Stop Law is slowly spreading across the US, as nine other states and Washington DC have adopted the law, although only three have adopted the full law allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs. California is once again considering a bill to legalize the Stop as Yield portion of the law; Governor Newsom vetoed a previous version of the bill.

A crowdfunding campaign for the Black teenager involved in New York’s Citi Bike Karen incident has now raised over $91,000 of the $120,000 goal to pay legal expenses. Meanwhile, a crowdfunding campaign for the hospital worker accused of trying to wrest a bikeshare bike out of his hands has raised more than $132,000, far exceeding the $120,000 goal.

Crashes involving bike riders are rising in Virginia, with twice as many bicyclists killed on state roads so far this year, compared to last year.

Medical authorities in Florida have concluded that the man accused of brutally stabbing a Daytona Beach couple as they rode their bicycles home from the city’s motorcycle Bike Week festivities has regained his mental competency, and is now fit to stand trial for the March, 2022 murders.

 

International

Go ahead and be jealous. Montreal is investing $30 million to expand and improve its bikeway network, with 53 projects spanning 14 boroughs and four other municipalities.

London road deaths were down to their lowest level of any non-Covid year last year, evidence that the city’s extensive Complete Streets and bicycle superhighway efforts are working.

A London paper complains about an “idiot driver” who parked blocking a crosswalk and bike lane to nip into the market.

Britain has approved the use of longer semi-truck trailers on the country’s roads, despite fears they could increase the risk to bike riders and pedestrians.

Belgium-based Cowboy and Grenoble, France’s eBikeLabs are involved in a messy divorce, with eBikeLabs suing the ebike maker for patent infringement and stealing its software, after the two companies had been partnering together.

Sydney, Australia will extend the life of a popular popup bike lane for at least another three years.

 

Competitive Cycling

British budget cuts could endanger the rise of the next generation of cyclists, as the country cuts spending for its under-23 program, potentially removing young Brits from the Nations Cup, the Tour of Britain and the Tour de l’Avenir.

Britain has banned transgender women from competing in women’s cycling events, restricting trans cyclists to the country’s “Open” classification. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you from their site. 

More tragic news, this time from Ireland, where Gabriele Glodenyte was killed by a driver while on a lunchtime training ride; the 24-year old cyclist was a rising star in women’s racing in the country.

Cycling News considers the top contenders for this weekend’s Unbound Gravel 200.

Cyclist offers their 21 best photos from the recently concluded Giro d’Italia, including a close-up view of Mark Cavendish’ crash in stage 5.

 

Finally…

When you’re already a suspect in at least ten bike thefts, maybe don’t ride salmon on an ebike that may or may not be yours. Your next bike could be a new and improved recreation of your first one.

And a paean to Campy’s late, lamented thumb shifter.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

BOLO alert for Westlake hit-and-run, more on NY bikeshare Karen, and Life/Cycle-riding doctor running to replace Schiff

May 26, 2023 / / 2 comments

The seemingly epidemic of heartless LA hit-and-run drivers just keeps on going.

The LAPD is looking for the driver who left a bike rider bleeding in the streets of Westlake, suffering from what is described as “severe, though not life-threatening injuries.”

The crash occurred around 8:45 pm on Saturday. May 13 at Hoover and Carondelet streets in the Westlake District.

The suspect vehicle is described as an older model white Nissan, with likely with damage to its front end, hood and windshield from the impact with the victim.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Detective Juan Campos at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online. Or call the Central Traffic Division Watch Commander at 213/833-3746 after hours or weekends.

As always, there is a $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious, but not fatal, injuries in the City of Los Angeles.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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There’s always another side to the story, even when everyone has already taken sides.

It’s been clear for some time that we’ve only heard one side of the story about the white New York hospital worker filmed in a viral video trying to wrest and whine a bikeshare bike out of the hands of a Black teenager.

The woman, who has become infamous as the Citi Bike Karen, has spoken through her attorney, who claims he has receipts showing she rented the bike she was trying to claim.

She’s raised over $124,000 from people who thought she was unfairly accused of racism.

Now the family of the teenager she was trying to take the bike from is finally speaking out for the first time. According to them, the 17-year old boy’s life and family have been in turmoil since the incident.

They explained that as the son of low-income, West African immigrants on public assistance, he was entitled to discounted 45-minute bikeshare rides, after which the rate increases.

The day of the incident, he and his friends rode from his home in the Bronx to visit friends in Harlem. After 45 minutes, he re-docked the bike to reset the clock, before setting out again at the reduced rate.

Which is when he claims his life went to hell.

He says the hospital worker approached the group as they briefly rested with the bikes, asking each one in turn if she could use their bike. Each boy said no, because they were about to take them back out again.

So she stepped onto the bike anyway, using her phone to scan the bike’s QR code as he held onto the handlebars, and tried to take the bike out of his hands.

According to New York’s NewsOne,

It was 7:24 p.m., and that is when the boys began recording…

Michael insisted Sarah Jane Comrie knew he was planning to use the bike. He said she asked him and his friends to use theirs, and they all informed her they were using the bikes and would be leaving shortly.

He said she seemed annoyed that they wouldn’t willingly give up their bikes to her. He also said he believes she wanted that bike as opposed to the others that remained docked in the rack because he had one of the newer e-bikes.

The rest of the interaction plays out in the video. Sarah Jane Comrie, dressed in scrubs bearing the NYC Health + Hospitals logo, removed her work ID badge from her neck, placed it in her bag along with a brown paper bag she was holding and began screaming for help.

Proving once again there’s always another side to the story.

We have no way of knowing who is right, or exactly how the events played out in the minutes before the camera was turned on. But the incident offers a Rorschach Test for today’s America, as people on both sides of the political divide quickly chose sides.

A white woman received over a hundred grand, while a young Black man has his life upended. Although a crowdfunding campaign started yesterday has raised over $37,000 for his legal fees in less than 24 hours.

Because once again, we’re all taking sides.

………

He gets it.

A reporter for Vice takes on former LADOT head Seleta Reynolds recent comments comparing building bus and bike lanes without community engagement to bulldozing houses to build freeways.

This difference of intent and scale is worth dwelling on because it is why the comparison is so misguided. The U.S. Department of Transportation has estimated 475,000 households containing one million people were displaced due to highway construction from 1957 to 1977. That is the equivalent of displacing the entire population of modern-day Austin, Texas. Likewise, a Los Angeles Times analysis found that an additional 200,000 people have lost their homes due to highway construction since 1990. To the best of my knowledge, there has not been a single housing unit destroyed or person displaced to build a bike or bus lane anywhere in the U.S. On these grounds alone, it is simply absurd to compare urban highway construction to bike and bus lanes. Projects of such vastly different scopes and scale deserve different approaches and mindsets.

But there is another good reason to reject this comparison, one that is equally revealing about the biases of modern transportation officials. Reynolds asked, “What makes us so confident we know best?” Another way of asking this is, what makes us so confident we know bike and bus lanes are better than masses of parking and multiple travel lanes for private cars for everyone?

The answer is: we’ve got the receipts. In this case, decades of scientific study and experiments carefully tracked and evaluated by local departments of transportation.

The sheer absurdity of Reynolds’ comments, coming from someone who should surely know better, is appalling.

It also explains why so little was done to improve LA streets while she ran the department. And why we shouldn’t hold our breath for any major innovations coming from her new position as Metro’s Chief Innovation Officer.

Unless maybe her chief innovation is even more pointless, never-ending public meetings.

………

Openly gay, Lebanese-Armenian global health leader Dr. Jirair Ratevosian is the latest candidate to toss his hat into the ring to replace outgoing Rep. Adam Schiff in California’s 30th Congressional District.

He’s also one of us, regularly taking part in the annual 545-mile AIDS/LIFECYCLE ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, which benefits the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

However, Ratevosian faces stiff competition from Burbank Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman, California State Senator Anthony Portantino, and former Boy Meets World star Ben Savage, among others.

………

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

A Columbus, Ohio bike rider is calling for more protected bike lanes after a road raging driver brake checked him, then threw a drink at him. That came just days after another road raging driver deliberately backed into a bike rider when the man on the bike refused to get off and fight him.

No irony here. A London man goes on a rant about the city’s LTNs, or Limited Traffic Neighborhoods, while filming himself in front of a congested, non-LTN jammed with cars.

An award-winning British TV producer, writer and comedian was fined the equivalent of more than $1,200, plus another $1,250 in court costs and victim surcharge, for flipping off a bike cam activist when he was caught using his smartphone from behind the wheel of his $173,000 Aston Martin.

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

After a Seal Beach letter writer complains that it seems petty to ticket a pair of senior citizens on a tandem for rolling a stop sign, a cop explains that bicycles are treated as vehicles in California, and bike riders have to obey the law, too. Even laws that most drivers don’t. Which is one more argument to pass the Stop As Yield bill in the state legislature, and get Governor Newsom to sign the damn thing this time. 

………

Local 

For some reason, I can’t seem to embed tweets today. So click through for some great shots of bicycles over 100 years ago in LA’s historic Chinatown, forwarded by Erik Griswold.

Los Angeles Public Press examines LA’s gender-expansive group rides designed to make biking in the city more comfortable, safer and accepting.

 

State

No news is good news, right?

 

National

The CPSC, aka Consumer Product Safety Commission, is looking for public input as they consider how to update federal regulations governing bicycles to accommodate ebikes. Read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

Bloomberg’s CityLab says American cities are failing female bicyclists by failing to invest in bike infrastructure.

A writer for the Christian Science Monitor relates riding cross county from Boston to Oregon in the ’70s with just a bike and $200, back when ATMs and cellphones didn’t exist.

After saying that dismantling yet another claim that bike and bus lanes cause pollution is uninteresting and a complete waste of his time, a Seattle writer considers the philosophical function of the automobile, instead.

A Colorado man takes to the road on an adaptive recumbent bike, eight years after he was injured hitting a pothole, which eventually cost him both legs.

A 28-year old Kentucky man is dead after a pickup driver crashed into his bike; police excused the crash because glare from the setting sun kept him from seeing the victim. Never mind that the correct course of action would have been to pull over to the side of the road until he could see, before he killed anyone.

The New York Times says the Citi Bike bikeshare has become part of New York’s street life as it marks its tenth anniversary.

Several members of the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles participated in a fundraising ride to benefit an autism nonprofit while wearing winged bike helmets to match the ones they wear on the field.

This is who we share the road with. A 32-year old Philadelphia woman faces murder and vehicular homicide charges for a December hit-and-run crime spree that killed on man and injured two other people; she is accused of hitting three cars and a scooter rider, then crashing into a bike rider before fatally slamming into a man walking in a crosswalk, and fleeing from all three crashes.

 

International

British Columbia becomes just the latest city, state or province to offer ebike rebates before California’s long-delayed program finally gets off the ground, with purchase credits ranging from $350 to a maximum of $1,400.

After a UK city announced plans to encourage bike riding by giving away 2,500 bicycles and free bicycling lessons, local advocates argued the city needs to address the “huge issue” of providing safe places to ride them.

This is what it looks like to hit a pothole while riding at speed, as a British man suffered a broken pelvis when he only managed to avoid three out of four potholes in his path.

 

Competitive Cycling

Leader Geraint Thomas held off an attack by by Primož Roglič and his Jumbo-Visma team on stage 18 of the Giro, while Italian champ Filippo Zana broke away from the pack to claim the stage win; the stage came on Thomas’ 37th birthday.

Bicycling says the colossal amounts of elevation gain in the last few stages of the Giro will make the final days of racing a slugfest. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t appear to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

Cycling Weekly pulls nine bikes out of the Worldtour pro peloton to name one as their racing bike of the year.

The annual Tour of Nevada City Bicycle Classic as been officially cancelled this year, following years of declining attendance.

 

Finally…

As long as people hate bicycles and semi-trucks, you might as well do them both. That feeling when you take your javelina bike out for a spin; thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the link. 

And that feeling when you can’t decide between a BMX and pogo stick. So you do both.

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Taking LA Planning to task for “vacuous” self-congratulatory report, and bike rider seriously injured in South LA hit-and-run

April 14, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s start today with a must read piece from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton.

In it, Linton takes the Los Angeles Planning Department to task — deservedly — for producing what he calls “an astonishingly vacuous report” that’s ostensibly a status report on implementation of the city’s mobility plan.

Yet one that he says ignores all the multimodal facilities included in Planning Department’s own plan.

Almost as if they are, in reality, the LA Lack of Planning Dept.

According to Linton,

In 2015, the city approved the Mobility Plan, with hundreds of miles of new bus and bike lanes, pedestrian improvements, and a Vision Zero policy to end L.A. City traffic deaths by 2035. Safe streets advocates loved it. Reactionaries hated the plan so much they sued to block it.

Then the city largely ignored the plan. Bus speeds slowed. Bikeway implementation tanked. Approved bus and bike networks, supposedly slated to be completed in around 20 years, languished. Seven years after plan approval, only three percent of planned bus/bike facilities had been implemented…

Yet the Planning Department somehow gives itself an undeserved pat on the back, claiming to have accomplished 76% of the mobility plan’s Action Programs.

While that may sound like they’re making real progress, those Action Programs have nothing to do with putting paint on the street. Let alone the long-promised barriers and networks that might actually provide some protection and connections for people on bicycles.

Instead, Linton describes them this way.

“…a sort of obscure plan appendix that lists 173 tasks assigned to various city departments. The Action Plan includes things like: roadway safety outreach, wayfinding, analysis of unpermitted mountain biking in city parks, and periodic updates of LADOT’s Manual of Policies and Procedures.”

He ties their massive success in rearranging the massive pile of papers on their collective desks back to last year’s fiasco with the city council’s non-approval of the Healthy Streets LA initiative — which does nothing more than require the city to live up to its commitments, and build out the mobility plan they already passed when streets in the plan get resurfaced.

That’s it.

But evidently, that’s just a bridge and resurfaced roadway too far for the city.

He describes how the city council, led by now-disgraced racist Council President Nury Martinez, voted to adopt their own ordinance mirroring Healthy Streets LA.

One that wouldn’t contain the requirement to build out the mobility plan, but would, in actuality, leave it up to the council to decide whether or not to actually fulfill their obligations.

And you can probably guess how that would go, if you’ve been paying attention so far.

Last August, the council made it sound like the ordinance would happen right away. Then-president Martinez stated that city staff would “report back on my motion within the next few weeks.” Councilmember Nithya Raman spoke of the council “match[ing] the urgency that I hear from all of you [safe streets advocates] today.”

Then very little happened. The city continued to repave streets, nearly always ignoring the Mobility Plan. Councilmembers continued to block approved bus and bike facilities. More than seven months later, city departments have not shared any draft ordinance.

During that time, city departments, including DCP and Transportation (LADOT), went on the offensive to undermine the Mobility Plan and Healthy Streets L.A., asserting that approved bus lanes and bikeways are not actually a plan, but just “aspirational… guidance.”

Now where have we heard that before?

That’s exactly what the city’s bicycling community heard from an LADOT official within weeks of the 2010 bike plan’s passage, which was later subsumed into the city’s mobility plan.

We were told, while still celebrating our hard-fought victory, that the whole damn thing was merely “aspirational.”

Something the city has more than lived up to by living down to their extremely limited aspirations.

As Linton mentions above, we’re still waiting for that draft ordinance mirroring Healthy Streets LA to come back for a reading, let alone a vote, a full eight months — not weeks — after it was promised.

There was hope after the last election that the city’s new progressive councilmembers would light a fire under our sleepy governing body, and we might actually see some action on our streets.

But it seems just the opposite has happened. And the council has managed to douse whatever fire they might have had.

As I said, it’s a must read. So what are you waiting for?

………

Someone riding a bicycle was seriously injured in a hit-and-run near Adams Boulevard and Trinity Street in South Los Angeles early Thursday morning.

No description was available for the suspect or their vehicle. Or for the victim, apparently.

As always, there is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injuries in the City of Los Angeles. Although there’s not a lot to go on this time.

………

A new survey shows the relationship between California drivers and bicyclists is among the worst in the country, with four out of ten bike riders rating it less than harmonious.

The only real shock is that it’s that low.

But there may be hope, according to The Thousand Oaks Acorn.

The survey found that 75% of drivers empathize with cyclists’ frustrations, such as being overtaken too closely, while 81% of cyclists said they understood the challenges that drivers must deal with while navigating busy local streets.

So there’s that, anyway.

………

Gravel Bike California stops to sniff, if not the roses, the superbloom of flowers brought on by the recent rains on the Carrizo Plain.

Thanks to Zachary Rynew for the heads-up.

………

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

San Francisco Streetsblog says a proposal for bike lanes on a commuter route and tourist attraction between Sausalito and San Francisco is already seeing a bikelash.

After a British bicyclist is understandably outraged and profane when a van driver cuts him off in the country’s left-handed equivalent of a high-speed right hook, the driver threatens a defamation case when he gets review bombed. As if you can somehow be defamed over something you actually did.

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

An Edinburgh columnist applauds anyone who has the courage to ride a bike on the city streets, but begs bike-riding men to cover their butt cracks. Or “bahookie” in the local parlance, apparently.

………

Local 

The LA County Sheriff’s deputies who lost their jobs for fatally shooting 18-year-old Andres Guardado in the back as he ran away have now been charged with abducting a skateboarder, and threatening to dump him in gang territory, then injuring him crashing into a parked car while trying to run down a group of teenage bike riders with their patrol car.

No bias here. A WeHo paper says the city wants to take away your “right” to make a right turn on a red light, while saying the maneuver is a factor in just 1% of crashes. Which means it’s responsible for around 400 deaths every year, which probably matters to the victim’s families, even if it doesn’t matter to them. And I don’t recall right on red being included in the Bill of Rights, but maybe I missed that day. 

The Source says take Metro to Sunday’s CicLAvia, with three train stations within 1.5 miles of the route.

Colorado Boulevard looks forward to next week’s 626 Golden Streets Heart of the Foothills in the San Gabriel Valley.

 

State

Streetsblog says a bill authorizing speed cams is up for a hearing in the state legislature for the umpteenth time; it should have no problem in Laura Friedman’s Transportation Committee, but could face opposition before the Appropriations Committee, where good traffic safety bills go to die.

A San Diego TV station reports city council members responded to a recent hit-and-run by continuing to discuss the city’s Vision Zero Plan “to eliminate but also prevent traffic collisions, bicycle and pedestrian injuries and deaths,” which seems to be the same thing. Although I would be overjoyed just to hear Vision Zero discussed in the Los Angeles council chambers.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole the ghost bike honoring 58-year old Nelson Esteban, who was killed by a driver while riding in Palm Springs last month.

Half Moon Bay has banned ebikes from the city’s section of the Bay Area’s Coastal Trail, citing congestion and speeding. Just wait until someone tells them about the cars on the local streets and highways.

The San Jose Mercury News’ Mr. Roadshow explains why bicyclists don’t pay for the roads the same way drivers do. But then the paper hides it behind a paywall as “premium” content, reflecting a basic misunderstanding of how the internet works. Although you can read it for free if you’re willing to accept their daily emails. 

 

National

Early rock and roll cover artist Pat Boone is one of us, riding his bike, playing tennis and golf, and lifting weights to keep fit at 88 years old.

In a very bizarre case from Reno, a hit-and-run driver in a stolen truck collapsed and died as he tried to flee on foot, after a second crash as the bike rider he hit in the first one was chasing him.

Seventeen-year old junior national-level mountain biker Cayel Holmgren is in the ICU with a severe traumatic brain injury after he was knocked off his bike by hikers illegally using a bike-only Colorado trail; doctors say it will be up to two years before he can get back on a mountain bike.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 91-year old Lewiston, Maine man still rides his bike ten to twenty miles every day.

Atlanta bike computer and tech company Wahoo Fitness appears to be on the financial ropes, after its credit rating dropped for failing to meet its debt service obligations.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers eleven reasons to ride a foldie. Must have been a slow news day. 

Tragic news from the UK, where a body was found in the woods that appears to be a man who recently went missing after he was released following six months in prison for killing a 79-year old woman in a bicycling hit-and-run; police say they aren’t treating the death as suspicious, which speaks volumes.

German prosecutors conclude that protestors didn’t cause a bicyclist’s death by delaying paramedics with a road block last Halloween.

Sad news from Italy, where two-time world mountain bike champ Dario Acquaroli died while riding his bike Easter Sunday; he was found unconscious on the ground near Bergamo in northern Italy. He was just 48.

David Hasselhoff is one of us, riding a bike to capture the culture and beauty of Munich. And he’s a train guy, too.

Good question. A Japanese letter writer asks why obey the country’s new mandatory helmet law if there’s no penalty for breaking it?

 

Competitive Cycling

Another good question. Bicycling asks how can we truly support women’s cycling in the face of cancelled races? Unfortunately, this one’s not available on Yahoo or AOL, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.

Cuban sprint sensation Marlies Mejias won the first stage race in her first Redland’s Classic, while Denver Disrupter’s Noah Granigan out-sprinted L39ion of Los Angeles cyclist Robin Carpenter on the men’s side.

The National Cycling League made its debut in Miami last weekend, part of a four stop race series.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a fun round of Governator pothole-filling blame game. How do we love bike commuting, let me count the ways.

And nothing like riding a bicycle 2,000 feet above the ground.

………

Happy Songkran to the Thai American community.

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Newport Beach bike rider recovering from crash, and LA Times approves of taxing oversize SUVs and legalizing speed cams

April 5, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s start with some good news for a change.

I reached out to the lawyer representing the family of the Newport Beach bicyclist who was severely injured riding at Newport Coast Drive just south of San Joaquin Hills Rd on Sunday, March 26th.

I’m told that he is now conscious and sitting up, and his injuries are not considered life-threatening. However, he does have a number of injuries, and faces a long road to recovery.

There does not appear to be a crowdfunding campaign to help pay his medical expenses at this time. But I’ll let you know if that changes.

The news is good, though. And far better than we could have expected, given the circumstances.

………

It was a good day for traffic safety in the editorial pages of the LA Times.

The paper’s editorial board took on the problem of ever-expanding trucks and SUVs, and the danger their hulking profiles pose to pedestrians.

And yes, to people on bicycles, too.

The heavier, taller vehicles now make up 80% of car sales in the U.S., and a growing body of research shows they are more deadly when drivers hit pedestrians and cyclists. The mass of SUVs and trucks means they take longer to stop and strike with more force.

They also have larger blind spots than smaller cars. With reduced visibility, drivers turning at an intersection are more likely to hit pedestrians, according to one study. Drivers are also less likely to see small children directly in front of the vehicle. With a higher profile, when a SUV or truck crashes into a person, the front hits the chest and head for more traumatic injuries.

Unfortunately, federal regulators are doing absolutely nothing to rein in automakers to demand smaller and safer vehicles for people outside of their armored and padded passenger compartments.

Which leaves it up to states to step into the breach.

That’s why California legislators are looking into emulating Washington DC by tying registration fees to vehicle weight, as the paper suggests it shouldn’t be a controversial bill.

As EV technology improves, the battery packs are expected to become smaller. But that advancement will be of little help if automakers and consumers continue to buy vehicles with little regard to their danger to people in front of the windshield. Federal regulators should push automakers to design vehicles that are safer not just for the driver but for the pedestrians and bicyclists. Until that happens, California lawmakers can pass AB 251 to help create momentum for change.

The same day that editorial appeared online, Streets For All founder Michael Schneider argued in the Times that California needs to stop dragging its feet on life-saving speed cameras.

Speed is the single biggest factor in determining the severity of a car crash, and yet California has resisted the most obvious tool to slow down traffic: speed-enforcement cameras. Still, the state has learned a few lessons over the years from experiments with red-light cameras, and there’s now a bill in Sacramento that could deploy similar technology to lifesaving effect.

Without speed cameras, cities face an untenable choice: Let drivers flout traffic laws and allow vulnerable road users like pedestrians and cyclists to die, or increase enforcement by police — which fuels conflict and casualties. If anything, California is moving toward reducing traffic stops, which can be a pretext for harassing Black and Latino drivers.

A new bill in the state legislature sponsored by Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Laura Friedman (D-Burbank), would address that by establishing a speed cam pilot program in Los Angeles, San Jose, Oakland, Glendale, Long Beach and San Francisco.

Which is a good first step.

But it also means if you live or ride in Orange County or San Diego, you’re screwed. Or anywhere else in the late, great Golden State, for that matter.

Schneider writes that Assembly Bill 645 addresses concerns that killed two previous attempts to pass a speed cam bill by ticketing the owner of the vehicle, rather than attempting to determine who is driving.

Although arguably, opposition by CHP and police unwilling to give up the job security posed by the state’s ever-present and eternal problem of speeding drivers had as much, if not more, to do with the failure of two previous bills.

Never mind the reluctance of California drivers to take their foot off the gas pedal, or face consequences for failing to do so.

If Sacramento allows these pilot programs, we should see an almost immediate safety improvement. Indeed, if drivers know that they’re likely to be caught by an automated speed camera, they’ll be less inclined to speed in the first place. Slowing down will save lives…

Yet every arterial in Los Angeles has at least a 35-mph posted speed limit, with drivers routinely reaching 45 mph or faster. Even a recent state action that allowed Los Angeles to lower speed limits didn’t make much of a dent; the main result was the limit returning to 35 mph on some streets where it had crept higher.

It’s no wonder, then, that traffic fatalities soared to a two-decade high in Los Angeles in 2022, especially in light of massively large trucks and SUVs currently popular on our streets. No one should have to fear for their life while crossing a street or riding a bike in Los Angeles — a city where a pedestrian is killed once every three days.

No one, indeed.

California’s addiction to speed, and the state’s failure to take substantive action to rein it in, has resulted in a state of quasi-legal mayhem on our streets.

Taxing oversized vehicles out of existence and legalizing speed cams could be valuable first steps in actually doing something to save human lives on our streets.

Besides the usual thoughts and prayers, that is.

………

Bike to the Culver City council meeting on Monday to fight to keep the successful Move Culver City bus and bike lanes, which are in danger of being ripped out by the council’s new conservative majority.

………

If you feel the need for speed, USA Cycling is looking for you at next weekend’s Mid-City Meets Pico Union CicLAvia.

Just remember to cool your jets when you leave the booth and rejoin the throngs of CicLAvia celebrants.

https://twitter.com/CicLAvia/status/1642980122797182977

………

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

Police used DNA evidence to arrest a man for allegedly stringing wires at neck level on paths used by Madison, Wisconsin bike commuters. Although they undercharged him with first-degree recklessly endangering safety, since it was clearly a deliberate attempt to injure or maim innocent people; it should be charged as felony assault with a deadly weapon, at the very least.

British residents call a new separated bike lane junction “confusing,” “a bit of a pain” and “a total waste of taxpayers’ money,” even though it looks pretty self-explanatory in the photo.

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

Mark your calendar for two weeks from today, when the annual Bicycle Day celebrates the discovery of LSD by a Swiss chemist who dropped a tab before attempting to ride his bike home.

………

Local 

More than 80 people turned out for the inaugural Bike Ride for Alan at Dockweiler State Beach on Sunday to honor community leader Alan Nishio, as he enters hospice care after battling a rare cancer for the past 17 years.

 

State

The brother of 68-year old fallen bicyclist Bradley Catcott has filed a lawsuit blaming the Carlsbad State Beach park ranger who engaged in a chase with the drunken motorcyclist who killed him while riding at speeds of up to 100 mph. Although this could just be a case of going after the state’s deep pockets, instead of the motorcyclist’s limited liability coverage.

San Diego has opened the new $148 million replacement for the aging Mission Bay Bridge, complete with bike and pedestrian pathways.

Doubly sad news from Bakersfield, where a man riding a bicycle was killed in a hit-and-run Monday night, less than 24 hours after a pedestrian was killed in another hit-and-run.

The festival guide for Monterey’s Sea Otter Classic is now available online, just over two weeks before it takes place.

San Francisco approved plans for two-way, centerline bike lanes on Valencia Streets, despite the opposition of almost everyone.

 

National

Jalopnik reports the average car payment is now $730 a month, while the percentage of Americans paying more than $1,000 a month in car payments has nearly tripled in just two years, jumping from 6.2% to 16.8%. But tell me again that bikes are expensive, and bicycling is just for the wealthy.

Business Insider makes the case for improving bike and pedestrian safety by requiring sideguards for buses and large trucks, which advocates have demanded for years with no response.

A science blogger details the physics underlying your bike ride in easy to digest, non-scientific terms.

Streetsblog argues that Chicago bike lane haters aren’t completely wrong, noting that the city’s disconnected network can be improved, and that bikes shouldn’t be sharing streets with fast traffic — which they say is a better argument for lowering speed limits than banning bike lanes.

Massachusetts now requires a four-foot distance to pass any vulnerable road user, including anyone walking, biking, scooting, skating or rolling. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

He gets it now. A New York driver changes his mind about opposing bike lanes after hearing the heartbreaking testimonies of bike riders who feared for their safety at a community meeting.

A Louisiana bike rider is dead because a semi-truck driver somehow couldn’t wait to pass until they both cleared a curve in the road. But apparently it’s okay because the driver was sober.

Tampa, Florida is just the latest city to offer ebike rebates, good for up to two grand, before California finally gets its long-delayed ebike rebate program off the ground.

 

International

Momentum Magazine explains how to give your bike a spring tune-up and cleaning, while We Love Cycling addresses how to make your own DIY bikepacking bags.

Toronto could address police harassment of speeding bicyclists in the city’s High Park by turning the park over to fast riders for morning rides.

Life is cheap in the UK, where the father of a fallen bicyclist calls the nine-month suspended sentence that allowed the driver who killed him walk without a day behind bars a farce; the 74-year old driver failed to brake or swerve, despite being able to see the victim for at least seven seconds before the fatal crash.

France is creating a new generation of bike riders with a national “universal bicycling” program for middle school students.

A Japanese newspaper calls the country’s new bike helmet law an opportunity to ensure safety. Even though studies have shown helmet laws depress bicycling rates, reducing the safety in numbers effect that has been shown to improve bike safety.

 

Competitive Cycling

Rouleur explores the effects of the “brutal pavé of Paris-Roubaix” on the human body. Which is the best rhyme I’ve heard in ages.

French women’s champ Audrey Cordon-Ragot walked away from her Zaaf Cycling Team, claiming she hasn’t been paid or reimbursed for expenses for the last three months.

You can cross the annual Tour of Walla Walla off your bike racing calendar, after the Washington race was permanently cancelled after nearly 25 years.

 

Finally…

Nothing like a bright green snake wrapped around your bike frame to convince you your next ride can wait. Always ask if you can smoke the weed in your pocket if you get caught with a stolen bike, because they probably won’t let you do it in jail.

And nothing like a darn good slogan to improve traffic safety.

And yes, that was sarcasm.

………

Chag Pesach Sameach to all observing Passover tonight. 

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Surgeons call for kinder, gentler mandatory helmet laws; and new OC wilderness park opens this weekend

March 29, 2023 / / One comment

The American College of Surgeons has once again called for the adoption of mandatory bike helmet laws for both children and adults.

However, the group also recognized the need for equitable and fair enforcement, after numerous reports of bike laws unfairly targeting people of color; Seattle dropped one of the nation’s few adult helmet laws last year due to enforcement targeting homeless and Black bicyclists.

According to the group,

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 1,000 people die and 350,000 people are treated in emergency departments each year due to bicycle injuries in the US. Bicycle crashes accounted for $5.4 billion in medical costs in 2020 and an additional $7.7 billion in lost lives, work, and productivity.

Helmet use has been shown to significantly decrease the risk of fatal and nonfatal head injuries. Estimates indicate that helmets reduce the risk of head injury by 48%, traumatic brain injury by 53%, facial injury by 23%, and fatal injury by 34%.1

However, they fail to mention that bike helmets are designed to protect against relatively slow speed falls, not the collisions implied in the first paragraph.

Or that a far better solution is to redesign motor vehicles to reduce injuries to people walking and biking, and reimagine streets to prevent collisions in the first place. Not to mention slowing cars to reduce their lethality.

But somehow, they don’t call for that.

Yes, bike helmets can significantly reduce injury and death. But they should always be seen as the last resort when all else fails, not the first line of defense for bike safety.

And they should never be required by law, which would only reduce ridership at a time when we need to get more people on bikes in the face of a climate emergency.

………

The new Saddleback Wilderness park is opening this Saturday, offering 3.3 miles of hiking, biking and equestrian trails in the OC Parks’ Irvine Ranch Open Space near Silverado.

The wilderness park used to be the site of the country’s first off-road motorsports park, but nature was allowed to reclaim it after the park closed in 1984.

………

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

San Luis Obispo’s car-forward columnist is back with another screed complaining about the city’s “illogical transportation agenda,” which includes new protected bike lanes and bike boulevards, as well as promotion of ebikes, which he somehow considers motor vehicles.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail seemingly applauds vigilante “freedom fighters” who torched planters blocking motor vehicles from “deeply unpopular” Low Traffic Neighborhoods — even though LTN supporters outnumber opponents three to one. Along with a driver who confronts “eco-zealots” trying to block her from illegally driving through an LTN in violation of a No Cars sign.

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

A bicycle-riding purse snatcher knocked a 74-year old Florida woman to the ground after riding up from behind, then grabbing her purse and riding away — but all he got was a water bottle and her keys.

………

Local 

A West Hollywood man complains that riding a scooter on the sidewalk resulted in a $37 ticket he can’t afford, but he’ll keep doing it because he doesn’t want to die riding in the street.

Your next ride along the San Gabriel River should be a little more pleasant, after the Army Corps of Engineers removed 144 tons — yes, tons — of trash from it.

Avril Lavigne is one of us, riding her throttle-controlled ped-assist ebike along the beach in a one-legged Superman pose.

 

State

An environmental website recommends seven “incredible” bike trails in the mountains and along the coast in San Diego.

San Diego State University received a $10 million grant to study how to make streets safer, more livable and more equitable for people biking and walking.

San Jose police arrested a 27-year old woman for killing a mother and a dog in a hit-and-run, as the victim was out walking the dog with her young daughter.

San Francisco Streetsblog calls on readers to join the fight for a Dutch-style protected bike lane on Valencia Street, rather than the center-lane bike lane the city has chosen.

Sad news from Stockton, where a 52-year old man riding a bicycle was killed when he was struck by the driver of a big rig truck.

 

National

A new federal study shows building protected bike lanes result in a gradual reduction in bicycling crashes. It also shows fewer bicycling crashes on streets with no parking in at least one direction.

Esquire says the author of Carmeggedon makes “an oddly compelling case to ditch your car.”

A writer for left-leaning magazine The Nation calls for “mass action and solidarity (to) force those in power to change our streets for the better,” arguing that people on bicycles deserve the right to free movement.

Streetsblog examines laws that restrict walking and biking, arguing that they are used to unfairly restrict the mobility of Black people.

Fed up with drivers parking in bike lanes, and the city’s inaction in dealing with the problem, a Seattle bike rider printed and posted his own No Parking signs; days later, one was missing and the other had been run over.

Illinois prosecutors have filed first degree murder and reckless homicide charges against an alleged DUI driver who killed a bike rider while driving under the influence of drugs.

Tragic news from Pittsburgh, where a transportation planner and former city intern was fatally shot in the head as he was riding his bike to baseball practice; police arrested a suspect but didn’t have a motive for the shooting.

Pennsylvania school bus drivers are selling 150 donated bicycles to help people in need. Then again, they could probably help them more by giving the bikes to people in need to provide cheap and efficient transportation.

A Chattanooga, Tennessee letter writer says bike safety is horrendous in the city, and city officials don’t care.

Dashcam video captured a Florida hit-and-run, as a driver went through a red light and clipped the front wheel of a 65-year old woman as she rode her bike in the crosswalk; she ended up with numerous cuts and scrapes, and may lose vision in one eye.

 

International

A Scottish physician and “keen cyclist” calls for something to be done about poorly paid and poorly trained workers delivering often unhealthy junk food on ebikes in an unsafe way to people sitting on their sofas.

A new documentary tells the story of a French man with no legs who used a handcycle to finish the Race Across America, aka RAAM, in just 12 days.

An Aussie council considers banning ebikes from an oceanfront pathway along the sea wall, where all bikes were banned until 1995.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly says Belgian cycling star Wout van Aert allowed top lieutenant Christophe Laporte to win at Gent-Wevelgem, ensuring his support for Sunday’s Tour of Flanders. Then again, that should have been a given from his teammate, anyway.

SoCal Cycling reports on the Victorville Stage Race, written by the winner of the U23 jersey.

Belgian ultra endurance cyclist Matthieu Bonne set a new Guinness world record for total distance ridden in a single week, riding over 2,248 miles in and around the Phoenix area.

A new Montana study used isotope tracers to examine calorie usage and physiology in a 24-hour mountain bike race.

 

Finally…

Kitsbow may be going out of business, but you can still buy their clothing if you don’t mind used bikewear. That feeling when the dance club is a bike.

And a look at the science behind why you don’t fall over on your bike.

Unless maybe you do, of course.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Family looks for answers in Newport Beach crash, CicLAvia rolls at tax time, and share your thoughts on CA bicycling

March 28, 2023 / / Comments Off on Family looks for answers in Newport Beach crash, CicLAvia rolls at tax time, and share your thoughts on CA bicycling

Let’s start with an update on Sunday’s Newport Beach crash that appeared to leave a bike rider seriously injured.

The crash, which occurred on on the west side of Newport Coast Drive just south of San Joaquin Hills Rd, resulted in an hours long road closure as police investigated.

Yesterday I heard from a lawyer for the victim’s family, who shared that he survived the impact, but remains very seriously injured and unable to communicate.

As a result, they are desperate for any information to understand what happened to their loved one.

So if you saw the crash, or have any information about it, call Pajman Jassim of Jassim Law at 619/395-2668.

And be sure to keep the victim of this crash in your thoughts or prayers, or whatever you’re comfortable with.

………

Mark your calendar for the next CicLAvia in less than three weeks.

CicLAvia — Mid City meets Pico Union rolls on Sunday, April 16th, on a four-mile route along Venice and Washington boulevards between Hoover and La Brea.

California’s multiple disaster designations means the deadline to file your federal and state taxes has been extended until October 15th, so you won’t have to rush home to get your taxes forms in order for the next day.

Let’s just hope the seemingly endless series of atmospheric rivers is over by then, so we can count on a typically sunny SoCal spring morning.

………

UC Berkeley’s SafeTREK program is conducting a survey about conditions facing bicyclists in the state of California.

You are invited to participate in a UC Berkeley study about the factors that make roads more or less bicycle friendly. The survey involves answering some questions about your cycling experience and then viewing and responding to short videos of bicycling on road segments. The survey takes 15-20 minutes to complete. The closing date for the survey is Friday, April 14, 2023.

Those who complete the online survey at the link below may enter a drawing to receive one of six gift cards. One $150 card, two $75 cards, and three $50 cards are available. Please encourage your peers and colleagues to complete this survey as well. Download our flyer: English | Spanish.

Click here to take the survey in English.

………

Santa Monica wants to know what you think about a proposal to allow pedicabs on the beachfront bike path through the city.

https://twitter.com/santamonicacity/status/1640422227001655308

My take is the path is just too crowded as it is, particularly on weekends and summer afternoons and evenings, and adding commercial activity would just make a bad situation worse.

But maybe they could consider offering it during off-peak hours.

………

Go ahead. Make my day.

………

Disconnected bike lanes that don’t go anywhere don’t really help anyone, and clearly demonstrate just how little city and state officials actually care.

………

Portland officials are moving quickly to address a decline in ridership by introducing a purple cartoon frog.

Yeah, that should fix everything.

………

A new scientific journal will focus on research into bicycling and micromobility.

………

Lady Gaga is one of us.

Although we may not want to admit it until she loses that weird whale hat.

Or maybe it’s a dolphin. Or a shark.

………

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

No bias here. A Toledo, Ohio bike path already under construction is on hold in a dispute over property rights next to a local country club, as the club argues it would be unsafe because an errant shot might hit a car, and the driver could crash into people on the bike path. Or maybe a unicorn might dart out of the 7th hole and stampede into bike riders on the path, which seems almost as probable. 

The bizarre war on 15-minute cities and the UK’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods — the equivalent of Slow Streets in the US — continues, as a successful petition drive results in an independent investigation into LTNs, and calls for a referendum on implementing 15-minute cities in the country.

A writer for Bicycling describes getting buzzed by a driver while riding two abreast in Spain, and reacting by flipping the driver off and exchanging obscenities — resulting in a road rage chase as they rode uphill, followed by threats with a tire iron, folding chair and razor blade before the driver and his passenger finally calmed down. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

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

A Florida home health aide learned the hard way that if you’re going to steal a gun from your 76-year old patient, maybe don’t ride home with the gun in plain site in your bike basket.

………

Local 

Streetsblog rides the newly extended parking-protected bike lanes on eastbound Venice Blvd between McLaughlin and Overland avenues. Which at least use chunkier plastic bollards that won’t actually stop a car, but look like they might.

An op-ed by former Santa Monica city manager and Los Angeles assistant mayor Rick Cole considers a historic opportunity to reunify the heart of Pasadena by reclaiming the scars left by Caltrans for the abandoned 710 Freeway stub.

We’ve mention Long Beach teenager Liam Garner’s bike ride from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina before, but didn’t know the 17-year old didn’t even tell his dad he was going until he was already on the road.

 

State

San Diego residents took advantage of a rare opportunity to ride their bikes on the closed SR-15 Freeway.

Santa Barbara continues to extend its bike network, building a series of bike paths and bicycle friendly streets that will connect the east and west sides of the city. And unlike LA’s flimsy plastic car-ticklers, they are using actual steel bollards to protect bike riders from motorists.

This is who we share the road with. Police in San Jose arrested a suspect who allegedly fled the scene after running down a woman and her daughter as they were walking their dog; the mother and dog died at the scene, while the little girl is hospitalized.

SF Gate explains everything you need to know about the Wiggle, San Francisco’s two-mile long zig-zagging bike route that avoids the city’s infamous hills.

A Yuba County woman will spend the next ten years behind bars after accepting a plea deal in the DUI death of a 37-year old neighbor as he was riding his bike; she was trying to drive home at twice the legal limit after having multiple drinks at a local bar.

 

National

He gets it. A writer for Jalopnik says it’s not the bike lane’s fault that you’re a bad driver, and maybe people should pay attention when they drive instead of complaining about them.

Bicycling lists nine Subreddits you should follow to connect with other riders and get answers to all your bike questions. However, the article is an exclusive for Bicycling members, which doesn’t explain why it’s also available on Yahoo, as well as AOL.

The popular Colorado certified pre-owned bicycle dealership The Pro’s Closet will henceforth be known simply as TPC.

It’s a sad commentary when neighbors say crashes happen all the time at a Texas intersection where drivers ignore stop signs, leading to a motorist crashing into the bike trailer carrying a six-year old girl; fortunately, both she and her father, who was riding the bike pulling the trailer, will be okay.

A Florida man and his small dog were both killed when they were struck by a pickup driver while he was walking the dog alongside his bicycle; the dog suddenly darted into the road, pulling his bike into the traffic lane.

 

International

A Canadian website explain why mandatory bike registration and requiring bike riders to pay for our own infrastructure probably isn’t a good idea.

A Nova Scotia newspaper offers decent advice on how drivers can safely share the road with people on bicycles, although they fail to mention passing at a safe distance. But then spoil it by framing the story as “How to drive with cyclists at your bumper,” as if we all tailgate en masse.

A writer for The Guardian insists on seeing the death of a 77-year old English woman who was knocked off her bike by an angry pedestrian as nothing more than a tragic oopsie, rather than the result of a sidewalk vigilante attempting to enforce the law against sidewalk riding herself.

New bicycles, children’s bikes and ebikes are selling at discounts up to 80% in a massive online auction after a British bike distributor went belly up. But you have to live in the UK to get it.

Your next trip to Paris could feature on-demand, chauffeur-driven, covered e-pedicab service.

French composer Ernest Chausson was one of us, dying in a bicycling crash at the height of his career when he lost control of his bike on a steep hill and crashed into a brick wall in 1899.

Sad news from Italy, where famed framebuilder Ugo De Rosa passed away at the ripe old age of 89; the company will continue under his sons. Once again, read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you. 

Tragic news from Bangladesh, where a man took his six-year old daughter to the hospital, and was beaten to death by ambulance drivers and Islamic militia members after he was mistaken for a bicycle thief.

A new Australian study says women just want to ride their bikes without fear or harassment, which can be addressed by building more separated bikeways.

 

Competitive Cycling

Over 1,000 high school and middle school mountain bikers will compete in the annual Granite Bay Grinder this weekend at the Folsom Lake State Recreation Area; the race returns following a three-year pandemic hiatus.

 

Finally…

It’s a lot like riding a bike on a high wire line, but a lot closer to the ground. Your next fully functional bicycle could be less than a foot high.

And that feeling when an AI bot writes a better anti-bike screed than the famed bike hater it’s imitating.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Bike riders seriously injured in Carlsbad and Newport Beach, and Culver City NIMBYs go after downtown bus/bike lanes

March 27, 2023 / / 3 comments

Let’s start with the bad news from Carlsbad and Newport Beach.

A 77-year old man riding a bicycle suffered life-threatening injuries when he was run down by a hit-and-run driver on Aviara Parkway near Black Rail Road in Carlsbad Friday afternoon.

The driver was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence and hit-and-run after he was found a couple miles away, showing “objective symptoms of alcohol intoxication.”

He was being held on $100,000 bond.

Meanwhile, I’ve heard from two people about someone on a bicycle appears to have been seriously injured in Newport Beach on Sunday, on the west side of Newport Coast Drive just south of San Joaquin Hills Rd.

There’s nothing in the news yet, which is usually a good sign. However, I’m told that the road was closed for several hours, which suggests the victim may have suffered critical, possibly life-threatening injuries.

https://twitter.com/serena_grace/status/1640154158920769536

In addition, a 43-year old man on a high-end road bike was seriously injured when he was apparently sideswiped by a passing driver in Del Mar just before midnight Friday; fortunately, his injuries aren’t considered life-threatening.

Thanks to Phillip Young, Serena Grace and David Huntsman for the heads-up.

………

Nothing good last forever, if NIMBYs get their way.

It was only a few weeks ago that I visited downtown Culver City for the first time since the Move Culver City Complete Street makeover went in, and discovered for myself just how much more pleasant it was to walk through the city without the constant threat from cars and their drivers.

But now a new conservative majority on the city council wants to rip out the new bike and bus lanes, and restore Washington Blvd to the dangerous car sewer it was for decades prior to the improvements.

Yes, improvements.

So mark your calendar for what may be the last chance to save them next month.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1639658005146009601

………

Traveling through Mid-City West is about to get a lot easier, and a helluva lot more pleasant.

………

Looks like we’ve got a new bike lane on the ground in Pico Rivera.

Although they’ve got a long way to go to catch up to Santa Monica.

………

More proof bicycles can transport just about anything.

https://twitter.com/duzer/status/1640056571278360579

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Paris proves that the only thing holding us back is our own leadership. Or the lack thereof.

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

No logical disconnect here. When you’re urging people to come protest a bike lane, always encourage them to come by bike or transit due to a serious lack of parking.

No bias here. An Arizona state representative thinks Portland has somehow imploded, and bike lanes are to blame; the local paper aptly describes the backlash as “road diet rage. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link, who calls your attention to the “delightful” comments to the original tweet.

https://twitter.com/JosephChaplik/status/1638968986556862467

An impatient, road raging driver drove up onto the sidewalk and onto the grass before trying to go through a die-in being held to protest the death of a bike rider in Sheffield, England.

No bias here, either. Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson writes that he’s glad bike sales have dropped below pre-pandemic levels in the UK, bizarrely comparing people on bicycles to the East German secret police, and arguing that riding a bike isn’t a cheap and healthy alternative to taking the car, but rather, “a political statement, pure and simple. It’s anti-capitalism with handlebars.”

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

Police in Nova Scotia are investigating a man who rode his bicycle through town wearing a Nazi flag draped over his shoulder. In the US, that would be protected under the 1st Amendment, but I’m not sure about the laws up there in the Great White North. Or Northeast, in this case.

London’s bicycling czar was punched in the face by an angry man on a bike, after he chastised the man for riding through a crosswalk at an Amsterdam-style floating bus stop without stopping for pedestrians. On the other hand, at least London has a bike czar, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name.

………

Local 

The city of San Fernando — you know, the one with the mission that the valley is named after — broke ground on a new 1.4-mile multi-use path along the Pacoima Wash Friday morning

 

State

Streetsblog accuses the Democratic author of a new state bill of hiding its real intent, using equity and emissions to argue for expanding car capacity on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge, and converting the hard-fought-for bike lane into a lane for motor vehicles.

A La Jolla high school student worked with firefighters to promote safety at a school event, five months after he was hit by a driver while riding his bike; he’s also calling for speed bumps to slow drivers where the crash occurred.

The San Diego Union-Tribune writes that community groups are working with state and federal agencies by using murals and parks to reconnect neighborhoods severed by highway construction. However, the story is hidden behind a paywall, so you’re on your own trying to see it. Thanks again to Phillip Young. 

Bad news in San Jose, where a woman riding a bike was murdered by a hit-and-run driver Sunday night.

 

National

A writer for Slate discusses the new bill calling for a $1,500 federal ebike tax credit, saying environmentalists are finally recognizing the world can do better than electric cars, and starting to act like it.

PeopleForBikes and the League of American Bicyclists will team to offer a new ebike-specific rider safety curriculum this summer.

If you’ve ever wished your ebike had more power, consider that ebikes are legally restricted to no more than 1 horsepower in the US.

The Wall Street Journal examines when your kid will be old enough to ride an ebike. And they’ll welcome you through their draconian paywall for the low, low price of a buck a week. 

A new study shows that self-driving cars won’t significantly reduce demand for parking. On the other hand, promoting bicycle and transit use, as well as walking, can.

An Anchorage, Alaska cop was allowed to walk without charges for beating, kicking and pepper spraying a man he and his partner had stopped for riding with no lights on his bike, then unlawfully arresting him, after the victim recorded and taunted the man; prosecutors dropped charges against him after he agreed not to work in law enforcement again.

Denver’s highly successful ebike rebate system returns tomorrow; no word on how many vouchers will be available this time.

A Dallas, Texas man is facing seven years behind bars after agreeing to a plea deal for the hit-and-run death of a father riding a bicycle, along with drug possession and the illegal use of a car.

Leonardo DiCaprio is one of us, going for a chilly bikeshare ride on the streets of New York.

Over 300 bike riders turned out to honor a Norfolk, Virginia bike shop owner who was killed while riding his bicycle in a South Carolina collision.

An 80-year old Florida man was killed when his bike was left-crossed by a 69-year old woman driving a golf cart.

 

International

The former director of Colombia’s national police is one of us, as retired general Rodolfo Palomino suffered a hip injury when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike, before crashing into another car.

A 72-year old man from Canada’s Prince Edward Island has virtually ridden around the world, traveling the equivalent of of the Earth’s circumference — nearly 25,000 mile — on local streets in less than four years.

A London writer says she’s bored by the abuse and vitriol she faces as a woman riding a bicycle in the city, because the benefits far outweigh any negatives; meanwhile, the situation’s not much better for women in the Philippines, either.

No bias here, either. The family of a British woman, who was sentenced to three years behind bars for fatally knocking a 77-year old woman off her bicycle and into the path of an oncoming car for riding on the sidewalk, says she shouldn’t be in prison, arguing the judge failed to consider her learning difficulties and mental state after the death of her sister, and describing her as childlike, disabled and partially blind. Then again, she didn’t offer much consideration for the woman she sent to her death, either. 

An 81-year old English man has been known as the area’s “bicycle whisperer” for more than six decades, after surviving a devastating flood that hit the region when he was just eleven.

First aid class paid off for a group of English cops, as they were called to rescue an unconscious bike rider just days after being trained for that exact scenario.

A new Belgian study shows bicycling crashes are vastly under-reported in the country, with up to six times as many bike crashes as shown in official statistics, many caused by potholes in the country’s roads.

Croatia will invest the equivalent of nearly $180 million in bicycle infrastructure over the next five years.

Turkmenistan has elected a new parliament with no members of the opposition, with all 125 members loyal to the country’s bicycle-riding president.

A Malaysian bicyclist writes about how to get better at traveling on two wheels.

Vigilantes have sabotaged a new $15 million multiuse path in Australia’s New South Wales by sprinkling tacks and nails along the pathway at least three times since it opened just two weeks ago, in an apparent effort to cause flats and injuries.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Ineos Grenadiers cycling team says they’re still counting on Egan Bernal for this year’s Tour de France, after the 26-year old former Tour de France winner crashed out of the Volta a Catalunya as he struggles to regain his form after last year’s near-fatal training crash.

You know you’re dominating the race when you can take a wrong turn near the finish, and still win by nearly three minutes, like Switzerland’s Marlen Reusser did in winning the women’s Gent-Wevelgem classic in a 25-mile breakaway.

Begian’s Wout Van Aert had his best week of the new racing season, starting with a win in the E3 Saxo Classic last week as he outsprinted Mathieu Van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar for the win. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

Van Aert continued his success with a second place finish in the men’s Gent-Wevelgem, finishing just behind teammate Christophe Laporte as the rest of the peloton struggled with the rain and wet cobbles; however, he was nearly DQ’d when a mechanic lubed his chain leaning out of the team car. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Walk the dog while you ride. Your next handlebars could be illegal gun parts in disguise.

And seriously, it’s true.

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Study shows bike injuries down, CicLAvia comes to Sherman Way, and NYC safety advocate killed by uninsurable driver

January 6, 2023 / / Comments Off on Study shows bike injuries down, CicLAvia comes to Sherman Way, and NYC safety advocate killed by uninsurable driver

Before we start, I need to correct yesterday’s story. 

A comment from Dawn made it clear that I had miscategorized a story about her father’s August death in Irvine. 

After correcting it and adding it back into the totals for OC, that made 17 people killed riding their bikes in the county last year, and 82 in Southern California. 

Here are the corrected totals for Orange County. 

Orange County

  • 2022 – 17
  • 2021 – 7
  • 2020 – 14
  • 2019 – 13

My apologies for the mistake. 

………

A new study from the Medical University of South Carolina mixes apples and oranges to conclude that bicycling injuries are decreasing, despite an increase in ridership.

Except the study period, which showed a 1/3 drop in bicycling injuries, ran from 2012 to 2021, while the jump in ridership they cited came from 2000 to 2014 — including a dozen years before the study period.

Never mind that the increase in ridership stemmed from “public bicycle utilization,” which sounds suspiciously like they may be referring to bikeshare use, which exploded because of the exponential growth of bikeshare programs as they spread across the US.

Not necessarily because more people were riding bicycles.

However, they at least have to wisdom to conclude that the reason for the decrease is outside the scope of the current study. But then shoot themselves in the foot by speculating that at least part of the reason could be due to the increase in indoor cycling.

And yes, that could have something to do with it. But only because indoor cycling and outdoor bicycling are two entirely different things, with one presenting far less risk of falling off your bike or getting struck by a carless or distracted driver.

Unless maybe you live on the 405.

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

CicLAvia announced LA’s first open streets event of 2025, unveiling a map for a five-mile route along Sherman Way in the San Fernando Valley on the last Sunday in February.

It’s just the first of what’s planned to be eight CicLAvias throughout the Los Angeles area this year.

………

Heartbreaking news from New York, where 85-year old author and safety advocate Norman Fruchter was killed by a reckless driver who backed over him at high speed, then hit him a second time going forward.

His death came 25 years after his wife, renowned health researcher and practitioner Rachel Fruchter, was killed riding a bike in New York’s Prospect Park.

Fruchter had responded to his wife’s needless death by becoming one of the city’s leading bike and pedestrian safety advocates, and was a driving force behind the eventual ban on cars in the park.

In a tragic irony, both Norman and Rachel Fruchter were killed by drivers considered uninsurable due to their bad driving records. And both killers were allowed to walk without charges by the NYPD.

Just two more examples of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late.

And even then, letting them off to kill again.

………

Streets For All is hosting a family friendly Westside bike meetup in Culver City on the 22nd.

………

I followed the years long fight over this road diet. So it’s nice to see the NIMBYs were wrong.

Again.

https://twitter.com/WarrenJWells/status/1610859560268632064

………

An Indian boy was caught on video carefully tying his little sister’s legs to his bike frame to keep her from falling off.

https://twitter.com/urdunovels/status/1609841111710711808

………

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

No bias here. A San Luis Obispo writer whines that it’s just too hard to drive if you have to safely change lanes to avoid killing someone on a bicycle, let alone watch out for people crossing the street so you don’t kill them, either.

A corner-cutting driver nearly hit a Welsh bicyclist head on as he patiently waited to make a left turn. So naturally, the car’s passenger gets out to yell at the bike rider that he was going to cause a crash.

No bias here, either. Bike riders in Malta will now be required to wear a helmet in an effort to reduce head injuries, while e-scooter riders will be required to wear a helmet and hi-viz. Never mind that at least some of the reduction in injuries from mandatory helmet laws has been shown to stem from reducing  bicycling rates. And don’t get me wrong, I’m a firm believer in wearing a helmet, and never ride without one. But mandating helmet use is counterproductive, reducing bicycling rates while leading to over-policing of low income residents and people of color.

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

More on the Kiwi ebike-riding man who repeatedly kicked a paralyzed handcyclist in the face, apparently simply for the crime of overtaking him. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

………

Local 

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider urges Los Angeles to stop wasting space and money by imposing parking minimums, calling it counterproductive to building desperately needed housing and fighting climate change.

Go SGV is offering ebikes for longterm rental, with prices starting at just $49 a month for students and $69 monthly for other renters, and e-cargo bikes starting at $129 a month.

 

State

Brea-based Aventon announced permanent price cuts up to 20% off its entire current ebike line, in anticipation of new 2023 models.

Encinitas will host the city’s Cyclovia open streets event on South Coast Highway 101 from 10 am to 2 pm this Sunday; the rain predicted for Los Angeles isn’t expected to extend that far south, so you should be in for good riding.

A Santa Rosa paper explains California’s new law requiring drivers to change lanes when possible to pass a bike rider. Which the SLO writer above seems to think is just too darn hard. 

 

National

A higher education website questions whether college e-scooter bans is an over-reaction, blaming infrastructure built for cars for at least part of the problem. And yes, it is. 

The Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a recall of 9,000 Salsa and Whisky carbon handlebars, which can crack near the brake/shift levers.

Someone who apparently doesn’t understand the meaning of ghost bikes is placing white-painted kids bikes with plastic doves on the handlebars at intersections throughout Portland, making the city’s bicycling community mistakenly fear there’s been a rash of children killed riding their bikes in recent weeks.

He gets it. A Kansas City op-ed writer says the city’s new bike lanes aren’t just for “serious” bicyclists. In fact, it’s the so-called serious bicyclists who need them least; bike lanes serve to encourage reluctant riders to feel safer and give bicycling a try. 

Once again, a bike rider is a hero, if a wounded one this time, as a Chicago man riding a bicycle was shot in the elbow when he tried to stop a thief from breaking into a car. No word on whether he was successful at stopping the thief, or if he sacrificed his elbow in vain.

A Michigan state agency has ruled a pair of Black Detroit judges were in the wrong when they blamed racism for a dispute with a bike rental shop, and says they shouldn’t have identified themselves as judges to the shop workers and the police. Needless to say, the judges disagree, even though they ended up with a 100% discount.

In a truly bizarre case, a Michigan sheriff is asking a killer hit-and-run driver who confessed in an anonymous letter to come forward, 31-years after killing a 24-year old man whose body and bicycle were found in a flooded ditch a full month after the crash.

Life is cheap in Indiana, where a driver will spend just two years behind bars for killing a bike rider last April, followed by three years of work release.

New York advocates are pushing the governor to expand New York City’s Vision Zero program statewide, even though NYC’s program has only resulted in an 18% drop over ten years. But at least that’s better than traffic death rates going up, like they have in LA’s Vision Zero program. 

A DC letter writer says bike lanes are “for the potential benefit of the few to the detriment of the many;” insisting the city will never be Amsterdam. Then again, Amsterdam wasn’t Amsterdam until people had the will to encourage bike use and discourage driving. Which any city, anywhere can do.

Florida’s famous one-legged Black bicyclist suffered a broken neck and partial paralysis when he was struck by an SUV driver while riding to work the week before Christmas; fortunately, Leo Rodgers — aka The Black Flamingo — has started to regain feeling below the waist. A crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $74,000 of the $130,000 goal for his recovery and medical care.

 

International

A Banff, Alberta city councilor is proposing speed limits for ebikes on city trails.

A new Dutch study shows half of likely ebike buyers would question their purchase if they were faced with a mandatory bike helmet requirement, and nearly a quarter would stop riding altogether. And yes, that’s in the Netherlands, which is arguably the world’s most bicycling obsessed country. Or maybe normalized is a better word. 

An Indian bicyclist describes his attempt to set a new Guinness record for riding between two towns 300 miles apart, with 23,000 feet of elevation gain in between.

A half-dozen dockless bikeshare operators are betting on success in Sydney, Australia, despite the country’s reputation as a sometimes watery graveyard for bikeshare.

 

Competitive Cycling

Trial continues for the men accused of robbing British cycling champ Mark Cavendish, as the court heard testimony about the late-night home invasion at knifepoint.

American pro cyclist Gavin Mannion unwillingly called it a career after 12 years, after failing to receive a contract to ride this year.

The popular Belgian Waffle Rides are taking over North America, with new rides expanding to Mexico and Canada.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new e-cargo bike for working professionals is priced out of the reach of much of your target market. Or when you’re riding from Maine to Florida on one wheel — in the middle of winter.

And this is the kind of parking minimums we like to see.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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