Tag Archive for bicycling

LA Times endorses Healthy Streets LA initiative in March vote, and SCAG to study turning highways into boulevards

January 19, 2024 / / Comments Off on LA Times endorses Healthy Streets LA initiative in March vote, and SCAG to study turning highways into boulevards
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to hear the dangers we face just walking and biking on the mean streets of Los Angeles.

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

………

Big news for the coming March election, as the Los Angeles Times has joined a broad range of community groups to endorse the Healthy Streets LA initiative.

Frustrated by the lack of political will and bureaucracy, street safety advocates collected enough signatures to put Healthy Streets LA, or Measure HLA, on the March ballot. The initiative would force the city to carry out the improvements in the Mobility Plan. Any time city departments repave at least one-eighth of a mile of street, they would have to add the improvements outlined in the plan, whether bike lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian enhancements or fixes to ease vehicle traffic.

This makes sense. When city crews have to repaint the lines when repaving a street, why not restripe the roads according to the Mobility Plan at the same time? Yet in a city as large as Los Angeles, making this a smooth process is not always easy. The multiple departments responsible for street paving, engineering and transportation safety struggle to coordinate and have missed opportunities to install Mobility Plan projects. The mandate of Measure HLA would, ideally, prompt City Hall to better organize street work programs and make Mobility Plan improvements a part of routine road maintenance.

The paper concludes their editorial this way.

Measure HLA has broad support among neighborhood councils, environmental, labor and business groups. Their members understand that Los Angeles needs to evolve into a city that is safer for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and, yes, even motorists. The plan recognizes that Angelenos will still drive — it includes 80 miles of streets that are prioritized for vehicle travel and projects that help drivers maintain safe, consistent speeds and reliable travel times.

The rising number of traffic deaths is a preventable tragedy. Voters have the power to make Los Angeles’ streets safer. Vote yes on Measure HLA.

I couldn’t agree more.

………

The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, has received a federal grant to study the possibility of removing some SoCal highways, and possibly converting them to boulevards.

They could start with the proposal to remove the purposeless 90 Freeway stub, and converting it to housing and a Marina Central Park.

………

29 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

San Diego police arrested 32-year old Alvaro Jovani Lopez for torching the Mission Valley memorial for fallen bicyclist and father Matt Keenan, destroying a banner and Keenan’s ghost bike; they found Lopez already behind bars for a parole violation. No reason was given for his dastardly deed.

Life is cheap in Wisconsin, where a Madison man who strung wire across a bike bridge, nearly decapitating a bike rider, walked with a gentle caress on the wrist when the judge sentenced him to a lousy four years probation.

No bias here. Underground hip-hop artist Gorilla Nems, aka Travis Doyle, took out his anger on New York’s Complete Street transformation over the past decade or so, telling a podcast host “Fuck bike lanes…this ain’t Copenhagen,” while instructing his followers to ignore walk signals and just cross the street anytime they want, after looking both ways.

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

A 59-year old New York woman has emerged from a months-long coma after she was struck by a bikeshare rider as she was crossing the street; a 62-year old man was ticketed for riding salmon and running a red light.

………

Local 

The Metro board delayed a vote to award Metro Bike management to Lyft, after ride hail drivers and delivery riders teamed with bikeshare workers to protest the proposed contract. But you’ll have to subscribe the Daily News or find a way around the paper’s draconian paywall if you want to read about it.

Glendale residents complained they were left out of the decision making process for the city’s new bike plan, even though they say they’ll be directly affected by a proposed bike path.

 

State

Police in Huntington Beach are using bait bikes to bust bike thieves. Something the LAPD still won’t do over fears they’ll be accused of entrapment.

They get it, sort of. A Simi Valley paper says safety is a two-way street, but drivers shoulder most of the responsibility to look out for vulnerable bike riders. Although they should go to cliche jail for trotting out the tired two-way street metaphor.

Oakland got a clear message to fix their crumbling roads, when the city agreed to a $6.5 million settlement with a woman who was paralyzed when her bike hit a pothole.

Six Santa Rosa teenagers were arrested for stabbing a 41-year old man to steal his bicycle last week.

 

National

The 18-year old Las Vegas man accused of deliberately killing former Bell police chief Andreas Probst in a hit-and-run last year is now facing an attempted murder charge in a separate case for the gang stabbing of a Las Vegas man.

Life is cheap in Indiana, where a woman faces just a year behind bars after confessing to a hit-and-run that left a bike-riding man with multiple broken bones.

That’s more like it. Instead of fighting bike infrastructure, residents of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park neighborhood are actually calling on the mayor to finish a new bike boulevard.

An “avid” New York bicyclist tells tourists the best routes for exploring the city by bicycle.

They get it, sort of, too. New York officials unveiled a new campaign encouraging bike riders to be more courteous and look out for pedestrians, while admitting that drivers pose the real danger to people walking.

Bike advocates say New York has a new “Boulevard of Death,” marking the failure of the city’s Vision Zero program after ten years.

A former Maryland Director of Planning and Zoning was indicted for the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a bike-riding man.

A North Carolina paper examines how bike riders and pedestrians are coping with the added danger as more drivers take to local roads.

 

International

Road.cc asks bike experts if the switch to internal cables has been worth it. Meanwhile, Cycling Weekly takes up the burning topic of whether bike bells really have a useful reason to exist.

The violin belonging to a British musician was somehow reconstructed, despite being broken into over 100 pieces when he was hit by a bus while riding a bicycle; unfortunately, he wasn’t as lucky, losing a leg as a result of the crash.

A new Danish study examines how the country encouraged greater bike helmet usage without mandating them.

A new United Arab Emirates bike ride took bicyclists through all seven emirates in seven days.

Adding insult to literal injury, an American tourist was fined for illegally stepping into the path of an ebike rider — while he was in a coma as a result of the collision; the ticket was withdrawn after he hired a lawyer to fight it.

 

Competitive Cycling

The future of the Tour of Britain, the Women’s Tour and other British races could be in doubt because the organizer of the races entered liquidation proceedings, after losing their license to conduct the races over an unpaid fee totaling the equivalent of over $884,000.

Australian pro Luke Plapp was left with a shredded kit and some truly ugly road rash after a nasty fall on a descent in the Tour Down Under.

Aussie sprinter Sam Welsford celebrated his 28th birthday by winning his third stage at the Tour Down Under on Friday. Today’s race was conducted yesterday, because they live in the future down there. 

 

Finally…

It’s hard to use a bike lane that’s blocked by a shitload of sugar beets. Stealing bikeshare bikes back from the thieves who stole them. A micro musette for mademoiselle et monsieur. 

And we may have to deal with rubbernecking drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about nuzzling giraffes.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

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

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

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

………

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

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

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

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

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

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

………

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

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

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

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

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

………

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

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

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

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

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

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

………

28 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

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

………

Local 

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

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

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

 

State

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

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

 

Finally…

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

And how to ride to work without becoming a cyclist.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Campaign launch for Healthy Streets LA, funding sought for Ballona extension, and double murder trial for speeding socialite

January 17, 2024 / / 4 comments
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to hear the dangers we face just walking and biking on the mean streets of Los Angeles.

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

………

The campaign for the Healthy Streets LA ballot initiative kicked off this week

The measure on the March ballot would require the city to build out the already approved Mobility Plan whenever a street gets repaved.

Here’s how California Local effectively framed the issue.

In 2022, a year in which 312 people died in Los Angeles traffic—more than half, 159, pedestrians—the city council in California’s largest city took up a measure that would have required the city to put new traffic safety features in place whenever it repaved a street.

The 15-member council rejected it.

Perhaps not surprisingly, 2022’s traffic fatality numbers, the worst in 20 years, only got even worse in 2023. That year, 330 human beings lost their lives in L.A. traffic, according to police statistics (the numbers did not yet include the final week of 2023). Now, in 2024, the measure, known as “Healthy Streets L.A.,” will get another chance, and this time the verdict will be up to Los Angeles voters.

The city approved the innovative Mobility Plan in 2015 to improve safety while providing safe and efficient alternatives to driving.

Then promptly put it on the shelf and forgot all about it; only a tiny fraction of the plan has been built out in the more than eight years since.

In that time, traffic congestion has only gotten worse in Los Angeles, and our streets even deadlier.

But now you can force the city to do what the city council didn’t have sufficient courage and political will to do, simply by casting your vote for Healthy Streets LA in the March 5th election.

And help make our streets safer and more inviting for all of us.

https://twitter.com/bikinginla/status/1747516957098934559

………

Extending the popular Ballona Creek bike path took a small step towards becoming reality, as CD 10 Councilmember Heather Hutt introduced a motion directing Los Angeles officials to seek funding from the state Active Transportation Program.

The motion — council file 2023-0616 — will be heard at today’s meeting of the LA City Council Transportation Committee.

However, the proposal could be complicated by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new budget, which borrows $200 million from future ATP spending to help close a budget gap that may or may not exist.

………

Jury selection began Tuesday for 60-year old Hidden Hills socialite and philanthropist Rebecca Grossman, who stands accused of murder in the death of two young boys as she raced through Westlake Village at speeds up to 81 mph.

Grossman, the co-founder of the Grossman Burn Center, is accused of killing 8-year old Jacob Iskander, and his 11-year old brother Mark as they crossed the street more than three years ago.

The married woman was allegedly having an affair with former Dodger Scott Erickson, and was zig-zagging Erickson’s car as they raced to a nearby home after drinking in a local restaurant.

Neither car stopped after Grossman allegedly slammed into the two boys as they crossed the street with their family, while riding a scooter and skateboard.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

“The speed was insane,” (Nancy Iskander) said of the two SUVs. “They were zigzagging with each other as if they were playing or racing.

“They didn’t stop before the intersection. They didn’t stop at the intersection. They didn’t stop when an 11-year-old was on the hood of the car. … Nobody stopped,” Iskander testified.

In fact, Grossman continued nearly half mile after the collision that killed the boys.

The details of the crash are horrific, justifying the charges.

Grossman, 60, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and one count of hit-and-run driving resulting in death in connection with the fatal Sept. 29, 2020 collision. The murder counts are somewhat unprecedented as Grossman was not charged with driving under the influence, which is typically used to prove gross negligence in vehicular fatalities…

Jurors will probably hear from former L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert Apodaca, who specializes in traffic crashes. During the preliminary hearing, he testified that he calculated Grossman was driving 71.7 mph when she struck the boys and that the car computer showed 73 mph. Under cross-examination, he said the older child, Mark, was struck by the vehicle and thrown 254 feet, the farthest he has known a human to be tossed in a crash.

Another deputy, Rafael Mejia, testified he had found Grossman a third of a mile away from the crash, stopped at the curb and saying she didn’t know why her airbag had been triggered.

Everyone is presumed innocent until they’re convicted, even overly entitled accused killers.

Let’s just hope her money doesn’t buy an undeserved acquittal.

………

27 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

No bias here. A columnist for the London Times wrote about a new study showing bike commuters enjoy better mental health, before devolving into a nearly deranged anti-bicyclist rant about “a mass of angry, intolerant, semi-psychotic Strava men.”

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Former Caltrans deputy director for planning and modal programs Jeanie Ward-Waller is back working with Calbike as a consultant; Ward-Waller worked for the bike advocacy group prior to being hired by Caltrans, before she was fired by the agency after blowing the whistle on a Sacramento highway project.

California’s daylighting law is now in effect, prohibiting drivers from parking within 20 feet of a crosswalk, whether marked or otherwise; California law presumes there is a crosswalk at every intersection even if it’s not painted, unless there’s signage indicating otherwise.

Encinitas approved $1.1 million in bicycle safety improvements, a year after declaring a state of emergency following the death of a 15-year old Brodee Braxton Champlain-Kingman as he rode an ebike in the city.

Santa Barbara is the latest California city to approve a Vision Zero plan; the city intends to focus on bike riders and pedestrians in an effort to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030. But as we’ve learned from painful experience, any Vision Zero is only as good as the commitment of city officials to actually implement it. 

A Clovis man pled not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter for crashing his $170,000 sports car head-on into a 51-year old Fresno college instructor and mother of five as she rode her bicycle, after he allegedly failed to negotiate a curve and crossed onto the wrong side of the road while speeding.

Sad news from Merced, where a 49-year old man was killed in a collision while riding his bicycle; police blamed the victim for wearing dark clothing and not having a light on his bike.

More sad news, this time from Sonoma County, where a woman was killed when she took a a curve at high speed on her bicycle and went off the roadway, crashing into a tree that had fallen near the shoulder.

 

National

Momentum rates the best American cities to live in for bicyclists. None of which is Los Angeles, of course.

A new short film streaming on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime and Google Play documents filmmaker Daniel Troia’s seven-month ride from New York City to San Francisco without food or money, relying on the kindness of strangers as a hidden camera captures the best and worst of humanity.

 

International

He gets it. Quebec’s coroner responded to the death of a bike-riding father killed by a speeding driver with a suspended license by calling for increased penalties for reckless drivers. There should also be jail time for anyone who drives on a suspended or revoked license.

Glasgow, Scotland is giving low-income residents free bikeshare memberships.

The London Cycling Campaign released a new report titled “What Stops Women Cycling in London?,” which reveals a “shocking” level of abuse directed towards women bike riders, with nine out of ten saying they’ve been subjected to abuse just for riding a bicycle. Although that probably only comes as a shock to most men. 

Ireland’s Minister of State accuses the country’s drivers of developing a culture of recklessness. Sort of like drivers in Los Angeles. And probably everywhere else.

A new Spanish study of eight cities around the world reveals that humble bike buses are a route to bicycle activism.

A 26-year old Indian man is riding from that country to Australia to promote environmental awareness.

Where to ride with family and friends on your next trip to the Unites Arab Emirates.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as Cambodia has opened a new bike bridge to make it easier to visit the legendary Angkor Takeo Temple by bicycle.

Kiwi bicyclists gave scathing reviews to new “bland, ugly” barriers installed on a bike path to slow riders, while local officials insisted the barriers are working to prevent crashes.

 

Competitive Cycling

Thirty-two-year old Olympic gold medalist track cyclist Melissa Hoskins was remembered by family, friends and teammates at her funeral in her hometown of Perth, Australia yesterday; her husband, pro cyclist Rohan Dennis, faces charges for allegedly running over her after she fell from the hood of his pickup as she tried to open the door.

The Washington Post discovers the many joys of mucking through the mud that is Belgian cyclocross.

The fledgling National Cycling League announced the teams competing for this year’s cup, as nine of the teams who took part last year will return in 2024. Unfortunately, none are based in Los Angeles.

A bike transport company has finally released 186 bikes held hostage in a contract dispute following the Triathlon World Championships in Pontevedra, Spain last fall; however, the owners will have to retrieve them from a Los Angeles warehouse.

 

Finally…

There could be less shrinkage in Wisconsin, as the state senate voted to ban naked bike rides. Impress your family and friends with a doctorate in cargo bike urbanism.

And maximizing torque through weird bike engineering.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

Category: Morning Links / Tags: ,

Riding a bike to cure Blue Monday, results from LA’s Universal Basic Mobility pilot, and we’re #1 in hit-and-run

January 16, 2024 / / Comments Off on Riding a bike to cure Blue Monday, results from LA’s Universal Basic Mobility pilot, and we’re #1 in hit-and-run
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

………

Today is officially Blue Monday, a term coined by a British shrink to mark the “convergence of post-holiday blues, cold weather, and the realization that New Year’s resolutions might be more challenging than anticipated,” that accumulate around the third Monday in January.

But Momentum argues that riding a bicycle is the perfect way to beat the blues.

And forget the Prozac. A new study from the University of Edinburgh found that commuting by bicycle can improve mental health, and that people who bike to work are less likely to be prescribed antidepressants.

Photo by Burst from Pexels.

………

Next City reports the results are in from the nation’s largest Universal Basic Mobility experiment.

LADOT and LA Metro teamed to give a “mobility wallet” to 1,000 lower-income South Los Angeles residents — a reloadable debit card providing $150 per month to spend on almost any form of transportation.

The key word is “almost.”

The catch? Funds can be used to take the bus, ride the train, rent a shared e-scooter, take micro-transit, rent a car-share, take an Uber or Lyft, or even purchase an e-bike — but they can’t be spent on the cost of owning or operating a car.

After the first six months of the one-year program, which ends in April, the biggest surprise has been the reliance on ride-hailing services.

According to data from the first six months of the program, the majority of estimated trips taken have been on public transportation (40,087 trips out of 67,379). The majority of the funds (about $500,000) have gone to ride-hailing or taxi services like Uber and Lyft, for about 26,000 trips at an average cost of $20.

You could buy a pretty nice bicycle for $1,800 for the full year.

But then you’d have to find a safe place to ride it, which isn’t always easy in Los Angeles. Especially in South LA.

………

We’re number one!

Which should make us all feel like number two.

According to a study by Personal Injury Law Firm Suzuki Law Offices, California leads the nation for the rate of hit-and-run collisions in the state, with drivers fleeing in nearly 10.5% of crashes, compared to a national average of 6.3%.

Although seems low, given that other sources say nearly half of all crashes here in Los Angeles are hit-and-runs.

Either way, it’s too damn high. And long past time state officials actally did something about it.

………

LA traffic safety organizations Streets Are For Everyone, Streets For All, Street Racing Kills and Santa Monica Spoke are teaming up for another die-in on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday, January 27th to protest the ever-rising rate of traffic deaths in the City of Angels.

I won’t be able to make it this time due to yet another medical appointment, as my doctors work to keep my own body from trying to kill me.

So make plans to be there in my place, and demand that city officials hear us and actually do something to halt traffic violence, instead of the usual endless talks and studies.

Or just ignoring the problem, which is what they do best.

Along with the die-in, supporting the Healthy Streets LA ballot initiative in the March 5th election is a good place to start.

………

I want to be like him when I grow up.

A short documentary from a professional filmmaker looks at his 90-year old grandfather, who still finds joy in riding a bicycle.

Then again, what’s not to love?

………

26 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

Men’s Journal blamed ebike battery fires for being a leading cause of death in New York City. They only missed the mark by a factor of 1,000.

A road raging London driver was taken away in handcuffs following an escalating dispute that ended with him knocking another man off his bicycle, throwing his bike away, and running over a passing bike rider who stopped to help.

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

Miami’s annual Wheels Up, Guns Down bike ride once again took over the streets of the city, but what originally began as a ride to end gun violence once again devolved into a two-wheeled street takeover, with teenaged bicyclists, as well as dirt bike and ATV riders, performing stunts in traffic and raiding convenience stores; police made over 100 arrests.

Four English bike riders were fined after police in Surrey stopped a group ride for running a red light, and posted video of it online.

A British teenager faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon — the ebike he was riding when he crashed into a cop, seriously injuring the officer.

………

Local 

The Los Angeles Times says don’t bet on AI reducing traffic congestion on California roads, despite Caltrans request for Artificial Intelligence companies to pitch AI products to cut congestion and improve safety, noting that nothing short of a global pandemic has had an effect on our traffic. So maybe the solution is providing safe and efficient alternatives to driving, instead.

Streetsblog looks at Safe Routes to School improvements in Koreatown.

 

State

No bias here. A new state report shows California cops stop Black drivers a whopping 132% more than expected, based on a comparison of stop data and residential population.

A writer for the Orange County Register says the climate was the big loser in Gavin Newsom’s new state budget.

Bad news from Ukiah, where a 75-year old man died after falling off his bicycle.

 

National

Velo argues both sides of the issue when it comes to vehicle warning lights to prevent doorings, suggesting they’re useful, but encouraging drivers to use the Dutch Reach by opening doors with their right hand is better.

Momentum talks with the founder of Black Girls Do Bike about the organization’s remarkable growth.

A new anti-theft light uses Apple’s Find My tech to locate your bike anywhere in the world. Which is great if a thief can’t simply remove it from your handlebars.

Seattle Transit Blog says building bike lanes is a good idea, but not if they’ll prevent future bus lanes.

While we continue to wait for California’s moribund ebike voucher program to launch, the small southwestern Colorado town of Durango is tripling the funding for its ebike voucher program, with $150,000 earmarked for the town of less than 20,000 people.

A DC food delivery rider keeps smiling, despite working 17 hour days with his foot in a surgical boot after he was struck by a car in September.

 

International

A new device from Red Bull can turn your bike into an ebike in mere seconds — the second time you use it, anyway.

Talk about bike riders behaving badly. A 43-year old man executed in front of his wife and toddler son as they returned home from a Brazilian bike ride turned out to be a notorious Serbian hit man who’s been on the run from Interpol for the last decade. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link.

A new study suggests that Toronto police data captures only a small fraction of bicycling injuries, with police reports registering only eight percent of bicycling injuries compared to hospital and ER records over a five year period. The same would probably hold true for any large city, Los Angeles included.

I want to ne like her when I grow up, too. A Toronto woman is still riding at 77, after 56 years on a bike; despite the toll of age and a recent injury, she still feels more comfortable riding a bicycle in rush hour traffic than walking or driving.

Canadians are ditching their cars for bicycles, even in the cold of winter. Yet we’re somehow supposed to believe that Angelenos won’t bike to work in our much balmier climate.

A Scottish BBC presenter says he’s not afraid of dying, after doctors discovered an incurable brain tumor following a fall off his bicycle.

Serious bicycling injuries and deaths have jumped by a third in London over the past five years, far outpacing the 14% growth in bicycling rates over the same period, despite the city’s investment in protected bikeways and slow streets.

A writer for London’s Guardian asks whether tech giant Lime’s ubiquitous dockless bikeshare bikes and e-scooters are a “convenient and sustainable form of transport or a menace clogging up pavements.”

Speaking of Lime bikes, a defender for London’s Fulham soccer team was spotted riding one home following a loss to Chelsea, forgoing the usual luxury car.

An estimated 500 people biked through the streets of London to mark the 100th day since the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, including one man whose son died in the attack. Meanwhile, an Australian ride was marred by genocide graffiti sprayed on the wall of a Jewish community center. We’ll have photos from the Santa Monica ride later this week.

The Guardian remembers London’s Lycra lads circa 1987, bike messengers who “were fast, brightly dressed, sometimes earned decent money and rarely obeyed the Highway Code.”

That feeling when Pinarello’s “Fast and Furious new colorways,” aren’t.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website looks forward to eight women’s only bicycling events.

A 22-year old man in India built his own DIY solar powered ebike that seats up to seven people, for the equivalent of just $100.

A new study in the prestigious British Medical Journal shows Australian bicycling deaths have declined an average of 1.1% annually over the past 30 years — except for people over 60, who now make up 50% of all bicycling deaths. The authors suggest greater fragility among older riders, though the answer could be as simple as more older bike riders on the roads. 

 

Competitive Cycling

L39ION of Los Angeles unveiled its new team roster for the coming season, as co-founder Cory Williams and several team veterans move to Florida to compete for the Miami Blazers cycling team.

 

Finally…

Who needs a mere bicycle when you can pedal your very own velomobile? That feeling when you can’t tell if it’s a bike path or a slalom course.

And your next ebike could tell you where to go.

And how to get there.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

NYT blames dangerous drivers for spiking road deaths, and LA & Ventura County rides for the release of Israeli hostages

January 12, 2024 / / One comment
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

………

Today’s must read is a deep dive from the New York Times into the culture of driving to explain why traffic deaths are once again surging, thanks largely to dangerous drivers.

The relationship between car size and injury rates is still being studied, but early research on the American appetite for horizon-blotting machinery points in precisely the direction you’d expect: The bigger the vehicle, the less visibility it affords, and the more destruction it can wreak. In a report published in November, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit, concluded that S.U.V.s or vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches — standard-issue specs for an American truck in 2023 — are 45 percent more likely to kill pedestrians than smaller cars.

Above all, though, the problem seems to be us — the American public, the American driver. “It’s not an exaggeration to say behavior on the road today is the worst I’ve ever seen,” Capt. Michael Brown, a state police district commander in Michigan, told me. “It’s not just the volume. It’s the variety. There’s impaired driving, which constituted 40 percent of our fatalities last year. There are people going twice the legal limit on surface streets. There’s road rage,” Brown went on. “There’s impatience — right before we started talking, I got an email from a woman who was driving along in traffic and saw some guy fly by her off the roadway, on the shoulder, at 80, 90 miles an hour.” Brown stressed it was rare to receive such a message: “It’s got so bad, so extremely typical,” he said, “that people aren’t going to alert us unless it’s super egregious…”

Then there’s the problem all of us seem to encounter sooner or later, as drivers cut traffic law corners for their convenience, and take their anger out on the most convenient targets.

And aggressive driving, defined by AAA as “tailgating, erratic lane changing or illegal passing,” factors into 56 percent of crashes resulting in a fatality. (Distressingly, this statistic does not cover the tens of thousands of people injured, often critically, by aggressive drivers, or the 550 people shot annually after or during road-rage incidents — or the growing number of pedestrians and cyclists deliberately targeted by incensed motorists.)…

Every year for the past decade and a half, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety has published something called the Traffic Safety Culture Index — a kind of State of the Union of American roads. I had thought the 2022 edition was bleak (the headline from AAA’s news release: “Going in Reverse: Dangerous Driving Behaviors Rise”), but the 2023 report was equally grim. Of the 2,500 licensed drivers who responded to the AAA survey, 22 percent admitted to switching lanes at high speeds or tailgating, 25 percent admitted to running a red light, 40 percent admitted to holding an active phone while driving and 50 percent admitted to exceeding posted speed limits by 15 miles per hour or more — all within the last calendar month.

Worse, a sizable number of respondents said they knew that people important to them would somewhat or completely disapprove of much of the behavior. They did it anyway, despite the risk of opprobrium and despite the fact that, as the AAA dryly noted in an accompanying news release, “a motorist’s need for speed consistently fails to deliver shorter travel times. It would take driving 100 miles at 80 m.p.h. instead of 75 m.p.h. to shave just five minutes off a trip.”

It’s not a quick read. But it’s worth taking the time to read the whole thing.

Because this is the most detailed examination and best explanation I’ve seen for why things continue to get worse on our streets, despite Vision Zero plans — at least in the cities that have bothered to fund and implement them, unlike a certain SoCal megalopolis I could name.

And this is literally who we share the road with.

………

Thanks to Mitchell Guzik for forwarding more information on the LA and Ventura County editions of Sunday’s international series of bike rides calling for the release of hostages from the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israeli settlements, which we mentioned yesterday.

And you can find information on a Dana Point ride on the link to yesterday’s post.

………

South Bay Forward offers a Twitter/X thread recounting the carnage on the South Bay section of SoCal’s killer highway.

Click through for the full thread.

Meanwhile, yet another apparent high speed crash on PCH in Malibu left one person with life-threatening injuries.

………

22 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

Unintelligible, “barmy” bike lane markings make British bike riders want to go back home and get in bed.

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

A 75-year old New York man died in the hospital, ten days after he was struck by an ebike rider while walking in the Jackson Heights neighborhood. But at least the bike rider did the right thing and remained at the scene following the crash.

A artist in New York’s Greenwich Village used a graphic novel format to illustrate the pain of getting hit by an ebike rider, along with a shoutout to the mayor calling for ebike licensing and registration.

………

Local 

SoCal Cycling considers why bicycle crashes happen, and how you can protect yourself.

Alhambra residents will get another month to review the city’s new bike/pedestrian plan, after complaints that it was released just days before it was scheduled for a vote.

 

State

Encinitas approved a new bike safety plan, including protected bike lanes, new striping, signage, and school entrances as the first step in addressing the city’s bicycling state of emergency. Maybe if other SoCal cities would declare a bike and pedestrian safety state of emergency, we might actually get somewhere. Are you listening, Los Angeles Mayor Bass?

The CHP is now offering ebike safety instruction in the San Diego region, as ebike riders present new challenges for the state highway patrol.

Goleta is hosting an Ebike Safety Awareness Week next week, after devoting a single day to the subject last year.

 

National

Yes, you can get in shape riding an ebike.

Three US companies are teaming up to introduce a non-flammable replacement for lithium-ion ebike batteries, which have been blamed for a number of deadly fires around the world.

A Denver man has struggled to find justice after he was struck by four e-scooter riders while riding a bike, after Lime refused to release the names of the people who rented them.

Momentum profiles New York’s Cargo Bike Momma, as part of their efforts to celebrate “cyclists with sass and attitude.”

New York installed K-rails to keep drivers out of bike lanes in the Bronx, but drivers somehow manage to park in them anyway.

A Facebook page memorializes New York food delivery riders who have been killed while working, with over 40 victims just since 2020.

Florida bicyclists have responded to the recent wrong-way crash on the coast highway that injured seven bike riders, two critically, by forming a coalition of ten bike clubs to demand safety improvements. Which is exactly what we need on PCH, where it would make a huge difference if all the bike clubs who regularly ride the killer highway would start demanding a safer roadway.

 

International

Bike Radar offers their choices for the year’s best endurance, race, women’s and entry-level road bikes.

That’s more like it. A British hit-and-run driver has been sentenced to six years and nine months behind bars for downing a bottle of vodka while high on weed, ecstasy and coke prior to killing a 54-year old man riding a bike.

France is now offering residents up to 2,000 euros — the equivalent of nearly $2,200 — on the purchase of a bicycle or ebike; the incentive program also includes refurbished bicycles from a professional dealer. Meanwhile, California’s moribund ebike incentive program continues to be nothing more than vaporware.

Electrek recounts a 2019 Danish study showing just 4.9% of cyclists broke traffic laws when riding on bike paths, increasing to 14% when bike paths were not present; that compares to previous Danish studies showing 66% of drivers broke traffic laws.

More people than ever are riding a New Zealand bike trail, which is also seeing a surge in vandalism and bad behavior, including prohibited motor vehicles.

 

Competitive Cycling

New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston won the first stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under to claim her first WorldTour win; 36-year old Aussie cyclist Matilda Raynolds led much of the race in a breakaway in just her second race at the WorldTour level, before being reeled back in by the peloton — despite riding without the aid of a cycling computer.

Former teammates remembered Melissa Hoskins ahead of the first stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under race, after she was killed falling off the hood of a pickup driven by her husband, pro cyclist Rohan Dennis.

Velo talks with the founder of the relatively rule-less LA Tourist Race.

 

Finally…

Who really needs a wheel hub, anyway? Then again, who needs a bike chain or belt drive, either?

And apparently, hover bikes and self-repairing frames are what you get when you ask AI to predict the year ahead in the bike world.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Newsom plugs budget hole with Active Transportation funds, and Los Angeles traffic deaths jump once again in 2023

January 11, 2024 / / 4 comments

My eye is finally better, so let’s catch up on what we’ve missed the past couple days. 

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so please accept my apologies in advance if I don’t acknowledge you for something you sent me.

I’ll try to make up for it next time. 

………

If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

………

No surprise here, as Governor Gavin Newsom proposed filling an unexpected $38 billion budget shortfall in part by taking $200 million from the state’s already underfunded Active Transportation Program.

The governor’s new budget leaves just $850 million in the ATP, but borrows $200 million from future funding to avoid cutting currently budgeted projects.

Calbike says there’s no budget shortfall in the state’s transportation budget, which is stuffed with more money than ever before.

Meanwhile, the Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, proposes spending a whopping $750 billion on traffic projects over the next 20 years.

Their project list included a whole 4,000 miles of bike lanes — which works out to just 200 miles a year, spread out among the seven-county SoCal region.

The rest of the funding will go overwhelmingly towards highway projects to encourage more driving.

Which is exactly what we don’t need to meet the state’s climate goals.

………

So much for Vision Zero.

KNBC-4 reports that LAPD figures show traffic deaths outpaced murders in the City of Angels last year.

The city saw 330 traffic deaths in 2023, a significant increase over 2022’s near-record numbers, “particularly fatal hit and runs and fatal pedestrian and bicycle collisions.”

At the same time, violent crime dropped 3.2%, with a total of “just” 327 murders.

The rise in traffic deaths comes as the city’s underfunded and under-implemented Vision Zero program was supposed to end traffic deaths by next year.

Instead, we’re further than ever from that goal, as people continue to die on our streets while our elected leaders do little or nothing about it.

………

A series of bike rides in cities around the world this Sunday will mark 100 days since the vicious Hamas attack on Israeli settlements, and the abduction of hundreds of people as hostages.

Rides are said ti be scheduled for Barcelona, Paris, London, Melbourne, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, among others, though I can find no record of a Los Angeles ride.

Bicyclists are encouraged to tie yellow ribbons to your bike on Sunday, even it you’re not participating in one of the organized rides.

https://twitter.com/Israel/status/1743945135602163795

Ed Rubinstein forwards plans for a solidarity ride in Dana Point.

Unfortunately, the link he sent to the Thousand Oaks ride has expired, and I can’t find any details for that one, either.

This Sunday, January 14, will mark 100 days since the October 7 attacks, and the kidnapping of hundreds.  As you may have heard the Israeli Premier Tech pro cycling team and the Israeli Cycling Federation has joined with Bring Them Home Now to organize bike rides in many cities worldwide calling for the release of the 129 remaining hostages. There is a ride planned in Thousand Oaks, but I am not aware of one in Orange County. So, my wife Leti and I decided to create a local alternative.

If you are not going to the big ride in Thousand Oaks, please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM in Dana Point Harbor in the parking lot at the corner of Golden Lantern and Dana Point Harbor Drive to show your concern for the hostages.  We will provide yellow ribbons to tie on your bikes as a display of solidarity with the hostages.  Then we will take group photos that I will post on social media with the hashtag: #RideToBringThemHomeNow.  After the photos, there are multiple options for unsupported rides ranging from short 5-mile flat rides within the Harbor, a longer flat ride to San Juan Capistrano to a rolly 35+ mile ride to the north end of Camp Pendleton.

This is a digital word-of-mouth effort. You too are encouraged to let your friends know.  I have no idea about how large of a response I will get, so if you can let me know if you plan to attend.

Meanwhile, untold numbers of bike riders took part in a worldwide rally in support of Palestine last weekend.

………

More than a dozen wannabe bike burglars attempted to use a U-Haul truck to knock down the wall of a DTLA bike shop Saturday morning.

The thieves used the truck in an attempt to repeatedly batter their way into Just Ride L.A., near the corner of South Hill Street and Venice Blvd in the South Park neighborhood.

But despite their efforts, the wall held, saving the store from a loss that likely would have amounted to tens of thousands of dollars.

As it is, they’re looking at a $40,000 loss to replace the gate and repair the damage cause by the truck.

………

Long Beach may have seen Southern California’s first bicycling death of the year, after 43-year old Alecia McCullough was struck by a driver as she was crossing PCH Sunday night — the third death on SoCal’s killer highway in Long Beach this year.

One witness said she appeared to be riding a bicycle. However, there’s no confirmation of that, and no mention of a bike by the police.

………

Metro appears to have chosen Lyft to operate the Metro Bike bikeshare program.

………

21 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

The same bone-headed Florida website that somehow condemned “bike herds” in response to an elderly woman hitting a group of bicyclists while driving on the wrong side of the road, is now calling on readers to submit photos of bike riders behaving badly. Meanwhile, the editor goes out of his way to blame the victims of the mass crash, despite conceding that the driver was on the wrong side of the road, and the victims were obeying the law by riding two abreast. Notice also how effectively “bike herds” dehumanizes the victims. 

No bias here. Despite the recent panic over London’s floating bus stops, and reports that 60% of bike riders fail to stop for pedestrians moving to and from them, new leaked government documents show a low risk of bike riders actually hitting someone.

After a cabbie scared the crap out of an English bike rider by passing him just inches away, the local authorities apparently responded to the video by sending the driver a sternly worded letter. On the other hand, that’s more than they’d do here, where video isn’t accepted by the cops for anything less than a felony. 

Someone ripped out nearly all the reflective plastic bollards marking a cycle track in Mysore — or Mysuru — India, for no apparent reason.

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

British TV presenter Alex Phillip blamed “a little shit on a bike” for the attempted mugging that made her drop her phone.

A pair of Swiss tourists were fined $400 and had their bikes confiscated by authorities after mountain biking through one of New Zealand’s most famous heritage trails, where any kind of vehicle is banned, including bicycles.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton makes the case that “it shouldn’t take sustained advocacy pressure (and injury lawsuits) from cyclists to get the city to keep its walk/bike paths in a state of good repair,” as the city belatedly begins repairs on a decrepit section of the LA River bike path.

Linton also visits a new parking-protected bike lane on Variel in Woodland Hills.

The Larchmont Buzz looks forward to next month’s CicLAvia on iconic Melrose Ave, calling CicLAvia “one of the coolest community events ever.” When they’re right, they’re right. 

Pasadena announced the completion of the Cordova Street Complete Streets project, including 1.5 mile buffered bike lanes.

Santa Monica cops will be conducting yet another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation today, ticketing anyone who commits a traffic violation that could put either at risk — even if it’s someone walking or riding a bike who does it. So once again, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line, so you’re not the one who gets written up.

Speaking of Santa Monica, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors took to their bikes for a team building ride along the beach, as the team was in town for games against the Lakers and Clippers; new team member Immanuel Quickley said it was his first time riding a bike.

Long Beach received a $326,000 state grant to promote bike and pedestrian safety projects.

 

State

A bill in the state Senate Transportation Committee would eliminate the need for repetitive and costly traffic studies for bike lanes that have already been studied and approved along the California coast, reducing red tape and speeding construction, at least in theory.

Velo explains how California’s new law allowing bikes to proceed on the walk signal, instead of waiting for a green light, makes biking safer.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever burned down the ghost bike and memorial for Matt Keenan, who was killed by a driver in a head-on collision in San Diego’s Mission Valley in 2021; Keenan’s wife has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to replace it.

A San Diego doctor, ultra marathoner and triathlete says if ebikes are going to be allowed on the county’s trails, the trails will have to be improved and maintained so others don’t have to jump out of the way.

To the surprise of no one, stolen bikes were offered for sale on OfferUp and Facebook in San Diego, as Bike Index listed 331 bikes stolen in the city last year. Professional thieves often move hot bikes from one city to another, so it’s always possible that a bike stolen in LA could be sold in San Diego. Or Riverside, or anywhere else in Southern California.

Sad news from Carpinteria, where an 80-year old man riding a bike was killed by a driver; naturally, sheriff’s deputies blamed the victim for making an unsafe lane change. Oddly, though, it was the car’s rear windshield that was shattered in the crash.

San Francisco public TV station KQED says the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge has an amazing view, and an uncertain future, after the expiration of the pathway’s four-year pilot program, and calls to return the lane to motor vehicles. Because we all know that cars are more important than people. 

Bike Talk’s Nick Richert talks with San Francisco Streetsblog about the city’s failed Vision Zero program.

The Bay Area’s BART commuter train system finally figured out that people who ride bikes sometimes need to ride trains, too, allowing people to take bikes on most escalators and trains.

 

National

Life is cheap in Colorado, where the driver who killed a 65-year old Minnesota man a third of the way through his lifetime goal of riding the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route got just nine months of work release, and was ordered to pay for a memorial for the victim.

Police in Kansas ask for the public’s help in identifying the victim injured in a collision while riding his bike. Yet another reminder to always carry ID with you when you ride — and preferably something that won’t get stolen if you’re incapacitated. 

A bike-riding Brooklyn man was busted on hate crime charges for throwing a rock at a Jewish man and yelling “Free Palestine!” Seriously, don’t do that. Passions are high enough without making thins worse.

A Baltimore woman brought an ice cream bike, and turned it into a $20,000 a month side hustle.

The Maryland legislature is considering a new bill that would increase the penalty for hitting someone riding in a bike lane to up to two months in jail and a fine of up to $2,000. Drivers should automatically be at fault for any crash with someone riding legally in a bike lane.

Atlanta announced a new program to give residents up to $2,000 to buy an ebike, depending on income level and type of bike. And chances are, they’ll run out of funding before California’s moribund program ever launches.

A retired Florida cop finished a 147-day, 5,000-mile bike ride from Vancouver to San Diego, then across the US to raise funds for children’s cancer research.

 

International

Momentum lists the top 10 reasons to buy an ebike this year. Unless you’re counting on California’s moribund ebike incentive program, in which case you’re probably screwed. 

A Canadian legal site asks if allowing bike riders to run stop signs would make the roads safer. Except by definition, it’s not running the stop sign if it’s legal to treat it as as a yield, as in the Idaho Stop Law.

Newly released records show Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer — the equivalent of our Treasury Secretary — slashed funding for active transportation after buying into crackpot conspiracy theories about the 15-minute city.

Ireland announced plans to build a nearly 2,200-mile bike network over the next 16 years, which will connect more than 200 cities, towns and villages with over 5,000 residents. That’s the second-best reason, after the whiskey, for a little reverse migration if things continue to devolve here.

Shimano has applied for a patent to use trainable AI to automatically control mountain bike suspensions and dropper seat posts.

 

Competitive Cycling

Ranchers near the mountain town of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, say they weren’t informed about the annual SBT GRVL race, and want the number of participants capped — even though race organizers held a series of public forums, and already cap the number of riders who can take part. Apparently, they don’t understand the meaning of “annual,” either. 

Pro-Palestinian protestors delayed the start of the Australian road cycling championships in an effort to target Israel–Premier Tech cyclist Simon Clarke.

 

Finally…

Blue legs and bike shorts on a cold winter’s day. Who needs an ebike when you can have your very own e-snowboard.

And you could have been the proud owner of Pee-wee Herman’s 1953 Schwinn DX Cruiser, not for “a hundred million, trillion, billion dollars,” but for the low, low price of $140,001.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

A call to ban “bike herds” after Florida crash, the American problem of traffic violence, and LA-area bike path news

January 8, 2024 / / 3 comments
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

………

Surprisingly, last minute donations are still trickling in for the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive. So thanks to an anonymous donor for their generous gift to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

While the fund drive is officially over, donations of any amount are welcome anytime, for any reason.

………

Unbelievable.

After an elderly Florida woman driving on the wrong side of the road plowed head-on into a group of eight bicyclists, sending seven to the hospital — two still critical — a local news website responds by firmly assigning blame.

On the victims, of course.

Asking if “bike herds should be banned,” they say the crash “raises new questions about whether bicyclists belong on area roads.”

Often a nuisance to drivers as they ride in packs, Florida law does permit these bicyclists to use a roadway when no bike lane exists. But these bike herds rarely ride at the speed of traffic. They often seem to lack any awareness that in a bike-versus-car collision, the car almost always wins.

Although a much better question would be whether elderly drivers who can’t confine themselves to the right side of the roadway should be allowed on them.

And maybe someone could assure them that we are all quite aware that cars are bigger than we are, and they hurt.

Unfortunately, however, the writer, or writers, aren’t done yet.

Now we ask you, our readers: should packs of bicyclists be permitted on area roads? Should they be permitted to interfere with traffic? Are there times of day where bike herds should be outright banned, or conversely, are there times of day where you believe it would be okay for bicyclists to ride on area roads? And this question: does anyone really believe that tight, brightly colored spandex offers any additional safety for these people at all?

They obviously don’t realize that we only form herds for protection from apex predators in motor vehicles.

And the purpose of our tight, brightly colored spandex is to get drivers to check out our butts and massive thighs, so they might actually see us for a change.

But hopefully not from the front, as they hurtle blissfully along on the wrong side of the road.

Seriously, the site’s whole argument makes no more sense than suggesting schools should be banned to prevent mass shootings.

Meanwhile, the local sheriff’s office is responding to the wrong way crash, in which the elderly driver was 100% at fault, by reminding bike riders of their duty to obey traffic laws.

Because evidently, someone, somewhere, once rode a bicycle through a red light, which somehow caused this whole mess.

But still.

………

A CNN op-ed from journalist Jill Filipovic decries the ever-increasing death toll on American streets, arguing that “Like gun deaths, this epidemic of car-related deaths is a particularly American problem.”

One that she blames in part on the ever-increasing size of American motor vehicles. But she takes it several steps further, to look at other factors contributing to the problem.

Growing vehicle size is a big part of the problem. But it’s far from the only problem. America has too-lax road rules and too few spaces where pedestrians are prioritized. American drivers are too often distracted by cell phones (European drivers, who are much more likely to operate manual-transmission cars, are as a result less likely to have a free hand to hold a cell phone). And enforcement of existing laws is weak: In many areas, officers reportedly have been told not to pull drivers over even for breaking the law.

One solution, she says, is increased camera enforcement — like the speed cams that were recently approved for a handful of California cities, including Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach.

Along with red light cams, which are currently prohibited in the City of Angels, because drivers didn’t like getting caught breaking the same laws they accuse bike riders of breaking.

Then she adds this, making the same case I’ve been making for some time.

If your license has been suspended several times, or if you’ve been convicted of multiple DUIs, or if you have double-digit numbers of speeding tickets in your name, or if you’ve been involved in multiple crashes that were your fault, you should lose the privilege to drive entirely. And if you have a record of this kind of reckless or dangerous driving and then you hit and injure or kill someone, you should pay an especially steep price.

Yet over and over and over again, people with long records of dangerous driving are allowed back on the road; dangerous drivers often aren’t even punished when they eventually maim or kill someone, or see penalties that amount to little more than a slap on the wrist. It is exceptionally rare for a driver, even one with a history of dangerous driving, to be charged with murder when they kill someone on the road. Killing someone with a car is, in the United States, too often essentially a free pass.

It’s worth reading the whole thing.

Because things will never get better until we get dangerous cars and drivers off the roads.

Permanently.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

………

Thanks to Joel Falter for forwarding news that the annual maintenance work on the Ballona Creek Bike Path will begin today, with intermittent closures this week that could affect your ride or commute.

You can find a full work schedule on the Culver City website.

………

Now that nearby freeway work is nearing completion, the city is finally getting around to fixing the north end of the LA River bike path. And hopefully, connecting it to new segments in the San Fernando Valley.

https://twitter.com/EntitledCycling/status/1743001554138050647

………

I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been tempted to crawl over — or through — vehicles whose drivers carelessly block the crosswalk to enjoy their God-given right to turn right on red.

………

The camera aspect appears to make this look even more extreme, as if it’s not extreme enough.

Thanks to Mike Burk for the forward. 

https://twitter.com/mikeburk/status/1743918919138816270

………

19 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

LA-based former pro cyclist Phil Gaimon warned “sane motorists” about “homicidal maniacs on the road” who threaten the safety of vulnerable road users, after a driver responded to the innocuous post below showing Gaimon and friends riding past crawling I-5 traffic — on the shoulder, no less — warning that he would “turn the wheel to the right and ram you” in the same situation. If he actually said he “would,” rather than he’d like to, that constitutes a threat under California law, and should be reported to the police to get that fool off the road before he kills someone.

GCN talks with bicycling historian and journalist Peter Norton about the roots of road rage directed from drivers towards people on bicycles, driven in part by street designs that tell drivers the roads were made for them. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link. 

No bias here. A Madison, Wisconsin letter writer insists that bike riders need to pay for their own infrastructure, apparently unaware of who actually pays for local streets, or that bike riders cause a minute fraction of the damage to roadway surfaces that drivers do, and we pay the same taxes as anyone else.

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

Leaked traffic data shows that only 40% of London bike riders actually stop for pedestrians as required at the city’s floating bus stops, where people have to cross a bike lane to get it.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. Speeds clearly haven’t declined on PCH, as a speeding Malibu driver slammed head-on into three other cars at over 100 mph, then escaped after bugging out through the brush on the nearby hillside.

An unidentified Hermosa Beach bike shop was the victim of a holiday week smash and grab, after someone broke out a window to make off with a high-end bike. Thanks to Jim Lyle for forwarding the story.

Metro Bike is hosting a bikeshare community ride along the Expo Line Bike Path on January 20th. But shouldn’t the path be renamed the E Line Bike Path now, since the Expo Line doesn’t officially exist anymore?

 

State

No news is good news, right?

 

National

Chicago Streetsblog pats itself on the back for convincing a local business to stop illegally telling bike riders they can’t park there.

A Florida man argues that he is a victim of political and social manipulation of physical and circumstantial evidence, insisting that he had a legal and constitutional right to fatally shoot a bicycle-riding man during a confrontation, part of which he live streamed from his motorcycle; he’s been behind bars awaiting trail for nearly four and a half years, largely because he keeps firing his defense attorneys.

The only form of life lower than a hit-and-run driver is someone who’d flee the scene after hitting a Florida paraplegic riding a handcycle. Schmuck.

 

International

Road.cc looks at the history of the bizarre, A-framed, belt-drive Strida foldie, calling it one of the most unusual city bikes ever made. Which is an understatement. 

Costa Rica is dealing with a sharp rise in traffic deaths over the past year, as more Costa Ricans drive like Americans.

So it begins. A Toronto letter writer draws from the standard “But this isn’t Amsterdam” playbook to argue that the city will never be a bicycling paradise like Paris. (Scroll down. No, keep scrolling.)

A woman with no previous interest in bicycling decided to ride 340 miles from her home in Wales to the Eiffel Tower to honor her bike-riding father, after he died following a short battle with brain cancer.

I’m not sure if we mentioned this one from last month, as The Guardian takes a look back at the four-year history of London’s Black Unity Bike Ride, born out of Covid restrictions and a fight for racial justice; there’s a podcast version of the story if you’d rather listen than read. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up. 

Irish police were criticized for confusing messaging that mixed the legal requirement to have lights on a bike with advice not to wear dark clothing, which isn’t required. But others applauded the cops for ticketing a lightless rider in dark clothes.

The attacks on commercial shipping by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea could be leading to another round of shortages of bike parts, just as the industry is recovering from the pandemic-era shortages.

A Singapore man explains how he turned his love of bicycles into a fulfilling career running a bike repair shop, despite dropping out of school at 15 — including a stint sharpening his skills in the US.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclists participating in Australian women’s road cycling championship paused for a moment of silence to honor Olympic gold medal track cyclist Melissa Hoskins, who was killed when she reportedly fell off the hood of the pickup driven by her husband, two-time world time trial champ and Tour de France stage winner Rohan Dennis; Hoskins was remembered as a “beacon of strength” and “a freewheeling spirit.”

 

Finally…

If you think pro cycling is hard, try building a Millennium Falcon out of Legos. Prepare for your next road-raging driver with new bullet-resistant ebike batteries.

And probably not the best idea to kick the cop who tells you to get off your bike in a no riding zone.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

77-year old Florida driver hits 8 bicyclists head-on, WeHo adopts Vision Zero, and bicyclist injured in Simi Valley hit-and-run

January 5, 2024 / / One comment
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay.

………

It’s happened again.

Once again, a driver has plowed into a group of bicyclists, this time in Gulf Stream, Florida, on the state’s Atlantic coast.

According to multiple sources, a 77-year old woman drove onto the wrong side of the road and plowed into a group of eight bicyclists riding in a paceline, sending seven victims to the hospital — including one 46-year old man with injuries that were described as “incapacitating.”

The victims included the driver, as well as six people on bikes; three of whom were described as “severely injured,” though their injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.

Police said all the bike riders were wearing helmets, none of which are designed to protect against a head-on crash at 35 mph.

A woman who was riding with the group said she was lucky to escape with some bruises and a large cut on her leg, along with an injury to her arm from the car’s side mirror.

The collision occurred on the state’s famed A1A coast highway, leaving a crash scene witnesses described as “horrific”.

Descriptions of the dangers bike riders face there make it sound like an East Coast version of Southern California’s killer Pacific Coast Highway.

I understand there’s a bike cam video of the crashing circulating around. But from what I’ve heard, I wouldn’t recommend watching it.

Some things are hard to unsee.

And never mind the ongoing conversation of how old is too old to drive. Although hitting a group of bike riders head-on while driving on the wrong side of the road might suggest might be.

………

Good news from West Hollywood, where Senior Planner David Fenn forwards news that the City Council unanimously adopted WeHo’s first Vision Zero plan at their last meeting before Christmas

And they didn’t stop there, asking city staff “to investigate additional safety strategies like identifying promising locations for roundabouts, reducing landscaping height at crosswalks to improve pedestrian visibility and the orientation of pedestrian push buttons to drivers.”

So maybe they’re serious about actually doing something to reduce traffic deaths, unlike a certain megalopolis I could name.

West Hollywood staff members will return to Council with an addendum to the plan which includes these suggestions in the next few months.

You can view a YouTube recording of the meeting, with the Vision Zero discussion from 3:20:49 to 3:46:05.

Fenn also forwards news that WeHo is studying first and last mile connections for pedestrians and bicyclists for the future Metro K (Crenshaw) Line Northern Extension. A survey has been posted online to offer your feedback and suggestions.

My best suggestion is to speed up construction, which isn’t scheduled to begin until 2041, with completion set for 2047 to 2049 — too damn long to wait for a line that will finally connect all of Metro’s existing rail lines.

Especially since Metro never seems to meet their completion dates.

………

Someone riding a bicycle suffered major injuries in a Simi Valley hit-and-run yesterday.

According to a notice from the Simi Valley Police Department, the victim, who wasn’t publicly identified, was riding north across Los Angeles Ave west of Stearns Street when they were struck by a vehicle traveling east on Los Angeles around 7:50 pm.

A witness described the suspect vehicle as a late 1990’s to early 2000’s gold Toyota sedan, with probable significant damage to the front or right front side.

I’d say that sounds like my wife’s old car, but it was totaled by a distracted driver just before Christmas.

Anyone with information is urged to call Simi Valley PD Traffic Collision Investigator Martinez at 805/583-6224 or email AMartinez@simivalley.org.

Let’s hope the victim has a fast and full recovery. And they find the heartless coward who did it.

Thanks to Linda Righetti for the heads-up.

………

Ralph Durham forwards photos from a recent trip to Milan, featuring a protected bike lane we can only envy.

Photos by Ralph Durham

……..

I think I found your summer read, due out in June.

………

16 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

A 57-year old Belfast, Ireland grandmother was injured when two young boys pelted her with golf balls as she rode her bike home from work.

Road.cc updates their 2016 article on the 10 most hysterical anti-cycling headlines in the notorious Daily Mail tabloid, this time listing “20 of the most hysterical Daily Mail anti-cycling headlines” — including the classic “Lunacy, blight, and the scourge of lycra louts.”

………

Local 

It seems it’s a small world for tragedies, too. Less than six years after Fredrick “Woon” Frazier was killed in a South LA hit-and-run,  26-year old Miah Ladelle Banks was fatally shot at a New Year’s Eve party at a DTLA warehouse, along with another person; Banks was the sister of Woon’s convicted killer, Mariah Kandise Banks.

Streetsblog recommends getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city by peddling your bike around the San Gabriel Valley’s Santa Fe Dam. Or maybe pedaling a pedal boat.

 

State

A Carlsbad woman escaped with a slap on the wrist for killing 35-year old Christine Embree as she rode an ebike with her 18-month old daughter, who was miraculously unscathed; 43-year old Lindsay Turmelle was sentenced to 90 days in county jail and 90 days home vacation confinement, after pleading guilty to misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. Then again, she did say she’s really, really sorry, so there’s that.

A 13-year old San Diego girl suffered a critical head injury when she fell off her bike crossing a Pacific Beach intersection; she wasn’t wearing a helmet, despite state law requiring a helmet for anyone under 18 riding a bicycle. The sad thing is that this sort of fall is exactly what bike helmets were designed to protect against. Not crashes with drivers at 50 mph. 

Vallejo cleared out a homeless encampment, at the threat of arresting any holdouts, in order to begin work on a bike path.

 

National

Momentum recommends seven US cities offering “bike-friendly destinations for sunshine and two-wheeled good times” — which we could all use about now — including San Francisco, Santa Monica and San Diego on the Left Coast. Although hoping for sunshine in San Francisco in the middle of the winter may be asking too much.

Velo predicts five ebike trends they expect to see in the coming year, from more electric cargo bikes to tighter regulations.

A new law allows Oregon drivers to pass bicyclists in a no-passing zone, as long as they stay five mph below the posted speed limit and there are no on-coming vehicles. Similar provisions have been vetoed multiple times by California governors, for reasons only they and their CHP Wormtongues understand. 

Chicago has finally completed work on the city’s long-promised Dickens Ave Neighborhood Greenway, including the city’s first bike-friendly traffic diverter, after nearly five years of NIMBY opposition.

After legendary carmaker Lee Iacocca saved Detroit’s Chrysler, he became an early ebike entrepreneur.

A New York Times podcast considers why so many more pedestrians are getting killed on our streets, as other rich nations have surpassed American in protecting pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Which is the first and last time they even mention bikes, even though our death rates are climbing, too. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the link.

Something funny is going on with a Richmond, Virginia bike shop, where the owner disappeared after the store shut down abruptly, leaving dozens of customers without the bikes they paid for, while giant bikemaker Giant is suing the shop for nearly $150,000 in unpaid bills; a notice on the shop’s Facebook page promises it will reopen later this month, and everyone will get their bikes. But I wouldn’t hold your breath.

 

International

Very few people biked to work when Canberra, Australia opened its first bike path 50 years ago; the city now boasts 370 bike paths covering over 600 miles, and is considered the country’s bicycling capital.

 

Competitive Cycling

LA’s Williams brothers may still be brothers, but they’re no longer teammates, as younger brother Corey left the L39ION of Los Angeles cycling team he co-founded to decamp for the Miami Blazers team started by Williams Racing Development, which he also co-founded along with brother and former US cit champ Justin.

 

Finally…

Maybe you can’t run away with the circus, but you can ride there. Or where it used to be, anyway.

And actor Will Smith gives a new bike to a man who rode his bicycle across Africa to go to college.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA & Metro failure to launch in 2023, CicLAvia opens 2024 on Melrose, and CA bike riders can now use early ped signals

January 4, 2024 / / One comment

We have another late donation to last month’s 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Thanks to Ralph D for his generous support to keep SoCal’s best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Even though the fund drive is officially over, donations of any amount or reason are always welcome and appreciated.

Even if you just to help keep the corgi in kibble. 

………

If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

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

A similar Bike Forum back when Antonio Villaraigosa was mayor of Los Angeles resulted in real change on the streets, as well as in how we were treated by the LAPD. All of which lasted right up until Eric Garcetti became mayor.

So after ten years of being ignored, we need to make the mayor hear us. Because as important as her efforts are to house the homeless, they’re not the only ones in danger on our streets.

………

Today’s must-read comes, as it so often does, from Streetsblog’s Joe Linton.

Linton offers a recap of projects Metro and Los Angeles just didn’t get around to last year, which range from the resident-designed Complete Streets makeover of Colorado Blvd through Eagle Rock — which was delayed by a NIMBY lawsuit that was just tossed by the judge — to the failure to break ground on extending the LA River bike path through Vernon and DTLA.

Which means the latter could miss Garcetti’s promise to have it ready for the 2028 LA Olympics.

But he’s in India now, serving as US ambassador, so no one in city government or at Metro really gives a damn what he promised anymore.

In addition, Linton writes about the LA City Council’s failure to follow through on a motion to halt harmful road widening in the city, which passed the council with unanimous support early last year.

Then…nothing. City staff were supposed to write the text of the new law, and bring it back to the council within 60 days.

We’re still waiting.

Or they may not be, since Mike Bonin, the author of the motion, left the City Council to focus on his family in the face of withering abuse.

Maybe they’re hoping they can just sweep it under the rug and forget all about it, which seems to happen all too often these days.

Case in point, the City Council’s version of the Healthy Streets Los Angeles ballot measure, which they promised would be even better than the original created by LA transportation PAC Streets For All.

As Linton explains,

For a year, nothing happened on Safe Streets. (In fact, several city departments did the opposite, going on the offensive to undermine the legitimacy of the city’s own Mobility Plan.)

In August 2023, city staff posted a weakened, problematic draft ordinance (read Streets for All’s critique). The council never scheduled any public hearing which could have received public input and maybe fixed problems, thus strengthening the draft ordinance.

What seemed like the council’s urgent attempt to advance equity and safer streets turned out to be vaporware at best – or deception designed to split advocates at worst.

Now it’s 2024. In just two months, L.A. City voters will decide Measure HLA in the March 5 election. City departments are continuing their push to undermine Measure HLA, the Mobility Plan, and walking, bicycling, and transit in general (see for example Little Tokyo above).

Despite those efforts, Measure HLA continues to gain momentum, picking up endorsements, raising funds, and recruiting volunteers. Get involved via the campaign website.

There seems to be a lot of that kind of chicanery on Linton’s list, as city and Metro staff seem determined to slow walk and undermine desperately needed projects at every turn.

Not to mention a “pernicious double standard.”

The above list points to a pernicious double standard at Metro (one that SBLA has pointed out before). When it comes to freeway expansion, Metro staff and board are quick to insist that “we have to do this because it’s what the voters approved.” When it comes to transit (operations and capital), BRT, bike paths, etc., Metro is fine with delays, years of meetings, and scaling back and canceling projects – whether the voters like it or not.

If only Metro would act with the same urgency on equitable healthy modes – as it does for highway widening – but don’t hold your breath.

If I held my breath waiting for LA and Metro to act, I would have died of asphyxiation years ago.

And I’m not about to start now.

………

The 2024 CicLAvia season opens next month with what should be a classic — four miles straight down iconic, countercultural and increasingly bougie Melrose Avenue.

Which was due for a much-needed Compete Streets makeover until former CD4 Councilmember Paul Koretz unilaterally cancelled it.

………

Bike writer Peter Flax reminds us that as of this past Monday, you can legally ride your bike through an intersection on the leading pedestrian interval — that brief moment when the walk signal appears a few seconds before the light turns green for everyone else.

Although you might want to keep a copy of the law with you, because some cops may miss the memo.

………

This is exactly what I mean when I say today’s massively oversized pickups and SUVs, with their high, flat grills, are designed to kill.

Unfortunately, the study doesn’t seem to be available in English yet.

………

15 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

………

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

No bias here. A San Antonio, Texas TV station says police are looking for a bicyclist with a knife who stabbed an acquaintance after a squabble. Not, say, a knifesman or stabber who rides a bicycle.

No bias here, either. A British bike rider appears to speed up to avoid getting right hooked by a large truck turning across a protected bike lane. So people naturally blame the guy on two wheels, accusing him of “racing” the truck.

………

Local 

The CHP and LA County Sheriff’s Department are finally targeting speeding drivers on deadly PCH, where four Pepperdine students were recently killed by a driver doing up to 105 mph on the highway that serves as Malibu’s Main Street.

Santa Monica police will conduct another Bike & Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation today, ticketing any violation that could endanger bike riders or pedestrians — even if it’s a bike rider or pedestrian who commits it. The usual protocol applies, ride to the letter of the law today until you pass the city limit sign so you’re not the one who gets ticketed. 

 

State

Orange County’s “Ebike Lady” volunteers her time to teach new ebike-owning kids how to stay safe on the roads.

Bakersfield news media are still talking about the bike rideout that devolved into hooliganism last month, even though it’s been over a month. Apparently, they don’t get much excitement up there. 

Evidently, business owners and drivers aren’t the only ones who hate San Francisco’s new Valencia Street centerline bike lane, with bike ridership dropping — not rising — 50% since it was installed last April.

The Sacramento DA reportedly told the victim’s family that the kid who fatally shot a ten-year old boy with his father’s stolen gun last week won’t face any charges, saying the sole criminal responsibility lies with the father, who was prohibited from owning a gun as a convicted felon; his son reportedly shot the other boy after becoming angry over losing a bike race.

 

National

New graphene-based battery cells promise to end lithium-ion ebike battery fires.

A new study from Spin says improving bike networks could be the best way to keep e-scooter riders off sidewalks.

Spokane, Washington is considering a proposal to buy a “transformative” half-million dollar snow plow to clear protected bike lanes this winter.

Colorado has suspended applications for its ebike rebate program after running out of money due to unexpectedly high demand. Meanwhile, California’s seemingly moribund ebike incentive program still hasn’t paid out a dime, despite receiving an additional $18 million in funding.

Ohio bike lawyer Steve Magas, co-author of the classic book Bicycling and the Law, offers a neighboring state’s legal perspective on the Illinois Supreme Court’s bizarre ruling that bicyclists are merely permitted guests on most roadways. Meanwhile, a writer for a legal site blames Chance the Rapper.

A Nashville writer calls the city’s new mayor a “trusted advocate for the cycling community, yearning for safer, more accessible streets.” Although any Angeleno bicyclist suffering from hard-won cynicism might tell them to believe budgets, not promises. 

A Charleston, West Virginia columnist calls on the city to make the streets safer, over two years after he went over his handlebars trying to avoid a right hook.

Florida’s Delray Beach unveils a new bike and pedestrian plan including over 52 miles of new bike lanes, although the hefty $100 million price tag suggests much of it may be wishful thinking.

No surprise here, as Florida once again leads the nation in bicycling deaths and injuries, with an average of 18 bicyclists injured in crashes every day.

 

International

Momentum says the “humble” bicycle offers the perfect way to overcome sedentary lifestyles and desk-bound routines to improve health as we start the new year.

Cycling Weekly says Strava data shows a 55% increase in gravel cycling over the past year, because “people aren’t as snooty or uptight,” according to one gravel convert.

Scotland has finally gotten around to banning the common British practice of parking on the sidewalk, though Edinburgh is one of the first cities to announce plans to actually enforce it.

He gets it. A Pudsey, England letter writer tells motorists to “See other road users as human beings — mothers, fathers, daughters, sons — not as obstacles.”

British bike riders bemoan flooded bikeways, and the country’s lack of response.

A divisional commissioner in Lahore, Pakistan called a special meeting to promote “cycling culture,” promising it would create business opportunities as well as a healthy urban environment.

 

Competitive Cycling

F1 Alpha Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas says he’s serious about gravel racing, after twice standing on the podium at Steamboat Springs, Colorado’s world-class SBT GRVL race, and creating one of his own.

Matthew van der Poel was fined 250 euros — the equivalent of $274 — for spitting at a group of unruly gravel fans he said were tossing beer and urine at him every time he rounded last weekend’s gravel course. Although to be fair, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between the two. 

Cyclist offers five key storylines for the upcoming women’s pro cycling season.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new lakeshore bike trail is a trial. When you’re riding a bike with outstanding warrants for car theft, try not to ride suspiciously.

And you clearly don’t want to mess with singer Elle Cordova, aka Reina del Cid.

Or her bike tubes, for that matter.

Thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Sacramento boy fatally shot after winning bike race, memorials for Aussie cyclist Melissa Hopkins, and US ebike incentives

January 3, 2024 / / Comments Off on Sacramento boy fatally shot after winning bike race, memorials for Aussie cyclist Melissa Hopkins, and US ebike incentives

Well, that was unexpected.

Thanks to Robert H for a surprising January donation to last month’s 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Even though the fund drive is officially over, donations of any amount are always welcome and appreciated. And help keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

………

14 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch in the fall, as promised; 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law.

………

A tragic story got even worse yesterday, when news broke that the killing of a Sacramento boy may have resulted from winning a bike race.

Ten-year old Keith “KJ” Frierson was riding the bike he got for Christmas when he was shot by another ten-year old boy, who allegedly found the gun in his father’s truck when he went to get his dad a pack of cigarettes.

Frierson’s mother alleged the other boy shot him after losing an impromptu bike race to the victim.

The alleged killer’s father, 53-year-old Arkete Davis, had the gun — which was allegedly stolen — despite being prohibited from possessing one as a convicted felon.

He reportedly dumped the gun in a trash can after the shooting to hide his son’s involvement.

The alleged shooter has been charged with murder; his identity has been withheld because of his age.

His father faces a host of charges, including illegal possession of a firearm, criminal storage of a gun, carrying a loaded weapon in a car, child endangerment and acting as an accessory after the fact.

………

The family of Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins announced her funeral will be held in her hometown of Perth, Australia, along with a memorial service in Adelaide after the Tour Down Under.

Her husband, former two-time world time trial champ Rohan Dennis, has been charged in the crash that killed her as she reportedly clung to the hood of their pickup while attempting to open the door.

Why she was on the hood has yet to be explained.

………

GCN offers a state-by-state guide to ebike incentive programs throughout the US, including California’s currently moribund program.

The site also alludes to a regional ebike incentive program currently operating in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties. But if that exists, I’m not aware of it.

Meanwhile, a San Francisco man has teamed with a local bike shop to lower the barriers to ebike ownership by launching a new subscription service.

The program, called Friiway, allows ebike-curious people to try quality Stromer or Riese & Müller ebike for several months.

Maybe by then, the state’s incentive program will finally launch.

………

If you haven’t already, sign the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we all face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, as well as the city’s ongoing failure to actually care enough to do anything about it.

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

………

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

Seriously?  A Florida TV station reports two people were killed last week because of ebikes, then describes how both ebike riders were struck by drivers, including one in a hit-and-run. But somehow, ebikes — not cars or the people in them — are the problem.

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

An Illinois man faces drug charges after he was run down from behind while riding his bike without a light after dark, then attempted to bury the prescription pills, meth and syringes he was carrying under a nearby tree.

“Gangsters” on bicycles pelted an Indian shop with rocks after arguing with the shopkeeper, despite shaking hands after the dispute.

………

Local 

This is who we share the road with. A 21-year od woman was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon for attempting to ram her car through security barriers blocking access to the Pasadena Rose Parade on New Year’s Day; police say she was suffering from a mental health issue, and credit the barriers with saving the lives of nearby parade spectators.

 

State

Hats off to Hoodline for breaking the shocking news that California bike riders are required to adhere to traffic laws, just like drivers. And yes, that was sarcasm. 

Bike lanes have now been added to Santa Barbara’s increasingly popular State Street Promenade.

Sad news from Fremont, where someone riding a bicycle was killed in a collision with a commuter train.

 

National

A writer for Outside says bikes aren’t always the answer to life’s tragedies. But they help.

Bicycling offers expert advice on how to become a better bicyclist, according to experts. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

Cycling News says the new 2024 Trek Emonda may have been spotted in the wild.

A Minneapolis man has pled guilty to a single count of criminal vehicular homicide for killing a bike-riding Minnesota priest in 2021, but no word on whether he reached a plea deal or what his sentence might be.

Alexandria, Virginia is launching an ebike incentive program, while a bill to establish a statewide program has been introduced in the legislature. Meanwhile, California’s ebike incentive program remains moribund.

 

International

Toronto’s fire chief offered advice on how to avoid fires sparked by lithium-ion batteries after an ebike battery caught fire in a crowded subway on Sunday, filling the train with smoke.

I want to be like him when I grow up. An 87-year old British man is riding and walking 100 miles on a 100-year old military bicycle, complete with decommissioned rifle and grenade, to raise funds for the hospital that saved his eyesight. Although I could maybe pass on the weaponry.

CNN recommends riding the Trans Dinarica Cycle Route, which follows quiet asphalt roads, forest trails and bike paths nearly 2,500-miles through all eight countries of the Western Balkans.

India’s most successful triathlete has established a foundation to provide bicycles to underprivileged girls, to give them freedom, fitness and access to education.

The Philippine government has committed one billion pesos to building new bike lanes. Which isn’t quite as impressive as it sounds, since that’s equal to about $18 million. But still.

 

Finally…

A pair of pedals on the floor does not a mini bike make, let alone a mini-bike.

And that feeling when a lawyer referral site reports a bicyclist was killed, but the bike turns out to be a motorcycle.

And the victim was a mule.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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