Tag Archive for bicycling

Long Beach Bike Fest this weekend, River Ride’s just a month away

May 7, 2010 / / One comment

First up, a quick reminder that we’re just under a month from L.A.’s largest and most popular organized group ride, the 10th Annual Los Angeles River Ride, rolling June 6th from Griffith Park. Six rides to choose from, ranging from a free kid’s ride to a full century. And you only have one more week to save $10 on early registration.

And speaking of the LACBC, they invite you to attend the 7th Stage of the Amgen Tour of California at Staples Center on Saturday, May 22nd.

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If you’re looking for things to do this weekend, you could do worse than a Will Campbell-led tour of Watts. Or maybe you’d prefer a quick trip down to Long Beach for the last two days of the Long Beach Bike Festival; Streetsblog interviews the filmmaker behind Riding Bikes with the Dutch, premiering Sunday as part of the festival.

I’m sure L.A. will sponsor it’s own bike festival any day month decade century now. But at least we get Bike to Work Week.

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If you’re looking for something to do next Wednesday, have a little LAPD BBQ to benefit Kristina Ripatti-Pearce, the former LAPD officer who retired after being partially disabled when she was shot on duty — and currently training for this year’s Race Across America (RAAM).

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A Santa Monica council member says if a better bikeway system can get just 10% of the city’s cars off the street, their traffic problems will be solved. Stephen Box says LAPD Chief Beck’s words don’t mean anything if they don’t translate to the street beat. L.A.’s Department of City Planning has a rare opportunity to reshape the city’s DNA. Bikeside speaks at Bikerowave on May 22nd. Mr. Bicycle Fixation himself is now writing for the Orange 20 website. A very cool look at South L.A.’s Black Kids on Bikes Freedom Ride. A look at the five best bikeways in L.A. Neon Tommy tests a Walmart fixie. A 64-year old cyclist riding without lights is killed in Twentynine Palms. The CHP offers advice on how to share the road for cyclists and motorists. Support for a San Jose cyclist left severely brain-damaged by a hit-and-run driver. Reno gets a bike boulevard that isn’t. In a bizarre bike safety spot, a bike riding octopus takes a spill and injures one of his eight appendages — which is, evidently, proof that you should wear a helmet. The latest update from Long Beach’s biking expats documents a week in Fort Worth. John Leguizamo offers advice on how to ride in the city. How bike collisions — not accidents — occur in Orlando. Overflowing bike racks are a good problem to have. Graphic proof that safety in numbers really works. Baltimore considers five bills to benefit bicyclists. Another Chicago cyclist intentionally run down by a driver. It may be ugly, but it’s electric — and wireless. Another dead British bicyclist, another slap on the wrist; but life in prison for the road raging driver who killed a cyclist for damaging his mirror. Five Brit women cyclists training in Belgium are injured when they’re hit by a car. An Ottawa, Canada columnist shows he just doesn’t get it, saying bike lanes will only benefit the few at the expense of the many.

Finally, on the heels of DOT Secretary Ray LaHood’s support for Complete Streets, the Centers for Disease Control recognizes that transportation reform is health reform.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Introducing the League of Bicycling Voters LA

May 7, 2010 / / 6 comments

The following press release just went out to most of the major media sources in Los Angeles. Feel free to copy, repost or forward it as you see fit. And check back tonight for today’s links.

For immediate release: May 7, 2010

Los Angeles cyclists prepare to Bike the Vote on May 15th — introducing the League of Bicycling Voters L.A.

It’s not hard to have a big influence on local elections. In fact, only 17.9% of registered voters — slightly more than 285,000 people — cast ballots in the last election for Mayor of Los Angeles.

Now consider this:  According to a 2002 survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation, 27.3% of all Americans over the age of 16 ride a bicycle, which means that somewhere around 400,000 of the city’s 1.6 million registered voters ride bikes. In other words, over 100,000 more than voted for all the candidates in the last mayoral election combined.

That holds true throughout the Los Angeles area, where statistics suggest that over 1 million of the county’s 4.2 million voters are cyclists — making it one of the largest untapped voting groups in Southern California.

That’s about to change.

On May 15th, bicyclists from throughout the County of Los Angeles will be coming together to form the League of Bicycling Voters Los Angeles.

Patterned after the highly successful League of Bicycling Voters in Austin, Texas — which saw their entire slate of candidates elected to office in the last citywide election — the group is being formed at a time when bicycling is more popular than ever.

Yet many cyclists, both beginners and experienced riders alike, believe they have have been ignored by unresponsive local, county and state governments, their safety needlessly endangered by roads and regulations that weren’t designed for bikes and policies that ignore their needs.

“For years we’ve tried playing nice, going along to get along, quietly sitting at meetings, waiting to be asked onto the floor for a dance,” explained Josef Bray-Ali, owner of the Flying Pigeon LA bike shop in Highland Park, and one of the founders of the local League of Bicycling Voters. “We’ve learned that the only place we can get our elected officials to pay attention is at the ballot box.”

According to the group’s website, the League of Bicycling Voters “is not liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. It does not represent any one group or style of cycling.” Instead, it represents Los Angeles-area bicyclists of every type and description “to help ensure safer streets and a more bike-friendly community for all of us.”

Ted Rogers, author of the blog BikingInLA.com and another of the group’s initial founders, along with UCLA lecturer Dr. Michael Cahn, stressed that the League won’t conflict with other existing bicycle advocacy organizations, such as C.I.C.L.E. and the Los Angeles County Bicycling Coalition.

“This group is a purely political organization. Our purpose is to host forums and debates, get candidates on the record for their stands on bicycling issues, and to endorse and support bike-friendly candidates and propositions — which groups like the LACBC are prohibited from doing due to their non-profit status.”

However, he explained that they do intend to work closely with other biking groups to support similar goals whenever possible; in fact, both Rogers and Dr. Cahn are on the Board of Directors for the LACBC, and many of the initial members belong to other cycling organizations, as well.

The initial organizational meeting is scheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, May 15th in Room 1347 on the ground floor of the UCLA Law School on the Westwood campus. Anyone who rides a bike and is eligible to vote in the County of Los Angeles is encouraged to attend.

Website: http://bikevotela.org/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105179589521909&ref=ts

Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/bikevotela

Category: General / Tags: , ,

A tragedy in Colorado; and a reminder that helmets don’t always make a difference

May 6, 2010 / / 3 comments

Former U.S. Cycling Team member Allison Kellagher died days after colliding with a pedestrian in a Boulder, CO crosswalk.

Kellagher, who counseled others after overcoming addiction, was riding with her husband Saturday night when another couple activated the crosswalk warning lights and stepped out into the street. Reports indicate that she failed to see the flashing lights and clipped a man, causing her to lose control and crash into the roadway; the pedestrian suffered only minor injuries.

And yes, she was wearing a helmet.

Those cracks may look small, but without the helmet, they might have been in my head.

Too many people — cyclists and non-riders alike — assume that helmets are the key to bike safety, but a helmet alone can’t keep you safe. Even the most expensive bike helmets are designed to provide full protection against impacts up to 12 mph, and partial protection up to 20 mph. Above that, it’s nothing more than a fancy hat.

While the standards refer to the force with which your head hits the ground or some other object, that does have a strong correlation to your speed and the speed of the any vehicle you might collide with.

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself riding at well over 20 mph — and don’t know many motorists who drive slower than that.

At the same time, mandatory helmet laws may do more harm than good; statistics suggest that Sweden’s helmet law is discouraging children from riding.

Don’t get me wrong. I would never suggest that you shouldn’t wear a helmet.

In fact, I’ve often credited my helmet with saving my life during the infamous beachfront bee encounter a few years ago. But that’s exactly what helmets are designed for — the kind of relatively slow speed impact that’s most likely to occur when you fall or collide with a slow moving vehicle.

It will not protect you at higher speeds, and it will not prevent trauma to any other part of the body.

In other words, a helmet may help, but it’s not your best protection as a rider.

Staying safe means remaining alert and vigilant at all times, riding defensively and improving your skills in order to avoid collisions in the first place.

And never forgetting that even the most skilled and experienced riders can make mistakes.

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The newly formed League of Bicycling Voters LA will have its first organizational meeting at 10:30 am on Saturday, May 15th, in room 1347 of the UCLA Law School building. Anyone who bikes and is eligible to vote in the County of Los Angeles is encouraged to attend.

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SCAG plans improvements to La Cienega Blvd through Baldwin Hills, but evidently doesn’t consider bike and pedestrian infrastructure improvements. Green LA Girl is giving away free tickets to the Long Beach Bike Film Festival if you comment today. Not every woman rider needs help crossing the street. More on the successful Hollywood e-bike rental program. Sharrows, bike lanes and landscaping, oh my. U.S. Airways destroys a RAAM competitor’s $9000 carbon bike. America’s leading chronicler of biking collisions and how to avoid them has his hand-made custom bike stolen; fingers crossed that you’ll get it back soon, Opus. Just 3.9% of road stimulus spending went towards non-motorized transportation.  Lance’s new Team RadioShack and Trek join up to ride for cancer survivors. High school team bike racing takes root in the U.S. Is the bike man’s greatest invention, or does it only seem that way sometimes? A Boulder County Sheriff’s Deputy gets a ticket after hitting a cyclist in the bike lane. U.S. DOT Secretary Ray LaHood says hands-free devices don’t make safer drivers. NYC bike policy is clearly working as ridership rises and injuries drop. Florida cyclists urge the governor to veto a new bill that includes mandatory bike lane use and opens bike paths to motorized vehicles. Cyclists should be allowed to pay registration fees if it comes with insurance coverage. Bike events around the world; personally, I’m looking forward to next month’s World Naked Bike Ride. A Brit driver loses his license for a whole year for carelessly killing a cyclist. A pedestrian is injured after stepping in front of a cyclist on a controversial English cycling path.

Finally, for those who may have missed it, Yehuda Moon — the bike world’s own online daily comic strip — is back after a brief break, effectively chronicling the cycling community’s newest hero. And this one is a classic. Seriously.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Unsafe at any speed

May 5, 2010 / / 9 comments

Just one day after I got back in the saddle, I found myself sitting in an L.A. courthouse, a winner — or loser, depending on your perspective — in the annual jury duty lottery.

It quickly became clear I wouldn’t be serving on the case for which I was called.

It was a simple traffic case, resulting in injury. And I was just a little too knowledgeable about traffic issues, and too open in expressing my opinions, for the comfort of either attorney.

What struck me, though, was when the judge asked if anyone in the jury pool, or a close friend or relative, had ever been involved in a collision resulting in significant injury. Almost every hand shot up; the only one that didn’t belonged to the only person in the room who had never held a drivers license.

What followed was a litany of auto-involved mayhem. A grandfather killed while bicycling, a neighbor who died behind the wheel just last week. Others spoke of undergoing years of physical therapy, while some were still undergoing treatment.

I told about the time my car was rear-ended while waiting at a red light, resulting in recurring back problems that continue two decades later. Yet somehow, I forgot about the injuries from the road rage incident that happened while I was riding.

I purposely left out the childhood case in which my cousin fell, or tried to escape, a car driven by her intoxicated father, landing in directly in front of the rear wheel and resulting in a death no one in her family ever recovered from.

Or another incident my senior year of high school, when a lifelong friend was killed after a drunk driver crossed a 20’ wide highway median to hit his car head on.

As a cyclist, I’ve never been anti-car. The truth is, I love to drive; the only thing that approaches the joy I feel on a good ride is cruising down an open road in the middle of the night with the radio playing and the dark filled with endless possibilities.

Yet yesterday’s experience drove home, once and for all, just how extensive the harm caused by cars truly is, touching virtually everyone in our society.

We’ve spent half a century making safety improvements that increase the survivability of the auto occupants, yet have done virtually nothing to reduce the frequency of collisions or the risk to those outside the vehicle.

The focus always seems to be on making the car safer, even though the overwhelming majority of collisions are caused, as my dad liked to say, by the loose nut behind the wheel.

As a society, we’ve become far too comfortable in our cars, losing the sense that the vehicles we rely on every day are dangerous machines.

We text and talk on cell phones, believing we can still drive safely even while acknowledging that others can’t. And routinely ignore laws designed for everyone’s safety — including our own — to the point that a gas company decides it’s a good marketing position to insist they’re on the drivers’ side by creating an app to get out of tickets.

Yes, it’s a joke.

But the problem is that violating the law is so commonplace that we’re all in on the joke.

And did you notice the disclaimer — in white on a light colored background — that says the best way to avoid a ticket is not to speed? I didn’t until I watched it online several times, despite seeing this same spot on TV countless times each day.

The problem is, as traffic-meister Tom Vanderbilt noted the other day, that a drivers license is too easy to get and too hard to lose.

Yet stiffer penalties that would get bad drivers off the road — or cause most drivers to change their behavior behind the wheel — are unlikely to pass anytime soon because most people don’t see a problem, or any viable alternatives to driving.

And instead of focusing on the harm caused by dangerous drivers, auto organizations have a knee-jerk reaction to any loss of pavement that creates space for other road users.

But we have to do something.

Because we’ve reached the point where 40,000 +/- deaths each year is considered an acceptable cost just to get from here to there.

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I’m really starting to like the idea of DIY group rides; after all, you need something to do while you wait for next month’s River Ride. Next up is Will Campbell’s Watts Happening Ride, while L.A. Cycle Chic plans the Moms Ride for May 16.

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Writing for CicLAvia, Joe Linton follows Janette Sadik-Khan’s comments by suggesting 12 cheap bike projects L.A. could do right now, and note also that Bikes Belong has written CicLAvia a nice big check — literally. Meanwhile, Joe also takes a spin up Orange County’s Aliso Creek. Enci Box suggests adequate bike parking would make L.A. a more bike friendly city. L.A.’s best guide to hometown tourism reminds us the Amgen Tour of California will be coming to town May 22nd. Courtesy of my friend at Altadenablog comes word that a mountain biker fell 50 feet from a Mt. Lowe trail over the weekend. The Glendale Narrows Riverwalk project is finally going to happen, including a multipurpose walk and bike trail. Bicycling tells you how to avoid five common cycling collisions; that’s just a normal ride in L.A. They take away a lane in Milwaukee, and the world doesn’t come to an end. Evidently, Germans don’t need cycle tracks, and neither do the women of Chester County, PA. A fund has been set up for a woman rider seriously injured during a Critical Mass in South Florida. Navigating New Orleans by bike. Cincinnati plans to double the number of cyclists by 2015, while L.A. has no idea how many cyclists we have now. London cyclists offer an 8-point plan to Beat the Thief.

Finally, it has nothing to do with bicycling — other than being my favorite epithet for rude drivers — but this article from the Yale Law Review, by way of LA Observed, is one of the funniest things I’ve read in years.

Category: Best of, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Roadway Courtesy / Tags: , , ,

I’m back in the saddle again

May 3, 2010 / / 3 comments

Back when I lived in Denver, the company I was working for announced it would be going out of business in a few months.

The local economy was in the tank, as Denver struggled to shift from a cyclical oil-based marketplace to a more diversified model, and it was clear that I wasn’t likely to find work anytime soon.

So I marked date on my calendar, and promised myself I’d take a solo ride from Denver to Key West if I didn’t find work by then. And I started training, riding at least 50 miles a day, every day — sun, rain, sometimes even snow; 25 miles before work, 25 after, and 50, 60 or more on my days off; often more after I was laid off.

My target date came and went; and I began to seriously prepare for my ride. Then a few weeks from my planned departure, a bout of overconfidence led to my first serious riding accident, resulting in a broken arm and painful road rash from ankle to chin. My ride was canceled; a job offer and a move to San Diego soon followed.

Once healed, I settled into the same pattern there — 25 miles before work, 25 after, 50 or more on the weekend. Except now I wasn’t training for anything, just riding.

A few years later, I was getting ready to ride on morning when it suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t want to. When I tried to remember the last time I really enjoyed riding, I came up blank.

So I put my bike back and quit cold turkey for a few months.

Then one day, I was surprised to discover that I actually wanted to get on my bike again, and went out for an easy spin. The sun was shining, birds were singing, dolphins were playing in the bay.

And it felt good to be back in the saddle again.

I was thinking about that today, because a bad bout with bronchitis had kept me off my bike for the last couple weeks. Even though I wasn’t feeling 100% yet, it was a beautiful day and I wanted to ride. So I took an easy spin down to the beach, keeping my speed down and my distance well below my usual 30 or more miles.

Still, I was pretty shaky, which became clear when I tried to pass a couple of DWP trucks that were blocking most of the bike path so they could work on the overhead wires. Someone stepped out from between the trucks, and instead of easily swerving past, as I normally would, I found myself sailing off into the sand.

My speed carried me a little more than a bike length off the path before the deep, soft sand grabbed my wheels, momentarily freezing me in time and space. It quickly became clear I was going to fall; the only question was how much it was going to hurt.

Out of habit, I automatically clipped out on the right side, just as my bike began a comically slow fall to the left, taking a good three seconds or more to land. To their credit, the workers didn’t laugh, even as I lay there like a beached whale trying to clip out on the other side.

I’m not sure I would have been able to maintain the same self-control if the bike shoe had been on the other foot.

Fortunately, the slow speed and soft surface prevented any injuries, while the left-side landing kept the sand out of my components. So I eventually righted myself and brushed off the sand, and continued on my way.

I seemed to gain strength as I rode, though, and finished the ride feeling better and more confident than I had started it.

Once again, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, dolphins were playing in the bay.

And it felt good to be back in the saddle again.

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Santa Monica burnishes it’s bike-friendly credentials by turning one-sixth mile of Ocean Park Blvd. into a “complete green street;” in L.A., we’re still waiting for sharrows. LAPD takes a case where a motorist flees the scene after injuring a pedestrian far more seriously than a similar case involving a cyclist; the comments reveal another cyclist-involved case the authorities ignored. UC Riverside police plan to crack down on cyclists, rather than the people who drive the big, dangerous vehicles. Robert Downey Jr. on bike, with gun. A Baltimore writer says sharing the road is hardly a hardship, asking “How would Jesus Drive?”; a reader responds calling it “condescending, holier-than-thou commentary.” Only in Massachusetts — a Republican candidate actually rides a bike in a campaign ad. Innovative city bike design from someone who has clearly never ridden one. Alejandro Valverde tops the world rankings while cycling’s governing body tries to build a doping case against him.

Finally, in Copenhagen, they take pavement from cars in the middle of the night; sounds like the mirror image of the U.S.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

Fresh hot links to start your week

May 3, 2010 / / Comments Off on Fresh hot links to start your week

In honor of National Bike Month, AAA urges drivers not to kill us. As little as five minutes of green exercise — like biking — can boost your mood and self esteem. Times’ columnist Steve Lopez stalks distracted drivers with the LAPD. A cyclist is killed in a collision with a mini-van in Sacramento. Bicycling down the Las Vegas strip. A 67-year old Illinois woman gets a whopping 42 21 days behind bars for intentionally impaling a cyclist’s bike on her bumper. Wichita considers revising its bike laws. For one day, New York cyclists rule the Five Boros. A pedestrian in my hometown pleads with cyclists not to warn him when they’re passing. A look at Denver’s veteran bike couriers. Paris prepares for a bold plan to ban cars from the banks of the Seine. A new Brit website caters to women cyclists, promising absolution for all your cycling sins. Brit cyclists don’t pay the Road Tax, then again, no one else has for 73 years. Biking in suits to take back the streets of Bucharest. A Kiwi rider competes in the Japanese full-contact keirin bike racing.

Finally, a New York cyclist stops for red lights just to see if it can be done, and finds it rather pleasant — even if little old ladies leave him in their dust.

Category: General / Tags: , ,

Cyclists shot in Koreatown bike theft; LAPD didn’t think you needed to know

April 30, 2010 / / 5 comments

Evidently, “protect and serve” doesn’t necessarily mean inform.

As in giving us the information we need to protect ourselves — like the fact that there’s a potentially homicidal thief targeting cyclists.

Just when you think the LAPD’s relationship with the cycling community has finally turned the corner, comes word that two cyclists have been shot by a bike thief in Koreatown.

Almost a month ago.

At a time when many cyclists have had enough and have begun fighting back against bike thieves, the Los Angeles Police Department has known for nearly four weeks that at least one thief was willing to kill in order to get away with his prize.

The incident occurred at about 3 am on April 4th when two cyclists stopped at a catering truck at the intersection of Pico Blvd and Westmoreland Avenue, and left their bikes unlocked and unguarded while they bought food. Two thieves walked up and grabbed the bikes while they were distracted; the police have surveillance video showing one of the thieves snatching the bike.

When the cyclists tried to stop them, one thief pulled out a handgun and shot the first victim twice, then fired at the second rider as they rode off on the victims’ bikes, hitting him in the shoulder.

The L.A. Times writes that the first rider suffered life-threatening injuries that kept him hospitalized until last week.

“They nearly killed him,” said LAPD Det. Dennis Bopp, who is investigating the shootings. “It was a crime of opportunity that turned to violence.”

According to the LAPD blog —

Both suspects are described as Hispanic between 17 to 19 years of age.  The first suspect stood between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 140 pounds.  He was last seen wearing a black shirt and blue jeans.

The second suspect stood between 5 feet 5 inches and 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighed 150 pounds.  He was last seen wearing a blue or black baseball cap, blue sweater with white long-sleeves with the letters ‘LA’ on the chest and blue jeans.

Video footage of one of the suspects was captured on tape and is available at www.lapdtv.org.

Anyone with information regarding this crime is urged to call Olympic gang detectives at  213-382-9430.

So let’s be careful out there. No matter how much you love it, a bike can be replaced.

Your life can’t.

And let’s hope that next time, the LAPD tells us when there’s something we need to know.

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In better news, police arrested three bike thieves at Sunset Blvd and Figueroa Street in Downtown L.A. when they attempted to steal two bikes while detectives were setting up a bicycle-theft sting operation. And in a final ironic touch, one of the bikes the thieves rode up on had been stolen from an L.A. County sheriff’s deputy in 2004.

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In weekend ride news, Flying Pigeon rolls to the Eagle Rock Brewery on Saturday, while Will Campbell kicks of the first ride in his Bike Every (Satur)Day in May with the 10 Bridges Ride. Saturday, May 1st also marks the beginning of Bike Month in Glendale, L.A.’s increasingly bike friendly neighbor to the north; city officials visit Berkeley for inspiration. And Sunday is your chance to celebrate the one year anniversary of Bike Day LA.

Meanwhile, Green LA Girl offers to help with the fund-raising for this year’s Brita Climate Ride for one woman who’s already registered.

Here’s your opportunity to Ride Like the Dutch at the upcoming Long Beach Bicycle Festival in the self-described most bicycle friendly city in America, May 7 – 9; I’d be happy if Los Angeles just aspired to be the most bike friendly city in the county, though that would require asking Long Beach to move to Orange County first.

And the next Streetsblog LA fundraiser rides June 18th starting at Flying Pigeon in Highland Park and following the former Red Car route.

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L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa says L.A. needs to walk and bike more. LADOT celebrates the council’s unanimous vote in favor of the city’s first bike corral. Semi-bike-friendly Santa Monica has big plans for more bike parking. A cyclist rides the Long Beach Bikeway Route 60 at the same time his biking brother gets hit by a car in San Diego, while a San Diego triathlete says cyclists need to embrace their vulnerability and stop blocking the lane. A non-standard — but clearly better — Share the Road sign appears in Tucson. Bike-friendly Salt Lake City gets a promotion. The bike lane that spurred the infamous Tony Kornheiser rant hits the street. New York authorities seek the identity of a cyclist killed in a collision with a car; a reminder to always carry ID when you ride. Starkville MS cyclists ride to protest a mandatory helmet law. Cannondale comes up with a very cool limited edition graffiti-style bike to benefit the Bahati Foundation. Ottawa needs to close car lanes to encourage cycling; well, who doesn’t? Eight Brit cyclists are fined for riding their bikes on a bike path. English footballer Frank Lampard — that’s soccer on this side of the pond — backs his Range Rover over a 14-year old’s bike, then hands over twice the bike’s value, in cash.

Finally, Traffic-meister Tom Vanderbilt says a drivers license is 2 easy to get, 2 hard to lose. I couldn’t agree more.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,

Ten percent set-aside, bike corrals pass; bloggers call for better — or new — LADOT leadership

April 28, 2010 / / 3 comments

According to Damien Newton at Streetsblog, the L.A. City Council passed the 10% set-aside for “people powered transportation” from the city’s share of Measure R funds by an 11 – 3 vote today.

But in a truly bizarre twist, LADOT — which has spent the last 14 years not building the previously approved projects in the 1996 bike plan — has no idea if they can actually spend the money, whether that turns out to be $3.2 million or the $5.35 million shown in our newly bike-friendly Mayor’s budget.

Which may be the first time — in my knowledge, at least — that a city department has gone out of it’s way to resist additional funding.

Speaking for the LADOT was Mike Uyeno, who was joined by Maria Souza-Rountree from the Chief Legislative Analyst Office.  Time and again, Council Members asked if the LADOT would be able to spend Measure R Local Return funds that were set-aside.  Time and again, Uyeno gave an answer somewhere between “no” and “I don’t know.”  For example:

Councilman Paul Koretz asked:

Is there any chance at all that we’ll be unable to spend the 10% on bike and pedestrian needs.

Uyeno answered

I’m not sure. It depends what staffing becomes available. Not sure what ped. projects are out there in the department. There’s just a lot of open ends in this anymore.

In all fairness, the recent budget cuts have reduced the department’s staffing. But for the first time in memory, LADOT has both the funding and the political backing to actually accomplish something in terms of biking projects. And the best they can come up with is “I don’t know?”

I’d suggest giving LADOT’s leadership 30 days to come back with a plan to spend every penny of that money, effectively, efficiently and productively. And if they can’t do that, then it’s time to hire someone who can, or maybe just do what others have suggested and eliminate the department entirely.

No excuses.

Speaking of which, Damien tells LADOT’s Rita Robinson to stop making excuses and just try something already; while LAist’s Josh Behrens asks if it’s time this city got a new transportation leader.

Anyone think NYDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan is ready to come home and take on a real challenge?

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After a seemingly ridiculous amount of debate and delay, the City Council gave unanimous approval to the city’s first bike corral yesterday. This project had the full support of virtually everyone — with the possible exception of LADOT — including the Highland Park business owner who asked for one in front his Café de Leche.

Now the question is whether LADOT will support and implement the project, or if they will drag their feet until this turns into another sharrows project.

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In local bike news, an unidentified hero bicyclist finished a police chase for them, as he ran down a suspected drunk driver who had taken off running after colliding with another vehicle during a police pursuit. Kudos to the cyclist, but standard advice is to point out the bad guys and let the police do the actual apprehension. Thanks to Jim Lyle for the heads-up.

And hats off to Jason Alexander — not for colliding with a 14-year old cyclist on his way to school — but for doing the right thing and staying with the rider until the paramedics arrived. The collision occurred at Wilshire and June Street near Hancock Park, and the rider was taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries; no word yet on how it happened, but Alexander was not cited and police sources suggest he was not at fault.

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Our bike-friendly U.S. Secretary of Transportation — no matter how many times I write that, it still seems strange — says the one thing we know for sure about biking infrastructure is that people want it, and calls for a nationwide interstate biking network. As a result, he gets some love from cyclists, but the way some people react, you’d think he was suggesting that we move freight by bike instead of trucks.

………

Congratulations to the LACBC’s Dorothy Le, as Grist recognizes her as one of 40 people who are redefining green. While the city dithers over bike share, a Hollywood man succeeds with an e-bike rental program. If Santa Monica truly wants to be a bike-friendly city, their departments need to communicate with each other — even during construction projects. Upcoming family bike and pedestrian events in Culver City. The Anonymous Cyclist says time’s running out to get your stickers. That two miles of new bike lanes striped in Long Beach over the weekend marked the completion of the city’s 33-mile bike loop. AAA says California drivers are still texting despite a state-wide ban.

New York bike advocates question the city’s bike count. Denver opens a bike-through coffee window, while a cyclist in neighboring Boulder is hit by a car while riding in a crosswalk marked by flashing lights. New Braunfels TX passes a new law requiring drivers to change lanes if they encounter a vulnerable road user, or pass with a minimum of three feet on two lane roads. Minnesota’s governor signs a law giving cyclists the right to ride though red lights that don’t change. In a bizarre case, a DC-area mom deliberately runs down her cyclist son.

A British driver is accused of murder after intentionally running down a cyclist who damaged his mirror. The three-foot movement spreads to the UK, and takes on a lovely shade of Pepto-Bismol pink. A writer asks if spandex bike shorts are too revealing; obviously, she didn’t grow up with Speedos. The Queen honors Brompton for her birthday. Be careful who you accuse of doping Down Under. Auckland maps out areas cyclists might want to avoid; thanks to the Trickster for the link. A writer in Toronto challenges the precepts of Vehicular Cycling; part two should be very interesting. Now Lexus is getting in on the high-concept bike design trend…yawn.

Finally, 84% of Brits surveyed by a motorists’ group say more money, not more laws, will make cyclists safer; 82% say registration and licensing is a bad idea, and only 1% support mandatory helmet laws.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , ,

An open letter to the L.A. City Council — what do you want your legacy to be?

April 28, 2010 / / 4 comments

It’s really not that hard a question.

Do you want to leave this city better than you found it when your time on the council is over? Or do you want to continue down the same failed path that has brought L.A. gridlocked streets and declining neighborhoods?

Either way, your vote on Wednesday for or against the 10% set-aside for biking and pedestrian projects in the local return portion of Measure R should be clear.

You can vote to continue the same car-oriented culture that threatens to destroy our city, while leavening it with just enough expensive transit projects to maybe, almost keep up with anticipated growth. Or you can take a seemingly small shift in direction that will set L.A. on a pathway to less congestion, better health and improved livability.

It’s your call.

You can question — as Councilmember Smith did last week — whether enough people walk and bike to justify the expenditure.

Or you can accept the results of the U.S. Department of Transportation study that says 27.3% of all Americans over the age of 16 rode a bike at least once in 2002 — before the recent boom in cycling. Or maybe the statistics cited by Bikes Belong that say 16% of American adults ride a bike in any given month.

That’s a lot more than 10%. And that’s just bikes.

Any guess how many able-bodied Americans walk during the course of their day?

It’s not like this city doesn’t have hundreds, if not thousands, of shovel-ready projects waiting for funding. Just ask the council’s representative from LADOT how many projects included in the 1996 bike plan still haven’t been built. All that’s lacking is a commitment to build them and the funding to do it.

And you can take care of both before this day is over.

In fact, biking and pedestrian projects are remarkably affordable. You could build every project recommended in the new bike plan for a fraction of what it will cost to extend the subway to Westwood. Or the $450 million currently being invested to gain a little short-term traffic relief on the 405 Freeway over the Sepulveda Pass.

Or have you forgotten how nice it used to be to drive on the 105 and 215 Freeways before increased demand overwhelmed the increase in capacity?

On the other hand, maybe you think driving is good for business.

I suspect the merchants on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade or Old Town Pasadena would argue otherwise, with their highly profitable clientele drawn almost exclusively by the walkability of those areas. Even the businesses on busy Hollywood Boulevard benefit far more from the crowds who wander down the sidewalks as opposed to those who drive past on the crowded street.

Now imagine what it would be like if it didn’t take an unpleasant drive on frequently gridlocked streets just to get there.

In fact, cities across the country are shifting from drive-through mode to walkable, bikeable, complete streetscapes. Even New York City has discovered the benefits of closing Broadway to vehicular traffic, making it one of the most popular destinations in the city.

Speaking of New York, that city — one of the most crowded and built-out in the nation — recently tripled the number of bike lanes on its streets. So much for the argument that L.A. is too built-out for bike projects.

That also answers the question of whether people will actually use those bike and pedestrian facilities if they’re built. Because New York — which, unlike Los Angeles, actually counts the number of bicyclists who ride on its streets, so they don’t have to guess — saw a 28% increase in ridership last year alone.

Or consider the crowded, crooked streets of New Orleans, where a new bike lane on St. Claude Avenue resulted in a 44% increase in male bicyclists. And a 133% increase in women riders.

If you build it, they will come. And every rider on a bike represents one car that isn’t on the streets. Isn’t that something Los Angeles could clearly benefit from?

How you vote today is up to you.

But few decisions you will ever make in your political career will have a greater impact on the future livability of this city.

Or on the legacy you’ll leave behind.

I had planned to speak in support of the 10% Measure R set-aside for biking and pedestrian projects at Wednesday’s City Council meeting, but a bout with bronchitis will keep me confined to home — and off my bike — for the next few days. So I’ll let this do my talking for me. Come back later for links and other interesting items.

Category: General / Tags: , , ,

Can a driver be at fault if he doesn’t actually hit you?

April 26, 2010 / / 9 comments

Let’s say you’re driving your car.

I know, but just go with me here, even if you’re of the car-free persuasion.

You’re approaching an intersection and have the green light. Suddenly, a car blows through the red light on the cross street, forcing you to jam on the brakes and swerve to avoid it, only to collide with the car next to you.

So who’s at fault?

Is it your fault? The car you hit? Or the one who broke the law and caused you both to take evasive action?

I think most reasonable people would conclude that the red light-runner should be held responsible, even though he wasn’t directly involved in the collision. And based on previous cases I’ve been aware of, I think most police officers would agree.

Now consider a similar situation, in which a driver darts out of a driveway directly in front of you, causing you to collide with another car as you react to avoid it. But fortunately, someone was able to chase the driver down and urge him to return to the scene of the accident he caused.

Again, most people would conclude that the driver who broke the law by cutting you off would be responsible for causing the collision. But is it hit-and-run if he didn’t actually hit anyone?

Now let’s use your imagination one more time.

Let’s say you’re on your bike, riding in the bike lane, when that car darts out in front of you. So you try to make a panic stop, and end up flipping over your handlebars and crashing to the street with a broken collarbone, while the driver who caused it calmly drives off.

Fortunately, a witness sees it happen and chases the driver down. But the driver refuses to return to the scene, insisting that it’s not hit-and-run because she didn’t hit anyone.

That’s exactly what happened on Sunset Boulevard in Silverlake yesterday.

As Stephen Box tells the story, the witness flagged down a passing police car, and the driver ultimately returned to the scene. But the police inexplicably concluded that not only did the driver not flee the scene, but that no violation occurred. No report, no crime.

This, despite a clear violation of CVC 21804, as Box points out —

21804. (a) The driver of any vehicle about to enter or cross a highway from any public or private property, or from an alley, shall yield the right-of-way to all traffic, as defined in Section 620, approaching on the highway close enough to constitute an immediate hazard, and shall continue to yield the right-of-way to that traffic until he or she can proceed with reasonable safety.

And yes, a bicycle is traffic.

As he explains —

1) The motorist violated the cyclist’s right of way.
2) The violation of the cyclist’s right of way caused the cyclist to take evasive action resulting in injury.
3) The motorist left the scene of an “incident” that was her responsibility.

Of course, any cyclist could tell you that the driver was responsible. But two police officers, the division Watch Commander and a traffic division Watch Commander concluded otherwise.

Which is why police officers need better training, not only in bike rights and law, but in bicycle accident investigation. Because a driver making a panic stop without hitting anyone isn’t likely to result in any injuries. But a cyclist responding to a careless, law-breaking driver can.

And did.

It’s also one more reason why we need to change the law in California to ensure that any cyclist riding legally in a bike lane enjoys the same level of liability protection as a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Because the mere presence of a bike lane — or sharrows, for that matter — should be adequate notice to any driver to anticipate cyclists, just as a crosswalk suggests the presence of pedestrians.

And you should have a right to be safe when you’re doing what you’re supposed to do, exactly where you’re supposed to be.

………

I’ve received an unconfirmed report that the cyclist involved in the hit-and-run on Oxnard Street April 16th has died. If anyone has more information, let me know.

………

This time, a drunken hit-and-run driver kills a teenage pedestrian and seriously injures her friend.

………

Josef Bray-Ali writes in the Los Angeles Business Journal that L.A. needs to change its parking policies to allow bike parking instead of cars.Will hears, and witnesses the aftermath, of a dooring (even though the cyclist didn’t want to involve the police, the driver could still face hit-and-run charges later if she fails to report it). Altadenablog covers the Mt. Wilson Bicycling Association’s pancake breakfast over the weekend. Courtesy of The Source, Grist’s look at what a car-free metro L.A. could look like; as The Source says, “The point is to show how much space is taken up by roadways and how little that leaves behind for those things known as pedestrians and cyclists.” A 57-year old cyclist dies of a heart attack in San Jose during the Mt. Hamilton Challenge. It seems pretty obvious that if you hit a cyclist, you didn’t observe the three-foot passing law. A Miami cyclist rear-ends a bus parked in the bike lane. A 70-year old Indiana driver turns directly into two cyclists, and swears she didn’t hit anyone. After people in a passing car throw a full drink at him, a South Bend cyclist thanks all those drivers who don’t, Experienced cyclists need to encourage less experienced riders. An Arizona woman says local drivers — and the police — just don’t understand cyclists. Tucson hands out free lights to ninja cyclists. A DC court rules it’s still drunk driving, even if you’re on a bike. The NY Times looks at the two-wheeled tribes of New York. Master framebuilder Dave Moulton writes about a 1940 Campy derailleur — which required reaching backwards and ratcheting the rear wheel. Vinokourov bounces back from a two-year doping ban with victory in the Liège-Bastogne-Liège; evidently, not everyone is pleased. Evidently, there are no fixie-riding hipsters in China. Brit bike thieves may just be joyriding, which could be why bike theft is up 8% while other crimes are down. London’s Guardian defends a new bike lane, noting that it’s standard width even if the resulting vehicle lane isn’t. An Ottawa rider gets goosed on the bike trail, literally. A Canadian widow wants to know why no ticket was written for the parked truck that killed her husband. A Vancouver cyclist turns outlaw by defying the mandatory helmet law.

Finally, after a cyclist is killed during his first bike race, his heart lives on in another rider, while a cyclist rides to promote blood donations three decades after receiving 110 pints to save his life. A reminder that, with a little forethought, some good can come from even the worst situations.

Category: General / Tags: , , , ,
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