Tag Archive for BOLO alert

BOLO alert for hit-and-run driver, council committee meeting considers Healthy Streets LA, and Biden takes a fall

June 20, 2022 / / One comment

Be on the lookout for a hit-and-run driver who left a bike-riding man with serious injuries last week.

According to the LAPD, the victim was struck by the driver of a 2006 burgundy Toyota Highlander around noon Wednesday, at the at the intersection of Olympic Boulevard and Mateo Street in DTLA.

The driver was described as a Hispanic male in his early 20s.

There is a standing $25,000 reward for any hit-and-run resulting in serious injuries in the City of Los Angeles.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Juan Campos, Central Traffic Detectives, at 213/833-3713, or email 31480@lapd.online.

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Mark your calendar for this Wednesday, when a joint session of the Los Angeles City Council’s Public Works and Transportation Committees will consider advancing Council President Nury Martinez’s motion to adopt the principles of the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal.

The proposal calls for building out the previously approved Mobility Plan 2035 whenever a street in the plan gets resurfaced; the city has currently built out just 3% of the plan in the seven years since it was adopted.

At that rate, they should call it Mobility Plan 2268, since that’s how long it would take the city to finish it.

If they actually did.

This proposal probably won’t have the teeth of the ballot proposal, which would require the city to carry it out.

But it’s still a big step forward, and would serve as a strong backup if the ballot measure fails at the ballot box this fall.

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President Joe Biden took a tumble off his bike Saturday when his foot got caught in a toe clip — something that’s happened to virtually anyone who has ever used them.

Fortunately, nothing but his pride was injured, although social media had a field day with it.

Surprisingly, even former President Donald Trump expressed his concern, while repeating his vow to never ride a bicycle.

Although the second part of that should surprise exactly no one.

Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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Robert Leone forwards word that Camp Pendleton will be doing construction work affecting the bike path through the base.

1. From 22 June to 8 July, there will be constructions on Vandegrift near the intersection of Stuart Mesa Rd/Ash St.  This construction will impact the bike path due to lane closure so cyclists need to be extra careful and maintain single file, per Base requirement.

2. From 9 July to 22 July, Vandengrift Rd west of the Stuart Mesa/Ash St intersection will be closed to inbound and outbound traffic 24/7 and that forces us to close the bike path from the Main gate to the Las Pulgas gate.

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Evidently, he did more than just play Auld Lang Syne every New Years.

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Once again, bike riders are heroes. A group of Forth Worth bicyclists paused in the middle of their weekly ride to rescue a dog who had been abandoned on a bridge support.

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This may be the best, if not strangest, 11 minutes of your day.

I mean, after all, who wouldn’t fall for someone with a flying bicycle?

Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link.

………

If you’re going to use an axel grinder to steal a bicycle in broad daylight, maybe make sure it doesn’t belong to a British Member of Parliament first.

https://twitter.com/helenhayes_/status/1537331125776941059

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This is who we share the schoolyard with.

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We may have to deal with aggressive SoCal drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about leopard attacks.

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

No bias here. San Diego’s CBS8 continues their steady drumbeat of negative stories about the city’s new bike lanes, this time citing confusion over the reverse angled parking protecting bike lanes on Park Blvd in University Heights.

British drivers are up in arms over bicyclists with helmet and bike cams capturing their bad driving and reporting them to the police. Or maybe it’s just the British tabloids trying to stir up trouble to sell more papers.

Meanwhile, a London columnist says blame bicyclists for “stoking the flames of the road culture war” with their bike cams. Evidently, because drivers don’t like to get caught breaking the law, let alone held accountable for it.

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

A Fairfield, California ex-con was arrested after using bear spray on a cop who tried to stop him; police found a nail gun converted to fire .22 caliber bullets in his backpack.

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Local

An adjunct professor from Pacific Oaks College makes the case for the Arroyo Link, which would be the city’s first protected bike and pedestrian path, connecting Old Town Pasadena with the Arroyo Seco.

A West Hollywood man found healing on his first AIDS/LifeCycle ride following the death of his twin brother from the disease.

 

State 

Unbelievable. San Diego continues to destroy bicycles as part of their homeless camp cleanups. Never mind that they might need them for transportation, or that the bikes might actually belong to someone else.

A 27-year old former UCLA soccer player is riding a bike again thanks to San Diego’s Blind Stoker’s Club, after a stage 3 malignant brain melanoma left him blind, and with cognitive, memory and speech issues.

Sad news from Oakland, where a 42-year old father was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding bikes with his two young sons, who were uninjured; the city received funding for a protected bike lane on the street six years ago, but never moved forward with it.

 

National

The National Transportation Safety Board, aka NTSB, examines how Helsinki, Finland achieved zero pedestrian deaths — along with Hoboken, New Jersey. Apparently, something that can only be achieved by cities starting with H.

Outside says plan to spend around $100 to $160 on your next mountain bike helmet.

Sad news from Illinois, where a Schuyler County judge was killed when his bike was rear-ended by a 73-year old driver in a bigass pickup.

A 32-year old Detroit man remains missing, three years after he disappeared while riding his bike.

Hundreds of Boston women are learning to ride bikes, as the city builds more protected bike lanes.

Yet another motoring mass casualty event, when a driver in Buffalo, New York plowed into a group of three women riding bicycles, killing one and seriously injuring the other two; the driver kept going until she crashed into a pair of parked cars.

Actress Julia Fox is one of us, riding an ebike in her revealing red carpet outfit to get to a friend’s screening at the Tribeca Film Festival.

A 34-year old Florida woman faces charges for killing a man riding bikes with his father outside Key West while she was high on meth.

 

International

Bike Radar offers a buyer’s guide to balance bikes for discerning toddlers.

More bad news, this time from Mexico City, where a 22-year old Mormon missionary was killed when he crashed his bike falling on a steep, slippery hill.

A new $1,200 British ebike conversion kit uses a disc brake rotor to power your bike.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a woman received just 15 months behind bars for killing a bike rider while illegally using her cellphone.

A shortage of nighttime taxis has led to a 41% increase in drunk bicycling in Seoul, Korea, as people turn to the city’s bikeshare system instead.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews anoints 20-year old Brit Leo Hayter the next big thing, following his win at the Giro d’Italia Giovani Under 23, otherwise known as the Baby Giro. Raise your hand if you even knew that was a thing.

Fears rise that Covid could put this year’s Tour de France at risk after the disease tore through the peloton at the Tour de Suisse, causing around 30 riders to abandon the race.

Cycling Weekly looks at the early adopters who are carving out a career in gravel racing.

Pro cyclist Colin Strickland says he’s shellshocked to find himself in the middle of a fatal love triangle, as police allege his girlfriend, Kaitlin Armstrong, killed gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson in a fit of jealousy.

 

Finally…

Who needs pedals when you have a drone to power your bike? Your next ebike could transform into a kick scooter, as long as you’re willing to do without pedals.

And let’s see you do this while pedaling.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Morning Links: Mad as hell drivers and they’re not going to take it anymore, and BOLO Alert for CA bike thief

February 6, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Mad as hell drivers and they’re not going to take it anymore, and BOLO Alert for CA bike thief

Talk about not getting it.

A self-described “avid cyclist” — and, ahem, president and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association — just doesn’t get why the automobile has become a public enemy, arguing that a fundamentally American freedom is under attack.

You know, the freedom for drivers to spew smog into the air with your gas guzzling SUV, which is right up there with freedom of speech or religion.

Except virtually every argument he makes for why the state shouldn’t adopt California’s clean air standard works against him.

Maybe he’s never tried to breath Denver’s air during one of the city’s frequent winter temperature inversions. Let alone heard of climate change.

Then there’s this tired old myth.

Meanwhile, some cities have put their drivers on forced road diets. They are reducing lanes available to drivers on key arterial streets.

Part of the motivation is to increase bicycle and bus lanes. But again, this gift comes at a cost to drivers. The goal is to discourage driving by intentionally reducing capacity and creating traffic congestion by design. Backers say it’s more “people friendly” — at least for people who don’t need to drive.

The bottom line is they want to force more residents to use alternative transportation by making driving as unpleasant as possible.

Because those road diets couldn’t possibly be about slowing traffic and keeping those people in cars alive long enough to get back home.

Or reducing congestion so that people who need to drive, or simply choose to, can actually get where they’re going in a timely manner.

But maybe that’s what happens when you only see the world through the perspective of your own windshield while driving your bike hundreds of miles to that distant trailhead.

Not to mention when your own bank account depends on convincing other people to buy those bigass trucks and SUVs.

But hey, no bias there.

Right?

………

Then again, he’s not the only one.

A writer for a motorists’ website devoted to maintaining automobiles über alles says recreational roadies are okay, but those urban bike advocates are just Vision Zero zealots dedicated to forcing poor, innocent drivers like himself off the roads. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

And credit Peter Flax with uncovering gem from a guy who’s not going to let the sick tyranny of a small minority of anti-car extremists push him onto disease-filled public transit.

No, really.

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Bike thief BOLO alert.

Fresno police are urging you to be on the lookout for 32-year old alleged bike thief Marlon Markham, who is wanted for buying bicycles with fraudulent credit cards under a variety of names throughout California.

He then reportedly sells the bikes online.

In addition to the Central Valley, he’s struck in the Bay Area, and in Burbank and Huntington Beach in SoCal.

Photo from Bicycle Retailer

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Local

Metro Bike begins what so far is a very limited expansion into Koreatown.

State

Friends and family members gathered at the ghost bike for fallen Aliso Viejo bike rider Michael David Tomlinson for a candlelight vigil and to remember him, nearly a week after he was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Over 40 military veterans took part in the annual Soldier Ride in Del Mar over the weekend, sponsored by the Wounded Warrior Project.

Berkeley plans a Complete Streets makeover of a popular bicycling route to support and grow the city’s 8.5% bike rate. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

Streetsblog notes that Oakland has finally gotten it right on protecting bike riders in a construction zone. On one block, anyway.

A Richmond paper examines how the city’s Rich City Rides co-op helps transform lives one bike at a time — exemplified by a 15-year old homeless boy who searches the city for kids without bikes to help them earn one.

Once again, an independent student newspaper at UC Davis mistakenly thinks that violence against bike riders is funny, publishing what they believe passes for satire about someone kicking bikeshare riders off their ebikes.

A Davis judge rules that a bike seat can be a deadly weapon, after a father and son were attacked by a man who threw his bike at them after removing the seat, then used the seat as weapon.

National

Singletracks offers tips on how to reduce your risk of injuries from mountain bike crashes. The most effective way is just don’t ride mountain bikes, but that kind of defeats the purpose.

City Lab says the micromobility gold rush is just beginning.

In a move that really shouldn’t surprise anyone, Utah’s legislature hit the brakes on a proposal to legalize the Idaho Stop in the state.

In yet another example of keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, an allegedly drunk San Antonio hit-and-run driver had a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated, but with no record of a trial or guilty plea; her victim was a local surgeon. Thanks to Stephen Katz for the tip.

A 72-year old Wisconsin driver faces a vehicular homicide charge for the death of a bike-riding pediatrician, claiming he couldn’t brake in time to prevent the crash — even though he rear-ended the victim while driving half off the road.

Someone should tell Bowling Green, Ohio that sharrows aren’t Complete Streets.

Two years later, Pittsburgh bike riders and pedestrians still feel safer sharing the road with self-driving vehicles than with human drivers, whether or not they’ve actually encountered one.

Bikeshare continues its spread across the US, as Portland — no, the one in Maine — moves towards establishing their own system.

DC moves to protect pedestrians and bicyclists by banning right turns on red lights at 100 intersections.

A University of Florida study shows that Strava really can be used to help city planners design better bikeways.

International

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to avoid back and shoulder pain caused by riding a bike.

Seriously? A Canadian judge acquits a truck driver, saying sure, he had to have seen the bike rider he killed before he right hooked her, but that doesn’t mean he actually, you know, noticed her. Oh, and that failure to signal or wait for the green turn arrow? No biggie.

Calgary’s winter bicyclists get new bike racks that are part bike parking, part public art. I’ll settle for anything that actually keeps my bike safe. Like maybe a fully operational tank.

A Hamilton, Ontario columnist misses the point, saying you can’t redesign roads to get rid of reflexive carelessness or stupidity. Even though that’s exactly the idea behind Vision Zero, to engineer roads so careless mistakes don’t lead to needless tragedies.

Life is cheap in Canada, where a careless driver who killed one bike rider and injured two others walks with a lousy $1,800 fine.

A British 14-time Paralympic gold medallist gets it, saying build bike lanes that are fit for everyone, and not just the brave.

The family of a fallen UK bike rider complain about the six-year sentence given to the driver who killed her while “extremely drunk” and high on coke.

An Irish driver will face charges for plowing into a club ride in 2017, killing one rider and critically injuring another.

Kiwi bicyclists complained about over 100 close passes by bus drivers last year. Although it’s not so easy to complain about getting knocked over when you can’t find out what bus company did it.

The Philippine legislature is considering the equivalent of a nearly five-foot passing law, with penalties starting at $95 for the first offense, and increasing with each additional violation.

Speaking of the Philippines, is anyone really in the mood to bike the full route of the infamous Bataan Death March? Didn’t think so.

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews offers their thoughts on the upcoming Amgen Tour of California, saying the men’s side will come down to Peter Sagan versus Fernando Gaviria, while the women will face their first hors categorie climb with the Mt. Baldy finish.

Former world champion mountain biker Hans Rey has helped provide more than 11,000 free bicycles to people in 30 countries through his Wheels4Life charity.

Finally…

Try taking your bike off the roof rack before going through a drive-thru next time. Sure, he may be an armed robber — and a Chargers fan — but anyone who makes his getaway by bike can’t be all bad.

And the SaMo PD posse was in full pursuit of a stolen car.

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

Morning Links: BOLO Alert for bike-riding sexual assault suspect, and road and bike rage rears their ugly head

April 24, 2018 / / 2 comments

Beverly Hills police are asking for the public’s help in identifying a bike-riding sexual assault suspect who attempted to rape a woman early Sunday morning near the Beverly Hilton at Wilshire and Santa Monica Blvds.

He is described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, around 5’6″ with black hair pulled back in a ponytail and facial hair, riding a red single speed bicycle.

Police think someone in the bike community may know him due to his riding skills.

Anyone with information is urged to call BHPD detectives at 310/285-2158.

Security cam photos from Beverly Hills Police Department.

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Today’s common theme: road rage and bike rage rears their ugly head.

This is who we share the roads with. A driver in DTLA intentionally ran down four pedestrians because he was mad that they woke him up from a nap in his car.

A DC bike advocacy group discusses trail etiquette after a man was deliberately knocked off his bike by a rider passing in the opposite direction.

Bike anger rages even in the Netherlands, where a mountain biker pushed an 80-year old man off his bicycle after the older man complained about getting cut off. Seriously, it takes a special kind of jerk to attack an 80-year old man.

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Local

You can now use bikeshare systems in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and UCLA interchangeably with a single membership, and ride from one system to another without penalties.

Interesting piece from a part-time wrench in an LA bike shop, explaining to a Middle Eastern audience the business model of fixing bikes sold by big box stores so people can actually ride them.

A writer for City Watch calls LA Mayor Eric Garcetti a bully for doubling down on Vision Zero “based on lousy science, lousy presumptions, and a lousy narrative that somehow Angelenos don’t care or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists.” Even though a) most bike riders can tell you Angelenos don’t car or do enough for pedestrians and bicyclists, and b) city leaders don’t seem to take Vision Zero seriously.

Streetsblog reports on Sunday’s CicLAvia in the San Gabriel Valley. Meanwhile, CicLAvia gears up for a return to the northern San Fernando Valley June 24th.

 

State

Auto-centric opponents of a plan to reconfigure the Coast Highway in Leucadia have appealed to the state Coastal Commission to stop the project, saying that the plan to make it safer to visit the coast without a car “fails to consider public access to the coastline, that fails to adequately consider public safety, and fails to give adequate consideration to environmental concerns.” Sure, let’s go with that.

San Diego’s University Avenue is one of the nation’s most dangerous streets for bicyclists.

Mountain bike legends Tom Richey and Thomas Frischknecht have teamed with a Carmel couple to open a bike-themed coffee shop.

Sad news from Manteca, where a bike rider was killed when he crashed into the rear of a pickup and fell under the wheels of the boat trailer it was pulling; witnesses said the victim didn’t appear to even see the truck and trailer in front of him until it was too late.

Sacramento begins installing the city’s first parking-protected bike lanes.

 

National

Honolulu honors a bike rider who was killed in a 2010 hit-and-run by naming a new bike path after him.

While Seattle fights over every inch of bike lanes, opposition has melted away in nearby Vancouver, where bicycling numbers are up and driving rates down after the city built a network of protected bike lanes. Vancouver faced the same sort of bikelash we’ve seen in Los Angeles, but city officials had the courage to move forward anyway.

The murder trial is set to begin in the case of the stoned driver who killed five bike riders in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, and injured four more; he faces life in prison if he’s convicted.

Bicycling catches up with five New York bicyclists to discuss their plans for getting to work when the city shuts down a major subway line for maintenance next year.

In a very tongue-in-cheek piece, a Virginia writer says he hates the Amish, farmers, equestrians and especially cyclists for startling him when he looks up from his phone while driving, and forcing him to slow down for a few seconds. But commenters don’t get the joke.

 

International

Next City offers an excerpt from Copenhagenize author Mikael Colville-Andersen’s new book explaining how design can reclaim our life-sized cities.

The Guardian looks at the international Warmshowers network, giving bike tourists a floor to sleep on, a place to clean up, and someone to listen to your tales of life on the road.

A pair of Hamilton, Ontario bike riders were struck by a 72-year old driver when they stopped in the curb lane to fix a bike trailer. Another reminder to move your bike out of the roadway if you need to stop for any reason, because too many drivers won’t be looking for you.

Road.cc looks at the highlights of Britain’s only handmade bicycle show.

The Beeb asks if ebikes are the future, while a travel website questions whether they’re the best or worst thing to happen to bike tours.

Dublin bicyclists will hold a die-in on the government steps tomorrow. Something we desperately need to do here in Los Angeles if we could get enough people to show up.

Italian cycling legend Gino Bartali will be awarded honorary Israeli citizenship prior to next month’s start of the Giro d’Italia for his role in saving Jews during World War II, 18 years after his death.

A Kiwi adventurer is stranded in South America after riding from Philadelphia to Alaska, then down the Pacific Coast, when a merger between shipping companies costs him his planned ride on a container ship.

There’s always another side to the story. A New Zealand mountain biker insists the trail crash that left another rider paralyzed from the neck down wasn’t his fault. On the other hand, he’s not the one who ended up in a wheelchair.

China’s Mobike dockless bikeshare company promises to stop putting more bikes in oversaturated cities, and to share their data with local governments.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Monterey County weekly catches up on the action with photos from last weekend’s Sea Otter Classic.

Bicycling reports on Saudi Arabia’s first-ever women’s bike race.

No surprise here: World champ Peter Sagan is cycling’s most valuable social media persona; one Facebook post alone generated $330,000 worth of exposure for his sponsors.

Efforts to revive the women’s La Route de France Féminine have failed after the withdrawal of a host city.

 

Finally…

Bad bike infrastructure doesn’t speak, but it does tweet. Pedal your way across the Greek islands from above.

And sometimes, riding a bike is poetry.

 

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

Morning Links: LA bike advocate Dennis Hindman is missing, and former a SoCal cyclist killed in Arizona

October 30, 2017 / / 2 comments

Unfortunately, we have to start the week with bad news.

Longtime Los Angeles bike advocate Dennis Hindman has been reported missing by his family, according to a message I received from his niece.

It’s unclear how long it’s been since anyone has seen or heard from the Toluca Lake resident; CiclaValley reports he has been missing for over two months, though a convenience store clerk said she’d seen him just two to three days ago.

Hindman is one of the city’s best bike safety and policy wonks, capable of digging into the smallest details of a project to highlight a specific issue, or uncover hidden problems or unexpected benefits.

He has been a supporter of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition for nearly a decade, if not longer. During my time on the board he was an active participant in virtually every committee I was involved in, and never failed to volunteer for the bike count or attend any LACBC event.

He’s also a semi-regular contributor to this site, as well as others. And a frequent commenter on LA Streetsblog dating back nearly to its founding, offering detailed statistics to back up his opinions.

And he’s someone I consider a friend.

Let’s hope this is just a big misunderstanding, and he turns up safe and sound, with a good explanation for why he’s been gone.

If you have any information on his disappearance or where he might be, please contact me and I’ll forward it to the right people.

Update: I’ve received more information from Hindman’s niece.

His family is concerned that he may have had a diabetic episode; apparently he was hospitalized at the end of August for extremely high blood sugar.

His rent was last paid in mid-September, and has not been paid for this month; a police officer visited his apartment and discovered the milk in his refrigerator had expired in August and his bicycle was missing. 

Where he was been for the last two months remains a mystery.  

Update 2: Dennis Hindman has been found safe in a local hospital. More details when they’re available.

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More bad news, as a member of the Big Orange Cycling club was killed in a collision while riding outside Phoenix AZ yesterday.

The victim has been identified on Facebook as 36-year old Rob Dollar.

No details on how the crash occurred are currently available; however, Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson suggests that a teenage driver may have drifted into his lane.

I’m told Dollar had recently moved to Gilbert, Arizona, where he was in the process of forming an Arizona chapter of the SoCal riding club.

He’s described as fantastic guy with a big heart, and “a total badass on a bike.”

This comes exactly one week after Big Orange member Dan Martin was severely injured in a crash while riding home last Sunday, leaving him in the ICU with a broken neck. A crowdfunding campaign to help defray his medical bills has raised over $18,000 in four days.

Update: A Phoenix TV station reports that 19-year old Annaleah Dominguez has been charged with manslaughter and drug charges in Dollar’s death. 

She was reportedly driving stoned when she crossed onto the wrong side of the road to avoid another cyclist, and hit Dollar head-on. 

Police recovered what’s described as “a quantity” of marijuana that had been tossed outside her car by Dominguez or her passengers.

Dollar had been descending from the top of South Mountain when he was struck by the car around 9:40 am; he died at the scene.

Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

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Sad news of a different sort, as Bike SD founder and Executive Director Sam Ollinger is leaving the organization, which has helped turn San Diego into what is rapidly becoming one of the most bicycle friendly cities in Southern California.

I first encountered Sam when she emailed me asking what one person could be do to help make what was then a very challenging and bike-unfriendly city a little safer for people on two wheels.

I have no idea what I told her.

But I’ve watched as she’s become one of California’s leading bike advocates, helping pave the way for women to rise to the highest ranks of advocacy.

There’s no doubt that she will do well at whatever she chooses to do next.

But San Diego bicyclists owe her a huge debt. And the city will be much poorer without Sam’s voice.

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As we’ve noted before, the war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes is all too real.

A Kentucky woman was injured by fishing line strung at neck level in an Elizabethtown park; police found several other booby traps hidden nearby.

A road raging Toronto driver brushes a bicyclist with his mirror, then tries to run him off the road.

A tailgating British driver get 17 months, along with a 21-month ban on driving, for attacking a bike rider who asked if he’d just robbed a bank.

And an Aussie rider was hit in the face with a cup of ice thrown from a passing car, breaking his glasses and cracking his helmet.

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On the other hand, bike riders aren’t always the good guys. Or the victims.

Tragic irony, as a 91-year old New Hampshire woman who had travelled the world by bicycle with her husband was killed in a collision with a bike rider as she walking along a roadway.

A 73-year old British man selling memorial poppies was seriously injured when he was stuck by a bike rider.

And a Singaporean bicyclist is facing charges for killing a 73-year old pedestrian in a crash.

However, let’s not forget that, regardless of how the media portrays it, the person on the bike is not always at fault.

You should always use extreme care around pedestrians, grant them the right-of-way, and slow down to pass them with the same sort of margin you’d expect from a driver.

But people can be unpredictable under the best circumstances. I’m sure most of us have had someone step into the roadway to cross without looking, or make an unexpected turn into your path.

Just as drivers have an obligation to avoid us, we have an obligation to avoid crashing into people on foot if it’s at all possible.

But if it isn’t, it’s not always the person on two wheels who should get the blame.

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After all that, we could all use a little good news.

A Colorado bicyclist is back on his bike after keeling over from a heart attack in the middle of a ride; he can credit a pair of Good Samaritans with saving his life until paramedics could arrive.

When a British man had to stop mountain biking after ten years due to illness, his friends pitched in to buy him an ebike. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

After a road raging Brit driver posted video of a small group of cyclists riding in the lane ahead of him instead of a bike lane, the police respond by saying they had every right to be there.

No, really.

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Local

Don’t plan on riding the curb-protected bike lanes on South Figueroa anytime soon. Urbanize.LA reports the MyFigueroa project now won’t be finished until next spring.

The LAPD blames the victim — and the press parrots it — after a pedestrian was killed in a Venice crosswalk when a driver stopped for him in the right lane, and a speeding driver whipped around him on his left. Yet somehow, the police say the victim stepped out into traffic, even though he was in a crosswalk with the right-of-way. Take this as a warning to never cross a street, on your bike or on foot, until every driver stops.

This is the callousness some drivers — and some prosecutors — have. After a pickup driver slammed into two women walking in a crosswalk near the 101 Freeway in Calabasas, killing one and injuring her daughter, the driver got out and dragged the dead woman to the side of the road, then backed up, parked her truck and pretended to be a witness to the crash. And the LA County DA’s office refused to file the serious charges recommended by the CHP, opting for just a single misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter count with a max of one year in jail.

A UCLA podcast talks bikeshare on campus.

 

State

Shockingly, the Bike League ranks California third among bike-friendly states; Nebraska comes in dead last. The question is whether California was really that good, or everyone else just sucked that bad.

Around ten thousand people turned out for Sunday’s CicloSDias in San Diego. Or maybe it was only hundreds.

If you build it, they will try to destroy it. A transit-oriented San Diego community is fighting plans to put a freeway onramp in the middle of their neighborhood, after a local non-profit whose mission is to get people out of their cars inexplicably endorses it.

San Francisco bike advocates get a crash course on the ins and outs of building bike parking.

 

National

Two new studies suggest self-driving cars could lead to even greater congestion, while forcing bike riders off the road. Although at this point, you can probably find a study suggesting autonomous vehicles will lead to everything from a bicycling Nirvana to an automotive apocalypse.

A Las Vegas cyclist talks about the dangers riders face on the roads.

A Colorado man has developed a new bike racing board game based on the Little 500 made famous in Breaking Away.

A bridge over Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River gets a road diet to make room for a bike lane crossing it.

Detroit is naming a new bikeway after legendary boxer Joe Louis.

New York police shut down a bicycle jousting tournament, but can’t manage to kill it.

A New York writer says banning ebikes won’t solve the problem of scofflaw cyclists. Never mind that the people he’s complaining about are just trying to earn a living at the bottom of the food chain.

No disconnect here. A New York writer says nine bicyclists has been killed in the city so far this year, then goes on to say “bicyclists are the most dangerous group on NYC roads.” If getting killed makes you dangerous, then baby harp seals must be the most vicious animals on earth.

An Op-Ed in the Washington Post says there’s still some kinks to work out, but dockless bikeshare could be a success.

No disconnect here. A Virginia letter writer says cyclists should use common sense and stay off a road where drivers can’t seem to stay of the gas pedal.

Oh, nothing. Just a South Carolina man riding his bike with a deer slung over his shoulder.

 

International

A Vancouver man calls bike lanes the bane of his existence, suggesting any new bike lanes should have to be approved by referendum.

An Ottawa woman heads a group that rescues injured birds, setting out by bike early every morning to look for birds that have crashed into windows.

Montreal bike riders call for better safety, saying “If you do nothing, we will continue to die.”

An anonymous writer pens a heartbreaking letter to the speeding driver who killed his or her teenage sister as she rode her bike; decades later, the family is still waiting for an apology.

If you build it, they will come. A protected bike lane in Manchester, England is recording over 5,000 trips a day, comparable to London’s cycle superhighways.

A British bicyclist learns that a travel insurance policy offering “comprehensive cover while cycling” doesn’t exactly mean comprehensive. Or cover what you go cycling on.

Steve Katz forwards video of police in the UK going undercover to catch drivers making illegal close passes.

Pope Francis has been invited to launch the Giro d’Italia when it kicks off in Jerusalem next year.

Drivers in West Australia will now face a $400 fine and four points against their license for passing a bike rider closer than the equivalent of roughly three feet at up to 37 mph, or four and a half feet over that speed. In California, it’s just a $35 fine for passing closer than three feet at any speed. And even that is optional if the driver slows down to pass closer at a closer distance.

File this one under you’ve got to be kidding. An Australian writer says bikeshare is a terrorist’s best friend, because a bomb could be hidden in one. After all, it’s just so hard to find a cheap bicycle, or steal one, for that matter. Or some other object that could conceal an explosive device, like a car, backpack or baby carriage.

 

Finally…

Cyclists take part in a five day, week long ride through Israel; evidently, the weeks are shorter over there. If an underage kid gives you money to buy him beer, don’t just pocket it and ride away.

And if you missed it, a bicyclist twice saluted President Trump as his motorcade left his Virginia golf club on Saturday.

With one finger.

Thanks to Al Williams for the heads-up.

 

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

Morning Links: 6th Street meeting draws complaints, hit-and-run BOLO alert, and bike to the World Series

October 24, 2017 / / 2 comments

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports on Saturday’s neighborhood meeting to discuss much-needed safety improvements on 6th Street.

Despite the unanimous support of the local neighborhood council, as well as other area councils and groups, Ryu appears to be dismissing calls for a 6th Street road diet to improve safety.

Instead, he has come back with his own plan, which would remove parking and add one or more left turn bays. Which would only increase the speeding local residents blame for the numerous crashes and multiple deaths on what should be a relatively quiet commuter street.

The people I’ve heard from have described the meeting as a waste of time, saying Ryu’s staffers seemed angry and tried to steer people towards his plan, rather than listening to area residents, as the councilmember has promised to do.

It’s hard to imagine Ryu approving any road diet after the disaster in Playa del Rey, on 6th Street or anywhere else.

But it’s also hard to imagine Vision Zero succeeding if he won’t listen to the concerns of the people in his district, and take concrete steps to improve safety for everyone.

………

The LAPD has sent out an alert to be on the lookout for a hit-and-run driver who severely injured a man riding his bicycle on Victory Blvd near Van Alden earlier this month.

………

Yes, you can ride your bike to the World Series at Dodger Stadium.

Just don’t expect a bike valet when you get there.

………

Adding insult to injury, Belgian pro cyclist Jan Bakelants was lifted to safety after tumbling over a guard rail and failing into a ditch during the Il Lombardia race earlier this month. Only to be run over by a race moped after they laid him down on the roadway.

Twenty-year old French cyclist Mathieu Riebel was killed in a head-on collision with an ambulance while competing in the Tour of New Caledonia last Friday.

Columbian Tour de France contender Rigoberto Uran says forget fame, he just loves racing his bike.

Cycling Tips looks at the whys behind China’s new WorldTour race, and what the future holds for the event.

Researchers try to quantify what it means to suffer while racing a bike.

………

Local

The LAPD has arrested a woman suspected of being the bike-riding North Hollywood arsonist.

LA’s Bahati Foundation, founded by former national crit champ Rahsaan Bahati, is raffling a Raleigh ebike worth $3,199. And no, a raffle is not the same as an auction.

The semi-regular Draft Meetup is back at Pure Cycles this Thursday, offering bike talk combined with free food and beer.

Pasadena’s Metro bikeshare has seen nearly 14,000 rides since it opened in July.

West Covina is holding a meeting tomorrow to unveil their draft Active Transportation Master Plan. Although they might have better luck if they rescheduled for a night that didn’t conflict with the World Series.

No surprise here. The parents of 13-year old Ciara Smith have filed a lawsuit against Metro, as well as the bus driver, Los Angeles County and Caltrans, after she was killed by a bus as she rode her bike along PCH in Redondo Beach last May.

 

State

The man charged with stabbing two people as they looked for a stolen bicycle in Coachella is still being held without bail, and will undergo a psych evaluation.

San Francisco Streetsblog calls for a strong statewide law prohibiting drivers from harassing bicyclists. As the story notes, Los Angeles has an anti-harassment ordinance that allows riders to sue in civil court, but it has proven to be difficult to use. And it’s no use if the incident occurs outside the city limits.

Danville police are looking for what may be a single hit-and-run driver who crashed into three bike riders in two separate incidents on the same road 40 minutes apart.

Napa is planning to widen the main road leading into town, but only intends to place a bike lane in one direction; the city says they need to wait until a bike and pedestrian bridge is built to accommodate riders, even though plans for the bridge haven’t even come up for a vote yet.

 

National

Sgt. La David Johnson, one of the four US soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger, was famed for his BMX stunts.

Restock your bunker, and gird yourself for the coming bikeshare wars.

Bicycling tells you how to make a left turn.

Another candidate for the parent of the year award. A Montana woman could soon be staying at the same detention center where she works, after she intentionally chased down and ran over her boyfriend as he tried to escape on his bicycle after a fight, with her four young kids in the car watching the whole thing.

An 83-year old Michigan driver will avoid jail time in the death of one bike rider and injuring another, after he was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and forbidden to ever drive again. Once again raising the issue of how to get older people off the road after they’ve lost the ability to drive safely. And before they kill someone.

A state senator says a pair of New York bikes lanes are continuing to cause crashes. After all, it couldn’t be the fault of careless or distracted drivers who can’t manage to follow the lines on the street banging their cars together.

A health columnist for the New York Times says riding a bike without a properly fitted helmet is stupid.

New York’s Prospect Park is going permanently carfree next year. I’d like to say maybe there’s hope for LA’s Griffith Park, but that would imply that Los Angeles would finally coming to grips with its automotive addiction, which doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

Baltimore police are investigating a series of attacks by groups of teens who swarm bicyclists and steal their bikes.

 

International

A Montreal cop is on trial for fatally backing over a bike rider when he tried to stop the victim for riding the wrong way on a one-way street.

The BBC talks with LA’s own Phil Gaimon about his new book Draft Animals.

A British bicyclist suffered a massive hematoma on his hip after being knocked off his bike by a road raging driver. Actually, his hip looks pretty much like mine did following my run-in with the beachfront bike path bees.

The governor of a Nigerian state has ordered truck drivers who break traffic laws to see a shrink if they cause a crash. Maybe we could offer that here instead of traffic school.

Nothing crazy about a first-time unicyclist pledging to ride across New Zealand’s largest farm to raise funds for mental health issues.

Singapore is planning to fight congestion and smog by capping the number of vehicles on its streets. A solution that makes so much sense that we can rest assured it will never be tried here. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

A crowdfunding campaign is attempting to raise nearly $4,000 to send the body of a world travelling bike rider back home to China after he was killed in an Argentine car crash. Thanks to The Bicycle Wars for the link.

Nothing like a little North Korean propaganda to start your day, revealing that women “is forbidden to ride a Bicycle” because a “skirt should always cover the knees, and wear pants ladies is impossible.” Though you’d think a piece authored by someone named Bill Cooke would demonstrate a somewhat better grasp of the English language.

 

Finally…

Just because you’re undead doesn’t mean you can’t ride a bike — or get attacked by a drunk tourist. You too can have your very own 3D-printed Slovakian e-mountain bike for the low, low price of just $24,000.

And this is why Kardashians shouldn’t bike after drinking.

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Update: Hit-and-run driver critically injures Hyde Park bike rider; LAPD fails to send hit-and-run alert or mention reward

December 28, 2016 / / Comments Off on Update: Hit-and-run driver critically injures Hyde Park bike rider; LAPD fails to send hit-and-run alert or mention reward

Once again, a heartless coward has left a South LA bike rider bleeding in the street.

According to press release from the LAPD, a 35-year old man was riding some sort of motorized bicycle on 48th Street at Ninth Ave in the Hype Park neighborhood around 3:40 Monday afternoon when he was struck by a car driven by an unidentified driver.

The driver had been parked at the eastbound curb when he suddenly pulled out, turning left across the traffic lanes and into the path of the westbound bike rider, in a crash captured by a security cam.

The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition.

There are bike lanes in both direction on 48th, though it appears he was traveling in the through lane at or near the speed of traffic.

Police are looking for a burgundy or red late 1990s Oldsmobile Cutlass four door sedan. The department reports the two people in the car had just left Kenny’s Liquor, where they were captured on security footage.

The driver is described as a male Hispanic, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, between 180 and 200 pounds with dark hair. He was seen wearing a gray baseball cap, a gray jacket, white t-shirt, and blue jeans.

The passenger is described as a male Hispanic, approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, with black hair and a mustache. He was seen wearing a red long sleeve shirt, black pants, and brown shoes.

Anyone with information urged to call LAPD South Traffic Division at 323/421-2500.

Oddly, the press release does not mention the city’s standing reward program providing up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of hit-and-run drivers; in this case, it provides an automatic $25,000 reward for a collision resulting in a severe injury.

It’s also strange that the LAPD did not use LA’s hit-and-run alert system that was approved by the city council early last year alerting the public to be on the lookout for suspect vehicles. For some reason, the department seems reluctant to use the program, even though it was created for cases exactly like this.

There is also a statewide program that was signed into law last year allowing hit-and-run alerts on state highway signs.

Maybe someday the LAPD will actually use some of the tools available to them to enlist the public’s help to catch people like this.

We can dream, right?

Update: Police have made an arrest in the case.

Update 2: In an LAPD press conference, South LA detectives identified the victim as 36-year old Los Angeles resident Gabrail Hasan, the father of nine kids under 15. 

The tattoo artist and vice president of the LA DTM (Doing the Most) Motorized Bike Club remains in critical condition in the ICU following emergency surgery for a crushed aorta.

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: BOLO alert in SaMo, 2015 bike/ped count released, and construction on Marina bike path

November 18, 2016 / / 4 comments

Santa Monica police are asking for the public’s help in finding the cowardly jerk who ran down a woman as she walked Tuesday evening and left her lying in the street with serious head injuries.

Be on the lookout for a possible 2000-2006 silver, four-door Nissan Sentra, which could have damage to the bumper, hood and windshield on the right front.

Anyone with information is urged to call investigator Jason Olson at 310/458-8954 or the SMPD at 310/458-8491.

Thanks to Damien Newton for the heads-up.

………

The LACBC, in conjunction with AARP, released the findings of last year’s annual Los Angeles Bicycle and Pedestrian Count, which for the first time show a decrease in bike ridership as the city largely stopped building new bike lanes.

The report includes a number of key findings, including:

  • The most popular streets for walking and biking are also the most unsafe: All of the top 30 count locations for people walking are located on the High Injury Network, along with 24 of the top 30 locations for people biking. These top 30 locations accounted for 65% of all people walking who were counted and 55% of all people biking who were counted. All of these locations are located in high-density neighborhoods, near major destinations, or in low-income communities of color. Almost all of the top 30 locations were in neighborhoods with median household incomes below the rest of the city.
  • As bike lane installation has slowed, new ridership has decreased: In 2015, riders continued to gravitate towards bike lanes; however the count shows an overall 9% year-by-year decline in same location ridership from 2013 to 2015. In the last two years, bike lane installation has decreased significantly from a high of 101 miles in fiscal year 2013 to only 11 miles in fiscal year 2015. Many of these new lanes have been installations where bike lanes could be included in other road resurfacing or safety projects, rather than installations along high priority corridors identified in the Bicycle Plan. Of the initial 183 miles of bike lanes prioritized in the 5-year Bicycle Plan Implementation Strategy, only 45 miles (25%) have been installed. As a result, the bike network in Los Angeles remains fragmented with large gaps in bike lanes along most riders’ trips. This lack of connectivity continues to be the greatest barrier reported by many people who bike or would like to.
  • Women want safer biking options: In Los Angeles, women make up just 16% of cyclists overall, but the gender disparity is lowest on streets with quality bikeways (bike paths at 22% and bike lanes at 17%) and highest on streets with no bicycling infrastructure. Cities with safer streets for bicycling in general tend to have smaller gender disparities in bicycling, such as Portland, Oregon (35%), and Copenhagen, Denmark (50%).
  • Bike lanes have made streets safer, but more work needs to be done: On the new bike lanes studied, bike ridership increased by 62% after installation. After accounting for increases in bike ridership, new bike lanes reduced bicycle crash risk by an average of 42%.

la-bike-ped-count-16-sheet

The full report is available for download here.

………

Steve Herbert forwards news that the Marvin Braude bike path will soon be rerouted and improved where it currently twists awkwardly, and dangerously, through a parking lot around Pier 44 in Marina del Rey.

But riders will have to detour along Admiralty Way in the meantime.

Here’s what he had to say.

The Marvin Braude bike path snakes through Marina Del Rey connecting Ballona Creek & parts south to Washington Blvd. where cyclists can ride to Venice boardwalk or other parts of the region. Pier 44 is about to undergo renovation with the existing tenants, boats and trailers all cleared out. Pier 44 is at the end of Basin G of the marina which is bound by Bali Way on the north, Admiralty Way on the east and Mindanao Way on the south.

The bike path winds through this facility which is about to be closed and I asked Anthea Raymond, a Beaches and Harbors Department Commissioner I know, what plans there are to accommodate cyclists and the path while it’s under construction. Below are the answers and diagrams I got.

She didn’t provide any specific dates, but the pier is now a ghost town and I expect to see fencing and demolition equipment any day now just based on what I observe riding through the site as one of my commute routes.

And here is Ms. Raymond’s response.

Here’s what I learned about the Marina bike path, both during renovations on Pier 44 and going forward:

The Pier 44 project includes significant improvements to the bike path. Whereas the current bike bath snakes across the parcel, forcing riders to navigate around buildings and boat storage, the new bike path will have a straight alignment along the waterfront, next to the new 20’-wide pedestrian promenade.  Additionally, the project includes two public restrooms along the bike path, and bicycle racks that can accommodate 68 bikes.  This project also includes a WaterBus stop, because early on we wanted it to be a destination that people could visit by foot, by boat, by car, or by bike.  While the parcel is under construction, the bike path will temporarily be routed along the eastern portion of the parcel, adjacent to Admiralty Way.

Attached are site plans that show the existing and proposed paths.

Thanks for your concern.

Anthea

ps: While the parcel is under construction, the bike path will temporarily be routed along the eastern portion of the parcel, adjacent to Admiralty Way.

pier-44-current-conditions

pier-44-approved-plan

It looks to be a significant improvement to one of the worst sections of the popular beachfront bike path.

Let’s just hope the construction doesn’t take too long, and they provide an adequate alternative in the meantime.

………

It’s time to catch up with upcoming bike events.

BikeSGV is hosting a pet and family-friendly Pet-acular Bike Train tomorrow. But neither you or your pet are allowed to use training wheels.

Sunday marks the World Day of Remembrance to honor victims of traffic fatalities; 40 artists will participate in the event with LA Road Concerts in Downtown LA.

Malibu is hosting a community outreach meeting on November 29th to discuss the problems with parking along PCH; anyone who’s ridden the coast highway through the city knows the dangers poorly parked cars can pose.

Metro’s El Monte Bike Hub will host a Commute 101 Clinic on November 30th to help you get more comfortable riding your bike to work or school.

San Bernardino will hold 14-mile Inland Regional Center Memorial Ride on December 2nd, riding one kilometer for each of the 22 people injured in last December’s terrorist attack, which is equal to 14 miles for each person killed. A similar ride will start out from Redlands, with 22 turns to honor the wounded and 14 miles to remember those killed.

Milestone Rides is hosting their annual holiday toy ride to Camp Pendleton on December 3rd.

As noted yesterday, the LACBC will host their annual open house on December 7th.

Recently retired pro cyclist Phil Gaimon is teaming up with the LACBC for the second annual Mulholland Clean Up on December 10th.

Finish the Ride will hold their Ride, Run, Walk N’ Roll Holliday Challenge in Van Nuys on December 11th.

………

Members of Team Novo Nordisk discuss how to compete while managing your diabetes; each of the 18 riders has Type 1 diabetes.

Yes, you can win a national hill-climb championship on a bike assembled from parts purchased on eBay.

………

Local

Congratulations, Los Angeles. You win the prize for the most dangerous city for speed-related traffic fatalities.

The co-founder of Burbank based Pure Cycles — formerly Pure Fix — talks about what’s it’s like to found a business with his best friend.

Pasadena, Altadena and San Marino Rotary Clubs will team together to build and donate 200 bicycles for underprivileged children this holiday season. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

The LA Times says bike paths along the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel Rivers offer a glimpse of what Pico Rivera looked like before LA’s eastward expansion steamrolled the area.

Santa Monica wants to know what you think about transportation options in the beach city, but only if you live or work there.

Long Beach creates a protected bike lane by installing green bollards on Studebaker Road, even though local residents call them distracting eyesores.

CiclaValley concludes his three-part Veteran’s Day journey with a family ride through Berkeley.

 

State

The afore mentioned Damien Newton discusses the effects of the recent election with Calbike’s Jeanie Ward-Waller.

UC San Diego officers remove over 700 apparently abandoned bicycles from campus; if they go unclaimed for 90 days, they’ll be donated to charity organizations.

Menlo Park considers a grade separation that would create a 1.6 mile bike boulevard along the Caltrain railroad tracks.

Alameda wants to build a 600 foot bike and pedestrian drawbridge connecting it with Oakland.

Nevada City middle school students — yes, middle school — learn frame building by building their own from scratch as part of a program that refurbishes bikes for homeless people.

 

National

Several bike-related businesses make Outside Magazine’s list of the top 100 places to work, including bike-friendly, employee owned New Belgium Brewery in my hometown. Do I really need to say that the town didn’t become bike friendly or open its first craft brewery until after I left?

Bicycling discusses the joys of riding at night.

Seattle’s failing bikeshare system gets a March 31st deadline to get its merde together.

Life is cheap in Oklahoma, where a distracted driver will serve just 10 months of a 15 year sentence for killing on cyclist riding across the country for Bike and Build, and critically injuring another; she’ll also have to speak publicly about what she did.

Apparently, not even Secret Service agents are safe on our streets. A uniformed agent was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver while riding near the White House.

In a remarkable move, a New York city is moving forward with plans to convert a parkway near Niagara Falls into a multi-use bike path.

 

International

A Toronto paper traces the 40-year fight for safety and acceptance of bicyclists through the life of a man who was photographed on the back of his father’s bike as a five-year old in 1976. Yet oddly, they don’t bother to show the photo.

British authorities arrest three teenage suspects for the murder of a recently released convict who was kicked off his bicycle by a group of young men last month.

A British town gets it, saying if close passes make people too afraid to ride a bike, it’s a police matter.

Now that’s more like it. Drivers in a North London borough could have their cars crushed if they’re caught passing bike riders too closely twice in a single year. And yes, bike cam video counts. Now if we could only get California to do that for hit-and-runs.

Like LA, advocates blame stalled bike path plans, as well as draconian fines, for a drop in the number of bicyclists in Sydney, Australia; last year the state government gave up on plans to double the rate of cycling.

 

Finally…

You can carry anything by bicycle; even lemonade, cookies and a polar bear.

And you’ll be happy to know that drinking beer is good for your cholesterol levels. So ride to your nearest bike-friendly microbrewery, and salute!

………

On a personal note, it was a pleasure to meet St. Louis-based Cycling Savvy instructor and BikinginLA contributor Karen Karabell and LA-based Cycling Savvy instructor Gary Cziko yesterday.

It’s great to talk with fellow advocates who don’t let differences in approaches to bicycle safety get in the way of finding common ground in their efforts to make bicycling safer and more enjoyable for everyone who rides.

Not to mention just spending some time with a couple of very nice people.

First rule of photography: Never stand so your shadow falls on your subjects

First rule of photography: Never stand so your shadow falls on your subjects

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: BOLO alert for Long Beach hit-and-run driver; bike-riding Tuskegee Airman passes away at 106

November 4, 2016 / / One comment

It takes a real jerk to leave a kid lying in the street.

Long Beach police are looking for the hit-and-run driver who struck a 15-year old boy Thursday morning as he was riding his bike at the intersection of Anaheim Street and Obispo Ave in the city’s Zaferia neighborhood.

Fortunately, the victim was not seriously injured.

According to the Press-Telegram, the driver, who stopped briefly before fleeing, appeared to be a blond haired, blue eyed male in his 20s. He was driving a newer model sedan, possibly a Honda, with a flat-black paint job with possible damage to the right front turn signal, as well as previous damage to its front passenger-side door.

Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach police investigators at 562/570-7355.

Meanwhile, the CHP is searching for the heartless coward who drove away after hitting a nine-year old Murrieta boy as he was riding to school Thursday morning; fortunately the boy, the son of a Marine first sergeant stationed at Camp Pendleton, only suffered minor injuries.

………

Heartbreaking news, as a genuine American hero died at the VA hospital in Westwood last month.

According to the LA Sentinel, 106-year old Redondo Beach resident Walter Crenshaw, Jr. was the oldest surviving member of the Tuskegee Airmen when he passed away on October 7th.

The paper reports he used to ride his bike to the Santa Monica pier three or four times a week when he lived in the city.

The Tuskegee Airmen were among the best pilots in the air in WWII, despite dealing with relentless discrimination in the Jim Crow South and on the battle fields of Europe; they proved that black men could fly just as well, if not better, than the white pilots they fought with and against.

Their success in the air paved the way for the integration of the armed forces, and for the civil rights battles that followed after the war.

They were heroes in every sense of the word, yet came back to an America where they were second class citizens.

………

A British website says slower races and lower power to weight ratios are a sign that pro cycling’s doping era really is over.

Chinese rider Meiyin Wang is called China’s best cyclist ever as he prepares to make his pro debut.

………

Local

Streetsblog lists five reasons people who bike should vote for Measure M, including support for Complete Streets and a dedicated funding stream for active transportation projects; at least some CSUN students agree.

CiclaValley offers a preview of the 2017 Amgen Tour of California.

Culver City Walk and Roll will host a Wheels and Heels group ride this Sunday to have fun and discuss bike safety.

 

State

Simi Valley police use bait bikes to bust six bike thieves; three of the people arrested have already pled guilty to felony grand theft charges.

Santa Barbara is on the short list to receive $15.5 million in state funding for four bicycle projects, including a long crosstown bike boulevard.

The investigation continues in Santa Cruz into the death of a bicyclist who grew up in Laguna Beach; no charges have been filed yet because police have been unable to identify the driver.

Alameda advocates are calling for a bicycle drawbridge to connect with Oakland; riders currently have to use a narrow, dark and dangerous tunnel filled with exhaust and the roar of traffic.

Bay Area bike advocates are demanding changes to an East Bay freeway interchange where two riders have been killed, and two more seriously injured in the last 20 months.

A Davis cyclist has ridden across the US twice after taking up riding to recover from a car wreck that left him immobile for years; now he rides a Penny Farthing to call attention to plans for a National Bicycle Greenway across the US.

Sacramento volunteers will build 4,000 bikes this weekend to donate to deserving kids. Then again, every kid deserves a bike.

The San Jose Mercury News suggests taking an autumn bike ride around Lake Tahoe. Or using snowshoes if you wait too long.

 

National

Momentum Magazine says protected intersections are the latest trend in bicycle safety, because a bikeway is only as strong as its weakest link.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein may be a bad rapper, but she’s a fan of bicycles.

An auto-centric Seattle radio host calls the author of the excellent Seattle Bike Blog “a notoriously hyper-critical bike activist” for saying a proposed eight-lane waterfront roadway should put people first, instead of cars; he insists the plan does put people first because people drive cars.

Outside Magazine says Crested Butte CO is the country’s best mountain bike destination.

An Iowa driver has been found guilty in the collision that left a cross-country bicyclist paralyzed below the waist.

Protected bike lanes are spreading throughout the US, even popping up in rural Arkansas.

It takes a major scumbag to leave an Indiana hit-and-run victim to die alone in the street, and an even bigger one to come upon the scene and steal his bicycle as he lay dying.

A New York Uber bike courier has filed a proposed class action suit against the company demanding to be classified as an employee, rather than an independent contractor.

 

International

Quartz says the real reason behind the worldwide bike boom is concern over weight loss. Except in Paris, where web searchers want to know why cyclists shave their legs.

Riding the entire length of South America on a bamboo bike.

Real funny. A group of kids in the UK post video of assaulting random people with a pie in the face, including one attack that knocked a man off his bicycle, which could have resulted in serious injuries.

London Vogue editors consider whether it’s safe, if not fashionable, to ride in the city.

Caught on video: A London cyclist records a year’s worth of close calls, while the Daily News calls him a drama queen who blames everyone but himself.

London’s Telegraph wonders what the bicycles of the future will look like, as bike racing’s governing body gets ready to scrap the 3:1 rule that limits innovative frame designs.

A Polish bike rider was collateral damage when a high-powered bullet fired by hunter passed through a deer, and traveled nearly 1,000 feet before striking him in the head.

A South African grandfather was caught in the crossfire between two gangs while riding his bicycle and was killed by a stray bullet.

 

Finally…

Everyone needs a good cycling excuse every now and then. Seriously, don’t threaten other riders with a knife. Or anything else.

And a hit-and-run driver tried to bury evidence of his crime. Literally.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Hit-and-Run, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

BOLO Alert: Bike rider critically injured in North Hills hit-and-run last month; LAPD still looking for witnesses

August 8, 2016 / / 2 comments

I’ve just received the following press release from the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division.

Hit and Run Driver Leaves Bicyclist Severely Injured

North Hills:

A hit and run traffic collision involving a motor vehicle and bicyclist occurred on Saturday, July 23, 2016, approximately 5:00 a.m. at Parthenia Street west of Woodley Avenue, in the community of North Hills.

The vehicle was traveling westbound Parthenia Street and collided with the bicycle being ridden by James Mours, a 47 year old resident of Mission Hills. The bicyclist sustained major injuries and was transported by Los Angeles Fire Department personnel to a local hospital for medical treatment. He is still listed in very critical condition.

There is no description of the vehicle or the driver. The Los Angeles Police Department is seeking anyone who may have witnessed the collision.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Valley Traffic Division Officer M. Tucker at (818) 644-8114. The report number is 16 17 13752. During non-business hours or weekends, calls may be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous may call Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800)-222-8477). Tipsters may also contact Crimestoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most key pads) using a cell phone. All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters can also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “web tips” and follow the prompts.

Let’s get the word out and see if we can get some witnesses to come forward.

Best wishes to James Mours for a full and fast recovery.

Thanks to Officer Troy Williams for the heads-up.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: BOLO alert for bicycling Hollywood robber, and celebrate the coming of bikeshare to DTLA on 7/7

June 30, 2016 / / 2 comments

The LAPD asks us to be on the lookout for a bike-riding robber victimizing Hollywood parking lot attendants.

Hollywood Bicyclist Robber Sought

Hollywood: The Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Area robbery detectives are asking for the public’s help in providing any information that will lead to the identification and arrest of an armed suspect that was involved in a series of parking lot robberies.

From June 11, 2016 through June 25, 2016, between the hours of 11:35 A.M. to 10:50 P.M., there have been multiple robberies in the Hollywood area involving parking lot attendants.

The suspect armed with a handgun confronted the victims and demanded money from each of them. The suspect then fled with the victims’ money on a mountain bike. The mountain bike is described red and/or black in color.

The suspect is described as a 40 to 60 year old male Black. He stands approximately 5 feet 6 inches tall and weighs between 130-150 pounds. He was seen wearing a ‘Flat Bill’ style baseball hat during the robberies. The suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous.

Hollywood Bicyclist Robber Sought

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Bikeshare officially comes to Downtown LA on July 7th.

For people who sign up in advance, anyway; walk-up users will have to wait until August to take advantage of the system.

According to Streetsblog’s Joe Linton, Metro is teaming up with the LACBC and Multicultural Communities for Mobility on a $100,000 program to make bikeshare services available to low-income riders, making it one of the first systems anywhere accessible to people with limited incomes and no credit cards.

Meanwhile, you’re invited to join Metro for a grand opening celebration and ride-off at Grand Park on the 7th. You can learn more and RSVP here.

Metro-Bike-Share-Launch-Celebration-1

But how long before we see our very own NIMBY bikeshare bikelash?

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Today’s common theme is bike helmets.

Consumer Reports rates bike helmets for adults, including some with the relatively new MIPS technology to help reduce the risk of concussions.

A New York public health professor credits a bike helmet with saving his son’s life, and extrapolates that to mean every bike rider, everywhere, should be required to wear one — even on bikeshare systems, which have yet to experience a single fatality in the US. Of course, by that logic, everyone should wear a bulletproof vest, too.

And a Canadian coroner concludes that a helmet could have saved a cyclist’s life, even though the victim was hit by a car with enough force to throw him over 50 feet through the air. He fails to mention that stopping for the stop sign the rider ran would have done a lot more good.*

*Just a reminder for new readers: I’m a firm believer in bike helmets, and never ride without one. But I also recognize that they are designed to protect against slow speed falls, not high speed collisions, and should be seen a last resort when everything else fails.

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A bike helmet probably wouldn’t have done a US Forrest Service officer any good, as the 38-year old mountain biker was attacked and killed by a grizzly bear; the victim and his riding companion surprised the bear while riding just outside Glacier National Park.

Thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up.

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The Fresno Bee looks at the contenders for this year’s Tour de France, which starts Saturday at Mont-Saint-Michel; the AP says Chris Froome may be on the cusp of greatness. Tejay van Garderen heads the diminished American contingent, as Taylor Phinney and Andrew Talansky skip the race, while Tyler Farrar and Ben King were left off their team rosters.

The Tour de France isn’t the only major race kicking off this weekend, as the last remaining Grand Tour in women’s racing, the Giro Rosa, starts on Friday.

Canadian pro Mike Woods talks about the journey that brought him to the threshold of the Tour de France and the Rio Olympics, starting when he had to give up his running career due to injuries and took up cycling just four years ago.

LA resident, Olympic medalist and seven-time national champ Dotsie Bausch credits bicycling with saving her life as she recovered from an eating disorder.

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Local

A nitrogen-based draft coffee bike is raising funds on Indiegogo with plans to hit the streets of LA this summer; donate three grand and get your own nitro coffee bike, uh, trike.

Angelyne may drive a pink Corvette, but her assistant is one of us.

The ICanBike program teaches handicapped individuals how to ride a bike in Pomona.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson reveals that underneath his curmudgeonly façade, he’s a begrudging optimist when it comes to making Palos Verdes Estates a better, safer, more enjoyable place to ride a bike.

Obey the letter of the law if you ride through Hawthorne today, as they become the latest SoCal city to target violations that put bicyclists and pedestrians at risk, regardless of who commits them.

Long Beach cyclists are asked to try out temporary bike lanes in Bixby Knolls on Friday.

 

State

Shrink it, pink it and charge more for it. The so-called “pink tax” survives a challenge in the state legislature, allowing companies to continue overcharging charging women more for bicycles and other items that are virtually identical to less-expensive men’s models.

Legendary bike maker Masi will host screenings of Breaking Away in Carlsbad this weekend to celebrate its 90th anniversary.

An Arroyo Grande woman with a long history of drug and alcohol convictions gets 15 to life for killing a bike rider while under the influence; she had alcohol, meth and THC in her system, and was wearing an ankle monitor for a previous conviction at the time of the hit-and-run crash.

A San Francisco cyclist questions the safety of a buffered bike lane that resulted from a road diet on Golden Gate Avenue, as people continue to drive in it anyway. Such as the motorcyclist who punched him when told he didn’t belong in a bike lane.

San Francisco cyclists ride to remember the two women bicyclists killed in separate hit-and-runs last week; a witness to one of the wrecks writes a heartbreaking remembrance.

A columnist for the SF Chronicle calls for automated speed cameras, which are currently barred under California law, to improve safety on the streets.

 

National

Three women leave their husbands behind and tour Alaska’s Denali National Park by bicycle.

A Boulder CO drunk driver faces charges after fleeing from a fatal cycling collision; despite a witness’ assertion that she was laughing hysterically following the collision, she was actually hysterically freaking out. Or so her lawyer says, anyway.

Instead of bikeshare, Golden CO opens a bike library offering two styles of American-made Jamis bikes in various sizes for adults and children.

A Michigan driver tries riding a bike to get a better perspective on what cyclists experience, and gain some insight into how to avoid more tragedies.

A bighearted Louisiana sheriff’s deputy replaces a pair of stolen bicycles that were taken from two little kids in the same family.

 

International

A determined Toronto area mom rode her bicycle through two barriers of police tape to get to her daughter following a house explosion that killed one person.

A cranky Ottawa, Canada writer pens the bicycling equivalent of “get off my lawn,” while somehow concluding that cyclists are responsible for avoiding collisions, even when drivers are at fault.

A Canadian writer offers drivers advice on how to pass a bike without killing anyone or being a dick.

A man in the UK put in the winning bid on a bicycle listed on eBay. Then gave the seller’s address to the police, since it was his stolen bike.

Caught on video: A Russian cyclist looks away for a few seconds, and looks up just in time to plow into a pedestrian.

Police in Chennai, India are going back to bicycle patrols, which allows them to sneak up on miscreants at night.

Tragic news, as a South African cycling champ who finished fourth in the 1956 Olympics was tied up and shot in a home invasion robbery.

 

Finally…

Before you celebrate your victory, make sure the race is actually over. If you think roads are crappy now, wait until they pave them with pig shit.

And it is possible to ride a $180 Walmart Huffy down a double black diamond mountain bike trail. But barely.

Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Bikeshare, Law Enforcement, Morning Links, Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , , , , ,
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