Day 269 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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Please forgive yesterday’s unexcused absence.
I had the birthday from hell on Wednesday, highlighted by a broken refrigerator, and losing my wallet on a Metro bus.
And learning that for some inexplicable reason, while drivers can request a replacement license online and get it a few days later, anyone who doesn’t drive has make an appointment to go to the DMV in person to request a new ID, then wait weeks for it to arrive in the mail.
Just one more way non-drivers are treated like second class citizens in the state, however you get around.
Which is exactly the opposite of how it should be, since it’s the people in the big dangerous machines who pose a risk to everyone around them.
Not the ones who walk, bike or ride the bus.
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Caltrans still wants your feedback on a proposal to remove the Amestoy Ave pedestrian bridge over the 101 Freeway. Thanks to BikeLanesLA for the heads-up.
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Walk Bike Glendale is hosting a day of activities at Verdugo Park this Sunday.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on rolling.
A Calgary, Alberta man in his 80s was killed when he struck a barrier a woman had dragged into a bike lane.
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Local
Metro is looking for feedback on closing the eight-mile gap in the LA River bike path from Elysian Valley through Downtown Los Angeles to the City of Maywood. My apologies to whoever sent this, after I lost track of it.
Beverly Press & Park La Brea news catches up with the vandalism to Blake Ackerman’s ghost bike in West Hollywood at Fountain and Gardner.
Police in South Pasadena will join a bike bus for students from two elementary schools on October 7th for National Walk and Roll to School Day.
State
Streets For All urges you to email Governor Newsom to urge him to sign the bills they backed.
A mountain biker was rescued by US Border Patrol agents after slipping off a trail in Chula Vista’s Otay Lakes County Park, and falling 50 feet into canyon adjacent to the Sweetwater Dam; he was rescued when agents heard his faint cries for help, finding him seriously injured and bleeding from both legs.
Oakland is launching an ebike lending library with 50 ebikes, and discounts for low-income residents.
National
NPR offers eight biking and walking safety tips they say might save your life. Most of which seem reasonable, although they think you need to turn off your earbuds at every intersection. Even though no one ever tells drivers to turn off their eight speaker surround sound systems in their soundproof, hermetically sealed motor vehicles, at intersections or anywhere else.
A grieving family filed a lawsuit against the city of Everett, Washington, four months after a 13-year old boy was killed when he rode his ebike into a dangerous cable that should have been removed; it was only taken down after the Mexican Consulate intervened, warning that other kids could get hurt.
A Tucson father was murdered when he was attacked in a confrontation with an unknown person during group ride on a 138-mile bike path that loops around the city; members of the group sponsoring the ride had complained about open drug use on the trail.
School police in Las Vegas are using a laser sensor to instruct drivers on a safe passing distance for kids biking to school.
A Kansas City couple in their 60s worry that new restrictions on ebikes will drive them back onto the couch, even though the laws are targeted at speeding kids on electric motorbikes, not older people with bad knees riding ped-assist bikes.
This is the cost of traffic violence. A pediatric cardiologist remains in an intensive care unit after he was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding his bike home from a shift at Kansas City’s Children’s Mercy Hospital.
Tragic news from Oklahoma, where a woman had to have both arms and legs amputated after she was attacked by a pair of dogs while riding her bike.
There’s a special place in hell for whoever removed or stole a ghost bike honoring a fallen Michigan bicyclist.
The Department of DIY struck in Minneapolis, Minnesota when a father got tired of waiting for the city to fix the lights on a bike path, a couple years after thieves stripped the wiring, and bought some lights and installed them on the path himself.
Authorities have ordered the removal of a downhill mountain bike course from a mountain in the Adirondacks, saying it violates a “forever wild” provision.
A group of Atlanta residents came together to build their own $10,000 DIY bike lane — but instead of ordering its removal, city officials encouraged it as part of the city’s tactical urbanism program. Something Los Angeles officials have clearly never heard of, since they immediately remove any DIY safety improvements.
International
An Edmonton, Alberta TV station shares a moving tribute to a local physician who “gained thousands of followers on Twitter by sharing his real-time insights on ICU struggles, physician burnout, and public health policy” after he was killed in a mountain biking crash. Thanks to Megan for the link.
Michal Collins was one of us. A photo posted on Mastodon shares a statue showing the Irish revolutionary/freedom fighter walking his bicycle. Thanks again to Megan.
You can now download an interactive man of Kyiv, Ukraine’s bicycling infrastructure, in case you feel a sudden urge to dodge some Russian missiles and drones.
A Chinese press release says expats are embracing Shanghai’s bike-friendly vibe. Because, why not.
If you ordered a bicycle from Giant, Liv, Stages or Cadex, you might be in for a long wait, because all of the above Giant products are being held up at the US border over accusations of slave labor, although Giant says US inspectors never visited their factory.
Competitive Cycling
There’s exciting news from UCI today, as…okay, no there isn’t, unless you live in Trentino, Asuncion or Durango.
France’s Célia Gery beat Slovakian cyclist Viktória Chladaňová in the first-ever standalone U-23 women’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships, with Spain’s Paula Blas third.
Australia beat France to capture the team time trial at the Worlds.
American Chloé Dygert appeared to break the rules against political messaging at the Road World Championships, with a message on her bike saying she stands with assassinated right-wing activist Charlie Kirk.
Finally…
There’s good news for weight weenies this morning (is that still a thing?). Even editorial cartoonists are getting swept up in the anti-ebike panic.
And if you want to scare people into putting radar on their bikes, just put a Mustang in your ad.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
