Tag Archive for Catherine Blakespear

Fatal bike and ped hit-and-run rates rise, 45 years in random fatal beating of Florida bike rider, and a look at SoCal’s killer highway

July 14, 2026 / / One comment

Happy Bastille Day to all who celebrate! Although how happy will be determined by today’s le Mondial, mais non?

We’re going to do something a little different today. Too many important stories have involved too much work on my part, leaving no time for the links that usually follow. At least not if I want to get any sleep at all tonight. 

So we’ll discuss the big stuff today, and circle back to the more extraneous links tomorrow, if that works for you. 

Besides, my internet connection is starting to feel like molasses, so I want to get this up before it goes down. 

………

It’s not your imagination. Or mine, in this case.

According to a press release from a bicycle legal group, bicyclists and pedestrians are far more likely than drivers to be the victims of a hit-and-run.

Cyclists are increasingly being struck by drivers who flee the scene, according to a 2026 analysis of federal crash data released today by Bicycle Accident Lawyers Group (BALG). In 2023, 1 in 5 U.S. cyclists injured in traffic was hit by a driver who left the scene, and more than 70% of everyone killed in a hit-and-run that year was a pedestrian or cyclist. Hit-and-runs reached an all-time high that year, and many injured cyclists have no identified at-fault driver to hold liable, according to the firm’s review of AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data.

The trend is moving against cyclists even as U.S. roads overall grow safer. Fatal bicycle hit-and-runs rose 63% between 2017 and 2023, from 168 to 274 deaths, outpacing the 45% increase in overall cycling fatalities, the BALG analysis found. After 2020, total traffic deaths began to fall while bicyclist hit-and-run deaths kept climbing, a sign that safety gains reached drivers inside vehicles first.

The scale is significant. More than 919,000 hit-and-run crashes were reported in 2023, about 15% of all collisions. Cyclists are among the most exposed: nearly 1 in 4 cyclists killed in traffic that year died in a hit-and-run, up from 1 in 5 in 2017.

That corresponds with what I’ve found writing about bicycling deaths, consistently finding that somewhere between a quarter and a third of all fatal bicycling crashes each year involve a hit-and-run driver.

It’s clear that drivers are far more likely to flee in a collision after hitting something soft, like a human being, than they are after hitting something hard, like another motor vehicle. If only because their car or truck is more likely to be disabled after striking another motor vehicle.

Which could explain why there is so little urgency around the issue, and why so little is being done about it. Because if it’s not a problem affecting the great mass of people in their big, dangerous machines, then it’s not really a problem at all.

At least not for the people who could do something about it.

Then there’s this little bit of information.

Accountability remains rare even in fatal cases. A large share of hit-and-run drivers are never identified, and in New York City police solved just 324 of 6,652 nonfatal hit-and-run cases in 2020, about 1 in 20, according to NYPD figures.

That’s some damned impressive detective work, at least compared to Los Angeles, where the rate of drivers identified and convicted of nonfatal hit-and-run crimes is reportedly somewhere south of 1%.

………

Talk about gut-wrenching.

A 21-year old Florida man was sentenced to a well-deserved 45-years behind bars for a random crime spree that included beating a bike rider to death with a tire iron when he was just 17-years old.

Savonne Morrison was convicted of manslaughter, rather than first-degree murder, for driving the getaway car in a 2022 crime spree that started when his nextdoor neighbor recruited his help to beat up the new boyfriend of the neighbor’s ex-girlfriend.

But she wasn’t home, so his neighbor, Jermaine Bennett, started drinking and using coke, then set off on a vandalism spree by smashing random cars with a tire iron.

That continued until they spotted an 82-year old man walking alone in front of a St. Petersburg carpet store. Bennett got out of the car on a pretext of asking the man for directions, then repeatedly hit him with the tire iron, knocking him out with the first blow. Fortunately, he survived the attack.

That can’t be said for their next victim. Forty-nine-year old Jeffrey Chapman was riding his bike when Bennett again jumped out of the car and knocked Chapman on his bike with the tire iron. They then took turns beating Chapman to death, before driving off with his wallet.

Bennett eventually pled guilty to murder, and was sentenced to life in prison.

For whatever reason, the jury didn’t convict Morrison on a 1st degree murder charge, instead convicting him of manslaughter.

However, Morrison was on probation at the time of the attack for a violent carjacking when he was just 15 years old, when he and a group of friend used a girl they were both dating to lure another boy to come meet her. But when he arrived, Morrison and the others pistol-whipped the boy, forcing him out of the car, then driving over him as they took off in his car.

As a result, the judge gave Morrison the maximum of 15 years for manslaughter, and another 30 for violating his parole on the carjacking charge, to be served consecutively.

Florida law requires serving a minimum of 85% of a prison sentence in most cases, meaning Morrison will be at least 59-years old when he gets out.

Somehow, that doesn’t seem like enough.

………

She gets it.

Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian took a look at the Malibu section of Southern California’s killer highway on Sunday.

The stretch of Pacific Coast Highway that spans the length of Malibu is one of the most storied roads in the world and also, tragically, one of the bloodiest. As someone who frequently drives PCH between Santa Monica and Trancas, I often hold my breath for fear that some spacey tourist or distracted teenager will wander off the beach and into my path. Or that a car will back out of a driveway right into me. Or that a driver ahead of me will spot an open space on the shoulder and slam on the brakes to back into the spot. I am in awe of the brave cyclists willing to risk their lives for the sake of a beautiful ride.

Me too, sadly.

She goes on to discuss the 2023 documentary 21 Miles in Malibu made by Hollywood producer Michael Shane, whose 13-year old daughter Emily was killed in 2010 “by a reckless, suicidal motorist” as she walked to meet him after a sleepover.

Three years ago, Shane, a film producer best known for “Catch Me if You Can” and “I, Robot” made “21 Miles”  to shine a light on the extraordinary dangers of having a five-lane state highway running through what is essentially a residential neighborhood. The hour-long documentary, which won several film festival awards, aired Thursday on PBS SoCal and will be available on the PBS app and website.

“Being on this roadway,” says Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. David Huelsen in the film, “is probably the single most dangerous thing you’re gonna do on your vacation.”

Or any other time, for that matter.

After years — okay, decades — of work by safety advocates of all stripes, Caltrans is finally making improvements to the deadly highway, retiming traffic lights and adding roundabouts to deter speeding. And ten automated speed cams will come online this fall, part of a pilot program authorizing them in Malibu, Long Beach, Los Angeles and Glendale, as well as three cities in Northern California.

But as Abcarian points out, the fines are way too low.

Shane thinks the fines are ludicrously low, and I agree.

“If you got a $1,500 ticket instead of a $200 ticket, you might think twice about going fast, because it’s going to cost you,” he said.

………

As long as we’re discussing the LA Times, I saw one opinion piece that went the news equivalent of viral, as former Times opinion editor Paul Thornton’s smartly thought-out column from the Golden State newsletter was picked up by news sites across the country, including CalMatters.

Thornton argues that making ebikes safer is smart. But smothering them isn’t.

Electric bikes are powering an urban transportation revolution. They flatten hills, haul cargo and people, and offer an alternative to driving that doesn’t involve breaking much of a sweat or waiting for a bus.

I’ve experienced these wonders firsthand. For the last three years, I have used an e-bike — an electric-motor assisted bicycle — to do everything from commuting 23 miles across Los Angeles for work to meeting up with friends at places where finding a parking spot takes longer than the drive over. In a city choked by traffic and pollution, calling these machines liberating isn’t an overstatement…

Lawmakers in Sacramento have introduced at least eight bills this year targeting e-bike safety. One would have added licensing and registration requirements for most e-bikes; anotherwould have rewritten the state’s classification system, making most e-bikes already rolling on California streets illegal.

Thankfully, those bills died, and with them a level of regulation that could throttle an efficient, clean and fun transportation option in California, and hamper a technology that is already driving the majority of revenue growth in the bicycle industry.

He goes on to make the case that Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s Senate Bill 1167 hits the the right notes, with the right restrictions to improve safety without killing the golden e-goose.

Done intelligently, safety regulations do not have to curtail e-bike adoption and all the upsides these joyous devices bring to cities clogged by traffic. Policies crafted using data instead of panic might actually lure more people out of their cars and onto two wheels.

It’s more than worth taking the time to read it. Because he’s right.

………

They get it.

In an extensive letter to the editor that’s really more of an op-ed, a pair of Edmonton, Alberta physicians make the case for maintaining a connected bike network, in the face of rumored provincial legislation that would restrict current and future urban bike lanes.

They argue that bike lanes make the city healthier for everyone, not just the people who choose to ride.

I won’t get into all their arguments here, though it is worth a few minutes to read the entire letter.

But they close with this.

As with public policy in any area, the devil is in the details of implementation: Any change could have negative impacts for some citizens. This reality underscores the critical importance of local involvement in decision-making that balances the pros and cons of any specific policy proposal, in order to arrive at the best possible solution for the people who are most impacted. Neighbourhood and municipal policies imposed by higher levels of government do not make sense.

As physicians, we advocate strongly for the development and maintenance of infrastructure to support and encourage active transport by bicycle, including a connected network of protected bike lanes. We support the right of Edmontonians to make the decisions that best meet our needs.

………

I learned a long time ago not to trust social media. So does anyone know how accurate this video is?

Twitter post

According to the Daily Dot website, commenters go on to criticize California for having the nation’s highest tax rate, which is true. Although the overall tax burden places it lower, somewhere in the top ten states.

One even calls the pathway a death trap. But as unsightly as it is, graffiti does not a death trap make. For that, you usually need motor vehicles

Which are absent from this video, anyway.

………

Calbike says a Lathrop woman made a simple request for the city to hold a free community bike and traffic safety education event at City Hall during National Bicycle Safety Month. It was her attempt to be proactive before something bad happened, after her family had too many close calls while riding their bikes.

Which then became a reality when the driver of a city vehicle cut off her seven-year old daughter as she was riding her bike in a crosswalk, forcing her to crash into the side of the vehicle.

Camryn was not seriously hurt, which is fortunate. But that does not mean the incident should be brushed aside. A child should not have to be badly injured before a city takes repeated warnings seriously. For Cortez, the crash was terrifying and enraging because it felt like the very scenario she had been trying to prevent. For months, she had been telling officials that children biking and walking in Lathrop were at risk.

What followed, Cortez says, has been its own kind of burden. She wants to know what happened. She wants records preserved. She wants clarity about whether the driver was working at the time. But more than anything, she wants the city to stop treating a preventable safety failure like an isolated incident.

“I can sue them all I want,” she told CalBike, “but then I would just be a rich person in an unsafe neighborhood.”

………

Speaking of Calbike, the statewide bicycle advocacy group made a statement yesterday opposing Proposition 45 on the November ballot, even though at first blush it would seem to benefit bikes.

The measure would accelerate review for a broad category of projects, including transportation. It would impose stricter deadlines, limit the alternatives agencies must consider, and restrict judicial review. But the same reduced friction available to a bikeway or transit project would also be available to a highway expansion, and in a state that often seems more eager to widen a doomed highway than expand transit, it is not hard to imagine this will result in more sprawling freeways than verdant bikeways. That is why CalBike opposes Proposition 45…

The initiative’s central mistake is treating transportation as a single public good. A bus lane, a protected bikeway, and a freeway widening can all be described as infrastructure, but they do not produce the same future. Yet, Proposition 45 would place both in the same expedited category, blind to induced demand or driving alternatives. Reduced friction does not operate in a vacuum. California’s highway-building institutions already have money, plans, political allies, and decades of momentum. Open the gates equally and the results will not be as lopsided as they have always been.

As much as we need new bikeways, and would benefit from a faster review process, the last thing we need is more and bigger highways.

And as Calbike points out, it’s the people who build highways who have all the money and lobbyists.

………

I was halfway through a story from a Michigan public radio station about a Los Angeles actor who rode his bike 3,500 miles to his hometown of Lansing, Michigan, to deliver a letter from his daughter to his 101-year old father, before I realized I knew him.

“I was looking for a way to kind of connect my family,” Nichols said. “My two daughters, I was such a part of their upbringing, and with my dad…he was so involved with my upbringing, and I sort of wanted to connect them.”

Nichols started his journey on May 15, where he rode across the Golden Gate Bridge through a path that took him through Oregon. His weeks have been spent travelling bike trails through Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.

On Monday, he arrived in Michigan through the SS Badger, where he will be biking from Ludington to the finish line, East Lansing. He said he plans to be back to his dad on Monday.

The original plan was to go through the Upper Peninsula and over the Mackinac Bridge, but his trip was interrupted.

“I did have to take a short break in the middle to go home to Los Angeles to shoot a movie, and then I flew right back and got back on the bike, and kept going,” Nichols said.

I admit, I didn’t pay any attention to the guy’s name until I got further down, and read this.

Nichols settled in Los Angeles years later after starting his acting career in New York.

But outside of his acting career, Nichols cohosts BikeTalk, a radio show advocating for safer spaces for people to travel on bikes. Nichols has documented his entire journey through the show.

“Our audience is following Taylor’s journey after maybe having listened to Taylor as a co-host on Bike Talk for several years, now he’s up and moving around the country,” Nick Richert, BikeTalk co-host, said. “He’s embodying everything that we’ve been talking about on the show.”

It was only then that I realized they were talking about our own BikeTalk’s Taylor Nichols, someone I’ve traded emails with for years about various bike stories. And I’ve spoken with Taylor and Nick on BikeTalk many times over the years, until my health problems and the assorted meds I take for them made me stop doing live interviews.

Because I can control and edit what I say on here, so I don’t usually make too much of a fool out of myself. But live, I’m prone to memory losses and misspeaking, making TV and radio too much of a minefield for me.

I also confess it’s been awhile since I’ve listened to the program, even though I remain a fan, and host a free public service ad for them over there on the right.

So I wasn’t aware of Taylor’s journey. And confess to being gobsmacked when I realized who they were talking about. Which is a word I don’t use often.

Or ever, even.

But I’ll let Taylor have today’s last words.

“I decided that I would just do it as a way of showing that the bicycle is not just a toy, but is an actual tool of transportation,” he said. “And that if we can create safe places for people to bike, we can break our dependency on oil and automobiles and things like that.”

Amen to that.

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

Livability versus yelling at kids on your lawn, Calbike urges SB 1167 support, and one year since Ackerman killed in WeHo hit-and-run

July 9, 2026 / / No comments

Okay, so let me start with a (relatively) brief rant. And don’t worry, I’ll get to the point eventually.

Because I now find myself at that golden age when I metaphorically yell at kids to get off my lawn.

I did that this afternoon, when I spotted — and heard — someone setting off extremely large and extremely illegal fireworks from the roof of the building next door.

And yelled loudly off the balcony regarding where they could put their explosives, assuming they were the same jerks who set off two literal bombs at 4 am Wednesday night, shaking our windows, waking my wife and terrifying the corgi, who ran off to hide in the closet for the rest of the night.

Bombs so loud, my phone lit up with people on Citizen and Ring Chat complaining about the noise half up to a mile away. Although some people assumed it was gunshots, because Los Angeles.

But that’s the problem. Because the past few years, we’ve been dealing with noise from illegal fireworks any and every time of the day and night, virtually every day of the fricking year.

While I didn’t agree with Spencer Pratt about much during his brief run as a national political celebrity, he was right about the quality of life here in Los Angeles being in the toilet.

Streetlights are out all over town. Trash piles up everywhere, and God forbid you should try to find a trashcan to throw something away. Storefronts sit empty on every block. Our streets are so rutted and potholed, many are virtually impassible.

Seriously, take North Fairfax. Please.

I could go on…and on. But you undoubtedly have your own complaints. And yet no one seems to be doing anything about it.

In fact, our elected leaders seem dedicated to doing exactly nothing.

Like quashing police reform and proposals for ranked choice voting and expanding the city council, despite overwhelming public demand. And actively blocking Measure HLA, which passed by a two-thirds majority.

See, I said I’d get to the point.

The things that could improve the safety, vitality and livability of this city are the very things no one in our elected city leadership seems to give a damn about.

We’re now down to two candidates for Mayor of Los Angeles, and 16 people running for city council.

I’m not going to tell you who to vote for. But when you mark your ballot this November, don’t just bike the vote. It should be a given by now to vote for someone who will support your right to ride a bicycle comfortably, and return home safely.

But more than that, vote for someone with a commitment to make this city more livable — and tells you exactly how they plan to do it.

Because I’m done with promises. We’ve had over 20 years of promises, and things haven’t gotten any better. It’s long past time when our leaders acted in our interest, and not theirs. And I’d really like to see Los Angeles make this damn list while I’m still around to enjoy it.

And I don’t want to be that guy shaking my fist and yelling at the kids to get off my lawn.

Okay, rant over.

Today’s photo of the rockets red glare doesn’t begin to capture the sound of bombs bursting midair at 4 am. 

………

Speaking of livability, the ready availability of electric motorbikes sold under the guise of ebikes, and the underaged hooligans on them, seem to be at or near the top of everyone’s list these days.

Encinitas State Senator Catherine Blakespear’s SB 1167 is designed to address that problem without throwing the ped-assist ebike baby out with the bathwater.

Here’s is what Calbike had to say about it in an email I received yesterday

This year, California lawmakers considered a wave of proposals responding to concerns about electric devices. The most burdensome approaches, including new license plates and registration systems for legal e-bikes, have fallen away.

There is a reason why SB 1167, the Truth in Biking Bill is still moving, and passing every benchmark in decisive fashion. Because it takes the simpler approach: make companies tell people the truth about what they are buying, because an honest, fair marketplace is better for all involved.

Ask Speaker Rivas & Chair Wicks to Advance SB 1167

SB 1167 does not ask the DMV to build a new registration system. It does not impose new licenses, plates, or fees on people who ride legal e-bikes. Instead, it relies on definitions California already has. Devices that are too powerful or fast to qualify as legal e-bikes must be accurately marketed, labeled, and disclosed to buyers. That is easier for the state to maintain, easier for responsible businesses to follow, and easier for families to understand.

This practical approach has earned unanimous support at every major vote, including a 15–0 vote in the Assembly Transportation Committee. SB 1167 is now before the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

Please ask Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, and Chair Buffy Wicks to advance SB 1167 to the Assembly floor.

Send your message

California does not need to build an expensive new system around legal e-bikes. It needs clear rules and honest information at the point of sale.

Thank you for your support,

Kendra Ramsey

Executive Director

………

Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the hit-and-run that took the life of Blake Ackerman as he rode his bike home from work on Fountain Avenue in West Hollywood.

Maybe it hit me harder than most because it was so close to my apartment. Someplace I’ve walked, biked and driven by countless times since moving to Hollywood a decade ago.

Or maybe it’s because we’ve fought so long to improve safety on Fountain, and finally seemed to be getting somewhere.

Or maybe just because it was all such a fucking needless waste of a young man’s life.

Or maybe just all of the above.

I’ve placed flowers on his ghost bike several times over the past year to let his loved ones know we still remember, and care.

I plan to walk over tomorrow and place artificial tropical flowers on his ghost bike — tropical because he loved Hawaii, and artificial because they last longer. And say a prayer to tell him how just how very, very sorry I am.

Nothing would make me happier than to walk over and find his bike already covered with flowers, real, fake or otherwise.

But I’ll still do it, even if I’m the only one.

………

A European ski instructor and bicycling fan ranks the top five mountain passes in the Alps, for your next two-wheeled journey for fame and glory.

………

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

No bias here. An op-ed in the Tennessee Conservative — already a bad sign — argues that the best way to piss off bike riders is to criticize them, then goes on to do exactly that, taking riders to task for legally exercising their right to ride on the roadway. Which means he’s undoubtedly right by pissing off bicyclists for criticizing them when he’s undoubtedly wrong.

Bike riders in the Scottish Highlands are complaining about a “daft and dangerous” decision to remove an important stretch of bike lane near the city center, arguing that it will hit disabled bicyclists the hardest. Even if American drivers don’t believe disabled bike riders even exist. 

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

Two Vermont men were fined $35,000 and ordered to remove any remaining trace of an illegal bike trail they built in a state forest over a five-year period, chopping down 350 trees and drilling into rocks to make the trails. Let’s hope that includes replanting the trees, and at least giving the rocks a nice apology.

Police in Western Australia are looking for a 53-year old hit-and-run bike rider who plowed into a 64-year old woman while riding on the wrong side of the road, leaving her with a “difficult journey ahead” after she was taken off life support; the bike rider stopped to assist the victim, but left before police and paramedics arrived.

………

Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton calls on bicyclists to provide input in an online survey about Carson’s ambitious Bicycle Action Plan. Although if it’s actually ambitious, I like it already. 

 

State

San Diego avoided disastrous cuts to transportation in the city budget, with a modest half-million dollars to fix the city’s 15 most dangerous intersections, while avoiding the mayor’s plan to cut the Department of Transportation’s entire Multi-Modal Team.

San Diego’s new ebike restrictions will go into effect next month, banning anyone under the age of 12 from riding an ebike, and reinforcing helmet requirements and prohibiting a second rider without a seat built to accommodate two people. Which strikes me as decidedly underwhelming, but what the hell do I know?

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, aka SBCAG, is asking bike riders to review an AI-generated bike map. Apparently, they want to confirm it doesn’t have any extraneous legs or fingers, or any other added AI generated errors or hallucinations. 

A Bakersfield woman was driving at three times the legal alcohol limit and with a driver’s license that expired two-and-a-half years ago when she hit and killed a 66-year old man riding a bicycle last month.

A new study from a San Francisco professor shows that only protected bike lanes actually cause an increase in bike ridership, unlike sharrows or painted bike lanes.

Sacramento police issued 31 traffic citations during a four-hour bike and pedestrian safety operation, apparently all to drivers.

Bike co-op Sacramento Bike Kitchen will mark their 20th anniversary this weekend with free music, bike polo and beer. And no, the beer isn’t free, or I’d be on my way already. 

 

National

Oregon is considering a proposal to link an existing 20-mile bike path to the famed Rogue Valley wine country.

A Eugene, Oregon middle school teacher rode his bike 1,650 miles down the Left Coast from Canada to Mexico in just seven days, but missed in his effort to set a new world record by a day and a half.

Denver bike riders are fundraising to collect $4,500 to buy a bike-towed street sweeper to clean debris from the city’s bike lanes.

There’s some good news from Detroit today, as the five-year old boy shot by a stray bullet while riding his bike with his father is recovering from his injuries.

An Ohio writer says yes, it matters to see Black riders on the state’s trails.

The NYPD marked the 4th of July by diverting pedestrians from a walkway onto a bike path, with no explanation for where people on bicycles were expected to go; Streetsblog complains it’s another example of the city treating cars like transportation but bicycles like toys.

Streetsblog says it only took New York the deaths of two bike riders to update the pavement markings on the Queensboro Bridge bike lane to reflect a new a pedestrian-only path on the opposite side of the bridge, calling the move “too little, too late.”

Leonardo DiCaprio and his girlfriend, Italian model Vittoria Ceretti, are both one of us, riding bikeshare bikes together through the streets of New York, where they bumped into convicted musical plagiarist Robin Thicke. But hopefully not literally. 

Heartbreaking news from Tennessee, where an 86-year old man was booked for last month’s fatal hit-and-run that left a bike-riding woman lying badly injured in a ditch. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive, and who should make that decision in a society built around the need to drive. 

A DC writer issues a “coward’s guide” to bicycling around the city.

 

International

If you build it, they will come. A new study in the Journal of Transport & Health shows that building a bike lane or park within about 550 yards of residents’ homes in São Paulo, Brazil was a key factor in keeping them active and encouraging cycling. To which LA drivers shout in unison, “But Los Angeles isn’t São Paulo!”

Cycling Electric says a new cargo bike may be the most advanced one yet. Then again, it should be with a $9,300 price tag.

Road.cc joins the fight over media descriptions of illegal electric motorcycles as ebikes, after police seize “ebikes” that can reach 72 mph.

A writer for Streetsblog says if you want safer roads, all you have to do is take a European vacation.

Three Indian men face charges for stabbing a 30-year old man to death in a petty dispute over whether he had hidden one of the men’s bicycle. As we’ve said before, no bike is worth a human life. Just walk away, for god’s sake.

A Norwegian artist and adventurer is nearing the end of her 300-day epic bike tour through the African continent.

Japanese soccer star Kaoru Mitoma injured a woman riding a bicycle, after both he and the victim allegedly went through a four-way red light on the walk signal.

 

Competitive Cycling

No charge among the favorites for this year’s Tour de France, as a late bike change allowed Jonas Vingegaard to finish with the same time as Tadej Pogačar, thanks to the Tour’s three-second rule, which oddly has nothing to do with eating something that fell to the tarmac within three seconds; Norway’s Torstein Træen continued his unlikely stint in the yellow jersey with an eight-minute lead over Vingegaard and Pogačar.

British Paralympic cycling star Dame Sarah Storey is calling it a career at age 48, as her 74 world and Paralympic medals make her the most successful British athlete, disabled or otherwise.

 

Finally…

Blocking an unofficial bike trail with a bolder Boulder boulder. That feeling when bike lanes are “DEI.”

But at least we aren’t tied for dead last in the new City Ratings.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Calbike celebrates as major bike bills move forward in legislature, and SGV residents can rent an ebike for a year for just 75 bucks

July 1, 2026 / / No comments

Look, I know you’re probably in three-day weekend mode already.

But come back tomorrow for our last post of the week, when, in addition to our usual news and feeble witticisms, our long-missing anonymous courthouse reporter returns from the wilderness to update us all on the many court cases we haven’t kept up with in her absence. 

I’ll be taking Friday off for the holiday to spend time with with my wife and corgi, until we have to drug her to the point of unconsciousness before all the illegal fireworks make it sound like a war zone around here. 

We’ll probably have to drug the dog, too. 

I expect you to do whatever it takes to stay safe and sane over the weekend, so we can see you back here again on Monday. 

Those new T-shirts aren’t going to buy themselves. 

I have some new designs ready that I hope to get online later today. And yes, there will be coffee mugs coming once we get this thing up and running. Thanks to Joel for the suggestion. 

………

Calbike has had a lot to say today, as bills backed by the statewide bicycle advocacy group advanced in the state legislature.

AB 2168 moves on to a vote by the full senate after passing out of committee by an 8-to-4 vote, although they neglected to mention which committee; the bill is designed to strengthen California’s Active Transportation Program by improving how projects are chosen, funded and delivered, while increasing accountability.

Encinitas state Senator Catherine S. Blakespear’s SB 1167 was unanimously passed by the Assembly Transportation Committee, banning deceptive marketing that advertises or sells electric motorcycles, mopeds, or other higher-powered vehicles as electric bicycles, and required clear disclosure if a vehicle doesn’t meet the legal definition of an ebike; the bill — co-sponsored by CalBike, PeopleForBikes, Streets For All, and Streets Are For Everyone — now moves on to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Which is where good bike bills too often go to die. 

SB 569, also sponsored by Blakespear, was approved by the Assembly Transportation Committee by a 13-to-2 vote and moves to the full Assembly for a vote; also known as the Preserving Safe Bikeways bill, it establishes a public process before a local agency can remove or weaken an existing bikeway. So take that, Encinitas.

………

San Gabriel Valley residents now have two new ways to get a discounted ebike through the GoSGV program.

City Commuter ebike rentals are available for just $75 for 12 months, with a $125 refundable deposit, while e-cargo bikes are available for $105 for a three-month membership.

Residents may qualify if they live in South El Monte, El Monte, Avocado Heights, Rosemead, South San Gabriel, San Gabriel, Alhambra, or Monterey Park, or if they meet income eligibility requirements or receive public assistance.

Meanwhile, GoSGV continues to offer vouchers worth up to $2,000 on the purchase of an ebike from select dealers in the San Gabriel Valley.

………

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

Once again, a road-raging driver has used a motor vehicle as a weapon to attack someone riding a bicycle, this time in Stockton, California, where 75-year old driver was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon after backing his car into the 32-year old victim following an argument; fortunately, his injuries weren’t life-threatening.

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

An apparent self-hating bicyclist claims the active travel policy in Edinburgh, Scotland prioritizes “greedy” bicyclists over pedestrians; a leading local architect, he says he feels guilty over the space he gets on his daily bike rides across the city compared to walkers. So, wouldn’t the solution be to demand more space for pedestrians, rather than chastising bike riders for getting enough room to ride safely?

………

Local 

Streetsblog offers a recap of Sunday’s Leimert Park meets Expo Park CicLAvia, along with some incredible photographs, saying the “open streets festival highlighted the significance of culture in reclaiming streets for people.”

A writer for Mashed says his favorite beer garden in LA has artsy vibes, a bike shop and the best French fries in the city. In other words, welcome to Frogtown’s bespoke Spoke Bicycle Cafe.

 

State

A Caltrans webinar will kickoff the new statewide bicycle and pedestrian plan on July 30th. Let’s just hope it’s worth the wait. 

San Francisco Streetsblog offers a sneak peak at new curb-protected bike lanes in El Cerrito.

 

National

Um, no. An AI-curated MSN slideshow purports to show 13 comfort and safety upgrades for senior bicyclists — and somehow thinks granny needs aero trim handlebars for her Dutch-style bike.

A writer for Forbes contributes to the confusion over what is and isn’t a street-legal ebike by singing the praises of a $6,000 motorcycle-style machine capable of doing up to 60 mph, while insisting it’s still a bicycle because it has pedals.

Deputies in Oregon’s Washington County have made 34 arrests using a bait bike, something the LAPD still won’t even try. Or maybe it was Washington’s Oregon County. 

A Vermont man drove 1,900 miles to ride a 109-mile gravel trail through the prairies and Black Hills of South Dakota. Lately I’ve been feeling the pull of the prairie myself, jonesing to return to the Pawnee National Grassland in eastern Colorado just one more time. Although that’s a little harder to do now that I don’t drive anymore. 

A 41-year old St. Louis woman has been charged in the April hit-and-run death of a 66-year old man; she allegedly crossed the centerline to hit his bicycle head-on, then briefly got out of her car before fleeing the scene.

Trek celebrated its 50th birthday in Waterloo, Wisconsin last week, while the co-founders of the company reminded people there’s only so much the company can do to promote bicycling when there’s not enough infrastructure, and people still don’t feel safe riding a bike.

Chicago Streetsblog invites readers to take a virtual ride along a new protected bike lane, while politely asking another site to stop pushing the “tired and disproved narrative” that it could put local businesses out of business.

A Virginia man suffered minor injuries when a 53-year old woman threw a cup of bleach on him after accusing him of stealing her bicycle.

A Wake Forest med student is riding across the US to raise awareness of colorectal cancer in honor of his grandfather, who was diagnosed with the disease two years ago, in addition to suffering a stroke, which led to discovery of a brain tumor. But other than that, he’s doing just great. And yes, you want to raise awareness “of” an illness, rather than “for” an illness, as the story states, because increased awareness is not likely to benefit the illness, though it may benefit those who learn about it. 

In what I assume is killer sarcasm, an Athens, Georgia website says help is on the way for the beleaguered city, after it scored a woeful 23 out of 100 on People for Bike’s most recent city rankings, with the progressive college town ranking just 60th in the state, “behind bastions of socialism like Jefferson, Canton and Dahlonega, where the Lycra-clad elite hold sway over oppressed drivers.”

A 22-year old woman was arrested for the hit-and-run death of a 68-year old woman riding in a bike lane on a Fort Lauderdale drawbridge, after a security camera captured her driving in the bike lane, pausing briefly after hitting the victim, then speeding away; police watched car after finding it abandoned a couple miles away, and arrested her when she returned three hours after the crash to remove her belongings, then got in an Uber to make her failed getaway.

 

International

He gets it. An Ontario letter writer says bicycle networks should be judged by their connections and usability, arguing that “gaps and barriers can make even high-quality infrastructure hard to use.”

A 76-year old woman was arrested for the hit-and-run that killed an 11-year old boy as he rode his bicycle in Québec City, Québec. Once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive. 

A new inquest will look into the death of a 15-year old Birmingham, England boy who was found hanging from a tree, nine weeks after disappearing on a bike ride 42 years ago; his death was initially ruled a suicide, but reclassified as a murder in 2002. However, the main suspect in his death was died shortly after the boy’s body was found.

A 36-year old London man is suing the city after breaking both arms and his jaw when he hit a lane divider for a protected bike lane with his bicycle; the divider was missing the usual plastic bollard intended to mark them for exactly that reason.

London’s dockless e-bikeshare provider Forest will use AI to determine how well a user parks their bikes, encouraging them to repark it in a better position if it judges they did a poor job.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Movistar Team will show up for the Tour de France Grand Depart in Barcelona on Saturday wearing a special jersey that pays homage to the city, and Gaudí’s Sagrada Família cathedral.

The Tour Down Under announced the longest route in its 28-year history, with the men riding 543 miles over six stages in next year’s race, and the women riding just 243 miles over three days. Because apparently, male race organizers still think women’s dainty, frail bodies can’t handle too much time or too many miles on the saddle. 

 

Finally…

That feeling when the suspect walks into the middle of a stolen car investigation while riding a bicycle. Your next smart bike could distinguish between international turns and falling, with support systems kicking in to help keep you upright.

And now you, too, can buy a replica of Tadej Pogačar’s yellow Colnago race bike for less than $200.

Even if it is the size of a tennis ball.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

Regan Cole-Graham ghost bike stolen from Playa del Rey, and errant driver kills woman inside Manhattan Beach laundromat

June 10, 2026 / / No comments

Let’s start with a bit of heartbreaking news, after someone stole the ghost bike recently installed for a pregnant mother in Playa del Rey.

According to Streets Are For Everyone Executive Director Damian Kevitt, the bike placed in memory of 35-year old Regan Cole-Graham, a mother of two who was seven months pregnant with her daughter Ophelia, was taken shortly after the ghost bike for Blake Ackerman in West Hollywood was stolen, then recovered a few days later.

Which raises the question of whether someone is purposely removing ghost bikes, or if this is just a strange coincidence.

Only the ghost bike installed for her unborn daughter remains where they were placed.

If anyone finds it, contact SAFE with the information.

Cole-Graham and her daughter were killed by an elderly driver on Pershing Drive, where a road diet installed in 2017 was removed months later after backlash from angry motorists, mostly pass-through commuters from Manhattan Beach.

And yes, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough for any lowlife scumbucket who would intentionally steal a ghost bike, as if that’s somehow different than desecrating any other memorial.

Especially this one.

Ghost bikes for Ophelia and Regan Cole-Graham

………

This is the cost of traffic violence.

An innocent victim paid the ultimate price for a driver’s actions yesterday evening, when an errant motorist somehow slammed her SUV into a Manhattan Beach laundromat.

A woman inside was just washing her clothes when the SUV came flying in through the door of the business around 6 pm, fatally pinning her against one of the machines.

A witness reported the driver appeared to be an elderly woman, who tried explaining her actions by telling police her foot got caught on the pedal. If true, it adds even more fuel to the burning argument over how old is too old to drive a car.

Either way, it’s more proof that motor vehicles pose a deadly risk to everyone, on or off the roadway.

………

California State Senator Catherine Blakespear will host a 90-minute webinar this evening to discuss solutions to ebike safety, in conjunction with CalBike, PeopleForBikes, Streets For All and Streets Are For Everyone.

Blakespear is the sponsor of SB 1167, a much-needed bill that would clarify the definition of ebikes, and crack down on illegal electric motorbikes being misrepresented as legal ebikes.

Someone let me know how it goes, because I’ll be on a much-needed mental health break today, going to my happy place where cars don’t exist, and the deer and the antelope play.

 

………

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

A local councilor has called for vital improvements to a cycle track between Lancaster and Morecambe, England, calling the busy route “terrifying.” Even though it looks as good or better than most similar pathways in the US.

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

You’ve got to be kidding. Orange County Sheriff’s deputies were called when two teenagers decided to terrorize shoppers in a Foothill Ranch Walmart by riding their ebikes — actually electric motorbikes — up and down the aisles. One more reason why California needs to clarify the definition of ebikes to distinguish them from e-motos and dirt bikes.

A group of Singapore bicyclists were termed “too arrogant to use the lane provided for them,” despite politely riding single file and hugging the fog line — never mind that the bike lane, just the shoulder of the damn roadway — was likely littered with debris, or that there were a series of warning signs next to the bike lane just down the road. Because arrogance is the only possible explanation when people on bicycles do things that drivers don’t understand.

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

A Senior Chief in the US Navy is retiring after decades in the service, but taking the long way home by riding his bike alongside his dad from Portland, Oregon, to San Diego to raise funds and awareness for veteran mental health services.

Escondido police ticketed 53 drivers during a bike and pedestrian safety operation on Monday, along with ticketing five people riding bicycles; three drivers were arrested on drug and weapons charges, as well as an outstanding warrant for driving with a suspended license.

Eight people have been killed riding their bicycles in San Luis Obispo County over the past five years.

A kindhearted Delano cop bought a new bicycle for a woman out of his own pocket after her bike was stolen, and the suspected thief said it had been discarded and couldn’t be recovered.

Sad news from San Jose, where a man riding a bicycle was killed by a hit-and-run driver yesterday morning; the driver was arrested after crashing the stolen car into a lamppost a quarter mile away.

 

National

The New York Times lists five great North American cities for bicycling, including four in the US, and one in Canada. None of which is Los Angeles, of course. 

People Magazine picks up the story of a 30-year old Seattle elementary school teacher who was killed by the driver of a garbage truck while riding his bike last week; a crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $29,000 of the $35,000 goal.

A new ebike law went into effect in Washington State today limiting the use of ebikes by kids between 12 and 16, and designating any ebike capable of traveling over 20 mph as an electric motorbike.

Disgusting news from Arizona, where a 47-year old man was arrested for the hit-and-run death of a 25-year old woman riding a bicycle; the victim was also struck by two other drivers, not one of whom stopped.

A Colorado man explains why he rode a mountain bike up every one of the states legally rideable mountains over 14,000 feet elevation, just four years after getting sober from drinking himself “into oblivion.”

A newish bridge in Corpus Christy, Texas has been named the state’s scariest bridge for bicyclists, despite a ten-foot wide shared bike and pedestrian lane. Or maybe because of it.

This is how you get change. Hundreds of Chicago bicyclists took part in a “life-affirming” bike ride and die-in in memory of a city Complete Streets planner who was killed in a dooring while riding in a painted bike lane. I’ve never seen that many LA bike riders turn out for any protest or memorial except Critical Mass. 

In the end, only a dozen or so bike riders joined with survivors of the Kalamazoo massacre to mark the 10th anniversary of the stoned-driving crash that killed five people on a weekly bike ride, and seriously injured four others, and finish the ride they weren’t able to.

Heartbreaking news from Virginia, where a 23-year old man was sentenced to life in prison for the drive-by shooting that killed an eight-year old girl as she was riding her bike outside her aunt’s home; a second suspect was sentenced to 25 years behind bars after pleading guilty, while a third man will go on trial next month.

 

International

He gets it. An editor for Cycling Weekly says he is very aware of his vulnerability when he rides a bicycle, like virtually every other bike rider, and doesn’t need to be pulled over by the cops for a reminder, when it’s the people in the big, dangerous machines who should be told how vulnerable we are.

London officials are accused of covering up a dramatic rise in bicycling fatalities and serious injuries, which outstripped the rise in bicycling rates, focusing on a decline in fatalities instead.

A British father and son completed a 400-day, 18,000-mile bike trip around the world, setting Guinness World Records in the process for the fastest bicycle circumnavigation of the world by a father and son, the longest bicycle journey by a father and son, and the most countries visited in a continuous bicycle journey by a father and son.

A UK pub owner waved off 108 bike riders, ranging from seven to 81-years old, for the pub’s 28th annual fundraising ride supporting a cancer foundation, a youth-engagement nonprofit, and a Cambodian anti-poverty fund.

A hit-and-run driver was arrested for running down a boy riding a bicycle in Kuala Lumpur; he was driving a sibling’s car with a valid driver’s license, despite literally being card-carrying mentally disabled.

More heartbreaking news from Australia, where a 47-year old man is awaiting sentencing for killing a nine-year old boy who was riding an ebike with his father, driving into the bike lane they were in while traveling over twice the speed limit, and with a BAC more than three times the legal alcohol limit; his mother turned off the boy’s life support while his father was still in a coma.

 

Competitive Cycling

LA officials revealed details about the road cycling and paracycling courses for the ’28 Olympics, which will start on the Venice boardwalk and finish at the Griffith Observatory, while the road cycling time trial and paracycling events will start at the LA Zoo, and also finish at the Observatory. Although it will be pretty hard to top the Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre climb from the ’24 Paris Olympics.

 

Finally…

Trying to make Electric Overland a thing, which sounds disturbingly like Electric Ladyland. Chances are, you weren’t riding a bike across the country when you were nine.

And no, there is nothing ironic about using new jersey barriers on a New York bike lane.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

Category: Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
 
Wordpress Theme by ThemeZee