Still no ID on the two people killed by a suspected drunk driver on PCH in Ventura County on Thursday.
The victims were riding in the bike lane on SoCal’s killer highway, just north of Ventura, when they were run down from behind.
There’s also no word on why investigators concluded the unnamed 24-year old Oxnard man was under the influence. Or why he was arrested on suspicion of murder.
It seems odd that we haven’t learned anymore by now, particularly since he was scheduled for an initial court appearance yesterday.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon.
But in the meantime, at least Hoodline showed the good taste to reference me.
Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.
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We finally have a little news from the City of Angels, as the LAPD says crashes are up 5% with a nice round 750-crashes so far this year, largely due to distracted drivers.
Although they also blame people on ebikes and e-scooters for blowing through red lights, and illegally using sidewalks. And, of course, they warn pedestrians to stay alert, rather than telling scooter riders to stay the hell off the sidewalk.
KABC-7 reports the the most dangerous intersections this year have been:
- Figueroa Street and 7th Street in downtown Los Angeles – 11 crashes so far in 2026
- Highland Avenue and Pat Moore Way, near the Hollywood Bowl – 6 crashes so far in 2026
- Century Boulevard and Main Street in South L.A. – 5 crashes so far in 2026
- Sherman Way at the 170 Freeway entrance in the San Fernando Valley – 5 crashes so far in 2026
No word on where the most dangerous sidewalks are.
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In a hard-hitting report, a San Diego grand jury says the city is not meeting its own ambitious climate goals.
Shocking, I know.
According to Streetsblog,
The new report, Shifting Gears, arrives at a moment when San Diego is trying to reconcile two competing realities. On one hand, the city has adopted ambitious goals. The Climate Action Plan calls for 10% of all daily trips to be made by bicycle by 2035. Vision Zero commits San Diego to eliminating traffic deaths and severe injuries. The Bicycle Master Plan Update is meant to create a safer and more connected network. On the other hand, San Diego remains a city where the automobile remains king. While the report itself is not binding nor enforceable, it validates San Diegans’ concerns and recommends a path forward.
Safety and connectivity remain the two biggest barriers preventing more people from choosing to bike. A recent city survey of more than 2,000 riders found that “traffic safety concerns” and “gaps in the bike network” were the first and second most frequently cited barriers to bicycling.
The report cites a disconnect bike network, where bike lanes suddenly start and stop, leaving bicyclists to confront freeway on and off-ramps on their own.
Something I can attest to from my time there four decades ago. Apparently, some things never change.
They also cite a lack of maintenance, particularly on the city’s protected bike lanes.
It’s worth taking a few minutes to read, at least the Streetsblog summary, if not the full grand jury report. Because San Diego may have its issues.
But they’re lightyears ahead of Los Angeles.
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Seriously?
The head of the Luxembourg Police National Road Traffic and Safety Service warns that bicycling injuries continue to climb in the Duchy. So bicyclists should be careful around cars.
Drivers, as you were.
In fact, the only advice he has for drivers is to look before you open the door to avoid dooring bike riders. But it’s still the bike rider’s fault, even when the driver is at fault.
Motorists can prevent this by looking over their shoulder as they open the car door. But Faber believes that cyclists also share the responsibility to avoid this type of accident.
“Of course, if there’s a collision, the driver is actually to blame,” he said. “But to prevent it from happening in the first place, the cyclist must remain alert at all times and allow for the possibility that other road users might make mistakes,” he said. In practical terms, this means reducing speed and increasing their distance from parked cars passing parked cars.
And of course, he tells bicyclists to wear hi-viz and a helmet. Drivers, just look over your shoulder when you open the door to make sure there’s not someone wearing a helmet and dressed like a reflective clown riding too close to your door.
Because you don’t want to hurt someone, even if it’s their fault.
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French TV talks with American activist Shannon Galpin, who played a key role in exfiltrating the Afghan women’s cycling team following the return of the Taliban.
Which, translated from politese, means she had to get the women, and some men, out herself after UCI stopped helping with the mission, which has been ongoing since 2021.
Thanks to Megan for the heads-up.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps going on.
Residents of England’s Northumberland County make the same complaints about a new protected bike lane you could hear in any American city, from “it makes the road more dangerous,” to the work came “out of the blue” and “the money should have been spent on something more important,” because “it was never that dangerous for bicyclists, anyway.”
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Ohio lawmakers are considering revising the law to close a loophole, and make it possible to charge someone with vehicular homicide if they kill someone while riding an ebike.
A New Jersey woman is recovering from a concussion, cuts and bruises, and a man is facing criminal charges, after she told the man and his girlfriend to slow their ebikes down, and he responded by getting off his bike and punching her in the head. Even though the bikes look like electric motorbikes, it looks like his bike has pedals, so they may actually be ebikes. Or not.
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Local
The US House Appropriations Committee approved less than half of the $2 billion in transportation funding LA officials are requesting for the ’28 Olympics, all of which Metro plans to use for buses, with no crumbs left over for active transportation, apparently.
A writer for the Los Angeles Times joined a group of people walking 28 miles from Alhambra to Long Beach, passing through Monterey Park, Commerce, Vernon, Maywood, Bell, Cudahy, South Gate, Lynwood, Compton and Los Angeles along the way.
LADOT wants to know what you think about alternatives to building a gondola to Dodgers Stadium that might actually work.
State
This is who we share the road with. Even a coyote joined in as police chased an ebike rider across multiple cities in Orange County, before police busted the rider in Santa Ana. And even though the suspect was clearly riding an e-moto, we still got the blame.
A newspaper in Davis makes the argument that bicyclists roll through stop signs because of road design, rather than lawlessness, questioning whether traffic control signs designed for motorists really make sense for people on bicycles.
National
Sixty-six-year old ultracyclist Joe Barr set a provisional world record for riding the full length of Route 66, covering 2,448 miles, along with a whopping 68,897 feet of climbing in 10 days, 12 hours and three minutes.
A local Utah celebrity known as “Bicycle Brent” is back on his stuffed-animal festooned bicycle, despite being struck by the driver of a semi-truck, which dragged him a short distance; remarkably, the 70-year old man with cerebral palsy was conscious and breathing when first responders got to him.
Yeah, maybe it’s time. Bicyclists in Duluth, Minnesota are invited to “Bike for Science” to gather real-world riding data to update the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s bicycle facilities design guide, which is based on data collected in the 1980s. Which, for anyone unclear on the concept, is, like, a really long time ago, okay?
The best friend of a fallen New York bicyclist demands action against illegal vehicles on the street after he was killed by a man on stand-up electric scooter, arguing that “better street design” is not “some kind of mystery.”
Four young men who have overcome problems like substance abuse, legal troubles and emotional struggles are planning to ride 500 miles across Georgia to honor the founder of their youth home, who road 1,200 miles from Vidalia, Georgia to Omaha, Nebraska, in 1961 to help raise awareness and support for the newly established youth home.
International
Life is cheap in England, where a tree surgeon got a whole 16 months behind bars for dumping a load of asbestos in the middle of a narrow lane after being turned away from the local landfill; a 66-year old grandfather lost a quarter of his skull when his bicycle hit the debris and punctured a tire. And no, you don’t want to see the pictures.
London Penny Farthing riders set four Guinness World Records, including for the largest and smallest rideable big wheelers. Although I initially left out the “h” in “Farthing,” which would have made for a much more interesting set of records.
Londoners are worried that the bikeshare system wasn’t properly disinfected after some of the bikes may have been used in the city’s World Naked Bike Ride. Don’t click on the second link if you don’t want to see male genitalia hanging out.
The Daily Mail says a Freedom of Information request shows the UK’s first bicycle street is being used by just half the 3,000 daily riders Cambridge city leaders suggested.
Bicyclists in Manilla are calling for the city to build more bikeways as more people are riding due to limited public transportation.
Competitive Cycling
A German cycling race was disrupted when an elderly woman on a mobility scooter rode into the peloton, sending riders flying and causing a massive pileup.
Road.cc features a stunning photo of Belgian Liam Slock sliding foot-first across the finish line at Switzerland’s GP Gippingen, after suffering from premature celebration.
Finally…
Seriously, don’t flee from the cops when they try to pull your bike over for multiple vehicle code violations — and don’t try to punch them out when they finally stop you. Whacking a cop with a bike pump is not one of the recommended uses for it, even if you are 86-years old.
And that feeling when you pedal “America’s Weirdest Bike” 2,000 miles — to highlight a tax form.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
