A new report ranks Los Angeles as the nation’s most dangerous city for people on bicycles.
But take it with a grain of salt.
Or maybe even a bag.
First, because LA can be expected to rank high in bicycling fatalities — which are weighted heavily in the report — simply because it’s the nation’s second largest city. The only accurate measure would be to consider such deaths on a per capita basis.
Which is not to say too many people aren’t dying on our streets, due to the city’s failure to build the safe streets and bike infrastructure we were promised. Or to tame the toxic entitlement expressed by too many LA drivers.
Second, because this study is nothing more than click bait to get you to visit their site. It’s put out by a home security company that has absolutely nothing to do with bicycling or dangerous streets.
Unless you count the risk posed to bike riders by their own private security cops.
Yes, Los Angeles may be a dangerous place for people on bikes — and one that has done far to little to fix the situation.
But is it really the most dangerous place in the nation to ride one?
Probably not.
And probably not even the most dangerous place in Southern California.
Meanwhile, Davis is the anti-LA according to the study, ranking as the safest city for bike riders in the US.
And Iowa is ranked as the most dangerous state, which will probably come as a surprise to anyone who’s ever ridden there.
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Thanks to F Lehnerz for forwarding the following trio of outrageous links.
A San Jose man says pedestrians have too much freedom already, apparently wanting people on foot to be herded and channeled so as to pose less of an inconvenience when he zooms down the streets.
A Boulder CO woman says out-of-control bicyclists and pedestrians have made it one of the most dangerous cities in the US for drivers. Which probably explains why there are so many ghost cars to honor all those drivers who were almost killed when they had to slow down or tap the brakes to a avoid a human being.
And a Texas woman was inches from becoming road kill when a pickup driver passed her at high speed with two wheels on — or over — the white line. Yet the response from the local police was, literally, “So what do you want us to do about it?“
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Local
The LA city council’s Transportation Committee has approved regulations for dockless bikeshare, ebikes and e-scooters, allowing up to 3,000 devices in the initial rollout, plus another 7,500 in disadvantaged communities. And they’ve eliminated the absurd prohibition in areas served by Metro Bike.
Streetsblog’s Joe Linton says the lawsuit we mentioned last week to halt road diets on five Westside streets is just a tad off base, since no road diets are actually planned for those streets.
Streetsblog’s Sahra Sulaiman reports on last week’s rally and press conference to demand justice for fallen hit-and-run victim Frederick “Woon” Frazier, and the suspiciously timed South LA safe streets meeting that was scheduled at the last minute — and at the exact same time.
State
Hundreds of bike riders circumnavigate Coronado Island in an annual pre-4th of July tradition.
Palm Springs is getting several new bike lanes and a road diet.
There’s a new bike shop in Thousand Oaks.
National
The Daily Beast says forget the car, and ride a bike if you really want to see your state.
Dockless ebikes and regular bikes are coming to New York, where the traditional Citi Bike docked bikeshare has been exceptionally successful.
International
Cycling Industry News says the next big thing in bicycling is smarter bikes.
One more for your bike bucket list — riding the premier wine regions of Chile.
Vancouver’s former chief planner says cities are literally wasting public money by not investing in smart bike infrastructure, noting that the costs amount to a rounding error in most city transportation budgets.
A 17-year old Saskatoon, Canada high school graduate will be spending his gap year on a 19,000-mile bike tour around the world.
An Estonian bicyclist on an around the world trip should have skipped Winnipeg, Canada, where thieves broke the garage door where he was staying and made off with his tent and bicycle.
Elderly pedestrians say they’re being scared off a Nova Scotia multi-use trail by bike riders who speed and don’t signal. Seriously, it’s not that hard to slow down and show a little courtesy around other people. Although it’s hard to see how signaling would help when passing pedestrians from behind.
Record numbers of people are taking advantage of London’s heatwave to get out on their bicycles.
A UK court has cleared organizers for the death of a spectator who was killed by an out of control mountain bike racer.
Over half of British parents want bike eduction to be taught in the schools.
Just like London, half the traffic in Dublin, Ireland at rush hour is on bicycles.
Competitive Cycling
A creative website ranks the top ten prints inspired by the Tour de France. I only want all of them. But I’d settle for number eight.
Chris Froome asks cycling fans to just let him ride in peace, and no more urine, please. Meanwhile, ESPN says it’s time to take a deep breath and reassess doping regulations that benefit wealthy riders.
New Zealand Ironman champion Terenzo Bozzone is in stable condition after being run down by a hit-and-run truck driver.
Now that the feds have settled with Lance, they’re suing former US Postal Service team manager Johan Bruyneel to recoup $1.2 million.
Toxicology reports appear to indicate that 23-year old cyclist Michael Goolaerts had no drugs, alcohol or other medications in his system when he collapsed and died during the Paris-Roubaix race earlier this year.
Finally…
Giving your bike a bath could make you faster. Your Children At Play sign is stupid and ineffective
And no, red light running will never be cool.
