Tag Archive for defensive walking

Local LCI takes NPR bike/ped advice to task, San Bernardino sucks for biking and walking, and surreal NJ story gets more so

Day 279 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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I received a lot of news links over the weekend that I didn’t have time to get to for today’s post.

So if you sent me something, don’t worry. I’ll try to catch up on everything tomorrow.

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Longtime bike advocate, League Cycling Instructor, Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition member and NPR listener Colin Bogart gave the public radio network a piece of his mind.

Something I’ve had to stop doing because I don’t have many pieces left these days.

Bogart addressed a Life Kit article we touched on recently offering tips for bike and pedestrian safety, zeroing in on the problems with it much more effectively than I did.

Here’s just a portion of what he wrote.

I’m sure your intent was good, but there is so much we don’t do in our country to protect vulnerable road users that a piece like yours becomes victim blaming.  The advice isn’t inherently bad (well, some of it is), but in the context of how poorly we as a country prevent crashes, it becomes ridiculous if you don’t address drivers directly.

You mentioned in your piece, “DON’T put yourself in danger just because you have the right of way. While drivers are responsible for driving safely, road safety is everyone’s responsibility.” I could pick apart every single recommendation you gave, but this is the worst part of your piece. No bicyclist can ride on the road, no pedestrian can cross a street, without the expectation that one’s right of way will be respected. To then say that road safety is everyone’s responsibility ignores the imbalance between vulnerable road users and motor vehicle drivers. My responsibility as a bicyclist is NOT the same as someone driving a two ton vehicle capable of high speed. It simply isn’t the same. The responsibility of the driver is far greater. And that’s why we are required to have a driver’s license and insurance to operate a motor vehicle and we’re not required to be licensed to ride a bike or walk. But it doesn’t end with a license or an insurance payment. It extends to behavior on the road and drivers should be held to a much higher standard than they currently are. We’ve lost sight of the inherent differences between drivers and vulnerable road users by stating that we’re all equally responsible. That statement also doesn’t take into account children, the elderly, or people with disabilities. There should be more onus placed on licensed drivers, simply because the act of driving a motor vehicle creates the greater risk in the first place.

And yes, it’s worth clicking on the link to read the whole thing.

Preferably after reading the Life Kit piece, which seems pretty benign at first glance, until you give it a little more thought.

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Congratulations to San Bernardino on being named the nation’s fifth most dangerous city for bike riders and pedestrians, behind only Baton Rouge, Tucson, Las Vegas and Jacksonville, Florida.

On the other hand, Irvine and Santa Clarita deserve props for making the list of the top ten safest cities, led by New York and Boston.

Which will probably shock the hell out of New York bike riders.

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We keep learning more about the alleged intentional crash that killed two 17-year old girls riding an ebike in Cranford, New Jersey, just 18 miles from New York City.

He was allegedly driving 70 mph when he steered his car at the victims and slammed into them, nearly three times the posted 15 mph speed limit.

Authorities have not named the suspect because he’s still a minor. But that didn’t stop CNN and other outlets, naming a 17-year old boy who received 15 separate traffic tickets the afternoon of the crash, with details that line up with the accusations.

The New York Times says things took a surreal turn the night of the crash — as if the whole damn thing wasn’t surreal enough — when the alleged suspect broadcast live on YouTube.

“What’s going on everybody?” he said breezily. “We’re back with another stream and this one is going to be a little different from the previous ones.”

A few minutes later, he started to explain: “In a neighboring town, unfortunately, two girls were killed in a hit-and-run crash,” he said. “There has been a lot of misinformation going on over the internet. But I will say this: I wish my sincerest condolences to those girls, lost in that tragic accident.” He then said that he was “not authorized to talk about the whole thing,” and moved on.

No shit.

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Gravel Bike California goes riding with current gravel world champ and Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu Van Der Poel.

Lucky bastards.

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

Life is cheap in Ukraine, where a 44-year old motorist was sentenced to a lousy 30 days behind bars for beating a Kyiv bicyclist unconscious, after the rider complained about his parking in a bike lane. Then again, they do have other things to worry about over there. 

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

A Singapore man riding an ebike killed an 88-year old woman by crashing into her as she walked in the street.

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Local 

Pasadena students are encouraged to walk, bike or roll to school on this Wednesday for National Walk and Roll to School Day.

 

State

A 70-year old man suffered serious injuries when he allegedly turned left in front of a pickup driver while riding his bike in San Diego’s Midway neighborhood.

A San Diego bike rider reportedly suffered a compound leg fracture when he was struck by a light rail trolley east of the Santa Fe Depot.

A 36-year old woman was busted for allegedly driving under the influence of both alcohol and drugs for causing major injuries when she crashed into a 13-year old boy in Victorville.

Nearly 600 Palo Alto bicyclists rode to a local elementary school yesterday to promote safe rides to school and a more bicycle-friendly city.

 

National

A new 12-month randomized trial showed that fast bicycling can slow the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

NPR talks with retired US Ambassador to Ukraine George Kent about his cross-country bike ride to raise awareness and funds for the country’s war effort.

Police in Odessa, Texas arrested a man for beating a bike rider with a crowbar to steal his mountain bike.

Pittsburgh bike riders rode through the city to raise funds for local playgrounds in honor of an FBI agent killed in the line of duty in 1994.

A Hornell, New York man known locally as The Bikeman was honored as the city’s citizen of the year for donating 400 refurbished bikes so kids in need can ride; he’s donated 1,540 rebuilt bicycles over the past four years.

The witches are riding once again in Florida’s Delray Beach at the end of this month.

 

International

Results of a survey published in the journal Human Reproduction show that riding a bike with a padded saddle could reduce your chances of becoming a father, showing up to a 25% lower chance of getting a partner pregnant; riding a hard road saddle didn’t appear to have any effect. Which could cause a rush on padded bike seats among single straight men. 

Cycling Weekly says sometimes you’re better off not knowing about damage to your bike, suggesting willful ignorance for a stress-free ride, at least until something falls off or it stops working.

Cycling Weekly also recommends the best front and rear bike lights.

Momentum recommends “20 of the best under-the-radar cycling routes on the planet.” Because bicycling routes off the planet are just too hard to get to.

Bicycling and motorists groups each blamed the other for jumping a temporary red light in Oxfordshire, England, and who caused the greatest danger doing it. I know which one would get my vote.

London’s famed “Boris Bikes” bikeshare celebrated 15 years on the city’s streets with a photo contest, drawing photos showing the bikes at a wedding in Chelsea, a Coronation street party, St Paul’s Cathedral and a Regent’s Park sunset, among others.

A Welsh man ran a half marathon to raise the equivalent of nearly $27,000 for the air ambulance service that saved his life after he rode his mountain bike off a 70-foot cliff.

CNN talks with an English father and son who became TikTok stars after setting out to bike around the world, catching up to them on an off day in China.

Colnago teamed with Ferrari to build a $33,500 carbon-kevlar composite monocoque bike in the late ’80s. Or two, actually.

It’s happened again. A 22-year old British man was arrested for the alleged drunken crash that killed a 38-year old woman riding her ebike, then driving another eight blocks with her body embedded in his windshield before she finally fell out.

 

Competitive Cycling

European cycling teams tried once again, and failed, to beat Tadej Pogačar, as he soloed to victory in the European road championships with a 46-mile breakaway; Jonas Vingegaard was accused of not taking the race seriously enough by waiting too long to respond to Pogačar’s attack.

The bull has once again showed his horns, as 21-year old Mexican cyclist Issac Del Toro outsprinted Britain’s Tom Pidcock to win Italy’s 108th Giro dell’Emilia classic.

Noway’s Alexander Kristoff fell one short of 100 career wins before retiring, after injuries forced him to withdraw from Malaysia’s Tour de Langkawi when he crashed on the seventh stage.

 

Finally…

Nothing like bunny hopping all the way up the Eiffel Tower, one step at a time. Your next bicycle could measure just 3.34 inches — and yes, it’s fully functional.

And it’s probably not the best idea to get caught up in the middle of a grizzly bear chasing a herd of bighorn sheep.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

Morning Links: Bonin declares Mar Vista a Great Streets success, and LAPD gets it wrong with hi-viz for jaywalkers

It’s the last three days of the 4th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just three more days to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy. It’s easy to donate via PayPal, or through Zelle with the banking app that’s already on your phone, using the email address you’ll find on this link.

Any amount will help, and is truly and deeply appreciated, no matter how large or small. 

We’ll even take the change under your sofa cushions. Or whatever you have left once your holiday shopping is over.

So what are you waiting for, already?

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It looks like the traffic safety deniers were wrong. And the Mar Vista Great Streets project is here to stay.

Westside Councilmember Mike Bonin released a four-minute video yesterday touting the success of the lane reductions and bike lanes on Venice Blvd in Mar Vista.

Despite the claims of opponents, who seemed to be operating from their own set of alternative facts, the newly configured road has resulted in far fewer serious crashes, while carrying just as much traffic, just as quickly, as it did prior to the new design.

In fact, peak travel times are only 30 seconds slower than before.

But while bicycle counts dropped 16 percent, the number of people walking on the street jumped by a full third over the year before. And Mar Vista business is booming.

So much for the specious claim that no one goes there anymore.

This is what one reader, who forwarded the video to me, had to say.

I’m sure you saw this, but Bonin just sent out a pretty encouraging video on Mar Vista Great Streets.

The 1-year LADOT report is apparently favorable on safety, bike/ped/scooter volumes, and (even) car travel times. (Not sure if the report is out yet.) Seleta Reynolds is recommending that the street configuration (i.e., bike lanes, I think) be made permanent, with Bonin recommending that as well.

They had some big numbers about business activity & business openings being *way* up year-on-year. (My take is this probably has more to do with the macroeconomy than the bike lanes, but it at least proves that bike lanes haven’t “killed” Mar Vista)…

Bonin also announced a bunch of traffic changes to reduce cut-through traffic on the side streets around Venice/Centinela, including some protected left turns and longer right-turn pockets on the arterials, as well as more stop signs on Victoria & Charnock.

I was hoping it’d be an announcement about more protected bike lanes, but after the last couple years, anything that’s not moving backward feels (alas) like a victory.

Unfortunately, the report hasn’t been released, and no word yet on when it will come out. Correction: The report was released the same day as the video; you can read it here. Thanks to Eric B for the heads-up.

And I’m sure whenever it does, opponents will once again deny virtually everything in it, just as they’ve done for the last year since the project was installed. Note: The traffic safety deniers are already hard at work in the comments to the YouTube video.

But maybe, just maybe, we can finally get city officials to start making decisions based on actual facts and real world experience, instead of just listening to whoever screams the loudest.

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An op-ed in the LA Times ridicules the LAPD’s program to give jaywalkers a reflective vest and clip-on lights in lieu of a ticket.

And justifiably so.

It goes on to say defensive walking is not the antidote for the city’s high rate of pedestrian deaths.

Or bike deaths, for that matter. 

Because, while we all need to take practical steps to protect ourselves, the real problem is cars, and the distracted and overly aggressive people in them.

And dressing up like a glow-in-the-dark clown isn’t the answer.

It should also be pointed out that every corner has crosswalk in every direction, painted or not, unless crossing is specifically prohibited with posted signage.

And jaywalking isn’t against the law unless there’s a signalized intersection on both ends of the block.

Too bad the LAPD doesn’t seem to think any of that is worth mentioning.

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Don’t make her beg. Support the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive today.

Local

Mashable promotes sale prices on a pair of bikes from Burbank-based Pure Cycles.

The LA Times examines the practicality of Elon’s Folly, the underground tunnel system he promises will whisk cars at high speeds underneath Los Angeles. Although I’m in favor of anything that would get more cars off the streets, even if that means sending them down into the bowels of the earth.

State

No more $2 bus tours of Camp Pendleton any more, but you can still visit the Marine base by bike — if you plan ahead and apply for a permit in person, in advance.

San Francisco debunks the common argument that protected bike lanes will interfere with fire trucks. And moves forward with another protected lane as a result.

It’s been a deadly year in San Jose.

A Marin newspaper says Mill Valley’s new designation as a silver-level Bicycle Friendly Community is well-deserved.

National

The Seattle Times asks if Seattle’s new transportation director can build detente with the the city’s sparing drivers, bike riders, pedestrians and transit users, like he did in DC.

The former sex change capital of the world — and the halfway point by rail between Los Angeles and Chicago — will host the first Southwest Chief Bicycle and Comedy Festival next May, combining a “love of the outdoors, bicycle fetishism and the obligatory live entertainment-and-partying.”

In a battle of letter writers, a Colorado Springs CO bike rider says he doesn’t want the bike lanes the city is forcing on residents, while another rider correctly notes that people on bikes are subsidizing the people in cars (2nd and 3rd letters).

‘Tis the season. A Chicago nonprofit refurbished 50 bicycles for kids in Gary, Indiana, part of the 1,400 bikes they donate in the Chicago area, and up to 8,000 bicycles they send to Latin America and Africa.

Condolences to bicyclists in Adrian MI, who are getting new sharrows and being told it’s infrastructure instead of what they really are, arrows designed to help drivers improve their aim.

Honda is testing a smart intersection system in an Ohio city that warns drivers if a pedestrian or bicyclist — or a red light running driver — is about to cross their path. But only if they have the connected car system installed.

Gothamist says New York bicycling deaths have plunged to a record low as the city built nearly 21 miles of protected bike lanes this year. But Streetsblog says no they didn’t, unless you count five miles of lanes without protection as protected.

Frightening and inspiring story from New Jersey, as the long-time lawyer for the state’s governing body for high school sports makes a miraculous recovery from the nearly fatal bike crash that left him paralyzed, after the riders ahead of him went down on a high-speed group ride.

International

Cycling Weekly presents nine Christmas experiences every cyclist will recognize. Unless, of course, like me, you don’t.

Cycling Tips shares their favorite bikes of 2018, sans price tags, unfortunately. On the other hand, you can get a new and improved Oi bike bell for just $36.

No bias here. A British Columbia letter writer says new bike lanes in downtown Victoria have given bike riders a lawbreaking sense of entitlement.

The Evening Standard asks if soaring ebike sales could help London clean the air.

Yes, please. British police plan to use virtual reality to teach dangerous drivers what it feels like to be passed too closely.

BikeBiz says it will take a fresh approach to make the roads safer, as six UK bike and pedestrian advocacy groups band together to get more people riding.

A pair of bike riders are raising funds for charity by biking from London to Tokyo for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, riding over 12,000 miles through 26 countries.

Bikes are being stolen from an English train station because the bike racks are merely bolted to the ground, allowing thieves to simply remove the bolts and walk off with the still-locked bicycle. Which is why you should never use a rack unless it’s embedded in the concrete.

A police union official says separate rules for bikes, ebikes, scooters, mini electric cars and hoverboards are turning bike lanes in the Netherlands into a living hell. Raise your hand if you’d gladly trade the streets you ride for Dutch bikeways, hell or otherwise.

The rich get richer. The Netherlands is investing the equivalent of $390 million to build 15 bicycle freeways and an additional 25,000 bicycle parking spaces to get another 200,000 commuters on two wheels — and paying bike commuters 22¢ a mile to ride to work.

A Palestinian writer calls on the UK to cut ties with what he calls Israel’s oppressive regime, saying he’s being sent to prison for riding a bike during a protest.

No bias here. A Hong Kong letter writer asks who needs bicycles when you can use the city’s speedy, efficient transit system — especially when they annoy people like him.

Competitive Cycling

Forget doping. The way to get a real — and legal — edge in bike racing is supercomputing.

Finally…

Is that a bikeable alley, or an overly realistic trompe l’oeil painting? When your annual bike ride is like a “naked Christmas episode of Doctor Who.”

And if you haven’t signed a pro cycling contract by the time you’re 11-years old, you’re already falling behind.

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Thanks to John C for his generous donation to the BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive to keep this site coming to your favorite screen every morning!