Tag Archive for dooring

Much ado about nothing for PCH safety, Los Angeles Times talks dooring, and “Share the Road” told to hit the road

December 20, 2023 / / 3 comments

Just 5 days left in the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Only one person donated yesterday. So thanks to Jeff S for his generous support to keep all the best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day!

We’ve fallen behind last year’s record pace, so we’ve got some ground to make up in order to top the previous year for the 9th year in a row.

So don’t wait — give now!

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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program this fall as promised: 1

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If you haven’t already, sign — and share — the petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA, and city’s ongoing failure to build the safer, more livable transportation system they promised.

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Call it much ado about nothing.

Caltrans made a big deal yesterday about plans to spend a whole $4.2 million to improve safety along a 21-mile stretch of PCH in Malibu, which works out to a measly $200,000 per mile.

Not exactly the major investment they made it out to be.

According to LAist, those improvements include,

  • Optical speed bars
  • 13 speed safety feedback signs
  • Enhanced striping to warn drivers of upcoming curves
  • Painting the speed limit on the roadways, and
  • Refresh signs designating the PCH safety corridor

None of which is likely to save a single life on Southern California’s killer highway.

Here’s how local radio station 99.1 KBUU, aka RadioMalibu.net, described the chest-beating news conference.

Caltrans and the state of California held a major media event on Malibu Monday, but a city clamoring for changes to Pacific Coast Highway was left empty handed.

The state Transportation Secretary travelled from Sacramento, but did not have any new traffic calming plans to disclose. 

Toks Milshakin repeated the list of quick fixes already disclosed by Caltrans: a $4.2 million set of new lane striping, speed limit signage, and other small safety projects.  

The news conference produced the news that the state will not be able to immediately lower the speed limit on any stretch of PCH.

No new speed study has been conducted, or will be conducted soon. 

No change in the speed limit.

No changes in design.

Caltrans safety manager Lee Haber said right now, that the state cannot lower the speed limits on PCH. 

And that’s just the beginning of a scathing report from the local media, which has been covering the mounting toll on the deadly highway for more than two decades.

Along with local safety advocates, who have been fighting for changes just as long.

Then there was this response, after Malibu Mayor Steve Uhring lauded Caltrans for taking time out to listen to city officials, saying he feels very confident they made some big strides yesterday.

If those strides resulted in any permanent or temporary changes, none were announced Monday.

Instead, officials stuck to the existing design and operation of the highway.

State law requires that the speed limit be computed based on the 85th percentile speed … the speed travelled by 85 percent of the cars.

PCH was designed 70 years ago with lane widths and curves to accommodate 55 mile per hour traffic … and study after study proves traffic moves at a design speed … not a speed limit. 

Never mind that the urgently promised safety study necessary to reduce those excessive speeds, or do much of anything else, won’t be complete until 2025.

Seriously, take a few minutes to read the whole thing.

Because the authors clearly and concisely shred all the happy talk and lauding news reports resulting from the announcement of the state’s meager investment in improving safety on the highway, concluding,

…it is .. after all … a state highway. 

One that is not going to see any major changes … anytime soon … other than 4 point 2 million dollars worth of paint and new signs. 

Ouch.

Thanks to Hans Laetz for the heads-up.

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The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the problem of dooring and what to do to prevent it.

The paper views it through the lens of artist Yasmine Nasser Diaz, the widow of Hollywood producer Robert George, who was killed in October when a motorist opened their car door at Fountain and Edgemont in East Hollywood, knocking him into the path of another car.

“Dooring” and “doored,” colloquialisms among bicyclists, refer to a collision caused by a driver or passenger opening a car door into an oncoming cyclist. For some cyclists, such as Diaz, it is among their greatest fears. But collisions such as these, they say, can be prevented with greater awareness and better infrastructure.

Developing bike infrastructure in Los Angeles is complicated by logistics and competing interests. Bicyclists say L.A.’s car-centric culture hinders progress and argue that the city favors the comfort of drivers.

Yeah, you could say that.

The story goes on to cite Joshua Cohen, of BikinginLA sponsor Cohen Law Partners.

In California, motorists are mandated to not open a door “unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic,” according to the state vehicle code…

But when car doors do collide with cyclists, the fallout can range from a few bumps and bruises to serious damage. Joshua Cohen, a personal injury attorney, said he’s dealt with cases in which cyclists had severed fingers, as well as back, neck and head injuries.

“The edge of the car door where it strikes the human body — generally, if you think about the physics of that happening — it’s almost like someone striking it with a sword because the leading edge of the car door is basically a thin piece of metal,” Cohen said.

Despite that, the law is rarely prosecuted.

A spokesperson with the LAPD says arrests are unlikely to be made unless police can prove malicious intent.

Otherwise, it’s just another oopsie — even though motorists are always at fault in a dooring, because they have the responsibility to prevent it.

The decade-plus I’ve spent tracking SoCal bike deaths tells us that dooring is rarely fatal. Which is good, because it’s one of the most common forms of bike crashes — despite the LAPD stats, which show only two reported doorings this year.

Presumably, one of those is the one that killed George.

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Don’t let the door hit it on the way out.

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‘Tis the season.

The San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles surprised over 100 students at a Boyle Heights elementary school with new bicycles for the holidays.

An organization founded by a group of Sacramento high school students when they were just in elementary school is asking readers of the local paper for $5,000 in funding, after donating over 500 bicycles to kids in need over the past ten years.

Bicyclists in the Bosnian city of Mostar donned their finest Santa suits and rode through the city handing out candy to kids, to celebrate the holidays.

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Local 

Streetsblog visits the new Boyle Heights’ Myers/Mission Roundabout connected to the 6th Street Viaduct, along with short bikeway segments on Myers Street and Mission Road.

 

State

A new bike law going into effect January 1st somehow slipped under the radar, requiring bike riders to obey bicycle traffic control devices when they differ from other traffic signals.

An op-ed from a representative for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition says despite the usual parking controversies, both bicyclists and small business owners really just want a more vibrant city.

San Francisco advocates warn tragedy is inevitable on one of the city’s Slow Streets, which is now slow in name only.

Vallejo is evicting residents of a homeless encampment just before the holidays, so the city can begin a $10 million project to rebuild the bike path they’ve been living next to.

 

National

Survivors of the Goodyear, Arizona crash that killed two bike riders and injured 19 others are still waiting for justice ten months later, after the county attorney passed the buck case back to the city attorney.

She gets it. A letter writer in St. George, Utah makes a detailed case that better bicycle infrastructure will improve safety for everyone.

The trial for the two Las Vegas teens accused of intentionally running down and killing former Bell CA police chief Andy Probst was pushed back to next fall, while their attorney attacked the entire grand jury system, and blamed mental, physical and emotional problems for their inappropriate courtroom behavior.

Cincinnati’s bikeshare system will be out of commission until at least early spring, as it undergoes “significant staff reductions.”

Megan Lynch forwards news that a bill in the New Jersey legislature would require low-speed ebikes and e-scooters — not the high speed, throttle-controlled ebikes — to be registered with the DMV and carry liability insurance, passing the Budget and Appropriations Committee on a 4-0 vote. Even though ebikes don’t seem to be what’s killing people on the state’s streets.

Sad news from Atlanta, where a leader of a local winter bicycling league was killed by a driver while on a ride with the group.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to save money — and the planet — by buying a secondhand bike instead of a new one, without suffering buyer’s regret.

A London website says don’t ride your bike through the Tooting neighborhood, where workers see bicycle collisions on a near daily basis. Maybe it would help if drivers would do a little less tooting and more driving.

A speeding English driver was sentenced to nearly five years behind bars for killing a 14-year old girl as she rode her bike on the sidewalk.

A new British study confirms what most of us already know, that drivers who also ride bikes, or at least understand where bike riders are supposed to position themselves on the streets, are less likely to blame the person on the bike for a close pass.

Taiwan is introducing 16 new bicycle tour routes connecting 13 national scenic areas, for your next trip to the island. You know, before China tries to take it over.

 

Competitive Cycling

No surprise here, as world champ Mathieu van der Poel returned to ‘cross competition, and immediately climbed to the top of the podium.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the kid in the store bicycle display could use a hand. Or when the local bike path goes to the dogs.

And that feeling when you emulate your hero by crashing and burning, just like the real Evel Knievel.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Westside bikeways virtual meeting & Bob George ghost bike installation tonight, and PA Senator Fetterman gets it

November 9, 2023 / / One comment

It’s another light news day for some reason.

And this time, I actually managed to manage my diabetes well enough to stay awake to work. 

So let’s get right to it. 

And apropos of nothing, here’s an AI image of a corgi riding a tricycle.

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A couple quick reminders of events taking place today.

LADOT is hosting a virtual workshop to discuss building bikeways connecting neighborhoods on the Westside, which they could find in the city’s decade-old mobility plan, if they bothered to dust it off.

However, judging by their tweet/post, the actual time is on a need to know basis. But since you may need to know, it starts at 5:30 pm.

The other event takes on a sadder tone, as street safety nonprofit SAFE — aka Streets Are For Everyone — will place a ghost bike for fallen Hollywood producer Bob George, who was killed in a dooring in East Hollywood last month.

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He gets it.

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

No bias here. After a dump truck driver struck and killed a Louisiana bike rider, state troopers and the local media were quick to remove any agency from the killer driver, while blaming the victim for “colliding” with the truck.

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

That feeling when the cops chase a bike-riding known felon through the streets of Red Bluff CA, where the local press apparently doesn’t know the difference between road and rode. Never mind that the police need probable cause to stop someone, let alone chase them, and “known felon” isn’t enough. 

A Texas man faces charges for repeatedly stabbing another man in a dispute over a bicycle, after he had taken the victim’s bike earlier in the day and returned without it.

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Local 

Discover Los Angeles looks forward to next month’s CicLAvia – South LA on December 3rd, the final CicLAvia of the year. Just my luck they had to schedule it on my sister’s birthday, when I will be otherwise engaged. 

 

State

KPBS talks with former Caltrans executive Jeanie Ward-Waller, who was fired for blowing the whistle on a possibly illegal freeway project in Sacramento after watching the agency repeatedly skirt the rules.

Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry takes Caltrans to task after Director Tony Tavares tweeted that safety is the agency’s top priority, arguing that if it is, it certainly doesn’t show. Maybe he can explain how wasting billions to widen freeways makes anyone any safer.

Calbike announced plans for its next biennial California Bicycle Summit, to be held in San Diego on April 18th and 19th.

A long-awaited bikeway connecting Santa Barbara County’s iconic Santa Claus Lane with nearby Carpenteria has finally opened.

A San Luis Obispo bike rider was lucky to escape injury after being struck by a 15-year old boy driving a stolen car; the driver and his passenger fled on foot, but cops were able to track down the boy behind the wheel.

Sad news from Modesto, where a bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a Kia Soul as he was just trying to ride across the street.

A report on the contentious bike lane pilot program on the Bay Area’s Richmond-San Rafael Bridge confirms that it’s not the cause of traffic congestion on the bridge, along with the resulting smog, while opponents play the race card in a full-page ad trying to get it removed.

 

National

CleanTechnica explains how ebikes can make using a bike for transportation practical, or even pleasurable. To which Californians still waiting for the state’s long-delayed ebike rebate program responded, “We wouldn’t know.”

A new organization co-founded by a Portland phys-ed teacher is dedicated to helping kids and parents form bike buses throughout the US.

That’s more like it. An Iowa woman was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed two men and injured another when she somehow mistook a bike path for a freeway onramp; she’ll have to spend at least 17 years behind bars before she’s eligible for parole. Which should give her plenty of time to sober up. 

That’s more like it. Several members of the Dallas, Texas city council rode their bikes to work as the city works on its first new bike plan in a decade; one council member said he only felt safe on about half of his ride. Which is probably more than many of the city’s bike riders could say. 

The Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial continued in Austin, Texas, with testimony from two of her friends who heard her threaten to kill gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, in a jealous rage over a perceived love triangle with pro cyclist Colin Strickland; a former prosecutor warns the case is built on circumstantial evidence.

Streetsblog introduces real New Yorkers who rely on ebikes, in an effort to get politicians to stop demonizing them; meanwhile, Curbed says licensing New York ebikes won’t make the sidewalks any safer.

Bicycles could be restricted, if not banned, under new rules proposed for the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway stretching through Virginia and North Carolina.

A student advocacy group at North Carolina’s Duke University took matters into their own hands, and striped their own DIY bike lanes using duct tape and temporary paint.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is really cheap in Georgia, where a 28-year old man walked without a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that left a 60-year old man riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries; he jumped a raised median with his car, striking the victim from behind and kept going despite literally running the man over. If you wonder why people keep dying on our streets, this is Exhibit A. 

 

International

Momentum suggests a dozen ways a bicycle could supercharge your life in the city.

Police in London say halting a rash of bike muggings is “among” their priorities, as a number of bike riders report being attacked for their bicycles. Not that they want to get carried away and stick their necks out or anything.

The sister of a fallen Welsh bike rider and two of his friends have refurbished the historic village pub where he used to hang out, and are re-opening it in his honor. Although someone should tell the Welsh news site about this nifty new invention called paragraphs, which would make stories like this much easier to read.

A new patent show Shimano may be trying to cut the weight on e-bike motor systems for gravel bikes and roadies.

A new ebike radar system developed by a 75-year old Japanese company uses an AI algorithm to worn of vehicles approaching from the rear that could pose a risk, as well as a multi-stage brake light for enhanced visibility.

 

Competitive Cycling

Three climate activists who halted this year’s Men’s Elite Road Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland by gluing their hands to the narrow roadway got off with a firm admonishment from the local sheriff, while the fourth was fined the equivalent of $307.19.

 

Finally…

Heavy bikes need a heavy duty bike stand and lift system. That feeling when low-cost Costco techwear is almost, sort of, but not quite as good as the name brand mountain bike stuff.

And your new ebike could have a motor developed for a Mars lander, for the low, low price of just 25 grand.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

BikeLA releases report on LA County bike deaths, more on Bay Area dooring attacks, and no more roadbuilding in Wales

February 15, 2023 / / Comments Off on BikeLA releases report on LA County bike deaths, more on Bay Area dooring attacks, and no more roadbuilding in Wales

Let’s start with a couple of well-deserved thank yous.

First up, thanks to Kurt G for his generous donation to help keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. Donations of any amount are always welcome and deeply appreciated.

Next, let’s all give Pocrass & De Los Reyes a round of thanks for renewing their title sponsorship of this site for another year.

The Century City law firm was our first sponsor, and  their support for the past ten years has made this site possible.

Photo of deadly East Anaheim Street from advocacy group BikeLA; the Long Beach street is one of several cited by the group as areas of concern in the report on LA County bicycling deaths below.

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Maybe LA area safety organizations are finally getting serious about fighting the effects of traffic violence.

Just weeks after the die-in at Los Angeles City Hall, and the release of a report from Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, detailing LA’s record rate of traffic deaths in 2022, BikeLA released their own report on the 26 bicyclists killed on LA County streets last year.

A press release from the group, formerly known as the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, or LACBC, describes the findings of the report this way.

Most notably, the report identifies four factors that were prevalent in the vast majority of collisions. These design elements include high speed limits, excessive travel lanes, missing bike lane infrastructure, and poor street lighting. With 81% of collisions involving two or more of these factors, it suggests that infrastructure deficiencies are the main culprit behind the dangerous conditions on the county’s roads. 

The report also considers the geographic distribution of each collision and found that 61% of last year’s bicycle fatalities took place in heavily concentrated low-income, Black and Latinx neighborhoods. Tragically, many crashes were also concentrated along heavily-traveled corridors without quality bike infrastructure including Anaheim Street in Long Beach and Figueroa Street in Los Angeles.

As an organization committed to creating safe, enjoyable, and vibrant communities for cyclists, BikeLA recommends several solutions including reducing speed limits, embracing road diets, and expanding cyclist education programs. Taken together, these solutions can help governments across the county recommit to their vision for zero traffic fatalities.

A chart complied by the group demonstrates the distribution of traffic deaths in LA County; Los Angeles is responsible for over half of the deaths, despite having less than half of the county’s population.

It’s also worth noting the report’s conclusion that 85% of LA County’s bicycling deaths occurred where there are no bike lanes or other bicycling infrastructure.

Although that could have a lot to do with LA’s failure to build out the bike plan, and the slow pace of bike lane construction everywhere but Long Beach and Santa Monica.

It’s worth investing the time to take a deep dive into the report, to gain an understanding of how and why people continue to die on our streets.

You can learn more about each of the bicycling deaths in LA County, and the rest of Southern California, by clicking here.

Full disclosure: I was a board member of what was then the LACBC for over five years, and continue to be a member of the organization. 

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

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Bay Area media coverage of the spate of dooring attacks is snowballing.

A Berkeley site says at least two people riding bicycles were targeted in the the city in recent days, as the count rises to 20 attempts to intentionally door victims in three Bay Area cities, with nine victims struck.

According to the East Bay Bike Party, the assailants used four different cars, including one that was confirmed to have been stolen.

“In several attacks,” the group said in a statement, “a driver sped alongside people riding bikes and a passenger on the right side of the car opened their door to hit the bike riders at speed. In at least two incidents the driver also drove directly into a bike rider rather than using the side door.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl0EdZtnY1M

An Oakland website adds more to the story, citing work by a team of volunteers to scour social media looking for more information on the attacks.

First, the group says that the four cars the suspects were driving were likely either Hyundai or Kia models, which have been recently targeted for theft due to a security loophole that has gone viral on TikTok. The EB Bike Party found that Ta’Liyah Hands, an Oakland resident, had her 2018 Silver Hyundai Elantra stolen in the Laurel Districtaround noon Friday. The car, confirmed by its license plate, was seen later that day in a video attempting to collide with bicyclists headed to the Bike East Bay Party. Several witnesses told the Oaklandside the cars the drivers used to attack them matched these models.

The group was also able to determine that the suspects were young, possibly teenagers. Several of the victims the Oaklandside spoke to for this story agreed, saying they heard laughter from the car’s occupants as they swerved at bicyclists. Most or all of the suspects were also male.

Meanwhile, the Oakland police department was unable to comment due to an ongoing cyber attack that prevented officials from accessing police files, and kept bicyclists from filing police reports.

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That’s more like it.

The Welsh government has canceled all roadbuilding projects over environmental and safety concerns.

Any future road projects must pass strict criteria requiring that they don’t increase carbon emissions, can’t increase the number of cars on the road or lead to higher speeds and emissions, and can’t have a negative impact on the environment.

Which pretty much means no new roads will be built in the country.

Period.

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No surprise here.

The accused killer of Dr. Michael Mammone in Dana Point two weeks ago had the criminal proceedings against him temporarily suspended Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Daily News is reporting that the case against Vanroy Evan Smith will be delayed until he has a competency hearing next week.

Smith told a reporter for the Orange County Register that he was both God and Jesus Christ. Which somehow seems unlikely, raising doubts about his competency to stand trial.

He could be committed to a psychiatric facility for treatment until he is competent to face trial, which could come in a few months, or may never happen.

Meanwhile, a memorial for Dr. Mammone will be held at the Festival of Arts grounds tomorrow at 11 am; mourners were asked to make donations to Wounded Warrior Project, the Laguna Beach Food Pantry or The LA Mission in lieu of flowers.

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The candidates in the special election to replace former LA City Councilmember Nury Martinez in CD6 will take part in a candidate forum tonight.

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British broadcast personality Jeremy Vine demonstrates a driver performing a left hook across a bikeway, the UK’s equivalent of our right hook.

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

A Virginia public radio station asks if bicycles should be required to stop at intersections. Which is not the same as asking whether bike riders should be allowed to treat stop signs as yields, as new bill in the state legislature proposes.

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Local 

LA city officials broke ground on two new mini-parks along the existing Chandler walk/bike path in North Hollywood, as well as adding new trees and lighting along the pathway, and improving two access points.

LAist offers a primer on how LA’s neighborhood councils work, and how you can join one.

BikeLA, formerly the Los Angeles County Bicycle County Bicycle Coalition, will host its first bike ride of the year in Griffith Park on Saturday, February 25th. Thanks to Ravener for the link.

 

State

A new bill in the state legislature would direct the state’s Mineta Transportation Institute to study ebikes, although it’s unclear just what information legislators are looking for.

 

National

It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that American motor vehicles are getting too big for their parking spaces.

Yahoo asks if ebikes are the unsung secret to curbing climate change. Short answer, probably.

Outside considers what kind of mountain bike you should buy this year. Which somehow assumes that you can, should, and want to buy one at all.

A new Utah state legislator is proposing a bill that would require drivers to change lanes to pass a bike rider, if there’s room to do so; the bill is personal for him, after he lost his own father when he was run down by a careless teenage driver while riding his bike. The bill is similar to a new California law that took effect this year.

Sad news from my Colorado hometown, where the county coroner’s office has identified the first of two bike riders killed there this week as an 81-year old man; police investigators are blaming him for running a stop sign, which seems unlikely at his age.

The Adventure Cycling Association calls out a five-mile section of US Highway 93 directly west of Whitefish, Montana as a particular area of safety concern due to crumbling shoulders and heavy traffic moving at high speeds.

Advocacy group BikeTexas is angling for a stop as yelled bill in the state legislature, as well as allowing ebikes in state parks.

A Streetsblog op-ed says the new and improved bike and pedestrian pathways on New York’s George Washington Bridge still aren’t good enough; a 1933 design called for cantilevered, 15-foot wide paths on both sides of the bridge.

The New York Times says bicycle delivery workers bore the brunt of Monday’s vehicular attack on Brooklyn sidewalks; a Chinese immigrant delivering food by bike was killed, and another man is lingering in a medically induced coma.  Meanwhile, the New York Post says the accused killer suffered a mental health crisis set off by “seeing” an invisible objet coming directly at him.

No surprise here, as a majority of residents in Charlottesville, Virginia say they’d like to walk, bike or take transit more often, if they just felt safe on the roads. Which is pretty much what the residents of virtually every American city would say.

A New Orleans bike club uses a fleet of eight tandem bikes to allow blind bike riders to experience the city in a new way.

The man accused of stabbing a bicycle-riding Florida couple to death during last year’s Daytona Bike Week has been found incompetent to stand trial; Jean Macean will be committed to a state facility until he understands the legal process and the case against him.

 

International

Porsche appears to be diving head-first into the ebike market by acquiring all of e-bikemaker Greyp, a subsidiary of Croatian supercar maker Rimac.

Mirroring the Aussie case we mentioned yesterday, an Ottawa, Canada man is on trial for killing his neighbor in a dispute over an alleged stolen bicycle. As we’ve said many times before, no bike is worth taking a life, let alone sacrificing your own. 

A Montreal driver was caught on video traveling an entire block in a protected bike lane.

The CEO of foldie maker Brompton blames Brexit for the problem besetting British bikemakers.

The rich get richer. Paris plans to build another 30 miles of bike lanes connecting the city center to Olympic venues in time for next year’s Summer Olympics.

A Philippine community is delaying plans to convert a protected bike lane into sharrows, in response to a massive protest by bike riders.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly profiles 22-year old British cyclist Harrison Wood, who’s set to make his WorldTour debut for French team Cofidis, after overcoming a brain bleed and broken collarbone suffered in a crash at the Course de la Paix.

Sad news from the UK, where record-setting bicyclist Eileen Sheridan has died at the age of 99. She rode the full nearly 900-mile length of Britain in less than two and a half days, a record that stood for 36 years.

Cyclist remembers how Fausto Coppi became the first rider to win the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year, in his rookie year of 1949.

 

Finally…

Your next car could be an e-trike. Now you, too, can move your entire household by bike.

And that feeling when your new bike parking looks artistic, but pretty damn useless.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

SD teacher blames bike injury for rape charge, prolific bike racing bank robber, and award winning photog was one of us

October 26, 2020 / / 2 comments

Thanks to everyone who reached out to let me know this site was down on Friday. 

I still don’t know just what went wrong, but everything seems to be working now. 

As always, I’m very grateful for the help!

Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels.

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You’ve got to be kidding.

A San Diego teacher walked without a single day behind bars for statutory rape after claiming he had sex with a 17-year old student because of a brain injury he suffered in a bicycling crash.

Brain damage or not, there’s no fucking excuse. Keep your damn pants zipped, and leave underage kids alone.

Period.

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Today’s must read tells the story of a Chicago bike racer training for the Olympics who took up bank robbing as a hobby.

Tom Justice kept just two twenties from his first several robberies, dumping the rest in the trash or where homeless people could find it.

He eventually spent 11 years behind bars after stealing a total of $129,338 from 26 banks in Illinois and Southern California, making his escape on a bespoke racing bike.

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Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Aurelio Jose Barrera was one of us.

After he retired from the LA Times, Barrera rode his bike every morning to deliver excess fruit from neighbors’ trees to feed homeless men and women.

He won the award for a groundbreaking series of black and white photos that personalized LA’s long-overlooked Latino community back in the 1980s, when the paper didn’t think it was worth covering.

Barrea died after a fall this past week; he was just 60 years old.

Thanks to Grace for the heads-up.

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A reminder, if you need one, that the door zone is dangerous, and dooring sucks.

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Seriously, who wouldn’t want a bike ridden by a man who was declared Righteous Among the Nations for his work saving hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews during WWII, and if there’s any justice, a future Catholic saint?

And he won a few bike races, too.

If anyone has an extra 90 grand lying around, I promise to pay you back. Although it may take another lifetime or two.

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It looks like the season of bike giveaways is starting as early as all those damn Christmas movies this year.

A nonprofit founded by Specialized donated 26 mountain bikes to a Laramie, Wyoming middle school as part of a program to use bicycling to boost student success.

A Mad City nonprofit aims to change children’s lives by giving away more than 2,000 bicycles over the next year.

Over 120 children got new bikes courtesy of an Indiana charity, although that was down from last year’s 400 bikes due to a drop in donations this year.

A pair of North Carolina bike charities responded to the bike shortage caused by the coronavirus bike boom by refurbishing bikes for local children who can’t afford one.

Kindhearted Florida sheriff’s deputies gave a young girl a bicycle after learning she was walking two miles each way to get to an education center for struggling kids.

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

Just horrible. Two people are dead in Las Vegas after a passenger leaned out the window of a moving car to push a woman off her bike, then fell out of the car himself. The woman was killed when she hit her head on the asphalt, and the man who needlessly took her life died when he hit his head on a street light after skidding 150 feet along the roadway. The driver could face a well-deserved murder charge.

An English roadway is being called a deathtrap after someone removed all the plastic bollards that had recently been installed to create a separated bike lane.

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

A New York bike rider apparently didn’t take too kindly to a pro-Trump rally blocking the Brooklyn Bridge.

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Local

Despite a pandemic-induced shutdown, CicLAvia celebrated its tenth anniversary earlier this month. I was there for the first one on 10-10-10, and witnessed the inception of CicLAvia as an LACBC board member when few people thought it could really happen in auto-centric Los Angeles. Myself included.

We already knew J.Lo was one of us. And so are her kids, as they all went for a ride in Santa Monica over the weekend, while she reminded us that voting is always in style.

Long Beach needs volunteers for its annual bike and pedestrian count later this week.

 

State

A Ventura man faces attempted murder charges for a series of attacks on homeless people; a bystander suffered minor injuries when the attacker ran him down with his car as he tried to follow the suspect on his bike.

Sad news from Napa County, where a 65-year old man was killed while riding his bike; naturally, CHP investigators blamed the victim.

More bad news, as a bike rider was killed in a Eureka collision. Note to Redheaded Blackbelt — maybe don’t include a photo showing the victim’s tarp-covered body next time. No one needs to see that shit.

 

National

A HuffPost writer considers how the Covid-19 pandemic could encourage cities to step back from car-centric design. Except in Los Angeles, where drivers continue to enjoy the lion’s share of the roadway, and the knee-jerk support of elected leaders.

Wired rates the best locks to protect your bike; not surprisingly, their picks lean towards Kryptonite.

Heartbreaking news, as a new bike rider and soon-to-be father of two broke his back sliding off a Utah embankment, leaving him a paraplegic; he’s now in a coma after suffering a heart attack in the hospital.

A Wyoming bicyclist isn’t letting the shorter days stop her morning rides. Thanks to Andy Stow for catching a not-so-small boo boo on my part. 

A Minneapolis man discusses what it’s like to be a Black mountain biker, and the frustration of wondering if people refuse his help because of his skin color.

An 88-year old New Hampshire woman will face charges for killing an 83-year old man riding his bike. One more reminder that it’s better to take away grandma’s keys than risk spending her final days behind bars.

Providence, Rhode Island bike riders complain that the city is villainizing and over-policing already marginalized young men taking part in the Bike Life movement, and confiscating their bikes without due process.

Instead of just complaining about teenage riders weaving through traffic and popping wheelies, a Boston paper examines Bike Life to understand why.

Now that’s guts. After four years, a New Jersey man returned to the scene of an Iowa crash that left him a paraplegic while riding cross-country, and finished the remaining 1,200 miles on a handcycle.

 

International

And we thought LA drivers were bad. Bike riders Bogotá, Colombia are taking lessons in self-defense to deal with the city’s overly aggressive, road raging drivers.

London bus passengers complain about a “crazy” bike lane that cuts through a bus stop. A design that’s been used here in LA, too.

No bias here. London’s Daily Mail says popup bike lanes installed during the pandemic are being ripped out after “paralyzing cities” with gridlock. Never mind that the whole point of popup lanes is that they are temporary, but can be converted to permanent lanes if they prove successful, and removed if they don’t.

Oasis star Liam Gallagher is one of us now, riding a bike through the streets of London after doctors tell him to stop jogging.

Despite a previous vow to never ride a bike, a British man took to two wheels — and Lycra – as part of his recovery program, and managed to finish a century sportive just a year after a near fatal car crash.

A new Indian film tells the story of an unskilled laborer and his trusty, if rusty, bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

It’s taken seven years for former British cycling ingenue Tao Geoghegan Hart to fulfill his promise (it’s Gaelic, pronounced Tay-oh Gay-gan) but he broke through in a big way with a surprise win the the Giro d’Italia.

Hart got the unexpected opportunity when Ineos-Grenadier team leader Geraint Thomas was knocked out of the race after rolling over a stray water bottle in stage three. The race came down to a two-man showdown in the 9-mile time trial on Sunday’s final stage.

The BBC calls Hart Britain’s new cycling star. He’ll get nearly $250,000 for the win.

The 19th stage of the Giro was cut in half after riders put their collective feet down at the start, complaining about plans to add a three-mile detour to the originally planned 160-mile distance so late in the race; instead of paying out prizes for the stage, the race organizers donated the money to help fight Covid-19.

Italian cyclist Matteo Spreafico has been provisionally suspended for doping after testing positive for a drug to treat muscle atrophy following two stages. But the era of doping is over, right?

Meanwhile, the Vuelta neared the finish of the first week of racing, as American Sepp Kuss managed to annoy virtually everyone in the peloton with his breakaway tactic.

A 39-year old Placenta man completed a Ironman Triathlon, despite battling a cancerous brain tumor.

 

Finally…

If it doesn’t have pedals, it’s not a bicycle — no matter how many bike parts it has. Sometimes the demon-like ghost caught on camera is just a bike-riding kid in a Halloween mask.

And who cares about someone’s car when you can talk bikes, instead.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask, already. 

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

Morning Links: Roads closed in Griffith Park, Lyft fights dooring, and bike transponders aren’t the answer

April 23, 2019 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Roads closed in Griffith Park, Lyft fights dooring, and bike transponders aren’t the answer

You might want to put off that Griffith Park ride for a few weeks.

Or maybe find another route. 

The roads leading to and around the famed Griffith Observatory will be closed to all traffic for the next two weeks for construction work.

And yes, that includes bicycles.

KNBC-4 has a map showing which roads are closed. 

Photo from the Griffith Observatory’s Facebook page.

………

They get it.

Lyft will start sending its customers a notice ten minutes into their rides telling them to watch for bikes and scooters at the end of the ride. 

They’ll also encourage ride hailing users to employ the Dutch Reach when they open the door to get out, to avoid dooring anyone. 

Which only makes sense, since some of those people at risk of dooring could be their own bikeshare and e-scooter users. 

………

No, the solution to traffic safety is not to make bike riders and pedestrians wear transponders so we don’t get killed. 

But congratulations to a pair of Florida university students who won second place with the idea. 

Now, if they could just invent one to create a force field that would repel any motor vehicle that came within three feet of me and my bike, I’m in. 

………

More on the heartbreaking death of DC bike advocate Dave Salovesh. 

A DC website gives a glimpse of just how much his death impacted the city, including a statement from the local Bicycle Advisory Council, as well as comments from a number of city council members. 

The Greater Greater Washington website relays the grief of the bicycling community. 

Streetsblog says Salovesh’s death shows the slow progress DC is making towards safer streets. 

DCist says frankly, it’s personal this time, as the cycling community ramps up activism in the wake of the crash. 

An American expat and former DC resident now living in the Netherlands talks about the loss of her friend.

And a woman writes that no one should lose a friend to a traffic crash. 

Meanwhile, an advocacy group will hold a Portland, Oregon rally calling for no more traffic deaths after a woman was killed crossing the street. 

Sadly, things like that happen in Los Angeles nearly every day. But except in very rare cases, no one does a thing. 

That has to change. 

Now. 

………

Local

A gang member convicted of killing an LA cop was found dead in his Death Row cell Saturday morning; he was convicted of killing Los Angeles County Office of Public Safety Capt. Michael Sparkes while the off-duty officer was out for a bike ride. 

A writer for Wired says your cellphone could help Metro with a radical remake of the LA bus system, showing when, where and how far Angelenos actually travel, regardless of mode; surprisingly, it shows that only 16% of trips in the city are longer than ten miles. 

Bicycling looks at LA’s new plan to install permanent signs as memorials to fallen bike riders. 

LA Taco wants to know if you can live without your car for a day. 

After moving from New York to Pasadena, a bike commuter suddenly finds his coworkers riding to work because they didn’t want him to show them up. 

A chef at Gladstones in Long Beach is riding in this year’s 300-mile Chefs Cycle for No Kid Hungry.

 

State

The Santa Ana River bike trail will be closed off and on for the demolition of a bridge on the 405 where it crosses the river; OCTA promises there will be a well-marked detour in place when the trail shuts down. 

An arrest has been made in the hit-and-run crash that killed a Jurupa Valley bike rider Saturday night. 

A man ran off after he was caught spray painting a bike path on the Santa Barbara City College. No word on what he was painting. 

A San Francisco columnist says the best of the outdoors is always a surprise after encountering a pride of peacocks while riding with his wife. 

You’ve got to be kidding. The case against a 75-year old Healdsburg driver for killing a bike rider ended in a hung jury — even though the man was driving on the wrong side of the road to pass a slow-moving truck when he struck the woman as she was participating in a charity ride. 

 

National

Great idea. In addition to rating cities for bike friendliness, People for Bikes is now providing user generated bike routes in cities around the US. You can download the app here. Do I really need to mention that the bicycle advocacy  group ranks my hometown as the country’s best bike city. Which only happened decades after my last ride there. 

A website devoted to fighting poverty says fining poor people for jaywalking won’t stop traffic fatalities when the real problem is dangerous streets and drivers.

Bike Portland’s Jonathan Maus explains why Oregon should adopt the Idaho Stop Law the third time around. The same argument holds for California. And pretty well everywhere else. 

No bias here. After a woman drives onto the shoulder of a highway and kills a man on a bike, the Idaho state police feel compelled to point out that he wasn’t wearing a helmet, as if that somehow contributed to the crash. And at highway speeds, a crash like that probably wouldn’t have been survivable, with or without one. 

Houston is adding 19 miles of bike lanes, many in underserved communities where people rely on their bikes to get around. 

Speaking of Houston, there’s a special place in hell for the bike-riding man who stole a 94-year old woman’s wheelchair. Fortunately, her neighbor was able to record the theft, and chase the man down to get it back; police recognized the man in the video, and made a quick arrest. 

Bicycling will now be an official part of PE classes in Tulsa OK elementary and middle schools. 

Los Angeles bike riders will be happy to learn bike lanes are coming to Melrose. Except in this case, the Melrose is in the Boston area. Meanwhile, the Boston Globe says instead of redesigning streets for people on bikes and on foot, we should wait so they’ll accommodate vehicles that don’t even exist yet.

The NYPD continued its bike-unfriendly ways, arresting the organizer of an informal bike relay race and baked goods ride for a four-year old open container violation before the race could even start. Then confiscated participants bicycles for not having bike bells. 

New York Streetsblog relates the story of a bike rider who was hit by an apparent cop in an unmarked car making an illegal U-turn, and the uniformed cops who showed up refused to do anything about it before the man drove off without identifying himself. Naturally, the NYPD denied he was one of theirs. 

New York bikeshare users are getting lawyers after suffering “grotesque” injuries caused by the braking problem on ebikes provided by Lyft, which operates the city’s Citi Bike docked bikeshare. 

The case against a Virginia landscaper will go before a grand jury; he’s accused of helping one of his employees coverup the hit-and-run that killed a bike rider, fixing the company truck and telling his staff to swear it was a deer. And to stick to their stories. 

There’s a special place in hell as well for the 41-year old man who fatally shot a 14-year old Jackson MS boy to take his bicycle. 

Jimmy Buffett’s hometown of Mobile, Alabama is getting a new green bike lane, as the mayor works to make the city’s waterfront more welcoming for bike riders and pedestrians. 

A Georgia bike rider was busted for beating up another man who was riding on a bike path with his wife, after swearing at them about the “rules of the trail.”

 

International

Once again, dozens of dockless bikes end up in a trash heap, after a bikeshare provider in Kingston, Ontario replaces them with a newer model. And once again, dozens of kids and low income people who could have put them to good use won’t. 

A writer for the New York Times rents a Dutch bike, and rides through Holland in search of Rembrandt’s tulips.

A New Zealand automotive website wants to know why Aukland is hiding crash data.  

Chinese dockless bikeshare provider Ofo has officially gotten the boot from Singapore. 

 

Finally…

From pro cyclist to Goblin-inducing healer. No, a 16-person boat is not a bike, pedal-powered or otherwise. 

And if you’re riding drunk, try not to pound on a driver’s window and rip off a windshield wiper after a close pass. 

Then again, don’t do it sober, either.

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

Bicyclist killed in crash after getting doored in Burbank

April 17, 2018 / / 17 comments

Sadly, last night’s breaking news has been confirmed.

As we noted earlier, KNBC-4 reported last night that a bike rider had been killed after getting doored at Alameda Avenue and Mariposa Street in Burbank.

Unfortunately, however, they failed to post the story online.

Now the Burbank Leader has confirmed that 53-year old Burbank resident Lenny Trinh died after the driver of a parked car opened door as Trinh rode in a bike lane on Alameda, knocking him off his bike and into the path of an oncoming pickup.

Trinh was taken to a nearby hospital where he died of his injuries.

The paper places the time of the crash at around 5 pm Monday, between Mariposa Street and Griffith Park Drive.

For a change, both drivers remained at the scene.

According to California law, the driver is always at fault in a dooring, as long as the victim is riding legally in the direction of traffic.

CVC 22517 clearly requires drivers to check for traffic before opening a car door and ensure that it does not interfere with traffic.

And yes, bike riders are considered traffic, in or out of a bike lane.

While dooring is one of the most common types of bicycle crashes, deaths are rare, averaging less than one per year in the entire SoCal region.

And they can be eliminated entirely if drivers are trained to use the Dutch Reach, opening the car door with their right hand so it forces them to look left over their shoulder.

This is at least the 18th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 10th in LA County; it’s also the fifth bicycling fatality in the LA area in just the past two weeks.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Lenny Trinh and all his family and loved ones.

Category: Bicycle Safety, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , ,

Weekend Links: A call for bold action on bikeways, and driver high-fives passenger after dooring bike rider

September 17, 2016 / / One comment

My apologies.

We haven’t been able to correct the problem with email notifications yet. So if you’re not getting emails when new posts go up, we’re working on it.

And just keep coming back each day until we get it corrected.

………

Nothing like reading an article, and finding one of your own comments cited to support the observations of one of your favorite writers.

Curbed’s Alissa Walker writes that it will take more than bike lanes to make bicycling safe, noting that while cities are “working hard to stripe streets with green lanes and helmeted stick-figure icons,” few have managed to build a continuous, protected and highly visible network of bike lanes.

She observes that US cities need to start with a grand gesture like the plan in Paris to turn a prominent riverfront highway into a grand boulevard for biking and walking, showing that biking is a “vital, valued part of Parisian street life.”

The best way to make biking safer is not to hide our bikes on a “quiet” side street, but to put them on display in the busiest part of the city—a vibrant, active, healthy city.

That’s something LA has yet to do, even though a complete network of bike lanes is called for on many of the city’s major boulevards under the new Mobility Plan.

Instead, we’ve moved the other way, removing major streets from the plan and shunting riders off onto those quieter side streets, where they won’t be seen or heard.

Or probably even ride, since that’s not where they want to go.

Which was what my comment was about.

For all the talk about LA moving past its auto-centric past into a more complete, multi-modal future, it remains just that.

Talk.

Let’s hope that the release of LA’s Vision Zero plan, which is due sometime this month, spurs some real commitment, let alone bold action, on the part of the city.

Because actions speak louder than words.

And right now, when it comes to bicycling, Los Angeles has its hands over its mouth, and fingers planted firmly in its ears.

………

Caught on Video: A Chicago driver high-fives one of her passengers after dooring a bike rider, while the cop who responds threatens the victim with a ticket for not riding in the non-existent bike lane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6YWRW5xog

……….

Pro cyclist Tom Zirbel set a new American hour record in his final act before retiring, while finishing just short of Bradley Wiggins’ world mark.

A European sports site questions whether Alberto Contador can win another Grand Tour as he jumps to the Trek-Segafredo team; two-time Giro winner Ivan Basso follows him as part of the support staff.

A look at Day One of Mammoth Mountain’s Kamikaze Bike Games.

Cycling Industry News talks with mountain bike legend and bikemaker Gary Fisher.

………

Local

Plans for a new and improved LAX include a network of bike lanes to provide safe access to the airport, which currently is extremely unwelcoming for cyclists.

Streetsblog looks at the new report calling for mobility sharing to help remove 100,000 vehicles from LA’s streets in just five years.

CiclaValley goes on a bike date with fellow bicycling parent LA Bike Dad.

The Border Grill’s Mary Sue Milliken writes about riding 300 miles in three days with 100 other chefs to help ensure no kid goes hungry.

Santa Monica Next asks six candidates for SaMo city council about the last time they walked or rode a bicycle.

A Pasadena councilmember asks LA Mayor Garcetti to help kill the much-hated 710 Freeway extension, saying the money would be better spent on a north-south boulevard, more bike lanes and widening other nearby north-south streets.

Bike SGV hosts a women-only bike ride to the Alhambra Farmer’s Market today.

Cycling in the South Bay discovers that most Palos Verdes Estates residents don’t actually hate cyclists, despite the impression given on unsocial media.

 

State

Construction begins on a four-year project to add bike lanes to the Bay Area’s Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.

An Oakland driver took bike jacking to the extreme, running down a bike rider with his car, then driving off with his bicycle.

An Op-Ed in the UC Berkeley paper says the city must unite to support bike-friendly street designs.

A passing CHP bike cop helped save the life of a 30-year old Sacramento woman when she collapsed with a heart attack while playing kickball.

 

National

Bicycling explains how a pedal strike can, in fact, start a wildfire. Which is not that different from starting one with a careless swing of a titanium golf club.

An electric vehicle website finds what they consider the perfect bike rack for your new Tesla. Other than obscuring the license plate, which is illegal in most, if not all, states.

Las Vegas Magazine says there’s no shortage of great riding around the gambling mecca.

File this one under you’ve got to be kidding. A state senator from Queens NY says the city should keep cyclists safe by installing traffic signals instead of bike lanes. Never mind that, despite his assertions, bike lanes have been studied and reviewed by the city, and proven to improve safety.

New York cyclists turn out in force to demand safer streets and increase police reforms under Vision Zero.

A Maryland bike thief traded up, breaking into a garage to take a Trek hybrid, and leaving a Huffy in its place.

 

International

Britain’s bike-riding countess is planning a 450-mile palace to palace ride.

An English physician says ebikes really are good for you and your wallet.

British police go undercover on bicycles to nab drivers making unsafe passes; motorists are given the choice of prosecution or a 15-minute lesson in how to pass a bicyclist safely. Thanks to Ed Ryder for the heads-up.

Penalties are going up for drivers in the UK who use their phones behind the wheel.

A Scottish farmer was fined for camouflaging a pipe running across a roadway after a bike rider was injured when he crashed into it.

The lawyer for a meth-using Aussie driver says it wasn’t really her fault that she killed a cyclist, because she might have been taking a nap at the time.

 

Finally…

You, too, can operate your own pop-up pedal-based bike bar. Are you really a pro cyclist if you have to pay to join the team, let alone actually race?

And why rush your pregnant wife to the hospital in a speeding car when you can go by cargo bike?

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

Morning Links: No lawsuit in Piven dooring, Brandt-Sorenson gets slap on wrist, and Russian road rage abduction

July 22, 2016 / / 3 comments

In a surreal LA moment, the bike rider injured in a dooring by actor Jeremy Piven says he recognized the actor as he was falling to the pavement.

Surprisingly, though, the victim says he’s not going to sue because Piven was so helpful after the crash.

Although that may change once a lawyer explains the concept of “deep pockets.”

………

His attorney may call it a “significant sentence,” but LA cyclist Nick Brandt-Sorenson, aka Thorfinn-Sassquatch, barely got a caress on the wrist at his sentencing for selling performance-enhancing drugs over the internet.

He could have been sentenced to up to a year in prison, but instead received just three years probation and a $5,000 fine, along 300 hours of community service.

Yes, that’s a lot of time in an orange vest picking up trash. But if he keeps his nose clean, he won’t spend a single day behind bars.

And he gets to keep all his Strava KOMs.

………

Caught on video: The question is, just what the hell is going on, after what appears to be a road rage assault on a Russian cyclist ends with the attackers being abducted by masked gunmen. Thanks to David Wolfberg for the heads-up.

………

The Cannibal says Chris Froome can’t be beaten in this year’s Tour de France.

Bicycling examines a day in the life of a Tour de France cyclist, while Cycling Weekly looks at five super-domestiques who have delivered for their team leaders during the Tour. Bora-Argon 18 rider Shane Archbold withdrew with a broken pelvis after a high-speed fall on Wednesday, but finished the stage before realizing he was injured.

Nineteen-year old Chloe Dygert has been tapped to round out the US women’s pursuit team after winning the junior road race and time trial at last year’s worlds. US time trial champ Taylor Phinney will represent the men after his amazing comeback from a devastating injury.

And here’s a step-by-step guide to get into women’s road racing, so you can compete in the 2020 Olympics. Unless you’re not a woman, of course.

………

Local

EGP News offers a reminder that a one-mile stretch of the LA River bike path near the Griffith Park Zoo will remain closed for construction for the next three years.

Pasadena has received a $3 million Metro grant to build a two-way cycle track on Union Street, the first of ten planned bicycle corridors through the city.

A Wisconsin couple made it to Santa Monica after riding 2,600 miles across the US on a tandem.

Streetsblog affiliate Santa Monica Next will host a fundraising cocktail party on Saturday, July 30th.

Santa Clarita suffered a net loss of $132,000 in hosting a stage of the Amgen Tour of California this year; however, a study of the 2008 ToC showed the race generated a $1.9 million economic impact for the local area, which this year’s race probably exceeded.

 

State

The San Diego Union Tribune says the city’s bikeshare program could use a push, but no public subsidies. So billions of dollars to subsidize motor vehicles is okay, but a few million to help get people out of their cars isn’t.

A Fontana cop discusses how cars and bikes can share the road. And gets it right.

Goleta votes to build a one-mile median-protected bike lane, replacing an existing painted lane.

Caltrans recommends lowering the speed limit by 5 mph near a Lompoc homeless shelter where a man was killed earlier this year. Although chances are, he’d be just as dead if he’d been hit at 50 mph as he was at 55 mph.

A bighearted Salinas cop splits the cost of a new bike with the local Walmart to replace one stolen from a young man who volunteers with foster children.

 

National

Streetsblog calls the GOP Transportation Platform a disaster, including a plank to eliminate all funding for transit and active transportation.

A new mini-bike trailer sleeps four and unfolds in minutes. Thanks to Michael Eisenberg for the heads-up.

A Seattle hospital gets multiple sclerosis patients out on adaptive bicycles, sometimes for the first time in years.

Tucson develops a master plan for a network of bike boulevards through 63 residential corridors. LA has a mobility plan calling for the same thing, but that doesn’t mean they’ll actually build it.

A ghost bike was installed at the Idaho site where a Bike and Build rider was killed recently. Although the local press oddly called it an Angel Bike; maybe they don’t believe in ghosts.

A Wisconsin writer recalls a 250-mile bike trip across the state in the ‘70s, which could have ended badly except for the kindness of a stranger.

The FBI has joined the search for an Ohio college student who went missing Tuesday night; her bike was found in a cornfield later that night.

A trio of Vermont teenagers will ride 500 miles to raise funds to fight Duchenne muscular dystrophy; they’ve already raised $15,000 in pledges before starting their ride. A subject close to my heart; the son of a long-time friend is battling Duchennes.

The owner of North Carolina’s First Flight Bicycles, as well as the Mountain Goat Cycles brand, was killed by a drunk driver Wednesday while walking across a street.

 

International

The Canadian resort town of Banff is lowering speed limits and building a short, two-way bicycling greenway to improve safety and encourage more transportation riding.

For a change, the British press is justifiably appalled when a salmon cyclist jumped a red light with his nine-year old son on his handlebars.

Life is cheap in Wales, where a tractor driver was fined a whopping £80 — the equivalent of $105 — for killing a 72-year old bike rider.

A new $3,500 Italian smart bike features a 96-decible horn that’s as loud as some train whistles. Which has to be as painful to the person using it as it is to everyone within earshot.

A Kiwi truck driver was convicted of killing a bike rider for the second time in less than 10 years. Let’s hope the court gets him off the road before he goes for three.

 

Finally…

Evidently, bears really are out to get us. If you’re going to rob a bank, wear a helmet, but don’t ditch your getaway bike; unless maybe it wasn’t yours to begin with, of course.

And this is what you’d look like if humans had evolved to survive car crashes.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Bikes & the Law, Car vs Bike, Legal Cases, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , ,

Morning Links: Actor doors bike rider, PCH cyclist seriously injured in Malibu crash, and the science of bicycling

July 21, 2016 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Actor doors bike rider, PCH cyclist seriously injured in Malibu crash, and the science of bicycling

Did an actor get special treatment from the LAPD?

In a story that seems to have made news everywhere — except right here in Los Angeles — actor Jeremy Piven allegedly doored a bike rider when he flung his car door open without looking after parking his Cadillac near the Grove.

Yet despite the rider suffering a serious chest injury, Piven escaped without so much as a ticket because the police didn’t see it happen.

Even though CVC 22517 makes it clear that it is the driver’s responsibility to open a door only when it is safe to do so.

No person shall open the door of a vehicle on the side available to moving traffic unless it is reasonably safe to do so and can be done without interfering with the movement of such traffic, nor shall any person leave a door open on the side of a vehicle available to moving traffic for a period of time longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Which means that if the rider was hit by the door, the driver was at fault.

Whether or not anyone saw it.

………

A bicyclist suffered major injuries in a crash on PCH in West Malibu Wednesday afternoon; the rider reportedly lost control and swerved into the path of a pickup in the northbound traffic lane. Thanks to James Johnson for the heads-up.

………

Great piece from Scientific American relates the story of the researcher who finally unlocked the secrets of why a bicycle remains upright and able to balance itself even without a rider; next on his agenda is trying to solve the terrifying speed wobble.

Meanwhile, physics suggests that stopping and starting with both feet on the pedals is more efficient than pushing off with your foot.

………

A Chinese bike rider somehow miraculously dodges a barrel-rolling van.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wORIyjHJYc8

………

Twenty-four-year old Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe is making an impact at the Tour de France, while Nairo Quintana is unexpectedly struggling. Five riders could still make the podium in Paris, but no matter what happens behind him, Froome seems to keep his hold on the yellow jersey.

America’s only remaining Tour de France winner says claims that Froome’s Team Sky is dominating the race thanks to marginal gains is “bollocks.”

Peter Sagan will be the world’s best paid pro cyclist after jumping teams next year; he’s reportedly earn $6.6 million. He’s worth it in movie take-off videos alone.

………

Local

Investing in Place calls Metro’s upcoming transportation ballot measure a huge leap for walking and biking in Los Angeles County, while recapping just what advocates were able to win in negotiations over the measure.

Streetsblog interviews CicLAvia Executive Director Romel Pascual.

KPCC examines whether it’s better to ride a bike or drive in polluted air.

CiclaValley reminds us that the annual Tour de Laemmle rolls this Sunday.

An employee with the LADOT Bikeways Program describes her multimodal commute to work.

LA cyclist Nick Brandt-Sorenson, aka Strava’s Thorfinn-Sassquatch, was due to be sentenced Wednesday to up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine for peddling performance-enhancing drugs, just days after receiving a lifetime ban from US cycling’s governing body.

The Daily News says you’re a step closer to being able to ride your bike from Canoga Park to Griffith Park. Only one of which actually is one.

 

State

Bikeshare and ebikes factor into California’s aggressive zero emissions goals.

New bike lanes are planned for West Newport Beach, along with improvements to sidewalks and landscaping to encourage people to walk and bike.

Garden Grove’s draft Active Transportation Plan envisions a city where cars, bikes and pedestrians can move in harmony.

Authorities say 25-year old Zachariah Doll was wearing dark clothing, had no lights or reflectors on his bike and was riding salmon when he was killed in an early morning collision in the Riverside County town of Winchester last week.

A San Francisco survey shows most drivers want protected bike lanes, too.

Calbike is hiring a Communications Director to work in their Oakland office.

Pleasanton cyclists call on the city to improve a dangerous intersection where a 72-year old woman was killed recently while riding in the crosswalk.

Redding police arrest a junkie bank robber who tried to make his escape by BMX bike.

 

National

A new report from NACTO says that as cities build bike infrastructure, the rate of bicycling goes up while the risk to riders goes down.

If you build it, they will come. A real estate website says the belief that Millennials are eschewing suburbs ain’t necessarily so — as long as those suburbs have good sidewalks and bike lanes.

An 81-year old Denver driver who kept driving after fatally striking a 14-year old boy standing in a bike lane was still allowed to behind the wheel despite a previous hit-and-run last year — even though family members promised she wouldn’t drive anymore. It’s up to family members to keep older drivers off the road when they can no longer drive safely, since the government is unable, or unwilling, to do it.

Apparently, a Dallas bank was robbed by a bike-riding pirate.

Apparently taking a cue from Donald Trump, Skokie IL will allow residents to build fences up to ten feet high along a new bike path. No word on whether Mexico will pay for it, however.

Atlantic City police arrested an alleged serial hit-and-run driver for DUI after he crashed into a street sign, followed by a cyclist, followed by a car, before finally coming to rest after striking a toll booth. Fortunately, the bike rider only suffered bruises; no word on whether the sign, car and toll booth survived.

A New York driver faces 136 years behind bars for killing one man and injuring two others when he smashed into a business at 50 mph while high on meth; a bike rider was also injured by flying debris.

When Charleston SC approves a controversial bike lane over a local bridge, the local paper approves of their approval.

Bighearted Alabama cops buy a new bicycle for a child after he unintentionally bought a stolen bike with his $7 allowance.

Only 850 miles of the planned 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway are currently ready to ride; plans are for 95% of the off-road bike path to be completed by 2030.

 

International

Bikes are enjoying a renaissance and bridging class barriers in Santiago, Chile.

Vancouver finally rolls out a delayed and truncated bikeshare system, with just 260 of the promised 1,500 bikes currently ready to ride.

Like bikes that pass in the night, a single speed cyclist seeks a fixie rider she met under the Thames.

More anti-bike sabotage in the UK, as someone strung fishing wire neck high over a popular Belfast bike trail.

An Indian computer professor was forced to abandon a long-distance bike tour across the country due to illness after riding 2,200 miles in 23 days.

Singapore becomes the next city to embrace bikeshare with a 1,000-bike system using 100 docking stations.

 

Finally…

Call it Fifty Shades of Bicycles. Don’t ride your bike off a cliff into the ocean, bro.

And if you’re carrying stolen credit cards and a meth pipe on your bike, ride your damn bike on the right side of the road.

Seriously.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Car vs Bike, Injuries and Fatalities, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , ,

BOLO ALERT: Driver of blue car fled the scene after dooring woman near Fairfax and La Cienega Thursday night

November 13, 2015 / / 6 comments

Thursday's dooring victim; I'm not identifying the victim at this time since I have not been in direct contact with her family.

The victim of Thursday’s dooring in the hospital; she is not being identified at this time since I have not been in direct contact with her family.

A woman was seriously injured in a hit-and-run dooring while riding on the western edge of the West Adams district.

According to reports, the collision occurred near the intersection of La Cienega Blvd and Fairfax Ave, between West Jefferson and Washington Blvds around 10 pm Thursday night.

The driver stayed long enough to pull the victim out of the street, but took off after nearby valets called 911.

Her husband arrived on the scene while the suspects were still there, but they lied to him by saying the driver had already left the scene. He identifies the car only as a blue sedan with a license plate starting with H20.

I’m not sure if the police have been contacted yet. So if you may have seen the incident or have any information, email me at the address on the About page, and I’ll forward it to the appropriate people.

Dooring is always the fault of the driver or passenger; CVC 22517 requires anyone opening a door into traffic to wait until it’s safe to do so and can be done without interfering with traffic.

Let’s spread the news and see if we can catch these guys.

Update: I’m told the victim suffered a partially collapsed lung, broken clavicle and required multiple staples for a head wound; she was in surgery as this is being written. 

A gofundme account established to help defray medical expenses has raised $6,000 of a requested $10,000 in just three hours; she’ll need a lot more than that to pay for hospitalization and surgery.

Thanks to Kyle Murray for providing information in this case.

 

Category: Bicycle Safety, Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities, Update / Tags: , , , , ,
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