It took until Saturday night to discover that the victims were apparently sharing an ebike.
According to On Scene TV, the victims, identified only as a former high school student and a current student at La Habra High School, were struck near Hacienda Blvd & Russell Street sometime before 8:46 pm. Although from the minimal description, it’s unclear whether they had both had attended La Habra High.
The site reports they were riding north on Hacienda when they were hit from behind by the driver, with enough force to throw both victims into the windshield. It also left the ped-assist ebike embedded deeply in the sedan’s grill, as shown in raw video from the scene, which suggests the driver may have been traveling at a high rate of speed.
The former student died at the scene, while the other victim was rushed to a trauma center in critical condition.
The driver remained at the scene, if only because the car appears to be underivable; it’s unknown if drugs or alcohol played a role in the crash.
This was at least the fifth bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the first that I’m aware of in Orange County.
Thanks to Anna Tang for forwarding news that the Bike League’s March Bike Advocacy Workshop will go on as planned, despite last week’s wildfires, which hopefully will be out by then.
You can register by clicking here, since I can’t embed her BlueSky post with the link, and had to settle for a screenshot.
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Another lesson from Paris that seems lost on Los Angeles.
As Paris has worked to build a 15-minute city and provide effective alternatives to driving, it has seen a corresponding improvement in air quality.
Sad news from Sacramento, where a woman in her 50’s was killed when she was right-hooked by the driver of a semi-truck — although though the CHP immediately blamed the victim for attempting to pass the truck as it was turning. And judging from the article, the truck was apparently was operating on its own while the driver just sat there.
Consumer Reports suggests that buying a bike helmet online could be dangerous, due to a proliferation of third-party sellers of helmets that don’t meet federal safety standards. One more reason you’re better off buying from your favorite local bike shop.
In 1923, six men from India set out to ride their bikes around the world to prove that Indians were capable of greatness, in contrast to the colonial image of them as subjugated and incapable; three completed the journey four-and-a-half year later, traveling more than 40,000 miles across 27 countries, while meeting Pope Pius XI and Benito Mussolini along the way.
December 18, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Los Angeles ranks 15th in new Urban Mobility Readiness Index, and making sense of New York ebike registration
Just 13 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb.
Yet no city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it.
As long as you’re willing to view a brief ad, that is.
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UC Berkeley and the Oliver Wyman Forum have released this year’s Urban Mobility Readiness Index, which ranks 70 cities worldwide on the basis of how well they’re preparing for the future of transportation.
Momentumreports has Paris moved up six spots to second in the index, behind only San Francisco, thanks to a “generational” investment in bicycling infrastructure and public transportation, while de-emphasizing motor vehicles as it moves to create the 15-minute city.
San Francisco retained first place for the second year in a row due to its heavy investment in autonomous vehicles and electric vehicle charging facilities.
Although an autonomous car is still a car, and still takes up the same amount of space on the roadway, while using the rest of us as beta testing subjects. Willingly or otherwise.
As for Los Angeles, we check in at a surprising 15th, despite a mediocre score for sustainable mobility and a deservedly dismal rating for public transit. What saves us is a second-place score for technology adaptation.
Yet without breaking down how the crashed occurred, or who was at fault.
Here’s what PeopleForBikes has to say about it.
Over that same roughly five-year period, the number of people who lost their lives in New York City in a crash involving only an e-mobility device climbed from zero a few years earlier to 11 in 2023. That same year, eight cyclists and two pedestrians lost their lives in crashes that did not involve an e-mobility device or motor vehicle. As one might expect, crashes involving motor vehicles were the deadliest, taking the lives of another 22 cyclists, nine e-mobility users, 101 pedestrians, and 112 vehicle occupants. Despite the grim data clearly showing the dangers posed by motor vehicles to all road users, there has unfortunately been an increased focus on e-mobility devices (collectively and often incorrectly referred to as “e-bikes” in the public discourse) as particularly threatening. As the data clearly shows, New York City streets do present a real and present danger for operating an e-bike or e-scooter.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) both issued reports showing that the growth in popularity of e-mobility devices over the last five years has led to a significant increase in crashes and fatalities nationwide. Appendix B to the NTSB report reveals exactly where these fatalities occurred. Of the 53 reported e-bike fatalities nationwide from 2017 to 2022, 25 occurred in one of the five boroughs of New York City and two more occurred in neighboring cities in New Jersey. New York City had 47% of nationwide e-bike fatalities even though its residents only account for about 2.5% of the U.S. population. So just why is that?…
What is it about New York City in particular that led it to have both 72% of the fire deaths and 47% of the e-bike related deaths from traffic violence? This may be an instance where we should blame the e-bikes, because New York City has a type of e-bike that exists nowhere else on the planet.
According to group, the problem is that Gotham officials made a major boo-boo when they approved ebikes just five years ago, creating Class 3 for throttle-controlled ebikes offering a top speed of 25 mph, which is significantly faster than allowed in other states.
What happened in New York City was that no major e-bike manufacturer was willing to make an e-bike that (1) wasn’t legal to sell or operate anywhere else and (2) was likely subject to federal motor vehicle safety regulations.
The result should have been foreseeable in 2020 but has now become painfully clear in hindsight. Thousands of cheap e-bikes with unsafe speed capability and low quality batteries were made by a few foreign companies and sold to a vulnerable population. The names of these companies are well known to authorities. These companies do not have to bother with quality control, safety compliance, or product liability insurance because they are largely beyond the reach of government regulators and our judicial system. These low-quality e-bikes and batteries were sold not through traditional bike shops, but through e-bike stores that popped up all over the city to cash in on the growing demand for food delivery.
However, New York’s heavy-handed approach requires regulation of all ebikes, including ped-assist bicycles and otherwise safely-made bikes that meet restrictions from other states.
PeopleForBikes offers a few broad suggestions, starting with eliminating the city’s uniquely dangerous Class 3 classification, and modifying federal rules that allow inexpensive ebikes shipped directly to consumers to bypass federal restrictions and inspections.
But whatever the answer is, requiring registration and license plates for slower, ped-assist and safely-made ebikes isn’t it.
Visitors who come to city centres by bike or on foot visit more frequently and spend less per visit compared to those who arrive by car. Over a longer period, however, cyclists and pedestrians contribute significantly more to city centre spending than commonly thought. In short, they represent an underestimated group for the economic vitality of city centres.
This is a key finding from a national Dutch study conducted by the Platform for City Centre Management, BRO, and Movares on the relationship between spending and visitors’ choice of transportation. The study, conducted in collaboration with 18 Dutch city centres, took place in September 2023. Currently, in 2024, the study is repeated with 20 other Dutch and Flemish city centres.
That finding has held firm whether the study involves downtown areas or the effects of suburban bike lanes.
So you’d think business owners would fight to get bike lanes and pedestrian amenities, rather than fighting them.
But you would be wrong.
Whether in Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago or virtually any and every other city, they consistently shoot themselves in the tootsies by opposing the very bike and pedestrian projects that would benefit their bottom lines.
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Clearly, not everyone is a fan of the new South Bay bike lanes. Take a look yourself, and let them know what you think.
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Let’s take a trip to the not too distant past, and take a look at bicycles in the USSR.
It’s now just two days short of a full year since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failureto launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.
The US Department of Transportation has introduced an updated equity tool, allowing “state and local governments to prioritize transportation investments that benefit disadvantaged communities.” Although equity is not expected to be a priority for the next administration. Or transportation, for that matter.
Bristol, England will finally install closed-circuit TV cams on a popular bike trail to combat a rampant rate of bikejackings, which has led many riders to abandon it and take their chances on the roads. Which raises the obvious question of how can it be so popular if no one uses it anymore?
British Cycling is setting its sights on the ’28 Los Angeles Olympics, with a record breaking £38.95 million pound investment — the equivalent of over $49 million — in its cycling and paracycling teams.
December 5, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Ebikes blamed in insurance CEO’s murder, and Riverside County deputy charged with killing Palm Desert bike rider last year
Just 26 short days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
But not one LA city leader seems to give a damn about it.
Actually, almost all of the initial reports focused on a Citi Bike-riding killer, but most of the stories were revised after it turned out the ebike wasn’t a Citi Bike, after all.
Which seemed to take the fun out of it for them, since the stories downplayed the gunman’s means of escape after that bit of news broke.
Lopez was on duty and driving a marked patrol car when he drove into Thomas around 3:40 am near the intersection of Country Club and Eldorado drives.
Unfortunately, there’s no word at this time on why Lopez was charged, or whether he was charged with a felony or a misdemeanor.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more soon. If not, we may have to wait until his next court date on January 10th, although that is almost guaranteed to be delayed.
Singaporean Redditors go berserk over video of a man on a bicycle riding slowly in front of a bus, forcing the driver to follow him for ten minutes. Or maybe the rider was just nervously waiting for the driver to go around him so he could change lanes.
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Local
More on Metro’s demand that Culver City repay the $435 million they gave the city for the now-removed MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes; the decision to collect the funds will be finalized at Monday’s Metro board meeting.
Philadelphia just banned parking or stopping in bike lanes, increasing fines to a relatively paltry $125 in the city center, and just 75 bucks elsewhere. There’s something seriously wrong when cities have to belatedly ban something that should have been illegal all along.
Toronto’s transit board banned lithium-ion batteries in buses, trains and stations during the winter months, apparently concerned about the risk of ebike and e-scooter fires, although that doesn’t seem to increase in cold weather; the motion was approved despite a report showing it would adversely affect low-income workers. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
Here’s another reason why people keep dying on the streets. The daughter of a British man killed by an 82-year old driver with failing eyesight renewed her call for giving motorists mandatory eye tests, rather than just allowing them to tick a box. Seriously, mandatory eye tests for drivers should be, well, mandatory. For everyone.
Greece is now officially bike friendly, encouraging responsible bike tourism. As opposed to irresponsible car tourism, evidently.
Israel opened a new bike path, built for the equivalent of $2 million, in honor of the 11 people riding bicycles who were killed in last year’s October 7th attack, and call for the safe return of two bike-riding hostages, as well as the other hostages taken in the attack.
Just 49 days until LA fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
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Happy Veterans Day to everyone who has served our country at home and abroad!
Get out for a good ride today to celebrate. And thank you.
Photo from Lime Micromobility.
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Rancho Palos Verdes extends its usual unwelcome mat for bicyclists to e-bike riders, with new restrictions and fines to make you feel as unwanted as possible.
However, this excerpt from the article suggests that they intend to ban ebikes entirely from city streets and sidewalks; the last part is legal, the first not so much.
Expanded e-bike restrictions
The city council recently expanded the ordinance to ban e-bikes on city streets and sidewalks, while allowing them on bicycle paths.
California state law allows bicycles on any street where cars are allowed, and ebikes are allowed under state law. So unless they’re planning to ban cars from city streets, they can’t ban ebikes, either.
But it could mean going to court to fight a ticket and convince a judge if you want to challenge it.
After a homeowner parked his ebike in his driveway to check on his property, he returned to find the bike missing. He confronted a landscaping crew working in the area, and one of the men admitted to taking the bike, and gave it back to him.
The homeowner reported the incident to the police the next day, resulting in Ramon Avila Pacheco being booked on suspicion of looting in an evacuation order area.
Apparently, returning the ebike had no effect on the charge.
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Streets For All founder Michael Schneider visits Mexico City, and discovers what Los Angeles could do with a little more political will.
Okay, a lot more.
Twitter post
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MSNBC political commentator Chris Hayes is one of us, too. Thanks to Glenn with 2 Ns for the heads-up.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Seriously? The Marin County Supervisors are backing what the local newspaper calls a “bike-lane experiment,” which amounts to ripping out the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge four days a week, on a trial basis. Although it’s questionable whether they could do it without a CEQA review on anything but a trial basis.
An op-ed writer in the Los Angeles Times says he thought he had his bike commute down, until a bike-riding German man pointed out the obvious flaw in his route, which needlessly bypassed the beachfront bike path.
Good news from the Bay Area, where Prop K is leading with 54% of the vote, although it’s still too early to call; the ballot measure would permanently close San Francisco’s Upper Great Highway to motor vehicles and turn it into a linear park, bikeway and walkway.
Speaking of stories hidden behind paywalls, Kaifeng, China learned to be careful what they wish for when they encouraged night-time bike riding, and the streets became gridlocked with bicycles. Seriously, if the photo is legit, we’re talking wall-to-wall bikes.
Police don’t yet know the identity of the victim, or any reason for the shooting. It’s also unknown if this was a case of road rage, or if the shooters may have known the victim.
Hopefully, we’ll learn more as the investigation moves forward.
A Singapore resident questions why bicyclists continue to ride on the city’s elevated bridges, despite clearly displayed signs telling them to dismount. That’s easy. Dismounting and walking is inconvenient, time-delaying and more difficult than riding, especially with cleats — even if it is rude.
A new study published in the journal of the American College of Sports Medicine shows that riding a bicycle over the course of your lifetime can result in a significant decrease in knee pain and osteoarthritis. It worked for me; I was told I needed a knee replacement nearly 30 years ago, and was able to put it off for another 25 years.
A Norwegian master’s student attempts to quantify the impact large transportation infrastructure like railways or highways have on bicyclists, a phenomenon known as the barrier effect.
October 9, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on A 20-year battle for bike access to VA cemetery, Prime Day bike deals, and prepping your bike for a hurricane
Just 82 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
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I have a medical test that will keep me from writing tonight, so there won’t be a new post tomorrow. But I expect to be back as usual on Friday to catch up on anything we missed.
And if you have any extra prayers or good thoughts lying around that you don’t need right now, send ’em my way. Because this one scares me.
If you’re under 23, you’ve never ridden a bike from Westwood to nearby Brentwood using the safe and convenient short cut through the Los Angeles National Cemetery.
Not even in a child’s seat on your parent’s bike.
Yet that’s exactly what UCLA students and faculty did on a daily basis for decades prior to 9/11. But after that terrorist attack on New York’s Twin Towers and the Pentagon building in Washington DC, the gates were closed, and have never reopened.
In fact, you can’t even ride your bike into the cemetery to pay your respects to the many Americans who served their country with honor — and too often sacrificed their lives for it.
Apparently, they’re afraid of someone hijacking a bicycle and crashing it into the gravestones, sacrificing honored veterans who have been dead for years.
Now you once again have a chance to do something about it.
The Veteran Administration’s Advisory Committee on Cemeteries and Memorials will hold a pair of meetings later this month to discuss, yes, the administration of national cemeteries. Which gives you a chance to weigh in with your comments calling for reopening this vital route that was used for years without causing any significant problems.
Because your opinion matters. And given that we’re taking about the VA, it matters even more if you’re a veteran.
In that case, reach out to me and I can put you in touch with others who’ve been fighting this battle for over 20 years now, and can definitely use your help.
Six young Singaporean bicyclists will be prosecuted for allegedly “flouting multiple road cycling rules…in a manner that endangered both their own safety and that of other road users.”
No surprise here. A public defender has requested a mental competency test for Jesus Ayala, the 19-year old Las Vegas driver accused of intentionally running down retired Bell, California police chief Andy Probst just for the hell of it.
He gets it. An Evanston, Illinois writer says it may seem like it’s pedestrians versus bikes after a woman was injured by someone riding on the sidewalk, but the real problem is cars.
A Black neighborhood in Durham, North Carolina is still haunted by the death of a six-year old boy who was riding his bike when he was run down by a driver in a pickup; 35 years later, the area still has no sidewalks, damaged walkways, and roads with the high speed limits typical of too many Black neighborhoods.
The rich get richer. London now has 250 miles of bike lanes. Many of which look a lot better than most of the bike lanes over here.
This is why people keep dying on the streets. A stoned English driver walked without a single day behind bars, despite knocking a bike rider 20 feet in the air while driving at twice the legal limit for cannabis, on the wrong side of the road, leaving the victim with serious injuries.
A British man has been sentenced to a minimum of 21 years behind bars for intentionally running down a man riding a bicycle and leaving him on the side of the road, because he mistakenly thought the victim had ratted him out for employing illegal immigrants; another man got four years for helping him.
September 27, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on It wasn’t ebikes that shut down San Pedro bridge, 80 mph hit-and-run driver pleads not guilty, and more ebike junk science
Just 94 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Probably because he had two days to sober up before police found his truck and identified him as the driver, making it impossible to administer a valid alcohol test.
And both figures are presented in terms of percentages, making it impossible to compare the actual number of injuries to the total number of sales.
So until someone finally gets around to conducting a rigorous study that compares injury rates to ridership, alarming statistics like this aren’t worth the silicon they’re printed on.
Meanwhile, in not so junky science, a new five-year study from Lime and the Bike League shows micromobility users — ie, bike and scooter riders — prefer using painted bike lanes, and particularly protected bike lanes, over streets with no bike infrastructure.
And yes, the bike lanes do make them feel safer — and actually makes them safer, especially the protected lanes.
A British man was convicted of manslaughter for fatally punching a 78-year old widower, after the victim objected to the man riding his bicycle on the sidewalk; he tried to flee afterwards, but was detained by bystanders until police arrived.
That’s more like it. A San Francisco man is finally going to trial eight years after he allegedly killed a 41-year old woman riding a bicycle, after the judge vacated a deal that would have imposed a 15-year sentence on lesser charges; Nicky Garcia was allegedly blowing through stop signs at up to 60 mph, after breaking into a car and stealing a backpack, when he ran down Heather Miller. Garcia has already spent the last eight years behind bars, apparently unable to post bail.
A Milwaukee man was lucky to keep his head on his shoulders when a thin wire dangling from a light pole wrapped around his neck as he was riding downhill on a bike trail at 28 mph; no word yet on why the wire was there, or if was placed intentionally.
Common sense prevailed for once, as a judge ruled that a former Pittsburgh cop who was fired for repeatedly tasing a nonviolent Black man mistakenly suspected of stealing a bicycle can’t get his job back, after an arbitrator had ordered him reinstated with back pay.
A Massachusetts state representative is demanding answers from the state police on why they didn’t charge the driver who jumped the curb and killed 62-year old man riding his bike on the sidewalk in a head-on collision. And no, I can’t recall any California legislator demanding to know why a driver who killed someone on a bicycle wasn’t charged.
Proving that it is possible, bicycling fatalities in the UK have dropped to the lowest level ever recorded, although that’s also accompanied by a jump in injuries and a drop in bicycling rates. But it took a significant investment in safe bike infrastructure to do it, which we’ve yet to see on this side of the Atlantic.
A British driver was “spoken to” but not charged after apparently passing out at the wheel, jumping the curb and plowing into a row of bikes, throwing a woman through the air and snapping her bike in two. Fortunately, the bike rider’s injuries were not life-threatening; no word on the condition of the driver.
Add this one to your bike bucket list. A new Turkish bike tour — excuse me, Türkiye — promises to take you back in time 3,700 years.
Her aunt says she believes the girl ran away because she didn’t want to live with her mother, who was granted full custody of her on a temporary basis.
One more example of why the courts need to give more consideration to the desires of kids in custody cases.
But the important thing is she’s safe. The rest is details.
A new study from UC San Francisco shows ebike injuries in the US have doubled each year for the last six years, rising from 750 in 2017 to 23,500 in 2022, while e-scooter owies have climbed an average of 45%, from 8,500 to 56,800 over the same period.
Although ebike injuries still represent less than 2% of the roughly 2.5 million injuries suffered by riders of more traditional bicycles.
And we have to look at that nine-fold rise in electric micromobility injuries in the context of the 50-fold jump in micromobility usage over the past ten years.
It’s also worth noting that the risk of death in comparison to injuries is just one-fifth of one per cent or less for any form of micromobility, ranging from <0.1% for ebikes and traditional scooters to 0.1% for regular bicycles and 0.2% for e-scooters.
Which appears to be a hell of a lot less than we’re usually led to believe.
The researchers also note a lack of helmets among injured riders, as well as drinking and drug use.
“Our findings stress a concerning trend: helmet usage is noticeably lower among electric vehicle users, and risky behaviors, such as riding under the influence, are more prevalent,” said study co-first author Kevin Li.
Never mind that they conflate rental ebikes and e-scooters with devices that are owned by their riders.
Which matters because renting a bicycle or scooter is often a spur of the moment decision. People who have been drinking or using drugs may choose to ride one instead of risking a DUI, and someone with lowered inhibitions may be more likely to ride one on impulse.
It’s also worth noting that less than 10% of e-scooter users were under the influence, dropping to 7% for ebike riders, and just 4% for riders of more traditional bicycles.
Which means that well over 90% of all users were sober a judge. Depending on the judge, of course.
And few people are likely to carry a helmet with them wherever they go, especially if they aren’t planning in advance to ride a bike or scooter, electric or otherwise.
It also appear the researchers conflated relatively low-speed ped-assist bikes with higher-speed throttle-controlled bicycles, which are better classified as lower-powered electric motorcycles.
As for the rapid jump in electric bike and scooter injuries, such stats are absolutely meaningless when not considered in context with the rapid rise in ebike and e-scooter usage.
Without that comparison, we have no way of knowing if the rate and severity of injuries are climbing relative to electric bike and scooter use, or if one is increasing faster than the other.
What’s needed is a side-by-side comparison of annual bicycle, ebike and e-scooter injuries relative to usage for each. Unless and until we have that, studies like this are interesting, but relatively meaningless.
Meanwhile, if you want to read a really badly reported synopsis of a synopsis of the study, you could do a lot worse than this story in the New York Post.
Like maybe this story in The Hill, which somehow blames the increase in ebike injuries on risky behavior and urban design — which may have been inferred, but neither of which were directly implicated in the study.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, lost control of his bike and hit a curb while riding in the 10700 block of Camino Santa Fe in Mira Mesa, suffering life-threatening injuries including a brain bleed, broken collarbone and several fractured ribs.
No bias here. Writing for the London Telegraph, the TV editor for the Independent newspaper says she’s a regular bike commuter, but she’s “sick of reckless cyclists ruining it for everyone,” while somehow assuming all those Lycra-clad louts are blowing through red lights at a remarkable 40 mph — double the speed limit, and far beyond the capacity of just about everyone without a motor. But still lower than the 52 mph cited in the headline.
But sometimes it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
To paraphrase Sunset Boulevard, the new Hollywood Blvd bike lanes are ready for their closeup, Mr. DeMille. And from what I’ve seen going by on the bus, they look marvelous.
Calbike accuses Caltrans of contributing to incomplete streets for bicyclists and pedestrians in Orange County by ignoring their own rules on Beach Blvd.
Yes, please. Dozens of Orange County drivers were ticketed for various offenses in a traffic crackdown over the weekend, including having overly loud exhaust systems. Now do Hollywood, where illegal decibel-shattering cars and motorcycles roar through the streets all day and night.
The parents of fallen Boulder, Colorado junior cycling champ Magnus White hope a memorial ride marking his death next month will be the largest advocacy ride in history.
There’s a special place in hell for the 41-year old Pueblo, Colorado man who shot a child in the back over an allegedly stolen bicycle; he faces three counts of attempted 2nd degree murder, despite causing the kid only minor injuries.
The Boston Globe says bikes are booming in Beantown as new separated and protected bikeways roll out, but barriers to biking remain. Kinda like just about everywhere else, but without the spiffy new infrastructure in a lot of places.
And that, my friends, is when it all went to hell.
As you may know, we’ve been tracking the moribund California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which has now reached 178 days since we were promised it would open in fall of last year.
And just two weeks before they’re guaranteed to miss the most recent promised launch date in the second quarter of this year, which has now been pushed back to sometime this summer.
They’re not likely to meet that one, either.
Because the program charged with operating the California ebike incentive program, San Diego nonprofit Pedal Ahead, could end up facing charges themselves.
In fact, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Pedal Ahead is currently facing not one, not two, but three ongoing investigations. (Although the paper’s newly even more draconian paywall means you’ll have to register with your email if you want to read it.)
It’s a confusing and convoluted story. But the gist of it is that Pedal Ahead is accused of being delinquent in filing the required paperwork with various government agencies, leading to investigations by San Diego County, the California Air Resources Board, and the California Department of Justice.
Yet somehow, they’re supposed to handle the increasingly complicated statewide program, which has now been funded with a still-too-small $31 million to distribute, even though that’s up from the initial $10 million fund, which was reduced to just $7.5 million after overhead.
And even though they’ve been removed as operators of the low-income ebike loan-to-own program launched by the San Diego Association of Governments two years ago.
Yet it was that “expertise” that formed the basis of their selection to operate the statewide program.
But at least that part of the story is clear.
It gets more confusing when the paper tries to explain the numerous nonprofit and for-profit companies opened by Pedal Ahead chief executive Edward Clancy in recent years, many with nearly identical names.
And many, if not most, of which either ran into problems, or apparently never got beyond the naming stage.
Then there’s the fact that Clancy wore a wire for the FBI’s probe into illegal campaign financing involving his former boss and a Mexican businessman, while skating on any possible charges himself.
Clancy was appointed as “bike czar” by former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, who resigned under a torrent of sexual misconduct accusations after less than a year in office.
According to the Union-Tribune,
Clancy was later reported to have been a confidential informant in an unrelated federal investigation into illegal campaign financing in San Diego County.
The Union-Tribune reported in 2014 that he wore a wire for the FBI, recording conversations with three people who were later charged with coordinating $500,000 in donations from Mexican businessman Jose Susumo Azano Matsura to Filner, then-District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and two Democratic political committees.
Clancy, who received qualified immunity from federal prosecutors and was never himself charged with any wrongdoing, maintained his political connections after he stopped consulting.
No problem, then.
It’s long past time that the state legislature conducted an open, public hearing into the problems with the state ebike incentive program that have led to its ongoing failure to launch, despite the clear intent of our elected leaders.
And shine a much-needed light on a program that has been utterly opaque up to this point.
Because something tells me what we’ve learned today is just the tip of an iceberg big enough to sink the Titanic all over again.
Meanwhile, a writer for the Christian Science Monitor also says wear a helmet, and put front, and especially, rear lights on your bike, offering his own hard-won experience in Long Beach as proof.
Although he misses the mark in calling out bicyclists for riding “two, three or even four abreast.” forcing drivers to “swerve completely into the incoming traffic lane.”
Never mind that riding abreast helps prevent unsafe passing, and using the next lane to go around them is exactly what drivers are supposed to do.
Then again, even Dutch officials are calling for the country’s largely helmet averse population to change “because the brain is very vulnerable.”
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Nothing like have your bike stolen right in front of you on a Metro platform in broad daylight, as passengers look on.
Twitter post
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It’s not every day you actually see a positive report about new bike lanes on the local news.
Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A writer for an off-road racing website blames a group of Atlanta bike riders for complaining when a cop ignored the speeding BMW driver who zoomed around them on the wrong side of the road, only to lecture them for some undisclosed reason. “We’ve all encountered entitled, difficult cyclists before,” he writes. “Maybe they’re riding three or four abreast, not letting cars get by, and acting aggressive towards any driver who does try to pass.”
The UK’s best bicycle-friendly homes, starting at just £225,000 — the equivalent of a little over $285,000. I’ll send y’all a postcard once I get settled.
