West Hollywood will paint existing bike lanes on Santa Monica Blvd, Fairfax Ave and San Vicente Blvd green to increase their visibility.
It will be that particular shade known as “Hollywood Green,” allowing filmmakers to work around the color to avoid the disastrous rollout when Los Angeles first went green.
Painting the lanes is probably a good idea, given that most drivers seem to think the Fairfax bike lane is only there to bypass backed-up traffic, seemingly never occurring to them that there might be a bicycle in it.
And usually there isn’t, for exactly that reason.
Green paint isn’t likely to stop those drivers. But at least they’ll have a better idea what law they’re breaking.
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That’s more like it.
A new bill in the state legislature would cap ebike engines at no more than 750 watts while imposing new speed restrictions.
AB 1557 would also reclassify more powerful electric motorbikes as motor-driven cycles, which would require a license to operate.
Maybe then we can finally get everyone to stop calling the damn things ebikes, and blaming all of us for the actions of a relative few teen knuckleheads.
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Streets For All will host a mobility debate for the candidates for city controller next Thursday.
Only one of whom has corgis, which should be a key consideration.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An English borough clapped back when drivers complained about paying for the roadway as well as bike lanes, only to be rewarded with a 20 mph speed limit to protect vulnerable road users, replying that motorists don’t pay any more than anyone else and the country hasn’t had a road tax for nearly a century.
No bias here. A British news channel breathlessly announced that bicyclists now think illegally modified ebikes pose a bigger risk to their safety than motor vehicles. Except they left out the word “some,” because only 8% of the people polled believe that — and only 500 people were polled.
No bias here, either. Aussie commenters set their hair on fire when a photo showed a bicyclist riding in a bus lane, insisting that the single rider was somehow “inconveniencing hundreds” during rush hour. Must have been a damn big bus, because no one else in the photo seems to be even a little bit inconvenienced.
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Local
The Eastsider reminds us that Metro is looking for your comments on closing the gap in the LA River bike path through DTLA, Vernon and Maywood.
Calabasas bike-themed restaurant, bike shop and coffee bar Pedaler’s Fork is opening a second location in LA’s Frogtown, near their existing 10 Speed Coffee and close to the LA River bike path.
Santa Monica will conduct yet another bicycle and pedestrian safety operation from 2 pm to 8 pm today. So ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you don’t get ticketed. Or just avoid the city entirely this afternoon and evening if you can.
State
Calbike has opened registration for April’s biennial California Bicycle Summit in Sacramento.
Oceanside police are pushing for a change in the city’s ebike regulations to prohibit carrying a second rider and allow cops to temporarily seize the ebikes of scofflaw riders. Although once again, they seem to be conflating ped-assist ebikes with illegally modified electric motorbikes and dirt bikes.
A 73-year old Rancho Bernardo man is bicycling around San Diego with his son to interview random people they meet and post the videos online. The story is paywalled, but you can see their videos on their website.
National
A New York news site says bicyclists and ebikers continue to exceed Central Park’s 15 mph speed limit, endangering lives, while the speed limit is almost impossible to enforce. Yet the photo shows a couple kids on e-motorbikes with full face helmets, one pulling a wheelie, making it clear that regular bicycles and ped-assist ebikes aren’t the problem. And speed guns work just as well on them as they do with motor vehicles.
Streetsblog says the way to solve the problems in Central Park is to build better bike lanes around the park’s perimeter, so non-recreational riders don’t have to use it as the only safe route across town.
Proof protected bike lanes work. Ridership on a contested Brooklyn bike lane went up 60% after it was protected — even though the former mayor ripped out three blocks of the protection.
Justice denied, as a Salvadoran immigrant faced up to 12 years behind bars for killing a Long Island bike rider in a drunken crash, but was deported before he could be sentenced.
A group of Tampa, Florida mountain bikers are building their own trail, the city’s firstl.
International
Bike Radar explains why your ebike battery loses power when it’s cold, with a lithium ion battery having just half the power at 4 below zero Fahrenheit that it does at 77 degrees. Which is not a problem most SoCal riders are likely to have.
The state of Mexico will invest the equivalent of $6.3 million to build four new bike lanes, as well as six protected intersections in high traffic areas.
London’s Telegraph recommends the ten European bike routes for all skill levels that you should tackle in your lifetime. Particularly if you feel an uncontrollable urge to circumnavigate Iceland.
A London writer experiences the culture shock of moving from an air-conditioned office to a bicycle delivery service following his fourth layoff in six years, saying he hadn’t counted on get hit by cars and skinheads — let alone seeing the city in a whole new light.
Ireland’s Taoiseach, otherwise known as the country’s prime minister, condemned a judge’s comments that bike riders have made Dublin a nightmare, while the country’s Labour Party filed a formal complaint with the courts.
Cycling Weekly recommends the “unknown” climbs of the Austrian Alps, calling them harder than those of the Tour de France.
More proof protected bike lanes work. A year-old protected bike lane in the Australian state of Tasmania hasn’t had a single bicycling crash since it was installed, despite seeing 6,000 trips each month, while overall crashes on the street have dropped nearly a third.
Finally…
Now you, too, can turn your kid’s balance bike into an electric snow trike. That feeling when you have a need to prove you really did it.
And building your granddog his own bike seat. Or a mobile dog house.
Or something.
@louie_and_grandpaw Spoiled little daschund ! Grandpaw built this custom snoopy inspired dog house from scratch for his grand dog Louie! #daschund #dogsoftiktok #dogtiktok #dogmom
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
