Tag Archive for Gabe Klein

Morning Links: Writer claims Vision Zero is anti-driver plot, new CA bike friendly cities, and Gabe Klein at UCLA

Apparently tired of yelling at kids to get off his lawn, a writer for the Santa Monica Daily Press says the city’s Pedestrian Action Plan is all rhetoric. And insists Vision Zero is just an attempt slow traffic speeds, increase congestion and make motorists more frustrated.

But at least they’ll be alive to complain about it.

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Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo get a boost to the Gold level Bicycle Friendly Community status in the Bike League’s new rankings; Santa Rosa and Woodland get Bronze. And San Diego, Carlsbad and Oxnard get honorable mentions in Southern California.

Meanwhile, my hometown stayed Platinum. Of course, they didn’t bother getting bike friendly until long after I stopped riding there.

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Not many people can claim to have put two cities on a bike path; former DC and Chicago DOT director Gabe Klein will discuss his new book on how to get it done and have fun in the process at UCLA’s Luskin Center on Thursday.

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‘Tis the Season, already.

San Diego’s Old Mission Beach Athletic Club has started their eighth annual Holiday Toy and Bike Drive to aid families of junior enlisted personnel.

Members of the San Francisco 49ers build bikes for the team’s middle school student academy.

More than 500 bikes have been donated to children who lost theirs in the Valley fire earlier this year.

And a handful of outdoor companies and bike shops are joining REI in closing the day after Thanksgiving.

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It may have nothing to do with bicycling, but the Militant Angeleno — author of everyone’s favorite CicLAvia guides — has created a fascinating guide to the remaining Red Car remnants.

If he’d ever take that mask off, I see an epic bike tour in the making.

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Local

The latest Bike Talk podcast talks Equity and the Bike with the LACBC’s Tamika Butler, Rio Contreras of Multicultural Communities for Mobility and CSULA Professor Adonia Lugo.

The UCLA Bicycle Academy criticizes the marketing director of the UCLA Health System for missing an opportunity to promote greater health by sponsoring Santa Monica’s Breeze bikeshare system.

LA Curbed looks at people’s reactions to Breeze on Twitter, where the response seems to be universally positive.

 

State

A San Francisco cyclist and an 89-year old man both suffered head injuries when they collided while the man was crossing Market Street on Friday. It may  or may not have been the rider’s fault, but always ride carefully around pedestrians — especially kids and the elderly, who can be both fragile and unpredictable.

Bikeshare is central to the Bay Area’s better, faster and more flexible new mobility.

A road raging Dr. Thompson wannabe faces charges for brake-checking a group of cyclists after attempting to block their path in Marin County.

 

National

Maybe you’ll be able to watch bike racing on TV after all. NBCUniversal promises to pick up the events formerly broadcast on the now defunct Universal Sports Network.

A San Antonio man has been found guilty of murdering his roommate in a dispute over a bicycle and an unlocked gate.

A Minneapolis report concludes there are barriers keeping minorities from bicycling, including affordability, access and lack of education on rules of the road.

LA continues to fall further behind; while we’re just beginning to get bikeshare, Minnesota’s Twin Cities are already getting canoeshare.

An Ohio drunk driver gets nearly five years for killing a cyclist, while a Vermont woman gets probation and just 80 hours of community service for a similar crime. Maybe if the Ohio driver was married to a cop, he might have gotten away with it, too.

Hundreds of New Yorkers march to remember the victims of traffic violence, while joining the call to refer to them as crashes, not accidents.

Some good can come from even the worst tragedies, as a Mississippi firefighter badly disfigured by burns received the face of a New York bike messenger killed in a wreck. That’s why I signed up as an organ donor, although I doubt anyone would want this face when I’m done with it.

 

International

An Ottawa writer says forget the debate over ghost bikes and adopt Vision Zero instead.

British traffic calming efforts, including lowering speed limits to 20 mph, cut traffic fatalities in half over a 13 year period.

A Brit thief gets the bite on a bike shop owner who chased him down to recover a customer’s phone.

A British website looks at the unwritten rules of the pro peloton.

Caught on video: What it’s really like to bike in Belfast, where police get the law on riding abreast wrong. Not unlike some police and sheriff’s deputies right here in sunny SoCal.

Seriously? Irish cyclists face an on-the-spot 40 euro fine for riding with headphones, even though it’s not illegal.

One year later, that solar panel-paved Dutch bike path is a success, putting out enough energy to power three homes.

Interesting idea from a Danish company, as they have a new Kickstarter for wireless, frictionless generator bike lights.

Pakistan swears it won’t take part in Olympic track cycling qualifying in India due to internal issues, and not the ongoing enmity between the two countries. Sure, let’s go with that.

An Indian woman is encouraging others to bike to work just like she does, despite the country’s congested roads.

Call it Genghis’ revenge, as two Brit teenagers are forced to abandon a trip retracing the legendary Mongol leader’s longest invasion route when digestive issues set in near China.

 

Finally…

Bad enough that we have to dodge angry drivers, now the trees are out to get us. If at first you don’t succeed, steal the same bike again.

And if you’re going to steal a macaw to feed your drug habit, don’t try to make your getaway with the purloined parrot on your handlebars.

 

Transportation rock star Gabe Klein comes to City Hall; HBPD hits a cyclist and Milton Olin investigation drags on

A little this, a little that. And not much bad news, for a change.

So let’s dig right in.

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A real transportation rock star visits the city as former DC and Chicago DOT chief Gabe Klein will talk bike share at City Hall Friday afternoon. Maybe our esteemed mayor can convince him to stick around for a job interview afterwards.

Or even before. Or during, for that matter.

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I’ve gotten a report that a Huntington Beach patrol car struck a bicyclist around 11 pm last Tuesday; no word on how the collision occurred, the officer involved or the condition of the rider.

Not that they’re being tight lipped about it or anything.

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The investigation into the death of former Napster exec Milt Olin continues over a month after his death, while the Times notes that the slow pace raises questions of a cover-up.

You think?

I’ve only heard fears of that from, lets see, everyone I’ve heard from about this tragedy.

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Nine ways LA is ditching its auto-centric reputation, while Salon says the City of Angeles is experiencing a renaissance for biking and walking. But maybe not so fast, as Metro decides cyclists and pedestrians deserve only one lousy vote on their Technical Advisory Committee; God forbid they should let the hoi polloi have a say. Another meeting added to discuss the reconstruction of Santa Monica Blvd — and possible bike lanes — in Beverly Hills; Better Bike recaps the last meeting. Join Stan’s Bike Shop and the Eastside Bike Club on Saturday, the 25th to kick off April’s Tour de Cure. Manhattan Beach approves new bike lanes on Rosecrans and Manhattan Avenues. Long Beach gets to keep its green sharrows even though the Feds have pulled the plug on the popular super sharrows and green-backed sharrows. Bike Long Beach invites you to hear the Bike League’s Steve Clark talk about what we can learn from the best bike infrastructure from around the world this Thursday. Share your thoughts about the proposed San Gabriel Valley bike master plan before the end of the month. Hopefully, bicycling at Cal Poly Pomona is now a little safer, as the campus gets its first bike path; they still need to fix the streets leading to campus, though.

Here’s a bill to keep an eye on, as AB 1193 encouraging the use of cycle tracks in California passes its first committee test with flying colors. Newport Beach plans a community bike ride on Saturday. No surprise, as the accused road raging San Diego driver who seriously injured a cyclist pleads not guilty. A 71-year old cyclist is critically injured after allegedly riding into the path of a Riverside bus. Mark your calendar for the Thousand Oaks Ride 2 Recovery ride on May 3rd. Bay Area bike riders reject the idea of licensing fees. Is San Francisco America’s most bike-friendly city? Maybe so, as SF supervisors call for the city to adopt a Vision Zero, two words I have never heard escape the lips of an LA politician. The Bay Area Bike Share hits 100,000 trips in less than four months.

Should doctors do more to prevent traffic fatalities? Seven predictions that could drive the bike industry in 2014; is the youth bike boom going bust already? More curb-protected bike lanes are coming to America. A case before the Supreme Court could affect the viability of the Rails to Trails movement. Bicycling offers advice on how to break wind; a couple burritos usually do the trick for me. The incomparable Katie Compton wins her 10th national cyclocross title; VeloNews looks at the highlights of this year’s championships. A new Portland housing project will have nearly two long-term bike parking spaces for every unit, the most in the US. Arizona driver gets a whopping seven days — seven whole days! — in jail for first harassing, then crashing into, a group of pro cyclists before fleeing the scene; clearly, any expectation of justice for cyclists in the Grand Canyon State is just an illusion. Three Houston cyclists have been killed in hit-and-runs in the last 45 days. Walkers and runners are invading Austin TX bike lanes. The most impressive vehicles at the Detroit Auto Show have just two wheels. Drunken Michigan man busted for driving on a bike path. Someone is tossing tacks on a Tampa bike path; if anyone put something on a roadway that could cause drivers to crash, they’d call it a terrorist attack. Oddly, the solution to drunk drivers hitting cyclists on a Miami-area causeway isn’t banning bikes.

A London rider says drivers are out to kill him, perhaps literally; another responds — reasonably — that we shouldn’t exaggerate the risks of bike riding. Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson clearly doesn’t get the need to take the lane. A UK rider says few people are injured by bikes, and motorists who disagree should try riding one, while another says there is no we in bicycling. A Brit cyclist rides 1,350 miles to visit Auschwitz. Eighty-three-year old British man flees the scene after killing a bike rider in Spain; hit-and-run is clearly not just an American problem as another driver drives off after killing a Romanian rider in Cyprus. A UK paper says Spain’s Majorca is a bike rider’s paradise. Touring India by bike. A New Zealand cyclist denies he fled the scene after striking a 12-year old bike rider. New Zealand drivers don’t see cyclists because they aren’t looking for us; so would I be out of line suggesting that maybe they should start? Kiwi cyclists account for 60% of red light runners at four key intersections. The British woman who survived brutal conditions to set a record riding her bike to the South Pole tells her story.

Finally, the effects of texting and driving caught on camera; thanks to John McBrearty for the heads-up. You don’t want this on video, as an Irish mountain biker suffers a seven week erection after crash landing on the top bar.

And talk about taking the high road, as Calexico border guards stop a bike rider with nine pounds of marijuana stuffed in his rear tire.

Thanks to John Hall for the generous donation!