According to an article posted today by the Long Beach Gazettes, the victim, who was not publicly named, was riding westbound with a friend in the center median on Market when she was struck by a speeding car.
Emergency personnel found her lying unconscious in the eastbound lane; she was transported to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The driver was illegally passing another car when he or she struck the victim’s bike from behind before fleeing the scene.
Police later found the vehicle, a 2013 Kia Optima, abandoned 5300 block of Atlantic Avenue. The car, which had a smashed windshield and major front end damage, had been reported stolen in a carjacking the day before.
There’s no word on why the couple were riding in the painted center lane instead of in the traffic lane, where they presumably would have been protected by the car that was being passed.
Police are looking for four people who were reportedly in the the stolen car at the time of the crash. Anyone with information is urged to call Long Beach collision investigations detective Brian Watt at 562/570-5520; tips can also be reported online at www.lacrimestoppers.org.
This is the 48th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and 20th in Los Angeles County. And it’s at least the tenth fatal bike crash in Long Beach since 2010.
Update: The victim has been identified only as a white woman in her 40s, pending notification of next of kin.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and her loved ones.
And hopefully, Pasadena, Hollywood and other areas throughout LA County in the not-too-distant future.
Although bicycling infrastructure has to catch up outside the Downtown area to provide a safe place to ride those bikes. Especially in Hollywood.
So who will be the first to come up with a good nickname for the system, like London’s Boris Bikes? Somehow, Eric Bikes just doesn’t have the same ring.
He fled on foot following the crash, but was arrested a short distance away. Police had received calls about his dangerous driving for nearly 30 minutes before the collision.
Initial reports indicated some of the victims may be children, but later stories suggested it was a group of adults that frequently ride together.
There simply are no words to express the gut-wrenching heartbreak and tragedy of this needless disaster.
Thanks to Brenda Miller, Al Williams and Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.
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Pro cyclist Tom Danielson says his positive drug test is consistent with a contaminated supplement. Of course, after similar denials from Lance, Lloyd and Alberto, et al, any explanation begs credibility, truthful or not.
A Santa Ana woman shakes off a bike crash that left her in the hospital for two days in order to cast her vote for Sanders; thanks to David Wolfberg for the link.
With the outrage over the lenient sentence given a Stanford student for the rape of an unconscious woman, it’s worth noting that the rape was stopped, and the fleeing rapist caught, by a pair of bicyclists.
A red bicycle festooned with ribbons hangs as a memorial to Muhammad Ali over the former Louisville auditorium where his bike was stolen as a 12-year old, which set him on the path that would eventually make him The Greatest.
A new London smartphone app automatically emails the city’s mayor whenever a cyclist presses a Bluetooth enabled button upon encountering a dangerous situation. We could use something like that here, but the sheer volume of emails would probably crash the City Hall server.
London’s Telegraph suggests ten cycling vacations that will make you a better bike rider.
New Zealand community members called for making Hi-Viz mandatory for bike-riding students after two were hit by cars six years ago. Because no one can expect drivers to actually pay attention to who might be on the road with them, right?
According to LAPD statistics presented at yesterday’s bike liaison meeting, bike-involved collisions are down dramatically throughout Los Angeles compared to this time last year.
49% reduction in bike collisions in the Valley Traffic Division, with serious injuries down 83%
18% reduction in bike collisions in the Central Traffic Division
30% reduction in bike collision in the South Traffic Division
No stats were available from West Traffic.
No reason was given for the sudden improvement in bike safety; as one officer said, it might just be luck.
But it’s a good way to start the year.
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Meanwhile, things aren’t looking as good in the Inland Empire.
Hit-and-run collisions involving pedestrians are up 73% in San Bernardino County and 51% in Riverside County over the last five years, while hit-and-runs involving cyclists are up 34% and 40%, respectively.
I’m normally not a big fan of the visibility arms race, in which it seems like every rider has to outdo everyone else to capture the attention of drivers.
But this new backpack seems like a great idea.
The Bluetooth-enabled Aster backpack from India’s Lumos Design Technology, currently raising funds on Indiegogo, lights up the night with side and rear LED lights, as well as forward white lights on the front straps. Not to mention turn indicators and automatic brake lights.
It also functions as a commuter backpack, unfolding completely to provide easy access to your stuff, while offering helmet and U-lock holders, and a detachable shoe compartment.
And it was designed for use in the US, and product tested right here in California, with feedback from 50 or so riders from the Bay Area.
As a special offer for BikinginLA readers, the first person to pledge at least $75 on the Aster Indiegogo page will also get their Lumos Thrillseeker Solar Daypack, designed to convert sunlight into electricity to charge your USB devices while you ride. Just include “BikinginLA” in the comments when you make your pledge.
But remember, this offer is limited to the first person to make a $75 or higher pledge; there’s no way of knowing if someone may have beaten you to it.
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Local
The LACBC’s Eric Bruins says that as planned, Metro’s proposed transportation tax increase will “build a fantastic system that people won’t feel safe walking and biking to.”
The lead guitarist for the band Pennywise is suing Uber after he was doored while riding in Hermosa Beach last year; the passengers stayed to help, but the driver fled.
The Armenian Youth Federation’s annual Cycle Against Denial will be held in Santa Monica for the first time on April 10th; the event marking the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide had previously been held in the San Fernando Valley.
Temecula’s Sarah Hammer is the first American cyclist to qualify for the Rio Olympics; the multiple silver medal winner hopes her third Olympics will bring gold. Although she may have trouble winning anything if they don’t get the track installed in time.
After a speeding tour bus driver crashed into pedestrians and a cyclist in a crowded San Francisco neighborhood, injuring 19 people, police basically say “oops.”
Someone must not like mountain bikers in Folsom Lake. Three riders were forced to take cover when bullets flew over their heads, even after they called out to stop shooting.
Police in my hometown finally make an arrest in the case of the courteous hit-and-run driver who apparently moved a bike and backpack to the curb, but left his victim lying in the street.
A protected bike lane in Nebraska suffers $2,500 in damages when a wrong-way driver plows into the concrete divider. On the other hand, without it, that could have been a bike rider.
When a Pennsylvania man walked over to the local police station to see if they’d found his stolen bike, a bighearted cop dipped into his own pocket to buy him a new one. Thanks to Mike Bike for the heads-up from his home town.
International
Bike Radar looks at ambitious mountain bike products that failed big time.
Folding bike maker Brompton calculates it costs the equivalent of $62 a month to store a bike in your London home. Not that you have a London home, of course. And not like they have a vested interest in suggesting you might want a bike that takes up less space.
She was arrested almost immediately when an officer pulled her over after hearing the crash and discovered the damage to her car, while a second officer discovered Villanoeva’s body.
This sentence comes as a pleasant surprise for an office with a reputation for bargaining away serious penalties just to get a conviction in many bike cases.
LA County Sheriff’s deputies are looking for a hit-and-run driver who fled after hitting a woman riding her bike in Agoura Hills.
The victim was severely injured when she was apparently right hooked while riding on Argos Street around 11 am Sunday by a driver turning onto Parkheath Drive.
The suspect is described only as a man driving a late-model black compact car. Anyone with information is urged to call the Malibu Lost Hills Station at 818/878-1808.
Sort of like Paul Koretz’ search for an alternate route for the Westwood Blvd bike lanes, which seems to be proceeding at the same pace as OJ’s search for the real killers.
But Erickson herself, who broke off a cast so she could compete in a race after suffering a broken wrist and collarbone, as well as a Level 3 concussion, when she took a bad fall during a competition.
Once again, Los Angeles tops the rest of the US for the nation’s worst traffic. Maybe that explains why groups like Fix the City are fighting the new Mobility Plan; why change anything when you’re already number one?
Good Magazine talks with the founder of the Ovarian Psychos about their new documentary and riding gentrifiers out of town.
Bike friendly New York restaurant, sandwich shop and butcher The Cannibal is finally slated to open, partially at least, in Culver City next month; the name is based on the great Eddy Merckx, not the Donner Party.
Actor Josh Brolin is one of us, as he rides his single speed cruiser along Santa Monica’s Main Street. Although the British tabloids once again seem most impressed with his biceps.
Will Arnett is one of us, too; he recommends riding a bike through the streets of Venice, calling it the greatest mode of transport.
Call it a non-CicLAvia ciclovía, as Long Beach celebrates its downtown area this Saturday with the city’s second Beach Streets open streets event.
A San Diego group has unexpectedly dropped their lawsuit against buffered bike lanes on the city’s 4th and 5th Streets.
A Santa Barbara neighborhood association once again chooses parking over bicycles, threatening to sue if the city doesn’t consider alternatives to a contested bike lane on Micheltorena Street and conduct an environmental impact report. The governor signed a bill in 2013 exempting bike lanes from environmental review, but that hasn’t seemed to stop anyone from suing.
Berkeley officials call for extending a protected bike lane two blocks, a month too late to help a woman who was critically injured while riding her bike there.
Evidently, the death of a bicyclist is no big deal in Alaska. An 18-year old hit-and-run driver is allowed to finish her college semester before beginning her prison sentence; she was under the influence when she ran down the victim while driving in reverse down the street following a party.
Sad news from Boulder CO as former pro cyclist Phil Zajicek lost an arm in a collision with a flatbed truck; fortunately, he’s expected to survive. Zajicek received a lifetime ban for doping violations in 2011.
Bighearted Michigan cops buy a new bicycle for a five-year old boy who was injured when a car backed over him as he tried to ride around it.
An upstate NY man is making plans for a record-breaking attempt at the world’s biggest classic bike parade; under the rules — yes, there are rules for such things — the bikes must be at least 30 years old, and travel at least two miles. Which means my 1981 Trek would easily make the cut, if I could get it to go that far.
International
A sustainable transportation lecturer writing in the Guardian says it’s not enough to reduce speed limits on residential streets to 20 mph; we need to stop cut through traffic — aka rat running — to keep quiet streets quiet.
English bicyclists take safety into their own hands by spray painting a warning on an unsafe bike lane; naturally, county officials respond by calling it vandalism rather than actually doing anything to fix it.
A man in Limerick, Ireland was arrested after riding his bike with a sawed off shotgun looking for people to shoot; he wounded one man and missed another before he was stopped while looking for a third victim.
Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize goes on a rant against what he considers bad bikeway designs, insisting that if you don’t see it used in the Netherlands or Denmark, it’s probably a stupid idea.
Yet another person riding a bike has been left to die in the street by a heartless coward who fled the scene.
According to the Orange County Register, a bike rider identified only as an adult male was hit by an SUV shortly before 1 am on the 1400 block of West Warner Ave, just East of the South Pacific Ave in Santa Ana.
The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
There’s no word at this time what may have caused the collision, or how it occurred. Witnesses reported the driver fled east on Warner, but no description of the driver or the SUV is currently available.
A street view shows a wide open three lane roadway east of Pacific, with no parking allowed and nothing to slow drivers down.
Anyone with information is urged to call Santa Ana police Cpl. Matt Wharton at 714/245-8209.
This is the 26th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the fifth in Orange County; it’s also the second in Santa Ana since the first of the year. That compares with ten in the seven county SoCal region this time last year, and none in the county.
Update: The victim has been identified as 44-year old Ricardo Aguilar; no city of residence was given. The time of the collision has been changed to around 5 am. Note: The story in the Register misidentified the victim as Ricardo Martinez; his niece sent a correction in the comments below.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Ricardo Aguilar and his loved ones.
He starts with a suspicion of a grand conspiracy to force drivers out of their cars.
According to him, road diets, bulb-outs and bike lanes are planned, not to improve safety or provide transportation options, but to make driving so miserable that people have no choice but to give up on their cars and take to bikes.
Never mind that if bicycling somehow miraculously reached the level of ridership found in the Netherlands, it would still only amount to 27% of all trips.
He insists that those behind it are those damn progressive politicians and traffic department bureaucrats, environmental advocates, and the “well-funded, politically powerful Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition.”
Which would no doubt come as a surprise to the SBBC. And make it one of the few well-funded bike advocacy groups anywhere.
Or maybe the only one.
Then he pivots to the standard complaint that bicyclists don’t pay for the lanes they ride on. Which is based on the false assumption that drivers do, rather than being the most heavily publicly subsidized form of transportation.
The obvious solution, in his mind, anyway, is licensing cyclists.
Even though the money raised by licensing is unlikely to bring in enough to even cover its own operating costs. And even though bike riders already pay more than their share for the roads through their own taxes.
Naturally, he also complains that bike riders break the law. Except for him, of course.
And unlike motorists, who would never, ever dream of speeding, driving distracted or making an unsafe lane change in a vehicle capable of doing far more harm than even the worst scofflaw cyclist.
So the law needs to crack down on cyclists, he insists. And we all need to carry liability insurance, because maybe someday, in the bike utopian world he so fears, a distracted cyclist could cause a massive bike pileup that forces a poor, innocent driver off the road.
No, really.
It’s worth the read if you need a good laugh.
Unlike the New York Post’s latest attack on former NYDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
He complains about “her ruinous tampering with historic traffic patterns” as she sought to turn the city into one of the world’s great bicycling cities, “everyone else be damned.”
Even though surveys consistently show most New Yorkers support the city’s bike lanes and the changes she helped make, and traffic fatalities have reached historic lows.
He goes on to complain that public plazas around Times Square are so crowded and overrun with tourists and hucksters that New Yorkers “assiduously” avoid it. Sort of like Yogi Berra’s famous proclamation that “No one goes there’s anymore. It’s too crowded.”
And in his eyes, moving parked cars away from the curb to form protected bike lanes makes the streets look like parking lots. Unlike before, when the same cars were far more attractively parked on the same streets.
Somehow, those cars also make it harder to see what’s on the other side of the street. Because they were apparently transparent before being moved a few feet to the left.
He tops it off with the assertion that the city’s bike lanes are only used by food delivery people most times of the day.
He ends by complaining that the damage done by Sadik-Khan’s reign is with us to stay.
For which most New Yorkers are undoubtedly grateful.
And the rest of us can only envy.
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If you haven’t already, take a few moments to sign the petition asking for all new or used cars sold in California to leave the lot with a temporary license plate.
It doesn’t take much effort watching traffic to realize that too many cars are on the streets with no front plates — or any license plates at all — making them virtually impossible to identify in the event of a hit-and-run or other traffic crime.
And enforcing the law requiring front and back plates on every vehicle seems to be a very low priority.
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Exciting news on the medical front, as stunt cyclist Martyn Ashton takes his first mechanically assisted steps with a new hi-tech walker, three years after he was paralyzed from the waist down.
And after an injection of neural cells taken from his nose, a Polish firefighter can now ride an adaptive tricycle, four years after he was paralyzed from the chest down after a stabbing.
The next LACBC Sunday Funday ride with roll this Sunday, with a pre-St. Patrick’s Day themed ride through DTLA led by board member Patrick Pascal.
State
It’s been over 49 days since the Marines impounded a number of mountain bikes after their riders strayed onto the Miramar Marine base in San Diego, with no resolution in sight.
Here’s your chance to work in bike advocacy, as the Bike League is hiring a new Education Director and a Member Services Coordinator.
The Tucson truck driver who plowed into a group of cyclists while allegedly high on meth is being held on $1.5 million bond. Which somehow seems too low.
Two-thirds of Iowans support proposed legislation that would require drivers to change lanes to pass bike riders. Although someone there clearly doesn’t like cyclists, as a popular Des Moines bikeway is sabotaged with tacks.
The new Audi A4 has lights on the doors to warn drivers if a bike is coming to help avoid doorings. Because actually looking before you open the door is just too hard.
A Vancouver business site says instead of investing $5 million in bikeshare, the city could have bought bicycles for about 200,000 children in low-income households. Which kind of misses the point.
A Toronto lawyer says cars are becoming the weapon of choice, yet drivers who use them to attack others still get their licenses back.
Nice piece on bicycling in Victorian England, which suggests that the bike-riding men of the day were the original hipsters.
Belgian rider Femke Van den Driessche is just 19 years old, and facing a lifetime ban for motor doping.
An Aussie writer says the only thing the country’s mandatory bike helmet law protects you against is fines. Meanwhile, an Australian news network does its best to whip up a panic over e-bikes.
I want to be like him when I grow up. An 85-year old Kiwi cyclist refuses to let a collision with a trailer keep him off his bike.
March 4, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: LACBC & SaMo Spoke up for national honors, CHP looks for driver in East LA bike hit-and-run
Congratulations are in order for the Los Angeles Bicycle Coalition and Santa Monica Spoke.
The LACBC and its local chapter Santa Monica Spoke received national recognition as they dominated the nominations for next week’s Alliance for Biking & Walking’s annual Advocacy Awards.
The nominations include:
LACBC for Advocacy Organization of the Year
LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler for Advocate of the Year
LACBC Planning & Policy Director Eric Bruins for Advocate of the Year
Santa Monica Spoke’s Cynthia Rose for the Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award
LACBC work on LA’s Mobility Plan 2035 for Winning Campaign of the Year
No other organization received more than two nominations. The winners will be announced at the National Bike Summit in Washington DC.
The victim was hit by a white pickup just before 10 p.m. near the intersection of West Whittier Blvd and South Eastern Ave; no other description of the suspect vehicle or the driver is available.
No word on the condition of the victim, who was taken to a nearby hospital.
UCLA’s Daily Bruin calls for a free shuttle along Westwood Blvd connecting the campus with the new Expo Line station, since bicycling is unlikely to be a safe option. That’s thanks to Councilmember Paul Koretz unreasonable and unconscionable blocking of a long-planned bike lane along the Blvd.
A bike rider just barely avoids being run down during a police chase that started in Boyle Heights and ended in a Pasadena HoneyBaked Ham store.
Streetsblog looks at Calbike’s legislative agenda for the coming session; one bill under consideration would require traffic lights to be timed to create a green wave, ensuring that riders traveling at 12 – 15 mph would see nothing but green lights.
The inevitable bikelash has begun. Shortly after San Diego announces plans to make the city core safer for cyclists and pedestrians, business leaders in the city’s Little Italy district say they’d rather have parking than bike-borne customers.
Candidates for mayor of Sacramento promise to make the city friendlier for bicyclists and pedestrians, while making it a vibrant place people can navigate without a car.
National
Good cyclists steer with their bodies, bad cyclists steer with their handlebars. And in other news, water is wet. No, really.
Two cyclists were killed, and two injured, after an allegedly drunk driverplowed into a group of ten riders while they were stopped at a red light in Tucson AZ; they were all waiting in the bike lane when they were struck. If you’ve ever wondered why some bike riders go through red lights, this is it; while I don’t condone it, many bicyclists believe they are safer going through a light than waiting patiently and risking something like this.
A bighearted New Mexico man searched for two weeks to find a homeless man whose bicycle was falling apart just to give him a new one. It’s people like that who make this world a better place.
A Boulder CO program uses adult-sized balance bikes to help teens and adults with disabilities gain confidence and discover what they’re capable of achieving.
Minnesota’s StarTribune offers a look at the innovations in the bike world on display at this year’s Frostbike, saying there’s great stuff, but nothing revolutionary.
A Massachusetts man is ruled a danger to society after deliberately mowing down a boy as he rode his bike on the sidewalk; the driver was allegedly enraged that the victim had talked trash about his sister.
International
Vancouver tripled bike rack installations last year, and is still scrambling to keep up with demand. That’s a great problem to have, evidence that the city’s recent completion of a protected bikeway network is boosting ridership.
A Canadian mountain bike trail was sabotaged with wooden stakes and a wire strung at neck height in an apparent attempt to injure, or possibly kill, bike riders. Let’s hope the charges reflect that when they find whoever is responsible.
Caught on video: It’s not always bike riders who are the scofflaws. A London cycling hits the pavement trying to avoid pedestrians crossing against the light.
More on that UK survey that shows the overwhelming majority of Brits support bikeways; nearly 80% support bike lanes if they don’t significantly affect their commute, while more than half said they’d still support bike lanes even if it made their commutes five minutes longer.
The head of Britain’s equivalent of the AAA gets it. He says bike lanes that start and stop are one of the worst things for both bike riders and drivers, lulling both into a false sense of security.
A bike rider has been killed in Montclair Friday night.
InlandNews reports Montclair police are investigating a fatal hit-and-run involving a bike, and shows a photo of a damaged bicycle lying in the street.
They add that the suspect vehicle is a dark blue truck.
No other details are available at this time. However, KNBC-4 has confirmed the death in a story that is not yet online.
This is the 21st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the third in San Bernardino County. That compares with eight in SoCal this time last year, and none in the county.
Update: The Daily Bulletin has identified the victim as 66-year old Montclair resident Dieu Van Nguyen.
According to the paper, Nguyen was struck by a pickup shortly before 6:30 pm on the 4600 block of Kingsley Street. Police responding to the scene found him laying on the sidewalk; he was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Authorities are looking for a full-sized, dark colored four-door pick-up with lights on the roof over the windshield. Anyone with information is urged to call the Montclair Police Department at 909/621-4771.
Update 2: Nguyen was on his way to visit a friend when he found fatally injured less than one mile from his home. The Vietnamese immigrant, who recently retired, leaves behind a wife, three children and two step-children.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Dieu Van Nguyen and his loved ones.
February 25, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Killer SD hit-and-run driver has a bad night; next Griffith Park access meeting on Wednesday
This is why so many people hate lawyers.
The attorney for a San Diego driver who fled the scene after driving though a bike lane, jumping the curb and hitting two young girls, leaving one brain dead, says she’s just a “really good person who obviously had a very bad night.”
Right.
The victims’ family had a worse one.
He goes on to give reasons that he says affected her ability to control her car, which may or may not be valid.
But the bottom line is, if you can’t operate a motor vehicle safely, for whatever reason, don’t get behind the damn wheel.
And nothing excuses running off like a coward, leaving a couple of little girls bleeding in the street.
Ever. Period.
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A couple quick events, complete with massive graphics.
The next meeting to discuss access plans for Griffith Park, which could include frequent, yet inadequate, shuttle service on previously closed Mt. Hollywood Drive is scheduled for next Wednesday night.
And CICLE is hosting a Bikes and Beats Community Bike Ride this Saturday.
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A 31-year old transient is suspected in the stabbing death of cyclist Sidney Siemensma on an Irvine bike path last month; the suspect, an acquaintance of the victim, was already in custody on kiddie porn charges.
The website is up for live streaming of American cyclist Evelyn Stevens’ attempt to break the women’s hour record, starting at 10:30 am this Saturday.
My money is on her to smash it.
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Local
Streetsblog looks at that crazy, unmarked detour around the LA River Bike Path, which has been closed to make way for the El Niño flood control barriers installed by the Army Corps of Engineers. And suggests it’s an opportunity to stripe bike lanes on a more direct route, if anyone at LADOT or the mayor’s office happens to be listening.
The LA County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help in finding the people who fatally shot a father of four last year as he rode his bike on a Compton sidewalk.
The San Gabriel Valley Tribune says Temple City missed an opportunity to remake Las Tunas Drive and revitalize the city’s downtown, ensuring the city’s main drag will “remain a big drag, a four-lane plus turn-lane place to drive while going somewhere more interesting.” Not to mention keeping it dangerous for anyone not encased in a ton of steel and glass.
Palm Springs is adding bike lanes to five streets and improved signage and street markings to 17 others in the next few months, after painting green lanes on another five streets since last September.
A new Boulder CO off-road cycling tour company promises to take you on mountain biking trails you’ve never heard of. Grammatically, that should be “of which you’ve never heard.” But screw that.
You’ve got to be kidding. A North Dakota driver gets a whopping six months — half of that to be served at home — and a lousy $1,000 fine for killing a cyclist because he was busy taking a selfie as he drove. Nice to see they take distracted driving seriously up there. And yes, that’s dripping with sarcasm. And contempt.
A New York writer makes the case for enforcing red light laws against reckless bicyclists who blast through red lights, while maybe looking the other way when riders roll through more placid intersections.
A British cyclist will attempt to ride up France’s famed Mont Ventoux by three separate routes, on a Brompton. So the question becomes, will he ride like the wind or fold like the bike?
February 23, 2016 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Prize winner’s new bike, Burbank considers bike/ped bridge, and Ventura tow truck driver ID’d
John sends a photo of his daughter on the custom bike that she won, noting that not only was she able to get the bike made to her specifications, but the store also assembled the bike, fit it to her and made all the adjustments.
It looks great. And I think we can all agree she looks good on it.
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CiclaValley reports the Burbank city council will meet tonight to consider a proposed bike and pedestrian bridge over the LA River to connect with a future bike path extension.
Considering the city’s recent decision to ban bikes from a long-shared pedestrian, equestrian and formerly, bike bridge, it can use all the support it can get, whether in person or by email; CiclaValley provides full details in the above link.
Beverly Hills begins testing its two-station pilot bikeshare system this week, in preparation for throwing bike riding tourists to the wolves in the historically bike unfriendly city.
Streetsblog’s Damien Newton talks murals and bicycle education in El Monte in the latest Damien Talks podcast.
Long Beach announces the entertainment and activities planned for Beach Streets Downtown, the city’s second ciclovía, scheduled for March 19th.
Next City reports San Diego plans to remake its city core with over nine miles of protected bike lanes and 5.5 miles of pedestrian greenways. Meanwhile, the city’s DecoBike bikeshare program is reportedly struggling after its first year, with only 88 of a projected 180 stations installed.
Ventura County will open a new campground for bike tourists in Foster Park, at the trailhead for the Ojai Valley Trail.
San Francisco installs a green bike lane next to the center line, rather than the curb, on one street to formalize the practice of cyclists passing cars on the left as they line up to make a right turn; the city also replaces a former freeway with a new condo complex that has no car parking, but offers bicycle parking for every resident.
National
An Arkansas cyclist needed 17 stiches after being attacked by a pit bull while training for a race; the dog’s owner insists he must have done something to provoke it. Like riding his bike, for instance.
A Chattanooga man is under arrest for allegedly pushing an eight-year old boy off his bike and climbing on top of him, then throwing his nine-year old brother off of his bike when he tried to intervene. Maybe we can lock him up with the Arkansas pit bull.
You know hit-and-run has become a major problem everywhere when an off-duty Massachusetts cop is accused of fleeing the scene after hitting a cyclist; his punishment so far amounts to a paid vacation while police investigate.
Orangetheory Fitness expands its orange-colored ghost bike-rip-off marketing campaign to British Columbia; the local manager claims no one would confuse them with actual ghost bikes, even though the issue has come up in virtually every city they’ve used it in.
London bicycle funding is scheduled to be cut in half at the same time the city encouraging more people to ride their bikes.
British bike writer and historian Carlton Reid takes a stroll through the comment section of a bikelash petition to block a London bike superhighway, including a signed comment by actor Tom Conti insisting that bicycles cause pollution.
Scottish transportation and environmental advocates join in calling on the country to spend less money on roads and more on biking and walking.
A UK parish councilor who flipped off a group of cyclists after running them off the road — leaving one rider hanging upside down in a tree — has resigned his position after being charged with careless driving. Never mind that his actions appeared to be intentional, and not the least bit careless.
Even in the blockaded Gaza Strip, Muslim women are defying conservative traditions and cultural disapproval by riding their bikes, noting that nothing in their religion prohibits it.
If you’re going to steal a bike, taking one honoring a fallen cop from the local police headquarters probably isn’t your best choice. What do porn and mountain bike racing have in common? More than you might think.