Tag Archive for Hollywood Blvd

America bikes for racial justice, cars become weapons against protesters, and H’wood k-rails protect mural not bike riders

June 22, 2020 / / Comments Off on America bikes for racial justice, cars become weapons against protesters, and H’wood k-rails protect mural not bike riders

Not everyone was marching for racial justice this past weekend.

Some were riding and rolling, as LA bike riders took part in a solidarity ride from Echo Park to Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday.

San Diego boarders and bicyclists rolled out over the weekend to protest racism and police violence.

Things didn’t always go peacefully, however, as someone in a plateless SUV drove through a Portland Black Liberation Ride, damaging at least one bicycle.

Dozens of people took the call for racial justice to the casinos on Las Vegas Blvd in a peaceful protest organized by a retired NBA player.

Rochester NY celebrated Juneteenth with a bicycle Freedom Ride, in memory of the Freedom Riders of the 1960s.

By far the biggest ride took place in New York, where an estimated 10,000 people came out on Saturday for a New York City ride to protest police brutality and champion Black Lives Matter.

Hundreds turned out to ride in support of Black Lives Matter in the former capital of the Confederacy in Richmond VA.

Photo by Life Matters from Pexels.

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Meanwhile, NPR says at least 50 drivers have intentionally rammed protesters, as right-wing extremists turn their cars into weapons.

Like this Michigan driver, who asserted her God-given right to the road, regardless of who might be in her way, by driving through a group of protesters, injuring two people and driving over a 71-year old man’s bicycle.

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Let’s just leave this one right here for now.

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Heartbreaking news, as former F-1 and CART champ Alex Zanardi is in a medically induced coma after he was severely injured during a handcycle race in Italy.

Doctors report he is in grave neurological condition, unsure if he will suffer mental impairment.

Zanardi became a champion Paralympic cyclist after losing both his legs in a horrific CART racing crash in 2001, winning gold and silver medals in the London and Rio games.

I got in trouble with someone on Twitter over the weekend after mistakenly saying Zanardi lost his legs in a Formula 1 crash, rather that in CART, trusting nearly 20-year old memories rather than pausing to look it up.

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This is who we share the roads with.

A Corona driver rear-ended a motorcyclist. Then kept driving with the motorbike stuck under his minivan.

Fortunately, the victim was not seriously hurt, and the driver has been arrested.

If there’s any justice, this will be the last time he ever drives.

Thanks to John Damman and Victor Bale for the heads-up.

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The president of Oakland’s city council is belatedly noticing that the local police are targeting kids on scraper bikes.

I’m not sure who sent this one, but thank you, whoever you are!

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BBC presenter Jeremy Vine discovers that we turn invisible on a bicycle.

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Speaking of who we share the roads with, it’s one thing to pull out in front of someone on a bicycle.

But it takes a special skill to pull out in front of a steaming locomotive.

https://twitter.com/Ogilvie_CJ/status/1274602928502956037

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The Urban Cycling Institute goes in-depth to examine the great French street reclamation, as Paris and Nice respond to the pandemic by stepping up plans to reimagine what our streets can be.

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Pink Bike says it’s time to get to know Japanese stunt rider Tomomi Nishikubo.

Meanwhile, don’t watch this downhill chase full screen on an empty stomach.

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

Last week we shared news of a horrible attack on a Florida bike rider, who was shot in the head with a crossbow by a passing driver for no apparent reason — although it’s worth noting that the driver was white, and the victim is Black. A crowdfunding page has raised nearly $64,000 of the $75,000 goal. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

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

A Santa Rosa nurse says she was punched in the face by a man on a bike, after she was accused of driving recklessly through a group of protesters who shattered her windshield with a skateboard and a bicycle. Seriously, don’t do that. Take video, take photos and take down the license. But don’t resort to violence. And don’t abuse your bike. 

Police in Chicago are looking for a bike-riding groper who assaulted a woman walking her dog on the city’s Lakefront Trail.

A man suffered a concussion when he was pushed off his bicycle by an aggressive bicyclist on an Indiana trail; witnesses say the attacker was swearing profusely before he intentionally elbowed the victim.

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Local

Free your schedule for tomorrow evening, when the LA Department of Engineering will host a virtual town hall to discuss plans for the LA Riverway through the San Fernando Valley, between Lankershim and Whitsett.

 

State

As we’ve noted before, it takes a major schmuck to repeatedly burglarize a San Jose bike co-op that’s given away over 3,500 bicycles to homeless people.

San Francisco will keep a pilot protected bike lane on a section of Valencia Street, after the temporary lane proved successful.

The Redding bike rider killed in a solo crash earlier this month is described as someone who “did good deeds for everyone;” he was killed when he his head on a curb while riding without a helmet. Crashes like this are exactly what bike helmets were designed for; they were never intended to protect against motor vehicles.

More bad news from Chico, where a man was killed riding his bike in a collision with an apparently driverless car; the victim was blamed for riding through a stop sign. Thanks to John McBrearty for the link.

 

National

It was nice while it lasted. Auto traffic in the US has rebounded to 90% of pre-pandemic levels. Which means time is rapidly running out to take streets back from the big, dangerous machines. Thanks to Aurelio Jose Barrera for the second link.

The new lighted smart helmet from Lumos debuted on Kickstarter over the weekend, taking just four minutes to meet the $60,000 goal — then surpassed it by roughly 2500%. Thanks to Tim Rutt for the tip.

The Daily Beast offers advice on how to plan a long-distance bike ride in the age of Covid-19.

The New York Times offers tips on how to store a big bicycle in a small apartment.

The Today Show considers why bicycling has soared in popularity during the pandemic. Maybe because it’s good for you, with built-in social distancing, and safer when there are fewer cars on the streets. And it’s fun.

Kindhearted members of an Arizona riding club replaced a young girl’s stolen bicycle, and tossed in a lock and a gift certificate for a new helmet.

Speaking of kindhearted strangers, a trail riding group bought a new bicycle for a seven-year old Fort Worth, Texas girl after hers broke. And gave it to her just in time for her Marine father to come home on Father’s Day.

A Michigan man is riding 100 miles a week, with a goal of 1,000 miles by Labor Day, to raise $10,000 for Black Lives Matter.

Even though they’re thousands of miles apart, a father and son spent the weekend riding together in a virtual ride across Maine.

A Brooklyn woman completed a three-year project to ride every block in the New York borough, covering over 4,400 miles.

You already have the Greater Allegheny Passage-C&O Towpath bicycle trail leading 350 miles from Pittsburgh to DC on your bike bucket list, right?

You can now legally ride an ebike anywhere a bicycle is allowed in Florida, as the state rushes to catch up to the 21st Century.

A laid-off Disney World performer has ridden his bike over three thousand miles since the pandemic began in an effort to spread smiles around the area.

 

International

Great story from Brazil, where a man built an adaptive tricycle by hand for his granddaughter with cerebral palsy.

Toronto residents are taking advantage of good weather and a partially closed boulevard along the lakefront to get out on their bikes.

A local website suggests eight Montreal bike paths with incredible views for your next trip to the bicycling city.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a British priest’s bicycle.

Bikes are really booming in Great Britain, where 5% of consumers have bought a bicycle since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis. Although some of those are probably healthcare workers replacing their stolen bikes.

Kate Moss is one of us, as she goes for a leisurely bike ride in the UK’s Cotswolds.

Nice. A new cross-border bike path will connect the Slovak and Czech cities of Trencin and Brumov-Bylnice.

Greek bicyclists stripped down and hopped on their bikes for this year’s edition of the World Naked Bike Ride, which has been cancelled virtually everywhere else due to the coronavirus.

Residents of Dhaka, Bangladesh, explain why they’re taking to their bicycles during the city’s coronavirus lockdown.

Talk about not getting it. The mayor of Manilla says he’s opposed to bike lanes in the city, because the streets are too dangerous to try to make them safer for bike riders.

Pedestrian advocates call for banning bike riders from shared pathways in Queensland, Australia, after a 93-year man was killed in a head-on collision with a man on a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

Call it a fixed false alarm. Aussie cyclist Lachlan Morton didn’t set a new record for Everesting after all las week. Then he did, shaving ten minutes off the existing record.

The founder of the Dirty Kanza gravel race has been fired after a social media post calling the Atlanta shooting of Rayshard Brooks justified. However, the name of the race is also problematic; Kanza is another name for the Kaw Nation and its people, which means Dirty Kanza could be read as “dirty Indian.”

A French website says there’s nothing to suggest the rescheduled Tour de France won’t start as planned this August. I wouldn’t hold your breath, though.

 

Finally…

Your next bicycle could read your mind. Your next car could be a single seat backward e-tricycle.

And when you’re carrying heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and crystal meth on your bike, with an outstanding arrest warrant, put a damn horn on it, already.

On the other hand, how the hell could a passing cop even tell if you had one? Never mind what a stupid law that is.

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Thanks to David E. for his generous donation to support this site, and keep SoCal’s best bike news coming your way every day.

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

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

Proposal for bike-friendly Hollywood Blvd, where to ban cars from LA streets, and a bigger Bird hits Los Angeles

January 31, 2020 / / Comments Off on Proposal for bike-friendly Hollywood Blvd, where to ban cars from LA streets, and a bigger Bird hits Los Angeles

CD13 City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell unveiled proposals for a much-needed head-to-toe makeover of Hollywood Blvd.

The plans calls for reducing or eliminating parking, widening and fixing the already wide sidewalks, and installing bike lanes on either side.

However, the plans don’t call for protected bike lanes, or closing the boulevard entirely to create a pedestrian plaza at Hollywood and Highland.

If approved — and it still has a long damn way to go — they could create the first east-west bike lanes in Hollywood.

And no, sharrows don’t count.

They could also improve safety for the tens of thousands of tourists who visit the street every day, while improving livability for the rapidly growing residential population in Hollywood.

O’Farrell reports that $4 million in funding has already been secured for the project, which could go a long way towards making it a reality.

Rendering by Gensler.

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As we’ve discussed for the past few weeks, cars are now officially banned San Francisco’s formerly busy Market Street.

The LA Times throws down the gauntlet, saying if the Bay Area city can close one of its largest and most iconic streets to motor vehicles, Los Angeles can do it, too.

Streetsblog then picks it up, suggesting ten LA-area streets from Pasadena to Santa Monica that could use a similar treatment — including the afore mentioned Hollywood Blvd; we mentioned Curbed’s seven suggestions earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Car and Driver wants to know how far this carfree streets thing is going to spread, and Fast Company lists 11 additional cities where it already has.

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Call it Big Bird.

C|net reports that Bird is introducing a heavier, more durable and hopefully, more vandalism resistant e-scooter they’ve dubbed Bird Two.

The vehicle comes with “autonomous damage sensors” that are designed to detect potentially dangerous maintenance issues. It has puncture-resistant tires, an anti-tipping kickstand and “enterprise level anti-theft encryption.” And its design minimizes exposed cables and screws.

“The absence of excessive exposed screws helps create a sleeker design while also reducing injuries and vandalism,” the company said in a statement. Bird said this feature will also help with safety (which makes sense considering some scooter haters like to cut brake cables).

The site says the company is introducing the scooters in San Francisco, then eventually rolling them out to other cities.

Evidently, they forget to tell that to their LA-area staff.

I spotted this one while walking the foster corgi in Hollywood; other Twitter users reported seeing them along the Figueroa corridor.

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

Long Island police are looking for a bike-riding man who stole $3,000 from an unlocked car. Then again, what kind of idiot leaves three grand in his car, and doesn’t bother to lock it?

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Local

A Larchmont newspaper profiles all four candidates in the CD4 race — incumbent David Ryu and challengers Sarah Kate Levy and Nithya Raman, as well as write-in candidate Susan Collins; both Levy and Raman have been endorsed by Bike the Vote LA. And speaking of Levy, she’s asking transit and mobility fans to canvas for her this weekend.

Santa Monica could cut the number of dockless bike and e-scooter providers in the city by half under new rules approved by the city council.

 

State

Eroica California returns to Cambria this April, now with rides for modern and classic bikes on different days.

Tragic news from Galt, 27 miles south of Sacramento, where a 34-year old man riding a bike was killed in a collision with a motorist.

A Sebastopol writer talks with a zero-waste, locavore, electric vélomobile owner.

Plans for a median-protected bike lane move forward in Modesto, despite the inevitable complaints from local businesses that it would take space away from cars.

 

National

Streetsblog says the national transportation policy proposed by the Democrats in Congress has a lot to offer, even if it has little chance of becoming law.

A writer for Mashable tries out a $4,000 ebike for a year, and is surprised to learn it’s heavy, and can replace a car, but only in good weather. Never mind that lots of people ride ebikes and regular bikes year ’round, in all kinds of weather.

Ebike prices continue to drop, like this barely sub-$1,000 bike from Propella. And no, I’ve never heard of the brand, either.

A new active transportation advocacy group intends to make Spokane WA friendlier for people on bikes and on foot.

Once again demonstrating that the Bureau of Land Management has no respect for the land they’re supposed to manage, the BLM has put two parcels up for oil and gas drilling near Moab, Utah, even though it could result in irreversible damage to the famed Slickrock mountain bike trail.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is really cheap in Wisconsin, where a hit-and-run driver got a lousy three months behind bars for the drunken crash that injured a bike rider; he hit the victim as he was driving to another bar, and blew over twice the legal limit when he was arrested.

Tragic news from Brooklyn, where a bike rider was killed in a collision with the driver of a flatbed truck, becoming the first bicyclist killed in New York this year after the city suffered a nearly three times increase in bicycling deaths last year. As usual, the driver wasn’t ticketed or detained, despite being caught on video making an illegal U-turn. Warning — that last link clearly shows the victim getting hit, so be sure you really want to see that before clicking it. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up. 

A North Carolina mother is under arrest after her four-year old son was found riding his tricycle naked at 12:30 am, in front of a bar, in 40° weather.

Nice gesture from a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe, which is hosting a block party to call for bike and pedestrian safety at the site of the drunken crash that killed two bike riders and injured several others during last year’s Mardi Gras celebrations.

 

International

A young man from Matamoros, Mexico just graduated from a college in Brownsville, Texas, thanks in part thanks to the $40 flea market bicycle he rode across the border every day.

A London woman describes how she went a full year using only her feet or bicycle for transportation.

The mayor of Paris says if she’s re-elected, every street in the city will by bicycle-friendly by 2024.

SUVs should be banned from urban areas, according to a Brussels-based safety think tank, which called for urgent action to protect bike riders and pedestrians.

A Belgian ex-cyclist-turned-journalist makes, then deletes, then apologizes for a sexist joke about how little an Argentine reporter was wearing; apology not accepted, evidently, after she responded by calling him a brontosaurus.

Vienna is offering free admission to museums and concerts to people who leave their cars at home in an effort to cut traffic and pollution.

VeloNews goes to Germany to jerk their chains. And otherwise test 13 of the most popular bike chains.

A South African radio station says it could be the death of motoring, as Millennials and Gen Zers are falling out of love with cars.

It better be a damn big reward. Indonesian authorities want a volunteer to take a motorcycle tire from around a 13-foot crocodile’s neck.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Colorado man looks back on a half-century as a cyclocross racer, starting long before most American cycling fans ever heard of the sport.

Still more sad news, as British cyclist Josephine Gilbert was killed last week when she was struck by a truck driver while riding in the UK; the 25-year old rider was called an inspiration by her teammates. She becomes just the latest in a long line of professional and amateur racers killed or seriously injured by drivers in recent years.

 

Finally…

It may be broken English, but “Abandoning boy to death” drives the point home better than the more pedestrian “hit-and-run.” If you want to keep passing as a blind beggar, leave the SUV at home.

And this is who we share the roads with. And yes, it’s pretty much the definition of an entitled driver.

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

Morning Links: Blocking motorized terrorist attacks, forcing drivers to bike, and sickening accusations from France

October 18, 2018 / / Comments Off on Morning Links: Blocking motorized terrorist attacks, forcing drivers to bike, and sickening accusations from France

We’re not doing enough to fight terrorist attacks.

And much of what we’re doing is wrong.

That’s according to a paper prepared for a New York Vision Zero conference, which says cities have failed to respond to the threat of vehicular terrorist attacks in effective ways to protect the most vulnerable road users.

Cities have so far responded to this new threat in an ad-hoc manner. Many have begun to erect physical barriers between the walkers who define their urban spaces and the multi-ton vehicles whose drivers pose a growing threat.

But while some physical barriers are necessary, government officials need to create and adhere to core principles in protecting their residents, workers, and visitors. Anti-terror infrastructure should ease walking, biking, and public transit use, not impede it. The age of terror by car and truck is an additional challenge for urban planners who still haven’t quite answered a pre-existing question: In dense, historic historic cities with finite space, who gets access to the streets?

I’ve often argued that Los Angeles has failed to do anything to protect the tens of thousands of tourists who visit Hollywood Blvd every day, especially in the area around Hollywood & Highland and the Chinese Theater.

A situation that could be resolved almost overnight by installing a barrier-protected bike lane on Hollywood Blvd, along with a pedestrian plaza at Hollywood & Highland.

That would meet the goals spelled out in the paper by improving access for people on bikes and on foot, giving the streets back to the people while hardening them against terrorist actions.

Let’s hope someone finally listens before it’s too late.

Photo shows a typical summer crowd in front of Hollywood & Highland. And needlessly vulnerable to a vehicular terrorist attack due to the inaction of our elected leaders.

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A Prop 6 supporter says you need to vote to repeal California’s recent gas tax increase so she won’t be forced to ride a bike in her heels.

No, really.

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Just sickening.

Marc Sutton, the Welsh restauranteur who was shot and killed by a French hunter while mountain biking last Saturday, was a monster and a rapist.

That’s according to his own mother, who says she’s glad he’s dead.

He served six months behind bars for assaulting a former girlfriend, shattering her cheekbone and damaging her eye socket, while another woman claimed he had raped and beaten her around 100 times.

He is also accused of raping and physically abusing his own sister when she was a child.

His mother charged that Sutton fled to France after she and an alleged victim confronted him.

She told The Sun: “When I heard he had been killed I felt utter relief, it was a massive burden off my back. I was just relieved he couldn’t hurt us or anyone again.

“‘He deserved to be shot like an animal — he was the biggest animal there was.”

A former girlfriend said she had “cried with relief” at this death.

 

His father denies the charges, as does his last girlfriend, a partner in his restaurant, who called the allegations wicked lies.

She added: “His friends know the real Marc. The Marc I knew and loved was a kind, happy, loving man who would do anything for anyone.”

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Local

Three California cities lead the list of the crappiest roads in the US; surprisingly, Los Angeles only ranks third, behind San Francisco and San Jose. Which is just one more reason why Bicycling rated LA as America’s worst bike city. And one more reason to vote no on Prop 6.

Don’t forget the WeHo Bicycle Coalition is hosting a free panel discussion tonight with BikinginLA title sponsor Jim Pocrass, along with representatives of the sheriff’s department, CHP and the City of West Hollywood.

Santa Monica celebrates a Halloween-themed Kidical Mass on the 27th.

 

State

A new SafeTREC website urges California bicyclists and pedestrians to map out where you experience collisions, near misses and safety hazards, as well as where you feel safe traveling by foot, bicycle or scooter.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The Redlands hit-and-run victim we mentioned yesterday was a popular crossing guard credited with touching countless lives; rather than an e-scooter user, as we initially reported, he was actually a longtime moped rider.

Goleta unanimously approves a new bicycle and pedestrian master plan intended to increase the town’s 4% mode share for both bikes and pedestrians.

Sounds like fun. Bakersfield bike riders will enjoy a Halloween full moon ride next Tuesday. That’s almost worth making the long drive through the fog. Almost.

 

National

Cycling Tips talks with a Boulder CO man who refurbishes — and yes, rides — vintage mountain bikes.

An Idaho website calls for a speed limit on ebikes and scooters on the city’s bike path — and charging a license fee for all bikes and scooters to pay for enforcement.

A Dallas writer complains that the former bike-riding editor of the city’s alt weekly now seems to hate bikes, saying that Dallas will never become a city of bicycle commuters.

An Albany NY writer says after a year, he’s still using his bike as his primary means of transportation, although the quality of the road makes a big difference.

Curbed says bicycles are a small, but vital part of New York’s plans to cope with transportation after a subway line is shut down for over a year of maintenance work.

A bike rider says he loves DC, but sometimes, riding in the town sucks. Something most of us can probably relate to, wherever we ride.

No, those all white bikes decorated with bats and jack-o-lanterns and skeletons in a DC suburb aren’t ghost bikes. At least, not that kind.

 

International

Apparently NIMBYs aren’t just an American phenomenon. Calgary residents fought what ended up being a highly popular bike and pedestrian bridge by claiming that if they wanted beauty, they’d travel to Paris. That attitude could explain why Angelenos love to visit walkable cities overseas, but fight them in their own neighborhoods.

No bias here. A British county councilor says bicyclists are dangerous and selfish, and it’s only a matter of time before someone gets killed, as he announces plans to ban bikes from pedestrian areas; he also called delivery riders idiots.

Britain will now add instructions on the Dutch Reach to the country’s driving handbook.

A Dutch website looks at how the country’s status as the world’s leading bicycle nation impacts society.

Ride a thousand miles along the former Iron Curtain from Berlin to Budapest for the low, low price of “just” $8,318.

Bicycling is booming in the capital of Latvia, as riders complain the city hasn’t kept up with the safe infrastructure they were promised. Sounds familiar.

A Palestinian woman says the best way to explore Palestine is by bike, as she works to promote bicycling among women, and change age-old perceptions that they can’t ride bikes.

Jerusalem plans to triple the amount of bike lanes in the city in just five years. Which sounds impressive until you realize they only have 26 miles of bike lanes right now.

Tired of waiting for officials to take action, South African bike riders painted warnings on the streets to alert riders to broken pavement caused by tree roots.

A British teenager may have to give up on an attempt to become the youngest person to bike around the world following the theft of his bike and gear in Australia, after traveling 18,000 miles through 17 countries.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews talks with Coors Classic mastermind Michael Aisner about how the race shaped the future of bike racing in the US. I was lucky enough to watch the amazing Coors Classic, and its predecessor the Red Zinger Classic, while growing up in Colorado.

Austrian pro Bernhard Eisel says he decided to retire three times as he recovered from surgery for a serious brain injury, before finally deciding to come back again next year.

Cycling Tips talks with the manager of Britain’s longest-running UCI cycling team, who calls it heartbreaking that the Continental level JLT-Condor team is closing down at the end of the year.

 

Finally…

Win the Nobel Prize, get your own bike rack. If you see proof of aliens on the moon, keep it to yourself — or don’t ride a bike years later.

And this is who we share the protected bike lane with.

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I confess, I’ve been pretty out of it this week. So let me thank John L for his generous contribution to support this site. And apologize for not doing it sooner. 

If you’d like to help keep BikinginLA coming your way every day, you can donate through PayPal or by using the Zelle app on your phone. 

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

Bike rider killed in Hollywood collision

May 14, 2015 / / 13 comments

This is not the news anyone wants for Bike Week.

Or any other time for that matter.

Reports started coming in yesterday evening that a bike rider had been killed at the intersection of Hollywood Blvd and Hobart Blvd in Los Angeles.

Unfortunately, it took until this afternoon to get official confirmation.

According to the police report, the victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding north in the west crosswalk on Hobart at approximately 3:07 pm Wednesday when he was struck by a car headed west on Hollywood.

The impact apparently knocked him into a parked car on the north curb, before falling back into the street. He died at the scene.

LAist reports that the crosswalk has a blinking yellow light to warn drivers that someone is crossing. However, it’s unclear if it was working at the time, or if the rider had activated it.

They also quote a comment from a Reddit thread indicating that the driver was taking an 84-year old grandmother to the hospital; however, while there are several hospitals nearby, they are all in the opposite direction from which the car was headed.

It’s unclear from the description who might have been at fault.

It’s legal to ride on the sidewalk in Los Angeles, which means it is also legal to ride in the crosswalk.

However, the LAPD interprets the law as requiring cyclists to ride in the direction of traffic when they enter a crosswalk. In this case, that would have required the victim to cross on the east side of Hobart, but the only crosswalk is on the west side.

On the other hand, unless the victim was traveling at a high rate of speed, the driver should have had time to see him and react before he reached the opposite side of the road.

If there’s a lesson to learn from this, it’s that you should never count on drivers seeing you and stopping in time, in a crosswalk or anywhere else; always wait until they actually stop before trying to cross in front of them.

This is the 19th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fifth in the City of Los Angeles.

That compares with 41 in the seven county SoCal region this time last year, and 17 in the county. However, it’s one more than in the City of LA on this date in 2014.

Update: The victim’s granddaughter has identified him as Thomas Galvan Munoz, a resident of the area for 30 years who rode his bike through the streets of LA every day. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Thomas Galvan Munoz and his loved ones.

Thanks to Michael MacDonald for the heads-up.

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

Afternoon Links: Kicking cars off H’wood Blvd, silly season for bike laws, and MyFig now a year behind schedule

February 18, 2015 / / 2 comments

Why think small?

Curbed asks what if Hollywood Boulevard was closed to cars all the time, or at least on weekends, rather than just for the Oscars?

But instead of just closing LA’s biggest tourist attraction to cars in front of the massively crowded Hollywood and Highland/Chinese Theatre area, why not close it down for the full length of the Walk of Fame?

It’s already scheduled for a road diet and bike lanes, which would improve safety and increase walkability for the many millions of tourists who stroll the street every year.

Turning it into a pedestrian mall with bike lanes and a trolley or shuttle buses would make it even more attractive to visitors, while increasing property values and giving a huge boost to businesses along the way. Including the dilapidated and increasingly vacant blocks west of Cahuenga.

Virtually all of the businesses on Hollywood rely on foot traffic, rather than customers arriving by cars. And the few that do can be easily serviced by the many cross streets along the way.

So why not cater to them, while eliminating the risk of pedestrians and bicyclist being hit by cars on the street once and for all?

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Speaking of the Oscars, no surprise here. Bike rider and environmental advocate Ed Begley Jr. is the first to say he plans to #biketheOscars this Sunday.

Although Megan Lynch and I are still the only ones to use that hashtag.

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Clearly, it’s the silly season for state legislatures, as bike laws good and bad come up for consideration.

KPCC’s AirTalk program discusses the proposed law that would require all California bike riders to wear a helmet, as well as requiring reflective hi-viz clothing after dark, while the Bay Area’s KQED holds a similar discussion. And the San Francisco Chronicle says the proposed law is intriguing, but needs work.

Another proposed CA law would require bike riders to have a flashing red tail light after dark; an earlier version of the bill, which called for a flashing white light, is put off as a typo. Note to reporters: Riding a bike in California is not particularly dangerous; while bad things can happen — just as they do with any other form of transportation — the primary reason the state leads the nation in bicycling deaths is because it also leads the nation in population, and possibly in bike riders.

A proposed Virginia law would prohibit highway funds from being used for transit projects, bike lanes or pedestrian trails, ensuring automotive hegemony for years to come.

Then again, it could be worse. Taking bike hate to the next level, a Hawaii lawmaker proposes prohibiting a driver’s insurance company from having to pay for injuries to a bike rider.

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Turns out the most sprawling city in the country isn’t.

Which means it should now be easier to ride from the West Valley to the Eastside, right?

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South Figueroa gets new lighting, and an extension.

The MyFig project, which had been scheduled to be finished this December, now won’t even begin until next January and be done by the end of 2016.

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Local

LA’s Downtown News becomes the latest to endorse CD14 councilmember Jose Huizar for re-election, raising the question WTF is up with the LA Times? Meanwhile, the very active CiclaValley covers the latest forum to replace Tom LaBonge in CD4.

KNBC-4 looks at the planned anti-hit-and-run billboard from Finish the Ride.

Now there’s a real bargain, as West LA’s Bikerowave co-op now offers unlimited wrench time for just $100 a year, and $80 for students.

CicLAvia hosts a community meeting in NoHo tonight to discuss next month’s Valley CicLAvia.

Santa Monica police will conduct another bike safety operation on Friday; as always, watch how you ride because they’ll be writing up law breaking riders, as well as drivers.

Malibu wil hold a public meeting to discuss safety on PCH tomorrow.

No surprise that bike-friendly Long Beach ranks as the nation’s 33rd most physically active city; more surprising that auto-centric LA checked in just three spots later.

 

State

A Washington Post article suggests California should take the lead in requiring carmakers to install collision avoidance systems to protect bike riders and pedestrians.

A Corona boy is back on his bike 18 months after he was mauled by two dogs while riding.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 92-year old Palm Desert man rides his bike 20 miles nearly every morning and is about to the inducted into the Triathlon Hall of Fame; thanks to sponsor Michael Rubenstein for the heads-up.

 

National

A new study shows even moderate exercise — like riding a bike, for instance — can help middle-aged women protect their hearts. Although anyone who calls a woman middle-aged may need to protect more than their heart.

An Oregon driver gets two years in prison and an eight year ban on driving for fleeing the scene after killing a cyclist while texting.

The man in charge of reinventing London bicycling visits Portland; we could use his help down here.

Seattle’s Vision Zero plan calls for reducing speed limits on certain streets to 25 mph in an effort to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030.

A Colorado lawyer says yes, the legal system is broken when it comes to bike riders, but sometimes we’re part of the problem, as well as the solution.

Caught on video: A 92-year old Wisconsin driver smashes into nine — count ‘em, nine — cars in a parking lot. Yet doesn’t get a single ticket.

 

International

AARP writes about the benefits of Open Streets, yet somehow fails to mention the largest and most successful Open Streets event in the US. Or any US event, for that matter.

The unsung star of British track cycling is now a British banker.

Ireland-based Lovely Bicycle looks at what’s normal wear and tear on your bike.

 

Finally…

In today’s edition of the trials and tribulations of our favorite ex-Tour de France winner, Lance pleads guilty to careless driving in Aspen, but gets away with the attempted cover up and possibly a DUI. A new study concludes bike riding may or may not contribute to erectile dysfunction; no, that helps, really.

And this is how you pimp a police bike.

 

Category: Bikes & the Law, Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , ,

BOLO Alert: White 2009 LeMond Reno stolen off Metro 222 bus in Hollywood

November 14, 2013 / / 11 comments

Just got word that a bike was stolen off a Metro bus on Hollywood Boulevard Wednesday night.

Stolen Lam LeMond

I’ll let the bike’s owner, popular LA cyclist Johnny Lam, describe what happened.

It was stolen off the 222 Metro bus line heading Eastbound on Hollywood Blvd at 8:40PM.  The theif lifted it off at the bus stop on Ivar Ave and Hollywood Blvd and rode southbound on Ivar Ave.  By the time I saw it happen, I could only see that he was wearing a backwards baseball cap and was pedaling away with my bike around the corner.  The bus driver was honking and people on the bus was yelling, “the bike”.

It was a 2009 Lemond Reno 51cm.  They can email me at johnny.m.lam@gmail.com or contact Detective Savedra at (323) 563-5000 at the LA Sheriffs referencing case #913-06822-6874-386.

Keep your eyes open, especially if you see a similar bike listed on Craigslist or some other online forum, or see a bike on the street that matches the description.

Let’s get this one back.

And catch the son of a bitch who stole it while we’re at it.

Category: Stolen Bikes and Bike Crime / Tags: , , ,
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