Just 53 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
………
Shockingly, California was rated as the second-safest state to ride a bike in, behind only Massachusetts.
That’s despite having the country’s second-highest number of bicycling deaths, after Florida. But as Sports Illustrated notes, we also have the nation’s largest population, and the most drivers.
However, the picture is more complicated for the 217 bus line on La Cienega Ave, and Hollywood and Los Feliz Blvds, where the quick-build Hollywood Blvd bike lane amounts to just two miles of the expanded 15.5-mile route.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
Police in Ann Arbor, Michigan are investigating a driver who allegedly responded to getting yelled at for nearly hitting a bicyclist by pointing a gun at the bike rider and threatening him, but they insist it was just an isolated incident and there’s no threat to the public. Although someone who threatens random people with a gun over minor traffic incidents seems like kind of a big public threat to me. But what the hell do I know?
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Columbian extreme cyclist and bicycling influencer was killed, along with a 13-year old girl riding on the back of his bike, when he crashed his brakeless gravity bike head-on into motorcyclist while trying to pass a car on the wrong side of the roadway. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
………
Local
The annual cleanup of Ballona Creek, home to the popular Ballona Creek bike path, will take place tomorrow(scroll down).
Shockingly, the British woman sentenced to over six years for the drug-fueled hit-and-run death of a bike riding man was five times over the legal limit for cocaine. No, what’s shocking is that Britain even has a legal limit for coke.
Just 56 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
………
If you haven’t already, get out and vote today; Streetsblog offers a list of election resources to help out.
And regardless of what some random guy on the internet told you, if your ballot isn’t at least postmarked by today, it won’t count. At least here in California; in other states, your mileage may vary.
Then get out on your bike, or take a walk, or bury yourself in your work until the polls close to distract yourself and preserve your sanity today.
Which sounds reasonable, but will inevitably fail.
It takes time for drivers to adjust to any road change, let alone a major redesign involving the removal of parking spaces and a traffic lane on each side.
A pilot program of at least six months to a year could offer proof that the change will not result in the traffic and residential chaos opponents fear.
But anything less would just invite drivers to make temporary adjustments until the pilot project gets removed. Or just ignore it and embrace the chaos to force the hand of city planners.
The New York Times examines the great feud over San Francisco’s Great Highway, as residents vote today on whether to permanently close the coastal roadway, and turn it into a linear bike and pedestrian park.
A New Zealand website says yes, you can travel without harming the environment, including on your bicycle. Just don’t leave your old tubes, CO2 cartridges or spent gel packs on the side of the road.
And not many people are aware that the ancient forebears of the modern bicycle lived in what is now Los Angeles during the Ice Age, as memorialized by these sculptures at the La Brea Tar Pits.
What.
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
April 30, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on New automatic braking regs protect peds, Bike Month just a day away, and SaMo and Pasadena honored for best bike lanes
Just 245 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
On top of everything else, I’ll be having a small skin cancer today, no doubt a souvenir of decades of riding a bike when they still thought the sun was good for you, and and any lotion you might use was meant for tanning, not screening out dangerous rays.
So the status of tomorrow’s post is to be determined at this point. Not because of the minor surgery, but whether I’ll survive riding the bus with an effed up shoulder and ribs.
Hopefully I’ll bounce back and see you in the morning; if not, we’ll be back bright and early on Thursday.
………
There may be hope yet. Eventually, anyway.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, aka NHTSA, unveiled the final draft of a new regulation to improve traffic safety, requiring every new motor vehicle sold in the US to have forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking and pedestrian detection braking.
According to the AP,
The standards require vehicles to stop and avoid hitting a vehicle in front of them at speeds up to 62 miles per hour (100 kilometers per hour). Also they must apply the brakes automatically at up to 90 mph (145 kph) if a collision with vehicle ahead is imminent.
The systems also have to spot pedestrians during the day and night, and must stop and avoid a pedestrian at 31 mph to 40 mph (50 kph to 64 kph) depending on the pedestrian’s location and movement.
Presumably, any system than can detect pedestrians should be able to protect people on bicycles, although that’s not guaranteed.
Or even required.
Yet another reminder that we remain an afterthought when it comes to safety.
However, the new regulations won’t take effect for another five years. And it will take decades before most older cars with more limited capabilities are off the roads.
It’s predicted the new regs will save just 362 lives each year, less than 1% of the more than 40,000 people killed annually on American roads.
But it’s a start.
………
Metro offers a guide to next month’s Bike Month, including Metro Bike discounts for Bike Week, starting May 13th, and free Metro rides for Bike Day on Thursday the 16th. Although what’s missing is any mention of Bike Day activities, or the pre-pandemic Bike to Work pit stops to encourage more people to try bike commuting.
Beverly Hills will mark Bike Month with a series of events, ranging from a month-long commuter challenge and a “May the 4th Be With You” family bike ride to the kind of Bike to Work Day pit stop Metro appears to have forgotten.
Pasadena will also celebrate Bike Month, starting with National Ride a Bike Day this Sunday, the annual Rose Bowl Ride of Silence on Wednesday the 15th, and refreshments at City Hall for Bike to Work Day.
Meanwhile, LAist offers a guide to living carfree in the City of Angels, including how to use your bike for transportation; you can listen to their podcast from last year on the same subject below.
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. Sheriff’s deputies in San Marcos will conduct an “ebike safety sweep” on Wednesday afternoon to educate riders on ebike safety, while ticketing any violations committed by ebike riders — including a requirement to ride to the right, which only applies if you’re traveling at less than the speed of traffic. If you do get a ticket, fight it, because an operation specifically targeting ebike riders rather than all road users suggests illegally biased enforcement.
No bias here, either. A writer for Strong Townssays Florida Governor Ron DeSantis isn’t wrong when he says “some activists want to make driving so miserable that people have to abandon their cars,” accusing a “significant percentage of safe streets activists” of being motivated by a hatred of cars and the people who drive them. Never mind that a “significant percentage” of safe streets activists are drivers themselves.
Eureka explains to drivers how to operate their big, deadly machines after a pair of new bikeways currently nearing completion are finished. Because evidently, that whole “licensing and registration” thing they keep insisting should be required for bicyclists isn’t enough to guarantee the people who pass them actually know how to drive already.
That’s more like it. An Arizona man will spend at least 12 years of a 14-year sentence behind bars, after pleading guilty to negligent homicide and hit-and-run charges for fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider; he was already wanted on outstanding state and federal warrants at the time of the crash. Which at least explains why he fled.
Autopsy results show a Colorado mom, whose body was found three years after she disappeared on a Mother’s Day bike ride, was murdered “by unspecified means,” and had been injected with an animal tranquilizer used to immobilize wildlife before her death; her husband was initially charged with her murder, but charges were dropped because authorities hadn’t yet found her body.
Israeli Occupation War Cabinet minister, and former opposition candidate Benny Gantz is one of us, too, breaking his foot while riding a bike in Southern Israel. But at least he has the freedom to ride a bike, unlike most people in Gaza these days.
Competitive Cycling
Sofia Gomez Villafañe and teammate Matt Beers won this year’s Belgian Waffle Ride in San Marcos on Sunday, with Courtney Sherwell and Caroline Wreszin rounding out the women’s podium, and Alexey Vermeulen and Petr Vakoč finishing second and third for the men.
Former Tour de France champ Geraint Thomas blames UCI boss David Lappartient and race organizers for half of the crashes in pro cycling, saying that level of carnage wouldn’t be accepted in any new sport. Although someone should tell him about all those people flooding ERs with pickleball injuries.
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
We’re slowly gaining signatures, up to 1,027 now, so keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us!
………
It was a light bike news day yesterday. So if no news is good news, this may be one of my best pieces ever.
The better news is, that means you can get out on your bike that much sooner today.
The woman’s attorney argued that the she suffers permanent pain, and was forced to pay hundreds of thousands in medical bills tripping in the pothole, which was shaded by a parked car.
Kwan told CVN he believed the combination of Walmart’s alleged failure to comply with their own safety policies and the extended time the pothole was allowed to develop brought the jury over to his side.
“We presented evidence that Walmart never enforced their own ‘Parking Lot Safety’ policy, which states they must regularly check and fix any potholes in their parking lots,” he said. “We also showed that the pothole in question had been in bad shape since 2018, giving Walmart plenty of time to repair, which they didn’t.”
Duquette notes that the same arguments could be made by a bicyclist injured under similar circumstances.
January 24, 2024 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LA 3rd worst for bike deaths as percentage of bike commuters, and Metro considers slashing open streets budget
Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.
Photo by Darren Graves.
………
Let’s start with today with yet another measure of how deadly streets are in the City of Angels, as Los Angeles ranks 3rd among large American cities in the number of bike riders killed as a proportion of bike commuters.
Although that measure fails to consider that many, if not most, LA victims may be riding for other reasons.
But still.
And it’s yet another good reason to sign the petition above, before that figure gets any higher.
20/50-Mile LA Chinatown Firecracker Bike Ride Highlights
Participants receive:
Commemorative short sleeve t-shirt
Goodie Bag
Finisher Medal
Post-Event Carbo Load Dish and 1 Beer (21+)
20-MILE FUN RIDE
CHINATOWN, LOS ANGELES RIVER PATH
The short route takes advantage of the recently renovated LA River Bike Trail that is protected from vehicular traffic. It also starts in Chinatown and enters the restored Los Angeles River that has been transformed into a sanctuary for a wide variety of birds and other wildlife. View the architectural bridges, cafes and even a bike shop that has sprouted up along the river. This is an easy and relaxed route that is perfect for beginners and intermediate riders. There are multiple restrooms along the route and a large staffed and stocked rest stop with a picnic area will be waiting for you at the halfway point.
We collected feedback from riders of past events and designed a better route with improved rest stops that are more cyclist friendly. The new route goes through Downtown LA, The LA River, Glendale, Eagle Rock, Pasadena, Altadena, San Marino, South Pasadena, El Sereno and Lincoln Heights. We start in historic Chinatown with a backdrop of City Hall, ride past Los Angeles State Historic Park, Autry Museum, LA Zoo, Travel Town, LA Equestrian Center, Bette Davis Park, Verdugo Mountains, JPL/NASA, Christmas Tree Lane, Eaton Canyon and much more. This is a fantastic way to experience the sights, smells and diversity of Los Angeles County on two wheels with fellow cyclists, route signage, SAG support and 2 stocked/staffed rest stops. This is a mix of bike paths, bike lanes and urban streets. *2,200 ft climb
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A 77-year old San Leandro, California woman was killed when she was struck by a 12-year old boy riding a bicycle as she stepped out of a store earlier this month; the boy put his foot down, but was unable to stop in time.
A Bakersfield judge has postponed the preliminary hearing of a man charged with murder in the alleged drunken hit-and-run that killed a 30-year old woman riding a bike last year; 25-year old Caleb Nathaniel Rodriguez was already driving on a suspended license following a previous DUI conviction.
A Miami bike rider wants to know whatever happened to Critical Mass. He’s welcome to come to Los Angeles this Friday, and the last Friday of every month to find out.
International
The European Cyclists Federation says markings on pavement are more than just paint, as bicycling infrastructure plays “an essential role in safer cycling by mitigating risks, enhancing visibility and overall enforcing a sense of safety for cyclists.” Although that last part can be problematic, considering it is just paint.
Oasis singer and songwriter Noel Gallagher is one of us, as he lost the equivalent of $25 million in his divorce settlement, but at least he got to keep his bicycle.
November 16, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on LA’s non-emergency traffic emergency, Lancet report offers hope for climate crisis, and Fetterman aims to loosen MUTCD
He’s got a point.
Maybe the emergency posed by the fire that closed a mile-long section of the Santa Monica Freeway isn’t that much of an emergency after all.
If it was, they might be doing more to get people out of their cars and onto transit than just talking about it. Or maybe onto bikes, for that matter.
Like reducing or eliminating fares for Metro buses, trains and bikeshare.
After a decade of complaints, and official denials that it was even a possibility, traffic signals were altered to speed up trains that have long been absurdly forced to stop at traffic signals.
And often blocked by drivers who didn’t clear the intersection, leading to long — and apparently needless — delays in service.
Wait, we could have done this the whole time in like 5 minutes and just chose not to? https://t.co/QyXLiOz2Fw
Along with a surprising degree of hope in low-carbon future, suggesting “there are transformative opportunities for a healthy, prosperous future for all.”
Health-centred climate action could still save millions of lives every year. A just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy and energy efficiency can reduce the health harms of energy poverty, power high-quality health-supportive services, and prevent the millions of deaths occurring annually from exposure to fuel-derived air pollution. Greener, people-centered cities, and balanced, low-carbon diets can support transformative improvements in physical and mental health.
Bicycling can, and should, be part of that equation, providing virtually carbon-free transportation that offers exceptional public health benefits.
Besides, it’s fun.
………
Apparently, there’s more to Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s proposed Building Safer Streets Act than we realized.
There’s a lot packed into the slim bill’s seven pages, including changes to the Safe Streets and Roads for All program which would guarantee that 10 percent of funds are set aside for communities under 250,000 residents. It would also finally close the loophole that allows roughly one-third of states to keep their federal safety funding if they set roadway fatality “targets” higher than the number of deaths they recorded in previous years, and prevent the Federal Highway Administration from giving states points on grant applications for projects that raise speed limits on non-freeway roads.
The bulk of the legislation, though, gets deep into the weeds of the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices, a once-obscure 800+ page manual whose revision prompted a flood of 25,000 comments from safe streets advocates concerned that its upcoming revision wouldn’t adequately center the needs of people outside cars. And with pedestrian deaths already setting records, Fetterman says those changes are long overdue…
Many of those standards are pretty benign, like the rule that a green light should mean “go” everywhere in America, or that a stop sign should be shaped like an octagon rather than a square. Others, though, have far more dire implications, up to and including who lives and dies on U.S. streets. The Manual’s infamous “85th-percentile rule,” for instance, recommends that the number that appears on speed limits signs be set within five miles of per hour of the speeds that 85 percent of drivers naturally travel when no one else is on the road — even if those velocities are lethal for pedestrians, and despite the fact that the standard was created for two-lane rural highways and is widely considered unsafe in urban contexts.
The MUTCD acts as a bible for traffic planners and engineers, protecting transportation agencies from liability, while limiting innovative or even merely decorative approaches.
Like the pink crosswalks that were originally planned for the intersection in front of Pink’s Hot Dogs to mark their 80th anniversary in 2019.
But which were nixed for being out of compliance with the MUTCD.
One version advised against safe bike lane intersection treatments that are common across U.S. cities, a move that the National Association of City Transportation Officials warned would amount to a “poison pill” for the thousands of cities whose infrastructure would instantly become non-compliant. Other provisions discouraged the use of colorful crosswalks, despite the fact that studies show they can actually slash vulnerable road user crashes by 50 percent compared to the all-white designs the Manual recommends.
And when cities want to use those life-saving design elements anyway, they’re often scared off of doing it, lest they fall out of compliance with the all-powerful Manual — even though, technically, not all of its recommendations are legally binding, much like its companion document, the AASHTO Green Book. In part because remaining in compliance with the MUTCD may shield transportation agencies against lawsuits, many traffic engineers tend to treat it more like a Bible with strict commandments than a “recipe book” that encourages chefs to sub out the nuts if they’ll send the person who’ll actually eat the dish into anaphylactic shock.
And the FHWA and other government agencies, in turn, often require engineers to conduct costly studies to prove that deploying safe road designs is worth granting an exception to those restrictive federal standards — even if piles of research have verified that those designs save lives, and that the standards in the Manual don’t.
It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the whole article, because this is clearly a bill worth following.
And one that might actually have a chance in a divided Congress.
Steven Shinn makes the case that his wife would still be alive if the city had built the long-promised protected bike lanes on Pershing Drive, which might have saved her from the man now serving 13 years for the needless meth-fueled morning crash.
My grief is worsened every time I hear an uninformed comment about road safety in our community.
“We do not want protected bike lanes in our neighborhood reducing traffic lanes and parking spaces.” My wife’s life would have been saved if those bike lanes had been protected. Studies from cities around the country have demonstrated the effectiveness of protected bike lanes to save lives without inconveniencing drivers.
Adding protected bike lanes and removing some parking benefits more than just cyclists. Local businesses see as much as a 49 percent increase in retail sales from new protected bike lanes. People who cycle to local shops spend up to 24 percentmore than those who drive and they shop more frequently. Adding protected bike lanes to streets reduces injury crashes for all road users by 58 percent and does not increase traffic congestion over time. If Pershing Drive had a protected bike lane, Laura would be riding with me today.
It’s a brave and powerful piece, which calls on San Diego to make life-saving changes for Sunday’s World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence.
Maybe California’s moribund ebike rebate program will finally launch in time to take advantage of the Black Friday deals. And maybe pigs will fly out of my butt.
It’s been known to happen.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. The Detroit News somehow manages to publish a 115-word article about the tragic death of a 54-year old woman killed in a collision with a semi-truck while she was riding a three-wheeled bike, without ever mentioning that the truck had a driver.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A bike-riding man has been arrested for a series of a dozen arson fires in LA”s Boyle Heights and Chinatown in just a one hour span; another person was busted for setting apparently unrelated fires. It would have been impossible to set that many fires over such a distance on foot, and difficult using a car in rush hour traffic. So, yay bikes?
The LA County Sheriff’s Department is promising a zero-tolerance approach to speeding on deadly PCH through Malibu, in the wake of four Pepperdine students killed by a driver allegedly doing 104 mph in a 45-mile zone. Good luck with that, since they don’t have a fraction of the deputies assigned to that area that would be required to effectively police the highway.
This is who we share the road with. A 47-year old San Diego man has been convicted of murder, as well as other charges, for the drunken hit-and-run that killed a toddler last year; Margarito Angeles Vargas was driving at over two-and-a-half times the legal alcohol limit when he ran down 19-month-old Annaleeh Rodarte as she crossed the street with members of her family.
National
Bicycling recommends the best rain gear to keep you riding. Unfortunately, this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you.
Toronto’s Biking Lawyer calls on the city to ban right turns on red lights, arguing that someone’s life could be at stake, a year after a young woman was killed while riding her bike in a crosswalk by a driver making an illegal right turn. Although the fact that it was already illegal didn’t seem to stop that driver.
November 6, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Narrower and fewer lanes save lives, a weekend of traffic violence, and passing ghost bikes on to the next generation
Ride or walk carefully today.
The day after the time change usually sees a spike in traffic collisions, so ride defensively for the next few days.
Not to mention encouraging drivers to speed, which increases both the risk and severity of crashes, as we’ve learned from other studies.
Narrowing traffic lanes also provides more room for other road uses, like wider sidewalks and bike lanes.
The key findings from the study include —
Narrower lanes did not increase the risk of accidents. When comparing 9- and 11-foot lanes, we found no evidence of increased car crashes. Yet, increasing to 12-foot lanes did increase the risk of crashes, most likely due to drivers increasing their speed and driving more carelessly when they have room to make mistakes.
Speed limit plays a key role in travel width safety. In lanes at 20-25 mph speeds, lane width did not affect safety. However, in lanes at 30-35 mph speeds, wider lanes resulted in significantly higher number of crashes than 9-foot lanes.
Narrower lanes help address critical environmental issues. They accommodate more users in less space, use less asphalt pavement, with less land consumption and smaller impervious surface areas.
Narrowing travel lanes could positively impact the economy. This includes raising property values, boosting business operation along streets and developing new design projects.
Even on high-traffic corridors that exceed Federal Highway Administration recommendations that road diets should be applied to roadways with fewer than 20,000 average daily trips.
According to the authors —
We found that collisions, injuries, and deaths were lower by 31.2% to 100%, depending on the measure, whereas traffic speeds were lower by about 6.7% (peak) to 7.9% (off-peak). We concluded that in Los Angeles higher-traffic-volume road diets appeared to significantly increase safety with only minor effects on traffic speeds.
Let that sink in.
Road diets on high-traffic corridors — even right here in the automotive capital of the world, where driving is considered a God-given right and obligation — dropped traffic deaths and serious injuries by anywhere from a third, to complete elimination.
And all with a minimal impact on driver speeds, taking a typical 40 mph driving speed down to a more reasonable 36.
Which isn’t going to make anyone late for dinner or to pick up the kids, while helping to ensure they’ll actually get there in one piece.
Two people were killed when a minivan driver being chased by police slammed into a Metro bus in DTLA early Sunday morning, after police reportedly saw someone toss a gun out the window of the minivan. Two people in the backseat, who weren’t wearing seatbelts, were killed while the two people up front survived with non-life threatening injuries; three people on the bus suffered minor injuries, including the driver.
Several people suffered minor injuries, and a number of others were lucky to escape injury, when an alleged drunk driver doing donuts lost control of her car, and slammed into a large group of people standing outside a Valencia bar. And almost needless to say, she fled the scene before she and her passenger were arrested — after reportedly changing seats to hide who was driving.
Video of the crash is appalling.
……..
Sad to think we need to pass this on to a new generation.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A Fresno woman was collateral damage in an apparent political dispute between a 60-year old pickup driver and a bike rider participating in a Pro-Palestinian demonstration, after the driver, who was allegedly under the influence, tried to speed off when the bike rider began punching him through the open window; the victim was lucky to escape with just a broken ankle, while the driver faces possible hit-and-run and DUI charges, while the bike rider could be charged with assault.
………
Local
LAisttalks with new LADOT General Manager Laura Rubio-Cornejo, who swears her priority is to make every Angeleno and visitor feel safe on the streets, while revisiting the city’s nearly moribund Vision Zero program — but without making a commitment to the wholesale changes to our streets required to do that.
SoCal speed cams took a step closer to becoming reality in Los Angeles on Wednesday, when City Council Transportation Committee unanimously approved a motion to create an automated Speed Camera Safety Program when a new state law approving a pilot program in Los Angeles, Glendale and Long Beach goes into effect next year.
A Streetsblog op-ed by Jeanie Ward-Waller, former deputy director for planning and modal programs at Caltrans, relates how she was fired for doing her job, and speaking out when Caltrans officials tried to skirt the law to widen Sacramento highways. Maybe Newsom should just fire the people running Caltrans, and give her the damn job.
A Utah man gets screwed when someone stole a pair of ebikes from his garage, and his homeowner’s insurance refused to pay the claim, stating his policy doesn’t cover “motor vehicles” — even though the state classifies ebikes as bicycles.
Danish pro Jonas Vingegaard, two-time winner of the Tour de France, was awarded the prestigious Velo d’Or trophy for the year’s best cyclist, and was apparently so unimpressed he didn’t bother to show up for the ceremony; Dutch Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering won the women’s Velo d’Or.
GCNtalks with Slovenian cyclist Matej Mohorič, who popularized the now-banned super-tuck position, about his upbringing and his quest to give a ‘higher purpose’ to his racing.
Remembering the good old days of the Tour de France, when doping meant raiding the local cafe to steal a little mid-stage booze.
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, died after being taken to a local hospital.
The driver stayed at the scene, and cooperated with investigators.
Unfortunately, that’s all we know at this time.
This is at least the 48th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 14th that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the fourth person killed riding a bicycle in bike-friendly Long Beach in 2023.
Update: At least now we know what happened.
According to KCBS-2, the victim was riding across Pacific Place north of Wardlow when he was struck by a pickup driver traveling east on Pacific. He was struck with the side of the pickup, despite the driver’s attempt to swerve.
Based on the description, it seems likely he was attempting to leave the Metro station, with no traffic signal or crosswalk to get across the roadways safely.
The driver, identified only as a 43-year old Long Beach resident, remained at the scene and attempted to resuscitate the victim before paramedics arrived. She reportedly cooperated with investigators, who said she did not appear to be distracted, impaired or speeding at the time of the crash.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Long Beach Police Department at 562/570-7355.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his family.
September 12, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Hunt for killer driver in anti-bike rampage, police search for Metro-riding bike shop burglars, and NoHo CicLAmini Sunday
It’s the 16th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Encounter, the solo crash that laid me up for four months. And in a roundabout way, set me on the path to bike advocacy, and starting this site.
Yet somehow, I’ve never thanked those bees properly for not killing me that day.
Keep your eyes open for a black Toyota four-door sedan, with significant damage to the front bumper on the passenger side. Even if the car turns out to be stolen, it could provide vital clues leading to the killer.
If you see the car, or have any other information, call the Huntington Beach Police Department’s WeTip hotline at 714/375-5066, or submit an anonymous tip to OC Crime Stoppers at 855/TIP-OCCS (855/847-6227).
The men, apparently part of a group of five who burglarized the shop early Monday morning, were last seen as they exited the train at Pasadena’s Memorial Park station at 5:30 am.
Streets For All is hosting CD10 Councilmember Heather Hutt for their latest virtual happy hour tomorrow evening; Hutt was appointed by the council to replace recently convicted councilmember Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Streets For All is also calling for support for a pair of motions at tomorrow’s LA City Council Public Works Committee meeting to the accelerate the design, construction, and implementation of transportation infrastructure projects, and create better coordination between city agencies who build and maintain public infrastructure.
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
A British man accused the local police of doing nothing after thieves broke into his home and stole four high-end mountain bikes worth more than $54,000; he spent the equivalent of $7,500 to track them down and fly to Poland to recover them.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The CHP says a 71-year old Paso Robles man suffered a concussion and broken nose when he rode his “performance bicycle” into uneven pavement on the shoulder of a state highway near Cambria, blaming his unfamiliarity with the roadway and riding too fast for conditions. But not for Caltrans’ failure to maintain a safe road surface.
September 1, 2023 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan
Welcome to your last pre-Thanksgiving three-day weekend — not to mention the opening weekend for college football.
Which means you can count on a higher than usual percentage of drunks and otherwise intoxicated people on the roads.
So the usual protocol applies.
Ride defensively. And if you’re riding anytime after noon today, assume every driver you see has had a few.
Chances are, you won’t be far off.
I expect to see you back here bright and early Tuesday morning. And I don’t want to have to write about you, unless maybe you pull a pack of puppies out of a burning building or something.
Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez reportedly made a U-turn to reverse direction and run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga from behind following an apparent traffic-related dispute between the two men.
Gutierrez was arrested three weeks after the July, 2021 vehicular assault, and continues to be held on $1 million bond.
The victims, including two sisters, were riding in the back seat of the Uber when 31-year old Gregory Black slammed into them while racing through red lights at up to 100 mph.
Black, described as a known gang member with an extensive rap sheet, was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and held on $4 million bond.
So much for the myth that bail is based strictly on the suspect’s ability to pay. And not a reflection of how seriously prosecutors take the crime.
Black was already serving a five-year probation following his release from prison for attempted murder.
According to Southern California Newsgroup’s Steve Scauzillo, the plan will “create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.”
Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.
Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.
The plan has a focus on equity, improving service and safety first in areas where fewer people own cars, including including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods.
But as we’ve seen with the City of Los Angeles, it’s one thing to make a plan, and another to implement it, as ActiveSGV’s special programs director Wesley Reutimann pointed out.
He said Metro should redirect budget dollars from highways toward completing bikeways and walkways. But getting the OK from cities and landowners can gum up the works. Metro is also asking cities to help fund the projects or apply for grant dollars. This can delay or nix projects altogether, he said.
“Long story short: Metro did a plan (in 2016) and most of it was never implemented. It just feels like this plan update is window dressing,” Reutimann said.
Even a fraction of what the agency wastes on highway engorgements could go a long way towards actually implementing this plan.
Let’s hope someone over there figures out how to do that.
………
This will be great if it actually happens.
And that’s a big if.
A pair of Los Angeles City Council motions call for streamlining operations between LADOT, LA Street Services, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Bureau of Street Lighting, as well as developing a five-year infrastructure spending plan for the city.
Correction, they both call for a pair of studies on how to do it.
Which is what the Los Angeles city government does best — study problems, rather than actually solve them.
A Denver TV station provides more information on the crash that severely injured professional ultra endurance bicyclist Jay Petervary as he was attempting to set a new record for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.
Investigators concluded Petervary was riding on a mountain highway in central Colorado when he was rear-ended by a 16-year old driver, who may have been speeding, while attempting to pass on a “straight on a wide, open road with no trees or obstructions.”
Petervary says he landed about 20 yards from his bike, skidding face first on the roadway.
He is now focusing on his recovery while his wife organizes his transport back home to Idaho, his future care and the legal repercussions. Donations are still being accepted for the Be Good Foundation. As of Thursday morning, he had raised about $9,500 of the $20,000 goal.
Petervary has a lengthy history with long-distance racing. The sponsored athlete has competed for 25 years, exploring new routes and races. But he also loves providing experiences and opportunities for others, he wrote on his website. He has adopted the mantra “Ride Forward” in not only his athletic endeavors, but in his business, relationships, friendships and more.
“It also meant to not have regrets or get bogged down in the past but also reflect and learn to move forward more fluidly,” he wrote online.
………
While we’re catching up on crashes, an Arizona TV station talks with the Flagstaff bicyclist who was sideswiped by the driver of a passing RV, taking out around a dozen riders on a group ride like so many bowling pins.
Saturday, Wallace was biking on Lake Mary Road with a local cycling group, “Team Pay and Take” when he was hit in the head by an RV’s side mirror. His helmet came off, and he then crashed into multiple cyclists behind him, causing a pileup. “I mean, these people are like family,” Wallace said. “You know you ride with them every week. My partner was on the ride as well and she crashed right behind me. So your first thought is just like is everyone OK?”
Wallace said the person driving the RV stopped and cooperated with police, but this is an important reminder to share the road as it’s state law to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space. “I think it’s just a sad point that when we get behind the wheel of a car, we don’t see our fellow humans out there as someone who has someone to go home to after the ride,” Wallace said.
No word yet on whether the driver will faces charges; at last report, he was only ticketed for an unsafe pass.
………
Good question.
The Militant tried this in 2021 when @JackBox dine-in was still closed during the Pandemic.
Canada’s prime minister is one of us. And so are his kids.
Hopped on our bikes this morning for Didi’s first day back at school. Ella’s also heading back to school today… and I know others across the country are, too. Hope everyone has a great year – you’ve got this! pic.twitter.com/uqbY45RYlj
No surprise here, as a new Belgian study shows you’re twice as likely to be killed in a collision with a bigass pickup or SUV than with a typical passenger car.
BREAKING: New large-scale Belgian study shows shocking impact of vehicle weight increases on road death and injury.
e.g. When a cyclist or pedestrian is hit by a pick-up, the risk of serious injury increases by 90% compared to a car. The risk of death increases by 200%.
No bias here, either. Residents of León, Guanajuato, Mexico protested plans for a new bike lane, arguing that “about 8 cyclists pass the whole morning,” while official stats say over 65 times that many people ride it every day. Never mind that many more would probably ride there if they felt safer.
San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick calls on the city’s transportation agency to tow drivers who park in bike lanes, after talking the staff at a bagel shop into refusing to serve a driver who parked in a protected bike lane in front of the shop. Note to traffic engineers and planners — if someone can park in it, it’s not protected.
Outside says you should spend at least $250 on bike bibs, arguing that high-end bibs will literally save your ass. I’ll reserve comment, since I’ve never spent more than a fraction of that, and my ass is still firmly attached.
Boulder, Colorado threatens to beat California to the ebike rebate punch with the city’s second round of ebike vouchers, before California gets around to issuing its first.
That’s more like it. A Louisiana semi-truck driver is facing a negligent homicide charge for killing a man riding a bicycle by sideswiping the victim while attempting to pass his bike on a curve; the charge is an upgrade from an initial ticket for violating the state’s three-foot passing law.
An Indian woman is calling for a fresh approach to urban planning, saying the country needs a greater emphasis on bicycling to boost the enrollment of girls in both urban and rural schools, increase productivity for individuals, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
American super-domestique Sepp Kuss soloed to victory in the sixth stage of the Vuelta, high-fiving fans the final 50 yards; meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel lost time to key rivals Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, as he handed the leader’s jersey to France’s Lenny Martinez.
The 
