Tag Archive for lenient sentences

Huntington Beach ebike rider dies in solo crash, 5 lousy years for doubly fatal 124 mph crash, and Bass demands Forest Lawn Drive keep sucking

August 19, 2026 / / No comments

My apologies for yesterday’s unexcused absence. 

I’m using a form of topical chemo to treat a couple minor skin cancers on my face, which doesn’t seem to play well with my other meds. I tried to work through it Monday, but just kept feeling worse and worse as the night wore on. 

So seriously, use sunscreen, already. 

Photo by Tucă Bianca from Pexels. 

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The Huntington Beach Police Department reports that a man 21-year old man died after a single vehicle ebike crash.

After giving it a lot of thought, I’ve decided to only write about ebike deaths when the story actually refers to a bicycle, since we often can’t be sure whether the victim was on a ped-assist bike, or an illegal e-motrbike.

While the Huntington Beach cops do call the victim of this crash a bicyclist, it sounds more like an e-moto crash than an electric bicycle.

I could be wrong, though. Here’s the full HBPD press release.

On Tuesday, July 21, 2026, at approximately 12:30 p.m., the Huntington Beach Police Department (HBPD) responded to a traffic collision at the intersection of Warner Avenue and Plaza Lane regarding a single-vehicle collision involving an e-bike.

Upon arrival, officers located the e-bike rider, a 21-year-old man from Westminster, unconscious on the sidewalk next to the roadway. Paramedics were called to the scene and the bicyclist was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. On July 26, 2026, he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased. It is unknown if impairment was a factor with the rider of the e-bike.

Based on the preliminary investigation, it appears the e-bike was westbound on Warner Avenue west of Plaza Lane when the rider lost control and went down.

The collision investigation is ongoing and is being handled by the HBPD Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT). Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or events leading up to it is encouraged to contact HBPD Traffic Investigator Vishal Rattanchandani at (714) 536-5231.

Thanks to Bill for the heads-up. 

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This is who we share the road with.

A 21-year old Pico Rivera man has been sentenced to a lousy five years and four month behind bars for killing two passengers in his car two years ago.

Leonardo Rodriguez was allegedly doing 124 mph on the Ventura Freeway in Ventura County, when he tried to pass a slower vehicle on the right shoulder of the roadway, and slammed into the back of a stopped semi.

His girlfriend and another man were both thrown from the car, and died at the scene.

Rodriguez pleaded guilty to two felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter in June, and was sentenced on Friday.

There’s something seriously wrong with California’s overly lenient traffic laws when recklessly taking two lives amounts to just 32 months apiece. And a lot less than that given California’s prison overcrowding and early release programs.

In some states, he would have faced a pair of life sentences. And even a plea deal would have resulted in at least a couple decades in jail.

I’m not a fan of today’s prison industrial system, which simply warehouses inmates instead of offering them any form of rehabilitation. We desperately need a better system.

But sentences like this, for a crime like that, shows just how un-serious this state is about traffic violence.

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Streets Are For Everyone issued a new report covering the fiasco on deadly Forest Lawn Drive, calling Mayor Bass’ halting of the safety project a “poster child” for why LA streets are so dangerous.

I’m including their full press release below.

And yeah, I’m pretty effing pissed off about it, too.

New Report Questions Why Los Angeles Paused a Fully Funded Safety Project on One of Its Dangerous Roads
SAFE’s report examines Forest Lawn Drive, how dangerous it is, and how a 1-mile road safety project has become the poster child for why roads across LA City are so dangerous.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Streets Are For Everyone today released a new report examining why a fully funded safety improvement project on Forest Lawn Drive was halted despite years of public planning, extensive community outreach, and documented safety concerns.

Titled “Forest Lawn Drive: Why a Fully Funded Road Safety Project Was Delayed,” the report explores how a road known for speeding, serious crashes, and a lack of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure became the focus of a political intervention that stopped construction just weeks before work was scheduled to begin. It also examines the broader question of whether Los Angeles is prioritizing road safety at a time when traffic violence continues to claim more lives than homicides for the third year in a row.

“Forest Lawn Drive is about much more than one road,” said Damian Kevitt, Executive Director of Streets Are For Everyone. “It is a case study in how difficult it has become to build proven safety improvements, even after years of planning, community engagement, environmental review, and secured funding. When projects like this can be stopped at the last minute, it sends a troubling message about how unimportant the safety of those using LA roads is.”

Forest Lawn Drive serves as an important connection for bicycle commuters between Griffith Park, Glendale, Hollywood, and the San Fernando Valley. Yet approximately one mile of the corridor has no sidewalk, no bicycle lane, a badly damaged shoulder, and a posted speed limit of 45 mph. According to the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, 95 reported collisions occurred along this section between 2013 and 2023, including crashes that seriously injured or killed three people. Just a few days ago, on August 13th, another person died in a fiery crash on Forest Lawn Drive.

To better understand current conditions, SAFE volunteers conducted more than 14 hours of independent speed surveys during the summer of 2026. The organization found that 53 percent of drivers exceeded the posted speed limit, with one in five traveling between 51 and 75 mph while passing just inches away from people walking, running, and bicycling.

The City’s proposed Forest Lawn Drive Safety and Mobility Project would have reconfigured the roadway to calm traffic, reduce dangerous passing and lane changes, add separated bicycle facilities, and improve conditions for everyone using the corridor. According to LA DOT, the redesign would have had little impact on travel times for most drivers while significantly improving safety.

Construction was scheduled to begin in 2026 but was halted after Mayor Karen Bass directed LA DOT to review alternatives that would maintain all existing traffic lanes. The report notes that this decision followed lobbying efforts by Forest Lawn Cemetery and Mount Sinai Memorial Park, which opposed the planned lane reductions.

Beyond the Forest Lawn Drive project itself, the report also examines the City’s broader investment priorities. It notes that while Los Angeles has substantially increased spending on policing and homelessness programs in recent years, funding specifically dedicated to the Vision Zero Program has been cut by 59%.

SAFE is encouraging residents, transportation professionals, policymakers, and community leaders to read the report and participate in an informed public discussion about how Los Angeles prioritizes road safety and delivers life-saving infrastructure projects.

The full report is available at: www.streetsareforeveryone.org/blog/forest-lawn-drive

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As long as we’re doing press releases and turning this into an epic post, here’s another one announcing a city hall demonstration next week about the city’s backsliding on a legal settlement to fix the crumbling sidewalks.

10 Years After $1.37 Billion Sidewalk Settlement, Advocates Ask: Is LA Moving Forward or Backward?
The Willits SLIDE brings disability advocates to City Hall for a civic performance marking a decade of the landmark accessibility settlement

LOS ANGELES — Ten years after a landmark settlement committed Los Angeles to spending $1.37 billion over 30 years to make its sidewalks and curb ramps accessible, disability and mobility advocates will gather at City Hall on Tuesday, August 25, at 9:00 AM to ask a simple question: Is Los Angeles actually moving forward?

Their answer will take the form of The Willits SLIDE, a civic performance in which participants move forward and backward together, physically representing a decade of progress and setbacks since the Willits v. City of Los Angeles settlement.

The City has spent more than $333 million during the settlement’s first 10 years. Yet broken pavement, missing curb ramps and inaccessible paths continue to create barriers for Angelenos who use wheelchairs, white canes, walkers and other mobility devices.

Advocates are also highlighting a costly contradiction: while approximately over $30 million annually is allocated toward Willits improvements, the City has spent roughly $40 million more annually settling sidewalk-related injury claims.

“The Willits settlement was a landmark victory for disability rights, but spending the money isn’t the same as delivering accessible streets,” said Alex Ramirez with Los Angeles Walks.

“Ten years later, we’re asking what it will take to stop moving backward and fix our sidewalks for good,” said Reanne Estrada, Artist and Creative Director of Public Matters, which developed the civic performance. 

The performance is the latest action from the Boo-Boo Bandage Brigade, a Downtown LA coalition using art, humor and civic action to advocate for lasting solutions to broken street infrastructure.

“Disability advocates have challenged us to make Downtown a blueprint for accessibility across Los Angeles,” said Hilary Norton of FastLink DTLA, who leads the coalition-building effort. “That means working together to build a system that works for everyone.”

Alongside stronger implementation of the Willits settlement, advocates are calling on the City to fast-track its Capital Infrastructure Program to better coordinate how Los Angeles plans, funds, repairs and maintains sidewalks and other public infrastructure.

MEDIA OPPORTUNITIES

  • The Willits SLIDE: A visual civic performance in front of Los Angeles City Hall
  • Disability advocates sharing their experiences navigating LA’s sidewalks
  • Boo-Boo Bandage Brigade props and visual installations
  • Interviews with advocates about the Willits settlement, sidewalk liability costs and long-term infrastructure solutions

ABOUT THE WILLITS SLIDE

The Willits SLIDE is a civic performance marking the 10-year anniversary of the Willits v. City of Los Angeles settlement. Through a collective movement forward and backward, participants will make visible both the progress and unfinished work of making Los Angeles’ sidewalks accessible to everyone.

The action is part of the ongoing work of the Boo-Boo Bandage Brigade, which uses art, humor, disability justice and civic engagement to draw attention to failing street infrastructure while advocating for lasting solutions.

Coalition partners include: Public Matters, FASTLinkDTLA, DTLA Mobility for All, Los Angeles Walks, CALIF, disability justice advocates and community partners.

Somehow, we can host a World Cup and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, but we can’t house the homeless, pick up the trash, fix the potholes or do anything about the damn sidewalks.

Chop wood, carry water.

Do the basics first.

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Thanks to David for sharing his own extensive views of the new bike and pedestrian bridge over the 5 Freeway in Irvine, as well as the surrounding park.

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Very few people ever looked this good on a bike. Even if he was probably just posing for a promotional photo.

Bluesky post

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

An apparent road-raging driver plowed his truck down the flimsy plastic bollards “protecting” Santa Monica’s 23rd Street Bike Lane. More proof that plastic won’t protect anyone.

No bias here. Hoodline says Berkeley is ripping out 145 parking spaces to build protected bike lanes on one of the city’s most contested streets. Never mind that the project is intended to save lives on a deadly street; the way they frame it makes the loss of parking the most important detail. 

In a truly sickening story, a Pennsylvania man pled guilty to 3rd degree murder for knocking a 40-year old man off his bicycle, then beating the victim to death with his own bike, even though he says he doesn’t remember it, after prosecutors dropped a 1st degree murder charge as part of a plea deal; the vicious attack came just half an hour after the suspect was released from Central Booking, where he had been held for some unknown reason.

If local leaders even oppose a lighted bike path through a Bath, England park, why are they called the Green Party?

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

A driving website calls out a “goofball” bicyclist who ran a red light, directly in front of a Burbank pedestrian with the right-of-way. And while they’ve got a point, just wait until they see the crazy things drivers do.

Reddit post

London’s Daily Mail gets its knickers in a wad over a report that 60% of bike riders don’t stop for pedestrians at floating bus stops, accusing scofflaw riders of “dicing with death.” Yes, you should always stop for pedestrians. But maybe someone should tell them that exactly zero pedestrians have been killed by bicyclists at London’s floating bus stops, and only six pedestrians were injured by bike riders at the city’s floating bus stops in 2024, compared with 11,400 pedestrians injured by motorists in London over the same period.

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Local 

Letter writers to the Southern California News Group discuss ebikes, though you may need a shower after reading them, even if the last two seem to get it.  Although that’s the first time in years I’ve clicked on a story in the Los Angeles Daily News without crashing into their paywall. 

The Times of India, of all sources, writes that the owners of Redondo Cyclery refused to sell in the 1980s, so Redondo Beach built the Redondo Shores shopping center around it. Although their ChatGPT image of a small, family-owned bike shop surrounded by a larger development is probably the funniest thing you’ll see all day. 

 

State

California Streetsblog updates the legislative agenda, highlighting the more important transportation bills still alive as the legislature moves to floor votes; among the bills is one that would increase the penalties for DUI, and another redefining the differences between electric bicycles and electric motorbikes. Maybe if it passes the cops and media will stop calling any damn thing with two wheels and a battery a damn ebike, already. 

Meanwhile, CalMatters calls out the legislature’s inability to pass California transportation bills that matter.

Sad news from Monterey County, where a 58-year old man was killed by a semi driver in a right hook while riding his bicycle.

San Francisco bicyclists demand a safer Market Street, after the city’s previous mayor cancelled plans for protected bike lanes. Which sounds oddly familiar, somehow.

 

National

A new study shows just six 30 second sprints on a bicycle does far more to lower your risk of diabetes and obesity than 90 minutes of moderate bicycling.

Despite all the handwringing and pearl clutching, 55% of ebike-related deaths over an eight-year period involved a motor vehicle, and only 6% involved pedestrians. And yes, that appears to include anything with two wheels and a battery.

World Atlas looks at the steepest roads in the US, including our very own Eldridge and Baxter streets.

Escape Collective writes about Joe Bell, calling him the Godfather of bicycle painting. Although as usual, you’ll run into their paywall after a few paragraphs.

This one hits a little close to home for me, after a 15-year old kid who was passionate about bicycling was killed by a driver while riding his bicycle on the sidewalk, in the small, rural Alaska town my brother called home for several decades; the boy’s parents understandably call it “every parent’s worst nightmare.” A crowdfunding page has raised nearly $81,000 of the $90,000 goal.

Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park has gone against the recent anti-bike lane DEI insanity coming out of Washington, and approved plans for a fully separated paved bike path along one of the key roadways in the park. If you ever get a chance to bike through the Tetons, take it. 

A Bozeman, Montana mountain biker says sometimes the smartest thing he does on a bike is get off it. Wiser words were never said.

He’s got my vote. An Oklahoma Democrat running for Congress is campaigning by bicycle, riding through all 14 counties in his district to meet with the voters. Not to mention it helps take some of the suck out of campaigning.

Great idea. A Wheaton, Illinois United Methodist Church is hosting “Bike to Church Sunday” on August 30th, but invites churchgoers to ride to services any other Sunday, too.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani finally acceded to the demands of his constituents — or the tabloids, anyway — and wore a little plastic hat that will magically make him impervious to motor vehicles. Look, I’m a firm believer in bike helmets, but they’re made to protect you from falling off your bike at relatively slow speeds, not protect from a driver doing 20 miles over the speed limit. They may help, but they’re not magic. 

A New Jersey website says ebike sales are off anywhere from 20 percent to 90 percent since the state passed a requirement for licensing and registration for any type of ebike, regardless of speed.

A kindhearted Pennsylvania police sergeant paused his patrols to help a boy fix his bike, popping the chain back in place while the kids peppered him with questions about being a cop.

Those boots may have been made for walking, but Nancy Sinatra apparently took them on tandem bike rides with Elvis Presley during the filming of Speedway at North Carolina’s Charlotte Motor Speedway. No word on whether he wore his blue suede shoes. 

 

International

Cycling News looks at the Wild West world of buying used kits. Sorry, but I draw the line at putting my parts where someone else’s pits and bits have been. 

A British Columbia road biker more or less bunny hopped a dying deer, riding over it after it was thrown directly into his path when a driver in an SUV crashed into it.

A Calgary writer says it’s time to accommodate all modes of transportation on Canada’s roads, even if an Ontario high court ruling that the province can rip out Toronto bike lanes over the objection of city leaders is likely to embolden Alberta to do the same. Although the conservative National Post is all in on the ruling.

Cambridge, England became the first city in the UK to institute a speed limit for bicycles, restricting bikes to 15 mph on a busy 16-mile bike lane running through the city. Call me crazy, but 15 mph seems reasonable under the circumstance. 

An English farmer says no, maniacal ebike riders did not chase his horses, claiming news reports had been blown out of proportion. And even if they had chased those ponies, it’s unlikely they would have been riding the kind of ped-assist bike used to illustrate the story. 

A British bicyclist starts a conversation about the condition of the roads by taking a photo of his bike wheels securely wedged in a deep crevasse in a local highway.

Road.cc examines just how good Mallorca, Spain really is for bicycling.

 

Competitive Cycling

A new report says bystanders waved the van driver onto the course where 19-year old Welsh cyclist Finlay Tarling was killed during the 8th stage of the Volta a Portugal on Friday. The photo of his shattered race bike is just heartbreaking. 

The race resumed Saturday with Alexis Guérin wearing a black jersey instead of the usual yellow leader’s jersey, and the peloton wearing black armbands, following a moment of silence before the race; Guérin was the eventual winner after Sunday’s final stage.

A crowdfunding campaign launched by Tarling’s manager has raised the equivalent of over $84,000 to help other young riders realize their cycling dreams.

An Aussie cyclist explains why road racing can never be entirely safe. But allowing a driver onto a narrow road course before the entire peloton has passed is a major fuckup that can, and should, be avoided. 

An ill-timed appendectomy cost former USPro crit champ Lucas Bourgoyne a shot at winning the American Criterium Cup. Then again, is there ever a good time for an appendectomy?

 

Finally…

That feeling when you try, but ultimately fail, to catch a runaway pig with your ebike. Your next ped-assist ebike could be a Harley-Davidson — though not, sadly, a hog.

And remembering those heady days of the ’60s and ’70s, when kids dreamed of muscle cars and rode muscle bikes.

Although my hand-me-down bike looked more like the one on the right, if you added red and white streamers to the handgrips.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin.

 

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

SF judge retires after elderly killer driver walks, most US bike lanes just paint, and LA drivers kill record number of animals

March 4, 2026 / / One comment

Good riddance.

The San Francisco judge who let an elderly driver off the hook for killing an entire family of four announced he’s riding off into the sunset.

And it can’t happen soon enough.

The Voice of San Francisco reports that 69-year old Judge Bruce Chan is retiring this year, one month after announcing he’ll let 80-year old Mary Fong Lau walk without a day behind bars, and three years before he’s set to face the voters again.

Because something tells me voters might have a long memory in this case.

It was just short of two years ago when Lau plowed her car into the bus stop where 40-year old Diego Cardoso de Oliveira and his wife, 38-year old Matilde Moncada Ramos Pinto were waiting with their two children, 1-year old Joaquim Ramos Pinto de Oliveira and 3-month-old Cauê Ramos Pinto de Oliveira, after celebrating their wedding anniversary.

Diego and Joaquim were killed instantly, while Matilde and Cauê died days later in the hospital.

Lau was driving on the wrong side of the divided roadway at 70 mph at the time of the crash. Yet Chan bizarrely ruled that there was no point in punishing her, because she’s old and really, really sorry.

Which must be why she tried to hide her assets before the inevitable lawsuit.

According to the website,

As if the family of the victims hasn’t suffered enough, last month, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Bruce Chan expressed sympathy for the now 80-year-old Lau and stated it was unlikely she would serve any jail time or even a community service mandate after pleading no contest to four felony counts of gross vehicular manslaughter…

After Lau changed her plea from not guilty to no contest, Chan said his duty “was to balance the deaths with the other factors of the case.” Those factors included Lau’s age, her lack of criminal history, and “her remorse,” as well as the fact that her own husband had died in a car accident early on in their marriage.”

Chan even injected some hearsay into the proceedings, saying that in the hospital after the crash, “Lau tearfully told medical staff she wished she could trade places with the family.”

Chan said jail time would mean Lau would probably die in prison. As opposed to her victims, who just died in the street and the local hospital.

Instead, he said he’d sentence her to a lousy two to three years probation. But at least she won’t be able to drive — legally, anyway — until her probation ends.

So we can expect Lau to get her license back when she’s 83, with the blood of four innocent lives on her record.

Seems reasonable.

But as writer Susan Dyer Reynolds notes, remorseful people don’t usually hide their assets.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in July 2024, the surviving parents of Cardoso de Oliveira and Ramos Pinto filed a wrongful death civil suit against Lau. In May 2025, the relatives filed another civil lawsuit, this time asking a judge to void alleged financial transfers that Lau made after the first civil lawsuit was filed. The victims’ families accused Lau of transferring her ownership interest in several properties to new limited liability companies and selling properties to third parties, including her son-in-law, thereby transferring millions of dollars to avoid potential financial penalties from the civil suit. Hiding assets doesn’t sound like remorse to me…

Me, either.

So if you wonder why people keep dying on our streets, overly lenient judges like Chan are a damn good place to start.

But at least he won’t be around much longer to let any other killer drivers walk.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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This is why people keep dying on our streets, part two.

An estimated 77% of bike lanes in the US offer nothing but paint for protection.

And a new study in the Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research shows that nearly two-thirds of those are on high-stress roads — aka, “fast, multi-lane corridors where traffic speed and volume make riding uncomfortable for most people.”

In other words, like virtually every bike lane in Orange County and much of Los Angeles, county and otherwise.

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Sadly, humans aren’t the only victims of traffic violence.

LA Reported says the number of animals killed by LA drivers reached a new high last year, with 33,458 deaths reported, including everything from family dogs and cats to deer, squirrels and birds.

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The annual Marathon Crash Ride returns to the streets of Los Angeles in the wee hours of Sunday morning, following the route of the LA Marathon before all those runners take over.

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Local 

This is who we share the road with. A 55-year old man was arrested on suspicion of felony DUI, vehicular manslaughter and misdemeanor battery after he somehow threw his car into reverse at high speed, backing over a curb and slamming into people sitting on the stoop of a Long Beach building, killing a 20-month old toddler and hospitalizing a 45-year old woman and a 12-year old girl.

 

State

A proposed San Diego ordinance would ban kids under 12 from riding Class 1 and 2 ebikes, as well as prohibiting a passenger from any ebike without a permanent passenger seat; children under 16 are already prohibited from riding Class 3 ebikes.

A 51-year old Hesperia man was hospitalized with major injuries, and his dog killed, when they were struck by a van driver while walking his bike across the street early yesterday morning. But you’ll have to get around the paper’s paywall to read the whole story. 

Alameda’s mayor writes that the city’s efforts to make roads safer for all users is paying off.

This is who we share the road with, part two. A Sacramento website reports that Black pedestrians are disproportionately more likely to be killed on the city’s streets, illustrating the story by describing a 26-year old South Sacramento man who was struck by a driver while crossing the street, then repeatedly run over by multiple drivers — all of whom fled the scene, and none were ever brought to justice.

 

National

A proposed IRS regulation could mean that bike couriers and pedicab drivers could write off their tips.

A Mesa, Arizona woman has filed a pair of $15 million claims against the city and county, after her 71-year old father was killed while riding an ebike when the lane he was riding in suddenly ended in a large pothole and a patch of gravel, with no warning in the dark because the stop sign was on the ground and there were no streetlights.

No surprise here. After the police chief of Greeley, Colorado hit a 15-year old bike rider while driving off-duty, the state police charged the kid, not the cop, for failure to yield.

An 82-year old Iowa man spends his winters repairing and refurbishing bicycles in Tucson, Arizona, before going home in the spring to work on more bikes.

That’s more like it. A Texas man was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for the hit-and-run that killed a popular 38-year old bike rider four years ago, and reporting his car stolen in an effort to cover up the crime. Does that ever work?

Indianapolis adopts Vision Zero, vowing to end traffic deaths by 2035. Let’s hope they take it more seriously than Los Angeles did. 

New York’s city council rakes the city’s new transportation commissioner over the coals for the miserable job expanding bike lanes done by the previous administration, with one councilmember arguing that meeting just 50% of the city’s goals earns it a “big, fat F;” however, the new DOT head won’t commit to doing any better.

Residents of Maplewood, New Jersey are raising funds for the leader of a local bike bus after a hit-and-run driver left him with life-threatening injuries; a crowdfunding page has raised nearly $40,000 of the $55,000 goal.

A Virginia driver says he’ll be riding a bicycle now after the war with Iran caused gas prices to spike. So there’s that, anyway.

Seriously? Police in Raleigh NC have no intention of filing charges against the driver who killed a 65-year old man riding a bicycle, even though he was in a crosswalk with the green light, apparently because a) the victim was riding against traffic, and/or b) because the driver wasn’t drunk — even though the investigation is still ongoing, for no apparent reason. Never mind that crosswalks are bidirectional, and being under the influence isn’t the only way a driver can be at fault. And be forewarned, there’s no way to opt out of the cookies if you click on the damn link. 

 

International

Road.cc takes you on a tour of the wonderful world of the year’s best bicycling shoes for beginners.

A writer for Cycling Weekly explains why his high-end bike tires cost three times as much as his crappy car tires.

A London law firm says they get contacted by an average of ten people a month who have been injured riding Lime bikes in the city, even though the company says 99.99 percent of journeys end without incident.

An Irish detective was awarded the equivalent of nearly $290,000 after he was suspended for three years for the crime of loaning a farmer an unclaimed bicycle that had sat for a long time at the police station during the pandemic.

Ireland’s transportation authority says active transportation takes up to 660,000 cars off the road every day in the country’s five largest metro areas. It could here, too, if people felt safer walking and biking.

 

Finally…

If this ebike bill passes, you’d better get used to lentils. How to make the bike of the year even better.

And now you, too, can be a super secret motor doper.

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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Killer distracted hit-and-run driver gets out after less than 1/3rd of sentence; LADOT wants thoughts on Sunset/Cesar Chavez

February 13, 2026 / / Comments Off on Killer distracted hit-and-run driver gets out after less than 1/3rd of sentence; LADOT wants thoughts on Sunset/Cesar Chavez

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

The mother of fallen Corona bike rider Benjamin Montalvo has received word that the hit-and-run driver who killed her son is getting out of prison six and a half years early.

Twenty-eight-year old Neomi Velado was sentenced to nine years behind bars after she was convicted of felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and hit-and-run causing death.

She was busy texting her boyfriend when she slammed into Montalvo’s bicycle back in 2020, after reportedly drinking and smoking weed; it was her fourth distracted driving crash, which alone should have justified a murder charge.

But by fleeing the scene, she gave herself enough time to sober up before her mom convinced her to turn herself in — but only after she had replaced her windshield to hide evidence of the crime, and driven to work the next day.

And was photographed partying with her boyfriend in Las Vegas shortly afterwards. Apparently, taking the life of an innocent man didn’t do much to dampen her spirits.

Montalvo’s mother is appealing to Governor Newsom to halt the early release. She is also supporting Senate Bill 907, which would add gross vehicular manslaughter and vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated to the state’s list of violent felonies, which would allow sentences to be reduced by just 15%.

The fact that they aren’t already considered violent felonies would be impossible to believe if this wasn’t California, where even the most egregious motor vehicle collisions are still just considered “oopsies.”

The bill would also require a Watson notice anytime a DUI is knocked down to hit-and-run, allowing drivers to be charged with 2nd degree murder if they kill anyone while driving under the influence again.

Although they should also require a Watson notice after a first-time distracted driving conviction, so the driver could face a murder count if they kill someone while driving distracted again.

Let alone a fourth time.

Instead, we once again allowed a demonstrably dangerous driver to remain on the streets until it was too late.

And even then, shamefully let her go with a relative slap on the wrist.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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LADOT is conducting yet another survey, this time to consider changes to the Sunset/Cesar Chavez corridor.

Sunset/Chavez Safety and Mobility Project
We want to hear from you! Take our survey for a chance to win a $50 gift card!

The City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) is kicking off a new planning effort to improve safety and mobility along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave, between Fountain Ave and Alameda St. This major corridor connects neighborhoods across the city to key destinations such as Dodger Stadium, LA State Historic Park, Chinatown, Olvera Street, Union Station, and Downtown LA – Today there are critical gaps in the transportation network and ongoing safety concerns for people walking, biking, and taking public transit along the corridor.

At this stage, LADOT is focused on understanding the full range of issues people experience along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave. We are especially interested in hearing from community members about safety concerns, access challenges, and ideas for how the street could function better for everyone. LADOT wants your input to better understand the full range of issues experienced along Sunset Blvd and Cesar Chavez Ave to ensure the project reflects the community’s needs. Please take our survey to share your experience along the corridor and let us know how the corridor can be improved for all road users.

The survey is available until Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese.

Survey participants will be entered into an opportunity drawing for a chance to win a $50 gift card.

Take the Survey by Tuesday, March 31, 2026

 

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Metro will host an All The Love Community Ride to mark Valentines Day tomorrow.

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

Um, okay. A columnist for the London Telegraph calls for all of us “selfish” bike riders to be forced to wear license plates, arguing that drivers are ‘”terrified” by “egomaniac” bicyclists with “absolutist green agenda.”‘ Maybe we should just rivet a license onto our bike shorts. Or jeans. Or whatever the hell you ride in. 

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Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Nope, nothing to see here, either. 

 

National

A Las Vegas police station swings into action when a viewer complained about the broken HAWK beacons on a rail trail bike path crossing.

A 100km — 62 mile — ride connecting the Tucson area’s three Costcos has become an annual tradition for the University of Arizona medical school, and sparked conversations that have led to new areas of research.

The head of a Denver design firm makes the case for why the city’s protected bikeways provide a year-round return on investment. When I lived in Denver back in the Dark Ages, I could ride my bike across most of the city without ever riding in the street. And did year round, unless it snowed. In which case I used the same paths to ski to work. 

People For Bikes marks Black History Month, without mentioning it, by celebrating the North Omaha Trail, saying it connects communities while centering its culture, in the birthplace of Malcom X.

Two weeks after bike riders around the world honored slain Minneapolis mountain biker and VA nurse Alex Pretti, a moment-by-moment video analysis by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul showed that Pretti made no aggressive movements or tried to resist ICE officers in any way, and did nothing to justify the shooting that killed him.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani will announce plans today to re-reverse his predecessor’s decision to reverse plans for bus and bike lanes. Got that?

Florida cops conducted a full-blown police chase, complete with helicopter, and eventually took the miscreant into custody — a 14-year old kid on an ebike.

 

International

Travel site Islands takes a look at Montreal, after Copenhagenize named it the most bike friendly city in North America. Which oddly, is not an island. But still. 

A BBC radio host will ride a tandem most of the way across the UK, but not quite, to raise funds for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day.

You’ve got to be kidding. In a story that’s equal parts heartbreaking and infuriating, a 58-year Korean man walked without a day behind bars for using a choke chain to drag his dog to death behinds his ebike, while leaving a half-mile streak of bloodstains from the dog’s bleeding paws. Maybe someone should put the judge in a choke chain and make him run barefoot behind an ebike for an hour on an 82° night. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The first stage of Spain’s Andalucía Bike Race has been called on account of rain.

 

Finally…

Your next taillight could use AI to scare the crap out of you when a car comes too close. Your next bike could trace the history of Trek.

And we may have to deal with some real snakes behind the wheel. But a real Burmese Python, not so much.

………

See you at Santa Anita Park on Sunday, when our spokescorgi will compete in the Winter Corgi Nationals. 

We’ll be easy to spot. We’ll be the ones with the corgi. 

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Reforming DUI law to make it kinda less lax, Venice NC rethinks the bike plan, and throwing a bike at a hit-and-run driver

January 14, 2026 / / Comments Off on Reforming DUI law to make it kinda less lax, Venice NC rethinks the bike plan, and throwing a bike at a hit-and-run driver

Apparently, CalMatters is getting results for calling out California’s lax DUI laws.

The nonpartisan nonprofit news organization has run a series of hard-hitting stories pointing out how the state allows dangerous and deadly drivers to remain on the roads, even after taking a life.

Or repeatedly getting busted while too drunk or stoned to drive.

And how those overly lenient laws adds to the state’s ever increasing body count due to traffic violence caused by people who shouldn’t have been behind the wheel in the first place.

Now they’re reporting that a number of bills are being proposed in the state legislature to tackle the problem, including one directly addressing DUI.

(Assemblyman Nick) Schultz, a Democrat from Burbank, is the chair of the Assembly’s Public Safety Committee and a former DUI prosecutor. He unveiled a new bill last week – which he called “the tip of the spear” – that would crack down on repeat drunk drivers. The bill would:

  • Let prosecutors charge a felony for a third DUI — a “paradigm shift” for sentencing, he said, that would bring California more in line with states like Oregon, where Schultz worked. Right now, in California, a driver generally can’t be charged with a felony until their fourth DUI in 10 years.
  • Require any driver who gets a fifth DUI conviction within 10 years to have their license revoked for five years, and to install an in-car breathalyzer for four years. As we’ve reported, California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the nation, and these measures touch on two reasons why.

Look, I’m glad to finally see some action to address DUI. Any action.

But waiting for a fifth DUI in just ten years to get serious about taking away someone’s driving privileges is like giving someone his gun back because his first few shots missed.

A driver’s first DUI should result in an automatic six-month loss of license, and a requirement to use an interlock device for at least two years.

A second DUI should result in automatic jail time, or at least home vacation confinement. And a third should mean serious prison time, and a permanent loss of license.

That’s three in a lifetime, not 10 years. Or 20.

We should also impound the cars of any drivers who have their license suspended, for whatever reason. Because as we’ve seen, too many people continue to drive even after their license has been taken away.

Does that sound harsh?

So is having to arrange a funeral for a loved one.

The simple fact is, no one has a right to drive. It is a privilege granted by the state, only after passing a test demonstrating a basic knowledge of traffic laws, and the ability to drive safely.

Which means that everyone should know it’s illegal to drive after drinking or getting high. Other than speeding or distracted driving, nothing a person does behind the wheel is more likely to result in the death of another human being.

And don’t get me started on how lenient our speeding and distracted driving laws are.

Right now, we enforce DUI with a wink and a nod, accepting a driver’s promise to never, ever do it again. Until they do, when we usually just do the same thing.

And keep doing it until they kill someone.

It’s long past time we put a stop to it, once and for all. And incremental steps, however well intentioned, won’t get us there.

……….

The Venice Neighborhood Council wants to know where you think a safe Venice bike network should go.

Never mind that there’s already a Los Angeles bike plan, part of the city mobility plan, that maps that out in detail.

But whatever.

The Venice NC Parking & Transportation Committee met Monday to discuss the creation and distribution of a Bikeway Network for Venice in time for the ’28 Olympics.

According to YoVenice,

The purpose of the survey is to include community input, advice, and suggestions before the final product is distributed to the general public. Should they receive board approval, several methods of distribution will be used for maximum participation and input.

The creation of a Venice Bikeway Network would be the ultimate goal and objective.

It’s not that they shouldn’t take another look at it.

Obviously, things have changed in the decade and a half since the bike plan was unanimously approved by the city council. They should consider how it can be improved, particularly in a neighborhood where residents are five times more likely to ride a bicycle than most Angelenos.

But start with the work that’s already in place, without trying to reinvent the (bicycle) wheel.

………

Seriously?

A 31-year old Indiana man faces charges for the hit-and-run death of a 69-year old Indianapolis man riding a bicycle, after police tracked him down two months later.

He bizarrely told investigators that he knew he had been in a crash, but kept going because he thought someone had just thrown a bicycle at his truck, and had no idea there might possibly be someone riding it.

If he actually believes that, prosecutors should add a DUI charge to his indictment, because he’d have to be whacked out of his mind to have that thought even pop into his head.

He should also have been charged with murder, because it took half an hour to find the victim after he was run down, at which point it was too late to help him.

And to top things off, the driver was out on pre-trial release for a separate domestic battery case.

Nice guy.

………

This is the future we could have.

Although as someone else pointed out in the comments, we already have a few Metro Bike Hubs, but nowhere near enough. And you have to have a membership, rather than just using it on demand whenever you need it.

Twitter post

Twitter post

 

………

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

No bias here. Conservative politicians in England’s Merseyside region are attacking a “ridiculous” new bike lane network as “crackpot stuff,” even as the local government calls for people to ditch their cars for some shorter journeys, insisting it will make area “healthier and safer.”

No bias here, either. Irish bicyclists and advocacy group attacked the remarks of a judge who imposed his own views as a driver to slash an award to an injured bike rider by 80%, saying bicyclists “have become a nightmare in Dublin;” one group argued it showed “language that risks normalizing hostility towards people who choose to travel by bike.” Never mind that the judge once refused to take a breathalyzer test when he was suspected of drunk driving.

………

Local 

Just months after Pee-wee Herman’s classic red and white bicycle was donated to the Alamo, and a second went to Kourtney Kardashian as a Christmas present, another of the 14 duplicate bikes used to film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was donated to the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures at Wilshire and Fairfax.

Apparently, a random video of bicycling through LA’s Skid Row is proof that California is “a third world hellscape,” where the “streets look like Mogadishu.” In other words, sort of like a few streets in any other major city.

LA’s killer highway nearly claimed another victim, as a man in his 50s was seriously injured when he was run down by a driver while riding an ebike in Hermosa Beach. Although photos from the scene make it clear that he was riding an electric motorbike, rather than a ped-assist ebike.

 

State

The City of La Mesa is teaming with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition for an hour long virtual information session for new bicycle owners tomorrow evening.

A Eureka woman was arrested nearly a year after she used her SUV as a weapon by allegedly speeding up to intentionally strike a bicycle being ridden by someone she knew, while driving on the wrong side of the road, then backing up to run over the victim’s bicycle, and crashing into another car after running a red light as she tried to make her escape; fortunately, the victim didn’t appear to be seriously injured, although the driver of the car she hit was hospitalized afterwards.

 

National

There’s a special place in hell for anyone who flees the scene of a crash, leaving a little kid lying in the street — like the driver who hit a child’s bike as he was riding in a Bend, Oregon crosswalk. Fortunately, the boy wasn’t seriously injured.

Bike Portland struggles to make sense of what caused an experienced bicyclist to lose control of his bike and go over his handlebars, after a witness said initial reports that he hit a large pothole were wrong.

Oregon letter writers argue that improving bike infrastructure helps reduce oil dependence.

A 23-year old Salt Lake City man has been arrested for fatally shooting a bike thief in the back, as the alleged thief was riding off on his bicycle. We’ve said too many times already that no bicycle is worth a human life. Just let it go, and let the cops deal with it. That’s what they’re paid to do.

A tri-state planning association for the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region calls on New Jersey to reject a legislative crackdown on ebikes that would be the most restrictive ebike law in the US.

You’ve got to be kidding. A bike-riding kid in South Carolina got the blame for crashing into the side of a passing pickup, even though it’s far more likely the driver sideswiped the kid. Never mind that even if the kid did crash into the pickup, the driver was clearly violating the state’s three-foot passing law.

 

International

Momentum recommends a dozen “hidden gem” bicycling routes for your bike bucket list, only one of which is in the US.

An English writer says a bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver in his town, leaving the bicycling community scared — and serving as a reminder that safer roads aren’t a ridiculous request, but a need. Trust me, I know the feeling. But I’d add heartsick to those feels, too. 

She gets it. An Irish coroner looking into the death of a 58-year old bike rider blames the lack of a comprehensive bike path network, while a bike advocacy group says the street where he was killed by a truck driver “is not safe for people walking or cycling.”

Speaking of bike bucket lists, a French website recommends the Parc naturel régional du Luberon in the heart of Provence, saying it might as well have been “designed for exploring on two wheels.”

 

Competitive Cycling

Two-time Tour de France and defending Vuelta champ Jonas Vingegaard will race the Giro this year, as he tries to claim the only Grand Tour he hasn’t won. Yet. Note to newspapers — does it really make sense to paywall an AP story that’s readily available on the internet?

Australia’s Royal Automobile Association, the country’s equivalent to AAA, is urging drivers and bicyclists to be patient and courteous, and obey the law, during the upcoming Santos Tour Down Under. Although it’s not the scofflaw bike riders whose impatience and lack of courtesy puts everyone else at risk.

 

Finally…

Turning a simple bicycle jersey into a work of art. Nothing like spending your Christmas riding laps around a Mickey D’s drive-thru.

And accusing an oil-sponsored bike race of “pedalling climate bullshit.”

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Urgent Malibu PCH action alert, CA among weakest US DUI states, and more on CARB’s murder of ebike incentives

October 31, 2025 / / 2 comments
Day 304 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Happy Halloween!

If you’re still looking for a costume that will truly terrify your neighbors, consider going as a bike lane.

………

If you live, work, commute or bike on or anywhere near PCH in western Malibu, take urgent action now to keep a vital safety project moving forward, which is currently in jeopardy before the Malibu Planning Commission.

Consider this alert from Streets Are For Everyone that went out yesterday; you’ll find a ready-made email response form on that link.

Choose Life Over Delay — tell the Planning Commission to Approve the Plan

On Monday, November 3, the Malibu Planning Commission will hold its final hearing to decide whether to approve the Caltrans PCH Safety Project — a $55 million once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rebuild and make PCH safer for everyone. Based on the last meeting, they are not likely to approve the plans unless people express strong support for the plans.

You can view that meeting here. The presentation, public comment, and debate start at 38:10 and continue for a couple of hours.

This plan would repave and reconstruct the western end of PCH from Cross Creek Rd to the Ventura County line while adding long-overdue safety improvements like:

  • 15 miles of new or upgraded bike lanes
  • 6,956 linear feet of new sidewalks in high pedestrian zones, including in front of Pepperdine University
  • 42 new dark-sky compliant light poles
  • The installation of 19 new guardrails
  • 22 new or upgraded curb ramps
  • Three new retaining walls
  • Two realigned intersections
  • A vehicle pull-out for law enforcement use
  • Median reconstruction at various locations
  • Associated roadway improvements along Pacific Coast Highway within the Public Right-of-Way between the Ventura County line and Serra Road

There are additional safety improvements that can and should be made after this. They will require additional funding and much more work to secure approval from agencies like the California Coastal Commission. The items above are changes that can be easily implemented with the funds immediately available.

If the Planning Commission fails to approve the project, the funding will vanish. The road will not be repaved, the safety upgrades will not happen, and Malibu will lose its only realistic chance to prevent more deaths on the western end of PCH for years or even decades.

This is not just another meeting — it’s a moral choice between action and inaction. Every year of delay means more preventable crashes, more empty chairs at dinner tables, and more families devastated by the same road we all depend on.

What We’re Asking You to Do:

Email the Malibu Planning Commission today and tell them to approve the Caltrans PCH Safety Plan. Ask them to prioritize lives over delays — to say YES to rebuilding PCH safely, responsibly, and collaboratively. We can continue to refine the details, but we cannot afford to lose the funding and start from zero.

Please also show up to the Planning Commission Meeting on Monday, 3 Nov, starting at 6:30 at Malibu City Hall. This is the link to the agenda.

You can also join and provide public comment on this virtually using this link.

This is Malibu’s last real chance to fix the western end of PCH.

Not mentioned is that failure to approve the plan means the money will be reallocated to other projects, somewhere else in the state. Which will set back desperately needed safety improvements on SoCal’s killer highway years, if not decades.

The Malibu Planning Commission doesn’t want to hear from me, since I haven’t set foot or wheel on PCH or in Malibu for years.

They want, and need, to hear from you.

Photo from Caltrans. 

………

In what should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, CalMatters finds that California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the country.

California’s DUI enforcement system is broken. The toll can be counted in bodies.

Alcohol-related roadway deaths in California have shot up by more than 50% in the past decade — an increase more than twice as steep as the rest of the country, federal estimates show. More than 1,300 people die each year statewide in drunken collisions. Thousands more are injured. Again and again, repeat DUI offenders cause the crashes…

We found that California has some of the weakest DUI laws in the country, allowing repeat drunk and drugged drivers to stay on the road with little punishment. Here, drivers generally can’t be charged with a felony until their fourth DUI within 10 years, unless they injure someone. In some states, a second DUI can be a felony…

California also gives repeat drunk drivers their licenses back faster than other states. Here, you typically lose your license for three years after your third DUI, compared to eight years in New Jersey, 15 years in Nebraska and a permanent revocation in Connecticut. We found drivers with as many as six DUIs who were able to get a license in California.

Many drivers stay on the road for years even when the state does take their license — racking up tickets and even additional DUIs — with few consequences until they eventually kill.

Seriously, read it now. We’ll wait for you.

Back already?

Maybe you caught the part where they said “drunk vehicular manslaughter isn’t considered a “violent felony,” but DUI causing “great bodily injury” is. So breaking someone’s leg while driving under the influence can result in more jail time than killing someone.

Go figure.

Or that some California drivers have somehow remained on the road with up to 16 DUIs, until some innocent person pays the price. Or far too often, more than one.

And that arrests have dropped in half over the past 20 years, even as loosened cannabis laws and ready access to pharmaceuticals — legal and otherwise — mean more people than ever are likely driving under the influence of something.

This isn’t just theoretical for me.

One of my best childhood friends was killed by a drunk driver our senior year of high school. He was a state tennis champ deciding between a college scholarship and going pro when a woman somehow jumped a 50-foot median with guard rails on either side, and hit his car head-on, killing him and a passenger.

She walked away without a scratch. Or any jail time.

The same with my cousin, a rodeo queen killed when her father made a sudden turn, throwing her out of the back seat, then ran over her when he went back to get her.

So yeah, it’s personal.

And don’t even get me started on all the many victims of drunk and drugged drivers I’ve had to write about here over the last two decades.

Yes, this state just approved a law extending the ability of judges to order DUI drivers to install an interlock device. But that won’t do a damn thing to stop someone from getting behind the wheel stoned out of their mind.

Take this case in point. Or this one.

It’s long past time California got serious about drunk and drugged drivers, even if that means taking their cars away and not just their licenses. Or building a new effing prison to hold them all if we have to.

I’ll be happy to chip in to help pay for it, if it means a few more people will make it back home at the end of every day.

………

More on yesterday’s story about the California Air Resources Board stabbing the bicycle community in the back by quietly stabbing the California Ebike Incentive Program in the front when no one was looking.

According to Streetsblog’s Damien Newton,

Despite demand for e-bike vouchers being so high that it crashed the website each time the state opened the lottery, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted at their last meeting to end the statewide program it oversaw, rolling the remaining $17 million of the original $30 million allocated by the legislature into its “Clean Cars 4 All” Program.

The concept of California E-Bike Incentive Project began had so much promise but was plagued with scandal and incompetence to such a level that one prospective applicant told Streetsblog last April, “If they were actively trying to sabotage the program, what would they do differently than this?”

Regardless of the intent, the effect is the same. The April application portal was the last time the program gave out certificates.

He adds that the most surprising thing is how quietly the program slunk out — or was tossed out — the back door, with no official announcement, no press release, and no mention on the program’s website.

There’s more. A lot more, in fact.

It’s all worth a read.

But what occurred to me yesterday is that this could leave CARB exposed to a lawsuit for age discrimination and violating the Americans With Disabilities Act.

Because by transferring the funds to a green car program, they are favoring people capable of driving over those who can no longer drive due to age and/or illness, and needed an ebike to provide greater mobility.

Could it win?

I have no idea. I’m not a lawyer, and have no expertise in ADA or age discrimination law.

But if someone needs a plaintiff, I know where they can look.

………

LADOT reminds us they’re looking for feedback to finally fix dangerous Ohio Ave west of Westwood Blvd.

Twitter post

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Gravel Bike California explores the Breckenridge Mountain Loop, just a two-hour drive from Los Angeles.

Although the only Breckenridge I’ve ever ridden is just a tad further away.

………

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

No bias here. The local paper says adding a movable barrier to the bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael bridge is a good idea, allowing the state to close the bike lane on weekdays to make more room for cars. Because evidently, the convenience of drivers outweighs the convenience and safety of everyone else. 

An English politician complains that a few feet of pavement for new bikeway is changing the character of the city by covering over historic cobbled paving stones. But the city just says hold on, we’re not done yet.

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

A British man was surprised to learn a bikeshare company has no legal liability for the ebike rider who crashed into his bicycle, leaving him “hours from death.”

………

Local 

Streets For All says the $2 billion — yes, with a B — LAX ATMP Roadway Improvement Project will only have the opposite effect, tearing up streets just before the Olympics, while making things more dangerous for pedestrians and people on bikes.

A Culver City paper offers more information on the official opening of the new Robertson Blvd Bus/Bike Lane Project.

Somehow, we missed this year’s Phil’s Cookie Fondo, hosted by former pro cyclist and Worst Retirement Ever host Phil Gaimon, to raise fund for the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club — but you can still donate to the fundraiser.

 

State

Around 1,600 people are expected to turn out for Saturday’s Bike the Coast in San Diego County, with distances ranging from seven miles to a century.

The annual two-day, 31-mile Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride is currently underway in San Diego.

That’s more like it. A 27-year old Bakersfield man was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for the drunken hit-and-run crash that killed a 30-year old woman riding a bicycle in 2022, despite turning himself in a few days later after sobering up. As lax as California’s DUI laws are, the state-s hit-and-run statutes are even worse, providing an incentive for drivers to flee if they’ve had a few.

Marin County bike riders were expected to turn out last night for the annual Pumpkin Head Ride, which requires participants to wear a lit pumpkin on their helmets, if not their heads.

Sacramento’s Bike Lab works to empower local people through a variety of community services, including free bike repairs for anyone who needs it.

 

National

Knog is recalling its Blinder 900 and Blinder 1300 Front Bicycle Lights because the lithium-ion batteries could catch fire, but they promise they’ll replace it for you.

No point in waiting, I guess. Bike Magazine is the first out of the gate with a holiday gift guide. For all your Halloween giving, evidently. 

Somehow, I’ve never heard anyone say they’d start riding if only ebikes had a bigger interactive touch screen.

Of all the crashes that are unsurvivable, getting run down by a cement truck driver ranks pretty high on the list.

A Utah woman got a custom postpartum bike fit to help her get back on her bike, addressing the unique physiological changes affecting women after having a baby.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. Albuquerque, New Mexico is building a new HAWK signal at a bike trail crossing where a bike rider was killed three months ago. Except why do they always have to wait until it’s too late? And someone should tell that TV station that the victim probably had a name. Just saying. 

The leaders of a Kansas hospital chain got together to build 25 new bicycles to donate to children and families across the Kansas City area.

An Ohio city opened a new connector project, including a new bike and pedestrian bridge, stitching together multiple miles of bike trails.

Great idea. A Baltimore-area bike shop teamed with a bike builder and custom painter to build a tricked-out, one-of-a-kind bicycle, raising over nine grand for a local homeless outreach group.

A Florida op-ed writer argues that greater enforcement against bike riders and pedestrians is exactly what’s needed to improve traffic safety. Because we’re the real danger, apparently, not the people in the big, dangerous machines.

 

International

A Canadian writer got his custom built, carbon frame Frankenbike back, courtesy of a small town marketplace, a year-and-a-half after it was stolen from the teenager he passed it down to.

Somehow, Brompton goes electric doesn’t quite have the same feel as Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival, but still.

Europe’s most influential bicycle trade show is in jeopardy, after two leading German bike groups pulled out of Eurobike.

The UK now has a “boozy bike trail” through vineyards just 90-miles from London. Because if there’s one thing dank and drizzly England is known for, it’s wine. 

That’s more like it. Lime is deploying 500 dockless ebikes with child seats installed on the back to the streets of Paris.

A travel writer takes his family on a first-of-its-kind Botswana safari to track lions and elephants by bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

I want to be like him when I grow up. A Grand Junction, Colorado newspaper celebrates a 77-year old local man’s second-place age-group finish on the world master’s cycling stage.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new artistic bike rack becomes a sock library. Or when you invent the first aero bike by using balsa wood and mummy tape.

And evidently, you’re not supposed to hurl Lime bikes out the back of a van.

Who knew?

Instagram post

……… 

Thanks to Ted F for his very generous donation to support this site, and help me stay in the fight for a few more rounds.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Yaroslavsky decries traffic violence, LAPD waits 5 months to ask for hit-and-run help, and just 4 CA safety bills signed into law

October 15, 2025 / / Comments Off on Yaroslavsky decries traffic violence, LAPD waits 5 months to ask for hit-and-run help, and just 4 CA safety bills signed into law
Day 288 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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At least now I can name the dog.

CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky discusses the hit-and-run crash that severely injured one of her staff members and killed the staffer’s beloved corgi — something I mentioned here last week — saying walking shouldn’t have to feel like an act of courage.

And yet, far too often, it does.

Last Sunday morning, someone driving a pickup truck struck a member of our team in a hit-and-run while she was walking her dog in the Miracle Mile neighborhood. She sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized with multiple fractures for several days. She is now in stable condition and recovering. Tragically, her beloved dog, Kobe, was killed in the crash.

Kobe was part of our office family. His playful energy and easy affection brought smiles to everyone who met him, whether in the office or out at community events like CicLAvia, where he was a familiar face. Our office feels emptier without him, and our thoughts are with our colleague as she recovers from both her injuries and this heartbreaking loss.
The driver has since turned herself in, but this devastating incident is a reminder that far too many Angelenos are hurt or killed on our streets every year. In 2024 alone, more than 300 people lost their lives to traffic violence, many while simply walking or biking in their own neighborhoods. Behind every death or injury is a family changed forever, a community left grieving.

As I mentioned, the victim is a friend of my wife’s and mine, and Kobe was probably our corgi’s best friend.

They were always together, every time we saw her. And our corgi would run to give her kisses, and around Kobe a like a lovesick puppy.

Which she probably was.

To say I’ve been devastated by this whole damn thing is probably the understatement of the year.

The most heartbreaking part was when she posted news of Kobe’s passing on Instagram, saying her final memory of the dog she adored was staring into one his eyes after the crash, both unable to move to comfort the other.

And if that doesn’t bring tears to your eyes, you’re a stronger person than I am.

There’s no word yet on whether the driver has been charged. But at most, she’ll face a maximum of four years and a fine up to $10,000 for felony hit-and-run causing serious injury. Which LA prosecutors will probably bargain down to misdemeanor to get a guilty plea, unless someone puts pressure on them.

And here in California, the hit-and-run murder of her dog is just a misdemeanor property crime.

He deserves so much better.

Rest in peace, my friend.

Rest in peace.

………

Seriously?

The LAPD is finally getting around to asking for the public’s help to find a hit-and-run driver, only five months after the fact.

Talk about letting the trail go cold.

The 64-year old victim, who hasn’t been identified, was reportedly riding on Hoover Street at 20th around 3:15 am on May 28th, when he was hit head-on in a left cross by a driver turning left onto Hoover.

Or maybe the driver was going west on Hoover Street and was making a left to go west on 20th Street, striking the victim as he rode across 20th Street in the crosswalk.

Who knew that both Hoover and 20th could go east and west?

What makes far more sense is if the victim was riding south on Hoover, and was struck by the northbound driver turning left onto 20th. Although you’d think that after five months the cops could get the damn details right.

The suspect vehicle, described only as a white sedan, was last seen headed west on 20th Street toward the 10 Freeway west on-ramp.

The victim was hospitalized with severe injuries. There’s no information on his current condition.

Anyone with information is urged to call Detective Holmes of the LAPD’s West Traffic Division at 213/473-0216.

And yes, there is a standing $25,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest and conviction in any serious injury hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

This is yet another reminder that the LAPD still refuses to use the hit-and-run alert systems provided by both the city and the state, both of which were patterned on Colorado’s successful system that has helped the Colorado state police reach a nearly 100% hit-and-run clearance rate.

Which compares somewhat favorably with the LAPD’s abysmal 1% clearance rate.

………

Streetsblog catches us up on the precious few bike and traffic safety bills that actually made it through the legislature and were signed by the governor this year, including —

  • SB 720 making it easier to install and enforce red light cams
  • AB 366 indefinitely extending the operation of breathalyzers for drivers found guilty of two DUIs
  • AB 383 lowering speed limits in school zones to 20 mph
  • SB 71 extends CEQA exemptions for bike, pedestrian, and transit projects past 2030

Governor Newsom also promised to sign a bill next year requiring interlock devices for anyone convicted of DUI, which would be a great step forward.

Maybe next year they could finally do something to stop hit-and-run, too. Because the LAPD sure as hell isn’t.

https://twitter.com/StreetsR4Every1/status/1977883748474794462

………

No surprise here.

A new study from an Austrian university found that reducing residential speed limits from 50km/h to 30 km/h — roughly 31 mph to 18 mph — would protect bicyclists while having little or no effect on traffic.

Reducing the speed limit to 30km/h across residential areas doubled the amount of bike travel on low-stress streets – creating a safer environment for children and less confident cyclists, said the study’s lead researcher, Dr Afshin Jafari.

“Slowing traffic makes bicycle riding less stressful, encouraging more people to choose bikes as a safe and viable mode of transport,” Jafari said…

Meanwhile, the study – which was published in Cycling and Micromobility Research – found car travel was barely affected by the 30km/h limit, as it was only applied on local streets rather than the busier roads – such as main roads or highways – that were designed to maximise the flow of traffic.

………

Now that’s a service dog.

When drivers fail to stop so a blind man can cross the street, his guide dog goes out and gives them a piece of his mind, telling them to stop in no uncertain terms.

Twitter post

………

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

A writer for Cycling Weekly says he was passed so badly by a truck driver that an inch the wrong way would have meant he wouldn’t still be here to tell the story — and that’s normal for bicyclists, who are expected to just accept it. As the bard put it, “‘Tis true, ’tis pity, And pity ’tis, ’tis true.”

No bias here. An Irish TV commentator accuses “mouthy” wealthy cargo bike owners for a property crisis brought on by soaring home prices by trying to “ringfence cities as active travel playpens for the better off,” and forcing an entire generation to live at home with their parents. Although that doesn’t explain why we’re having the same problem over here. 

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

Alameda parents raised safety concerns after a teenager was injured crashing into another bike rider when he tried to pop a wheelie while riding to school.

A woman in Cape Cod, Massachusetts called for more regulation after she was struck by a ped-assist ebike rider, and somehow impaled under her eye by the handlebars.

………

Local 

President Trump threatened to move next year’s World Cup out of Boston, and take the 2028 Olympics away from Los Angeles, ostensibly because of potential safety concerns. Or more likely, because he just doesn’t like us, never mind that he doesn’t have the authority to do that.

Pasadena residents strongly backed slow speed greenways on El Molino Ave, Wilson Ave, Sierra Bonita Ave and Craig Ave, with over 1,000 people signing petitions backing them, and 18 local organizations endorsing the projects, as well as 200 emails and around 35 speakers who supported them at Monday’s council meeting.

Next door in South Pasadena, Huntington Drive and Fremont Ave are set to get Complete Streets makeovers, including lane reductions and lower speed limits, along with bikeways and better sidewalks.

 

State

Ocean Beach installed a stone memorial and plaque memorializing OB resident and UPS employee Steven Krueger on the bike path near Robb Field Skate Park; Krueger was killed when a plane crashed into his mail truck in 2021.

Sad news from Merced, where a 46-year old woman was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding her bike Monday afternoon; the driver was arrested after he was captured on surveillance video, despite trying to run away from the cops.

 

National

You’ve got to be kidding. US House Speaker Mike Johnson says Portland’s “emergency” naked bike ride was “the most threatening thing” he’s seen yet, adding “I mean, it’s getting really ugly;” meanwhile, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley applauded Portland residents for “demonstrating with joy and whimsy.” Although if Johnson thinks that was ugly, he hasn’t seem me naked on a bike.

As expected, 18-year old Jzamir Keys pled guilty to second-degree murder in the death of former Bell, California police chief Andreas Probst as he was riding a bicycle in Las Vegas, with a sentence of 18-to-life; Keys was a passenger in the car who laughed and filmed the murder as Probst was intentionally run down by 20-year-old Jesus Ayala, who pled guilty last week.

Heartbreaking news from Kansas City, where a ten-year old girl was killed by a van driver in a left cross collision while riding her bike in a crosswalk with the green light on her way to school.

He gets it. A Cambridge, Massachusetts letter writer says bike safety will be his voting priority in the upcoming city election. Which is exactly what we all should do. 

 

International

A professional bike tester writes that there are six things he never worries about when setting out for a ride, from tire pressure and chain lube to on-bike nutrition.

The Guardian offers “expert” advice on cleaning and maintaining your bike, including a tip that you could save hundreds just by giving your bike a bath once a fortnight. Or every two weeks for those of us on this side of the pond. 

Cycling Weekly says you probably haven’t checked the setting on your pedals in years, as the two smallest screws on your bike could have one of the biggest impacts on safety.

Britain’s Neil Campbell set a new world bicycle speed record of 175.89 mph by drafting behind a high-powered pickup truck at a competition in Arkansas last week, topping his previous record of 174.33 mph. And to think I was happy when I finally topped 30 on level ground. 

The BBC visits the 900 mile, “87% car-free, culturally rich and surprisingly accessible” Rhine Cycle Route, which follows the river from the Swiss Alps to the North Sea.

A Melbourne, Australia economist and bike advocate says the city is too car centric, and bicycles are just an afterthought.

 

Finally…

Your new t-shirt could honor an iconic, if “cheekily named,” two-wheeled BMW. Who needs a white picket fence when you’ve got bike frames?

And I’ve known more pig-faced cyclists than the other way around.

Instagram post

……… 

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

A look at South LA’s hit-and-run epidemic, Andreas Probst killer plead guilty in Vegas, and Victorville supports injured teen

October 8, 2025 / / Comments Off on A look at South LA’s hit-and-run epidemic, Andreas Probst killer plead guilty in Vegas, and Victorville supports injured teen
Day 281 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Call it a mental health day. 

I couldn’t get my head straight after writing about Sunday’s fatal bicycling crash in Lemon Grove, and just didn’t have it in me to write anymore about bikes yesterday. Or anything else, for that matter.

All these years of writing about fallen bike riders is really weighing on my heart, and I honestly don’t know how long I can keep it up. 

Then again, if I don’t, who will?

………

Of course he gets it.

Longtime community advocate Earl Ofari Hutchinson writes for the Los Angeles Wave Newspapers about the ongoing hit-and-run epidemic in South Los Angeles, even as the rate of hit-and-runs has declined in the rest of the city.

Although you could have fooled me on that last part.

And only an infinitesimal amount of LA’s hit-and-runs ever results in an arrest.

Here’s an idea of how rare that is. There were more than 7,000 known hit-and-run accidents in Los Angeles from 2022 to 2024. While only a small percent of the hit and runs resulted in death, the troubling, eye popping statistic was that an infinitesimal number of hit-and-run drivers were ever arrested. How infinitesimal? Exactly 1%.

It gets even worse. The number of hit and runs, according to Los Angeles Police Department figures, have dropped in the last year. But not in South Los Angeles, where a disproportionate number of the hit and runs occur. And as the figures show, the likelihood of an arrest is slim to almost none.

He also goes on to explain the most common reasons drivers flee.

A driver who strikes another vehicle or — worse a pedestrian — often panics. They fear arrest, jailing and potentially a conviction and imprisonment.

There are many circumstances that cause hit-and-run accidents. The most common are drug and alcohol impairment, speeding, driver distraction, cell phone use and sleep deprivation drowsiness.

Drivers that hit and run flee because they have been involved in a crime, lack a valid driver’s license and/or insurance, are intoxicated or on drugs. At the very least, a driver involved in a hit and run fears not just prosecution but loss of a driver’s license.

These days, you can add immigration status to that, as people fear they could be deported by ICE if they get arrested, let alone convicted, of a traffic crime.

Hutchinson goes on to add that even LA’s standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of killer hit-and-run drivers isn’t enough to get witnesses to come forward, who too often fear getting involved.

The solution, according to Hutchinson, is a proposal to create special multi-agency law enforcement hit-and-run task force, followed by tough prosecution of the drivers.

All I can say is about damn time.

And good luck with that.

Because California’s lenient hit-and-run laws actually provide an incentive to flee, since the penalty for hit-and-run is often lower than for DUI or other crimes. And LA prosecutors usually bargain away serious penalties to get a guilty plea, rather than go to trial.

But even if a driver is sentenced to jail time, California’s overcrowded penal system means it’s too often a revolving door that results in an unwarranted released after serving just a fraction of their term.

If you’ve been reading this site for awhile, you know what I propose to address, if not solve, the problem.

But one way or another, we have to do something.

Because failing to make an arrest, let alone get a conviction, not only means the driver won’t be held accountable.

It means the victims have to bear to full cost of recovering from their injuries.

And more California drivers will just continue to flee.

Today’s photo may be from Long Beach’s popular Beach Streets open streets event, but it’s a gentle reminder for drivers after a crash, too.

………

At last there’s justice for former Bell police chief Andreas Probst, who was intentionally run down by a pair of teenagers while riding his bike in Las Vegas two years ago.

The crash was recorded by Probst’s killers, and shared with their fellow high school students. And quickly became one of the highest profile crashes in a nationwide rash of deliberate vehicular assaults on bike riders by teens in stolen cars, and recorded for social media.

According to Las Vegas News 3, the driver, Jesus Ayala, faces a sentence of 20 years to life after pleading guilty to felony counts of robbery, battery with the use of a deadly weapon, and second-degree murder.

The deadly weapon being a car, in this case.

Jzamir Keys, the passenger who filmed the attack and laughed afterward, is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on Tuesday of next week.

Probst’s wife and children have filed a lawsuit against Ayala and Keys, as well as Hyundai Motor Company, alleging that a defect in Hyundai Elantras enabled them to steal the car they used to murder him.

………

The Victorville community is rallying to support a 13-year old boy who was severely injured by a DUI driver while riding his bike last week, according to the Victorville Daily Press.

A crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $5,000 for the victim, identified as Manuel Sanchez.

According to his uncle, he’s hospitalized on a breathing tube, with injuries including a broken leg, broken arm, lacerated liver and kidney, internal bleeding in his stomach, as well as bruised lungs and injuries to his small intestine and spleen.

Thirty-six-year old Victorville resident Rosalie Marie Morales was released on $250,000 bond, after she was booked on suspicion of DUI involving both alcohol and drugs causing severe bodily injury.

………

BikeLA is gearing up for its annual Bike Fest fundraiser and silent auction next month, which replaced the beloved LA River Ride as the group’s primary fundraising event.

https://twitter.com/heybikela/status/1975278105867788505

………

Anyone who has ever tried to bike through the notorious, traffic-choked Wilshire and Western intersection probably wishes there was still a roundabout controlling traffic.

Although LA drivers probably still wouldn’t know how to navigate one.

Twitter post

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Dr. Grace Peng rightfully complains that bicyclists are not allowed to use the “beautiful newly widened underpass where PCH crosses the old Pacific Electric Railway in Manhattan Beach.”

Bluesky post

………

A workshop will be held tonight on the campus of Cal State LA to discuss options for the now-canceled 710 Freeway extension through Alhambra.

And yes, I’d vote for this one.

………

Don’t miss the latest edition of Bike Talk, which has shifted from its original local Los Angeles focus to a national perspective.

Bluesky post

………

Megan forwards news of Boston drivers availing themselves of a local bike path to bypass traffic.

………

It’s the last day of the fall Amazon Prime Day, as Velo, Singletracks and Cycling Weekly highlight the best deals.

Or you could visit your local bike shop, and spend your money right here at home, where it will do the most good.

………

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

No bias here. A Palo Alto website notes the opening of a $55 million protected bike lane — then complains that it’s “sparsely used” when only one bike rider passes by in the first 15 minutes.

Police in the UK complain about “inaccurate” news reports that they won’t investigate bike thefts from train stations if the bikes have been parked for more than two hours, before confirming that it is, in fact, true.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the alleged Brooklyn hit-and-run bike rider accused of crashing into a 12-year old dog walking in a Prospect Park crosswalk with her owners; the elderly dog will need hip surgery.

A Brooklyn family is demanding answers after a 60-year old woman was killed when she was struck by two men riding an ebike, just moments after she got off a bus. Although have you ever noticed that that bike riders always get blamed anytime they collide with someone, but it’s always just an “accident” when drivers do.

………

Local 

Keep your eyes open for kids walking and biking to and from school today, as students throughout LA Country were urged to take part in today’s National Walk and Roll to School Day, while calling attention to bicycle and pedestrian safety.

Here’s your chance to name LA’s shiny new bike-pulled Hollywood Blvd protected bike lane sweeper.

A writer for Vogue says if you really want to get to know Los Angeles, ride the bus. Or better yet, ride a bike, like she did to get to her bus after moving here from New York after college.

Happy days are here again, as newly revived LA-based bikewear maker SWRVE reopens their office showroom for in-person shopping from 11am to 4pm Saturdays, offering closeout deals and items not sold online.

The Hermosa Beach City School District was honored with the Golden Bell Award from the California School Boards Association for its Be Safe, Be SMART ebike safety campaign.

 

State

A San Diego TV station says a new road diet and parking-protected bike lanes on the city’s Claremont Drive draws a mixed reaction from drivers and bicyclists — while apparently talking to exactly two people. And for the woman worried about evacuating in a fire, in the event of an emergency, feel free to use the center turn lane and wide bike lane buffer, which probably mean there’s actually more room for cars to escape, not less.

Temecula has installed new solar lights and improved bicycle access to the city’s Murrieta Creek Trail.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A 35-year old woman became the fourth person to be killed in a Ventura County crash in just four days, after she allegedly rode her motorcycle onto the wrong side of the road on a blind curve on Southern California’s killer highway.

Hats off to 17-year old Santa Barbara bicyclist Ray McPhee, who completed a double Everest over the weekend, climbing 58,000 feet of elevation while riding 300 miles in just 48 hours.

A Berkeley paper says ebikes are everywhere in the city now, “because they’re fun, they’re green, (and) they’re cheaper than ever.”

 

National

Planetizen considers what the country’s five safest cities for bicyclists have in common, as Momentum argues the list proves safety has nothing to do with luck.

Momentum also makes the case for why cities should pay people to bike to work to improve public health, combat climate change, reduce traffic congestion and enhance mental well-being.

They get it. Government Technology says law enforcement is lagging behind as ebikes become e-motorcycles, and lawmakers and police departments scramble to address the problem.

It looks like Justin Timberlake and Benson Boone are both one of us, as they agreed to ride the bus in Portland — the bike bus, that is.

The organizers of Portland’s World Naked Bike Ride have set this Sunday as the date for their “emergency ride” in response to President Trump’s efforts to deploy the National Guard in the city. Which gives you plenty of time to get up there and join in, no suitcase necessary. 

A CNN video profiles an Arizona mom who uses her ebike to transport her young daughter with cerebral palsy. Thanks to our old friend Mike for the video link.

A Tucson TV station examines why so many homeless people camp along a local bike path, after a bicyclist was stabbed to death confronting a homeless man who was hurling insults at a passing group ride.

Heartbreaking news from Las Vegas, where a 12-year old girl died after she was run down by the driver of a school bus while riding her bike home in a marked bike lane.

It’s Waymo-blamo in Atlanta, after police blamed the victim when a bike rider collided with a self-driving Waymo vehicle, alleging the bicyclist ran a stop sign and crashed into the Waymo, which had the right-of-way.

 

International

Cycling Weekly asks if bike paths are doomed, as Donald Trump declares war on bicycles, and cities in the UK just don’t use available funding to build them.

The organizer of British Columbia’s Okanagan Granfondo announced that the ride has been permanently cancelled after a crash that killed one woman, and injured two other people taking part in it.

A Canadian radio program discusses a world-traveling adventure cyclist, who returned home to ride from one end of Edmonton, Alberta to the other, and posted the video to YouTube. Although it’s kinda hard to see the video on the radio broadcast. Thanks again to Megan for the heads-up.

An op-ed writer says if anyone is truly outraged that the country spent €100,000 — the equivalent of $116,000 — to build secure bike parking at an Irish hospital, they should see what car parking costs, let alone the country’s “investment in congestion, pollution and the continuation of car-first planning.” Yes, credit Megan for that link, too.

Horrible news from Gurugram, India, where a 35-year old man was bludgeoned to death by three friends he was drinking with, over accusations of stealing a bicycle.

A Senegalese bicyclist is using social media to bring calm to the roads and end the transportation culture wars, arguing that “We’re not the enemy, and drivers aren’t either.” Which is true, except only the drivers are operating multi-ton weapons of mass destruction. 

A Japanese man with hearing problems is worried about the country’s new ban on bicycling with earbuds, afraid that will mean an end to the noise-cancelling ones that allow him to hear when he rides.

 

Competitive Cycling

Outside says America’s 34-year losing streak in mountain bike racing has finally ended, with American Christopher Blevins winning the World Cup overall  title.

Only 17 of the 97 cyclists who started the European Championships elite men’s road race crossed the finish line, as the rest just said the hell with it somewhere along the way.

Mexico’s National Road and Time Trial Cycling Championship will be held in Baja California later this month.

Yet another young cyclist is throwing in the towel, as 23-year old Alexandre Vinokurov announced his retirement from the XDS-Astana cycling team, saying he’s “been riding in fear and pain” since a devastating crash in March when he was struck by a driver while training in Greece.

The Israel Premier Tech cycling team is dropping its national identity in the face of mounting pro-Palestinian protests. Although the protests will probably continue as long as the team remains based in Israel. 

The Maryland Cycling Classic will expand to three days next year.

 

Finally…

Don’t claim you’ve got bike skills until you can pull off a six-and-a-half hour wheelie. A list of the “best bike helmets for protecting your noggin,” as if you would somehow wear one on your ass otherwise.

And there are always a few bicyclists who act like babies, but only a few who actually wear diapers.

……… 

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Good news and bad news as CA legislature hits halftime, and “oopsie” shouldn’t get killer drivers off the hook

June 11, 2025 / / Comments Off on Good news and bad news as CA legislature hits halftime, and “oopsie” shouldn’t get killer drivers off the hook
Day 162 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

………

Streetsblog provides a halftime report from the California legislature, as bills move to one house after passing in the other.

Or die an ignominious death upon failing.

Among the winners so far are AB 954, aka The Bike Highways Bill, and AB 891, Quick-Build Project Pilot Program.

The former would set up a pilot program to connect existing bikeways into bike highways, while the latter would instruct Caltrans to use quick-build designs to improve state roads.

Among the other bills also passing in the Assembly was AB 366, allowing interlock devices for drivers convicted of DUI.

Bills passing in the state Senate included SB 71, streamlining CEQA environmental review requirements for public transportation, bike and pedestrian projects that would reduce car dependency.

Also passing the Senate was SB 445, which imposes a deadline on local agencies to review permits for Complete Streets and sustainable transportation projects.

Dying for this year were a bill that would have placed a statewide bond issue to fund sustainable transportation projects on next year’s California ballot, and one to allow victims of climate disasters or their insurers to sue oil companies to recoup their losses.

Meanwhile, the long awaited Stop As Yield, aka Idaho Stop, law that would allow California bike riders to treat stop signs as yields — and possibly roll through red lights after coming to a complete stop — will have to wait until we have a new governor in two years.

It wasn’t introduced this year because Gavin Newsom already vetoed two previous versions of the bill.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Life is cheap in Los Altos, where a man walked without a day behind bars for the distracted driving death of a 38-year old woman riding a bicycle after he was sentenced to probation and community service; he had faced up to six years for felony vehicular manslaughter. Not a single year, as the story suggests.

And life is equally cheap in Michigan, where a former cop walked without a day behind bars for killing an 83-year old man riding a bicycle, after he was sentenced to 12 lousy months of probation; the victim had just finished a ride across the country, and was on his way back home to Florida.

So what’s the point of even having traffic laws, if overly lenient judges won’t even hold drivers accountable for killing someone when they break them?

Just saying “oopsie” shouldn’t be good enough.

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

A San Francisco woman has filed suit against Waymo after she was doored by the passenger of a Waymo self-driving cab, and prevented from taking evasive action by another Waymo cutting across the bike lane.

A new website tells you everything you always wanted to know about where and how to bike in and around Lake Tahoe. Okay, not literally in, unless you’ve invested in waterproof bike lube. 

 

National

CNN recommends the best bike shorts for a more comfortable ride, according to “seasoned cyclists.” Which raised the question of how were they seasoned, and whether they should be grilled, baked or air fried.

The rich get richer, as Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community Boulder, Colorado could soon get a protected bike lane on a dangerous stretch of one of the city’s main drags.

Kindhearted residents of five Iowa counties collected over 200 donated bicycles to restore and distribute to community members.

That’s more like it. A 25-year old Missouri woman was sentenced to ten years behind bars for the drunken collision that killed a 25-year old man riding a bicycle last year.

Hundreds of people turned out for a Slow Roll memorial ride to remember a 38-year old Ohio woman who was killed when an 18-year old driver crossed onto the wrong side of the road, slamming head-on into her and another woman riding their bikes together, along with a third person who escaped the crash. Maybe if we had a turnout like that when someone gets killed here, we could see some real change in LA, for a change. 

This is how Vision Zero should work. An Ohio city received a $1.4 million grant to install new sidewalks and shared-use paths where two young boys were struck by a driver while riding their bikes last year; a nine-year old boy was killed, while a 10-year old survived with serious injuries.

Streetsblog says if New York’s mayor really wants to improve traffic safety, the city should take advantage of a one-year old state law allowing it to lower speed limits to 20 mph, rather than scapegoating ebike riders, since NYC drivers injure over 9,600 pedestrians each year, leaving less than 40 due to all other causes.

Speaking of New York, the highly publicized crackdown on ebike riders is turning out to be, in the words of the bard, “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,” as judges are simply putting the vaunted criminal summonses on hold pending dismissal.

Philadelphia advocates are racing to get a bike lane approved by City Hall, for the streets around City Hall, in advance of a summer repaving project and before the city council takes the rest of the summer off.

Apparently, Florida drivers don’t know how to avoid curbs, because they keep crashing into the barriers for a new curb-protected bike lane in Palm Springs.

 

International

Now you, too, can bike your way to better brain health and away from dementia, which is good news for all of us.

Britain’s Cyclist Magazine recommends the best Father’s Day gifts for bicycling dads. Even though the best gift is just more time to ride.

The BBC has finally realized that bicyclists with bike cams aren’t “vigilantes” or “grassing snitches,” belatedly concluding that cameras help bring dangerous drivers to justice and are often the only recourse riders have. Although California law doesn’t allow them to be used against drivers for traffic violations or misdemeanors, technology be damned. 

Dutch ebike brand VanMoof is back from the dead with two new models, after it was rescued from bankruptcy by the electric scooter division of McLaren.

A local campaign by a group of young Scouts in Romania has blossomed into a nationwide movement to build safe bike infrastructure, in a country where kids under 14 are banned from biking on public streets.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as a writer for the BBC rides Morocco’s 520-mile Route of the Caravans, offering a view of the country few tourists ever see.

A new Chinese-made ebike conversion kit promises to install the first time in just three minutes, and ten seconds thereafter, while offering one of the smallest and most portable sizes yet; a crowdfunding campaign will launch soon offering an early bird price of just $349. Although how that could be affected by Trump’s on-and-off tariffs is TBD. 

 

Competitive Cycling

Seriously? The solo Race Across America, aka RAAM, kicked off in Oceanside CA yesterday, sending competitors over 3,000 miles virtually nonstop to Annapolis, Maryland. But the only mention anywhere in the news comes from a radio station in Osage Beach, Missouri.

 

Finally…

When you’re the king’s sister-in-law, of course you wear $900 pumps to a mountain bike park. That feeling when an apparently AI-written story recommends five scenic cyclist-friendly trails, but can’t be bothered to tell you where they are.

And this is pretty much the opposite of sticking the landing.

Instagram post

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Four lousy days for killer wrong-way driver, video of fatal Sun Valley hit-and-run, and how to avoid robbery in “sketchy” LA

March 21, 2023 / / 2 comments

Disgusting.

Evidently, life is pretty much worthless in San Diego, where a wrong-way driver was sentenced to a whole four days behind bars for killing a man riding a bicycle.

A year and a half after Matt Keenan was killed while riding his bike in Mission Valley, Melissa Gonzalez was sentenced for misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence.

Not the felony she should have been charged with for driving on the wrong side of the street around a blind curve. Let alone the distracted driving charge she likely deserved.

The kindhearted judge took pity — not on Keenan’s widow, or even his toddler son who will grow up without father, but on the woman who killed him.

In addition to four lousy days in jail, Gonzalez received a single year probation, 150 hours of community service, and had her license suspended for three years, as the judge bizarrely ruled she didn’t deserve a punishment that would wreck her life.

Never mind that she wrecked the lives of Keenan’s friends and family. Let alone literally wrecking, and ending, Matt Keenan’s.

If you ever wonder why people keep dying on our streets, this is exhibit A.

We can only hope San Diego voters will remember this one when the judge comes up for re-election.

Photo from Ekaterina Bolovtsova on Pexels.

………

The LAPD has released security video of Friday morning’s fatal crash at Lankershim and Tuxford in Sun Valley, where a hit-and-run driver killed a man riding a bicycle.

The bike rider, who still has not been publicly identified, was the victim of a left-cross crash from the truck driver while riding in the crosswalk.

He was then struck by another driver as he lay in the roadway. But at least that one had the basic human decency to stick around afterwards.

Police are looking for a flatbed truck with a white cab, and a distinctive yellow logo on the passenger door. Not to mention the heartless coward behind the wheel.

As always, there is a $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

Thanks to KCAL-9 anchor Jeff Vaughn for the heads-up.

………

You be the judge.

An Australian man claims he avoided a robbery attempt on a bike path in a “sketchy” part of Los Angeles by yelling back when two men approached and told him to get off his bike.

Although the only thing that seems sketchy to me is the video itself, which looks be staged.

@shearingshedvlogs

You must assert your voice when you are talking to someone who approaches you in sketchy areas, because strangers don’t really come up to you to have a friendly conversation about the weather like we do in Australia. In America some people might come up to you to try to come up. #streetsmart #streetsmarts #safety #safetyfirst

♬ original sound – Turan Spidey

………

Always helps to have co-workers nearby if you get run down by a drunk driver. Especially when they’re paramedics.

Twitter post

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GCN attempts to clarify the confusing world of bicycle tires.

……….

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

No surprise here. After a Seattle advocate printed his own DIY traffic signs warning drivers not to park in a protected bike lane, they just ignored them and parked there anyway.

A Florida man who fled the scene after deliberately targeting three people riding bikes with his car, including an 11-year old girl, then went on an antisemitic rant when a Jewish deputy was assigned to transfer him to jail.

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

Police arrested a Denver man who rode his bicycle into a car wash to fatally shoot a driver who had just pulled onto the lot, and injuring the car’s passenger; he fled the scene on his bike before changing clothes twice in a homeless camp, hacking off his hair, and hiding in a hole under the train tracks.

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Local 

Streetsblog reports on a newly protected 0.4 mile section of White Oak Ave in Reseda, although the protection is just those chubby white plastic bollards that look solid, but won’t stop anything. And a new bike lane could finally be coming to San Fernando Road in Cypress Park, now that former Councilmember “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo is gone.

Just eight people ignored the weekend rain, and turned out for Metro Bike Share’s Women’s History community bike ride in DTLA; they were nearly outnumbered by the Metro staffers.

Pedestrian advocacy group Los Angeles Walks has released their annual report for the past year.

 

State

Imperial Beach councilmembers approved plans for a $3.3 million Complete Street makeover of the city’s 9th Street using state Active Transportation funds; the plan calls for replacing a traffic lane in each direction with bike lanes featuring door-side buffers.

 

National

Bicycling says the days when a broken carbon frame had to be relegated to the trash are over, writing even the worst breaks can usually be repaired and ridden for many more miles. Unfortunately, you’re on your own this time if the magazine blocks you.

Good Morning America reports on a four-year old girl who got a huge smile on her face when she was given a new adaptive tricycle by the Little Wishes organization after spending months in the hospital.

Gear Patrol says fixies are kind of dumb and not for everyone, but “goddammit they rule.” 

Bend, Oregon is now accepting applications for $2,000 ebike rebates for up to 75 low-income residents. Just one more ebike rebate program created after California’s first-in-the-nation program, yet it’s somehow up and running before California’s finally gets rolled out — if it ever does.

After a kindhearted, bike-riding Illinois cop spotted a man walking his busted bicycle home in a snowstorm, he worked with a local bike shop to donate a used bike to the man.

A Michigan man faces two to fifteen years behind bars for the drug-fueled crash that killed a 25-year old man riding a bicycle; the driver admitted to using meth and marijuana before getting behind the wheel, and was using his cellphone to search for radio-controlled cars when he ran the victim down.

More on the Florida crash that critically injured Dartmouth football coach Eugene “Buddy” Teevens, who was run down by a driver while riding home from a restaurant with his wife in St. Augustine; police reports blamed the victim, saying he didn’t appear to have lights on his cruiser bike, and was crossing the state’s coast highway outside of a crosswalk or designated crossing area. Even though bike riders aren’t expected, let alone required, to use crosswalks.

 

International

Bike Radar discusses wind tunnel-tested aero gear on a budget.

A British auto service chain is now offering bicycle repairs, with an emphasis on supporting ebike and cargo bike fleets. Which would be kind of like Pep Boys doing it here. Which isn’t a half bad idea.

BBC TV personality Dan Walker says he was comfortable getting back on his bicycle, following the recent collision that left him bloodied and bruised.

A UK company recommends that employers offer flextime policies for people who bike to work to reduce the risk of rush hour collisions.

A group of French bicyclists set a new record for the largest Strava art, teaming to sketch a 637-mile velociraptor across the face of France.

A crowdfunding campaign has been established for Aussie cycling photographer Marcus Enno, aka Beardy McBeard, who was seriously injured when he was struck by a driver while riding his bike near his Tasmania home; it’s already raised over three times the original $10,000 goal.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews says a disappointed Wout van Aert is turning his attention to the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix after settling for third in Milan-San Remo. Meanwhile, the magazine says the Monument’s days as a sprinter’s race are over.

In an oddly ironic moment, Irish pro Sam Bennet watched his chance at a Milan-San Remo victory get dashed in a pileup, when he and three other riders in the breakaway group crashed into an unmarked bike rack on the side of the road. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

Dutch pro Shirin van Anrooij won Sunday’s Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the world’s oldest one-day women’s race, in what was described as her breakout moment; meanwhile, women’s cycling great Marianne Vos saw her long-awaited return from pelvic surgery cut short by cramps in both legs.

Bicycling says you’ll be able to watch the new National Cycling League on subscription cycling streaming service GCN+ for the next three years, if it lasts that long. Read it on AOL if the magazine blocks you.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be made by a computer company with built-in AI. Your next bike tires could be made from your last bike tires.

And it took the life flight of an injured bike rider to learn there’s a California in Maryland.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Bike-riding woman injured in street takeover, and repeat DUI driver busted again five years after killing bike rider

May 3, 2022 / / Comments Off on Bike-riding woman injured in street takeover, and repeat DUI driver busted again five years after killing bike rider

A woman riding a bicycle was injured when she became collateral damage in a Compton street takeover.

She was hospitalized with minor injuries.

Police are looking for the driver of a white car, who left the scene without stopping after the crash.

………

This is why people keep dying on our streets.

A 22-year old Los Osos woman is back behind bars after hitting several parked cars while driving at four times the legal alcohol limit, just five years after she killed a Cal Poly student riding a bicycle in a drunken hit-and-run.

Gianna Brencola was sentenced to seven years behind bars, but somehow released after just two years, and released from parole less than two years later.

Thanks to jmell for the heads-up.

………

Here’s your chance to demand that new vehicles protect the people outside of them, as well as those inside.

https://twitter.com/PedalLove/status/1521158951135367168

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Local

Streetsblog offers a roundup of LA bike news, including a) Metro extends its Metro Bike contract for another year, b) Metro approved revised funding for South LA’s Rail-to-Rail bike/walk path, and c) new bike lanes on Burbank Blvd in Van Nuys and a one-way bike lane on 2nd Ave in South LA’s Hyde Park neighborhood.

Seriously? Just two days after popular Rapha ride leader John “Panda” Hermoso was killed just outside the city, the mayor of Santa Clarita promotes the joys of bicycling in the city, with no mention of the recent tragedy or any need to improve safety.

Caltrans is proposing a two-way bike lane and a roundabout to improve safety on Angeles Crest Highway.

 

State 

San Diego continues to prioritize bike safety over parking, preparing to install protected bike lanes on a one-mile, newly repaved stretch of Park Blvd in University Heights, despite the objections of local business owners over removing a whole four spaces.

After finding an ebike for sale on Craigslist for half off the retail price in Santa Cruz, a man checks Bike Index and discovers it’s stolen. And does the right thing by alerting the police, and setting up a sting operation to get the bike back. As usual, read it on Yahoo if bicycling blocks you.

Sad news from San Jose, where a man was killed in a collision while riding his bike across a busy expressway.

 

National

Flux Magazine offers six ways you can make traveling by bicycle an adventure. Because evidently, just taking a bike tour isn’t adventurous enough.

Singletracks highlights sales on mountain bikes and gear up to 40% off.

Tucson AZ is making plans for a whopping 200 miles of bike boulevards in the city of half a million people. Which compares favorably to LA’s current plans to build, um, none.

Utah bicyclists are calling for change after too many deaths on the state’s streets, including Whittier’s Bullard brothers, who were killed by an accused DUI driver outside St. George.

A new traffic safety campaign in New York attempts to scare drivers into slowing down by showing an image of a pedestrian flying through the air after being hit by a car. A writer for Strongtowns says campaigns like that just don’t work, while Jalopnik doesn’t like them, either.

Instead of going after the people in the big, dangerous machines, a Maryland sheriff warns bicyclists he’s got his eye on them, and ready to ticket any scofflaw bike riders in his county.

That’s more like it. Florida’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles mark Bike Month by offering safety tips for bicyclists and motorcyclists. But for a change, they focus on what drivers can do to drive safely around them.

 

International

Cycling Weekly asks if the bike industry is selling riders bicycles that are too aggressive for them. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, absolutely yes.

An Ottawa, Canada paper traces the history of bicycles in the city back to 1869.

Denmark has started a program asking people to donate their unused bicycles to give to Ukrainian refugees living in the country.

A Japanese company introduces secure vertical bike lockers that can be rented by the hour, with space for your helmet and bike shoes.

A prefecture in Japan has turned the concept of rail-to-trail on its head, turning a pair of bicycles into a pedal powered railcar.

 

Competitive Cycling

Heartbreaking news from Australia, where former juniors cyclist Maddy Marshall died, four and a half years after she was diagnosed with leukemia; she was just 24. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.

Cycling Weekly considers the delicate balance between recovery and competition, after former pro Peter Stetina rode the Belgian Waffle ride with a broken wrist he suffered in a race just three weeks earlier.

  

Finally…

Why wait until the bikes leave the shop before running them down? Another reminder that cars don’t belong in parks.

And yes, you can buy an ebike for less than $1,000.

Whether you really want to may be another matter.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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