Tag Archive for Los Angeles

Morning Links: Surprising support for safer streets, a pro-car attack on open streets & Marathon Crash rides again

March 12, 2018 / / One comment

One quick note: Statistics show that traffic collisions spike after daylight savings begins, so be extra careful on the streets for the next few days.

Photo by Ted Faber

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They get it.

An Op-Ed from Toronto college professor says pedestrian deaths won’t end until the city stops pandering to cars and drivers.

There’s no sugar-coating it: We can only make our streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists when road space is taken away from cars… Transformative infrastructure disrupts the dominance of the car while enabling people to safely switch from driving their cars to using bikes, transit or walking…

When cars slow down, not only are streets safer, but they become more enjoyable places to be. When good cycling infrastructure is present, people stop being “cyclists” and instead are just normal people going about ordinary, mundane activities. We need to stop thinking that bike lanes are only for “cyclists” and better sidewalks or more crossings are only for “pedestrians.” They are for everyone and they give people choices as to how they get around.

Then there’s this from a surprising source — the executive editor of The American Conservative, who notes that it’s become safer to drive and more dangerous to walk — and bike — in recent years.

And that the recent report from the Governors Highway Safety Association didn’t go far enough in calling for safer streets.

Curiously, there is little attempt by the GHSA to grapple with the very obvious and long-term problem—the conflict that occurs when one attempts to combine pedestrian accessibility with roads that support highway speeds. Even with smartphones locked away and all drivers drug free, there are bound to be incidents in which the operator of a two-ton object barrelling down the road does incredible damage to a defenseless human being of one-tenth the weight. The only sure way to protect the vulnerable party in this situation is to slow vehicles to truly safe speeds wherever pedestrians are present. And the only way to guarantee slower speeds is to create streets—not the all-to-common suburban thoroughfares that accomodate highway speeds—that do not allow drivers to travel through neighborhoods at unsafe velocities.

Such a transformation of our built environment will require more than band-aid fixes, such as “pedestrian hybrid beacons” (special button-activated lights and crosswalks placed at midblock) and demeaningly-named “refuge islands” recommended by the GHSA report. Only a dramatic paradigm shift will cause drivers to ease off the pedal when they are off the interstate. Such a new approach would call for narrower streets that are not designed for highway speeds—or even what behind the wheel may seem relatively pokey rates of travel. At even 35 miles per hour, there is a 31 percent chance a vehicle will kill you, rising to 54 percent for seniors over 70 years old. In contrast, at 20 miles per hour, the risk of pedestrian death goes down to an average of 7 percent…

True sharing of the streets between all modes of mobility—including one’s own two feet—demands, as Cortright states so well, that walking and biking are no longer treated as a “second class form of transportation.” This transition will require recovering a rather older form of techne, a craft of building human-centered places, that does not need artificial intelligence or other “smart” devices to save us from the mechanical beasts we have allowed to dominate our streets.

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On the other hand, some people just don’t get it at all.

A newspaper in Bend, Oregon says the city’s twice-a-year open streets events are “anti-car street parties” that only serve to alienate motorists.

Because no one who drives a car would ever actually get out and enjoy it themselves, apparently.

Rather than patting themselves on the back for supporting environmentally and socially commendable causes, city councilors should be asking themselves whether they’re using the public’s money effectively. Does it really make sense to spend $22,500 on an alternative-transportation event that preaches to the anti-car choir even as it subtly alienates the very people whose support the city really needs?

Those other people are the ones who drive cars and trucks, and they might think better of cyclists, pedestrians and so on if they weren’t treated as pariahs on their own streets and at their own expense. There’s an in-your-face quality to Open Streets that simply isn’t useful if the city’s goal is to encourage respectful coexistence by motorists, cyclists and others.

Evidently, it’s only coexistence when the roads belongs to cars, period.

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It looks like the Marathon Crash Ride is back next Sunday after all.

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Local

Bike the Vote LA has released their voter guide for the April 3rd primary election in California Assembly District 54, which is currently vacant following the resignation of Assembly Member Sebastian Ridley-Thomas.

Don’t plan on riding the new Arroyo Seco Pedestrian and Bicycle Trail anytime soon unless you enjoy dodging golf balls; the April 22nd opening has been cancelled until they can stop errant shots from escaping from a nearby driving range.

There will be a blessing of the bicycles and other mobility devices in Santa Monica on Sunday the 25th.

 

State

Calbike is urging you to speak with your state assembly member and senator during Advocacy Week, March 22-29, when the legislature is not in session.

Dockless bikeshare is coming to North San Diego County for a one-year trial.

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit from a former Palm Springs councilmember aimed at derailing the CV Link bike and pedestrian trail surrounding the Coachella Valley. Thanks to Victor Bale for the heads-up.

A Menlo Park website explains what all those markings on the street mean, including bike lanes, bike boxes and sharrows.

 

National

A group of veterans are riding from Florida to Los Angeles for Ride 2 Recovery, while a Navy vet is riding cross-country for raise funds for veterans through the Gary Sinise Foundation.

A Seattle reporter takes a ride along a still under-construction bike lane and road diet connecting to the Amazon campus.

Nothing like an insurance company that doesn’t get the law. A Washington state firm tells a driver to go ahead and right hook a bike rider after passing him.

Colorado letter writers take up the great ebike debate, discussing whether they should be allowed on trails.

Fort Worth and Arlington TX hope to avoid the problems neighboring Dallas has with abandoned dockless bikeshare bikes.

Stop de Kindermoord comes to New York as residents demand an end to children being killed on the streets.

This is how Vision Zero is supposed to work. New York will redesign a street where two small children were killed while walking with their mother after a driver ran a red light. Although I don’t know any design elements that will take a driver’s foot off the gas pedal.

WaPo offers advice on bike touring, with a little help from Adventure Cycling.

 

International

The year’s first edition of the World Naked Bike Ride took place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Saturday to call for safer streets. And no, the story’s not safe for work.

Vancouver residents rise up in anger over the thought of a bike path besmirching a public park. Never mind that it might actually allow more people to enjoy the park.

The way to encourage more bicycling in the UK is not to give bicyclists a safe passing law, then threaten them with a life sentence for killing a pedestrian.

An Irish writer says cyclists are just failed runners, but he’s now going to join the MAMILs for a mid-run snack.

Irish police are warning bicyclists to be careful using ride-tracking apps like Strava, which could lead thieves to your bike if you leave it on the default settings.

Sad news from South Africa, where two bicyclists have died during the annual Cape Town Cycle Tour, one from a heart attack and the other the result of a 20-rider pileup; police are investigating both deaths.

No bias here. A local government in Western Australia responds to the state’s new one-meter passing law by moving to ban bikes from narrow roadways, insisting there’s there’s no room for drivers to obey the law.

No bias here, either. A New Zealand writer complains about male cyclists who don’t have bells on their bikes, or want them. And somehow assumes that means they’re lawbreaking scofflaws who complain about the way drivers treat them.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Chinese website considers why there’s no culture of competitive cycling in the country, oddly placing the blame on a lack of cycle tracks and conflicts with drivers.

Keith Olberman talks with former pro Phil Gaimon about riding clean in the sport that’s become the poster child for doping.

 

Finally…

Cleaning your bike pedals the cute, furry natural way. When you absolutely, positively have to spend $165,000 for $27,000 worth of bike racks.

And Elon Musk now says his Boring tunnels will put bicyclists and pedestrians first.

Lucky  us.

 

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

Bike rider killed on the 101 Freeway in Studio City Friday morning

March 9, 2018 / / One comment

Sometimes, there’s just no information available.

According to multiple sources, a bike rider was killed in the center lane of the eastbound 101 Freeway near the Laurel Canyon exit in Studio City around 6:11 this morning.

No information was available on the victim or how the crash may have occurred.

The reports said it was unclear if the victim was riding the bike or walking it at the time of the crash.

However, a still from KNBC-4 shows an apparently undamaged bike leaning against the sound wall on the side of the freeway, suggesting that the victim may have left it there before walking onto the roadway.

There was no explanation for why the victim was riding a bike on the freeway, or why he or she may have entered the traffic lanes.

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

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his or her loved ones.

 

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

Morning Links: Red light-running bike rider severely injured in DTLA crash, and taking Montclair to task

March 9, 2018 / / 6 comments

This is why you always stop for red lights.

And observe the right-of-way.

According to the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division, a bike rider suffered what was described as severe injuries in a collision at Washington and Grand in DTLA yesterday, and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Traffic investigators report that multiple witnesses said the victim ran the red light before being struck.

Personally, I couldn’t care less if you roll a stop sign or two when there’s no one else around. Just be sure to always observe the right-of-way, and stop if there’s conflicting traffic.

But seriously, always stop for red lights — especially if there is cross traffic of any kind.

And never forget that even if there doesn’t appear to be any traffic on the street you’re crossing, that doesn’t mean a speeding driver won’t come out of view and try to make it through the intersection before the light changes.

Which happens far too often. And too often with tragic results.

So just stop and wait a minute or two. Push the beg button if the light doesn’t change. And hesitate for moment before crossing to make sure everyone else stops, as well.

Because it beats the hell out of waking up in the ICU.

Or not waking up at all.

I hope you’ll join me in offering a prayer or best wishes for the victim, and hope for a full and fast recovery.

Photo from LAPD Central Traffic Division.

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He gets it.

Writing for Streetsblog, Mehmet Berker does a great job of slicing and dicing the new Montclair distracted walking ordinance that bans the use of electronic devices, including earpieces, while crossing the street.

Never mind that most drivers have their windows up and sound systems blaring. If they’re not too busy texting.

More to the point, the Montclair ordinance is at best a well-intentioned but misguided attempt at making safer streets – legislated by city leaders who suffer from extreme windshield bias. It’s also one more example of our car-centric society’s tendency to classify city streets as spaces solely for automobiles and place the responsibility for safety on anyone who is not driving.

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Local

Pasadena plans to extend its biking and walking networks — although the latter is usually known as sidewalks — as well as increasing the density of the Metro Bike bikeshare to 800 bikes at three docks per square mile, to help met climate goals.

The latest SGV Connect podcast discusses the proposed Orange Grove Blvd lane reconfiguration, as well as attempts to halt the popular Rose Bowl rides.

La Verne is moving forward with development of a new Active Transportation Plan.

Santa Monica adopts an “emergency” law allowing it to impound shared mobility devices, aka Bird scooters and dockless bikeshare bikes, that pose a hazard to others when left on the sidewalk or in the street.

The LACBC is holding their March RideSELA community bike ride this Sunday through the Willowbrook and Florence-Firestone neighborhoods. Check to make sure it’s still on with this weekend’s predicted rain, however.

 

State

Encinitas commissioners unanimously support plans to convert a deadly section of Highway 101 to a complete street through the Leucadia neighborhood, including bike lanes and six roundabouts. This is the same stretch of roadway where Los Angeles randonneur Jim Swarzman was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver in 2011; his killer was eventually sentenced to just two years behind bars.

A Santa Barbara bike rider gets caught for running a stop sign in the city’s latest crackdown, as a dangerous underpass prepares for a road diet.

San Francisco plans to replace its fleet of firetrucks with smaller trucks that can fit on narrower streets. Although the purpose of the change is not to reduce conflicts with bike advocates, as the headline suggests, but to save lives.

Bike East Bay reports there are a number of bike jobs available in the Bay Area, from bike shops and bikeshare to advocacy groups.

A trio of Oakland letter writers say there are actually road diets in the city that are safe and successful.

Officials will now spend $100,000 to study backing out of a promised bike lane across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and converting it to car use instead. Which should tell you how bicyclists rank in their priorities, when drivers get 100% of the bridge, and everyone else gets zip.

 

National

US speed skater Mia Manganello credits bicycling with helping her win the first American women’s medal in the sport in 16 years.

A new study suggests the obsession cities have with bike helmets could actually be undermining more effective ways to improve safety, noting that the real problem is people getting hit by cars.

Portland is using bicycles to revitalize a strip mall district originally build around cars. Which sounds pretty much like most of Los Angeles. So if they can do it, so can we.

A small town in Washington state passed an ordinance requiring all bike riders and skaters to wear a helmet, regardless of age.

A University of Texas student insists the local bikeshare system should provide riders with helmets. Even though there have been only two deaths on all the bikeshares operating throughout the US.

Apparently Copenhagenize’s Mikael Colville-Andersen doesn’t love Minneapolis anymore, dropping it from his list of the world’s 20 best bike cities, even though he used to recommend it. And even though he’s never been there.

Fast Company looks at New York’s bizarre crackdown on ebike-riding delivery people, and how they are being abandoned by their employers.

A Jewish letter writer concludes that the reason his brother died in a 1971 bicycling wreck while his son survived another New York bike crash 44 years later is that his brother wasn’t wearing a helmet, while his son was. Or it could have something to do with his brother getting hit by a bus.

The father of a fallen Florida bicyclist calls for more sidewalks to protect riders. A better solution would be more bike lanes — especially protected bike lanes — since sidewalk riding actually increases the risk of a wreck.

Unbelievable. After a Florida driver gets arrested for the drunken, hit-and-run death of a man on a bicycle — at over 2.5 times the legal alcohol limit — he calls the victim a dumbass for riding in the lane, and says the police should go arrest the victim’s family instead.

Miami is about to get its first woonerf, where cars, bikes and pedestrians share the street on equal terms.

 

International

A St. John’s, Newfoundland college professor is using the BikeMaps platform to develop a map of dangerous locations for bike riders.

Torontoist is back, and says it’s time to make structural solutions to the roads, because our addiction to driving is costing us lives.

A new British study shows that bicycling can help keep you young in more ways than one, including protecting the immune system. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

The Guardian’s Laura Laker says yes, people on bikes to stupid things, but the real danger comes from the people wrapped in two tons of glass and steel. And a bill cracking down on dangerous cycling won’t help.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a van driver gets community service in the death of a bike rider, after making the equivalent of a left cross in front of the victim, who had the right-of-way.

Donors have raised the equivalent of over $33,000 for South African triathlete Mhlengi Gwala, who was attacked by three men who tried to cut his legs off with a chainsaw. There’s still no explanation for the bizarre attack.

A New Zealand columnist says shopkeepers are just being complete idiots for opposing a bike lane that could boost their business.

 

Finally…

When you bounce off the hood of a car, your stunt riding has probably gone just a tad too far. And who needs a ciclovía when you’ve got your own F1 track?

Category: Bikes & the Law, Morning Links / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA transit and biking termed a “utopian fantasy,” and riding a bike to shed emotional weight

March 8, 2018 / / 2 comments

One quick note: Come back after 11 am today for a guest post from CSUN staffer and Bikecar 101 co-founder Mike Kaiser about the Englander motion to stop LA dockless bikeshare in its tracks.

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No bias here.

Evidently, making alternative transportation practical in LA is just a “utopian fantasy.”

And relying on transit — or riding a bike, or walking to work, for that matter — will only drive Angelenos into poverty.

Apparently, your bike commute is making you broke, and no one will ever do it if it takes longer than driving.

Because it’s so much cheaper and more pleasant to own, drive and maintain a car. Right?

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Great piece from Peter Flax, describing how a single bike ride can help shed emotional weight as he struggled with the loss of friends and a loved one.

But the reality is that despite all the shit weighing me down, I already had shed quite a bit of ballast. I had just spent an hour in a place where I could grapple with my demons, where I could turn the pedals and truly think. I felt this very real sense of peace to be on a bike, suffering a little bit and tending to myself in the best way I know how.

It’s a feeling I know well.

I remember waking up to the news that a plane had struck New York’s World Trade Center on 9/11, just in time to watch as the second one hit. And sat there transfixed before my TV until I couldn’t take another word.

I finally grabbed my helmet, got on my bike, and just started riding, ending up in Santa Monica where someone had tied ribbons around every tree in sight.

Nothing had changed when I got back. Yet somehow, the grief and despair of that day seemed a little easier to take.

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Absolutely horrifying story from South Africa, where a top triathlete was severely injured when attackers tried to cut off his legs with a chainsaw.

According to the LA Times, Mhlengi Gwala was riding to a morning training session when the men attacked, refusing offers of his bicycle, cellphone and wallet.

Several attackers pulled Gwala off his bicycle as he cycled up a steep hill and sawed into his right calf, damaging muscle, nerves and bone, according to Jackson, who spoke by phone to the triathlete about the ordeal. They missed a main artery and surgeons are confident they can save the leg, Jackson said.

The attackers also started sawing into Gwala’s left leg before fleeing, enabling the athlete to crawl to a road and flag down a passing car to take him to a hospital

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Local

A Pasadena columnist gets to experience a punishment pass, as well as angry drivers, in the debate over whether to make Orange Grove Blvd safer for everyone.

 

State

Milestone Rides offers their take on SoCal’s top five overnight bike trips.

 

National

Treehugger says Vision Zero is a lovely, but meaningless response to tragedy, and calls for an American Stop de Kindermoort movement.

Transportation professionals are asked to weigh-in on how speed limits should be set.

Good question. Santa Fe NM bicyclists want to know why the local sheriff’s department only gave a traffic citation to a road-raging driver who slammed on his brakes, then allegedly backed up into a group of cyclists on a senior citizens ride, sending one to the hospital — and won’t even reveal what that ticket was for.

Chicago bicyclists call for fair enforcement after reports that black riders were far more likely to be ticketed than white bicyclists. A black transportation equity advocate delivered a manifesto to city hall calling for a halt to racially biased ticketing.

A University of Cincinnati student newspaper says the city must become bike friendly.

The Kentucky legislature moved forward with a three-foot passing law.

Boston truckers are worried about the addition of 1,200 bikeshare bikes in the city. Apparently, they’re concerned that they aren’t capable of driving safely.

The New York Times offers a belated obituary for Lillias Campbell Davidson, a remarkable woman who founded the first women’s bicycling organization.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A New York driver suffering from seizures has her license suspended, one day too late for the two little kids she killed.

Thanks more like it. A Virginia woman was sentenced to five years behind bars for the drunken crash that seriously injured two young women who were riding their bikes.

 

International

A British man is facing sexual assault charges after using his home bicycle shop to lure young boys. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

Los Angeles is far from the only city where potholes and crappy streets threaten the safety of people on bikes. Nearly 400 bicyclists were seriously injured in the UK over the past decade due to bad roads, and four others killed; the country’s auto club calls for fast fixes.

Yes, please. Paris will offer the equivalent of up to $744 towards the purchase of ebikes, and an equal amount for anyone willing to give up their car.

Swiss politicians call for higher fines for “renegade” cyclists. They want the penalties for people on bikes to match the fines for driving infractions, even though lawbreaking bike riders pose far less danger to others.

Mumbai bicyclists are demanding safer storm grates that won’t trap bike wheels and send their riders tumbling. LA only addressed that problem in the last decade, though there still may be a few dangerous grates left behind in the streets.

A Kiwi stroke survivor is riding the length of New Zealand to call attention to the disabling condition and give hope to others.

A new Aussie study confirms once again that women are less likely to commute by bike if they consider it unsafe.

 

Competitive Cycling

The head of cycling’s governing body calls for an investigation into whether Britain’s Team Sky broke any doping rules. Which at this point, seems about like asking if the Russians interfered in the last election or if sea levels are rising.

Organizers of the Tour of Britain have lived up to their promise to give women riders equal prize money to the male cyclists. About damn time. Now let’s see the other races not only match the money, but the competitive opportunities provided to men, as well.

Speaking of potholes, as we were earlier, Britain’s Mark Cavendish was hospitalized with a head injury after apparently getting his back wheel caught in one during an Italian time trial.

Cycling Tips talks with 106-year old world record-holding cyclist Robert Marchand.

 

Finally…

Does it still count as green for St. Paddy’s Day if you smoke it instead of wearing it? Drink your way through America’s 49th state.

And as we face the prospect of a soggy weekend, remember it could be a lot worse.

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Thanks to Margaret W for her generous donation to help keep SoCal’s best bike news and advocacy coming your way every day. Contributions of any size, for any reason, are always appreciated. 

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

Morning Links: Los Angeles leads nation in pedestrian deaths, and CSUN petition to save campus LimeBikes

March 7, 2018 / / 2 comments

We’re #1.

Preliminary data from the Governor’s Highway Safety Association ranks Los Angeles as the deadliest county in the US for pedestrians, with twice as many deaths as the second-leading county.

San Diego and Orange Counties also ranked in the top ten nationwide.

Clearly, we’ve got a long way to go.

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The student association at Cal State Northridge has started a petition to save the school’s LimeBike program, after Councilmember Mitch Englander introduced a motion to temporarily ban dockless bikeshare from the streets of LA.

Thanks to Steve for the heads-up.

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Place your bids.

The CBS2/KCAL9 cycling team is auctioning off a new Giant TCR Advanced 2 road bike on eBay to benefit BikeMS.

Sounds like a good bike for a great cause.

And thanks to the cyclists at CBS2/KCAL9 for their efforts to give back to the community.

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Evidently, not everyone likes Santa Monica’s Bird scooters.

Thanks to David Drexler for the video.

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Local

Great letter to the editor from Jonathan Weiss saying if CD5 Councilmember Paul Koretz really wants to understand how to save lives while keeping traffic moving, he should stop killing traffic safety studies.

Good piece for Streetsblog from Don Ward, who questions how Vision Zero can work when LA continues to prioritize speed.

Rapha offers a guide to bicycling in Los Angeles. Although anyone who comes to LA looking for “movie stars around every corner” is going to go home sadly disappointed. And there seem to be large, mostly non-white, sections of the city missing.

State

Santa Barbara gets its first protected bike lane, the first completed project from the city’s new Bike Master Plan. Although I have a hard time calling something separated from traffic by flimsy plastic bollards “protected.”

The rich get richer. San Francisco approves plans to extend a parking-protected bike lane in the South of Market neighborhood.

 

National

The road-raging Sante Fe NM driver who allegedly backed into a group of bicycling senior citizens says he just stopped in the middle of the road to confront the cyclists he claims flipped him off, and didn’t do anything wrong. Because apparently, he thinks slamming on his brakes in front of other road users and stopping in the middle of a highway is perfectly acceptable. Not that his story strains credibility or anything.

No surprise here. Aspen CO business owners are up in arms over plans to remove just 15 parking spaces to make room for a bike lane. Just like business people almost everywhere, they seem to like cars more than customers.

One way to keep homeowners from opposing a new Minneapolis bikeway — make sure they don’t have to pay for it.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. An Ohio driver who spent four years in prison for killing a bike rider while driving drunk is headed back to jail for once again driving drunk, despite a lifetime driving ban.

More employees are biking to New York’s La Guardia airport, even though that Port Authority has failed to come through with long-promised bike lanes.

Not surprisingly, New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare is having trouble getting users to ride bikes back uphill to higher stations.

DC is now a gold-level Bicycle Friendly Community, something bronze-level Los Angeles can only envy.

International

Cycling Weekly offers advice on how to recover after hard rides.

Bicyclists in London — no, the one in Canada — criticize a half-billion dollar plan for bus rapid transit lanes, saying they don’t do enough to accommodate bicyclists and other non-motorized road users.

A Halifax, Nova Scotia letter writer says no, it’s the drivers who are hogging the roads.

A British correspondent living in India offers an outsider’s perspective on bicycling in the country — Manali-Leh highway good, New Delhi, not so much.

A letter writer in The Guardian says riding a bike isn’t an “act of ‘culture war,’ it’s a positive choice to make things better.”

An Irish paper explains why bicyclists need a safe passing distance.

Treehugger examines why car-crazy Germany is safer for bicyclists and pedestrians than the United States.

Some Indian high schools are providing all their students with bicycles, not just to provide access to school, but to level the playing field with better off students.

A planning student from Kathmandu finds echoes of Jane Jacobs in the ancient layout of Nepal’s major cities, and suggests emulating the Dutch and their bikeways is a better alternative than destroying the city to widen the roads.

A South African woman had her bike and cellphone stolen at knifepoint.

A New Zealand company is offering employees $10 a day to ride to work. Thanks to Jon for the link.

Caught on video: A Singaporean bike rider was wrestled to the ground after allegedly braking in front of a bus after the driver honked at him for riding too slowly.

Competitive Cycling

CNN looks at the efforts of the Kenyan Riders to become the first all-African team to qualify for the Tour de France. South Africa’s MTN Qhubeka, now Dimension Data, competed as a wild card entry in 2015.

A team of British cancer survivors will take on this year’s Race Across America, aka RAAM, to prove it’s possible to lead an active life after cancer.

Finally…

When the punishment for your shoplifting attempt is anything but kosher while trying to make a getaway by bike. Pity those poor, put-upon drivers.

And a writer for Outside says enough with the podium girls, already.

Enough indeed.

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

Morning Links: Crosswalk running parking cop, talking bike theft on Bike Talk, and Blessing of the Bicycles set

March 6, 2018 / / 2 comments

Curbed says city officials think Angelenos don’t understand how dangerous our streets really are, while bike and pedestrian advocates just wish they’d commit to fixing them.

On the other hand, our streets might be safer if LADOT’s parking enforcement officers stopped for people in crosswalks, too.

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The latest edition of Bike Talk feature’s Bryan Hance of Bike Index talking bike theft and prevention with yours truly and Carlos Morales of Stan’s Bike Shop.

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My favorite event of the annual LA Bike Week is set for May 15th, with the nondenominational Blessing of the Bicycles at Good Sam Hospital.

This year they’ll be honoring Metro with the Golden Spoke Award.

Here’s the spoke card for the event.

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It was a bad day for a bike-riding refugee kid in Texas, and stroller-riding kids in New York.

The Netherlands became safer when they got tired of burying children killed by cars. But you have to wonder if America’s kindermord moment will ever come, if it hasn’t already.

Then again, we don’t seem to place much value on kids killed by guns, either.

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Local

The LAPD is looking for a missing 16-year old girl suffering from autism and depression, who may be riding a bicycle.

The Capital & Main website says Elon Musk’s Boring Co. tunnel could just make things worse for Los Angeles by amplifying existing inequities. And the real solution is to get more cars off the road, not trying to reinvent the subway.

A new ranking of America’s best fondos rates Phil Gaimon’s Phil’s Cookie Fondo #8 in the US in just its 3rd year; last weekend’s Malibu GRANFONDO was ranked 13th, and the Campagnolo GranFondo San Diego was 3rd.

Maybe there really will be a Marathon Crash Ride this year after all.

 

State

Officials have broken ground on bike and pedestrian projects in Encinitas designed to provide safe routes under an I-5 overpass.

A Santa Cruz writer says safe and convenient biking and walking can reduce the county’s deep social inequality.

The National Park Service could reopen an off-road trail to give bicyclists crossing the Golden Gate Bridge a safer route into Sausalito.

An Oakland letter writer says putting in a road diet is an “experiment by the traffic calming industry that is using social engineering and behavior modification” to force people onto bikeshare bikes. They’re onto us, comrades.

A Sacramento paper says dockless bikeshare could reduce traffic and ease commutes on a local highway.

Chico bicyclists ride to remember a man who remained a dedicated bike advocate up to his death five years ago, even after a collision that left him a quadriplegic.

 

National

Hawaii bicyclists are calling for the passage of a three-foot passing law. Twentynine states currently require at least a three-foot distance to pass a bicyclist, including California.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a ghost bike for a Las Vegas mom.

Would you want to ride on the Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway?

A road-raging Santa Fe NM driver admits to slamming on his brakes and backing into a senior citizens bike club, sending one rider to the hospital. Of course, in his telling, he’s the innocent victim of the rude and offensive riders who slammed into his car, then wanted to fight him; fortunately, he fled the scene before granny could kick his ass. And needless to say, he got off with a just a traffic ticket. 

Oklahoma City opens a new eight-mile bike path named after the late, great Will Rogers.

In what could be a huge leap in rehabilitation, a man who was paralyzed from the shoulders down in a bike crash was able to feed himself with his own hand and arm at an Ohio University, thanks to electrical brain implants connected to a computer system.

A Charlotte NC business site says developers have to do their part if it’s going to become a bike city.

A North Carolina man gets 28 years behind bars for beating a bike rider to death after the victim complained about a too-close pass — and possibly used racial slurs. The driver’s son, who was 16-years old at the time of the attack, faces charges for joining in the road rage attack.

 

International

Cycling Tips unwraps the mysteries of handlebar tape.

Carlton Reid of Bike Biz says bike mechanics are worth their weight in gold. Seriously, when you find a good wrench, you should treat him or her like your bike’s best friend. Because they are.

Great idea. An English community group is looking for volunteers to help disabled riders go mountain biking on adult tricycles and three-wheeled handcycles.

The Evening Standard offers tips on how to travel with your bike.

Britain’s proposed law banning dangerous cycling could carry a life sentence for fatal crashes; drivers currently face a maximum of 14 years, though that may be raised to match the bike bill.

Unbelievable. An Irish court rules that a driver had no obligation to back out carefully from a walled-off driveway with no view of the sidewalk, after bicyclist crashed into the side of his car.

Even in the Netherlands, you need to know how to ride your bike safely.

The UN is getting into the bikeshare business, opening a system for staff and visitors at their Nairobi office.

Britain’s Daily Mail says an “activist” cycling group in Melbourne, Australia, is fighting to remove fines for not wearing a bike helmet.  Which seems like a perfectly reasonable thing for “activists” to advocate for.

 

Competitive Cycling

Former Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins says allegations that he doped are part of a malicious smear campaign. Which is pretty much what everyone who has been caught doping has said.

The Guardian says the evidence of doping around Team Sky cyclists and other pro athletes shows deep corruption and a “culture of studied evasion.”

 

Finally…

If you can’t get a bikeshare bike in Paris, just buy one already. How do you take the lane when you’re riding in boat traffic?

And evidently, you need to put turn signals on your bike. Because those darn hand signals are just so 2017.

 

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

Morning Links: Three OC bicyclists struck by callous distracted driver, and Russian doping doc wins at Oscars

March 5, 2018 / / 6 comments

Last night, I received the following email from Allyson Vought, describing a collision with a distracted driver that sent two bicyclists to the hospital.

But fortunately, could have been much worse.

Almost lost some friends today

Well, it was a close one today for me, and 2 friends were taken to hospital after being struck by a distracted driver. Luckily no death or dismemberments, only (if there is such a thing) a few broken bones, scrapes and bruises, one concussion, and 2 very destroyed bikes.

Here are the details.

There were 6 of us in the group and we were at the end of a 22 mile out and back putt putt. We were riding our usual Brea to Diamond Bar and back easy day cruise. The incident occurred at the corner of Imperial Hwy and Puente, just 1/2 mille from the finish at Linda’s house. We were southbound on Puente and had stopped at Imperial Hwy waiting for our green light. The light changed and I was out first after seeing traffic had stopped to the left and right. Tim was 2nd, Tom was 3rd, Sigrid, Tom’s wife, was 4th then Maralyn, and Linda were the last two.

I was mid-intersection when I heard heavy skidding and I had just a moment to look to my left and saw a Black Toyota Camry (I think) heading for all of us. I pushed it and closed my eyes waiting for the hit. She JUST missed me (I was lucky) and I heard thuds, yells and screams. Witnesses say that she hit Tim on the left corner sending him flying and Tom dead center where he was thrust into the windshield and thrown forward to the pavement about 25 feet. Sigrid hit the side of the car and went down. Linda and Maralyn were able to stop OK.

Lady was on the PHONE it seems and failed to see the traffic stopped in the 2 inside lanes and just proceed through a red light and into our group. We did not see her as she came from behind the stopped cars and was passing them on the outside (fast lane) and there was no way to see her until it was too late to do anything.

Attached  is a picture of the car (see above). You will see the white on the bumper, that was Tim’s destroyed Jelly Belly Focus, and the clean spots on the hood — that was Tom’s doings.

Tim had gotten up and was sitting on the center divider and seemed lucid. There was blood below his left ear and his hand was scrapped and bloody. It may be broken and he had to get 4 stitches to close the open wound on his head. Funny thing was I took his helmet from his head, his gloves, shoes, jacket, and jersey and got him to the ambulance. We were still sorting things out and before I got to the hospital he called me asking what had happened, how was his bike, and where were his things. He was in one of those knocked out but chatty zones it seems. No memory of anything.

Tom was on the ground and in pain. Luckily his wife and Maralyn are both nurses so he was in good hands to be sure until the EMS and the Brea police arrived. They were there in minutes and took great care of our friends. We had pleantly of witnesses and we all gave statements. Kudo’s to all and they were very thorough to be sure.

We were there for about an hour giving statements and I made sure to document the scene with photos. Finished the ride and then headed to the hospital, the Irvine Med Center in Orange. Took a few minutes to find Tim as he was just being checked in and Tom was already ensconced in a room with Sigrid by his side, He was resting after all of the scans and X-rays. Not sure what was broken as the results were not in, but he remembers the whole incident quite clearly.

Tim was brought to the adjacent room about 15 minutes later and still had no clue as to what had occurred. Was not a happy camper when I told him his bike was toast.

So, it was a lucky day in that we all survived.

The older woman driver never got got off the phone — for even one second and made no comments, showed no emotions, nor exhibited any concern to the welfare of our friends. Shock or what I am not sure, but it was sure bizarre. I asked the police if anyone had checked on her and they said they had. I also went so far as to go to her window and asked how she was (on the phone) — no reply — and she did not even look my way. I  told her not to worry as no one was killed thankfully…still no response.

I DO hope she is insured.

The callousness of not even getting off the phone, let alone getting out to check on the victims, is just unbelievable. Fortunately, the crash occurred in Orange County, where the DA takes traffic crime, and distracted driving, seriously.

But please, someone tell me again how dangerous all those entitled cyclists are.

………

The highlight of last night’s Oscar ceremony, at least from a cycling perspective, was the victory of the doping-themed Icarus in the best documentary category.

Oddly, the response from RT, aka Russia Today, to the film that exposed the country’s systematic doping and led to the loss of previous Olympic medals and banishment from last month’s winter Olympics, was something less than positive.

Go figure.

………

USA Today offers an inspiring story about an LA marathoner and cyclist who was paralyzed by a red light-running driver while riding her bike. And shortly afterwards, committed herself to training to compete in a Florida half-marathon as a handcyclist.

Although the story is just a tad late, since the race was run in January; she finished in 1:13:20.

And tragic that stories like this are even necessary.

………

Local

KPCC asks LADOT’s Seleta Reynolds if Vision Zero can really eliminate LA traffic deaths. Meanwhile, the Daily News says a lack of funding is setting Vision Zero up for failure.

Curbed calls for making the Oscar street closures permanent.

No, there won’t be a Marathon Crash Ride before next week’s LA Marathon, for the second straight year.

The Pasadena Star-News looks at plans for a lane reduction on Orange Grove Blvd; naturally, the traffic safety deniers want to keep the street free-flowing and dangerous.

 

State

This is why people keep dying on our streets. A 95-year old man just got his driver’s license renewed until he’s 100 — without even having to take a driver’s test.

Palo Alto residents demand the city halt plans for roundabouts, claiming they make the street more dangerous — even though studies show they reduce serious crashes up to 80%. Another case of traffic safety deniers opposing projects they don’t understand, without giving them time to succeed.

A San Francisco paper looks at the efforts of car advocates to convert a hard-won bike lane on the Richmond Bridge to car use, allowing bike riders to have limited access only when drivers don’t want it, and bizarrely describing that as sharing the road. Maybe someone should tell them about induced demand, let alone complete streets.

 

National

It’s easy to forget that service members from other countries have fought, and been injured, in Afghanistan; two British veterans will ride down the left coast from Oregon to Mexico to raise funs for a charity for injured vets.

A new paper blames vehicular cycling for a 40-year delay in building bike infrastructure in the US.

A writer with the Denver Post says he doesn’t want ebikes on bikeways “already packed with the unaware, the inconsiderate and the distracted.” Then again, he doesn’t want those people on the paths, either.

Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park will allow mountain bikes on a two-mile section of a lakefront bike path for the first time.

A New York counclimember says he feels threatened and intimidated by bicyclists angry that he backed out of his promised support for a protected bike lane.

DC-area bike shops have joined the boycott of Vista Outdoor over their gun and ammunition subsidiaries.

 

International

A Halifax, Canada business association opposes a prospective protected bike lane because it would mean the loss of 55 parking spaces, and would rather locate it on the sidewalk. Never mind that it could bring hundreds more customers on bikes. Or that using sidewalk space for a bike lane would mean a less walkable business district, which would probably have a far greater negative impact than losing a few parking spaces.

A Canadian city is just the latest choose parking over a protected bike lane, disappointing local bicyclists who feel threatened on the streets.

The Guardian talks with the founder of women’s bike brand Liv Cycling, who says shrinking and pinking women’s bikes isn’t good enough.

UK Parliament ministers are prepared to propose a new crime of causing death by dangerous cycling, in response to a recent case where a careless bicyclist killed a pedestrian. The Guardian responds that judging people by their means of transport brings out the worst in everyone.

British running great Roger Bannister was one of us; the first man to break the four-minute mile took up bicycling after he had to stop running in 1975 following a car crash.

A British radio host says stop targeting bicyclists, because they’re the real victims.

Ireland opens a 26-mile crushed gravel rail-to-trail conversion.

A cyclist in Kathmandu, Nepal says he loves riding a bicycle and he’s going to keep on riding, despite the country’s deep reverence for the west and its motor vehicles.

South African police make an arrest in the hit-and-run death of a rugby team manager who was killed while warming up for a bike race.

An Aussie letter writer complains about a presumed liability proposal, saying it would only benefit a whining, arrogant minority of cyclists who don’t pay for the roads, at the expense of those poor, put-upon people in cars. No, really.

A Kuala Lumpur writer can’t believe the city would put in a bike lane, since the only ones who won’t be using it are the ones on bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

No, those testosterone patches that showed up on the doorstep of Team Sky in 2011 didn’t get there by accident. But sure, the era of doping is over. Right.

Speaking of Team Sky, a British commission concludes that Bradley Wiggins use of a banned corticosteroid under a therapeutic use exemption contributed to his win in the 2012 Tour de France, accusing the team of crossing an ethical line.

The race director for the Giro d’Italia says the race isn’t getting rid of podium girls, and says dropping them, as the Vuelta has done and the Tour de France is considering, is just a passing trend. In other words, not treating women as a trophy for men to win, and showing respect for them — and women cyclists — is just a fad. Nothing sexist about that.

Cycling Tips offers photos from Saturday’s sloppy but exciting Strade Bianche.; Belgium’s Wout van Aert overcame leg cramps to make the podium.

American Tejay Van Garderen is out after crashing into a team car on the first day of the Paris-Nice stage race; fortunately, he wasn’t seriously injured.

Over 1,600 competitors are expected for next weekend’s two-stage Tour of Murrieta.

 

Finally…

When you want to stop a law that benefits bike riders, find one to oppose it. Forget bike polo; it’s time to try unicycle hockey.

And now you can buy your very own stolen dockless bikeshare bike.

………

Thanks to George W for his generous contribution to help keep this site coming your way every day. Donations are always welcome.

 

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

Morning Links: Tour de France finally boots podium girls, and gun-related boycott of Vista Outdoor expands

March 2, 2018 / / 3 comments

At long last, podium girls are on the way out.

A year after the Vuelta a España stopped using the models paid to look good while posing with the stage winners, the Tour de France has announced an end to the anachronistic practice.

Which just leaves the Giro d’Italia as the last of the three Grand Tours employing the sexist tradition.

Along with our own Amgen Tour of California, which really should know better. Especially in the era of the #MeToo movement.

A woman belongs on a podium because she won the right to stand on it.

Not as prize for a male victor to claim.

Photo by Connor Man from Wikipedia.

………

The campaign to boycott Vista Outdoor, the parent company of Bell, Giro, Blackburn, CamelBak and Copilot, among other outdoor brands, is gaining speed.

The company, which also makes AR-15-style rifles and is one of the nation’s largest ammunition manufacturers, as well as a leading supporter of the NRA, has lost a number of retail clients across the US following the NRA’s tone-deaf response to the Parkland shooting.

REI announced yesterday that they are placing future orders with Vista-owned companies on hold while they encourage Vista to show some leadership.

In addition, Canada’s REI equivalent, Mountain Equipment Co-op, or MEC, has announced that they will no longer sell any Vista products.

Meanwhile, CamelBak has issued a non-commital statement of values, which reminds the public that they operate separately from the company’s shooting sports division.

………

Local

Great discussion on NPR with Curbed’s Alissa Walker about the dramatic jump in pedestrian deaths in Los Angeles, despite LA’s Vision Zero program.

A Pasadena letter writer says we should really have more compassion for those poor, vulnerable road users. You know, the ones in the cars.

 

State

Streetsblog highlights a couple of pedestrian safety campaigns that make some sense.

A Paso Robles magazine looks forward to next month’s Eroica California.

 

National

Good read from The Atlantic, explaining how the creation of the NACTO guide helped spread protected bike lanes throughout the US.

The Oregon legislature moves forward with a proposal to expand the state’s bike tax to cover all bicycles over $200, regardless of size.

Las Vegas bicyclists continue to fight for a separated bike path in Red Rock Canyon following the death of a rider in 2005, but keep running into delays and a lack of funding.

Colorado Public Radio discusses a proposal that would allow some cities to permit bicyclists to roll stop signs, even if drivers don’t seem to like the idea.

Escape Southern California’s June gloom and ride nearly 250 miles through northeast Nebraska.

Kindhearted Oklahoma City cyclists crowdfund a new bike for a 14-year old boy after his was stolen from outside a bike shop.

New York is following up on the national Women’s March with a seven-mile Women’s Ride sponsored by a bike advocacy group in conjunction with several women’s groups.

Bicycling talks with NASCAR racer Scott Lagasse about his annual bike ride at Daytona, and dealing with an angry driver.

Caught on video: This is what a right hook looks like, as a Florida bike rider catches his own collision on his bike cam the first time he put it on his bike. Which conclusively proves that bike cams cause crashes.

 

International

Get ready to throw away your air pump and CO2 cartridges.

A writer for the CBC says Ottawa is taking a calculated risk by allowing bikes on trains at rush hours, unlike most Canadian cities. Although they will only allow two to three bikes per train; any more riders than that will have to wait for the next train.

No bias here. The London Daily Mail says a woman was killed while walking her dog when a cyclist “ploughed” into her during a mass ride, even though the story makes clear that she had ignored the ride marshal’s instructions not to cross.

Paris is taking over the disastrous rollout of its next generation Vélib’ bikeshare after the chosen vendor failed to get the bikes out on the streets.

Wellington, New Zealand is reviewing traffic speeds in order to actually lower them. Unlike Los Angeles, where traffic studies almost inevitably lead to higher speed limits.

A Kiwi columnist says bike lanes will save Auckland as it reinvents itself, but only if the city can avoid awkward compromises with a small group of anti-bike protesters.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pro cyclists shower Italy’s Strade Bianche with praise in advance of Saturday’s race.

 

Finally…

Lance Armstrong and the hijab-wearing porn star. No, women don’t need permission to wear pants to ride a bike anymore.

And don’t complain about today’s rain. You could be riding in this.

https://twitter.com/LAS_CycleTeam/status/969112675392413696

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

Guest Post: CD1’s Gil Cedillo blocks Vision Zero complete street project on Temple Street

March 1, 2018 / / 4 comments

We’ve talked a lot on here about North Figueroa. And how CD1 Councilmember Gil Cedillo singlehandedly blocked a shovel-ready complete streets project designed to tame the deadly street.

Less discussed is how committed Cedillo has been about blocking any similar projects in his district. Including a long-planned lane reduction on Temple Street that crosses council district boundaries.

Derrick Paul writes today to explain what’s going on with Temple.

Or not, in this case

………

I recently discovered a proposal to improve street safety near my neighborhood has been quietly canceled. LADOT proposed a group of projects around the middle of 2017 in support of the city’s Vision Zero initiative, which is a commitment to stop tolerating traffic-related injuries and fatalities on city streets.

One of the streets included — Temple Street — is directly adjacent to my neighborhood. The street carves through numerous street-facing residences and intersects several commercial corridors, connecting residents with businesses and public facilities (schools, parks, a library). However, like many streets in Los Angeles, this very localized thru-fare is also very large, and accommodates little else besides passing automobile traffic.

Crossing the street is a daring negotiation, and attempting to use a bicycle along it is hostile and outright dangerous, pushing any reasonable person to the sidewalk. The Vision Zero project called for numerous infrastructure changes to improve safety for all users of the street, but it’s implementation, set for completion last month, never materialized.

I learned that our district councilman stopped LADOT from moving forward. This is very surprising, as there had been no meetings with my neighborhood, no general outreach to constituents of the community. The project had been shelved with no public explanation.

Seeking further information from Council District 1, which is represented by Gil Cedillo, I reached out through one of his social media channels. I asked why his office doesn’t support mobility safety in our community. A response eventually came, but in the form of another question. “I support vehicle and pedestrian safety in our district. What makes you think otherwise?” he or someone associated claimed. After pointing to his contradicting decisions and pressing for further details, the chat went silent  His form of outreach and accessibility turned out to be lip service, a façade of transparency. So I dug a little further and found this ground had been covered before.

In 2014, residents in Highland Park ran into a similar obstacle. After years of outreach and effort, advocates found their push for better street conditions unilaterally halted by Gil Cedillo. Initially promising constituents he would support their process, which had preceded him under councilmember Ed Reyes (who termed out in 2013), Gil Cedillo changed his mind once winning his election and denied LADOT the authority to implement the project.

Pushes to convince Cedillo to move forward with the project, as he promised, yielded divisive, charade meetings, little reasonable conversation or explanation, and little actual engagement. Pressure from advocates eventually ended with a letter from Cedillo, declaring his decision to indefinitely halt the project and expressing a list of alternatives, which strangely excluded the bicycle lane that formed the centerpiece of the project advocates long pushed for. Nearly four years later, most of Cedillo’s alternatives never materialized.

During this inaction, several people died or suffered severe injuries from traffic collisions along Figueroa Street. The history I reference is well documented in the archives of a blog maintained during the time.

From 2013 to 2017, 23 people suffered severe injuries along the dangerous stretch of Temple Street near me, 5 of them fatal. Under a backdrop of this much carnage, our street has a lot of room for improvement, and our city’s department of transportation recognizes this and has done the hard work of designing, proposing, and funding a project to do so. Yet my city councilman mysteriously wants to keep it from moving forward. It’s really baffling. Is it out of spite? What stake does he have in keeping the street dangerous? None of this is clear. I could understand if Cedillo had made this decision out of a genuine concern of the community, but his decision is unilateral.

Our councilman should be supportive, not disconnecting from his constituents and making these very important decisions on his own. Is it not us who he is representing and responsive to?

The lack of engagement is reflected in our district webpage, where a photo of a smiling Gilbert Cedillo is surrounded by a ghostly shell of text, devoid of many community updates. Our councilmen and councilwomen practically have the power of kings in their jurisdiction, and unfortunately we have to pray they are virtuous enough to empower us. There are engaged constituents in District 1 interested in working to solve problems in our community. Momentum to reconfigure our most dangerous streets to a safer layout, as Vision Zero proposes, is an easy one, and Cedillo should support it. The alternative is dangerous streets that continue to fail us.

Fortunately all is not lost. Temple Street crosses through two districts — District 1 and 13. District 13, overseen by Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell, plans to support the project.

Photos of Temple Street by Derrick Paul

………

Here’s the contact page for Cedillo’s office , as well as Mitch O’Farrel’s, if you want to let them know what you think. 

One of them might actually listen to you.

 

Category: Guest Columns / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LA raises speed limits, Vision Zero holds course, and LA River Bike Path reopens in Long Beach

March 1, 2018 / / One comment

One quick note. Come back after 11:00 this morning for a guest post from Derrick Paul about the planned Vision Zero lane reduction and complete street project on Temple Street. 

And why it hasn’t happened.

………

Los Angeles will be raising speed limits on nearly 100 miles of streets to comply with California’s deadly 85th Percentile Law, which allows drivers to set speed limits by applying their foot to the gas pedal.

Meanwhile, speed limits will decrease somewhat on a little more than 52 miles of streets.

The tradeoff is that police will now be able to use radar to enforce speeds, which they had been banned from doing on nearly 80% of LA streets.

Under the terms of the law, police can’t use radar to enforce the speed limit if a street hasn’t had a speed survey within the last seven years.

Once the survey is conducted, the speed limit must be set at the speed driven by the 15th fastest motorist driving unimpeded in non-rush hour traffic, although the city does have the option to round down slightly.

So in order to make our streets safer, we have to make them faster and more dangerous.

Or just repeal a stupid, outdated and deadly law.

Correction: In my haste last night, I mistakenly wrote that the 85th Percentile Law was based on the average speed of 85% of motorists, ignoring my gut feeling that I was wrong, but too tired to stop and look it up.

And I was right. That I was wrong, that is. 

The following email from Casey Kerrigan clarifies this complicated law better than any other explanation I’ve seen. 

When doing the speed survey the speed limit is based on the 85 percentile not on the average speed of 85% of the cars surveyed.  Note that speed surveys are conduced under the optimal conditions to speed, ie during the day, at a non rush hour time and only the speed of free flowing cars are measures. Free flowing are cars with no traffic ahead of them for at least 5 seconds on a straightaway and unmarked cars are used to house the speed measurement equipment.
This is from the Caltrans guidelines for how to set speed limits which you can find here.
This paragraph is taken from the Caltrans guidelines linked above on page 36.

3.2.6 Calculating 85th Percentile Speed

If 100 vehicle speeds are plotted, the 85th percentile speed is determined by looking at the speed of the 15th vehicle down from the top speed. Fifteen percent of the vehicles are travelling faster than this speed, and eighty five percent are travelling at or below this speed. If less than 100 vehicles are counted, the 85th percentile speed must be determined by calculating 85 percent of the number of vehicles counted and determining the vehicles’ 85th percentile speed. For example if 70 vehicles were counted, 0.85 x 70 = 59.5. The speed of vehicle 60 represents the 85th percentile. Examples are shown in Appendix A on the Speed Zone Survey Sheet examples.

………

Speaking of which, Vision Zero Los Angeles has released their 2018 Action Plan & Progress Report.

The city plans to remain on course with the program, despite a sharp jump in pedestrian deaths, and badly missing Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goal of a 20% reduction in traffic fatalities in 2017.

Of course, that was overly ambitious, since the program is just now gaining its footing and getting its first real funding.

………

The LA River Bike Path has reopened in Long Beach, where it had been closed for construction work, now that a large construction crane has been removed.

However, work vehicles and flaggers will remain on the path, and riders may be required to slow down or walk their bikes through the construction zone.

Thanks to Long Beach Mobility and Healthy Living Programs Officers Michelle Mowery for the heads-up.

………

Rent-a-cops driving on a Chicago bike path lose it when a bike rider complains that they don’t belong on the path. Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the link.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfub83XnlZo/

………

Local

The victim’s missing head was finally found in an LA multi-modal murder.

A UCLA letter writer says scofflaw Bird scooter users are no worse than bike riders, who he can’t recall ever having seen “obey the traffic laws to the letter.” Unlike pedestrians and motorists, who evidently always obey the letter of the law in his eyes.

CiclaValley imagines what a re-imagined, bike-friendly Ventura Blvd could be.

The Pasadena Star News looks at the proposal to reconfigure Orange Grove Blvd into a complete street that welcomes everyone.

 

State

Seven proposed U.S. Bicycle Routes could soon be coming to, and through, California.

Encinitas-based cruiser bike-maker Electra Bicycle Company turns 25.

Cycling Without Age comes to Merced.

A pair of dueling Op-Eds in the Sacramento Bee say a bill to allow mountain bikes in wilderness areas would be good for the backcountry, while another calls it a Trojan horse that would put wheels over wilderness.

 

National

Bike Snob says enough with the helmet shaming, already.

Streetsblog says American cities aren’t making much progress on Vision Zero, except for New York and San Francisco. Although for some reason, they aren’t tracking Los Angeles on their chart.

A Seattle-area man had his bike stolen after he was hit on the head with a pipe. No word on whether he was wearing a helmet, which might have helped. Or not.

Washington is the latest state to approve an ebike classification bill based on the one pioneered in California.

Great idea, as a Washington bike school teams with a woodworking school to teach everything from wrenching to wood frame and wheel building.

Evidently, LA drivers aren’t the only ones who complain about removing traffic lanes from massive streets. Tempe AZ will restripe a roadway to remove bollards protecting a bike lane and add back a third traffic lane in response to motorist complaints.

You’ve got to be kidding. Just days after the Utah house approved an Idaho stop law, a bill that would allow drivers to also treat red lights as stop signs passed a legislative committee. After all, what difference could there possibly be between someone on a 15-pound bike and someone wrapped in two tons of high-speed glass and steel? I mean, other than the bodies the latter would likely leave behind?

Plans for a new bridge on I-10 in Mobile, Alabama will be required to include options for bicycle and pedestrian pathways.

 

International

Cycling Tips offers advice on how to use music to get the best out of your rides. They probably don’t mean singing Hank Williams out loud while you ride, as someone who looks a lot like me may or may not have done on occasion.

Toronto rejects a staff recommendation to remove lanes from a major street, and keep it six lanes and dangerous instead.

Caught on video: British police use bike cam video to prosecute a 50 mph punishment pass, resulting in the equivalent of a $365 fine. A much better punishment would be to make the driver stand in the roadway while someone else does it to him.

The Irish government will introduce a safe passing law mandating that drivers pass bicyclists with the rough equivalent of three feet on roads with a speed limit below 31 mph, and five feet above that.

Eat and bike your way across Italy with Top Chef contestants.

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war bikes is all too real, as Aussie bicyclists find thumbtacks spread across at least four popular riding routes. Far from a harmless prank, something like that can cause serious injuries — or worse — if a flat causes a rider to fall. And should be prosecuted as such.

The government of Queensland, Australia, has introduced a presumed liability bill, which would presume that the operator of the more dangerous vehicle has a greater responsibility to avoid crashes, and would be considered at fault in a collision; the head of the local auto club calls it a divisive bill that pits motorists against cyclists. Actually, motorists have done that themselves for decades.

 

Finally…

Your WiFi depends on a Hollywood bombshell who escaped Nazis and an unhappy marriage on a bicycle. It’s golf balls over bikes on the beach.

And can a serial burglar really be a bad guy if he rides a bike and leaves the homes neat and tidy?

………

Thanks to View-Speed for their generous contribution to help keep BikinginLA coming your way every day. Click here if you’d like to donate to help support this site. 

 

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