It’s not always enough to know that something bad happened. And sometimes, confirming it can be very difficult to do.
That was the case here, as we first reported the death of Anthony Barnes on January 18th, but were unable to get official confirmation until now.
The LA County Coroner’s office confirmed today that Barnes, better known as Tony, was killed in a traffic collision in LA’s Playa Vista neighborhood on December 29th of last year.
According to sources with the LAPD, Barnes was attempting to cross Jefferson Blvd northbound near Inglewood Blvd around 8:50 am when he was struck by a car headed east on Jefferson. After the impact, his bike continued onto the westbound side of the street, where he was struck again by a second vehicle.
He was taken to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, where he was pronounced dead.
The police report that both drivers immediately stopped and attempted to render aid, and that multiple witnesses assisted in the investigation.
The initial conclusion was that Barnes failed to observe the right-of-way. However, the collision remains under investigation.
A satellite view shows a wide, six lane street on Jefferson, which would have been very busy at that hour.
Tony Barnes was the owner of the Bicycle Ambulance bike shop on Lincoln Blvd in Santa Monica, and had a reputation as a very caring, giving and helpful person. A Facebook post describes how he took a young man under his wing when he wanted to learn how to fix bikes, allowing him to shadow Barnes as he worked in the shop to develop his skills.
A GoFundMe page started by his daughter describes him as a mechanic on the successful US Cycling Team at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and the fastest wrench in the West.
As of this writing, the page has raised a little less than $2900 of the $5,000 goal to help defray funeral expenses and help keep his daughter in the home they rented while she remains in school.
Maybe we can help her meet that goal.
I’m also told the bike shop will remain open, at least for the time being.
Barnes’ death raises the umber of bicycling fatalities in Southern California last year to 73, 33 of which were in Los Angeles County. This is also the 13th bicycling death in the City of Los Angeles last year.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Tony Barnes and all his loved ones.
Thank you to everyone who alerted me to this death and helped in tracking down the facts and putting this story together.
While Cedillo has a huge advantage in fundraising, much of it coming from developers and others seeking to influence City Hall, Bray-Ali’s upstart grassroots campaign has been making waves in the district, as he rides his cargo bike door-to-door to talk with local voters.
And the Times has noticed.
Many people in the district think of Bray-Ali, 37, as just a bike-shop owner and bike activist. Frustration over Cedillo’s part in stalling bike lanes on Figueroa Street propelled Bray-Ali into this race. But though he may be campaigning atop two wheels, he has educated himself way beyond bike and transit issues. In fact, his understanding of land-use policy is impressive for someone who has never worked in City Hall, and his experience running a small business in the city will make him a rare and important voice on the council.
They also seem to have a pretty good read on his opponent.
Cedillo has a reputation among community activists as someone hell-bent on helping developers build market-rate housing while paying little regard for the more prosaic concerns of the neighborhoods. This disinterest in the community is troubling; even more so is his indifference to the displacement of low-income constituents. (He called displacement in his district an “urban myth” in a meeting with the editorial board. The city’s own data show it is not.) Building more housing is a virtue — the city is in a housing crunch, and more market-rate housing means more housing, period. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of a neighborhood’s affordability and quality of life. A councilman’s job is to balance the interests of neighborhoods with those of the population as a whole, and Cedillo doesn’t seem to be interested in that task…
The winner of this race will have an extra long term (the recent change in city elections means the winner will hold office for 5½ years) during a building boom that could fundamentally change the district. It is imperative that the person making the decisions focus on the needs of the community, not just a personal vision. The candidate who is best prepared to do that for Council District 1 is Bray-Ali.
Fact: Joe Bray-Ali has been a tireless advocate for safer streets for pedestrians, bike riders and drivers. A key leader in the safe streets Figueroa for All movement, Joe’s advocacy is helping make North East L.A. a safer place to live and is improving the neighborhood’s connections to Pasadena and the Los Angeles River.
Joe’s vision for CD 1 and the entire city, includes zero deaths and injuries from irresponsible, dangerous drivers. This is just one more reason that Josef Bray-Ali should be CD 1’s next councilmenber.
It’s time that CD 1 was represented by a councilmember who cares about the district. It’s time to elect Joe Bray-Ali.
On a personal note, I’ve been encouraging Joe Bray-Ali to run for city council since I first met him nearly ten years ago.
I’ve never met anyone more passionate about improving safety on our streets — myself included. Or more committed to improving the quality of life for the people who live in Northeast LA.
And few people, in or out of government, are more knowledgeable about the way city government works, and how it can be made to work more efficiently and better serve the people of this city. Not to mention possessing a rare ability to dig through city budgets line by line to determine where the money is actually going, as opposed to where it should be.
Joe has been a longtime advocate for better streets and better government. It’s time that passion and commitment is put to work serving, not just the bicycling community, but all the residents of CD1 and the City of Los Angeles.
Thanks to Robert Peppey for the heads-up.
………
If you’re looking for a visual definition of real schmuck, Greg Heining sends us this video of a driver cutting off an elderly woman with a walker as she makes her way across a crosswalk.
This is the city’s only official voice for bicyclists, yet three of the seats remain unfilled. If you’re a resident of council districts 9 (Curren Price), 10 (Herb Wesson) or 13 (Mitch O’Farrell), contact them today and politely ask your councilmember to get off his ass and appoint someone.
Then not so politely if they still don’t.
………
Bike racing’s governing body issues new rules for support vehicles to improve safety in the peloton. Even though the only way to really improve safety would be to ban them entirely.
Registration is now open for the 104-mile Tehachapi GranFondo, which will evidently take place sometime. Note to Bakersfield Now: One of those famous Five W’s stands for when. Just a hint. Update: Thanks to MTS, who points out the ride rolls on September 16th.
Now that’s more like it. San Francisco police are deploying extra officers to crack down on traffic violations by drivers at locations where bicyclists or pedestrians have been injured.
San Francisco scraps plans for a raised bike lane on Polk Street after concluding that it would also need to be parking protected. So what’s the point of raising the bike lane if it’s already protected?
Redfin lists the best cities for living without a car; San Francisco takes the top spot, while cross-bay neighbor Oakland checks in at number ten. Needless to say, Los Angeles didn’t make the list.
Now that’s more like it, too. Large trucks are banned from a narrow British lane where they weren’t supposed to be in the first place after a bike rider was injured in a collision.
A new German project raising funds on Kickstarter promises to deliver a flexible, lightweight bike lock made up of five layers that are saw-resistant, cut-resistant, fire-resistant, waterproof, and dirt-repelling. Because really, who wants a dirty lock?
Today was national Go By Bike Day in New Zealand. Or yesterday, since it’s already tomorrow there.
Caught on video: Dozens of people team up to lift a van off a Chinese bicyclist following a collision; thanks to their efforts, the victim didn’t appear to have suffered any injuries.
This Wednesday, long-time Santa Monica bike advocate and UCLA/Cambridge lecturer Dr. Michael Cahn will conduct a free lecture on the 1890’s bicycle art of Jean de Paleologu.
Here’s how he describes the talk, titled Ladies Cycling in the Night Sky.
On Wednesday February 8th I will show some pictures and say a few word about Ladies Cycling in the Night Sky, as popularized by Jean de Paleologu (PAL) around 1890. He started a trend in France that associated the bicycle with female figures flying in the wind. A striking visual discourse which is still alive on the occasional wine label.
Yet the image of those night cyclists is very distant from the concern with bloomers and rational dress that dominates the English speaking cycling scene for women during the same period.
And how does it all connect with an old Greek statute found on the island of Samothrace ?
All welcome to join us for this lecture on the history cycling, imaginary and otherwise.
The Daily News says Southern California is in the grips of a diabetes crisis. The same Vision Zero street improvements that can help eliminate traffic deaths can help prevent even more deaths from diabetes, heart disease and stroke by encouraging more people to get out and walk or ride their bikes.
Malibu now has $38.5 million to pay for 12 safety improvement projects on PCH, some of which have already been completed, including bike route improvements. However, no one seems to be talking about the most important safety improvement — transforming PCH from a speed-focused highway ferrying people through the city without stopping, into the city’s Main Street.
The Coachella Valley Association of Governments will consider spending $10 million on bike and pedestrian projects following one of the deadliest years for pedestrians. Then again, it wasn’t great for bicyclists, either.
Cities around the country are turning to bicycle paramedic teams to improve response times and save lives, according to the Washington Post; LA bike paramedics were among the first emergency crews to reach Carrie Fisher on the ground after she suffered a heart attack while landing at LAX.
Heartbreaking letter in a Topeka newspaper from a father calling for stiffer penalties for killer drivers, recounting the bicycling death of his own son 28 years earlier.
Needless to say, Minneapolis bicyclists aren’t exactly thrilled with a proposed bill that would require bicyclists to complete an educational program, pass a test and pay a fee just to use the city’s bike lanes. As we’ve noted before, the effect of the law would just be that bike lanes would go unused while riders risk their safety riding in the traffic lanes next to them.
Toronto’s bike-hating columnist is back at it again, citing 211 bicyclists using a bike lane on a cold January morning as proof that no one uses it during the winter. Except for the 211 people who used it, of course. Then gets in a snit when bike riders refuse to interrupt their commutes to pull over to talk to him. Maybe he’d have better luck getting drivers on their way to work to pull over and chat. Or not.
London is averaging one collision a day between bike riders and pedestrians, an increase of 47% over the last seven years. Which really isn’t much in a crowded city of 8.6 million people, although a better number would be zero. Unfortunately, you can’t control what pedestrians do, but you can control where and how you ride, and always slow down and ride carefully around people on foot.
There’s more than one kind of distracted driving. A British driver gets a whole 20 weeks — yes, weeks — for killing a grandfather out for a bike ride when she turned around for a “split-second” to yell at her kids for throwing popcorn.
An Indian tsunami survivor hasn’t seen her parents in four years. And doesn’t expect to see them for at least another three, as she focuses on competing in track cycling at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Besides a steady conduit for speeding drivers, that is.
The seven winning proposals include four temporary pop-up projects, and three permanent installations, offering a mix of pedestrian and bicycling improvements, as well as attempts at transformative community space building.
The projects, which total $4.6 million, range from an Open Streets event in South El Monte, to support for Vision Zero community outreach and media development in Los Angeles, as well as developing a Vision Zero action plan for the county.
Los Angeles Magazine recommends biking as one option for Expo Line commuters to get to the Culver City station, now that the parking garage is being replaced with a mixed-use development. Although I’m told those bike lockers they mention have a wait list.
This is what those subway-style bike maps look like in a city with an actual bike network, like San Francisco.
National
A self-described green car website crunches the numbers, and concluded that driving a Nissan Leaf is cleaner than riding a bicycle — if the rider only eats beef. And only if the power for the car comes from non-coal fired plants. In other words, not really.
Gizmodo reviews a belt-drive bike that replaces the derailleur with a continuously variable transmission, which they claim offers an infinite spectrum of gears.
An Op-Ed from Kentucky’s capital calls on the state to adopt a safe-passing law for bicycles; two bills under consideration would require drivers to change lanes to pass bikes, or give at least three feet passing distance if that’s not possible. It would also allow drivers to briefly cross a yellow line to pass bike riders if there’s no traffic, something Jerry Brown vetoed as part of an earlier version of California’s three-foot passing law.
“Persnickety” residents of a Toronto neighborhood complain about bikeshare besmirching their park; a writer for the Toronto Star calls their petty objections “a rejection of what it means to live in a shared city.”
Caught on video: This is what it looks like to hit a bike rider at 25 mph, from the driver’s perspective; fortunately, the victim wasn’t injured. Warning, use discretion in deciding whether to click the link, because this one is really hard to watch. I wish I hadn’t.
As you’re no doubt aware, the Super Bowl takes place this Sunday. Time your ride for after kickoff if you want to enjoy rare peaceful, empty streets. But try to get home before the game’s over, when you can reasonably assume any driver you see will be drunk.
And if you plan on watching the game, leave your car at home if you’re going to be drinking.
A bike rider in the South Bay gets passed by the road raging driver of a large pickup, who then steps out of his truck to berate him and tell him to get off the fucking road.
LAPD officers have told me that a driver can be charged with assault the moment he gets out of his vehicle, since merely exiting the vehicle can be seen as a threat.
Considering how some members of the council don’t seem to give a damn about us, you should take advantage of a chance to ride and talk with one who does.
Speaking of which, one of those bike-unfriendly councilmembers has raised nearly 10 times the funds of Josef Bray-Ali, his Bike the Vote-endorsed challenger in CD1, who qualified for matching funds by raising $49,000 in mostly small contributions.
Clearly, Bray-Ali’s route to victory will depend on volunteer efforts and word-of-mouth, rather than trying to outspend his opponent.
Which means we have to do everything we can to get a more bike and safety-friendly voice on the council, in a district that desperately needs it.
Streetsblog says Los Angeles has striped new bike lanes on Heliotrope Drive in what used to be known as the Bicycle District, replacing sharrows that should have been bike lanes to begin with.
The LACBC looks at three things they learned during the recent Ask An Officer panel discussion with BikinginLA sponsor Jim Pocrass, including that there aren’t enough cops on the street, and the ones who are too often don’t have enough resources or receive adequate training. Which is something we’ve been pushing for since this site was founded.
A DC rider creates a simplified, easy-to-read bike map based on transit maps. If someone did that here in LA, all they’d get is a bunch of disconnected lines looking like someone spilled a box of matches. And almost as useful.
Caught on video: Doesn’t look like much; just a guy riding his bike on the sidewalk. Except it’s a London cop’s official police bike, which he just stole from a rack after cutting the lock.
February 2, 2017 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Morning Links: Bike the Vote rejects Measure S, self-driving cars can’t see you, and bike-following robots
Like it or not, housing issues affect more than just where you live and how much you pay.
That’s why Bike the Vote LA has come out against Measure S, which would impose a two-year moratorium on most major new housing construction, saying it would only increase sprawl, social inequity and traffic.
The group says it would “have far-reaching negative repercussions for our collective vision of a diverse, livable, affordable, walkable, bikeable city.”
Bad news for all those, like myself, who have been hoping that self-driving cars would mean safer streets for bike riders by taking the wheel away from today’s careless, aggressive, wasted and/or distracted drivers.
A Menlo Park police chase leads to the arrest of a trio of bike thieves; police found numerous bicycles in one woman’s residence, along with other stolen items, but only three of the bikes had been reported stolen. Another reminder to register your bike, and report it the police if it gets stolen; too often they recover bikes that they can’t return to the owners because they have no idea who they belong to. And they can’t press charges if they can’t prove a bike is stolen.
A San Francisco Chronicle reader concludes that if it serves 100 riders a day, a $25 million bike lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge works out to $171 per ride over the four-year trial period. Except that bridges last a lot longer than four years, it could end up serving a lot more than 100 riders a day, and most bike commuters ride both ways, doubling the number of trips. But other than that…
Outside Magazine celebrates its 40th anniversary with their list of the 40 most iconic places on the planet, including mountain bike mecca Slickrock in Moab, Utah, the Tour de France’s Alpe d’Huez, and the Festina car which lead to discovery of pro cycling’s doping problems. Although the latter is more a thing than a place.
The National Bike Registry has merged with the Project 529 bicycle registration service, creating a 400,000 combined database; anyone already registered with NBR will automatically be upgraded to a free lifetime membership with Project 529. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link.
I want to be like him when I grow up. A 78-year old New Mexico bicyclist has travelled around 90,000 miles since he took up bicycling in 2004, despite losing a year of riding due to aortic surgery. I mean about the riding at his age, not the aorta problems. Just to be clear.
Bighearted Oklahoma police buy a new bike for an 11-year old boy whose bike was destroyed when he was unexpectedly hit by a car. As opposed to all those people who leave home expecting to crash.
International
The UK’s Cyclist magazine calls on Londoners to avoid the inevitable traffic nightmare caused by next week’s tube strike by joining the city’s 170,000 bike commuters.
A British bicyclist navigates what he calls the nonsensical cycling scene in Cambridge, saying even if everyone behaved perfectly, there’s just not enough space for cars, pedestrians and bicyclists in the medieval city.
Oslo, Norway is fighting pollution and traffic congestion by giving residents a $1,200 credit towards the purchase of an ebike. If California ever gets serious about fighting climate change and doing something about our crowded streets, a program like that could be cost-effective if it actually succeeds in getting people out of their cars.
As we noted last week, the City of Los Angeles has finally released its Vision Zero Action Plan, explaining in detail how it plans to reduce traffic deaths by 20% this year, and eliminate them entirely by 2025 — just eight years away.
Comments to the plan continue to roll in.
Today, Vision Zero Alliance member Bobby Peppey is sharing a letter he wrote in response to the plan.
Note: While Peppey is a member of the VZA, he want to make it clear that these are his opinions, and do not necessarily reflect those of the alliance.
………
There is a serious problem with LADOT’s Vision Zero Action Plan (VZAP) that wasn’t mentioned in LACBC’s excellent letter.
The lack of mention of lowering speed limits from the deadly 35/45mph to safer speed limits of 25/15 mph on Los Angeles HIN or other City streets in the VZAP.
Safer, slower top speed limits have been instituted by New York City, Seattle, Boston and in other North American cities.
Yes there is the California Speed Trap law and its 85 percentile rule that supposedly forces City’s to raise limits as Joe Linton mentions in his article last spring. There are exceptions in the law to this rule that are manifest on all of the HIN streets that can easily be implemented to lower the speed limits on these streets.
On page 15 is the only mention of lowering speed limits in the plan, “A speed-limit reduction may be more appropriate on streets where children walk to school.” In my experience children walk on all sorts of streets and not only to get to school.
There is some amorphous language on page 36 as follows, “Vision Zero for Los Angeles will pursue local, state, and federal legislation that strengthens traffic safety policy…”, but the VZAP doesn’t go on to then state what policy changes will be pursued by the City.
More ominous in VZAP are the BENCHMARKS on page 37. The second row concerns finishing speed surveys conducted by LADOT but does not state what the results of these surveys will be.
In Joe Linton’s June 9th article in StreetsblogLA concerning the City Council Transportation Committee meeting of June 8th, he states that “LADOT General Manager Reynolds stressed that speed surveys and resultant speed limit increases are needed.”
Earlier at the same meeting Ms. Reynolds stated “IF WE COULD GET EVERYBODY IN THE CITY TO SLOW DOWN TO A SAFE SPEED, WE COULD SAVE HUNDREDS OF LIVES EVERY YEAR.” This quote is verbatim from the printed minutes of the meeting.
We live in a City (second largest in the US) that is now facing down the full brunt of the power of an arch-conservative unified federal government on the issue of immigrants rights, one of the most significant human rights battles of this century for our Country.
That the City of Los Angeles is not willing to deal with the same vigor towards Caltrans, and the State of California’s terribly inequitable Speed Trap Law; when our City is suffering from an epidemic of Kills and Serious Injury (KSI) of persons who walk, ride a bike or use transit on its sidewalks, crosswalks and streets is stunning.
Considering that she dragged him the length of two football fields, they’re probably right. Anything less than a murder charge would be an abject failure of justice.
………
This is why people continue to die on our streets. An Orange County man was arrested for DUI on Sunday after crashing into a utility box in Placentia and attempting to run away.
Police quickly discovered that the driver, 52-year-old Derek Stacy Haskayne, was already on probation for a previous felony DUI conviction.
In fact, he’s had eight DUI convictions since 2011.
Read that again. Eight DUI convictions — not just arrests — in the last six years. And yet he somehow still manages to remain behind the wheel, placing every other human being on the roads at risk.
We can talk all we want about Vision Zero. But as long as people like this are allowed own, buy, rent or borrow a motor vehicle of any kind, innocent people will continue to die.
Thanks to John Damman for the heads-up.
………
The route was announced for this year’s edition of the Amgen Tour of California, as well as the separate but unequal four-stage Breakaway from Heart Disease women’s race. The last three stages will be set in SoCal, including a Mt. Baldy finish in stage 5, a Big Bear time trial, and a Pasadena finish for the final stage, while the women won’t get any closer than Sacramento.
Deadspin says if motor doping exists, the 60 Minutes report didn’t prove it. Of course it exists; the only question is whether it’s actually being used in the pro peloton.
Kindhearted UK cops pitch in to buy a boy a new bike after his was stolen, not once, but twice as he travelled to see his sister at a children’s hospital.
Life is cheap in the UK, where a hit-and-run driver is fined the equivalent of just $471, after claiming he had no idea he hit a bike rider because his music was too loud. Or maybe he just turned it up so he couldn’t hear the screams of his victims.
Riding a bike in Johannesburg can be a matter of life and death — not from distracted drivers, but because of armed bikejackers.
Today is the last day for local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry to get deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.
………
So much of the oft-cited figure that one percent of Angelenos commute by bicycle.
Instead, it clearly depends on where you are.
Bike wonk Dennis Hindman took a deep dive into the latest ACS data released by the Census Bureau last December to examine bike commuting by LA-area zip code.
What he discovered was that the rate of bike commuters ranged from a whopping 10% for DTLA and 9% for the USC area, to a lowly .8% for Wilmington. Meanwhile, bike-friendly Santa Monica checks in at 3.8%, while Culver City comes in at a surprising 2.2%.
He also notes that the heaviest rates of bike commuting follow the route of the Expo Line, which had a wait list for bike lockers a week after the new extension to Santa Monica opened.
And which once again demonstrates the need for safe bike lane connections to the Expo Line, especially on Westwood Blvd leading to the UCLA campus.
Meanwhile, incumbent Cedillo evidently decided it was more prudent to simply not respond to the survey, rather than lie about his support for bike lanes like he did last time around.
………
The LACBC released their response to LA’s new Vision Zero Action Plan, saying while it’s a positive development, it “lacks a clear vision for making the streets safer for people who ride bicycles.”
The coalition also has concerns about the city’s commitment to unbiased policing and equity when it comes to enforcing traffic laws.
Apparently unhappy with being cut off by someone who actually belonged there while riding illegally in a San Francisco bike lane, a motorcyclist attempts to intimidate a bicyclist. And discovers he should work on his own riding skills first.
No, this is not recommended bike behavior. A homeless man on a bicycle attacked a car with a machete at a Pasadena intersection. Seriously, there’s been times I’ve wanted to, but still. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the heads-up.
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard from Boyonabike, who got a hearty “eff you, asshole” from the driver who gave him a dangerous punishment pass, telling him he belonged on the side of the road.
Canada considers a National Cycling Strategy that would fund a nationwide expansion of bicycling infrastructure and support the bike industry, although not everyone seems happy about it.
Caught on video: A Brit teen driver on a five hour reckless driving rampage slams into a man on a bicycle, flipping him over the car. Fortunately, the victim recovered from his injuries, while the driver got a well-deserved five years behind bars and an eight and a half year ban on driving. Warning, the video is very difficult to watch.
Through the end of this month, BikinginLA is supporting local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.
………
You have just two days left to comment on Metro’s plans to make the entrance to LA’s Union Station more walkable and bikeable.
Former Spanish pro and U-23 world road champ Iván Gutiérrez says he tried to hurt himself eleven times as a result of depression. Pro teams focus a lot of attention on physical condition of their riders; maybe more needs to be paid to their mental and emotional health.
A Marin County equestrian says conflicts on trails are caused by a small percentage of aggressive cyclists, and never happened before mountain bikes were invented. Funny, I’ve been run off trails by horseback riders while hiking more than once, before and after mountain bikes came into widespread use.
If you have a Pro-Tec City Life bike helmet, send it back; they’re being recalled after failing routine tests by Consumer Reports.
Fast Coexist looks at a simple fix that could keep bike riders’ tires from getting caught in streetcar tracks.
A writer for Strong Towns says she’s not a cyclist, she’s just someone who rides a bike. While I understand the sentiment, I have to respectfully disagree; saying cyclists are only people who wear spandex and ride for sport, as opposed to others who ride casually or for transportation, just creates an us vs. them mentality, instead of standing up for the rights of everyone who rides a bicycle.
A suspect turned himself in for the hit-and-run death of a young Texas bike racer, whose mother found his body the next day when he didn’t return home from a ride; the driver turned himself in on Friday, following the collision last Monday. Which gave him plenty of time to sober up and come up with a good excuse. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.
Bike advocates and friends of a fallen Chicago bike rider express their outrage over the ten day sentence given a killer drunk driver. Streetsblog says the politically connected driver was twice charged with DUI in high school, but had the charges dismissed. This is why people continue to die on our streets; too often there are no consequences for dangerous behavior, even when someone gets hurt — or worse. Especially if they can afford a good lawyer.
The New York Times says innovations in the cycling world, including mobile bike shops and online ordering, are threatening local bike shops. Thanks to George Wolfberg for the link.
International
If you’re going to get into bicycling, the first thing you’ll need is a bicycle. Just about everything else the story mentions is optional to a greater or lesser degree; yes, you should have a spare tube and patch kit, but countless riders somehow manage to get along without a bike computer, as useful as they may be.
Seriously, how oblivious do you have to be to not even know you hit someone with your car? A British driver claims his had his music turned up so loud he didn’t even know he’d hit a bike rider until he got home and saw the damage to his car. But how is it that he didn’t even feel the impact?
A Scottish lawyer says the country has to make bicycling safer, as too many people are afraid to get out on their bikes, resulting in a public health crisis.
Through the end of this month, BikinginLA is supporting local bike shops and other small businesses in the bike industry by offering deep discounts on our usual advertising rates. For more information, or to find out if your business qualifies, email the address on the Support and Advertising page.
………
It was a surprise announcement.
And both heartening, and a little disappointing.
Word broke Thursday morning that LA’s Vision Zero Alliance had finally released its long-awaited Action Plan, explaining how the plan to reduce traffic fatalities by 20% by the end of this year, and eliminate them entirely by 2025.
While the report hits all the appropriate notes, it’s a little short on specifics.
For instance, it talks about the need to reduce speeds to drive down LA’s worst in the nation traffic death rate, but doesn’t actually commit to reducing speed limits to 20 or 25 mph, as other major cities have done. And it discusses working to change laws at the state level, without stating whether they will fight to remove the deadly 85th percentile law that drives up speeds and destroys livability — not to mention survivability — on city streets.
However, there are a few specific actions we can follow to verify that the plan is on track:
Vision Zero means designing a street network that is safe for all modes. The City will:
Install live-saving improvements on the priority corridors and intersections along the High-Injury Network, such as optimizing four-hundred traffic signals and redesigning at least twelve miles of City streets every year to accommodate safe transportation for all.
Update 100 percent of the expired speed surveys on the priority corridors by the end of 2017.
Update all City street-design standards used by the Bureau of Public Works, the Department of Transportation, and the Department of City Planning to be consistent with the National Association of City
Unanswered is whether the city will address the chronic understaffing problems at LADOT so they actually have the capability to work on Vision Zero, without throwing the hard-fought Mobility Plan out the window.
Some of those bicycling deaths could be prevented simply by building out the low-stress network of Bicycle Friendly Streets called for in the plan, giving riders a safer and more comfortable alternative to riding busier streets.
Also unanswered is how they will solve the problem of recalcitrant councilmembers who attempt to block desperately needed safety improvements in their districts, as Gil Cedillo and Paul Koretz have already done.
Not to mention LA’s rampant NIMBYism, which rises up to oppose virtually any changes on our streets, especially if there’s the slightest suspicion it might slow traffic down.
The Austrian man who was busted for trying to ride naked into a hotel in eight degree weather says he was trying to impress a girl. Although getting fired from his job as a pastry chef at the hotel probably isn’t the way to do it. And someone should explain to him about shrinkage.
A Pennsylvania bike rider was apparently under the influence when he was killed by a 17-year old driver; the victim had a water bottle filled with booze, and a dope pipe in his pocket.
University of Florida students are unnerved by a man riding his bike around campus wearing a swastika. Sometimes bike riders are the bad guys. And sometimes they’re just assholes. But even assholes have a constitutional right to be one.
But not as cheap as Illinois, where a drunk driver cops a plea for killing a man who was riding his bike home from work, in exchange for a whopping ten days behind bars. Ten effing days. Thanks to J. Patrick Lynch for the heads-up.
And a three-time Brit traffic serial killer gets his suspended license back three years early because it’s an inconvenience to his family. It was probably pretty inconvenient for the families of his victims, too.
And then we wonder why nothing ever seems to stop the carnage on our streets.
………
Nice to hear from Michael Wagner of CLR Effect, who offers news from LA County’s too often neglected Eastside.
Even if the news isn’t exactly what we want to hear.
Santa Monica Planning is hosting a ride with SaMo’s mayor this Sunday. LA mayor Eric Garcetti agreed to ride with bicyclists when he was running for office four years ago, but to the best of my knowledge, no one has bothered to ask him to do it. Which should be a big hint to the LACBC, the BAC, LADOT…
US Cycling membership now includes legal benefits, including a free consultation, reduced legal fees, and priority consideration for pro bono legal representation. Although virtually any bike lawyer will offer a free consultation.
An editorial in USC’s Daily Trojan calls California’s ban on headphones for bike riders a new, overbearing law. Except the law only prohibits wearing headphones in or on both ears, rather than one. And it’s not new. Wearing headphones in both ears has been illegal for years, just as it is for drivers; all that changed with the new law was to eliminate loopholes to include any form of headphones or earpieces.
Seventy-one percent of people responding to an online poll in one Canadian town think winter bicycling should be banned; one bighearted driver thinks running over a cyclist could provide extra traction on icy streets.
In a truly bizarre case, Dutch police have filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice against a UN lawyer from Jamaica who claimed she had been brutalized by cops who arrested her when she got off her bike and walked it across a busy street.
Who needs a mountain when you’ve got a parking garage? Adelaide, Australia cyclists compete in their own indoor hill climb. Thanks to Adam Ginsberg for the news.
Thanks to Todd Rowell for his generous donation to support this site. Donations are always welcome to help us bring you the best, freshest and most accurate bike news in this post-truth era of alternate facts and fake news.
