Tag Archive for mass casualties

Fixie rider suffers major injuries in Oxnard, ebike rider injured in San Diego hit-and-run, and mass casualty crash in Australia

December 16, 2024 / / No comments
Just 15 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025, a decade of failure in which deaths have continued to climb. 
Yet not one city official has mentioned the impending deadline, or the city’s failure to meet it. 

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It’s Day 18 of the 10th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

Just nine days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy! So thanks to Patt M, Stephen H, Scott G, Michael M, Jim M and Joseph M for their generous donations over the weekend!

Time’s running out for this year’s fund drive. So don’t wait, give now! 

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No bias here.

A 44-year old man riding a fixie suffered major injuries when he was struck by a driver in Oxnard’s La Colonia neighborhood Friday morning.

Yet the local paper somehow felt the need to note that he didn’t have brakes on his bike, and wasn’t wearing a helmet, even though there’s nothing in the article to suggest either was a factor in the crash.

It’s unlikely his lack of a helmet caused the crash, and it’s not relevant to his injuries unless he suffered a head injury, which is not noted in the story.

It also doesn’t say the victim ran the stop sign or was unable to stop before riding out in front of or crashing into the driver, which is the only reason his lack of brakes should matter.

The point isn’t that the paper shouldn’t have reported those facts, but that they need to connect the dots to show why they’re relevant.

Or just leave them out if they can’t.

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An 18-year old man suffered a broken bone in his arm when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding an ebike in a bike lane in San Diego’s Pacific Highlands Ranch on Tuesday.

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Another mass casualty crash, this time in Australia, where two people were killed and four others injured when a woman crashed her car into a group of people competing in a bike race.

Her car continued on before crashing into a tree and bursting into flames; the 30 year old driver and a man in his 60s died as a result.

No word on why she was apparently unable to see or avoid a large group of people on bicycles directly in front of her.

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The Hollywood Hills West Neighborhood Council will host a special meeting tomorrow to consider the proposed protected bike lanes on Forest Lawn Drive.

The desperately needed safety improvement is opposed by the cemetery and mortuaries, in an apparent attempt to drum up more business.

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‘Tis the season.

A Bakersfield man has given away dozens, if not hundreds, of bicycles and toys over the past 30 years, in an effort to make every kid’s Christmas special.

Volunteers in French Camp worked throughout the year to refurbish 250 bicycles to give to local kids for the holidays.

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It’s now 361 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And a full 42 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

The program is finally scheduled to launch on Wednesday, so get your application in; Calbike with host a webinar on today to go over the application process.

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

No bias here, either. A Staten Island site calls for requiring licenses & registration for ebikes and e-scooters to “stop the carnage,” after 46 people have been killed riding ebikes in New York since they were legalized five years ago. Never mind that the stat counts people killed by negligent and distracted drivers, as well as other cases where the person on the ebike may have been the victim, rather than the one at fault. 

The Urbanist offers a video discussing “the extreme lies that (Ontario Premier Doug) Ford has passed off to justify bike lane removal” in Toronto, while someone posted a banner over a freeway asking what bike lane was responsible for this traffic. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the last link.

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

A Laguna Beach woman complains about reckless teens riding ebikes, including one who crashed into her husband’s car but rode off without stopping, before disappearing down a trail. But from the description, it sounds like what she’s really talking about are electric motorcycles.

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Local  

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is poised to appoint a new member to the Metro board to replace termed-out Councilmember Paul Krekorian; San Fernando Valley leaders say she has to appoint someone else from the Valley.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton looks at the new Pacoima Wash walk and bike path in San Fernando, and the modular curb-protection added to the protected bike lanes on Main Street in DTLA.

 

State

Streetsblog offers more information about the open letter from a large number of bicycling groups urging state leaders to focus on the real threats to safety, and stop hampering the adoption of ebikes.

Desert Hot Springs will install new bike lanes and crosswalks as part of a $9.7 million infrastructure project to fix deadly section of Palm Drive.

Sad news from Merced, where a man was killed after allegedly riding his bike through a stop sign, and was struck by a driver on the cross street.

A group of San Francisco merchants are abusing California’s CEQA laws to halt the city’s plan to move the Valencia Street protected bike lane from the center of the roadway to a curbside position, which was never the intent of the regulations.

San Francisco public television station KQED examines the ongoing saga of the barrier-separated bike and pedestrian path on the upper deck of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge; five governmental bodies have voted unanimously against a proposal to convert the lane to a motor vehicle breakdown lane on weekdays, while a petition protesting the plan has gained just under 3,100 signatures.

An op-ed from a Marin County supervisor and a local pediatrician make the case that ebikes are vehicles and not toys, urging parents to do their homework and think twice before buying one for their kids.

 

National

A Washington State police chief wasn’t held responsible for pulling out of an alley in front of a man riding a bicycle, after the victim admitted to riding “hella fast” on the sidewalk, in a town where sidewalk riding is prohibited; fortunately, the bike rider only suffered a bruised knee.

Speaking of Washington, Governor Jay Inslee celebrated the news that the Bike League named the country’s best place to ride a bicycle. Somehow, I can’t imagine California Governor Gavin Newsom even noticing or acknowledging something like that. Thanks to Mike Burk for the tip.

Nice gesture from the City of Cincinnati, which declared Saturday “Bicycle Santa Day” to honor a longtime local bike advocate who died recently of pancreatic cancer, and was known for riding his bike dressed as Santa Claus.

US Weekly summarizes the case against Sean M. Higgins for killing NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they were riding their bikes along a New Jersey highway, when Higgins reportedly tried to pass another driver on the right, while allegedly under the influence.

Police in Alabama are asking for the public’s help identifying a man who was killed riding a bicycle at an intersection where ten people have been killed by traffic violence in 16 years. Seriously, the intersection should have been redesigned after the first death, not the tenth, if then, And this is yet another a reminder to always have some form of ID with you when you ride.

 

International

Momentum recommends the 15 best holiday gifts for the bicyclist in your life. Even if the bicyclist in your life is, well, you. 

A writer for Pink Bike shares his photos and story of a mountain biking adventure through Ecuador.

They get it. A Buenos Aires paper says the Argentinian city should expand its bike lanes, not remove them, noting it’s the parked cars that block the streets, and that bicycling is the solution, not the problem.

Hundreds of people turned out for a London Santa ride to raise money for charity.

A UK bike rider won the equivalent of more than $5,000 in damages against a hit-and-run driver who ran him down from behind, saying all the driver had to do to avoid it was stop and say “sorry.”

Membership in British Cycling has dropped by 15,000 in the two years after the nonprofit organization signed Shell Oil as a sponsor, as bicyclists have complained about the “nauseating greenwashing” deal.

A Czech man learns the hard way that his satellite-enabled Garmin is illegal in India, thanks to a 1933 law that predates both Garmins and satellites. Thanks to D-J Haanraadts for the link. 

An 86-year old Australian man known as “Mr. Fix-It” has donated a handful of his whimsical handcrafted bicycles reimagined from used bikes and parts, with features such as misaligned wheels or unusual frames that offer a quirky riding experience.

 

Competitive Cycling

A Slovenian paper talks with the parents of triple Tour de France champ Tadej Pogačar; his secret advantage was that neither of them knew anything about cycling.

Legendary cyclist Eddy Merckx says he’ll never ride a bike alone again after fracturing his hip when he crashed on a railroad track in a drizzling rain, lying alone in fear and pain before others came by to help him.

 

Finally…

Your next ebike could be 3D printed and look like a normal bike. Riding a bike can give you new hope and help you feel at home, even in a new country.

And probably not the best idea to attack the cops who try to give you a breathalyzer test for biking under the influence.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Two teens killed in crash where Vista Del Mar road diet removed, and elderly driver plows through a dozen French school kids

June 6, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 208 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the city’s mean streets.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

We’re up to 1,190 signatures, so don’t stop now! Let’s get it up to 1,200 before I send it to the mayor’s office!

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Back in 2019, a four-year old girl was tragically killed by a driver as she crossed the street in Koreatown, while holding hands with her mother.

In a crosswalk. With the light.

Alessa Fajardo and her mom did everything right as they crossed Olympic at Normandie that October day, yet she died anyway. Even though Los Angeles officials knew long before about the dangers of that area and intersection.

In fact, the school they were going to was ranked the city’s 13th most dangerous campus just six years earlier, while Koreatown as a whole was rated LA’s fourth most dangerous neighborhood for bike riders and pedestrians.

That’s pedestrians, like little kids crossing the street with their mothers.

It took four-and-a-half years, and a $9.6 million dollar settlement before anything was done about it.

Los Angeles Times reporter Ryan Fonseca took a deep dive into why.

Starting with the problem of each city councilmember acting like little kings in their own districts, responsible for identifying and approving any improvements before they are made.

Or not.

Neither former District 10 Councilmember Herb Wesson, who represented the district when Alessa was killed, nor his successor, Mark Ridley-Thomas, secured that funding. Ridley-Thomas was indicted on federal corruption charges, suspended from the council and later convicted and removed from his seat in late March 2022. Nobody represented the district until Heather Hutt was appointed that September.

Hutt identified and allocated $530,000 for the new signals in June 2023, but the installation work did not begin until April 2024, four months after the family’s suit against the city was settled.

District 10 staff would not comment on the record about why they could not secure the funds in 2020, 2021, 2022 and early 2023.

No surprise there.

Then again, even on the rare occasions when councilmembers really do try to do something, angry motorists too often rush for their torches and pitchforks — and threats of recall elections.

Tuesday night, two teenagers were killed, and three people seriously injured, in a head-on collision on Vista Del Mar in Playa del Rey.

And if that sounds familiar, it should.

Two years before little Alessa was killed in Koreatown, the city agreed to another $9.6 million settlement, this time with the family of a 16-year old girl killed crossing — wait for it — Vista Del Mar to get to her car after leaving Dockweiler Beach.

The same beach where the kids were killed on Tuesday.

Then-CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin responded by ordering long-delayed safety improvements on Vista Del Mar, and a handful of other streets in Playa del Rey. Both because too many lives had already been lost on the deadly roadway, and because the next settlement, for the next inevitable death, would be exponentially higher.

Yet the resulting lane reductions and bike lanes were unceremoniously ripped out weeks later on the orders of then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, after angry residents and pass-through drivers from Manhattan Beach rose up in anger — aided by angry rants from conservative KFI shock jocks John and Ken.

Hence that failed recall, as well as a lawsuit from anti-urbanist group Fix the City.

It only took another four years before there was blood on Garcetti’s hands, and all those who chose their own convenience over the lives of others.

Now just three years after that, two more people have needlessly lost their lives on that same bloody stretch of road. And despite a breathless report from Fox-11, police reports said there was no indication either driver was under the influence.

Never mind that the settlement for this one will likely be exponentially higher than the last one, since Los Angeles installed, then removed, safety improvements that might have prevented it.

Yet despite at least four deaths on the same section of roadway in just nine years, some people still seem to think they should have the unfettered, God-given right to go zoom zoom whenever and wherever they want, innocent lives be damned.

If you want to know why we can’t manage to do anything about the ever-rising rate of needless deaths on our streets, that’s it.

And it would be nice if our current mayor and council would somehow show they actually gave a damn, since the previous ones clearly didn’t.

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Once again, a car was a weapon of mass destruction, when an elderly driver plowed through a group of 12 schoolchildren at a French resort.

Three of the kids were critically injured when the 83-year old driver hit them head-on as they rode single file, leaving the children screaming in terror and pain amid their mangled bikes.

She was arrested at the scene, then released and taken to a hospital after police concluded she wasn’t in a “fit state” for questioning.

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Speaking of deadly roadways, here’s your chance to fight for bike lanes on PCH in Long Beach.

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No surprise that a town known for wealthy, entitled NIMBYs would choose to prioritize their convenience over the lives of bike riders.

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Bike Culver City offers a full schedule of bike events this month, including a screening of mobility justice leader Yolanda Davis-Overstreet two short film docuseries on Biking While Black on the 13th.

https://twitter.com/BikeCulverCity/status/1798102948452651350

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It’s now 168 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And three full years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

For a change, though, California wasn’t the only state whose competency was question, after Minnesota’s planned ebike rebate program was called off for now when the website crashed within minutes of launching.

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

Police in Surrey, England released video of a violent attack on a bike rider, who was knocked off his bike by two “masked thugs” on a motorbike while riding on a bike path.

One of the UK’s leading young women’s cyclists is out of this year’s Tour of Britain after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver; Kate Richardson was on a training ride when she was knocked off her bike by the impatient driver, who came back to verbally abuse her before driving off again.

 

A man in Cork, Ireland was irate after a driver pulled over directly in front of him in a bike lane to chat with a friend on the sidewalk, while he was riding uphill with two kids on his cargo bike.

Campaigning for the European Parliament, a Dublin, Ireland politician went on a “jaw dropping,” “reactionary” anti-bike lane rant, in which she compare them to a Berlin Wall dividing the city in two.

A bike rider in Brussels, Belgium is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his bike by a driver who tried to pass him and his companion while driving in a clearly marked bike lane, then the enraged motorist got out and slashed the victim’s throat with a knife; the victim managed to escape with just six stitches when the driver barely missed his jugular.

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

A New York rabbi suffered a broken leg when he was struck by a rogue, salmon-riding hit-and-run ebiker as he was crossing a bike lane.

Residents of Glasgow, Scotland called for food delivery ebike riders to be required to wear identifiable numbers on their backs, as a result of a number of collisions and near misses. You know, sort of like prison inmates, but without having to be convicted of anything.

A couple of teen ebike riders naturally got the blame after they quarreled with a “crew of cranky elderly” Aussies — even though the reporter admitted he had no idea what the discussion was about or who caused it.

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Local 

Streets For All urges support for a proposed 28-mile The Hill to Sea transit corridor traversing 13 cities and unincorporated communities from Pasadena to Long Beach, which would “aggressively reduce car dependency by prioritizing high quality bus service, safe protected bike paths, and improved sidewalks for walking and businesses.”

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton asks what’s next for Measure HLA as Los Angeles continues to slow walk new bus and bike lanes.

Urbanize LA has more details on the planned Complete Streets makeover of Hollywood Blvd, with bike lanes scheduled to be on the ground next year.

Los Angeles is building more than four miles of bike and pedestrian corridors in South LA west of the USC campus.

Glendale is delaying a planned Complete Streets makeover of La Crescenta Ave to search for additional funding, after initial estimates came in over budget.

 

State

Orange County supervisors voted to crackdown on ebikes, including restrictions on sidewalk riding, imposing speed limits and reclassifying bikes that generate more than 750 watts through their motors — even though the latter two could put them in direct conflict with existing state law.

Police in Cathedral City released a description of the suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run death of a bike rider last month; they’re looking for a dark-colored 2014-2019 Nissan Versa with major front-end damage, as well as missing parts.

A 52-year old bike rider in Apple Valley was airlifted for treatment after suffering major injuries when the victim was rear-ended by a driver on Monday.

A Heyward man was sentenced to nine years behind bars after pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter and hit and run in the death of a 52-year old man riding a bicycle while driving a stolen car.

 

National

CleanTechnica sings the praises of Bike Index for registering your bike, which you can do right here for free, for life.

Bloomberg talks with University of Colorado-Denver professor Wesley Marshall about his new book, Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System; he’s the one who did a study several years back showing drivers and bicyclists break the law at the same rate — but bike riders do it for perceived safety, while drivers do it for their convenience.

Colorado took a step forward by creating a dedicated $7 million funding stream for “proven small infrastructure projects that improve safety for vulnerable road users,” such as bike lanes, sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements. While that’s far too little — even for a relatively small state — it’s a hell of a lot more than most are willing to commit to.

A Tulsa, Oklahoma man faces charges after he led police on a chase while driving on a bike and pedestrian pathway.

Police in Missouri are continuing to look for the SUV driver who nearly hit a man riding his bike, causing him to fall over a guardrail and down an embankment, where he lay in pain yelling for help for 13 hours.

Lawmakers in Michigan want to increase the penalties for drivers who strike vulnerable road users, while tightening the rules for who is considered one.

Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev underwent successful surgery to repair an undisclosed issue resulting from an electric motorbike crash last week, as media sources continued to misidentify it as an ebike.

The Washington Post belatedly discovers bike buses can provide a viable alternative to the standard SUV school run.

Sad news from DC, where a 34-year old White House staffer was killed while riding his bike when he crossed the center line on a sharp curve during a fundraising ride, and was struck head-on by an oncoming motorist; Jacob Thomas Brewer was the husband of Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham.

 

International

Momentum explains why bicycles are the perfect vehicle for the 15-minute city, while offering policies to help your city go Dutch.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says forget talk about the “golden age” of bicycling, when there were ten times the number of bicyclists killed in the UK in 1950 compared to now.

A group of Queensland, Australia researchers consider what can be done about the bad weather, hills and dark nights that keep people from bicycling, particularly women. Ebikes can easily flatten the hills, but can’t help with the dark or bad weather.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports the annual Red Bull Rampage freeride mountain bike competition will finally welcome women as something other than spectators. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

People Magazine wants to catch you up on what’s happening with America’s best-known ex-Tour de France winner. But fails to explain why anyone should give a damn. 

Huh? Twenty-five-year old Australian cyclist Robert Stannard received a four-year ban for “abnormalities” in his biological passport, with the ban backdated to 2018. Which is pretty much the same as no ban at all.

Former pro Peter Sagan takes the party on the water in a new beer ad.

 

Finally…

Why spend thousands on a gravel bike, when you can do the Gravel Unbound on a Walmart cruiser? Who the hell would steal a Penny Farthing?

And Hitch was one of us.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Measure HLA maintains lead with 2/3 support, the world’s coolest streets, and misdemeanor charges in AZ massacre

March 14, 2024 / / Comments Off on Measure HLA maintains lead with 2/3 support, the world’s coolest streets, and misdemeanor charges in AZ massacre
Just 292 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re up to 1,016 signatures, so let’s keep it going! Urge everyone you know to sign the petition, until the mayor agrees to meet with us! 

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Before we start, let’s all welcome Beverly Hills Bike Law, the newest advertiser on here. 

So take a moment to click on the ad over there and check out their site, and let ’em see attention advertising here will get them. 

Then tell your favorite local bike shop, so maybe they’ll get the message, too. 

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It’s now 85 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 33 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

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

This is why people keep dying on the streets. A British driver walked without a single day behind bars after parking in a bike lane, then backing into a man on a bicycle — and accusing the bike rider of trying to “break” his car by slapping his trunk as a warning.

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Local 

Politico considers the hurdles LA will have to surmount to fulfill its ambitious climate claims for the 2028 Olympics. Getting a jump on building the bus and bike infrastructure required under HLA would go a long way towards getting there.

Westside Congressman Ted Lieu pats himself on the back for securing $2 million for a trio of Santa Monica projects, including a half million for safety enhancement along the Lincoln Blvd corridor, which won’t include bike lanes.

 

State

Calbike says hundreds attended their online seminar with San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener, who discussed SB 960, the Complete Streets Bill currently under consideration in the state legislature.

 

National

A new AAA study suggests drowsy driving deaths may be ten times more common than official stats show, contributing to nearly 18 percent of fatal crashes between 2017 and 2021.

U.S. News & World Report somehow still exist, and ranks the year’s best balance bikes for your favorite wannabe bicycling toddler.

A Bellingham, Washington paper rides along with the city’s underground network of “recovery artists” who track down stolen bikes.

A new study from my bike-friendly Colorado hometown shows that when the city installed parking spaces for dockless bikeshare bikes and e-scooters, and imposed penalties for improper parking, scooters and bikes blocking sidewalks dropped by 12%.

Contrasting with the recent dire predictions from Los Angeles firefighters about Measure HLA, the Chicago Fire Department says new bike lanes haven’t caused any problems, while the improved safety means there will be less need for emergency response.

Houston has followed the deadly record-setting trends set by Los Angeles and New York, as traffic deaths in America’s 4th largest city hit a ten-year high.

Vermont has opened the nation’s first fully adaptive, off-road ebike trail system.

 

International

Bicyclists around the world will ride for Palestine this Saturday. Meanwhile, the Israeli Defense Forces admitted to an oopsie when they bombed the shit out of two Palestinian men wheeling a bicycle, which they somehow mistook for a rocket-propelled grenade. Because lots of rocket-propelled grenades have handlebars and pedals, evidently.

An editor for Cyclist says there’s no point in being a weight weenie, taking the contrarian view that bike weight doesn’t matter. I never thought so when I kept up with bicyclists on high-end bikes while riding my old steel-framed Trek.  But changed my mind when I started dropping them after switching to a much lighter and faster LeMond. 

Oxford, England is accused of being anti-car, as the city council considers a proposal to increase parking charges for heavier and more polluting vehicles, following the lead of Paris, which voted last month to triple parking fees for SUVs.

This is the cost of traffic violence. A “gifted” Welsh dressage rider was killed in a collision while training for a triathlon on her bike; the driver was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.

Momentum visits the Netherlands stunning new Ede-Wageningen train station, offering secure parking for 5,000 bicycles.

Momentum discusses what we touched on yesterday, as the Paris Olympics will showcase what a real bicycling city looks like — never mind that it wasn’t one just a few short years ago. Let’s just hope LA Mayor Bass is paying attention on her trip over there right now. 

Velo says the Taipei Cycle Show demonstrates that despite the doom and gloom in the bike industry, it’s really just a changing of the guard.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list — South Korea’s “heart-pounding” Seorak Granfondo, described as a “thrilling journey through some of the most captivating terrain Asia has to offer…against the backdrop of the stunning Seoraksan National Park.”

Former Aussie pro cyclist Rohan Dennis will remain out on bail through August, after prosecutors requested time to reconstruct the crash that killed his wife, Olympic gold medalist and former world champ Melissa Hoskins.

 

Competitive Cycling

Organizers have canceled Japan’s UCI-sanctioned Tour de Hokkaido bicycle race, after a 21-year old cyclist was killed in a head-on collision when a driver somehow entered the course during last year’s race.

Australia’s national cycling team plans to compete riding Factor Bike’s $98,000 Hanzo track bike, in hopes that its advanced aerodynamics will lead to Olympic gold in August.

Canadian Cycling Magazine offers a quick lesson in French cycling terms.

The head of Ghana’s Cycling Federation says that despite the recent comments from the country’s sports minister, they’ve received just two bikes for the national cycling team since 2012, leading to the country’s cyclists competing the Africa Games on their own well-worn training gear.

 

Finally…

There’s never been a better time to see the Northern Lights by bike. Who needs weapons when you can steal a bike with big a wooden log.

And bouncing back from a bicycling-induced broken collarbone may not be the best idea, after all.

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Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month today. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Elderly driver plows into 7 mountain bikers, and NTSB says AZ driver’s steering worked in crash that killed 2 and injured 17

February 29, 2024 / / Comments Off on Elderly driver plows into 7 mountain bikers, and NTSB says AZ driver’s steering worked in crash that killed 2 and injured 17
Just 306 days until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
So stop what you’re doing and sign this petition to demand Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we face walking and biking on the mean streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

As of this writing, we’re still at 1,005 signatures, so let’s keep it going, and urge your friends, family and coworkers to keep signing the petition until the mayor agrees to meet with us!

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Yet another bicycling mass casualty event, after a driver plowed into a group of seven mountain bikers in Felton, California, north of Santa Cruz.

The victims were allegedly riding on the wrong side of the road when an 85-year-old woman coming from the opposite direction crashed into them. Although other reports indicate the driver veered across the roadway to hit them head on.

Four of the group were injured, two critically, with another in moderate condition.

At this time, there’s no word on why they might have been riding against traffic, or if they were in the traffic lane or on the shoulder of the roadway.

The crash once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive, and how to take away the keys from drivers who shouldn’t have them.

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While we’re on the subject, the National Transportation Safety Board has released a report on last year’s mass casualty crash in Goodyear, Arizona, that killed two road bicyclists and injured 17 others taking part in a group ride.

The driver — identified as Pedro Quintana-Lujan — had claimed that the steering on his pickup had locked, causing him to plow through the mass of bicyclists riding in a bike lane alongside the highway, sparing just one of the 20 riders.

Yet tests by both the NTSB and the Arizona Department of Public Safety found nothing wrong with the steering after the crash.

Quintana-Lujan was originally booked on suspicion of two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation.

But the bicycling community was outraged when the Maricopa County DA released Quintana-Lujan without charges, kicking the case down to the city prosecutor for possible misdemeanor charges.

Just another, you know, “oopsie.”

There’s no word on whether the DA will reconsider filing felony charges now that Quintana-Lujan’s excuse been disproven.

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No surprise here, as a new study shows that drivers tend to be blamed for crashes with pedestrians in pedestrianized areas, like urban downtowns. And pedestrians tend to get the blame when they’re struck by drivers in areas built to facilitate drivers zooming down the road.

And there are a lot more of those.

Here’s how the State Smart Transportation Initiative, aka SSTI, described it — and feel free to substitute “bicyclist” for “pedestrian.”

One of the authors noted:  

“What we’re seeing in this research is that the built environment is a key factor. People make errors in judgment, but no one deserves to die or get injured for such errors. And they would be less likely to make these choices if there were more pedestrian infrastructure.” 

Roads that are designed for driving put pedestrians at an added risk. Not only are they more likely to be hit but they are more likely to take the blame for it. This puts an added burden on those without vehicles or the ability to drive. 

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No surprise here, either, as Streetsblog reports that business improved after a controversial Queens bike lane was installed, despite warnings of near-apocalyptic business failures if it was built.

When New York City proposed installing a protected bike lane on Skillman Avenue in Queens in 2017, the impact it would have on local businesses was certain — at least according to the plan’s critics.

A devastating loss of customers. Revenue falling by 20 percent. Beloved shops forced to close their doors for good.

Those predictions were wrong.

Data obtained by Streetsblog through a Freedom of Information request shows the economy of Skillman Avenue grew after the city built the new lane in the fall of 2018, with revenue increasing and new businesses setting up shop.

Sales in the stores, bars and restaurants on Skillman’s main seven-block commercial stretch collectively rose by 12 percent after the lane went in, according to the data, which was provided by the city Department of Finance. There was also a net increase of three new businesses on the strip, a jump of 10 percent.

………

More on LA’s Measure HLA on next week’s primary ballot, which would require the city to build out the already-approved Mobility Plan 2035 whenever a street in the plan is resurfaced.

The Los Angeles Times considers the dispute between traffic safety advocates and the LA firefighters union over the measure, with the firefighters taking a bizarre stand against safer streets, which they argue wouldn’t be. On the other hand, there’s no question where the Begley family stands.

Letter writers to the Times call for passing HLA, arguing that CicLAvia is proof Angelenos are hungry for alternatives to driving, and that we need safer streets, and not just added law enforcement.

KNBC-4 examines what HLA would do and whether it will improve safety. Short answer, yes. Longer answer, hell yes, despite the misguided opposition from some first responders.

………

Bike Culver City is hosting a Leap Year, craft beer, Handlebar Happy Hour tonight.

………

CicLAvia is gearing up for a full blown April open streets event on Venice Blvd, and the year’s first CicLAmini in Wilmington in May.

………

GCN wants to teach you what may be the most important bike handling skill, how to pop a wheelie on a road bike.

………

It’s now 71 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 31 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

………

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

After an Oregon teenager was killed in a right hook by a van driver while riding his ebike on the sidewalk, state legislators naturally responded by unanimously passing a bill restricting ebikes, and named it for him.

A pair of British mayors are claiming credit — if that’s the right word — for getting a controversial bike lane removed.

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

When you’re carrying a loaded gun and $60,000 worth of fentanyl, meth and crack cocaine on a stolen ebike, don’t run any red lights or ride on the sidewalk without a damn helmet if it’s legally required.

………

Local 

A Santa Monica letter writer complains about a new affordable housing development on Santa Monica Blvd, because it has 146 bicycle parking spots, and none for cars. Never mind that at an average cost of $10,000 per vehicle parking spot, the builder reduced costs by $1.46 million.

 

State

The Carlsbad city council has walked away from plans to improve safety on Tamarack Ave, saying the improvements they’ve already made are good enough.

The Santa Barbara council similarly nixed a proposal to improve a one-block section of State Street after complaining it was too complicated.

A Goleta bike path is finally reopened after it was flooded in last week’s storm.

Fresno police busted a 59-year old unlicensed driver for the hit-and-run death of a 33-year old man riding a bicycle earlier this month.

Back up the Brinks truck to San Francisco, which just approved a whopping $9 million settlement for a bike rider injured by a bad patch job on a city Slow Street, with at least four other suits from riders injured by the same bump waiting in the wings.

 

National

Popular Science makes some shocking picks for the best electric commuter bikes. No, not their picks; what’s shocking is that Popular Science is somehow still a thing.

That’s more like it. A Eugene, Oregon man was sentenced to six years behind bars and had his driver’s license permanently revoked for the hit-and-run death of a 19-year old man riding a bicycle. Permanent revocation of the driver’s license should be automatic for any hit-and-run.

A newly released documentary examining mountain biking on the Navajo Nation recently screened for 100 people in Cortez, Colorado. Which, as I recall, is nearly the entire population of the town. Okay, it’s actually a little more that one percent. But still. 

In a demonstration of just how wrong they can be, the Queens city council is considering a proposal to ban ebikes and e-scooters from city parks. But apparently, drivers and their cars are still welcome.

New York commissioners unanimously passed a pair of bills aimed at reigning in the city’s rising death tolls from lithium-ion battery fires, including one restricting sales of non-UL certified batteries.

 

International

Road.cc offers advice on how to avoid commuting mistakes for a hassle-free ride to and from work. Meanwhile, Momentum recommends the lightest ebikes for easy urban riding.

A Canadian site says Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, are investing heavily in bicycling, thanks to a couple of pro-bike mayors.

A married couple is stepping away from their longtime careers as broadcast journalists, and opening a company offering bicycle tours of Wales.

A thousand women will take to their bikes in London this weekend for the city’s second Women’s Freedom Ride, including presenting a petition to the Mayor’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner demanding an end to sexual harassment of bike riding women.

The UN is celebrating International Women’s Day with a screening of Women Don’t Cycle. As long as you’re up for a quick trip to Brussels, Belgium.

This is the cost of traffic violence. The man who led the development of Intel’s groundbreaking Pentium processor was killed when a speeding taxi driver plowed into his as he rode his bike in Mumbai yesterday; Avtar Singh Saini was 68.

An Aussie site for seniors says bicycling is good for older people, but it’s also dangerous, with much of the recent increase in bicycling deaths for people over 60 involving solo falls, not collisions with drivers.

 

Competitive Cycling

Canadian Cycling Magazine makes the case for why this weekend’s Strade Bianche will never be a Monument, one of the five historic one-day cycling classics.

Bicycling explains how to watch Strade Bianche this Saturday, as long as you subscribe to GCN+. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

American cyclist and double world champ Chloe Dygert has thrown down the gantlet, stating she doesn’t train as hard as she does to settle for second place.

British bike races are being cancelled, as rising fees cut the number of cyclists willing to pay them.

And seriously, I hate when this happens.

 

 

Finally…

That feeling when more parking is a good thing. Nothing like drawing a giant GPS shoe across Oklahoma. Now you, too, can go mountain biking on your phone.

And you may have skills, but can you make Turkish coffee while you ride?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C25FvOjifH6/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=1c2ecec8-a66a-49ab-acc8-4e403b1999c7

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Arizona toll rises to 19 including two dead, how to protect yourself on two wheels, and Ballona Creek path could be extended

February 28, 2023 / / 2 comments

Make that 19.

The number of victims in Saturday’s bicycling massacre in Phoenix suburb Goodyear, Arizona has risen to two dead and 17 injured.

NPR reports the victims of the crash have been identified as a woman from Goodyear and a man visiting from Michigan, both 61-years old. Eight people remain hospitalized, with one in critical condition.

According to the AZ Central website,

Goodyear Mayor Joe Pizzillo also offered his condolences to those whom the fatal collision had impacted.

“We have a tight-knit cycling community, so this has deeply affected many across the West Valley,” Pizzillo said at a news conference at the city’s police station. “But a tragedy like this affects the entire community of Goodyear.”

Twenty-six-year old driver Pedro Quintana-Lujan reportedly told police his steering had locked before the truck drifted right and ran down the riders, likely one and two at a time. One victim said he wasn’t actually struck by the truck, but by the bodies of victims piled on its grill.

Police report there is currently no indication that the crash was intentional. The results of a blood test to determine if the driver was under the influence are still pending; however, as Arizona Bike Law points out, police would have needed evidence of intoxication in order to get a warrant for the blood test.

According to AZ Central, court documents show Quintana-Lujan told police he had smoked marijuana with his wife the previous evening, roughly 11 hours before the collision.

There’s no report on whether police are looking at distraction as a possible cause, or have examined Quintana-Lujan’s phone.

The victims were participating in a regular weekly ride sponsored by the West Valley Cycle bike club. They were among 20 riders in the second of three groups taking part in the ride when the driver mowed them down, spewing bodies in every direction.

Which means only one person on a bike managed to avoid becoming a victim. Chillingly, no one was likely aware of the driver before he plowed through the entire group.

“No one really saw the truck because he pretty much hit the back of the group and came all the way through the group,” (club founder David) Herzog told NPR.

The driver was in a massive Ford F-250 pickup, designed with a flat front grill that would have acted as a sledge hammer when driven at speed; a trailer being pulled by the truck would have added mass while limiting maneuverability.

Quintana-Lujan faces a raft of charges after prosecutors threw the book at him, including two counts of manslaughter and three counts of aggravated assault; at last report, he was still being held on $250,000 bond.

A crowdfunding campaign for the victims has raised nearly $80,000 of the $120,000 goal.

On a personal note, I’m having a hard time coping with this one, and all the emotions it brings up. Like mass shootings, mass casualty crashes like this just shouldn’t happen. 

Photo from Pexels.

………

BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette emailed to say the 65-year old bike shop worker seriously injured in the Goodyear crash that we mentioned yesterday had just helped him with his bike last month.

He also reminds all of us of something we have discussed here before, that one of the best ways to protect yourself is to max out the coverage on your own automotive insurance, which also covers you on your bicycle.

Buy the maximum Auto Uninsured/Under insured motorist ($500k min.) & excess Umbrella ($2M) coverage with a UM/UIM “rider” (not just liability) because YOU then control the amount of coverage, instead of relying on the defendant drivers insurance limit, if any, or if in the “course & scope of employers coverage”.

Mass crashes like this may prove difficult getting full compensation, as there will be multiple victims to apportion damages. So spending the money on strong insurance coverage is a critical family & financial planning investment as a bicyclist.

He explains more in this blog post from 2016.

Frequent contributor and San Diego bike advocate Phillip Young also offered his thoughts on how to avoid being a victim of a motorist.

A brightly colored bicycling kit especially with bio movement (bight color with movement) and a rear view mirror may save a trip to the emergency room (ER) or morgue. Easily seeing cars from behind with a mirror is essential situation awareness.

Wear brightly colored bicycling kit [Yellow Chartreuse (best), White (2nd Best) or Orange (3rd Best)]:

  1. Jersey
  2. Helmet
  3. Reflective vest
  4. Shoes, shoe covers, or socks and pants (bio movement)
  5. Front and back blinky lights. (lights with bio movement are the best on arms and legs)
  6. Spoke reflectors, front and rear reflectors, and other reflectors
  7. Rear view mirror (Third Eye bar end mirror is the best)

I can’t argue with any of his advice, although my personal take is to wear colors that contrast with the environment you’ll be riding in. Dark colors can be effective in bright daylight, while light or hi-viz colors are a must at night; we’ve all seen Ninja cyclists decked out entirely in black.

Or maybe we haven’t, which is exactly the problem.

I also believe in using multiple bright running lights, day or night, with a steady white light and flashing white light in front, and three flashers in back.

That’s based on the advice of bike crash survivor Mark Goodley, who researched the optimal approach to lights following the collision that nearly killed him.

I’ve never felt the need for a mirror, since I could usually sense a car coming up from behind before they got close enough to pose a danger. But now that I’m older, I find I get surprised more often, making a mirror a valuable safety tool.

And Young is absolutely right about wearing something attention-getting on your legs. I wear reflective ankle bands at night, and should probably up my shoe and sock game during the day, to ensure drivers see them pumping up and down.

I’ve been known to strap a light to my ankle, though that’s not always easy or comfortable.

I also advise adding front and rear facing bike cams, which could be the only way to provide your side of the story in a serious crash, because the cops will talk to the driver while you’re being hustled away by paramedics.

………

Today’s must read comes in the form of an op-ed from Streets For All Founder Michael Schneider.

Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Schneider bemoans the days when kids could walk and bike in their own neighborhoods.

Half a century ago, it was very common for kids to disappear into their neighborhood and play with other kids, often arriving by bike. This included the school commute. In 1969, 48% of children 5 to 14 walked or biked themselves to school. By 2009, this was down to 13%.

The result has been an enormous increase in children arriving by car. Anyone with school-age children is likely familiar with long and chaotic car dropoff lines in front of schools all over Los Angeles. The same applies to kids’ playdates, activities, sporting events, etc. — usually, children arrive and depart by car.

A large part of the problem — pun intentional — is the ever increasing size of motor vehicles, crowded into streets and lanes that remain the same size they were decades earlier.

The 1973 Honda Civic was 140 inches long and 59 inches high. Today, a Honda Civic is 168 inches long and 70 inches high. A 2015 Ford Mustang is 63% larger than its 1964 predecessor. A 2018 Mini Cooper is 61% larger than its 1950 counterpart. A 2013 Land Rover is 43% larger than a 1981 model. And a modern-day pickup truck or SUV is larger than a World War II-era Sherman tank.

As cars get larger, they squeeze space in existing roads, leaving even less room for pedestrians and cyclists. Where a kid on a bike might have been able to fit comfortably between parked cars and moving cars before, they are now more likely to be perilously sandwiched between them. Even just crossing the street has become harder because of the awful blind spots for drivers of modern,massive SUVs.

It’s more than worth a few minutes of your day to read the whole thing.

Because there’s no clearer sign that our cities have failed us than the way they’ve failed our children.

………

Speaking of Michael Schneider, it looks like he won a major victory in the effort to extend the popular Ballona Creek Bike Path to near where the creek rises to the surface at its eastern end.

………

An effort is underway at the state legislature to ban bans on sidewalk riding, in the absence of safe bikeways.

As the tweet suggests, allowing people to ride their bikes on the sidewalk when there’s no bike infrastructure present enables them to decide what is safest and most comfortable way to ride in that situation, without fear of getting a ticket for trying to protect your own life

However, it’s important to remember that pedestrians have the right-of-way, and we all have to ride safely and courteously around them.

Another bill sponsored by Streets For All would eliminate jail terms for transit fare evasion.

Now if we could just get someone to introduce a bill to permanently revoke drivers licenses from hit-and-run drivers.

Finally, the transportation and safety PAC is hosting their next virtual happy hour a week from tomorrow, with Culver City Vice Mayor Yasmine-Imani McMorrin.

………

The winds of political reform are finally blowing in Los Angeles County, as Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Holly Mitchell are proposing an expansion of the five-member Board of Supervisors, traditionally known as the five little kings for the power they’ve enjoyed over the years.

With the two sponsors on board, they just need one more vote to pass the motion.

And yes, that’s a good thing.

https://twitter.com/LindseyPHorvath/status/1630282154113650689

………

Pasadena’s Municipal Services Committee will receive a report at this afternoon’s meeting recommending the city reject a proposed ebike incentive program; ActiveSGV calls for comments calling for rejecting the rejection.

https://twitter.com/ActiveSGV/status/1630311877296427008

………

Has it really been that long?

Culver City-based street safety and bicycle education nonprofit advocacy group Walk ‘N Rollers is celebrating their 11th anniversary next month.

………

Gravel Bike California rode up to the snow that fell over the weekend above the San Fernando Valley.

………

This is what a city does when it’s serious about fighting climate change.

https://twitter.com/Anne_Hidalgo/status/1630460341678112769

That tweet translates to:

Fighting pollution also means supporting Parisians in their transition to other means of transport.

This is what we do by offering numerous financial aids for the purchase of bicycles.

………

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

No bias here. A writer for City Watch with a severe case of windshield bias calls for free transit use while rejecting bicycling out of hand, suggesting that “bike lanes and other traffic-“calming” measures are probably the worst approach since these practices constrict traffic flow creating more congestion, increasing engine idling, and in many areas exacerbating the inability for trucks to make deliveries, moms to drop off kids, or even to back into a parking space if that rara avis should become available.” You can read her full misguided take, if you can navigate the site’s seemingly interminable popups. 

A Kiwi man says local officials laughed at him when he requested separate bike paths and underpasses for bicyclists at a new roundabout that’s under construction, warning that the dangerous design could result in a bike rider being killed in the first year.

………

Local 

Streetsblog offers a wrap-up on Sunday’s successful CicLAvia in the San Fernando Valley, along with a schedule of upcoming CicLAvias; the next one will be Mid City meets Pico-Union the day before April’s Tax Day. Get your taxes done early so you’re not stuck at home with a pile of receipts, when you could be out enjoying the carfree streets.

The long-awaited Mark Bixby Memorial Bicycle and Pedestrian Path on the new $1.5 billion Long Beach International Gateway Bridge is slated to open in May, following the completion of demolition work on the former Gerald Desmond Bridge; the path is named for longtime local bike advocate Mark Bixby, who was killed in a Long Beach plane crash along with four other community leaders.

If you need a cop to come out to a relatively minor crash in Long Beach, better tell the dispatcher you think the driver is drunk or stoned or you won’t see one.

 

State

California is offering $33 million to underserved communities to launch and support new and existing shared mobility projects, including bikeshare.

San Luis Obispo is considering allowing bike riders onto the sidewalk.

 

National

A Honolulu TV station considers bicycling as part of their Multimodal Mondays.

Hiking advocates question proposals in the Montana legislature that would allow ebikes anywhere that bicycles are allowed, including off-road trails. One thing that often gets lost in that debate is that ebikes provide backcountry access to countless people who would not be able to enjoy it otherwise. 

Dallas has combined 39 miles of existing bike trails with 11 miles of newly built bikeways to create a 50-mile loop around the city.

Oops. WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker almost didn’t become one of the most decorated aviators in American history, after cracking his skull attempting to fly his bicycle off a Columbus, Ohio shed in an attempt to imitate the Wright Brothers flight.

The family of a fallen New York bicyclist is suing the city for $100 million, alleging that nothing was done to fix the corridor she was riding on despite five previous deaths in less than two decades. They may have a case, since they can prove the city was aware of the problem, but didn’t correct it. Although the eventual settlement will be far lower than what they’re asking.

A Central Pennsylvania public radio station shares a poem about the intersection of bicycling and Alzheimer’s from Pennsylvania poet Henry Israeli.

Florida’s Highway Patrol is wrapping up their hit-and-run awareness month by telling drivers to stay at the scene after a crash, after Tampa Bay saw over 300 drivers flee this month.

 

International

Bike Radar examines how to prevent hand and wrist pain when you ride. A good padded handlebar tape and padded bike gloves help. So does relaxing your death grip on them in stressful situations.

A South London bike shop owner surprisingly argues that expanding the city’s Ultra Low Emission Zone will just cause chaos. Although the fact that he owns nine cars, and it would cost him the equivalent of nearly $100,000 to make just three of them compliant with the new rules, might have something to do with it.

It only took 18 months, but a London truck driver has finally been charged with killing a pediatrician who was biking to work after taking it up during the pandemic. But whoever designed the city’s Holborn gyratory, where eight bike riders have been killed in the last 15 years, should face charges, too.

A new dockless bikeshare service named Fredo aims to provide last-mile connectivity in suburban France. Although things did not end well for Fredo in The Godfather II. 

Austria gets serious about multimodal commuting by offering a subsidy of up to the equivalent of $636 on the purchase of a folding bike, but only for people with an annual transit pass; the country is also offering a subsidy of half off the price of an ebike, up to a little over $1,000.

Fatal car crashes surged in Germany last year; not surprisingly, bike riders and pedestrians remained among the most vulnerable victims, with death rates rising for both groups.

Spanish newspaper El Pais reports on the new study showing stolen Dutch bicycles usually remain in the city where they were taken, continuing to contribute to the local economy. Even if the original owners are screwed.

Arevo says they’ve fulfilled 96% of the more than 2,800 Indiegogo orders for their new Superstrata custom carbon bikes and ebikes, which are being 3D printed and assembled in Vietnam.

Tragic news from the Philippines, where a 14-year old boy was killed when he failed to round a corner on his bicycle, and rode off a 33-foot cliff; family members blamed the crash on a broken brake.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Weekly says the opening weekend of the bike racing season has seen a shift from Jumbo-Visma to Soudal-Quick Step as the classics team to beat. And no, I didn’t know they have earthquakes in the UK.

Cycling Weekly’s point was driven home by the remarkable feat of Jumbo-Visma rider and Tour de France champ Jonas Vingegaard winning all four stages of the O Gran Camiño.

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can have your picture taken on a giant bicycle with Mexican conchas for wheels. That feeling when selling your bicycle means a more than 13 hour, 43-mile walk home.

And bbenfulton reminds us that reggae legend Peter Tosh was…uh, half of us, too.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

AZ driver plows into club ride killing 2 and injuring 11, a successful CicLAvia, and a more walkable bikeable Eagle Rock

February 27, 2023 / / 2 comments

It’s happened again.

Just 18 months after a driver plowed through a master’s bike race in Show Low, Arizona, killing one man and injuring seven others, another driver has done virtually the same thing just 200 miles away.

According to multiple sources, a pickup driver towing a trailer plowed through a group of bicyclists with the West Valley Cycling club in the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear, Arizona Saturday morning, killing two people and leaving eleven others with “very serious injuries.”

One woman died at the scene, the other victim died after being taken to a local hospital. At least one of the injured bike riders was still in critical condition a day later.

The driver, 26-year old Pedro Quintana-Lujan, was booked on charges including two counts of manslaughter, three counts of aggravated assault, 18 counts of endangerment, and two counts of causing serious injury or death by a moving violation.

CNN reports that Maricopa County jail records show Quintana-Lujan was being held on $250,000 bond.

The owner of a Phoenix Trek bike shop said one his employees was among the injured, saying it will be a long time the 65-year old man will be able to work again.

Another bike shop owner said a recently retired friend and customer had already undergone two surgeries to stabilize his cerebral spine, with more in his future.

No word yet on whether Quintana-Lujan was distracted or under the influence. Or why he was apparently unable to see a couple dozen people on bicycles directly ahead of his truck.

Thanks to Victor Bale and Phillip Young for the heads-up.

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

………

By all accounts, the year’s first CicLAvia was a success, even if the cold and cloudy weather may have dampened turnout.

Spirits clearly weren’t dampened, however.

Even one of California’s newly elected state senators was among the people enjoying the carfree street.

And for one day, at least, the San Fernando Valley looked a lot like Paris and Guadalajara.

………

You have just two more weeks to voice your support for a bikeable, walkable and livable Colorado Blvd through Eagle Rock.

………

The bizarre 15-minute city conspiracy theory continues to gain ground, as proponents argue that the benign urban planning philosophy is somehow “a plot by ‘tyrannical bureaucrats’ to take our cars and control our lives, which could lead to a real-life Hunger Games scenario.”

Um, okay.

Meanwhile, CNN reports an Oxford, England politician received death threats — many from outside the country — for proposing a plan to filter traffic using traffic cams to limit drivers from cutting through a neighborhood at peak times.

As we’ve discussed before, nothing in the 15-minute city concept prevents motorists from leaving their own neighborhoods, or driving through the city. It merely means that everything you need for daily life should be found within 15 minutes of your home.

According to CNN, the conspiracy theory originally gained traction among Q-Anon theorists and climate change deniers. And Fox News and other conservative media were only happy to fan the flames.

Which led to this —

In December, Canadian clinical psychologist and climate skeptic Jordan Peterson posted a tweet attacking 15-minute cities: “The idea that neighborhoods should be walkable is lovely. The idea that idiot tyrannical bureaucrats can decide by fiat where you’re ‘allowed’ to drive is perhaps the worst imaginable perversion of that idea.”

In early February, UK politician Nick Fletcher raised the conspiracy in Parliament, calling 15-minute cities an “international socialist concept” and claimed they “will cost us our personal freedom.”

And last weekend, online theories spilled into real life protests, as thousands of people, many from outside the area, took to the streets of Oxford to protest the traffic filtering and 15-minute city proposals.

Let’s hope the world regains its sanity. Because walkable, bikeable 15-minute cities are the solution.

Not the problem.

………

Legendary jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon was one of us.

https://twitter.com/CoolBikeArt1/status/1630070221812944896

………

A young Elizabeth Taylor was one of us, too.

………

A backwards Penny Farthing was apparently the BMX of its day.

More proof you can carry anything on two wheels.

Or one, even.

And nothing actually says your unicycle has to have a wheel.

Click on the photo to see the full image. Trust me, it’s worth it. 

………

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

A Cleveland website says an Ohio legislator needs to explain his overreach on bike lanes, which would have banned a planned center lane cycle track in Cleveland.

Apparently having no grasp of physics, and little on reality, nearly two-thirds of British drivers believe aggressive bicyclists are a threat to their safety, and a bigger danger than they were just three years earlier.

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

An Ontario, Canada man faces charges for getting off his bicycle, and using it to assault a woman pedestrian after demanding money from her.

A lawsuit by a Taipei ebike rider backfired after a judge ruled he was at fault for riding into the back of a double parked car, saying he had plenty of room to go around it.

………

Local 

He gets it. Paul Thornton, the Letters Editor for the Los Angeles Times, asks if LA drivers have suddenly become more okay with endangering lives, arguing that “sitting behind a steering wheel can turn a reasonable person into a borderline psychopath, willing to threaten the life of anyone in the way.” Which was one of the many reasons I quit driving, because I didn’t like who I became behind the wheel.

A letter writer in the Times argues that the best way to protect yourself is to ride with a camera facing in every direction, and get a good lawyer.

Pomona has received a $11.3 million grant to build a 3.5-mile trail along the San Jose Creek that will take pedestrians and cyclists from Cal Poly Pomona to the LA County Fairplex.

 

State

California Walks and UC Berkeley’s Safe Transportation Research and Education Center, aka SafeTREC, are offering free training on how to assess current conditions and identify ways to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Costa Mesa quietly revoked its bike licensing requirement last week, after similar licensing laws were banned as part of last year’s Omnibus Bike Bill passed by the state legislature; two Costa Mesa safe streets advocates were instrumental in getting the ban included in the bill, after discovering the city’s licensing requirement had been used primarily to target the homeless and people of color.

Ebike collisions continue to rise in San Diego’s coastal North County area. Although a rise in injuries could simply be attributable to an increase in ebike ridership.

Melissa Gonzalez, the San Diego driver facing a slap on the wrist for killing Matthew Keenan in a wrong way, head-on crash as he rode his bike in Mission Valley two years ago, defied expectations by pleading not guilty, and will face trial in May, as his widow demands more accountability for the crash.

That’s more like it. A 35-year old man was sentenced to 16 years and 4 months to life behind bars for the drunken Palm Springs motor vehicle crash that killed a 56-year old man. Although as Victor Bale suggested in forwarding this, if the victim had been on a bicycle, he probably would have gotten a slap on the wrist, too.

Troubled pop star Britney Spears received a warning from Ventura County animal control after her two-year old doberman escaped her Thousand Oaks compound, and bit a 71-year old man riding his bicycle nearby.

Up to a thousand people are expected to turn out for Saturday’s Solvang Century Bike Ride through Santa Barbara County

Berkeley is inviting low-income residents to apply for a lottery to get an ebike for long-term use as part of a city-funded program. Although they define low-income a lot differently than I do, with incomes up to $74,000 for an individual, or $106,000 for a family of four. 

 

National

A writer for the Competitive Enterprise Institute says we won’t need more lithium and other rare minerals for EV batteries if we just ban cars and suburbs. Except he somehow seems to think that’s a bad thing.

The president of a Colorado trucking association calls on Denver to rethink its Vision Zero program, arguing that deaths will continue to soar without an increased emphasis on enforcement of traffic laws.

A Texas driver accepted a plea for seven-years behind bars for killing a well-known 67-year old Galveston physician as she was riding her bike last March.

An “activist” bicycling group in Rochester, New York is riding to protest police violence and fight for a more inclusive society.

That’s more like it. After a Manhattan taxi driver jumped the curbed after hitting a bike rider, trapping two people under the cab, New York’s mayor announced that a three block section of Broadway where the crash occurred will be closed to motor vehicles between 8 am and 11 pm. Then again, the street was already a bicyclist’s paradise in the 1890s.

Life is cheap in New York, where a US Postal Service driver faces just one month behind bars and a lousy $250 fine after being convicted of misdemeanor failure to yield for killing a 71-year old man riding a bicycle in a right hook crash; his attorney tried to blame the victim for his own death, insisting he could have braked to avoid the impact. Spoken like someone who has never been right hooked on a bike. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

A quick-thinking Atlanta cop is credited with saving the life of a bike-riding man, who collapsed unexpectedly moments after the officer waved him through an intersection.

The Tampa Bay Times says a 40-year old woman riding a bike has been killed by Florida Highway Patrol car. Which was apparently driving itself, since the story doesn’t mention a human being, let alone a sworn officer, having anything to do with the crash.

 

International

Move Electric examines how common ebike theft is, and what you can do to prevent it.

They get it, too. A Canadian website says Toronto’s Vision Zero plan is all that stands between bike riders and total road anarchy, with “lot more fear, anger and impatience on the roads, and the veneer of civil behavior badly eroded.”

An American woman was left with a nearly $17,000 hospital bill after hitting a pothole while riding her bike on a Scottish roadway.

A day after we mentioned a British woman on trial for pushing a 77-year old woman off her bike, she was convicted of manslaughter, and will be sentenced on Thursday; she claimed she was just gesturing wildly as she complained about the woman riding on the sidewalk, and may have inadvertently hit her. The jury clearly didn’t believe her, either.

Road.cc considers why former BBC host Dan Walker’s call to wear a helmet is controversial, after he credited his with saving his life.

Stockholm, Sweden is getting its first bicycle street, where bicycles will receive priority over other forms of traffic. Which has no known equivalent in Southern California, let alone Los Angeles. 

They get it. A South African website says bicycling could solve transportation problems in Cape Town, calling for an integrated transportation network with bicycling at its heart.

A new documentary looks at the two decade old case of a disabled Japanese man who died in custody, after fleeing from police on his bicycle when they tried to stop him for “acting suspiciously.”

Bicycling Australia chooses their gear of the year, noting the bicycling products that captured their attention. Many, if not most, of which should be available here in the US. 

 

Competitive Cycling

The New York Times offers a deep dive profile on 33-year old individual pursuit world champ and record holder Ashton Lambie, who was working at a bike shop and randonneuring before he took his first ride on a grass velodrome in Kansas, on a borrowed bike, less than seven years ago. And won, of course.

Twenty-three-year old world champ Remco Evenepoel added another notch on his belt with a victory in the UAE Tour.

Colombian Egan Bernal will not be racing in this week’s Paris-Nice after being sidelined by a knee injury, as he returns to racing after last year’s near fatal training crash.

USA Cycling could be looking for you, as the national cycling body set off a “new talent-identification program aimed at underrepresented and more diverse communities” for its track cycling program. Once again, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you. 

 

Finally…

We may have to deal with feral LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to use our ebike’s turbo boost to outrun a pack of hungry wolves; thanks again to Phillip Young. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about being trampled to death by elephants, either.

And unlike most bike-riding dogs, cats don’t need a basket.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Website wildly exaggerates LA bike deaths, taking a deep dive into LA’s Vision Zero fail, and muscle car driver kills 9

January 31, 2022 / / 5 comments

Maybe biking in LA doesn’t suck as much as we thought.

On Friday, we linked to yet another ranking of the best and worst bike-friendly cities in the US.

And to the surprise of almost no one, LA checked in at the very bottom of the bottom, once again being named as the nation’s worst city for bicycling.

But it ain’t necessarily so.

The chart from Tower Electric Bikes shows a bicycling fatality rate of 15.6 per 10,000 residents.

In other words, they say Los Angeles averages 15.6 bicycling deaths per capita for every 10,000 people in the city.

But with a population of nearly 4 million, that works out to 6,162 people killed riding their bicycles every year in the City of Angels.

Which is a little more than seven times the total number of bicyclists killed in the entire US in 2019.

As if the 18 people who needlessly lost their lives riding a bike in the city last year wasn’t bad enough.

Where they got that figure, I have no idea. A footnote on the chart says the stats came from PeopleForBikes annual rankings, but there is no mention of fatality rates on the Los Angeles page, and no reference to that 15.6 per 10,000 figure.

And it doesn’t seem to correlate to any other actual statistics, from any credible source.

So take it with a grain of salt. Or maybe a bag, given just how far off they are from anything close to reality.

Riding here can certainly suck at times, for any number of reasons.

But at least we aren’t that bad yet.

………

LAist takes a deep dive into the failure of LA’s Vision Zero program, with city streets claiming the deadliest traffic toll in two decades last year.

And just how we got in this mess, six years after the mayor signed the program into being, and just three years before Los Angeles traffic deaths were supposed to be a thing of the past.

Okay, you can stop laughing now.

Safety activists believe that work is going far too slowly. Pedestrian and cyclist groups say the city has spent decades prioritizing fast car travel on its streets at the expense of everyone else using the roads — and the rising death toll is the tragic but inevitable result.

“This is not the trajectory of a modern city,” said John Yi, executive director of the pedestrian advocacy group Los Angeles Walks. “The last thing we want is to double down on cars while other cities are reimagining what their streetscapes would be without cars.”

That total of nearly 300 people killed on city streets last year — including 18 people on bicycles and 132 pedestrians — could rise even further as more detailed analysis is done.

Meanwhile, a listing of the city’s most dangerous intersections give us all a roadmap of places to avoid.

Two of which are within a short walk from my own home, let alone a ride.

For pedestrians:

  • Caesar E. Chavez Ave. and Soto St.
  • Avalon Blvd. and Imperial Highway
  • De Soto Ave. and Lassen St.
  • Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave.

For cyclists:

  • Humboldt St. and San Fernando Road
  • Anaheim St. and King Ave.
  • Valley Vista Blvd. and Van Nuys Blvd.
  • La Brea Ave. and Sunset Blvd.

For total collisions:

  • San Pedro St. and Washington Blvd
  • Florence Ave. and Vermont Ave
  • Oxnard St. and Van Nuys Blvd
  • Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Ave

………

This is who we share the road with.

Absolutely horrible news from Las Vegas, where nine people were killed in a multi-vehicle collision when the driver of a Dodge Challenger ran a red light at high speed, striking five other vehicles in what was called a mass casualty event.

In other words, driving exactly the way the company actively encourages in its ads.

Hopefully, the survivors of those victims will get good lawyers, and sue the hell out of Dodge, not just for making machines capable of mass mayhem, but promoting their use in the most dangerous ways possible.

And if they need a good lawyer, I’m happy to recommend a few.

………

Things are looking up in Eagle Rock, even if you do have to ride in or near the door zone.

………

Note to LADOT — This is what real bollards look like, not those little white car-tickling bendie posts you seem to prefer.

This is also exactly what we need on Hollywood Blvd, particularly at Hollywood & Highland, where the city has done absolutely nothing to protect tourists and pedestrians from motor vehicle terrorists and out-of-control drivers.

More proof that the city has learned absolutely nothing from the automotive attack on the Venice Boardwalk, and the catastrophe at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market.

Let alone dozens of motor-driven attacks in New York, London and other sites around the world.

………

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

Congratulations to the Fort Myers, Florida New-Press on what may be the worst bicycle-related headline in human history; only after reading the story does it turn out the victim had a little help getting killed, rather than just keeling over. 

No bias here. A writer for The Spectator complains about “the ceaseless self-pity of cyclists,” and complains about hulking male bike riders on huge bikes speeding down sidewalks, plowing everyone out of their way. Evidently, there must be a class of bicycles in the UK at least twice the size of regular bikes. Or maybe she hasn’t seen an actual bicycle since the Penny Farthing went out of fashion. 

………

Local

They get it. Following the announcement by CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin that he won’t run for re-election, the LA Times writes that the current vitriol in politics is driving good people out of public service.

Los Angeles is getting its first ebike cargo delivery service, with package-laden riders spreading out from four hubs throughout the city.

We Like LA takes a walk on the the LA River bike path through Frogtown.

If you found the LA River path blocked by police activity in Long Beach Saturday afternoon, it’s because a man was shot near the bike path around 11:15 am; the victim was hospitalized in critical condition.

New bike lanes could be coming to Western Ave on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, running from San Pedro through Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles, Lomita and Torrance.

 

State

A Seal Beach police lieutenant warns against riding ebikes discourteously, and says bike riders should slow and come to a complete stop at all intersections, unless they have a green light. Which is guaranteed to piss off every driver on the road around them.

A Las Vegas website recommends bicycling amid the breathtaking beauty of Death Valley’s Artist Road.

 

National

Slate talks with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg about the safety crisis on American streets, and what his department plans to do about it.

Salon considers why Peloton has suddenly become television’s latest punching bag.

Texas is fighting to keep the roads deadly, moving to rescind an eight-year old transfer of a state roadway to the city of San Antonio, apparently because the governor doesn’t like plans for a lane reduction to improve safety and livability along the corridor; bike riders call for public outrage over the loss of promised bike lanes along the corridor.

More evidence that we all face the same problems, as advocates push for a better bike network in Western New York, while auto-centric drivers push back hard.

New York Magazine says ebikes are a simple solution to getting cars off the road right now.

 

International

A massive pile of junked bicycles has become a local landmark for London bike riders.

British drivers — and at least some segments of the press — are freaking out over new changes to the country’s Highway Code requiring operators of more dangerous vehicles to take greater care to avoid crashes, while advising bike riders to take the lane and ride two abreast under some circumstances to improve safety.

The Sun warns of an avalanche of lawsuits over the changes, while the Daily Mail insists drivers are powerless to stop bicyclists from riding in the middle of the road. Apparently, they can’t comprehend the difference between riding in the middle of the traffic lane and the middle of the roadway.

Remembering Swedish adventurer Göran Kropp, who rode his bicycle 8,000 miles to Mt. Everest, then climbed the mountain without oxygen.

An Indian man rode over 4,600 miles across the country to raise awareness for road safety, despite being totally blind. He was guided by navigators in cars traveling ahead of and behind his bike.

 

Competitive Cycling

The great Marianne Vos won her eighth world cyclocross women’s title.

Belgium turned tables on the Dutch, sweeping the podium in the men’s U-23 ‘cross championships a year after the Netherlands did the same thing. But the Dutch women held their own, sweeping all three podium spots in the women’s U-23.

The Eritrean cycling team was barred from participating in the Tour of Rwanda because none of the riders have been vaccinated for Covid-19; riders from the country won the race in 2019 and 2020, but no one in Eritrea has been vaccinated yet.

A crowdfunding campaign for Irish champ Imogen Cotter has raised the equivalent of over $25,000, after she was hit head-on by a speeding driver while training in Italy.

Two-time Grand Tour winner Egan Bernal says the damage from a training crash last week was bad enough that there was a 95% chance he would end up a paraplegic.

 

Finally…

That feeling when clown bikes get their own rutted lane. Be on the lookout for a serial size 46 bike shoe thief.

And the image below is supposed to be a leopard; it’s He Who Must Not Be Named who’s a cheetah.

………

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

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

Prosecutors throw book at killer Show Low AZ driver, Streets For All blasts Garcetti, and Culver City to open mobility lane

November 3, 2021 / / Comments Off on Prosecutors throw book at killer Show Low AZ driver, Streets For All blasts Garcetti, and Culver City to open mobility lane

My apologies for yesterday’s server outage that knocked us offline all day. You can catch up on everything you missed here. 

………

More mass casualty bike crashes in the news, as an Arizona website offers an update on the case against Shawn Michael Chock.

Chock is accused of deliberately slamming his massive pickup into a group of up to 50 competitors in a master’s bike race in Show Low, Arizona last June.

He ended up killing one man and injuring six other people when he smashed into the group, then backed his truck up and attempted to make another pass.

Prosecutors allege Chock huffed computer cleaning fluid before getting behind the wheel, whether that motivated the attack or simply gave him the courage to carry it out.

He was shot by police after fleeing the scene and engaging in a standoff with cops behind a local hardware store, and was arrested on his release from the hospital.

He continues to be held on a half million dollars bond, facing decades behind bars on charges including 2nd degree murder, aggravated assault against a peace officer and eight other counts of aggravated assault, leaving the scene of a collision involving death or serious injury, and unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle.

His next court hearing is on the 29th of this month. Hopefully in a courtroom full of bike riders.

The website adds that Chock is presumed by court to be innocent until proven guilty.

Thankfully, we’re under no such obligation.

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

………

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Garcetti spoke with Spectrum News 1 about his climate goals following COP26. Although as we’ve seen too many times, the mayor is great at talking, not so good at following through.

Meanwhile, bike scribe and historian Carlton Reid takes the COP26 climate conference to task for inexplicably ignoring the quickest and most efficient way to decarbonize.

Bicycles.

That was the same message contained in a letter from over 80 bicycle organizations around the world, who argued that “government leaders must commit to boosting cycling levels to reduce carbon emissions and reach global climate goals quickly and effectively.”

Cycling represents one of humanity’s greatest hopes for a shift towards a zero-carbon future. New research shows that life-cycle CO₂ emissions drop by 14% per additional cycling trip and by 62% for each avoided car trip. Switching from a car to a bicycle saves 150g of CO₂ per kilometre. E-cargo bikes cut carbon emissions by 90%compared with diesel vans. Swapping the car in cities for walking and cycling even just one day a week can reduce your carbon footprint by about half a tonne of CO₂ over a year. Building synergies with other travel modes such as public transport can critically enhance this potential.

Our world is on fire. We must urgently leverage the solutions that cycling offers by radically scaling up its use. What we need now is for governments to politically and financially commit to more, safer and integrated cycling that is equitable for everyone living in our countries, cities and regions…

………

Culver City is opening the city’s first mobility lane designed for scooters, bikes and ebikes on November 20th.

https://twitter.com/CulverCityBus/status/1455594901454741504

………

Both San Diego and San Jose are celebrating open streets events this Sunday, with San Jose hosting Viva CalleSJ.

And the San Diego Bike Coalition co-hosting CicloSDias on the streets of Pacific Beach.

Thanks to Robert Leone for the heads-up. 

………

Leone also reminds us to take extra precautions as Daylight Savings ends this Sunday.

Make sure you have lights on your bike if you’ll be riding after dark, with the sun setting around 5 pm next week; I also carry lights with me anytime I ride in the late afternoon, in case a flat or mechanical problem delays my return.

And ride defensively, especially for the first few days next week, because the initial days after Daylight Savings ends are always among the worst days for traffic collisions.

………

Damn, that really is a close call. If the guy on the bike hadn’t been a cop, the driver probably would have gotten away with it.

………

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

San Diego police are looking for a man riding a blue mountain bike with black rims and silver spokes, who is described as a person of interest after a woman was sexually assaulted in a Mission Bay restroom.

………

Local

LADOT is planning to extend the bike lanes on Riverside Drive in Los Feliz from Glendale Blvd to Los Feliz Drive, after the street is resurfaced over the next year; the work will also include upgraded paint and crosswalks.

A writer for the Financial Times laments LA’s unrealized potential as a bicycling city. As do we all.

Santa Monica-based Bird is planning to go public despite a history of financial losses, merging with a Dallas-based special purpose acquisition company in hopes of raising $384 million in capital.

Opening arguments began in the civil trial against a Metro contractor for the 2017 death of 13-year old Ciara Smith on PCH in Redondo Beach; her attorney blamed poor training of the driver, while the defense placed the blame on bad road design.

A 31-year old man was fatally shot while riding a bike in Long Beach on Friday.

 

State

Santa Barbara County will take its ebike demo to Santa Maria for five days this month, allowing people to try them out and even take one home overnight.

Sad news from Oakland, where an e-scooter rider was killed by a wrong-way driver who allegedly ran a red light; Streetsblog argues that the paint on the street was insufficient to protect her, or anyone else.

More in the Santa Rosa woman who was seriously injured in Saturday’s mass casualty bike collision in Liberty County, Texas; 59-year-old Barbara Anne Ferrell was one of three bicyclists struck by the driver while on a cross-country ride.

 

National

They get it. Fast Company compares the $12,500 tax incentive to buy an electric car contained in the stalled Build Back Better bill with the relatively paltry $1,500 tax break for buying an ebike, charging that the bill continues the harmful automotive dominance in our cities.

This is who we share the road with. Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Henry Ruggs III faces up to 20 years behind bars for the fiery, high-speed crash that killed an innocent woman and her equally innocent dog; he was released from the team hours after his arrest on felony DUI and reckless driving charges. You know you’re toxic when even the Raiders won’t touch you.

The bike theft scourge has infected the entire country, even in small Midwestern towns like Iowa City.

Hundreds of people turned out to honor a fallen Chicago man at a ghost bike ceremony yesterday, while a crowdfunding campaign for the popular amateur cyclist has raised more tha $164,000 in just four days.

 

International

Canadian mountain biker Magnus Manson has started the Conquer Your Challenge crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for aspiring Canadian cyclists, as he battles stage 3 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma; he’s already topped the $10,000 goal bu raising over twelve grand.

A Toronto op-ed accuses the city of falling short on efforts to stop pedestrian traffic deaths, despite its Vision Zero program.

A Scottish legal columnist explains the defense of automatism — where someone isn’t in control of their actions through no fault of their own and have no knowledge of what happened — after a driver was acquitted of killing a man on a bike because she claimed she had no memory of the crash.

A website in Scotland recommends banning cars from schools and building a walking culture in kids to improve safety and cut climate-damaging emissions. Although they should also add riding their bikes to school to that.

A South African musician is scaling up the country’s first ebike delivery service.

 

Competitive Cycling

British cyclist Alex Dowsett is in Mexico City, attempting to retake the hour record he first set in 2015.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to steal a bike, at least have the decency to leave your old one in its place. Who needs carbon fiber when you can build your own bike out of wood?

And why carry a tent on your bike when you can build your very own self-powered wooden e-camper van bike?

………

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

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

More mass casualty bicycling wrecks, LA considers safe streets proposals, and NJ whitewashes Biking While Black bust

November 1, 2021 / / 2 comments

Mass casualty crashes involving bikes just keep piling up on American roads.

For the second time in a month, six bike riders have been injured in a collision on a Texas highway.

This time, the crash occurred in Liberty County northeast Houston when a driver slammed his car into a group of people taking part in an annual ride across the US from San Diego to St. Augustine, Florida.

Two of the victims were airlifted to a hospital, while at least one more was transported ambulance.

No word yet on the condition of the victims or just how the crash occurred.

That follows last month’s crash that injured another six bike riders when a 16-year old driver injured six people riding their bikes while training for a triathlon in nearby Waller County, Texas , after he tried and failed to roll coal with his pickup.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Fall River, Massachusetts reported his own wife was in the ICU after a driver ran a stop sign and plowed into a 60-mile ride hosted by the Narragansett Bay Wheelmen, striking three riders; she suffered 12 broken bones, two broken collarbones and punctured lungs. Unfortunately, there’s no word on the other victims.

Maybe it’s time we classified cars as weapons of mass destruction.

Because clearly, they are.

………

Streets For All is raising the alarm about tomorrow’s Los Angeles City Council Meeting, which will take up a trio of proposals to take advantage of new state laws to improve safety on the streets.

The first (Council File 21-1222) supports a Permanent Slow Streets program. It would expand existing slow streets to many more communities, and provide a framework for outreach and money for implementation.

The second (Council File 21-1223) begins the process of lowering speed limits on hundreds of miles of previously raised streets in Los Angeles. This is possible thanks to a recently passed state bill, AB-43, which Streets For All enthusiastically supported.

The third (Council File 21-1224) begins the process of installing cameras on buses (made possible by AB-917, a bill that Streets For All enthusiastically supported). These cameras will automatically send tickets to cars that are illegally parked in bus lanes. Cars illegally using the bus lane are the single biggest source of delays to buses, and this solves the problem without using police enforcement.

You’ll find call-in instructions to attend the virtual meeting, a link to submit your comments in advance, and talking points to help craft your message on the link above.

Meanwhile, the Transportation Committee of the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council will discuss bike lanes on Hyperion and Riverside tomorrow night.

………

Call it a New Jersey whitewash.

A county prosecutor concluded that a group of white cops were perfectly justified in seizing the bicycles of a group of Black and Brown bike riders who separated from a larger rideout.

The teens were busted for the crime of failing to have a bicycle license and registration as they rode through the upscale Perth Amboy community, with the arrest captured on a viral video.

Even though it’s highly questionable whether that requirement can be enforced against anyone who doesn’t live there.

And it’s highly questionable whether drivers would have their cars impounded for what would normally be a simple fix-it ticket.

Never mind that Black bike riders bear the brunt of enforcement in the state.

Nothing to see here. Just another case of biking while Black or Brown.

………

Yet another example of keeping an elderly driver on the road until it’s too late.

A 90-year old Florida woman could continue to drive until her license was finally suspended last month, a full year after nearly killing a woman and injuring her husband as they were riding their bikes.

She told investigators she fled the scene because she was “so scared” — but apparently not too scared to have her damaged car towed in for repairs to coverup the crime.

She remains free on bond while facing two counts of felony hit-and-run, and can look forward to getting her license back next April.

Meanwhile, her victim continues to deal with the effects of 17 broken ribs, a broken arm and wrist, a collapsed lung and paralyzed vocal cord, and torn finger tendons and ligaments.

Not to mention brain injuries.

But other than that, no reason why she shouldn’t keep driving at 91, right?

………

The San Diego Bike Coalition is looking for volunteers for next Sunday’s CicloSDias open streets festival.

………

Nothing like celebrating Halloween with a people-protected bike lane. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the link. 

………

A reader who prefers to remain anonymous forwarded this video offering a short history of a 1910 firefighter’s bicycle, complete with coiled hose.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-VsMd94Ydk

Although the story of the three-day old saint was kinda fun, too.

………

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

Chicago police are looking for the passenger in an Audi who punched out a 69-year old bike rider, after the man picked up fast food bag the passenger had dumped out of the car, and placed it on the hood of the Audi; police credit his helmet with saving his life.

A Brisbane, Australia woman faces attempted murder charges for intentionally ramming a man on a bicycle, then trying to run him over while yelling racial slurs until he jumped over a fence to get away. Meanwhile, the man’s bicycle was apparently stolen by a passerby after he was forced to abandon it.

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

A 24-year old employee of Jamis Bikes was formally charged with first degree murder for beating a co-worker to death with a sledge hammer to steal her credit cards. He then went home to shower and change clothes, before coming back to call 911 to report a woman had been injured; he confessed the crime to police when they questioned him.

………

Local

Speaking of Streets For All, the transportation PAC is hosting an afterparty and fundraiser after the CoMotion transportation conference on November 18th; a minimum $50 advance donation is required for entry.

 

State

She gets it. A Costa Mesa op-ed calls on the city to undo the dominance of cars, and make room for the exploding popularity of ebikes. Oops. I originally misread the name, and misgendered the author of this piece. Thanks to Michelle Fay for the correction. 

Accused hit-and-run driver Lucas Beau Morgans pled not guilty to killing 75-year-old retired physicist Allen Hunter II as he rode his bike on South Coast Highway 101 in Solano Beach; the 21-year old driver faces up to 16 years behind bars on felony charges of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run causing death and two counts of DUl. Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

The San Diego Association of Governments, aka SANDAG, approved a future four cent per mile tax on motorists to fund transit projects, a possible replacement for gas taxes as more electric vehicles hit the road.

No surprise here, as San Mateo residents get out the torches and pitchforks over a plan to remove 214 parking spaces to install bike lanes and a bicycle boulevard, apparently preferring the convenience of free parking over the lives and safety of people on bicycles, including school kids.

 

National

Forbes offers five non-earthshaking reasons to buy an ebike, none of which will surprise anyone who’s been paying attention.

This is who we share the road with. The Boston Globe reports that protesters around the US have been injured by drivers ramming demonstrations, as several states are passing laws to make that legal. And yes, some of those victims have been on bikes.

Wired likes the new Apple Watch Series 7, particularly the “excellent” bike-friendly features. The battery life, not so much.

Your new e-BMX could be a Harley, complete with a milk crate front basket.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever pulled a knife on a 13-year old Queens boy to jack his bike.

 

International

Former New York Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan examines the bikelash paradox, in which any changes to the street will inevitably draw complaints from angry drivers and the accompanying media storm, yet mayors who make true transformational change get re-elected over and over, from Barcelona and Paris to New York and DC.

The indigenous Bolivian women known as Cholitas held their own bike race Saturday, weaving through car and truck traffic while riding their bicycles garbed in traditional attire, at an oxygen sucking 13,615 feet above sea level.

Former Vancouver, British Columbia chief planner Brent Toderian explains how the “trick-or-treat test” determines neighborhood walkability and design.

A contentious popup bike lane through a Vancouver park will stay after commissioners voted to keep it in place, despite complaints from drivers and local businesses. After all, parks should be for people, not cars.

Work still hasn’t been finished on upgrades to a London junction where eight bike riders have been killed in the past 13 years — including the latest just this past August — even though it was supposed to be done two years ago.

The husband of a British woman killed by a man on a bicycle five years ago says the country’s ministers are afraid of the bicycling lobby, blocking his fight for tougher penalties against bike riders who kill or maim others. Funny how so many people seem to think we’re a lot better organized and more influential than we are. 

People in the UK are complaining that a popular English forest is being ruined by mountain bikers and dog poop.

Rouleur considers the inescapable link between bicycles and coffee, while recommending the best coffees for people who bike. As long as you’re in the UK, or UK adjacent, that is; no guarantee you can find them on this side of the pond.

Romanian police have recovered nearly $700,000 worth of bikes stolen from the Italian cycling team last month, after unexpectedly discovering the 21 bicycles during a drug raid, including Filippo Ganna’s gold Pinarello.

Zimbabwe shoots the goose that laid the golden egg by imposing an annual tax on bike riders that disproportionately hits the country’s poorest workers, who turned to their bikes following a pandemic ban on public transit.

The bike boom continues in Japan, as bicycle prices rise as much as 11% due to continued demand.

He gets it. A Manilla, Philippines columnist says the city needs to get the weekend roadies to bike commute during the week in order to avoid a post-pandemic return to the city’s crippling traffic jams. Imagine what it could do for LA traffic if every spandexed weekend rider tried bike commuting to work just one day during the week.

 

Competitive Cycling

L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams proves to be an ungracious host by winning the inaugural Into the Lion’s Den race sponsored by his own team; Rally Cycling’s Olivia Ray won the women’s race.

Rouleur considers whether there remains a path to redemption for former German great and confessed doper Jan Ullrich, who has spent recent years mired in scandal, drowned in alcohol and lost to drugs.

Forty-year old German cyclist Trixi Worrack is hanging up her cleats after spending half her life in the women’s peloton.

Bike Radar examines the “wonderfully odd” world of a Swedish three-day Penny Farthing stage race.

Sad news from Chicago, where Broderick Adé Hogue of the amateur Half Acre Cycling team died three days after he suffered a severe head injury in a collision, despite wearing a helmet; witnesses say the 32-year old Hogue was in the intersection, riding in a crosswalk when the light changed.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to throw your bike off your upper floor apartment. If you’re going to carry meth, weed and drug paraphernalia on your bike, put a damn light on it.

And it’s the harvest season, when the trees hang heavy with fresh bicycles.

………

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

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