According to the latest stats from the NHTSA, overall traffic deaths in the US are down slightly, while bicycling fatalities are the only category that went up in 2013.
That increase, to 743 cycling fatalities — up from 726 the year before — is most likely due to increased ridership.
Which doesn’t make it acceptable.
……..
‘Tis the season.
Redlands police donate 23 bikes to help veterans in the Inland Empire. The Santa Barbara Bike Coalition gives shiny new bikes to 24 kids; thanks to Megan Lynch for the link. A Sonoma County businessman donates 150 bikes to kids in need. A San Jose bike charity donates 2,700 bicycles to local kids. Oregon elementary school kids get 25 new bikes.
Why do these stories matter?
Because this is the next generation of bike riders. And every kid — or vet, for that matter — deserves the chance to ride a bike, regardless of whether they can afford one.
……..
Local
Streeetsblog wants your vote for the annual Streetsie Awards for Elected Official and Civil Servant of the year; I’m proud to have a couple of those on my mantle. Not that I actually have a mantle, but still.
A bike riding 24-year old mother fights for safer spaces for her daughter.
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with a free bike valet at the city’s big party at Downtown’s Grand Park. About time LA did the New Year right.
State
A Newport Beach bike rider suffers minor injuries in a right hook.
The wrong-way and allegedly intoxicated San Diego driver who hit a group of cyclists on Fiesta Island, leaving one paralyzed from the waist down, is found competent to stand trial. Although her lawyer successfully argues for a second opinion.
San Diego is sued over a recently installed road diet and bike lane, claiming the city did an inadequate CEQA review; however, California law was recently changed to exempt bike lanes from environmental review.
A bike rider suffers moderate injuries in a Desert Hot Springs collision after he allegedly runs a red light.
A Bakersfield family asks for help after a 46-year old grandfather is killed in a hit-and-run while riding his bike.
The new three-foot passing law gets a thumbs-up from San Jose cyclists; not so much from a local pedestrian.
Evidently, a NorCal driver failed to note the three-foot law, as he whacks a Siskiyou County physician with his right mirror; the victim suffered a broken collarbone.
National
Bicycling’s Elly Blue offers an interview with the founder of Black Girls Do Bike.
The editor of an Arizona newspaper reminisces about the places a bike can take you.
The Denver Post questions the $16.5 million cost of the new 18 mile bikeway paralleling a newly rebuilt highway. Funny, but they don’t seem to question what it cost to build the part cars will travel on.
The penultimate stage of next year’s USA Pro Challenge will end in my hometown.
Sadly, a research scientist at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory lost his life in a mountain biking fall.
International
Now that’s more like it. A diabetic motorist in the UK is sentenced to fifteen months in jail and banned from driving for 20 years — yes, years — for killing a cyclist after he failed to monitor his blood sugar levels.
Caught on video: A Brit bike rider confronts a motorist who nearly hit him after not clearing the ice from his windshield; the driver claimed he could see clearly, but somehow couldn’t see the cyclist.
A British bike rider feels like a pariah when his bike is attacked for taking up space on a train.
Russell Crowe takes the cast of his new movie on 30-mile bike rides to bring more energy to the set.
A Philippine priest rides over 1,100 miles to raise awareness of climate change.
Over 600 bike riders have been busted for drunk bicycling under Taiwan’s new BUI law. And fined the equivalent of a whopping $9 to $18 dollars.
Finally…
A bunny gets trapped in the wheel of a mountain bike, and somehow hops away relatively unscathed; and yes, you really do need to see the photo. Former Talking Head David Byrne discusses the joys of bike riding.
And unbelievably, three Dallas cyclists are harassed by a driver who deliberately knocked one off his bike, then got out of his car and started hitting him — and not only do police issue the attacker just a minor ticket for assault, they ticket the victim for taking a beating. Thanks to Michael Eisenberg for the heads-up.
……..
Please accept my best wishes for a very merry Christmas. And may this season bring peace and joy and bikes and love to you and all your loved ones.
Like this:
Like Loading...
