I noticed that truck over there on the left while walking the dog yesterday.
And was struck by the truck’s murder grill — not literally, thankfully — which seems designed to inflict maximum damage on anyone or anything unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
Any person struck by it, whether walking or bicycling, would likely be thrown forward as if struck by a giant hammer, then run over by the multi-ton truck if the driver was unable to stop in time.
Yet people wonder why traffic deaths continue to climb in the US, and not in other countries with more rational safety policies.
Never mind that there’s no license plate on the front of the damn thing.
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The victim in last week’s fatal Koreatown hit-and-run has been identified as a 73-year old woman.
Although depending on what source you go by, the driver was either arrested after abandoning their car, or not.
Which means there’s either a standing $50,000 reward for the fatal hit-and-run, or there isn’t.
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Monrovia is seeking comments on their new Draft Safety Action Plan and Bicycle Master Plan.
I don’t know the city well enough to offer any informed thoughts, but it looks to be heavy on Class 3 bike routes, aka sharrows, which are usually worthless for anything other than wayfinding, if not actually dangerous.
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Oceanside bike lawyer and BikinginLA sponsor Richard Duquette offers a short Facebook reminder to max out the Uninsured Driver coverage on your auto insurance policy, which will cover you on your bike if you crash, or get hit by a driver with no insurance or inadequate coverage.
The family of fallen Australian bicyclist James Rapley learned that the hard way, after the stoned driver who ran him down on Temescal Canyon in 2013 had no insurance or financial resources, leaving their lawyer unable to collect a dime, despite his efforts.
The opposite happened when I was struck by a road raging driver who refused to accept liability, and my own auto insurance covered every penny of my medical bills.
It was a painful lesson well learned.
Thanks to Phillip for the heads-up.
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A new short film from Shimano traces the rise of the inclusive All Bodies On Bikes group, with over 4,000 views in the first day.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
An accused road-raging driver is set to go on trial in Spain for attempted murder after running over former world champ Alejandro Valverde and another rider during a 2022 training ride, following an argument over a close pass.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
There’s a special place in hell for the 61-year old Florida man who was arrested for animal cruelty after allegedly beating and kicking a puppy, simply because it couldn’t keep up as he dragged it behind his bike, despite telling police he was “training” the dog. Maybe someone should tie him behind a bicycle and train him, instead.
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Local
A Redittor raves about the San Gabriel River bike path after riding over 30 miles from Santa Fe Dam to Seal Beach, then back again, as commenters tell him hush before everyone finds out.
Riding the sharrows on Fountain Ave in West Hollywood could be even dicier than usual, as the city takes traffic signals offline to upgrade traffic signal controller cabinets, “to modernize traffic infrastructure and improve safety and reliability for motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists.”
Speaking of WeHo, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will conduct yet another of the LA area’s bicycle and pedestrian safety operations on Monday, so ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limit line. Although people don’t seem to end up driving any better, no matter how many of those things they hold, or how often.
State
Apple Valley will install a roundabout, center turn lane and new Class 1 separated bike lanes to improve safety at a dangerous intersection.
They get it. A Streetsblog San Francisco op-ed says California has to stop expanding freeways, because “While transit, bike, and safety projects struggle for funding, the state keeps writing blank checks for freeway widening boondoggles. It’s time to tell our lawmakers: enough!” It’s long past time to stop flushing money down the induced demand-inducing toilet.
Sacramento is working on getting an action plan to reduce traffic deaths ready by the end of the year, in the city with the state’s highest per capita rate of traffic deaths.
National
A tiny new sensor raising funds on Kickstarter can now tell you the air pressure on your bike tires within ±2%.
Seattle is ripping out the curbs protecting a new bike lane after a “surveying error” left the traffic lane too narrow for trucks to navigate. Although that sounds like a good thing to me.
Albuquerque, New Mexico will now require drivers to stop at crosswalks for bicyclists and pedestrians, and student drivers in the state will have to take a three-hour course on driving around vulnerable road users, after a mother turned her grief over the death of her bike-riding daughter into a campaign to improve safety for all of us.
Burlington, Vermont is now home to what may be the world’s first fully adaptive mountain bike trail network, allowing handicapped riders to take to the trails without fear of insurmountable obstacles.
New York Mayor Mamdani is calling a halt to the previous administration’s policy of giving criminal summons to scofflaw bike riders, rather than traffic tickets, for even minor violations; the policy was considered unfair to delivery riders who need their bikes to earn a living. Although it was also unfair to anyone on two wheels, who were treated more harshly than motorists, despite posing less risk to those around them.
The Delaware-based Lycra Company, makers of Lycra, Coolmax, THERMOLITE, Supplex, and Tactel, is the latest bikewear-related firm to go belly-up, after the company couldn’t stretch to cover up to a half billion dollars in debts.
A 72-year old North Carolina woman had her bicycle restored by the same shop where her parents bought it 60 years earlier for a whopping $39.95, plus tax.
International
London’s epidemic of Lime Bike Leg could be ending, after the company redesigned their bikeshare ebikes to remove a heavy center bar that could trap a user’s leg under the bike if it fell over.
An Israeli nonprofit is using bicycling as a “therapeutic and educational tool to enrich disadvantaged and behaviorally challenged youth,” while exploring the country on two wheels in small groups up to just 15 people.
Competitive Cycling
A 60-year old San Diego man known as “The Slasher” has 11 national championships under his belt, and is the reigning age-group mountain bike and gravel national champ, as well as the founder of the city’s Quick-n-Dirty racing series.
Finally…
Probably not the best idea to describe your car as “an absolute weapon” while still on probation for killing your wife with one. Your next extremely overly expensive bicycle could be a Bugatti.
And that feeling when you need a sudden change in footwear.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
