Tag Archive for PBS

Morning Links: Bike-related SoCal shootings, bad MyFig bike signals, and drunken victim blaming by PBS

It’s been a violent few days in Southern California.

Tragic story from Santa Ana, where a woman collecting recyclables was barely able to get off her bike in time before a truck slammed into it early yesterday. Only to discover the driver was already dead or dying from a gunshot wound; police are unsure where or how he got shot.

And man was shot as he and a woman were riding their bicycles on the LA River bike path in Long Beach on Wednesday. Although given the date, it’s possible it could have been caused by some idiot firing a gun into the air to celebrate the 4th.

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Michael MacDonald, aka topomodesto, offers a scathing indictment of the bike traffic signals on the new MyFigueroa bike lanes.

https://twitter.com/topomodesto/status/1014881629397921792

The response from LADOT simply says they’re still fine-tuning the street.

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Today’s must-read is a powerful op-ed from a pair of Toronto bicyclists and political science professors, who say it’s anarchy on the streets for the city’s cyclists.

An affluent city in which the act of riding a bike means our parents, partners, children and friends can die violent deaths is a travesty. A police force that won’t protect us should be ashamed. A legal system that won’t punish offenders is a farce. City councillors who won’t allocate funds to protect lives should be pushed out of office.

Until the city asserts its proper authority, the act of cycling in Toronto will remain a nasty, brutish and deadly experience.

Much of which applies to Los Angeles, as well. From a legal system that too often lets deadly drivers off with a slap on the wrist — if they get charged at all — to councilmembers who don’t just refuse to fund projects, but actually halt already funded safety projects.

And who should be pushed out here as well if they refuse to protect the lives and safety of their constituents, and anyone else who uses the streets of this city.

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On the other hand, PBS NewsHour offers an incredibly wrong-headed report blaming drunk pedestrians for the rise in pedestrian deaths.

Not distracted drivers. Or even poorly designed SUVs.

A third of pedestrians killed in crashes in 2016 were over the legal limit, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That’s nearly 2,000 people — up more than 300 since 2014.

“Those numbers are pretty shocking,” said Jonathan Adkins, executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway safety offices. “We think this is a big problem.”

Sure.

Except there is no legal limit for walking, because unlike operating a deadly two-ton machine, drinking doesn’t significantly impair moving your feet unless you get stumbling, falling down drunk.

Never mind that the report doesn’t specify how many of those intoxicated pedestrians were actually at fault, or did anything to contribute to their demise other than simply being there.

And it doesn’t mention how many of those deaths were actually caused by a lack of safe sidewalks and crosswalks that may have forced victims out into the street. Other than to suggest you should walk a quarter mile in each direction to get to a safe crossing rather than simply run across the street, like most people would do, drunk or sober.

Let alone the simple fact that if one-third of the victims were under the influence, that means the overwhelming majority weren’t.

We could spend hours picking this one apart.

But let’s just say this story is an incredible, stinking example victim-blaming windshield bias.

And PBS should be ashamed of it.

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Local

KPCC says LeBron could use the new MyFigueroa bike lane to get to Staples Center, except it’s full of parked cars.

 

State

A San Diego TV station explains how the city’s new bike boxes improve safety for bicyclists.

Now living in Los Gatos, mountain biking legend Juliana Furtado speaks out about the risk of suicide and depression, saying she’s lucky to have survived the disease that took the lives of her mother and older sister.

San Francisco-based Spin is bailing on bikes, and getting onboard the dockless e-scooter craze.

A Sonoma County Facebook group is teaming together to help recover stolen bicycles.

Sad news from Santa Rosa, where a man was killed in a crash with two hit-and-run drivers while riding his bike to see his kids; one of the drivers was arrested four miles away.

 

National

That car exhaust you suck in when you ride might be putting you at greater risk for diabetes. It’s frightening to think I might not have inherited my adult-onset diabetes from my mother after all, but gotten it from 30 plus years of riding in traffic instead.

A writer for Forbes says if you want to stay safe on the streets, you need to get radar taillight. Meanwhile, SoCal pro cyclist Coryn Rivera lists the gear she says you need to stay safe on a road bike.

A local magazine says sprawling, auto-centric Dallas could become a bike city. And if Big D can do it, so can Los Angeles.

A Detroit man is spending his weekends on his bike to photograph the city’s street art.

A Michigan court ordered a new trial over a $1 million judgement in the death of a six-year old boy who was killed riding his bike on a fairgrounds trail, after the fairgrounds argued the boy’s father was to blame for letting him ride there.

An Indiana bike rider was hit by a car, which apparently didn’t have a driver. And despite the statements from a bystander blaming the victim for not having a helmet — and who doesn’t think bikes belong on the road — a witness to the crash says a helmet wouldn’t have kept him from getting run down from behind. Thanks to Melissa McCurley for the heads-up.

Instead of making bridges safe for bike riders — or even legal, for that matter — Newport RI is now offering to drive them across the bridges on shuttle buses.

A Buffalo NY bike rider who refers to himself in the second person does the highly flawed math, and says streets aren’t wide enough for bike lanes.

New York is making plans to fix a scary gap in the city’s bike network. Meanwhile, most of LA’s bike network is a scary gap.

Philly bicyclists demand that drivers stop parking in bike lanes. Meanwhile, an op-ed says the way to build a better Philadelphia is to design it for everyone from 8 to 80.

Baton Rouge LA bike advocates say their best hope for changing the city’s bike unfriendly nature died along with a city councilmember who was run down from behind while riding his bike last week.

 

International

Horrifying video from Vancouver, where a bike rider gets right hooked by a massive gas tanker truck, which proceeds to run over her bicycle just as she jumps to safety.

Great advice for motorists from a Yukon columnist, who says drivers are responsible for 90% of crashes with bicyclists.

Good advice from the CBC in Winnipeg on how to avoid having your bike stolen. And how to avoid buying a hot one.

Guardian readers recommend ten European trips to add to your bike bucket list.

A UK writer ranks every type of bike rider from worst to least worst, saying there’s no such thing as an actively good cyclist. Even though she professes to write from the perspective of one.

 

Competitive Cycling

American Tejay van Garderen won’t be competing to win the Tour de France; instead he’ll be riding in support of team leader Richie Porte.

SB Nation says the Tour de France is a parade of dreams, and every moment of the tour is the highlight of someone’s life.

A new biography of America’s last remaining Tour de France winner credits Berkeley with spawning the modern bicycle-racing boom.

Seven TdF teams will be sucking down their $33 a bottle ketones sports drinks during this year’s race.

A group of women cyclists are riding the full Tour de France route one day ahead of the men competing in the race, while still contending with traffic and other inconveniences. But sure, let’s go ahead and pretend women can’t handle long stage races or difficult courses.

Good profile from Peter Flax, who says world road champ Peter Sagan is an enigma wrapped in rainbow stripes.

This is what happens to cyclists with questionable test results who don’t have Chris Froome’s money or Team Sky’s lawyers.

Now you, too, can own your very own Tour de France bike for a mere twelve grand.

The 805 Thousand Oaks Grand Prix rolls this weekend.

 

Finally…

Oh sure, anyone can ride around the world on two wheels. Actually, Khloe Kardashian doesn’t look a bit like she’s competing in the Tour de France, or any other bike race.

And no need to what until you stop, just grill your food while you ride.

Morning Links: #BikeLA on TV, the value of bicycling, and an early morning bike theft caught on video

Wednesday’s episode of Major Crimes on TNT is about someone intentionally running down bike riders on the streets of Los Angeles, including one stereotypical rider with a GoPro fastened firmly to his helmet.

Evidently, it’s a documentary.

Thanks to Gil Solomon for the heads-up.

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As long as we’re talking TV programs, don’t worry if you missed Monday’s airing of the Ovarian Psychos documentary on the PBS series Independent Lens.

You can download it from their website, or via Roku or Apple TV.

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If you need to put a dollar sign on bicycling, consider this from a new Minnesota study.

…the state’s bike industry produces $780 million in annual economic activity, 5,519 jobs and millions of dollars in health care savings because of reduced obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Just imagine what a bike friendly California could do, with better weather and over seven times the population.

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This is why you don’t trust bike parking area’s in your building’s garage, even if it seems like a great idea.

Ashley Grohosky forwards video of a bike thief casually shopping the bike racks in her Culver City building at 4 am until he gets out the bolt cutters after selecting the one he wants.

Hers.

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Sad news from Germany, where a cyclist is reportedly fighting for his life after a driver strayed into the middle of bike race, in the crash we mentioned yesterday. Another rider is in critical condition, while a third competitor and a race marshal were also injured.

Good thing the doping era is over. A Brazilian cycling team faces a one year suspension after five riders have been caught cheating since July.

Fixing the cobbles for next month’s Paris – Roubaix, aka the Hell of the North.

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Local

Santa Monica’s Montana Ave is getting new smart traffic signals that can extend a green light to give bike riders more time to cross.

Streetsblog considers Sunday’s Culver City to Venice CicLAvia; next up is a Glendale to Atwater Village route in June, along with a handful of other open streets events.

Speaking of which, if you read this early enough, you may still have time for a brief open streets tour of the Long Beach Grand Prix course from 11:30 am to 1 pm today.

The LACBC’s next Sunday Funday ride will explore Downtown LA this Sunday with The Crafty Pedal.

You may have already noticed the new ad for my favorite Bike Week event over there on the right. After all, a little divine intervention couldn’t hurt.

 

State

A San Diego bike rider is angry that she was given a ticket for running a stop sign. That’s the chance you take when you break the law, whatever the reason — at least until the proposed Idaho Stop law passes. And the unlikely event that Governor Brown actually signs it.

An Op-Ed in the San Jose Mercury News considers how to get more people riding bikes in Silicon Valley.

Caltrans is looking for input on where to put separated bikeways in the Bay Area, which is one way to get more people riding.

 

National

Realtor.com com ranks Salt Lake City as the #1 American city for Millennials, in part because of its bikeway network; Los Angeles ranks #6 despite its lack of one.

For the next four weeks, bike riders will have the roads of Yellowstone to themselves. It’s sort of like CicLAvia, but with geysers. And bears.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a bicycle from a homeless man in Lubbock TX, just a week after local cops gave it to him so he could get to his two jobs, in an attempt to get him and his wife off the streets.

Streetsblog describes how a Toledo OH mom led a grassroots campaign to stop a road widening. But why is it always assumed that mom’s are somehow less capable or involved than other women? Or men, for that matter?

A newly rebuilt bridge will provide a key connection in a shared-use pathway linking New Jersey’s two largest cities.

 

International

The worldwide bike industry is expected to be worth over $70 billion by 2026.

Now that’s more like it. Canadian prosecutors are asking for twelve years behind bars and a 15 to 18-year driving ban for a drunk driver who killed two bicyclists, as well as the passenger in his own car.

A London writer travels all of the city’s blue cycle superhighways, concluding that some are better than others, depending on how much the local borough supports bicycling. On the other hand, London has somehow managed to squeeze seven onto the city’s crowded, narrow and curving streets, with plans for three more. Yet LA can’t manage to build one on our wide, straight streets.

Welcome to England, where assaulting a bicyclist in a fit of bus-driving road rage is only worth the equivalent of a $500 fine.

A British panel rules that a bike courier deserves holiday pay even though he is technically self-employed.

Britain’s Cyclist offers 23 “free and easy cycling hacks” to improve your rides. For a change, most of the ideas aren’t bad. Even if they aren’t actually all free.

Caught on video: A Brit man uses his own bike to smash the windshield of a driver who he blamed for cutting him off in the bike lane, even though the driver denied doing it. Seriously, just ride away; now he’s the one police are looking for.

A German cyclist offers four lessons he learned riding through every nation on earth over the past decade.

This is why people continue to die on the streets. A drunk driver walks in Malta even though the judge ruled he was mostly responsible for a wreck that killed a cyclist, because the victim was riding in the street without lights on his bike. So blame the victim, don’t punish the killer, and set him loose to do it again.

Former Tour de France stage winner David Millar is working to turn flat, sandy, 100 degree-plus Dubai into a cycling destination.

The flood of Chinese app-based bikeshare systems have claimed it’s first victim, as Singapore cancels plans for a nationwide dock-based bikeshare.

One of those Chinese bikeshare companies will now pay you to ride their bikes if you find one in an outlying area.

So far, though, Chinese bike makers have managed to handle the boom in business.

 

Finally…

We only have to avoid LA drivers; cyclists in the Scottish Highlands have to dodge sheep. And if you get stranded on your bamboo bike while riding your kilt, at least you can eat it.

The bike that is, not the kilt.

Okay, maybe the kilt.