Tag Archive for police shootings

Racial justice suit filed in SF police shooting, West LA ghost bike stripped, and bike rider injured in Marina del Rey crash

December 11, 2023 / / 2 comments

Just 13 days left in the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — less than two weeks to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy!

Thanks to Xochitl C, Robert K, Robert L and John H for their generous support to keep this site coming your way every day. 

We’re running way behind last year’s record pace right now. So it’s time to get your giving on, and donate today!

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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program as promised this fall: 10

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The San Francisco public defender’s office has filed suit over the shooting of a Latino man with mental health problems in August of last year, in what sounds like a major fuckup that began with a simple report of a stolen bicycle.

And escalated because of the replica handgun he carried to protect himself on the streets.

What ensued resulted in a street being blocked off, multiple San Francisco police units arriving — his attorney estimated nearly 80 officers– the appearance of two military-grade armored vehicles, and Corvera being shot at approximately 15 times from four different officers, including one shot that nearly missed his head, his attorney said.

Corvera was never charged with being in possession of a stolen bike.

Instead, he was charged with resisting arrest, brandishing a replica firearm and interfering with the lawful performance of a police officer. His trial began in early November, but ended in a hung jury, leading the public defender’s office to argue — not for the first time — that Corvera should never have been approached in the first place.

The public defender’s office has filed the case under California’s Racial Justice Act, which “allows defendants to raise issues of bias in their cases based on race, ethnicity or national origin.”

San Francisco should probably just back up the Brinks truck in this case.

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That didn’t last.

My wife and I drove by the site where 46-year old Aaron Cobb was killed riding his bike on Santa Monica Blvd at the 405 Freeway yesterday, just two weeks this ghost bike was installed in his honor.

Photo by Danny Gamboa

Except it doesn’t look like that any more.

All that’s left now is a sad, lonely frame chained to the fence, after someone stripped all the parts off it.

Seriously, it takes a major schmuck to fuck with a ghost bike.

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Streetsblog’s Joe Linton forwarded this photo by Ian Dutton, after someone riding an ebike was hospitalized after what looks like a pretty serious crash in Marina Del Rey on Friday.

Let’s hope the victim is okay, because that smashed windshield doesn’t look good.

Photo by Ian Dutton

Someone posted video of the same crash on TikTok, with a prayer for the victim’s recovery.

Amen to that.

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‘Tis the Season.

Over two hundred kids got refurbished bikes in Stockton, California, thanks to the owner of a local motorsports dealer.

A group led by a man known as Bob the Bike Guy gave new bicycles to 150 kids in need in Springfield, Massachusetts, many immigrants from poor or war-torn countries.

One hundred children got new bicycles in a Bronx bike giveaway, as the chief development officer for a New York advocacy group notes that bikes have real staying power, unlike other gifts kids play with for awhile, then forget.

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

No bias here. A Cambridge, Massachusetts group calls themselves Cambridge Streets For All, but turns than name on its head by opposing bike lanes — so what they really want is to just keep the streets for drivers. And just because someone in their 70s can’t ride a bike is no reason to oppose bike lanes for others. The idea is to make it safe for people who want to bike, not require everyone to do so. 

A road raging North Carolina driver will spend a minimum of nine years behind bars for intentionally swerving into a man riding a bicycle, while his twin brother will serve time for helping him coverup his involvement in the man’s death.

No bias here, either. A British school bus driver is under investigation after making it clear he just doesn’t give a damn about human lives, telling a bike rider he’s “really not bothered” about killing someone on a bicycle, after he was challenged about an overly close pass.

A customer at a UK supermarket complained about a cargo bike blocking access to the store — even though it was locked to a bike rack and there was room to walk around it.

A hit-and-run driver in Singapore says oopsie, it wasn’t my fault and I didn’t know I hit anyone, after leaving his license plate behind when he crashed into someone riding a bicycle. Which probably explains why the bike rider was so pissed off. 

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

A couple teenagers on an ebike were busted after leading New York police on a lengthy chase, which began with a report of shots fired near an elementary school, and ended with a crash into a parked car.

Police in Philadelphia were looking for a man who attacked two people with a machete for no apparent reason while riding on a local bike path.

He’s got a point. A 70-something man in the UK says “bicycling is a good thing but not in the hands of idiots,” after he and his wife were nearly run down by someone on a bicycle who “had no regard for anyone else in a crowded situation.”

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Local 

Momentum says Santa Monica wants to be the bike capital of the world, as it unveils the new “Dutch style” protected bike lane on 17th Street.

 

State

The San Diego Association of Governments is trying to get commuters out of their cars by offering incentives to take transit, carpool or ride a bicycle.

The San Francisco Standard examines how the new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane became a cultural flashpoint in the City by the Bay.

Sad news from Sacramento, where a man died days after he was run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike. We’ve said it before, but drivers who flee the scene should face a murder charge because they’ve made a conscious decision to allow the victim to die, rather than stop and get help. 

 

National

The Verge considers how to successfully lobby for a bike lane in America, while noting that cities are finally moving away from the “dreaded” sharrows.

Business Insider offers advice on how to afford an ebike, observing that they’re more popular than electric cars.

It wasn’t that long ago that graphene was being hyped as the bike material of the future. Now GCN says it’s a new type of carbon fibre construction called fusion fibre.

Life is cheap in New Mexico, where a judge sent a clear message that killing someone while driving drunk and fleeing the scene of the crash is just no big deal, by cutting the nine-year sentence of killer, drunken Albuquerque hit-and-run driver in half, because someone else who was convicted of what may or may not have been a similar crime got off with a lighter sentence.

The owner of an Arkansas bike rental says assume drivers there can’t see you when you ride. Actually, that’s good advice everywhere, because drivers can’t see you when they’re looking at their phones, which they’re usually doing. Or not looking for you, period.

Officials in Fernandina Beach, Florida are accused of a coverup the new city manager’s drunken bike crash, less than two weeks after he took the job.

 

International

Cycling Weekly says bicycling isn’t cool anymore, and the in-crowd has moved on stand-up paddleboards, trading lycra for rubber suits.

Um, okay. A Scottish couple in their 50s just spent nearly two years riding their bikes around the world to raise funds for a children’s hospice, even though they don’t like bicycling.

An English “cycling agony aunt” offers advice on gifts for bicyclists. Hopefully none that will actually cause agony. 

Islamabad, Pakistan is planning a network of bike lanes along major routes in the city of 1.2 million people to provide an alternative to buses and cars.

A Nairobi woman says she had an epiphany to take up bicycling as she lay in the roadway with a badly broken leg after jumping off one of the local motor scooters known as a boda boda to avoid a drunk driver, and hasn’t looked back — even after a doctor recommended amputating her leg.

A new study of “bicycle accidents with respect to spatial heterogeneity” from Seoul, Korea offers results that aren’t really that surprising, concluding that more local buses on a roadway results in a reduction in bike use, and that the presence of bike lanes results in more bicycle crashes. Probably because there are more bike riders using them.

 

Competitive Cycling

Briton’s Sir Bradley Wiggins says he doesn’t remember standing on the Champs-Élysées after winning the 2012 Tour de France, and doesn’t ride a bicycle anymore because he doesn’t like who he became on it.

Belgian pro Cian Uijtdebroeks has signed to race with the Team Visma-Lease a Bike cycling team for next year. Or maybe not.

 

Finally…

Probably not the best idea to ride salmon in the traffic lane, while trying to attack cars with a broom. Now you, too, can own your very own Chinese-made, bicycle-powered roller coaster.

And maybe the real reason 700 million dollar man Shohei Ohtani left the Angels to sign with the Dodgers is because the Angels wouldn’t let him have a bike.

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Chag sameach!

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Juneteenth celebration at CicLAvia, settlement reached in Kizzee shooting, and 16-to-life for killer DUI bike path driver

June 12, 2023 / / Comments Off on Juneteenth celebration at CicLAvia, settlement reached in Kizzee shooting, and 16-to-life for killer DUI bike path driver

Let’s start with a reminder about Sunday’s South LA CicLAvia.

The upcoming CicLAvia, arguably the nation’s largest and most popular open streets event, will run directly down Vermont Ave from Exposition to Century Blvd, before taking a three-block dogleg to the left along Century.

The Father’s Day event will undoubtedly see multiple celebrations of dads along the route, officially or otherwise.

It will also celebrate Monday’s Juneteenth legal holiday, which marks the day enslaved Americans in south Texas finally heard the long-delayed news of their freedom — marking the last of the southern slaves to be freed following the Civil War.

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The father and aunt of Dijon Kizzee, who was fatally shot by a pair of sheriff’s deputies while riding a bike in South LA three years ago, have reached a conditional settlement in their lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

Settlement terms for the $35 million lawsuit were not announced.

Kizzee was shot 15 times as he tried to flee from the deputies over what began as a traffic stop for riding on the wrong side of the street.

Kizzee allegedly struggled with one of the deputies, striking him in the face and dropping a gun he was carrying; he was shot after he picked it up, even though he was running away from the deputies and didn’t point the gun in their direction.

His shooting came amid the protests over the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, leading many to argue he was killed for biking while Black.

No one was ever charged in the case.

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The Sacramento driver who killed a 76-year old man while driving drunk on a riverfront bike path has been sentenced to a minimum of 16 years behind bars, with the possibility of life imprisonment.

Michael Dodson was riding his bike on the American River bike path when he was run down by 27-year old Armando Moreno-Rodriguez, who had somehow driven onto the ostensibly carfree pathway.

After crashing into Dodson, Moreno-Rodriguez drove another four miles on the path at speeds up to 35 mph before his car shut down, officials said.

Moreno-Rodriguez was convicted on charges of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, hit-and-run involving death, and driving with a suspended license.

He had signed a Watson advisement after three previous due convictions, which states that he could be charged with murder if he killed someone while driving under the influence anytime in the future.

Which he did.

Moreno-Rodriguez had blood alcohol level of .27, over three times the legal limit.

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Santa Monica Families for Safe Streets sent out a notice that the city’s new 17th Street protected bike lanes could be at risk.

Councilmember Phil Brock is has placed an item on the agenda for this Tuesday’s city council meeting tasking staff with looking into significantly undermining the new 17th St protected bike lane.

Let the City Council know that you support the bike lane by sending them an email.

Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

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The Ballona Creek bike path will be closed from 8 am to 3 pm on Wednesday and Thursday between Duquesne and Jackson Aves in Culver City.

As a result, last Saturday’s volunteer bush clearing effort was cancelled.

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Good question.

Will LA’s largely apathetic bike community ever stage a large-scale protest ride on Wilshire Blvd?

Or anywhere else, for that matter?

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

No bias here. An Arizona letter writer complains about scofflaw bike riders blatantly disregarding traffic laws, arguing they make other bicyclists look bad and should all appear in court. Apparently failing to notice the people in the big, dangerous machines speeding, failing to signal lane changes and turns, and watching their phones instead of the street in front of them.

Horrible news from the Baltimore area, where a man is accused of intentionally running down a bike rider with his pickup, then getting out and physically attacking the victim until police arrived to halt the assault; the victim was lucky to escape without life-threatening injuries.

A Vancouver driver apparently tried to drive over a metal bollard thinking it was a plastic car-tickler bendie-post, while driving on what should have been a carfree bikeway.

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

A letter writer complains that while older bike riders stopped to help as she walked back to her car after suffering a flat while riding with her toddler, bike riders in their 20s just seemed annoyed that they existed.

A road raging bike rider and van driver engaged in a tug-of-war over the rider’s bicycle, after he had reached into the van and grabbed the driver’s keys before throwing them down the roadway.

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Local 

This is who we share the road with. A La Puente homeowner was lucky to escape without major damage after two California Highway Patrol officers chasing a motorcyclist collided and crashed into the home’s front yard.

A Santa Monica resident complains that crime, including bike theft, is the beach city’s biggest wave.

 

State

The LA Daily News notes the passage of AB 645 last month, which would establish a speed cam pilot program in California, with just seven dissenting votes in the state Assembly; the bill must pass out of the Senate Transportation Committee by July 14 to stay alive. 

No surprise here, as Black bike riders and pedestrians in San Diego are four times more likely to be stopped by police than white people, just like they are in Los Angeles and the rest of the state.

British Prince Archie is one of us, after the four-year old son of Prince Harry and Megan Markle was given a $250 kids bike with removable training wheels, courtesy of Santa Barbara’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen bike shop.

It takes a major schmuck to steal a $10,000 bicycle from a rider participating in the AIDS/LifeCycle fundraising ride as they passed through Lompoc.

 

National

Your Strava privacy could be at risk.

An Oregon group donated over 400 refurbished bicycles to more than 300 families in need to help get kids on bikes this summer.

A Scottsdale, Arizona council member assures listeners the city “is not run by morons” as he defends a decision to build a road diet, despite opposition from three of the seven members of the city council.

After thieves stole the new ebike a well-known 70-something social and climate activist used as his only form of transportation, his fellow Longmont, Colorado residents have stepped up to replace it, raising over two grand of the $3,500 goal.

Speaking of Juneteenth, a 60-mile Texas bike ride traveled the route the newly freed people took from Galveston to Houston.

A Cambridge, Massachusetts letter writer complains about the city’s Schrödinger’s bike lanes, which appear to be simultaneously safe and unsafe due to the city’s incomplete data.

A Boston neighborhood group gets out the torches and pitchforks over a plan for a protected bike lane on the city’s Back Bay leading to Fenway Park, bizarrely arguing that improving safety for bike riders will somehow make it more dangerous for everyone. Which is exactly the opposite of what studies have shown. 

 

International

Bike theft in Vancouver has dropped 52% since the city began a free bike registration program with 529 Garage in 2015, declining every year since it was adopted.

A new London play uses bicycles to power the production about the disproportionate effects of the climate crisis for marginalized communities.

Fifteen Birmingham, England advocacy groups signed a letter calling for an “end to road violence” after three people riding bicycles were killed in three weeks, including a 12-year old boy; a vigil was held as drivers ignored a nearby red light.

British bikemaker Planet X will live on, after the company was sold in bankruptcy to Britain’s Winlong Garments Ltd.

Your next gravel bike could be an actual Lamborghini, yours for the low, low price of nine grand.

Italy’s transportation minister is calling for mandatory license plates, liability insurance, bike helmets and turn signals for bicycles and e-scooters, putting the burden to improve safety on the victims, rather than doing anything about the big, dangerous machines that actually pose the risk to everyone on the streets; even the UK’s conservative The Spectator calls it a step too far.

An Indian man tells the local press not to write any sad stories about him, as he uses a rented bike to make food deliveries because he can’t afford to buy a bicycle.

 

Competitive Cycling

The three stage women’s Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées was halted during the final stage, after riders protested the dangers posed by “oncoming traffic, parked cars and trucks blocking roads, hazardous motorbikes, and spectators wandering on the roads.”

 

Finally…

Why settle for magic beans when your bike could run on “intelligent beads” — and with all-wheel drive? We may have to deal with venomous LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to deal with actual rattlesnakes — on city streets, anyway.

And this may be my favorite Banksy-style street art. 

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Accused Dana Point killer mentally ill; LAPD’s version of Van Nuys bike rider shooting, and CicLAvia unveils April route

February 10, 2023 / / 2 comments

Now it makes a little more sense.

As if anything so random and violent could ever make sense.

The Daily Pilot is reporting that Vanroy Evan Smith was diagnosed with a mental disorder over two years before he allegedly murdered Dr. Michael Mammone — attacking first with his car, then finishing the job with a knife.

According to a child custody petition filed by Smith’s ex-wife, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder following a meltdown in December, 2020.

Yet Smith was allowed to retain his driver’s license despite his illness.

Dr. Mammone apparently paid the price for that when Smith ran down his bike from behind, in what looks to be a deliberate, high-speed crash on PCH in Dana Point. He then got out of his car and repeatedly stabbed Mammone, who died hours later in the same emergency room where he sometimes worked.

Federal law would have prevented Smith from owning a gun with his illness. Yet he was somehow allowed to own and operate a motor vehicle, which became a deadly weapon in his hands.

Now the question is whether he will be found competent to stand trial, which will likely determine whether he gets treatment for his illness. Or spends the rest of his life in jail.

Or, hopefully, both.

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Not surprisingly, the LAPD paints a different picture from what we got yesterday about the police shooting of a man riding a bicycle in LA’s Van Nuys neighborhood.

According to a press release from the department, the victim was wanted on an outstanding warrant for murder, and was also a suspect in an assault with a deadly weapon, when officers spotted him riding his bike Tuesday afternoon.

The officers drove alongside the victim, ordering him to stop, when he somehow “made contact with the patrol car’s passenger side mirror,” which caused him to get off his bicycle and flee on foot.

In other words, he fled after they hit him with the car’s mirror.

One of the officers pursued him on foot, at which point the man allegedly pulled a ghost gun out of his pants and pointed it at the officer, who fired, striking him.

He was treated at a hospital, and released into police custody, suggesting his wounds were not serious.

That’s the official version, anyway.

Whether we ever learn more depends on whether the patrol car and bodycam video is released.

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We have a veritable feast of open streets events coming up in the next few months.

The years first CicLAvia is just over two weeks away now, as SoCal’s most popular open streets event visits The Valley on February 26th.

That’s followed less than two months later by the just announced Mid-City to Pico Union route, with 626 Golden Streets coming to the San Gabriel Valley just a week later.

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StreetsLA broke ground on the new Chandler Bicycle & Recreation Area.

Although that’s not a project I’m familiar with, and one that doesn’t seem to be posted online yet.

Thanks to Ravener for the heads-up.

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Streets For All posted video of Wednesday’s virtual happy hour featuring LA County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

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Sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

Police in New York are looking for a man who hit a bike rider in the face with a U-lock following a public argument, then fled the scene on the victim’s ebike.

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Local 

The Claremont Courier asks if the east LA County college town is safe to walk or ride a bike in, as the state ranks it in the bottom 20% of similarly sized cities for traffic deaths and injuries; meanwhile, a new advocacy group is working to change that.

Billions actress Malin Akerman is one of us, as she gave her son a ride to school on her fat tire ebike.

 

State

Streetsblog says don’t hold your breath on California’s long-delayed ebike rebate program, which has been put off until at least April.

This is the story we all need right now. Momentum lists five sunny, bike-friendly cities for a winter bicycling vacation, including Santa Barbara and San Diego.

 

National

Cycling Savvy offers advice on how to stay safe when you ride fast, even if you didn’t mean to.

Sales for MIPS helmets dropped 46% in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the previous year, reflecting a 50% decline in bike helmet sales.

A new study shows the benefits of bicycling are more than physical, enhancing the brain’s cognitive abilities, and could benefit kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The third generation Fly6 rear-facing bike cam and taillight is on sale now, which allows you to record the drivers coming up behind you. You know, just in case. Although I’m surprised to see it get a middling 2.8 review score on a five-point scale.

Vox considers how to go carfree in Middle America. Or car-light, anyway.

Salt Lake City officials issued an arrest warrant for a hit-and-run driver who hasn’t been seen since he ran down two boys riding an ebike, seriously injuring one boy; the victims weren’t found for 18 minutes following the crash.

CityLab says Denver’s highly successful ebike rebate program will improve safety by creating an army of bike lane advocates.

Speaking of Denver, a pro-labor candidate for mayor plans to visit all 78 of the city’s neighborhoods by bike in just five days. So when was the last time a candidate for mayor of LA even got on a bike? Not in my 30+ years here, anyway. 

The Minnesota legislature is honoring a longtime transportation advocate who lost his battle with cancer last year with a bill to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians, with an emphasis on Safe Routes to Schools, funding sidewalks and bike lanes, and a stop as yield law for bikes.

Maine is getting on the ebike bandwagon with a proposal to add ebikes to the state’s EV rebate program.

Massachusetts custom carbon framemaker Parlee Cycles went belly up, filing for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Seriously? Attorneys for confessed vehicular terrorist Sayfullo Saipov say the decision to seek the death penalty was based on possible ethnic or religious discrimination, not murdering eight people on a Manhattan bike path.

Good news from Atlanta, where the autistic man we mentioned yesterday who had his bike stolen now has a new one, thanks to a kindhearted lawyer whose firm replaced the man’s bike with the same carbon-fiber Trek he had before. Along with a much better lock. A reminder that no matter how bleak the world seems at times, there are a lot of kindhearted people out there.

 

International

Toronto voted to make a pair of popup bike lanes permanent, despite claims by residents that they resulted in increased gridlock.

A British member of Parliament says she was lucky to walk, or maybe limp, away from a crash while riding her bike home to her London neighborhood, after a driver made an illegal left turn.

France has extended their rebate on bicycle purchases for another year, while raising the financial threshold to qualify.

 

Competitive Cycling

Scotland’s Stirling Castle is lit up in the colors of cycling’s governing body to mark the six-month countdown to the world championships in the country.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you ditch your bike for a stolen tow truck, then crash it into an auto parts store. Your next purchase from electric truck maker Rivian could be an ebike.

And that feeling when getting hit by a driver may have saved your life.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

Armed bike rider shot fleeing from LAPD, mucho macho e-trucks and SUVs, and deadly PCH scheduled for makeover

February 9, 2023 / / Comments Off on Armed bike rider shot fleeing from LAPD, mucho macho e-trucks and SUVs, and deadly PCH scheduled for makeover

Patch is reporting that a man in his 40s was shot by LAPD officers near Victory Blvd and Tyrone Ave in Van Nuys Tuesday afternoon, after they attempted to arrest him while he was riding his bike.

The victim, termed a “known suspect” by police, was shot after officers spotted a gun as he attempted to flee on foot. However, there’s no word on whether he fired or even brandished the weapon.

He’s reportedly hospitalized in stable condition. A gun was found at the scene after the shooting.

Only the release of bodycam video will tell us whether the shooting was justified.

This follows the highly questionable shooting of Dijon Kizzee by sheriff’s deputies, after Kizzee fled a traffic stop for riding salmon in 2020.

As usual, neither of the deputies who shot Kizzee 16 times ever faced charges.

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Curbed’s Alissa Walker considers the danger America’s every-increasingly “macho” electric trucks and SUVs pose to everyone else around them.

Walker fittingly describes them as “dangerously powerful trucks driven by people who can’t see what’s in front of them, barreling through neighborhoods that were not designed for vehicles of this size.”

But the tame routes traveled by these vehicles don’t make them safe. Tracking of news reports and federal data by the advocacy group Kids and Car Safety shows that child “frontover” deaths — meaning cars driving forward over kids, not backing over them — have dramatically increased over the past decade, nearly doubling from 2009 to 2019 compared to the ten-year period before. During the same period, the average American pickup truck’s front hood grew 11 percent taller and vehicle weight increased by 24 percent, according to Consumer Reports. And in addition to their size, Macho EVs also have increased torque. In fact, only two trucks can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3 seconds, and they’re both electric: the Hummer EV and the Rivian R1T. But being able to accelerate so quickly in such a large vehicle creates an extremely dangerous combination. That extra power — the Hummer EV labels it, appropriately, “WTF” — has Hummer EV drivers posting videos where they’re struggling to control the vehicle. “I forgot how heavy this car is,” one driver says. “It did not want to slow down.”

Take a few minutes to read the whole thing.

Because this is definitely not the future we want.

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A writer for The Malibu Times says a planned redesign of a 7.5 mile section of SoCal’s killer highway north of Malibu in Ventura County can’t happen soon enough.

The paper reports the section is currently the deadliest part of PCH, with 21% of the total crashes on the highway through Los Angeles and Ventura Counties occurring there.

After analyzing data, the engineer (Ashley Haire of Alta Planning and Design) stated, “There are a variety of different types of bicyclists. We have some long-haul tourists that are going through this area. We also have some folks who are good at riding in constrained spaces and are comfortable mixing somewhat with higher-speed vehicles. But overall this is a pretty scary section of road to ride a bike on. It’s not comfortable. Nobody’s out there taking their kids for rides.”

She goes on to explain that federal guidelines call for a separated bikeway when average speeds exceed 35 mph, which this section does.

“There’s really not a section of this project where people are only driving 35mph,” Haire stated. “We really think it would be important to have a separated facility out here, one that separates bicyclists and pedestrians from vehicular traffic, provides a safe barrier between those uses, and really gets folks out of harm’s way.”

Let’s hope they find the room for a fully protected bike lane. Or make it, if need be.

You can send comments on the project to Stella.Yip@arup.com through tomorrow.

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The Eastside Riders will hold their annual Ride4Love this Saturday, with rental bikes available for anyone who needs one courtesy of People for Mobility Justice.

Unfortunately, though, the link to the $15 T-shirt for the event just leads to the group’s donation page.

Hopefully, they’ll get that fixed. Because I definitely want to buy one.

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Sometimes, its the people on two wheels behaving badly.

A group of Kiwi bike riders hit the pavement when one cyclist on a group ride went down and the others crashed into him, resulting seven people hurt, with three seriously injured.

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Local 

This is the cost of traffic violence. The Los Angeles Times says something has to be done to save the lives of California’s mountain lions, with over 500 killed by drivers in the last eight years; star Griffith Park puma P-22 was put down by animal control officers after he, too, was struck by a motorist.

Good idea. BikeLA, formerly the LACBC, is working with Wilmington business owners to clear the air in the largely Latino industrial community, one ebike at a time. Using a nearly half million dollar grant from the City of Los Angeles, the group is loaning 42 ebikes to local residents for six month, then giving them a chance to buy the bikes at a reduced rate.

Rapha invites you to sign up for their inaugural Yomp Rally, a 375-mile gravel ride from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, starting on May 5th.

 

State

The rails-to-trails movement is finally making its way to Orange County, where the Orange County Transportation Authority, aka OCTA, plans to convert abandoned rail tracks into bike paths paralleling the new streetcar. Thanks to Lois for the heads-up. 

San Diego Magazine spends a weekend on a non-epic bike ride to Julian.

Consumer Reports addresses the public panic over ebike batteries, with tips like sticking with OEM batteries, never charging your ebike overnight, and unplug your bike if the battery starts hissing. But check for snakes if it keeps hissing after your unplug it.

A Visalia bike shop is asking for the public’s help identifying a teenager who walked off with a bike while the shop’s workers were distracted.

A Berkeley op-ed says police enforcement should be a last resort in Vision Zero, used only after engineering and education efforts have failed.

Richmond has adopted a new Bicycle and Pedestrian Action Plan identifying 181 potential bicycle projects and 111 potential pedestrian projects. Of course, the key word there is “potential;” as we’ve learned the hard way in Los Angeles, even the most aggressive plan is meaningless without the political will to implement it. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip. 

They get it. The Marin Independent says fixing a dangerously confusing San Raphael intersection controlled by five traffic lights to make it safer for motorists, pedestrians and bike riders will provide benefits for the entire county.

 

National

In what may be the most vital bike commuting article you’ll read this year, Momentum examines the best ways to carry coffee on a bicycle.

A new study published in Nature recommends a data-driven approach to Everesting, calling for elite cyclists to select a hill with gradient  over 12%, while amateur and recreational cyclists should choose a hill with gradient less than 10%.

An MSNBC podcast talks with Rad Power Bikes founder Mike Radenbaugh, who explains why ebikes are here to stay.

Oregon’s proposed ebike rebate bill sailed through its first committee hearing in the state legislature; as the bill is currently written, it would offer up to $1,700 back on the purchase of an ebike. It would be a shame if Oregon got their program up and running before California’s long-delayed ebike rebate program finally rolls out. 

Cycling Utah offers tips on bike commuting in advance of tomorrow’s National Winter Bike to Work Day. Yet somehow, no city in Southern California appears to celebrate it, even though we have near ideal weather for bike commuting all year. Then again, if last year was any example, we barely mark the regular Bike to Work Day anymore, either.

A Boulder, Colorado man will spend the next 16 years behind bars for punching a woman in the face when she confronted him for stealing her bike.

Denver’s ebike rebate program continues to prove popular, with the latest round of vouchers exhausted in just 20 minutes.

Virginia Tech’s latest bike helmet ratings are out, with the $300 Giro Aries Spherical placing first, and the $120 Specialized Tactic 4 coming in second.

Some kindhearted Alabama cops dug into their own pockets to buy a new bike for a local man, after the bike he used as his primary form of transportation was stolen when he turned his back to get his tire pump.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a bicycle belonging to a young Atlanta man living with autism, disrupting his entire life.

 

International

Continuing a theme, an editor for Bike Radar highlights six commuter bike accessories he can’t live without. Although I think the story should have said “corgi carrying” instead of “cargo carrying.”

Singletracks offers three reasons you should mountain bike in Oaxaca, Mexico. I only need one — mole.

London’s 12-year old iconic bike café and workshop Look Mum No Hands! has closed, a victim of the pandemic and rising costs. That name alone should have been enough to guarantee their success.

Cycling Weekly looks at the alarming increase in bicycling deaths on rural French roads once renowned for safe and courteous driving; a new French road safety campaign targets risky, macho behavior by male drivers.

A new study from Lisbon shows the positive influence bicycling coalitions can have on shaping urban policy. Thanks to BikeLA for the link.

Good question. An Indian magazine asks why urban planners ignore bicycles, when millions of Indians commute by bicycle every day.

A Sydney, Australia company is saving thousands of bikes abandoned by Chinese dockless bikeshare provider Mobike, refurbishing them to provide transportation for underprivileged kids.

A Kiwi writer says you never forget your first ebike ride, and he definitely didn’t.

 

Competitive Cycling

Pro road and gravel cyclist Lauren De Crescenzo reflects on her first attempt at mountain bike racing, at The Gobbler 6/3 outside of Atlanta, Georgia.

 

Finally…

Your next camper van could be a cargo ebike camper. Your next steel bike bottle could benefit an environmental nonprofit.

And your next purchase from German car audio maker Blaupunkt could be an e-foldie.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

DA won’t prosecute deputies in Dijon Kizzee shooting, and drunken Huntington Beach hit-and-run death goes to jury

November 16, 2022 / / Comments Off on DA won’t prosecute deputies in Dijon Kizzee shooting, and drunken Huntington Beach hit-and-run death goes to jury

It looks like there won’t be any justice for Dijon Kizzee, after all.

The Los Angeles County DA’s office announced that a pair of sheriff’s deputies won’t be charged for killing 29-year old Dijon Kizzee in South LA in 2020, in what began as a traffic stop for the crime of riding salmon on his lowrider bike.

Kizzee attempted to flee on foot, and was shot 16 times in the front and back as he ran away after picking up a gun he had dropped, suggesting the firing continued long after he was on the ground.

Never mind that Kizzee never pointed the gun at the deputies, or attempted to confront them with it.

His death came during the protests over the killing of George Floyd, which may have contributed to his decision to flee when the deputies tried to stop him.

His family has filed a $35 million claim against the county, which is a required precursor to filing a lawsuit. His family’s attorneys have called it a case of “biking while Black” in the largely Black and Hispanic neighborhood, where riding against traffic is a common response to dangerous streets.

Meanwhile, Knock LA insists there’s no evidence to support crucial details of the deputies stories.

Kizee’s shooting was just one of a number of questionable shootings by LA County sheriff’s deputies, which led to weeks of protests in the local community.

And like the other cases, no action by Los Angeles Count District Attorney George Gascón, who ran on a platform of holding police accountable for their actions.

………

The trial of 28-year old alleged drunk driver Victor Manuel Romero has gone to the jury for a verdict, three years after the hit-and-run crash that killed 33-year-old Raymond MacDonald in Huntington Beach.

Romero was over twice the legal alcohol limit during a series of hit-and-runs, starting with crashing into the car belonging to the bar owner where he’d been drinking, and ending when he fled on foot after slamming his car into a tree.

Sandwiched between was MacDonald’s death as he rode his bike in a crosswalk on Beach Blvd at Adams Ave.

Romero’s public defender had bizarrely claimed that he wasn’t responsible for his actions, blaming a head injury sustained in a fight in the bar parking lot for his actions.

………

People responded to yesterday’s call to turn out to oppose plans to remove bulb outs on Fair Oaks Ave in South Pasadena, would would make the street even more dangerous for anyone not in a motor vehicle.

………

Orange County continues to make slow but steady progress on building new bike facilities, including new bike lanes in Buena Park.

https://twitter.com/mikeocbike/status/1592743683195305985

………

UC Davis grad student Megan Lynch continues to question why the campus enjoys its newly renewed status as a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly University.

Particularly after a bike-riding student was killed by the driver of a university truck, in a crash that still hasn’t been adequately explained.

https://twitter.com/may_gun/status/1592732758497198081

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Yet another ebike rebate program is kicking in before dysfunctional California can get its fully funded ebike rebate act together.

This time in Austin, Texas.

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It’s the opposite of road rage, as a bike rider in the UK apologizes for crash into a van, and the driver says “don’t worry about it.”

@norfolkdashcam

The Van Driver was fine about the situation. No dramas. #Accident #Cyclist #Cycle #Van #Norfolk #NorfolkDashCam #UKRoads #DashCamFootage #DashCam #UKDashCam #CaughtOnCamera #Fail #CyclistsOfTiktok

♬ original sound – Norfolk Dash Cam

………

Now that’s what I call an endorsement.

Averaging almost 14 mph for 34 hours on a heavy three-speed roadie isn’t bad, either.

………

‘Tis the season.

Over 300 Odessa, Texas second graders got matching new bikes and helmets thanks to Occidental Petroleum and bike charity Wish for Wheels.

Kansas City’s first bicycle collective is celebrating 15 years of turning junk into transportation for the city’s most vulnerable residents.

A team of 200 volunteers are working to prepare 400 “gently used” bicycles to give to Atlanta kids in need this holiday season.

………

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

A Hoboken, New Jersey city councilmember says he was the victim of a road-raging driver, who intentionally plowed into his bikeshare bike.

A London man was lucky to get out of the way when an SUV driver accelerated at him as he attempted to block the vehicle with his bicycle, destroying his bike.

London bicyclists are subjected to “dehumanizing language” and abuse on social media, and fear that anger could translate to attacks on the roads.

No bias here. A leading Swiss economist says that people on bicycles can be up to four times more damaging to the environment than cars, accusing officials of using “creative accounting” and “official tricks” to hide the damage done by bikes — apparently because he somehow thinks all bike riders refuel with beef, and drivers evidently don’t. 

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

Police in New York are looking for a man on an ebike who shot and killed a promising 21-year old basketball player.

Hampshire, England police are on the lookout for a man on a bicycle who threatened and shoved a man riding a mobility scooter after he moved his scooter over to let the bike rider pass.

………

Local

No surprise here, as the woman whose home was destroyed by actress Anne Heche in a drunken crash last August has filed a $2 million lawsuit against Heche’s estate; Heche later died from her injuries after falling into a coma once she was finally extracted from the fiery crash.

 

State 

He gets it. A Rancho Bernardo author says we must “recognize and respect that walkers and bicyclists have the right to safety on our roads.” And we can’t use the fact that there are “bad actors in every mode as an excuse to not address the reality of these tragic incidents.”

San Diego has announced the three finalists in a contest to name the city’s new mini electric street sweeper, designed to remove trash from bike lanes and other narrow spots, even as San Diego reduces the frequency of street sweeping in large swaths of the city.

Bakersfield officials held a public workshop to develop a package of traffic calming tools that can be used to tame the city’s notoriously deadly streets.

 

National

Bicycling rates the best early Black Friday ebike sales available right now. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Channing Tatum is one of us, as his relationship with Zoë Kravitz went public last year when a New York paparazzo spotted Tatum giving Kravitz a ride to her writing partner’s house on the back of his BMX bike.

A new accessible mountain bike trail built on the site of a former New Jersey wild animal park is designed to accommodate bike riders of all abilities

A local weekly ranks the top ten Philly bikeways for your next visit to the City of Brotherly Love.

 

International

Canadian Cycling Magazine goes riding on dirt roads through the interior of Mexico from Puerto Vallarta to Mexico City.

Bike shops holding out for big Black Friday sales may be disappointed, as new research shows UK shoppers are holding onto their money.

The Jerusalem Post says riding a bike is a great way to get to know your city better.

Hanoi, Vietnam is considering a one-year bikeshare pilot program with 1,000 bikes — including 500 ebikes — available at 94 docking stations throughout the city

 

Competitive Cycling

After a pair of top ten finishes in the Giro Donne and Tour de France Femmes, Italian classics specialist Silvia Persico thinks she has a real shot at winning the women’s Tour.

Some of the top pros are hanging up their bike shoes and pulling on running shoes to keep in shape during the off season.

 

Finally…

Your next bike seat could be made of environmentally friendly cork. Now you, too, can build your own DIY bike made entirely of nuts.

No, not the kind you eat.

And shockingly, painted stripes and car-tickler plastic bendy posts are no match for bigass trucks.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Deputies kill knife-wielding Cabazon salmon bicyclist, a call for banning right on red, and Metro fare meeting tonight

November 14, 2022 / / 2 comments

Riverside County sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a knife-wielding parolee after spotting the man riding salmon in Cabazon Saturday afternoon.

The victim was killed when he pulled a knife, which was found at the scene, while attempting to flee from the cops.

However, if the description is accurate, it’s questionable whether the victim actually posed a risk to the officers as he tried to escape.

Thanks to Phillip Young for the heads-up.

………

She gets it.

Los Angeles Times columnist Robin Abcarian calls for following Berkeley’s lead in banning right turns on red lights to protect pedestrians and people on bicycles.

“Permitting right turns on red has always been a dangerous idea, which is why, when the first traffic lights and traffic laws rolled out, it was not allowed,” Jessie Singer told me in an email Thursday. Singer literally wrote the book on how “accidents” happen in America. “It is no coincidence,” she continued, “that in New York City, the most pedestrian-dense city in the U.S., right on red has long and largely been disallowed.”

The practice is inherently dangerous to pedestrians because, as Singer puts it, it “leaves the sanctity of the crosswalk and the life of a pedestrian in the hands of a fallible driver.”

Drivers can wait a few extra seconds to make their turn. Even if they’d likely think its the end of the world.

Read it on Yahoo if the paper blocks you.

………

A reminder that Metro is hosting a virtual open meeting this evening to discuss a new “simplified” fare structure that could result in a dramatic increase for many users.

The new fare structure would eliminate weekly and monthly passes, instead charging a flat $2 per ride — a 25¢ increase over the current $1.75 fare.

It would also eliminate the current free transfers by charging the full fare for every ride, with a daily cap of $6.

So if your typical roundtrip involves a single transfer in each direction, you’d pay $2 for each outbound leg, for a total of $4, and $2 for both return legs after hitting the daily cap.

That compares to the current $1.75 each way with free transfers, for a total of $3.50 a day — an increase of $2.50, which would represent a steep jump for many users.

It would also have a weekly cap of $20, which would only benefit daily riders with at least one transfer.

To make matters worse, it would also automatically adjust for inflation every four years, further increasing the already too-high fares.

In other words, the “simplified” fare structure is little more than a dramatic fare increase — exactly the wrong decision at a time when we need to encourage more transit use to get people out of their cars.

Let alone the opposite of the free fare system they promised to study.

Streets For All says Metro should reconsider the proposed fare structure, while it’s also opposed by the Alliance for Community Transit, aka ACT-LA, and Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.

I couldn’t agree more.

You can email Metro through this link. And click here to attend the Public Hearing at 5pm today.

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Walk Bike Glendale sends an alert that a highly flawed plan for a bike and walk path along the Verdugo Wash is headed to the city council for approval tomorrow.

The organization reports the current proposal doesn’t include plans to connect to Crescenta Valley Park north of the basin, because of a “small but loud group of opponents who don’t want to see ‘others’ coming into their neighborhood.”

Nope, nothing offensive about that.

The knee-jerk NIMBY reaction is reminiscent of the Trousdale Gap in the Expo Line bike path, which skipped the section along the railway behind the Cheviot Hills neighborhood after residents expressed fears ne’er-do-wells would ride their bikes up to peer in their windows and make off with their flatscreen TVs.

Because people in cars never, ever just drive up and burgle homes, apparently.

Now the gap is finally scheduled to be closed in 2025, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars more than if it had been built along with the rest of the pathway.

The same thing is likely to happen with the Verdugo Wash, as city leaders slowly discover the mistake they’re about to make.

And the highcost to fix it.

The group recommends attending the meeting if possible, or if not, emailing anajarian@glendaleca.gov, pdevine@glendaleca.gov, dbrotman@glendaleca.gov, easatryan@glendaleca.gov, akassakhian@glendaleca.gov.

………

The Ballona Creek bike path was closed at Sepulveda following last week’s rains.

Hopefully it’s dried out and open again now.

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‘Tis the season.

An Aurora, Colorado man’s family plans to continue his life’s mission to fix up and donate used bikes after he passed away unexpectedly last week; the nonprofit Second Chance Bicycle Shop has donated over 4,500 bicycles to disadvantaged youth, veterans and people experiencing homelessness.

A Pittsburgh PA father is teaming with his two young kids to collect and refurbish unwanted bikes, and donate them to children in need.

A youth development program in Pennsylvania gave 40 bicycles to kids in need, with hopes of giving a similar number in the spring.

A kindhearted Alabama brother and sister gave their $3,000 ebike to a 51-year old Applebees worker with Asperger’s syndrome, after reading that he had to ride his bicycle two hours each way to get to and from work.

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Maybe this remote controlled bike-riding skeleton and his ghostly canine companion would have gotten your attention on Halloween.

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A “real-life Mowgli” who fled his Sudanese village to live in the jungle after being bullied over his microcephaly can now ride a bicycle for the first time, after a documentary about him went viral.

………

It only makes sense that Aaron Copeland, the dean of American composers and the author of Appalachian Spring and Fanfare for the Common Man, was one one of us.

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Too bad we can’t actually ride on clouds, where all we’d have to duck is birds, planes and alien spaceships.

https://twitter.com/OriginCycling/status/1591826975383076864

………

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

No bias here, as a New York councilmember says the best way to encourage bike commuting is to discourage it by taxing, licensing and regulating riders.

No bias here, either. British bicyclists are urged to stop riding two-abreast and let drivers overtake them because nearly two-thirds of drivers don’t understand recent bike safety changes to the country’s Highway Code. Once again putting all the responsibility for safety solely on the people on two wheels, because of the ignorance of motorists.

………

Local

The New York Times takes a deep dive into plans to remake the concrete-lined Los Angeles River, including starchitect Frank Gehry’s misguided plan to cap the river and hide it under a series of overhead parks, rather than return the channel to it’s natural state.

This is who we share the road with. Six people were hospitalized when a man trying to escape from police drove through a street carnival in South LA before fleeing the scene; a 23-year old man was arrested on Sunday.

Congratulations to Santa Monica College on being renamed a Silver-level Bicycle Friendly University by the Bike League.

 

State 

A San Diego program that has provided 400 low-income residents with a free ebike is now going statewide; participants need to provide their own bike insurance, and will own their bikes after just two years.

Once again, parking protected bike lanes confuse easily disoriented drivers, this time in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Visalia plans to improve safety by upgrading existing bike lanes to Class IV buffered lanes, as well as improving intersections.

UC Davis students are calling for improvements after a massive 46% increase in bicycling crashes on campus this year — a problem UC grad student Megan Lynch has repeatedly called to our attention.

 

National

Your next ebike could have a sidecar.

Cycling Savvy offers a tutorial on how to choose the right bicycle lights.

Singletrack says these are the gifts mountain bikers really want; the magazine also posts a gallery of “drool worthy” custom bikes.

A new study concludes over 11,000 Americans were injured riding their bikes under the influence of drugs over a two-year period, with 36.4% on meth, 30.7% on weed and 18.5% using opioids, while close to a quarter also had alcohol in their system. Although that’s less than 5% of the estimated 260,000 bicycling injuries over the same period, never mind that drunk and stoned drivers are a much bigger problem. 

USA Today says ebikes are affordable, practical and good for the planet, even if America may not be ready for them.

The man and woman killed by a driver in a drunken, serial hit-and-run while riding mountain bikes in Las Vegas were a couple from Kansas, who had just moved to Vegas four months earlier after ten years together.

Kansas City celebrates its commitment to build a relatively modest 15 miles of bike lanes in each of the next two years. Which is still more than Los Angeles has built in some years.

A small Vermont company has introduced a plastic-free stainless steel water bottle, which they insist will deliver an adequate flow of water even if you can’t squeeze it.

The New York Times examines the problem of bike theft by focusing on the sometimes violent thieves of Burlington, Vermont.

 

International

Momentum considers some of the world’s worst bike lanes. Remarkably, without stopping in Los Angeles.

Who enforces the law against dooring a bike rider, when the offending driver is a cop? A Victoria, British Columbia police officer in a marked patrol car apparently opened his door without looking, sending a passing bicyclist to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Bicycling continues to be a risky activity in Trinidad and Tobago, where pleas for safer infrastructure go unanswered.

An Israeli man on an around-the-world bike tour became just the latest long-distance rider to have their bike stolen in the UK.

Dublin, Ireland’s oldest bike shop is shutting down due to rising costs after 105 years.

Yanko Design says the app-controlled Keyless O-Lock from Copenhagen-based LAAS is the smartest and easiest way to keep your bike safe. Even though it only disables the rear wheel, but does nothing to keep someone from carrying your bike off.

The AP recommends adding the Col de la Colombière in the French Alps to your bike bucket list, saying the picturesque towns and stunning scenery make it worth the effort.

A Munich museum is displaying 70 stand-out bicycle designs from two centuries of bicycling.

A 72-year old woman rode her bike from Sweden to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to protest climate change at the COP27 climate conference underway now.

Women on bicycles are “greasing the wheels of change” on the streets of Khartoum, where women riding bikes violate the norms of the Sudanese city.

Australia will require sensors on large trucks to detect bike riders and pedestrians starting next year, eight years after a coroner investigating the death of a woman riding a bike recommended their use.

 

Competitive Cycling

A sports site ranks the world’s top professional men’s cyclists, with Tadej Pogačar unsurprisingly taking the top spot.

 

Finally…

Tossing a bicycle onto train tracks is not among the recommended uses for it. That feeling when a car fares worse than the bike it hit.

And you know you’re a NIMBY when a “giant ugly” bike hanger is more distressing than the big, ugly cars it replaced.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Man riding bike victim of apparent random shooting on Sunset Beach in Huntington Beach; gunman shot by police

December 28, 2021 / / Comments Off on Man riding bike victim of apparent random shooting on Sunset Beach in Huntington Beach; gunman shot by police

A gunman took aim at a couple riding their bikes at Sunset Beach in Huntington Beach in an apparent random shooting, hitting the man in the back.

According to multiple reports, the gunman was shot by police shortly after police responded to reports of a shooting early Monday afternoon.

However, KNBC-4 reports he first drew attention when he attempted to carjack someone in the area of Pacific Avenue and 7th Street around 12:20 pm, without showing his gun.

He then stepped onto the bike path, facing south, where a witness says he pulled his gun, and stumbling backwards, took aim at the man and women as they rode past, firing at least three times and hitting the man in the back.

The victim immediately fell onto the grass, yelling for someone to call 911.

The gunman, identified only as a man from Norwalk, continued walking to South Pacific and 3rd Street, where he was confronted by police, and shot when he failed to respond to commands.

He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition.

Meanwhile, his victim was hospitalized in stable condition with a single wound that was not expected to be life-threatening.

Category: Violence & Crime / Tags: , , , ,

Special prosecutor appointed in Texas coal roll crash, and inquest into fatal deputy shooting of South LA bike rider

September 30, 2021 / / Comments Off on Special prosecutor appointed in Texas coal roll crash, and inquest into fatal deputy shooting of South LA bike rider

There may be hope for Texas justice after all.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the DA in Waller County, where six bike riders were run down by a 16-year old kid in a bigass pickup attempting to roll coal says just the act of blowing exhaust fumes onto innocent victims is assault.

“They are causing their vehicle to ‘spit’ on a living, breathing, human being that is worthy of dignity and not having his or her person violated,” Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis wrote in a Facebook post. “That simple assault is easily elevated to a jail eligible offense if bodily injury occurs, which can be caused by entry of toxic particles into mouth, nose and eyes.”

Never mind that the kid actually slammed into the victims after belching exhaust on another rider.

Naturally, though, the boy’s lawyer insists it was just an oopsie.

Rick DeToto, a Houston lawyer hired by the teen’s family, called the boy “inexperienced” and characterized the crash as serious but not prompted by someone out to commit mayhem.

“The police did an investigation at the scene.,” DeToto said in an email. “This included speaking with eyewitnesses… After their investigation they decided not to charge my client and did not issue him a traffic citation. Clearly, they decided a crime had not occurred.”

A special prosecutor has been appointed to handle the case, adding to suspicion that the boy’s parents may be prominent residents of the area, or that he wasn’t initially arrested due to some other conflict of interest.

Photo by WikimediaImages from Pixabay.

………

Maybe there will be justice for Dijon Kizzee, too.

Though I wouldn’t bet on it.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to direct the county coroner to hold an inquest into Kizzee’s death at the hands — or guns — of LA County sheriff’s deputies, along with two other men who were fatally shot by deputies last year.

Kizzee was riding a bicycle in South LA last August when a pair of deputies attempted to stop him for riding on the wrong side of the road, a common practice in the area that’s usually ignored by law enforcement.

According to the deputies, Kizzee attempted to flee on foot and struggled with deputies when they tried to stop him, and was shot 16 times after he dropped a gun, then allegedly picked it up and pointed it at them.

However, witness reports and security video suggested that Kizzee was running away from them when he was shot repeatedly in the back, deputies continuing to fire even after he lay helpless on the street.

Kizzee’s father has filed suit, alleging that the case raises questions of excessive force, as well as the existence of gangs within the department that celebrate and reward officer shootings.

However, LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva has stonewalled other investigations, refusing to respond to subpoenas from civilian authorities. And deputies involved in other shootings have failed to participate in coroner’s investigations, resulting in failed inquests that offered little or no insight into the shootings.

There’s no reason to believe it will be any different this time.

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The Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition needs your help to get a Complete Street on North Lake Avenue over the finish line.

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They get it. The San Francisco 49ers Levi Stadium welcomes bike-riding fans with a safe and secure bike valet.

https://twitter.com/cyclelicious/status/1442570750242672648

Maybe SoFi Stadium, the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and the San Diego Chargers of Los Angeles, could learn something from our neighbors to the north.

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Streets for All announced their next virtual happy hour next month, featuring Santa Monica City Councilmember Gleam Davis.

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Local

Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman announced $15 million in state funding for a pair of projects connecting her Glendale hometown with the LA River bike path — even though she helped block a $7.5 billion green transportation bill in the legislature, which included a whopping $500 million for active transportation projects statewide.

Turns out the wall of bicycles we showed you the other day is an installation created by a homeless artist in Koreatown. There’s no word on where he got all the bikes, though, so you might want to take a close look if yours went missing lately. 

Agoura Hills will participate with the LA County Sheriff’s Department next month on a new campaign to encourage people to drive safely around bicyclists.

 

State

Bay Area bike advocates make a new push to improve safety on the Golden Gate Bridge, where a person on a bicycle is 21 times more likely to suffer an injury than someone in a car.

 

National

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss guides us through the six stages of bicycling enlightenment.

Good question. A Washington radio station asks what kind of person would steal the bicycle a little kid used to ride to school.

A Wyoming couple is riding down the full length of the Mississippi on their ebikes one section at a time, even though the husband is 78-years old and dependent on oxygen.

A Good Samaritan came to the rescue of an Omaha bike rider after finding him bleeding in the street with what turned out to be a fractured skull — and left him an anonymous gift card to get a new bike helmet.

Once again, a teenage driver has slammed into a group ride, as a two bicyclists were seriously injured when a 17-year old girl plowed into them near Joplin, Missouri.

Now that’s impressive. Michigan is working on a 2,000-mile pathway running through 48 counties extending the full length of the state, with separate paths for biking and hiking.

A four-year old DC boy couldn’t wait to get back on his bike, despite getting hit by an SUV driver while riding in a crosswalk.

Mississippi’s Soul City Cycling is working to change the complexion of bicycling in the state, where the overwhelming majority of bike riders are white.

This is what the theft of a $13,500 bicycle from a Florida bike shop looks like.

 

International

A writer for Road.cc celebrates the joys of having places on your favorite riding route where you can take a leak.

Oops. A London driver clipped a bike rider with his wing mirror during a too close pass. Except the guy on the bike turned out to be a plain clothes cop conducting a sting operation to catch drivers violating the equivalent of a three-foot passing law.

Life may not begin at 40, but a London writer discovers she can still get an ebike and teach herself to ride it after avoiding bicycles for the first four decades of her life.

German bikemaker Cube has licensed the rights to BMW’s three-wheeled concept cargo bike designed to improve stability by leaning into corners; no word on when it might hit the market.

Two-thirds of Dutch drivers admit to checking their phones behind the wheel, even though 84% say the messages aren’t important.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cyclist looks forward to this Sunday’s Paris-Robaix classic, and who you should keep an eye on in the race.

 

Finally…

Science says bicycling does not effectively work your abs. Forget the pro crit, the real action was in the bikeshare race. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you out.

And that feeling when you lose a bike versus car race, but feel like you came out ahead because you weren’t stuck in a car.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92346zztvGk

………

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

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

DA calls for review police shootings, LA hiker run over by e-mtn biker, and NBA star was sideswiped by passing driver

March 23, 2021 / / Comments Off on DA calls for review police shootings, LA hiker run over by e-mtn biker, and NBA star was sideswiped by passing driver

Way to get the story wrong.

The usually reliable My News LA reports the County Board of Supervisors will vote today on DA George Gascon’s request to appoint a special prosecutor for cases involving police misconduct.

Possibly among those is the heartbreaking case of Ricardo Zeferino, who was fatally shot by a trio of Gardena cops responding to a bike theft report.

While campaigning against Lacey, Gascon promised to review several high-profile fatal shootings involving multiple police agencies, including:

— Gardena police officers’ shooting of Ricardo Zeferino, 34, who was suspected of stealing a bicycle in June 2013;

Just one problem.

Zeferino was never suspected of stealing a bicycle, or anything else.

Zeferino was helping his brother search for his stolen bike, when police stopped two of their friends who were also assisting in the search. So Zeferino ran up, excitedly gesturing and insisting in Spanish that they had the wrong men.

Except none of the officers apparently understood Spanish. And when Zeferino  allegedly made a sudden gesture to his waist that no one else could seem to see, they blew him away.

Which means the only crime he committed was trying to tell a group of trigger happy, possibly racist, cops they were screwing up.

I don’t know if they belong in jail for an overreaction that cost an innocent man his life.

But they sure as hell don’t belong on the force, in Gardena or anywhere else.

………

Ms. Honey Bunnyman forwards a Nextdoor post describing a mountain biker behaving very badly, which we’re reposting with the victim’s permission.

Seriously, don’t be that guy.

Always ride safely around anyone on foot. Which includes keeping ebikes off trails where they’re not allowed, and riding with respect for others anywhere they are.

And if you know who this guy is, tell him hit-and-run applies on off-road trails, too.

………

We finally have an explanation for how former NBA star Shawn Bradley received the injuries that left him paralyzed as he rode his bike near his Utah home.

According to USA Today, Bradley was apparently injured when he was sideswiped by a passing driver, causing him to crash into a parked car.

Naturally, the driver who allegedly hit him denied everything, claiming she was only driving 10 mph, and crossed onto the double yellow line to give Bradley “plenty of room.”

Sure, let’s go with that.

Even though police found a fresh scratch on the passenger side of the driver’s van, apparently from Bradley’s bike.

………

America Walks is calling for you to demand stronger protections for bike riders and pedestrians in the MUTCD, aka the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, which serves as the bible for traffic engineers.

And tell the former Mayor Pete, who now heads the US Department of Transportation, to make it better.

………

A San Jose area bike rider paints a dramatic image of a bad road.

And Angeleno riders should take notes, because our streets aren’t much better.

Q: El Camino Real is so bad that I broke a bicycle spoke crossing at El Monte. It’s worse now than when it was first created back in the 1760s as a dirt road. I fear the Ghost of Father Serra will return to haunt the California highway department. It will be a well-earned haunting.

………

It’s been awhile since we’ve found a decent bike-themed music video, after a rash of such songs a few years ago.

Which this may or may not be depending on your taste.

………

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

No bias here. Ralph Durham forwards a map showing that the proposed Nevada law prohibiting bikes from any highway with a speed limit of 65 mph or higher would ban bikes from virtually every major roadway in the state.

Click to enlarge

A 15-year old Oklahoma boy faces a first degree murder charge for shooting a 51-year old bike rider following some sort of altercation; he was arrested after police responded to reports of an accidental shooting that followed.

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

Police in Redwood City CA are looking for a bike-riding arsonist who set a car on fire in broad daylight.

………

Local

Pasadena-based e-scooter maker Urb-E has raised $5 million to develop same-day ebike delivery networks.

A 46-year old Canyon Country man faces an assault charge for throwing a bicycle through a glass door during an argument, injuring his son. Of the many approved uses for a bicycle, hurling one through a glass door is not one of them.

Robin Wright is one of us, as she goes for ride through Brentwood with her husband on what appears to be e-mountain bikes.

Bebe Rexha is one of us, too, riding along the beachfront bike path in Santa Monica with her boyfriend.

 

State

AB 122, which would allow California bike riders to join the nationwide trend of treating stop signs as yields, has passed its first hurdle in the Assembly Transportation Committee, as a retired Davis police chief said the bill is embraced by the vast majority of police officers. Which is a big change from previous attempts at a similar bill, which were derailed by opposition from the CHP and AAA.

Volunteers hauled around 280 pounds of trash off Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, including a slimy bicycle someone had tossed into San Juan Creek.

Over a thousand people turned out to learn about efforts to keep San Francisco’s JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park carfree. Just like every park should be.

 

National

Yes Magazine looks at the power of bicycle education to transform lives and communities.

This is who we share the road with. A Portland man faces several charges, including 2nd degree murder, for intentionally crashing into a pedestrian while driving a stolen car.

Fifty years after Oregon made a groundbreaking commitment to spend at least 1% of the state highway fund on biking and walking projects, the state legislature is considering raising that to 5%. Which compares favorably to California’s longstanding commitment to not making a commitment to fund them. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the link. 

A Washington 7th grader makes a better case for skate helmets than most adults, without calling for making them mandatory.

The head track and cross country coach at North Dakota’s Minot State University suffered multiple injuries when he was run down by a 15-year old driver while riding his bike, even though the boy is too young to legally drive in the state.

Now that’s more like it. New Massachusetts road guidelines mandate sidewalks, crosswalks, bus stops and high-quality bike facilities whenever traffic engineers design upgrades to major roadways.

An op-ed from a Connecticut English teacher says protecting bicyclists and pedestrians is an idea that’s long overdue.

It takes a major jerk to leave the scene after running down an eight-year old girl riding her bike; a 47-year old woman faces charges for the Tennessee hit-and-run after a witness circled the area to find her damaged car.

A Louisiana mechanical engineering student used his pandemic downtime to design and build his own e-mountain bike.

 

International

Cyclist attempts to take the confusion out of measuring a bike frame and finding the right size bike.

Bike Radar offers a guide to selecting the right fixies and singlespeed bikes.

Vancouver residents are entertaining themselves with a lively game of bike tag.

Canadian bike shops say they’re facing the worst shortages in the 100-plus years since the bicycle was invented, while a UK expert says the country’s bike market has gone berserk.

Now that’s more like it. A trio of people who happened to be passing by stepped in to stop a group of thieves trying to steal bicycles from a London park after cutting through the locks with an axle grinder.

We recently learned that the newly svelte Rebel Wilson is one of us; today she let loose on people who let their dogs run loose, as she nursed an injured ankle from falling off her bike after riding past London’s Buckingham Palace.

After a British man shattered his thigh bone when his bike skidded on an oil-slicked road, a pair of passing riders were able to get emergency help to him in just ten minutes using the what3words app to pinpoint his location. I’ve never heard of it before, but the app might be worth looking into.

A 62-year old man hopes to represent the UK in next year’s age group world cycling championships after dropping half his bodyweight over the last two years.

A UK resident got screwed by Brexit after ordering a bike from a Polish bike shop and being told there would be no import duties on it. Except it was returned to the shop during the chaos as the county left the European Union, and when the shop reshipped it, it arrived with the equivalent of over $2,700 in taxes due upon delivery.

India’s homegrown Hero Cycles is looking to expand its ebike sales worldwide, as it opens a new international headquarters in London and expands its factory to make up to ten million bikes a year. Which only sounds like a lot because it is.

 

Competitive Cycling

The Redlands Bicycle Classic has been has been cancelled for the second consecutive year due to the pandemic; the race, the country’s oldest ongoing stage race, will be postponed until April of next year.

Cycling Weekly looks at the five legendary single-day races known as the Monuments, the first of which ran this past weekend.

 

Finally…

That feeling when your new e-mountain bike costs as much as a decent used car. Or for the same price, you can get one that looks like a fancy dirt bike.

And when you’re carrying meth and a gun on your bike while wanted on an outstanding warrant, put a damn light on it, already.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a mask. 

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

$35 million lawsuit in LASD shooting of Black bike rider, driver turns brick wall into drive-thru, and Ted Lieu is one of us

February 12, 2021 / / Comments Off on $35 million lawsuit in LASD shooting of Black bike rider, driver turns brick wall into drive-thru, and Ted Lieu is one of us

No surprise here.

The family of fallen Black bike rider Dijon Kizzee has filed a $35 million lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Kizzee was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies in South LA last August in what initially began as a simple traffic stop for riding on the wrong side of the roadway.

He attempted to flee on foot, allegedly dropping a gun he was carrying inside some clothes, then picking it up and continuing to flee.

Deputies alleged Kizzee pointed the gun at them, shooting him 19 times in response.

However, witness testimony and security cam video don’t support the deputies’ version of events, suggesting Kizzee was turning away from them with his hands raised when they opened fire.

………

This is who we share the restaurants with.

But where’s the bike lane that caused it?

………

Look who’s looking for LA’s worst intersection.

https://twitter.com/mindykaling/status/1360028402799964161

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West Hollywood Congressperson and impeachment prosecutor Ted Lieu is one of us.

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Gravel Bike California directs your attention to May Canyon.

Thanks to Zachary Rynew for the link.

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Luke Cryer takes a fast run on a secondhand bike.

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

A South Carolina man will spend the next 40 months behind bars after copping a plea to intentionally running a bike rider off the road and robbing him at knifepoint.

A UK driver got a well-deserved 42 months behind bars for repeatedly running over an ebike rider before threatening to stab him, for no apparent reason, just minutes after agreeing to meet him at a pub.

No bias here. A British government office warns bike riders to consider not riding because of ice, but just tells drivers to use care. Even though the people in cars have a lot more potential to do serious damage.

https://twitter.com/metoffice/status/1359821258301538305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1359821258301538305%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-11-february-2021-280831

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

New York police are looking for a man who rode his bike up to a cab driver’s open window, punched him in the face and stole a handful of cash from a cup holder, making off with around $155.

………

Local

Active SGV wants to know how you get around El Monte and South El Monte.

Redondo Beach has a city council election coming up, but only one candidate even mentions bikes or lower speed limits.

A website looks at the $5,500 fat tire ebike the former Gubernator rides around the LA area.

Rookie director Robin Wright is one of us, taking to the streets of LA with her husband on their own fat tire bikes.

 

State

No bias here. A Fresno man was detained by a cop in nearby Easton for the apparent crime of riding a bicycle while playing Arabic music.

Bad news from the Bay Area, where Alameda police are investigating a crash that left a bike rider with severe, life-threatening injuries.

 

National

Another bill by Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer would restore and improve the bike commuting tax benefit.

A Chicago writer looks back at an old Schwinn factory, now the site of a hard cider maker, crediting the company with the origins of the modern bicycle.

A Michigan man who viciously attacked a couple of Black teenagers with a bike lock while drunkenly shouting racial slurs at a state park last year, fracturing one kid’s skull, has been indicted on a pair of federal hate crime charges. And deservedly so.

Confronting the environmental disaster that is Mardi Gras means fewer beads and more bike bells.

A Palm Beach paper looks at Jack the Bike Man, who donates refurbished bicycles to help struggling adults and children get their lives rolling again.

 

International

How to maintain your bike through the winter.

Road.cc considers whether you should get a new bike or stick with your old one if you’re getting back into bicycling.

A writer for Cycling Tips questions whether the bike industry should operate a lot more like car sellers. And says your bike may not be as green as you think.

Brazil’s fourth largest city has cut traffic deaths in half by reimagining its streets to safely serve all users.

A stuntman takes a heart stopping run down an abandoned French Olympic luge track.

Two-time F1 champ Fernando Alonzo has been hospitalized with suspected fractures after he was struck by a driver while riding in France.

Just two years after record-setting Scottish bicyclist Josh Quigley barely survived a horrible collision in Texas while attempting to ride across the US, he suffered a number of fractures throughout his body when a gust of wind knocked him off his bike while training in Dubai.

 

Competitive Cycling

Peloton looks back at 1960’s cycling star Franco “Crazy Heart” Bitoss. And no, I never heard of him either.

 

Finally…

When you want a stealth ebike that doesn’t look like one, and have an extra fourteen grand to spend. Call it an instant bike corral.

And a NASCAR rookie has Huffy in his corner.

As well as in the pits.

………

Be safe, and stay healthy. And wear a damn mask, already. 

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