Tag Archive for right-of-way

Bicyclist says giving pedestrians right-of-way is “stupid,” and San Diego TV station blames homeless for rampant bike thefts

Seriously?

A Welsh bicyclist argues that changes to Great Britain’s Highway Code giving priority to pedestrians are just stupid, using many of the same arguments drivers use to complain about having to brake for people on bicycles.

Although he still wants drivers to give way to him.

What I’m not all for, is the decision to put pedestrians at the top of the hierarchy as the ‘road user’ everyone else has to give way to. For a start, this is the Highway Code – it should be about people who use the highway, and pedestrians just don’t. Ok – yes – they have to cross it – but that’s as far as their involvement goes. And, if you’re a pedestrian, you already know how to cross a road, like everyone does, because it was drummed into us all by the Green Cross Code man (or whatever the equivalent was for your generation). Look both ways, listen, and only cross when it’s safe to do so while continuing to look both ways. Ideally, that will be at a pedestrian crossing – and definitely not from a position between two parked cars – you know the drill, I’m sure.

What the Highway code ‘Hierarchy of Road Users’ changes have done, however, is kind of make like none of that common sense ever existed. Instead, it has been replaced by confusion and doubt. Drivers always knew they should give cyclists room – the ones who never did will probably carry on not doing. But I can’t argue with the decision to make all that a little clearer in the Highway Code. Drivers and cyclists, however, especially on urban roads, are often going not massively dissimilar speeds – and there’s a shared history there. Pedestrians, however, have always been separate, never sharing the same space as those on wheels, except to cross the road.

Now, they have been emboldened. Suddenly, they are no longer just kings and queens of the pavement, but the road too!

He goes on.

Of course he does, complaining about having to brake for pedestrians, when he’d rather just force them to jump back onto the curb and stay the hell out of his way.

So, we like to go fast. If we have to amble along so we’re able to stop on a 50p piece should a pedestrian decide to exercise their hierarchical right to randomly step out in front of us, then it just wouldn’t be road cycling. Drivers aren’t forced to travel at 5mph or less ‘just in case’ so why should we be forced to curtail our speed any more than the traffic laws and conditions on a particular road allow.

It paints a picture of a spoiled, entitled cyclist who can’t be bothered to help keep another person safe.

Just like all those spoiled, entitled drivers we’ve been dealing with for decades.

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A San Diego TV station blames “rampant homelessness and a lucrative black market for stolen bikes,” with 9,200 bicycles reported stolen in the city in the last five years.

Although that number is likely just the tip of the iceberg, as many, if not most, bike thefts are never reported to the police.

And while they have certainly contributed to the problem, there was a thriving black market for hot bikes long before the recent rise in homelessness.

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GCN offers tips on how to upgrade your first road bike.

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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 Coral Springs, Florida website complains that the city insists on building more new bike lanes, whether or nor anyone is using them.

No bias here, either. A London bike cop watches a cab driver blow a red light and nearly hit someone on a bike, then denies seeing it — and blames scofflaw bike riders for his refusal to enforce the law.

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

A Madisonville, Tennessee man faces charges for an alleged random attack on a pedestrian, riding by on a bicycle and whacking the victim across the jaw with what appeared to be a jack handle.

After London bike rider installs an air horn to get pedestrians out of his way, one man he scared the shit out of responds with a punch and a kick.

Viral Twitter Video with a LOT of negative replies. Do you think videos like this hurt the perception of Bikers or highlight how difficult it can be to bike in car-centric cities? from fuckcars

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Local

Planetizen is the latest to pile on to the failed bike lanes on the “much anticipated” new 6th Street Viaduct, calling them disappointing and leaving much to be desired.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies say they’re cracking down on bike theft, but lock your bike anyway.

 

State 

A Huntington Beach letter writer complains that including sharrows as part of a $14.8 million makeover of PCH through the community means the money will be “wasted on ‘freshening up’ a dangerous roadway rather than actually fixing it.”

A 26-year old Ventura man was murdered in broad daylight as he rode his bicycle on a Ventura bike path Saturday afternoon, when someone approached his bike and stabbed him multiple times.

A 31-year old woman has been charged with 2nd degree murder for the alleged drunken that killed a 60-year old man riding a bicycle in San Mateo County, before continuing on and hitting another car head-on. Thanks to Jim for the heads-up.

San Francisco continues to run urbanist laps around Los Angeles, building a 14-acre park topping a pair of freeway tunnels. LA has talked about capping the 101 Freeway through Hollywood, as well as other highways. But as usual, talk is as far as it’s gone.

Oakland has two new protected intersections. Which compares favorably to LA’s none.

The road up the Bay Area’s popular Mt. Diablo now has multiple bike turnouts to allow uphill riders to get out of the way of impatient drivers.

Marin County pro cyclist Laura King says she rode through both of her pregnancies, and she’d do it again.

No bias here. A Citrus Heights man was seriously injured when he was hit by a driver, yet the press insists on saying he “collided with a vehicle.” Because of course he did.

 

National

High gas prices may finally be driving a change in American’s driving habits. Or maybe just a switch to cheaper grades and fewer gas station candy bars.

Even Good Housekeeping is catching up with the trend of carfree families.

Organizers have cancelled this year’s North American Handmade Bicycle Show, citing a lack of support; however, a new handmade bike show will debut in Portland next year.

Popular Mechanics proves they’re still around, with their picks for the eight best ebikes under $1,800.

Horrifying news from Utah, where a father was killed and his 17-year old daughter was injured when a pickup driver plowed into them from behind as they rode they bikes on the shoulder of the roadway; witnesses say there was no sign the driver even tried to stop before hitting them.

A Colorado man was fined a measly $600 for illegally casting his wife’s ballot for Donald Trump in the 2020 election; Barry Morphew was previously charged with murdering his wife, who disappeared after going for a bike ride on Mother’s Day in 2020, but prosecutors were forced to drop the case for lack of evidence.

A San Antonio, Texas bike shop has been in business continuously for 102 years. And been in the family since 1933.

Wisconsin has dropped precipitously from the top ten bike friendly states — once ranking as high as second — and falling to 29th in just five years, after becoming the only US state to repeal its Complete Streets policy.

The Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, better known as RAGBRAI, is back to full strength, with 18,000 riders setting off on Sunday — an increase of 3,000 over last year.

New York City’s Ghost Bike Project held its annual Memorial Ride through the Bronx on Sunday, home to five of the seven fatal bike crashes in New York this year.

More than 2,100 Philly bike riders took over a local highway for the annual Ben to the Shore Bike Tour, hoping to raise over $1.2 million to support families of fallen first responders.

Sad news from Philadelphia, though, where a 28-year old beatboxer and rapper was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a dually pickup as he rode a bike just blocks from his home.

DC is struggling to keep up with ghost bikes, as planned memorials for two fallen riders were interrupted by the death of another.

 

International

Women’s Wear Daily offers advice on how to ride in style, all the way down to your bike.

Sad news from France, where one girl is in a coma and several others injured when a group of Flemish scouts fell while on a ride through the country.

A Pakistani woman learns to ride a bicycle for the first time at 30-years old after moving to the Pacific Northwest from the conservative country, where women on bikes are frowned on. Or worse.

An Indian op-ed says every day should be World Bicycle Day.

Aussie bike riders are getting flat tires on a newly resurfaced bike lane, after the contractor apparently neglected to remove excess glass from the reflectorized surface.

 

Competitive Cycling

No major surprises in the final weekend of the Tour de France, as 25-year old Dane Jonas Vingegaard won his first grand tour, besting previous champs champ Tadej Pogačar and Geraint Thomas; Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen won Sunday’s final bunch sprint down the Champs-Élysées.

Race spectators dragged a handful of eco-protesters off the road after climate activists from the French group Dernière Rénovation — aka Last Renovation — attempted to block the route of the Tour’s Saturday’s time trial.

Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes topped the great Marianne Vos to win Sunday’s inaugural stage of the inaugural Tour de France Femmes on the streets of Paris.

Ouch. Cycling Weekly looks at the numbers behind the Tour de France Femmes, saying there’s a lot to be excited about. But prize money and riders’ pay, not so much.

Sports Illustrated calls the TdF Femmes a women’s sport triumph that was long in the making.

Twenty-eight-year old Colombian cyclist Miguel Ángel López was suspended by the Astana Qazaqstan team for ties to a doctor suspected of drug trafficking and money laundering. But the era of doping is over, right?

California’s Savilia Blunk won the women’s elite cross-country national mountain bike championship, while defending national champ Keegan Swenson took the men’s title.

L39ION of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams apologized for his part in a fight with Michael Hernandez of the Best Buddies team following a dustup on the last lap of the Salt Lake Criterium.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you try to stripe a bike lane, and it ends up looking like they were laid out by someone on acid. Or when you have to pedal a bike to power a stage at the famed Newport Folk Festival.

And this is what a great save looks like.

Although there’s no guarantee it wasn’t staged.

But still.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

Morning Links: Red light-running bike rider severely injured in DTLA crash, and taking Montclair to task

This is why you always stop for red lights.

And observe the right-of-way.

According to the LAPD’s Central Traffic Division, a bike rider suffered what was described as severe injuries in a collision at Washington and Grand in DTLA yesterday, and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Traffic investigators report that multiple witnesses said the victim ran the red light before being struck.

Personally, I couldn’t care less if you roll a stop sign or two when there’s no one else around. Just be sure to always observe the right-of-way, and stop if there’s conflicting traffic.

But seriously, always stop for red lights — especially if there is cross traffic of any kind.

And never forget that even if there doesn’t appear to be any traffic on the street you’re crossing, that doesn’t mean a speeding driver won’t come out of view and try to make it through the intersection before the light changes.

Which happens far too often. And too often with tragic results.

So just stop and wait a minute or two. Push the beg button if the light doesn’t change. And hesitate for moment before crossing to make sure everyone else stops, as well.

Because it beats the hell out of waking up in the ICU.

Or not waking up at all.

I hope you’ll join me in offering a prayer or best wishes for the victim, and hope for a full and fast recovery.

Photo from LAPD Central Traffic Division.

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He gets it.

Writing for Streetsblog, Mehmet Berker does a great job of slicing and dicing the new Montclair distracted walking ordinance that bans the use of electronic devices, including earpieces, while crossing the street.

Never mind that most drivers have their windows up and sound systems blaring. If they’re not too busy texting.

More to the point, the Montclair ordinance is at best a well-intentioned but misguided attempt at making safer streets – legislated by city leaders who suffer from extreme windshield bias. It’s also one more example of our car-centric society’s tendency to classify city streets as spaces solely for automobiles and place the responsibility for safety on anyone who is not driving.

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Local

Pasadena plans to extend its biking and walking networks — although the latter is usually known as sidewalks — as well as increasing the density of the Metro Bike bikeshare to 800 bikes at three docks per square mile, to help met climate goals.

The latest SGV Connect podcast discusses the proposed Orange Grove Blvd lane reconfiguration, as well as attempts to halt the popular Rose Bowl rides.

La Verne is moving forward with development of a new Active Transportation Plan.

Santa Monica adopts an “emergency” law allowing it to impound shared mobility devices, aka Bird scooters and dockless bikeshare bikes, that pose a hazard to others when left on the sidewalk or in the street.

The LACBC is holding their March RideSELA community bike ride this Sunday through the Willowbrook and Florence-Firestone neighborhoods. Check to make sure it’s still on with this weekend’s predicted rain, however.

 

State

Encinitas commissioners unanimously support plans to convert a deadly section of Highway 101 to a complete street through the Leucadia neighborhood, including bike lanes and six roundabouts. This is the same stretch of roadway where Los Angeles randonneur Jim Swarzman was killed by a drunk hit-and-run driver in 2011; his killer was eventually sentenced to just two years behind bars.

A Santa Barbara bike rider gets caught for running a stop sign in the city’s latest crackdown, as a dangerous underpass prepares for a road diet.

San Francisco plans to replace its fleet of firetrucks with smaller trucks that can fit on narrower streets. Although the purpose of the change is not to reduce conflicts with bike advocates, as the headline suggests, but to save lives.

Bike East Bay reports there are a number of bike jobs available in the Bay Area, from bike shops and bikeshare to advocacy groups.

A trio of Oakland letter writers say there are actually road diets in the city that are safe and successful.

Officials will now spend $100,000 to study backing out of a promised bike lane across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and converting it to car use instead. Which should tell you how bicyclists rank in their priorities, when drivers get 100% of the bridge, and everyone else gets zip.

 

National

US speed skater Mia Manganello credits bicycling with helping her win the first American women’s medal in the sport in 16 years.

A new study suggests the obsession cities have with bike helmets could actually be undermining more effective ways to improve safety, noting that the real problem is people getting hit by cars.

Portland is using bicycles to revitalize a strip mall district originally build around cars. Which sounds pretty much like most of Los Angeles. So if they can do it, so can we.

A small town in Washington state passed an ordinance requiring all bike riders and skaters to wear a helmet, regardless of age.

A University of Texas student insists the local bikeshare system should provide riders with helmets. Even though there have been only two deaths on all the bikeshares operating throughout the US.

Apparently Copenhagenize’s Mikael Colville-Andersen doesn’t love Minneapolis anymore, dropping it from his list of the world’s 20 best bike cities, even though he used to recommend it. And even though he’s never been there.

Fast Company looks at New York’s bizarre crackdown on ebike-riding delivery people, and how they are being abandoned by their employers.

A Jewish letter writer concludes that the reason his brother died in a 1971 bicycling wreck while his son survived another New York bike crash 44 years later is that his brother wasn’t wearing a helmet, while his son was. Or it could have something to do with his brother getting hit by a bus.

The father of a fallen Florida bicyclist calls for more sidewalks to protect riders. A better solution would be more bike lanes — especially protected bike lanes — since sidewalk riding actually increases the risk of a wreck.

Unbelievable. After a Florida driver gets arrested for the drunken, hit-and-run death of a man on a bicycle — at over 2.5 times the legal alcohol limit — he calls the victim a dumbass for riding in the lane, and says the police should go arrest the victim’s family instead.

Miami is about to get its first woonerf, where cars, bikes and pedestrians share the street on equal terms.

 

International

A St. John’s, Newfoundland college professor is using the BikeMaps platform to develop a map of dangerous locations for bike riders.

Torontoist is back, and says it’s time to make structural solutions to the roads, because our addiction to driving is costing us lives.

A new British study shows that bicycling can help keep you young in more ways than one, including protecting the immune system. Thanks to Mike Wilkinson for the heads-up.

The Guardian’s Laura Laker says yes, people on bikes to stupid things, but the real danger comes from the people wrapped in two tons of glass and steel. And a bill cracking down on dangerous cycling won’t help.

Life is cheap in the UK, where a van driver gets community service in the death of a bike rider, after making the equivalent of a left cross in front of the victim, who had the right-of-way.

Donors have raised the equivalent of over $33,000 for South African triathlete Mhlengi Gwala, who was attacked by three men who tried to cut his legs off with a chainsaw. There’s still no explanation for the bizarre attack.

A New Zealand columnist says shopkeepers are just being complete idiots for opposing a bike lane that could boost their business.

 

Finally…

When you bounce off the hood of a car, your stunt riding has probably gone just a tad too far. And who needs a ciclovía when you’ve got your own F1 track?

Morning Links: Don’t take your right-of-way for granted, Union Station Bike Hub opens, and give a bike thief a hug

It’s a pretty light news day. Which means you should be able to read all of today’s post, and still get out to enjoy a ride in this beautiful LA weather.

Unless you live in Northern California, in which case you’re screwed.

Today’s photo shows the WeHo Pedals bikeshare dock outside Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where I’ve been spending way too much time lately. 

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Eric Fleetwood forwards this video reminding riders not to take their right-of-way for granted.

Here’s how he describes it,

As I approached the curve to the left, I signaled left to alert the driver of the Mini Cooper, even though I had the right of way and a pulsing amber headlight.  Early in the video it became apparent that he was not going to yield (you can see the back of the Yield sign and the graphic on the pavement), I veered to the right side of the road and let him pass by on my left. It appeared that he might be on a cell phone.

Incidentally, many riders down here feel that San Clemente has the worst drivers in South Orange County. I have many experiences with errant drivers, not all of which are on video. From last year: Picture the letter K with the bike route being the backbone of the K. A driver wanting to go from the right arm to the right leg of the K did so by turning left down the wrong side of the main street and then left onto the leg of the K, looking right at me and my Dinotte 400A pulsing 400 lumen amber light.

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Local

Metro has officially opened a $2.5 million, 3,000 square foot Bike Hub at Union Station, providing space for nearly 200 bicycles. Bike SGV offers photos from the event.

Los Angeles Walks is joining with the LA Vision Zero Alliance, and SoCal Families for Safe Streets to remember the victims of traffic violence at City Hall this Friday.

The president of the Eagle Rock Association pens an open letter calling for safety improvements, including bike lanes, on Yosemite Drive. Thanks to Walk Eagle Rock for the heads-up.

 

State

California Streetsblog looks at the recent report The Surprising Promise of Bicycling in America, calling it a brief history of recent advocacy gains, with a look at the future.

After a thief rode off on a San Diego man’s bamboo bike, he tracked the thief down, gave him a hug, and took his bike back. And felt so good, he started a crowdfunding campaign to buy bikes for kids whose bicycles were stolen.

San Francisco pledges nearly $150,000 to figure out how to fix a popular bike lane that’s frequently blocked by delivery vehicles.

 

National

Cycliq has updated their popular Fly 6 and Fly 12 bike cam/light combos.

A Chicago weekly asks if dockless bikeshare could disrupt the city.

Good read from a New York cyclist who complains about the chaos on the streets, saying cars — and road-raging drivers — scare the shit out of him.

 

International

A men’s website lists four of the best international cycling trips for foodies.

A Toronto writer says the permanent adoption of a trial bike lane means bicycling is finally getting recognized as a legitimate form of transportation in the city. Even if the photo shows the same sort of wheel-busting crappy pavement we have here.

A columnist rightfully ridicules a proposal to fine pedestrians for distracted walking, noting that all of the pedestrians killed in traffic collisions in the city were killed by crashes with motorists, not texting walkers.

A British car thief gets a well-deserved nine and a half years after smashing into a bicyclist while fleeing from police; fortunately, his victim is recovering.

An Irish schoolgirl left a nice, polite note asking the person who “borrowed” her bike to bring it back.

Celebrity chef Mario Bartali’s Eataly may have just opened in Century City, but it’s just a fraction of the size of the one opening in Bologna, Italy; so big that Bianchi stocked it with adult tricycles just to get around the 20-acre food complex.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson tries riding in ostensibly bike-friendly Vienna, Austria, and finds it not to his liking. At all. And says that does not bode well for Los Angeles.

There’s a special place in hell for someone who’d try to get away with a hit-and-run by pretending to be a Good Samaritan helping the victim, rather than the heartless driver who ran him down, like this jerk in India.

Caught on video: A Vietnamese boy just barely avoids a far too close call after he topples over on his bike directly in front of a truck.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bradley Wiggins complained about a “malicious witch hunt” after the doping investigation into British Cycling ends with no charges, but without completely clearing Wiggins or anyone else involved.

UCI’s new president says there’s no place in professional cycling for former dopers. Which as Lance and others point out, doesn’t leave too many people with sparkling clean resumes who’ve been around the sport very long.

 

Finally…

Who needs a plot of land when you can have your own bike farm? Don’t bother with traffic when you can just pedal your way down the river.

And prevent bike crashes by just buying a car like a normal person.

Yes, it’s a joke.

But you’ll find the same thoughts in the comment section virtually anytime bicycling gets mentioned online.

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Thanks to David Veloz for his generous contribution to help support this site, and bring you SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy every morning my laptop is working.