Sad news from Palm Springs, where a San Diego father died from heatstroke earlier this month after mountain biking outside the city.
According to San Diego’s 10 News, Paul Fox, a 53-year old father of three from the city’s Del Cero neighborhood, met a friend at the Palm Canyon Epic Trail south of Palm Springs in late April for what was planned as a three-hour ride.
However, despite GPS, they took a wrong turn somewhere along the trail, and ran out of water as three hours turned into six in temperatures up to 105°F.
Fox reportedly stopped suddenly and stepped off his bike acting dazed and confused, before collapsing and rolling down a hill.
He died in the hospital May 9th from complications due to heatstroke.
Fox, who a friend described as kind, funny and brilliant, worked as a computer network security specialist, including a four-year stint at the White House in the mid-2000s.
Let’s start with news of yet another bike rider injured by a heartless hit-and-run driver.
Steve Messer forwards news that a friend of his was the victim of a hit-and-run while riding in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood.
It’s hard to read the small type, but the victim, a former cop and board member with the high school mountain biking league, was riding on Catalina Blvd when he was run down by the driver around 4:50 pm.
The suspect, described as a white male 35-45 years old, wearing a lighter colored baseball cap, was driving a smaller white pickup truck with a regular cab and non-tinted windows.
If you live or ride in San Diego, try to get the word out to get more eyes out on the street looking for the suspect. And if you know anyone who works in the news media, give them a push to cover this story.
A review of the project after a year found an 18% increase in people walking and 32% more people biking through the area. At the intersection of Culver Boulevard and Main Street, the number of bikes counted nearly doubled. Bus travel became faster and ridership increased more on the corridor compared with citywide.People said they were biking, walking and taking transit more often in the area, according to the review. They felt safer, more comfortable and noticed fewer speeding cars.
As for traffic? It moved faster in the morning hours, and in the evening it took drivers about two minutes longer to pass through the area. Two minutes. That’s a minor inconvenience. It certainly seems like a fair trade-off to make the corridor safer and more convenient for alternative modes of transportation — which was the purpose of the project.
Yet remarkably, but perhaps unsurprisingly, MOVE Culver City is in danger of being unceremoniously ripped out by the new conservative majority on the council in response to the windshield bias of some motorists, many of whom may only pass through the city without stopping, on their way to somewhere else.
Yet somehow demand that the city cater to their needs, rather than that of people walking shopping, dining and biking in the downtown area, as well as those riding buses.
According to the paper,
Yet even the modest encroachment of Move Culver City may be too much for opponents of the project, who seem particularly offended by the bus lane. There is a proposal to add back a car lane and make buses and bicyclists share a lane, which would dissuade all but the most confident cyclists and slow the buses, thus making alternative modes of transportation a lot less appealing. And for what? So some drivers can get to their destination two minutes faster…
Like most communities across California, Culver City has plenty of plans detailing its commitment to bike lanes, public transit and sustainable city design as strategies to reduce greenhouse gases from vehicle pollution to help fight climate change. But those plans are meaningless if elected leaders don’t have the political backbone to see them through.
As the paper’s editorial bard makes clear, we will never have safe streets and more livable communities if elected leaders lack the backbone to stand up to opposition from motorists, which is virtually inevitable with any project.
Meanwhile, local elected leaders, both current and former, are adding their voices in support of the project.
Assembly transportation chair @LauraFriedmanCA joins Sen. @BenAllenCA and Asm @ib2_real in publicly supporting Move Culver City’s protected bike lane and bus lane … not removing them for more cars. That’s a lot of state muscle— hope our council doesn’t ignore them! https://t.co/Ku3ZlKFd1H
— Bubba for Culver City Council! (@vote4bubba) April 24, 2023
Asm Bryan saying what some of our local leaders are still afraid to. Lets hope Culver City Mayor @AlbertVeraJr meets this moment tomorrow and makes Move permanent without adding more cars. https://t.co/ILKZeoAzNl
Streets For All is asking you to call for more funding for LADOT at tomorrow’s LA City Council Budget Committee, and support bike and walk-friendly motions at Wednesday’s Transportation Committee.
Budget Committee (6:00pm, Tuesday 4/25)
The committee will take up the Mayor’s proposed budget for next fiscal year. We are asking you to:
– Advocate for 18 more positions for LADOT’s activate transportation team which is sorely under resourced and stymying our efforts
– Advocate for 4 litigation support positions for LADOT so they can focus on getting bus and bike lanes in the ground and not on lawsuits – Public comment can be made virtually in real time or in advance
Transportation Committee (2pm, Wednesday 4/26)
– Advocate that the committee approve LADOT’s plan to revisit peak hour lanes
– Support new protected bike lanes on Lincoln over Ballona Creek
– Support a new dedicated speed hump program around schools – Public comment can be made in advance or in person (no virtual option)We’ve put together a toolkit to help you make public comment in the easiest way possible:
This is how you design a hospital for people, not cars.
Ottawa's new hospital will have an impressive 630 bicycle parking spaces, including 186 in a secure room outside the staff entrance. Visitors will be able to ride on a dedicated cycle track *right up to the front entrance* where they will be greeted with U-racks. pic.twitter.com/qJF653Fl0w
British police used deadly force to bust a fleeing ebike rider, intentionally hitting the suspect head-on to end a “high-speed” chase before swarming him as he lay writhing in pain; he was charged with possessing a fake weapon and a “bladed article,” as well as weed. Although it’s questionable how high speed the chase could have been on an ebike.
A California appeals court concluded that drivers don’t have a first amendment right to honk their horns, ruling that the law “prohibits all driver-initiated horn use except when such use is ‘reasonably necessary to [e]nsure safe operation’ of the vehicle.” Now if we can just find someone to enforce that.
Accused killer Kaitlin Armstrong appeared in an Austin, Texas courtroom, charged with the murder of gravel cycling star Moriah “Mo” Wilson, as the press focused on her new face after undergoing plastic surgery in a failed effort to hide her identity before her arrest.
Surprisingly, a sizable majority of New Yorkers want the city to make streets safer for kids to bike and walk, even if it means removing parking or making it harder to drive; a new poll shows two-thirds of New Yorkers think the city should prioritize pedestrian safety over driver convenience, while nearly six in 10 support doing it even if it means removing parking, adding to traffic congestion or closing down streets.
Fox News is repeating unproven claims the Dana Point killer muttered “white privilege” while fatally stabbing Dr. Michael Mammone last Wednesday.
The network had apparently removed references to the statement from their earlier stories, but resumed claims Tuesday that 39-year old Vanroy Evan Smith had made the racist comments after brutally running Mammone down from behind as he waited at a red light on his mountain bike, then getting out of his car and stabbing the Laguna Beach emergency physician to death.
Fox based their story on a report from a Chicago ABC affiliate, which cited a “neighbor” who declined to be interviewed on camera, but who claimed to have heard the comment after running outside, following what sounded like a gunshot.
The Orange County DA’s office also said they were unaware of the allegations. And those closer to the incident, such as the witnesses who disarmed Smith following the stabbing, have apparently said nothing to support the allegations of racial bias in the attack.
Photo of Dr. Mammone ghost bike by Photo by Walt Arrrrr.
Milavetz was sentenced to spend three years in county jail for an assortment of misdemeanor counts, including drug possession charges. He will then be transferred to state prison to serve another ten years for manslaughter and other felonies.
He pled guilty to running Shinn down from behind while she was riding in the painted bike lanes on Pershing Drive.
After the crash, witnesses saw Milavetz run across the street to toss a bag over a fence, which was later determined to contain several smaller bags of meth. Police also found meth, fentanyl and hypodermic needles in his car following his arrest.
But seriously, with do we really need another West Coast IPA? How about a nice dunkel, doppelbock or black lager for a change?
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Allow me to offer a correction from yesterday’s post.
The tweet below portrays new bike lanes on Central Ave in South LA, not Alameda in DTLA as I somehow insisted, even though it says Central Ave right there in the tweet.
New parking-protected bike lanes – with nice concrete bus islands – under construction (north end nearly done) on Central Ave – from Century to Imperial pic.twitter.com/6i9NNdovLV
Hi @CurrenDPriceJr@BSSLosAngeles is about to repave Pico between Figueroa and LA Live. At Council last year you remarked how slow the city was to implement its own mobility plan. Here, the mobility plan calls for bike lanes on Pico. Will you instruct @LADOTofficial to implement? pic.twitter.com/Q9Me4h4E1j
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. A Santa Barbara writer complains about bicyclists “hurtling” along the State Street promenade, claiming it’s only a matter of time before someone hits “one or more unsuspecting people out for a leisurely stroll.” Never mind that a green bike lane had to be removed from the street because people wouldn’t stop walking in it.
Urbanize says a decade-old Complete Streets proposal for South LA’s Broadway-Manchester corridor is still alive and kicking; the $46 million makeover would include a four-mile Class IV cycle track, pedestrian and bicyclist amenities, and hundreds of new trees. Both streets are on the city’s High Injury Network for the sadly neglected Vision Zero program.
A pair of bills in the Virginia legislature would allow bike riders to legally proceed on leading pedestrian intervals, as well as legalizing the Idaho Stop for stop signs and traffic signals.
If you’re not interested, or the subject understandably makes you uncomfortable, you may want to skip down to the next section.
Mammone was riding his mountain bike north on PCH when he stopped at the red light at Crown Valley Parkway around 3 pm Wednesday.
That’s when a white Lexus allegedly driven by 39-year old Long Beach resident Vanroy Evan Smith slammed into him from behind, traveling fast enough to blow through the red light, despite the impact with Mammone’s bike.
Smith then got out of his car, walked back to Mammone and repeatedly stabbed him as he lay injured in the street; Mammone died less than three hours later in the same Providence Mission Hospital ER where he sometimes worked.
Smith was disarmed by a pair of witnesses who detained him until police arrived.
Frighteningly, there is no known connection between the two men, and nothing to suggest it was a case of road rage — though that remains one of the most likely explanations — making the crash appear to be totally random at this time.
Smith faces 25 to life, plus one year, after he was arraigned Friday on a charge of felony murder, with a felony enhancement for the personal use of a knife. He pled not guilty, and is currently being held on $1 million bail.
That does not necessarily mean those things did not happen, but there is currently nothing to confirm either accusation. Although RssRyan relates in a lengthy Twitter conversation that a neighbor heard the alleged racist statement, and will be speaking with prosecutors.
We need to be careful spreading rumors that may ultimately prove to be false.
There is a danger that these reports being spread on conservative media may lead to confirmation bias among some in their audience, incorrectly confirming their false beliefs about people of color.
They could also be used as justification by someone with racist views to retaliate against the next Black or brown bike rider they see.
The victim was reportedly standing in the bike lane when he was struck by a bicycle ridden by a 63-year-old man. He apparently hit his head on the pavement, suffering a skull fracture and brain bleed, while the bike rider suffered a cut above his left eye.
Anyone with information is urged to call the San Diego Police Department Traffic Division at 888/580-8477.
Streetsblog looks at the newly unveiled semi-protected bike lanes on Central Ave in South LA. Correction: I originally mistakenly assumed they were on Alameda in DTLA. My apologies.
New parking-protected bike lanes – with nice concrete bus islands – under construction (north end nearly done) on Central Ave – from Century to Imperial pic.twitter.com/6i9NNdovLV
Nice to see Jersey City NJ bicyclists aren’t taking the case of the hit-and-run councilwoman lying down.
DeGise was convicted after pleading guilty to hit-and-run for fleeing when she crashed into a bike rider last year; that alone should be an automatic disqualification for public office.
Instead, she walked with a slap on the wrist when the judge fined her five grand and suspended her license for a whole year.
VeloNewslooks at LA’s Bahati Foundation, founded by former national crit champ Rahsaan Bahati to help children of color succeed in life through bicycling.
Not only did we set a new record for the 8th year in a row, but a record 103 people donated, breaking the $5,000 barrier for the very first time.
And I couldn’t be more grateful to each and every one of you.
So thanks to Michael W, Lisa G, Mark K, Glen S, Adrienne G, Johanna K, Liam W, Joel F, Sonia B, Michael B, David A, Teodoro C, Carol K, Neel K, Robert H, Beverly F, Matthew R and Kevin B for their generous donations since the last time we posted. And everyone else who gave from their hearts to keep all the best bike news coming your way every day.
Thank you!
Today’s photo shows what happens when my sister and her husband send the perfect gifts.
And in the process, blames every business closure in the neighborhood on them.
Never mind the effects of two years of pandemic closures, or a difficult business climate marked by rampant inflation and endemic supply chain problems.
Or that they also included businesses that closed years before the bike lanes were built.
Fourth photo down was Urban Solace which has been closed since March 2019. https://t.co/lv7qvuqts2
Although by far the best one was the article’s first photo, which showed a damning image of a vacant business under the banner for a roofing company. Except they were simply installing a new roof on the building, and had never occupied the space.
Other shuttered businesses had moved to more desirable locations, or were reopening under new management or new formats in the coming months.
But all were somehow blamed on the bike lanes, which the paper claimed were seldom, if ever, used. Something that could have been easily refuted if they had bothered to check the nearby bike counter.
She spent the next three years shuttling between longterm care facilities, as she struggled just to give a thumbs-up or say the name of her husband of 35 years.
Thirty-seven-year old Chase Edward Richard served just two years of a 44-month sentence for cruelly leaving her alone and bleeding in the street with a severe head injury.
Now he’s free, and she’s gone.
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Gravel Bike California reminds us that Los Angeles is a mountain town, offering outstanding paved and unpaved climbing.
And plans to stay there until his killer is brought to justice.
At the intersection of 38th & Sheridan in #Denver, Eric and his beloved Andy hold this sign.
Eric’s been out here, in the cold, for more than a dozen days. He’ll stay until justice is served for Andy’s brother, Logan – a cyclist killed in a hit-and-run crash. @DenverChannelpic.twitter.com/ZFXp7eFrrA
No bias here, either. A San Diego TV station tries to raise a public panic over the loss of parking spaces for new bike lanes on Convoy Street, despite citing a restaurant owner who says his customers don’t mind walking several blocks. And says he only knows of two customers who currently bike there. Apparently, if never occurs to him that if two people biked there before, maybe others will now that it’s safer.
A DC driver attempted to run down a bicycle delivery rider after she smacked his car mirror for pulling up too close to her and blocking her right-of-way, then got out of his car and attacked her on the sidewalk, knocking out one of her teeth.
In yet another example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the road until it’s too late, a New York pickup driver killed man riding a moped — despite the company truck being cited for 30 traffic violations over a four-year period, including 17 tickets for speeding in a school zone.
Cycling Weekly offers fifteen things about bicycling that really annoys them. Although their complaint about the high cost of bicycling is a relative thing, depending on how you ride; you can get by with spending almost nothing, and still get where you’re going.
A Swiss startup is building elevated bike lanes to address space problems that limit bike lane placement on the streets. Which sounds good, except it removes bikes from the local community, and prevents bike riders from making convenient stops along their route.
Cyclistlooks forward to 2023, including women’s great Annemiek van Vleuten going out on top, and the return of Eritrean pro Biniam Girmay, who missed much of last year after taking a champagne cork to the eye.
Before we go, I’d like to share this Twitter exchange, which offered one of the nicest compliments I’ve received in a long time.
My nominee: @bikinginla . He feels genuine concern for low-wage folks who struggle to bike to work in LA, and real sadness when they're hurt. Also a generous foster of Corgies. Just very loving of humans and animals in a city that sometimes neglects both.
December 19, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Update: 71-year old man riding bike killed by hit-and-run driver in San Diego’s Valley Center neighborhood Saturday
Go ahead and call it murder.
Because once again, a heartless coward has left an innocent victim to die alone in the street.
The victim, identified only as a 71-year old Valley Center man, died at the scene.
The driver fled, leaving behind their right front headlight; police are looking for a Ford Expedition SUV or F Series pickup, no model year or color given.
There’s no word on how fast the killer driver was going at the time of the crash, or how long the victim lay in the street before paramedics arrived. Or whether he could have been saved if the driver had called for help after the crash.
But clearly, whoever was behind the wheel didn’t care enough find out.
A street view shows one lane in each direction, with left and right turn bays leading west to Horse Creek Road. Sadly, there is a bike lane on the recently repaved southbound side of Cole Grade, but not on the northbound side where the victim was riding.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Oceanside Area CHP office at 760/643-3400.
This is at least the 80th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 11th that I’m aware of in San Diego County.
At least 25 of those have been killed hit-and-run drivers.
The Oaxaca, Mexico native leaves behind his son and daughter, as well as six grandchildren. Family members are trying to return his body to Oaxaca for burial.
Lucero was killed on his way home, shortly after stopping at his favorite restaurant after work.
His 20-year old granddaughter wonders if he could have survived if the driver had stopped and called for help.
Good question.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for Mario Lucero and all his family and loved ones.
December 15, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on San Diego woman on life support after ebike hits shopping cart, a carfree Embarcadero, and holiday bike rides
We’re entering into the home stretch just slightly ahead of last year’s record-setting pace. But we’ll need to raise almost $1,000 over the next week and a half to make it happen.
So thanks to Miriam H and Phillip Y for their generous donations to help keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day, and ensure it will always be there, ready and waiting when you need it.
So now it’s your turn.
Just stop whatever you’re doing, and donate today via PayPal or Zelle! Every donation, no matter how large or small, is truly and deeply appreciated!
The victim, who has not been publicly identified, was riding in the westbound bike lane on the 5100 block of Friars Road shortly after dark, which would have made the cart that much more difficult to see.
Which matters in this case, since she suffered a head injury, and this is exactly the kind of low speed crash bike helmets are designed to protect against.
Let’s all hope she makes a full and fast recovery.
Not to mention easily exceed anything found here in Southern California.
Which would be a big improvement from the Embarcadero’s current deadly and dangerous car-choked environment.
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A pair of holiday rides are on tap this weekend, with rides on Saturday in Costa Mesa and Sunday in Glendale.
#CostaMesa holiday bike ride is back! Join us Saturday, 12/17 in your holiday gear & decorated bikes. We’ve got a casual 10-mile route w/ stops at WinterFest & Snoopy House! ❄️ Wheels roll at 12:30pm, finish ~2pm, and roll over to NEAT Coffee after for hot chocolate & cookies! pic.twitter.com/5BqpiEyRLQ
Which means time is running out to show your support for SoCal’s best source for all the latest bike news and advocacy, delivered fresh to your favorite screen every morning!
So let’s all thank Nina M and Todd T for their generous donations to ensure the bike news you need is ready and waiting when you need it.
Or better yet, stop what you’re doing and donate right now to keep all the bike bike news coming your way every day!
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You can’t say things aren’t changing in Los Angeles these days.
And Hollywood in particular.
In his first council session after replacing the recently ousted Mitch O’Farrell in LA’s 13th Council District, Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martinez introduced a motion calling for LADOT to report back with a list of bus lanes, bike infrastructure and pedestrian safety improvements that can be implemented within the next 18 months, as well as calling for placing shelters at every bus stop in the district.
Quite a change from O’Farrell, who spent eight years slow walking most safety projects, if not outright blocking them.
You can ask Soto-Martinez about his plans for the district at this evening’s Streets For All virtual happy hour; RSVP here.
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No bias here.
A retired university professor suggests that San Diego’s commitment to building bike infrastructure, with a goal of achieving a 10% bike commuting rate, is just another special interest rip-off.
Is this a joke? Or is it a monumental rip-off perpetrated by a very small but clearly well-organized special interest group of biking enthusiasts?
And then there is a safety issue. To date, there seemingly has not been any effort by the city or the state to either educate or enforce the multiple safety issues that are important for a mutual use of roadways by bicycles and automobiles. Few bikes on the road after dark have reflectors or lights; it is very rare to see a bicyclist signal to turn. And bicyclists blow through red lights and stop signs consistently — usually as they fly down one of the hills.
Just wait until he sees how people drive, in their big, smelly, two-ton death-dealing machines as they text on their phones, roll stop sighs and race to the next red light.
Of course, his proof that it’s a rip-off is that he and his husband don’t see bikes in the exact bike lane they’re watching, at the exact moment they’re watching it.
And never mind that the well-funded advocacy groups he complains about are in fact dramatically underfunded nonprofits who have to beg for money to continue their work every year.
It would be of interest to know which consultant arrived at this 10 percent number — and how. Special interest groups are focused, connected, well-organized and funded. My guess is that they were heavily involved in the planning for the pathways. And while clearly their prerogative, their influence seems to have outweighed the broader public good.
In reality, the broader public good includes getting people out of their cars — electric or otherwise — before we succeed in our so far successful efforts to destroy our planet, unless and until the erstwhile world’s richest man manages to find another one to move us all to.
And, of course, he can’t manage to make his case without the stunning revelation that “San Diego is not Copenhagen, Stockholm or Amsterdam.”
No, it isn’t. San Diego has much better weather for much of the year. And none of those cities were bike-friendly until they made the commitment and difficult transition to become that way.
But there is one thing he gets right.
San Diego is hilly, built around numerous canyons and hillsides. Yet I somehow managed to find relatively flat routes to get wherever I was going when I lived down there decades ago.
I doubt it’s gotten any hillier since.
Then there’s the ability of ebikes to flatten that terrain, and let anyone ride up and down them with minimal effort.
And if you’re to believe the local media and panicked seaside city officials, the entire place is already being overrun by ebike-riding social terrorists.
It’s possible that the city’s efforts to increase bicycling rates may fail, with too many people clinging to their steering wheels like Charleston Heston to his guns.
But it’s far too soon to give up, when the city’s bike network is still in its nascent stage. Let alone when its success is the only way the city can meet its climate goals.
So give it time, and keep building bikeways.
The worst thing that will happen is that the city will continue to get safer and more livable.
And maybe someday, someone in Copenhagen or Amsterdam will insist that they’re not San Diego.
The survey deadline for the @metrolosangeles Active Transportation Plan on Redondo Beach Blvd. has been extended to December 31, 2022. Provide your feedback for a chance to win a free bike or a $200 gift card! Take our survey: https://t.co/J8WpjtZaVg
After yesterday’s item about the brief flight of a pedal-powered plane, Steven Hallett reminds us about the Gossamer Albatross, the human-powered plane that successfully crossed the English Channel all the way back in 1979.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
The people have spoken. People commenting here have all said we should stop linking to articles here where bike use is just incidental to some crime, rather than central to the story. So from here on, this section will be reserved for bike riders who fuck up big time. Let’s just make sure it’s not you, k?
More on the Michigan bike shop owner killed in a Florida collision while delivering bikes to children affected by Hurricane Ian; 57-year old Steven Pringle was a grandfather and Army vet who founded a nonprofit providing “bicycle therapy” to veterans by repairing bikes to give to children in need.
And that feeling when bikes get squeezed out by pickleball.
I swear, I don't offer this anecdote with any cynicism—just noting out loud that the most established premium bike-shop chain in Los Angeles is about to start dedicating 20% of its floor space for Pickleball equipment.
He was taken to a nearby hospital with multiple injuries, and died sometime after arrival.
At his age, he deserved far better.
The 52-year old driver fled the scene, but was arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run when she returned an hour later.
Anyone with information is urged to call 858/495-7800, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers at 888/580-8477.
This is at least the 61st bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the ninth that I’m aware of in San Diego County, including five just this month.
Twenty of those deaths have been at the hands of hit-and-run drivers.
Update: I received the following email Saturday morning; I’m withholding the sender’s name to protect her privacy.
This is the cost of traffic violence.
The article about an 82 year old bicyclist being murdered in Rolando Village on August 25th was my dear sweet church friend George.
I have known him for years.
He was STILL doing construction work and kept busy and never missed church.
At our church we all sit and eat together on Sundays after church service. I had lunch with George about 3 weeks ago.
He was telling me after 80 years old the DMV makes it hard to renew your license. That’s why he was riding his bicycle.
I am absolutely crushed to hear of his death.
Here I am up half the night thinking about him. It is 4 a.m. and I am googling articles to see what all happened. I can not believe this happened. All it takes is a few seconds and he is gone and families changed forever, including the driver’s.
George H. was the kindest man. Although the situation is maddening and disheartening, he would never want the driver to suffer for this.
I know George and knew how he was and he had a heart of gold. One time he employed a newly-made friend of mine who was homeless. The homeless man relinquished his 2 dogs to me to be able to get them off the street. When I told George about this stranger’s plight he hired the man in a blink of an eye. He was that way. A true Christian man. He will be greatly missed.
My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and all his loved ones.
July 25, 2022 /
bikinginla / Comments Off on Bicyclist says giving pedestrians right-of-way is “stupid,” and San Diego TV station blames homeless for rampant bike thefts
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.
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.
