Tag Archive for Scotland

High wind warnings and fire danger return to LA, man dies riding Simi Valley trail, and denouement to bizarre Scottish hit-and-run

January 20, 2025 / / No comments
Day 20 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025. 

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Well, this ain’t good.

The National Weather Service is calling for a return of Santa Ana winds up to 100 mph starting this afternoon — the same conditions that fueled the deadly wildfires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena exactly two weeks ago.

So beware of dangerous wind gusts that can rise suddenly, keep an eye out for any sign of fire or smoke, and keep your phone handy for any wind or evacuation alerts.

After last time, we’ve all seen what could happen. So if you smell smoke, wear a mask. And if there’s a fire anywhere around you, get the hell out.

Please.

Let’s hope we don’t see the return of orange skies, like this shot from Cole Keister for Pexels.

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Sad news from Simi Valley, where a man believed to be in his 50’s collapsed and died while riding his bike with a companion.

The incident occurred shortly before 1:30 pm Saturday, along Albertson Fire Road in the hills south of Simi, and east of Thousand Oaks.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, despite the efforts of first responders.

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Call it the denouement to a shocking case we’ve been following for several years.

The family of a 63-year old man killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver while on Scottish fundraising ride has received an undisclosed six-figure settlement from the driver’s insurance company.

Tony Parsons died after the driver drove away, leaving him propped against a fence overnight. The driver came back with his brother the next day and buried Parsons in an unmarked grave in the woods, along with his bike and belongings, where his body wasn’t found for another three years.

Alexander “Sandy” McKellar was sentenced to 12 years behind bars, while his twin brother Robert got five years and three months.

They probably would have gotten away with it if Sandy McKeller hadn’t taken his girlfriend to the burial site in 2020, and confessed the whole crime to her.

She promptly reported it to the police. Yet it wasn’t until the next year that the grave was finally discovered and the McKellers arrested.

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This is who we share the road with.

https://twitter.com/motorisms/status/1881011234092503154

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It’s questionable whether most drivers will ever grasp the concept that riding abreast and controlling the lane makes us safer, while making it easier for them. It just requires a little patience.

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

A man attacked a 74-year old man riding a bicycle in East Harlem, New York, first pushing to victim off his bicycle, then picking it up and beating him with it, for no apparent reason.

Police in Spartanburg, South Carolina are on the lookout for two suspects, after the passenger in a car threw a drink cup at a man riding a bicycle; the cops were able to find the cup, so it’s conceivable they may be able to lift prints. That happened to me so often riding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana that I could have opened my own convenience store. Although it must not have been illegal there, because I eventually gave up on trying to get a cop to take a report.

Complaints are flooding in against the BBC for a recent report attacking ebikes, as one bike shop owner says “Finding a wolf in sheep’s clothing should not be a reason to attack sheep.” Which may just be my new favorite expression.

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

A 31-year old Scottish man faces sentencing for intentionally riding his bicycle into his girlfriend, knocking her to the ground. No word on whether the woman was injured. Although if she’s still his girlfriend after that, she may have suffered serious brain damage. 

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Local  

KNBC-4 offers more details on the fire that destroyed Altadena’s Steve’s Bike Shop and most of the city two weeks ago, while owner Steve Salinas was fighting to save his brother’s home.

 

State

A 40-year old Riverside man was killed while riding an electric scooter against traffic when he was hit head-on by a driver turning out of a school parking lot.

Don’t plan on riding a new, fully funded bike lane connecting Downtown San Francisco with Golden Gate Park anytime soon.

An alleged burglar was busted for stealing several bicycles with an estimated value of $28,000 from a San Francisco home; he was arrested after the victim spotted one of the bikes for sale online and notified the police.

Sacramento is urged to consider addressing the city’s climate goals and the high rate of bicyclist and pedestrian deaths by making a new bridge across the American River car-free.

 

National

Bicycling offers the key to a successful Everesting attempt, which research shows comes down to selecting the right gradient for your fitness level. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you. 

Bicycling also considers how to recognize the signs of exercise addiction in bike riders. But you may have to find a way around their paywall if the magazine blocks you, since this one doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else.

One last bike-friendly federal bill before the new administration takes over, with the signing of the Biking On Long Distance Trails (BOLT) Act, which will require the feds to build at least 10 long-distance bicycle routes throughout the US, and identify potential routes 10 more using existing roads and trails.

An ebike impact calculator launched last year now includes data from over 500 US cities, allowing users to assess the environmental and economic impact of shifting short vehicle trips to ebikes.

Bicycling deaths continue to climb in ostensibly bike-friendly Portland, Oregon. Probably due to the same problems with distracted drivers and massively oversized vehicles plaguing every other American city. 

A Seattle components maker takes a look back, and discovers that bicycling has come full circle.

Washington state launched a $5 million dollar ebike rebate program, which expects to fund about 7,000 more vouchers than the botched first round of California’s intentionally throttled program.

Cycling West shares photo of an Ogden, Utah bronze statue of a kid riding a bicycle, with a dog running alongside.

A new 9.3-mile multi-use trail for art aficionados in the Berkshires will connect three Massachusetts art museums, as well as a theater, multiple art galleries and other cultural and historic destinations.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. Heartbreaking news from Florida, where a 53-year old man without a license was busted for his third DUI — but not until he ran a stop sign and killed six-year old kid riding a bike. Just one more example of why it’s not enough to suspend the driver’s license after a second DUI. The driver’s car should have been impounded for the full term of his license suspension. 

 

International

British Columbia’s Rocky Mountain Bikes is now under bankruptcy protection, with parent company RAD Industries Inc. in dire financial straits.

Bicyclists in Lahore, Pakistan now have their on lane on some of the city’s busiest roadways, but they’ll have to share them with motorbikes.

Bike counters captured a record number of bike riders in Christchurch, New Zealand last year, as the city topped 4 million bike trips, up from 3.6 million in 2023.

A senior political journalist writes in defense of bike lanes in New Zealand’s capital, both as a bicyclist and a driver.

A pair of Aussie bicyclists were seriously injured, and their bikes significantly damaged, when they were run down from behind by a hit-and-run driver. Raising the obvious question of how anyone fails to see not one, but two grown men on bicycles directly in front of them.

No surprise here. A new Australian study shows that wearing bike helmets or bright, reflective clothing is dehumanizing, with bicyclists in the helmeted, hi-vis camp seen as less human that bike riders in more casual attire.

 

Competitive Cycling

A woman watching the Tour Down Under was hospitalized when several competitors lost control and slammed into the fencing in a “chaotic” crash on a tight corner, at speeds topping 30 mph.

Visma – Lease a Bike, the flagship cycling team of the Netherlands, will go into the year’s Tour de France without any Dutch riders on the team, though it will have American Sepp Kuss.

Sad news, as former American pro Doug Shapiro died following a California climbing accident; the 65-year old New Yorker raced for the legendary 7-Eleven team, as well as the forerunner to Visma-Lease a Bike, while winning the 1984 edition of Colorado’s Coors Classic.

Thirty-year old Ryan Collins now owns 12 ultra-cycling world records, despite being told he’d never ride a bike again after a head-on collision in his early 20s.

Two-time Tour de France camp Jonas Vingegaard calls for an immediate end to carbon monoxide doping, the latest not-yet-illegal fad among the pro racing crowd. Which raises the question of whether LA cyclists would fail a CO test simply for breathing the air around here these days.

The former sports director for Belgian women’s cycling team Proximus-Cyclis, now Team Velopro–Alphamotorhomes, was banned for five years on Friday after being accused of inappropriate psychological and sexual harassment; the team manager was banned for 18 months and fined the equivalent of $5,500 for failing to report it. Is there really such a thing as appropriate psychological and/or sexual harassment?

 

Finally…

Now you, too, can own a $7,500 carbon frame racing bike spec’d entirely of Chinese parts, from a company you probably never heard of. How can you call yourself a real bike rider if you don’t know the difference between a Bicicletta and a Bicycle Thief?

And if you’re planning to snatch a $15,000 racing bike while the owner is having lunch with his friends, maybe make sure they’re not elite cyclists first.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Thieves plunder Scottish Paralympic team, drivers slam San Jose diners, and Pasadena’s first 2-way protected bikeway

October 13, 2020 / / Comments Off on Thieves plunder Scottish Paralympic team, drivers slam San Jose diners, and Pasadena’s first 2-way protected bikeway

Sadly, yesterday’s lead item has been confirmed, as a woman was killed riding her bike, and her partner injured, in a Valley Glen crash Sunday night. 

Photo by Juan Pablo Serrano Arenas from Pexels.

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Seriously, how low can they go?

Scottish bike thieves plundered the country’s Paralympic team, making off with 20 high-tech handcycles and bicycles worth over $26,000 — many of which the victims had purchased themselves.

The bikes aren’t likely to turn up on this side of the Atlantic, but still.

The team deserves to get their bikes back. And the scumbags thieves deserve to go away for a long damn time.

Thanks to Carly Silver for the heads-up.

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This is who we share the outdoor restaurants with.

Apparently, it doesn’t pay to dine out in San Jose, where drivers slammed into outdoor diners twice in a single day.

Thanks to Austin Brown for the link.

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Pasadena invites you to learn more and offer your comments about the city’s first two-way protected bike lane.

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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 London tabloid breathlessly reports that nearly two-thirds of bike riders were unaware of some traffic laws, while downplaying the fact that 41% of older drivers had the same problem, seemingly unaware of which group posed the most risk to others.

Once again, a British bike rider has been pushed off his bike by someone in a passing car, this time a man in his 70s. Seriously, there’s not a pit in hell deep enough.

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

A San Diego rabbi says he was attacked by a bike-riding teenager who hit him over the head with a closed fist while yelling a racial slur, part of a group of teens who have allegedly been harassing the temple. There is simply no excuse, ever. Period. 

There isn’t a pit deep enough for the man who ran up from behind a woman on an Illinois bike path and pulled down her pants and underwear, before riding off on a bicycle.

Police in New York are looking for a bike-riding thief snatching iPhones from people’s hands.

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Local

LA Magazine looks at the race between attorney Grace Yoo and Current L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to replace termed out Herb Wesson in LA’s 10th Council District, who they note will determine what housing projects get built and who gets bike lanes in the district.

 

State

She gets it. A La Jolla resident calls on the town to redesign its streets to curb speeding drivers.

Bay Area bike riders will have limited access to the Bay Bridge during a roadway realignment project.

Sad news from NorCal, where a bike rider was killed in a crash with an Anderson cop while allegedly riding his bike in the fast lane of a local highway; needless to say, police were quick to absolve the officer of any blame.

 

National

Wired says the US needs to adopt the industrial policies of the Asian countries we rely on for bicycles to overcome our own bike shortage.

Bicycling gives you an eight-point pre-ride checklist to help you get back home from your next ride. And yes, you can read it on Yahoo if you’ve fallen prey to the magazine’s draconian paywall.

A 70-year old Oregon bike rider was killed by a 93-year old driver who just kept going after the fatal crash. Yet another tragic reminder that driving shouldn’t be a lifelong privilege, and there comes a time when we all need to give up the keys for the sake of others around them.

Good kid. An eleven-year old Texas boy rode his bike 18 miles to raise awareness for pregnancy and infant loss in memory of a stillborn baby.

Chicago Streetsblog says the city should use the new San Jose bike plan as a model to reboot bicycling in the Windy City. Then again, it wasn’t too long ago that LA’s bike plan was hailed as a model for other cities, and you know how that turned out.

Police in Illinois are looking for a hit-and-run semi driver who kept going after injuring a pair of bicyclists, one critically.

It takes a special kind of jerk to steal the recumbent bike a Michigan man built to ride across the US after recovering from a heart attack.

A crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $2,400 in a single day to help a popular Ohio handyman replace his bike after he was struck by a driver.

A pair of teenaged Virginia drivers face up to 20 years behind bars for killing a 59-year old bike rider while allegedly street racing.

 

International

Fast Company says sleek e-cargo bikes represent the future of delivery.

It takes a major schmuck to steal the flowers from a roadside shrine to a young English woman killed in a collision while riding her bike.

A British man overcame physical and mental obstacles to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro, just over a year after he was nearly killed when a driver slammed into his bike. Then again, he could have just ridden his bicycle up the mountain.

Heart-stopping video of London boy riding his bike out from behind a large truck, only to get hit by a van coming from the opposite direction — then he just picks his bike up and walks away.

A Scottish man dusts off his old bike, and learns to overcome his fears and love bicycling again.

Bicycling looks at Afghan women defying the country’s embedded patriarchy by taking to their bicycles. As usual, you can read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you out.

 

Competitive Cycling

Cycling Tips goes deep into how on Jon Ornée set a new record for the fastest century, set while drafting a minivan on a NASCAR track at an average speed of 42.6 mph, just one year after he was struck by a driver.

American cyclist Chloe Dygert tells her local paper she has no regrets about her horrific crash while defending her world time trial championship, and remains focused on recovering in time for next year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Sky Sports considers the unfulfilled career of Britain’s first Black cycling champ, who never made the country’s Olympics team despite winning three national titles, for reasons they suggest should be obvious.

 

Finally…

Yes, he may be a bike thief, but at least he’s wearing a mask. Is there anything cargo bikes can’t carry?

And now you, too, can have your very own replica of this year’s Tour de France winning bike for the low, low price of thirty grand.

For that price, I want the real thing. And the yellow jersey that comes with it.

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

Category: Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

A polite response to a very wrong safety campaign, and blocking the bikeway in Manhattan Beach

August 16, 2013 / / 9 comments

Don’t get me wrong.

It’s nice when government agencies try to bring a little peace to our streets. Let alone when they respond to the demands of bike riders to do something — anything — to improve safety when too damn many people are dying just for riding a bike.

But it would be even nicer if they actually made things better instead worse.

Take Scotland’s new Nice Way Code, which tells drivers to think of bike riders like horses — without the requisite crap on the roadway, hopefully — and blames every bike rider for the actions of others.

Not so nice, actually.

That’s why a group of well-mannered Scot bike riders have written a very polite response asking the Scottish government to pull the campaign and put it where the sun don’t shine.

Okay, so I might have added that last part.

The Nice Way Code is failing in its own terms

At the launch of the Nice Way Code, Transport Minister Keith Brown said, “The Nice Way Code campaign seeks to build a culture of tolerance and patience between cyclists, motorists, pedestrians and all other road users across Scotland.” However, everything that has come out of this campaign – which was paid for out of the active travel budget – seems likely instead to create conflict, reinforcing divisions between people based merely on their mode of transport. One advert encourages cyclists not to run red lights simply in order not to give other cyclists a bad name (and not because it’s dangerous and discourteous, not least to pedestrians) – lumping all cyclists together and implying bad behaviour by a tiny minority justifies hostility to everyone who chooses to ride a bike.

As cyclists we are used to hearing from a few uninformed drivers that ‘all’ cyclists run red lights, ride on the pavement, hold up traffic and generally deserve to be treated like obstacles on the road. But we never expected our own government to run adverts saying the same thing. As nine cyclists have died on Scotland’s roads already this year, it’s unsurprising that this campaign seems to have angered almost everyone who regularly rides a bike.

Safer roads will not come from lecturing people and pandering to stereotypes. We believe they will come from rethinking our current emphasis on designing roads purely for motor traffic and redesigning them to remove the sort of conflicts these adverts reflect. Pending that, it’s clear that many people who don’t ride bikes themselves are unaware of the needs of cyclists on the road. A campaign that really aimed to build a culture of patience and tolerance could have helped to educate them about these things, and to get cyclists, drivers and pedestrians to see things from each others’ point of view. Calling cyclists names is not it.

We urge the Scottish government to recognise that it has made a mistake and to pull this campaign before it ramps up tensions on the road even further. We suggest that it takes this opportunity to start a real dialogue between road users about how we can recognise that we are all people, and behave accordingly.

The letter was signed by over 85 people.

If I lived in Scotland, or thought I might find myself riding there anytime soon, you’d find my name on that list, as well.

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Photo by Don Hayashi

Photo by Don Hayashi

Don Hayashi emailed this photo of an apparently legally blocked Marvin Braude bike path in Manhattan Beach, writing:

I’ve always wondered what the criteria was for forcing the bicyclist to walk their bikes at the pier was.

In this case a Manhattan Beach camp employee has set up the barrier so that his charges can cross safely during their lunch break. He said his boss told him he could.

Funny thing he only set up the barrier on one side of the pier. So bikes were still riding from the other direction. I guess it was to inconvenient to set up the other sign.

The municipal code actually says that a public safety officer has to make the decision.

Apparently legal, that is, under CVC 21211(b):

21211.   (a) No person may stop, stand, sit, or loiter upon any class I bikeway, as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 890.4 of the Streets and Highways Code, or any other public or private bicycle path or trail, if the stopping, standing, sitting, or loitering impedes or blocks the normal and reasonable movement of any bicyclist.

(b) No person may place or park any bicycle, vehicle, or any other object upon any bikeway or bicycle path or trail, as specified in subdivision (a), which impedes or blocks the normal and reasonable movement of any bicyclist unless the placement or parking is necessary for safe operation or is otherwise in compliance with the law.

It’s that damned “safe operation” clause that gets you, which seems to give local governments the authority to shut down bikeways anytime they think it’s appropriate.

As well as write local ordinances like the one linked to above.

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Cyclelicious offers a detailed update on all the bike-related bills before the California legislature, including the state’s third attempt to get a three-foot passing law past our bike-unfriendly governor’s veto pen.

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Amelie Le Moullac, the 24-year old bike rider killed in a San Francisco right hook yesterday, was a 2011 graduate of USC. CicLAvia unveils the official route for October’s Heart of LA event. The LACBC needs your help for this years bike and pedestrian count; scroll up for a chance to win a free trip to San Diego’s Tour de Fat when you become a member or renew your membership. A bank of full bike racks at one of the city’s leading hospitals is a good problem to have. Helen’s Cycles is inaugurating a no-drop, womens-only ride this Saturday. Streetsblog’s new SaMo edition goes online Monday. Santa Monica hosts a meeting to discuss the proposed Michigan Avenue Neighborhood Greeway this Saturday. San Marino talks bikeways at Monday’s meeting of the Traffic Advisory Commission. The SoCal Cross Prestige Series announces their fall and winter racing schedule.

A 45-year old Costa Mesa bike rider was injured when she allegedly ran a red light; unfortunately, the details are hidden behind the Register’s paywall. A young Temecula city employee is given a bike to commute to work. A 68-year old Oxnard rider was seriously injured in a SWSS when he reportedly drifted out of a bike lane. I Bike Kern offers a graphic look at a 100-year tradition of bicycling. San Jose readers argue over whether bikes belong on local roadways. A 56-year old Freemont cyclist remains in a coma in critical condition a week after he was injured in a hit-and-run. After a blind Los Altos man invents a high-tech bike for sightless riders, some colossal jerk steals it. An 18-year old Pleasanton driver faces a murder charge for killing a cyclist after tweeting about going on a death ride; thanks to murphstahoe for the heads-up. San Francisco cyclist Chris Bucchere was formerly sentenced to three years probation and 1000 hours of community service for the death of a pedestrian. Get to know the co-founder of Public Bikes. San Francisco police are shaming bike thieves on Twitter. How to ride safely around trucks and buses. Should bikes be treated like cars, pedestrians or something in between? Grist calls MonkeyLectric the world’s coolest lights for bike wheels; might be fun to have those cartoon dogs light up the night.

A Las Vegas man with cerebral palsy is still riding his bike 45 years after doctors said he was going to be six foot under. Greg LeMond, now America’s only Tour de France winner, talks bikes and doping in Portland. A new Seattle road diet and bike lanes helped boost business 400%, or at least didn’t hurt it. Boulder CO is becoming a living bike lab. My hometown considers adopting a stop as yield law for bike riders. An Evansville firefighter is handcuffed and threatened with a stun gun after waving at a cop while riding through a stop sign. Michigan State University opens new secure bike parking facilities; I’m looking at you, USC. Long planned Jersey City bike lanes are still coming, cross their heart. New York police continue their crackdown on all those dangerous bicyclists, including writing tickets for supposed infractions they didn’t actually observe. The NY Times considers the problem of keeping the city’s bikeshare racks in balance. A DC church fights a long-planned cross-city separated bike lane, claiming “the slaves who built the church were not thinking about bike lanes;” then again, they probably weren’t thinking about cars speeding past every day, either.

After saying no one should jump to quick conclusions, a Canadian paper does exactly that by calling for a mandatory helmet law for adults. In a completely wrong-headed approach to traffic congestion, a UK city fines cyclists for violating a ban on bikes in the city center. Brit cyclists and drivers fight it out over Twitter. This is why you never ride with your head down, as a British rider competing in a time trial dies after rear-ending a stopped trailer. Evidently, hit-and-run isn’t just an LA problem, or even an American one, as two Irish riders are lucky to be alive when a driver flees the scene after running them down.

Finally, there’s a fatal loophole in an Aussie territory’s hit-and-run law, as it turns out drivers are free to flee if they actually kill their victims instead of merely injuring them.

Then again, in LA you just have to be a celebrity.

Category: Advocacy & Politics, Bicycle Safety, Roadway Courtesy, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , , ,
 
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