Tag Archive for slowing traffic speeds

Bikes and ebikes help people with disabilities, speed kills, and don’t leave your bikes with an angry girlfriend

June 9, 2021 / / One comment

Yes, bikes are good for people with disabilities.

Even though anti-bike critics invariably claim that bike lanes, or any other bicycle infrastructure — or even just bicycles themselves — somehow pose a risk to people with disabilities.

Or that disabled, older or out-of-shape people can’t ride bikes, so bike lanes won’t do them any good.

Which was never true.

And it’s even less so in the age of ebikes.

Case in point,

https://twitter.com/lindsmpls/status/1401722255894204417

Then there’s this woman who suffers from acute hepatic porphyria. And discovers that she can ride an ebike without the white knuckle pain and fatigue that makes physical activity nearly impossible.

Meanwhile, a study from a Colorado university shows that ebike users in the state tend to be older, and like being able to ride longer and farther than they could otherwise.

Which can help keep them riding years after they might otherwise have quit.

Photo by mzter from Pixabay.

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The next time someone tries to tell you a few extra miles per hour won’t make any difference, show them this.

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Everyone enjoys riding with a friend.

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Presenting the best bike helmet ad in at least the last 1,200 years.

Thanks to W Corylus for the link.

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Shoulda used Bike Index.

And maybe not done whatever it was that pissed her off so much.

Thanks to Tim Rutt for the photo.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the Ypsilanti, Michigan man who threatened a young boy with a sledgehammer, then went back inside and shot him through a window, for the crime of briefly leaving a bicycle on his lawn. Fortunately, the kid was only hit in the arm; the man who shot him faces an attempted murder charge, albeit with a measly $10,000 bond.

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Local

Metro’s board will vote on modernizing the rules for highway funds later this month, potentially freeing them to be used on transit, Complete Streets, and active transportation projects.

 

State

A writer for Capitol Weekly notes that AB 550 isn’t dead yet, despite being stuck in the state assembly’s Appropriations Committee, where the bill to allow speed cam pilot programs faces a steep uphill climb.

A 61-year old New York pastor passes through Victorville on a cross-country fundraising ride, from LA’s Union Rescue Mission to the Bowery Mission in New York City.

 

National

Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss celebrates older bicycles, with their seemingly endless supply that flies in the face of shortages of new bikes caused by the bike boom.

On the other hand, Women’s Health recommends foldies, calling them “your ticket to getting pretty much anywhere local without sitting in traffic,” while storing conveniently in the hall closet when you’re done. Just try that with an SUV.

A Colorado letter writer asks if it’s legal to drive with a bike rack covering your car’s rear license plate; not surprisingly, the answer is a resounding no. It’s not legal here in California, either. And probably isn’t most places. 

NPR looks forward to the return of the Des Moines Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa, aka RAGBRAI, this summer, as the state works to bring back large events.

A Texas man who’s been on and off the streets was forced to walk over three miles to work every day after someone stole his bicycle.

It takes a major jerk to ripoff an Ohio nonprofit bike co-op. Let alone twice in two nights.

Immigrant bicycle couriers are banding together in New York to demand better working conditions, with one rider asking “If we’re essential, shouldn’t we have what’s essential to survive?”

Good advice. After an Alabama bike rider is killed trying to cross the street, a local bike shop owner advises riders to “be as visible as possible and don’t assume that someone sees you.” In fact, you’re usually better off assuming they don’t.

Um, no. Yet another clickbait bike survey, this time bizarrely claiming that Miami is the world’s second-most beautiful city for a bike ride, based on Instagram data. According to the survey, Miami only trails Chiang Mai, Thailand, and comes in ahead of Paris, Athens and Barcelona. As usual, Los Angeles doesn’t make that cut, either.

 

International

A writer in Havana says the city needs to reclaim its bike lanes, many of which were ripped out in favor of cars during the last decade, and that the communist government needs to put more bikes on the market — and maybe build them there, too.

In a socially distanced fundraiser, a record-holding, ultra-marathon riding Winnipeg, Canada grandfather will ride his bike for 24 hours to pick up checks from mailboxes to help feed orphaned kids in Kenya.

A reminder to ride carefully around other bicyclists, as a 62-year old Montreal man was critically injured when two bike riders somehow collided after he allegedly ran a red light.

A new survey from ebike maker Volt says 44% of Londoners are more likely to ride an ebike than use public transit. And in a city where transit actually works, too.

No surprise here, as Scottish bikeshares saw a huge jump in usage during the pandemic lockdowns.

A British bike rider died last year after falling through an open storm drain, leading to calls to cover them — something the US did a couple decades ago.

A European sports website ranks the top seven bikesharing apps, only one of which — Lime — you’ll find here.

Advocates in Berlin, Germany are campaigning to make the city’s popup pandemic bike lanes permanent. Which offers yet another reminder that Los Angeles can’t make them permanent, because they never installed any to begin with.

Moscow cracks down on e-scooter riders by using GPS data to impose speed controls, limiting scooters to a modest 9 mph in the city center. Thanks to Erik Griswold for this one.

A member of India’s parliament is riding a bike through the country’s dusty countryside to convince people to get vaccinated.

 

Competitive Cycling

VeloNews offers an eight-point plan to improve safety for gravel racers.

Bad news for Olympic mountain bike competitors, as Mathieu van der Poel was officially named to the Dutch mountain bike squad.

Anchorage, Alaska’s Lael Wilcox survived possums and snakes to win the women’s 338-mile Unbound Gravel XL race.

 

Finally…

Your next helmet could be custom 3D printed to fit your head. Go mountain biking from the comfort of your own Playstation.

And this is one way to make an impression. Although probably not a good one.

https://twitter.com/truckerE/status/1402395081198473216

Thanks again to Tim Rutt.

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

And get vaccinated, already.

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

Morning Links: More proof lower speed limit cuts casualties, and CA bill could allow lower limits on dangerous streets

February 27, 2018 / / One comment

One quick question before we start.

Does it count as Viking Biking in Los Angeles when there’s water falling from the sky?

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Evidently, 20 really is plenty.

Overall traffic injuries in Edinburgh, Scotland have dropped 24% since the city instituted a 20 mph speed limit. And fatalities and serious injuries dropped nearly a third.

More evidence that if Los Angeles is serious about Vision Zero — something that remains to be seen — it will have to get serious about lowing speed limits.

Which will be difficult to do under current state law.

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That effort could be aided a little by a new bill in the state legislature that would allow cities to lower speed limits on streets with a high crash rate.

The bill, AB 2363, sponsored by Glendale’s Laura Friedman, is a long way from repealing the state’s deadly 85th percentile law, which allows speeding drivers to set dangerously high speed limits.

But at least it’s a step in the right direction.

And one Los Angeles should support if we hope to make a dent in the city’s far-too-high fatality rate.

Then again, one death is one too many.

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Local

Ewan McGregor is one of us, as the paparazzi catch him going for a bike ride with his daughter in LA.

 

State

A woman was seriously injured in San Diego County’s Imperial Beach when she was struck by a left-turning driver as she rode with two other people in a bike lane. Needless to say, the driver claims he never saw her — and somehow concludes, based on that total lack of knowledge, that she never saw him, either. Thanks to Frank Lehnerz for the heads-up. 

People for Bikes offers lessons learned from San Francisco’s “lightening-fast, dirt-cheap” protected bike lanes.

 

National

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, studies show that Uber and Lyft are adding to the congestion on our streets, rather than reducing it.

Hawaii bike riders complain that drivers give cyclists less space on the road than they’d give a dog.

A Wisconsin city is making efforts to become more bike-friendly, nearly two centuries after bicycles first came to town. Even if one of the two bike-friendly businesses is the local tackle shop.

Dozens of Illinois cyclists took a 40-mile winter bike ride to promote year-round bicycling, and raise funds to buy a new bicycle for the local police department.

A Detroit newspaper looks at calls to boycott the maker of Giro, Bell, Camelbak and Copilot bike gear, because their parent company also make guns and ammunition, and supports the NRA.

A 77-year old Pennsylvania woman has donated the funds needed to finish a $1 million bike and pedestrian bridge over a highway, which will be named after her surgeon husband, who passed away last year.

Bike riders in Atlanta are complaining about cars blocking bike lanes. In other words, just like drivers do virtually everywhere else.

 

International

Nice story, as a mother worries, and does the research, when her 5-year old daughter asks if she can ride to school by herself.

A Toronto newspaper sings the praises of bicycling in Mexico City, while noting it’s still far from a bike paradise.

An Ottawa, Canada newspaper complains that bikes were an afterthought in plans for a new train line, after commissioners reject plans to ban bikes from the trains at rush hour.

Ebike sales are surging in Europe, as they give older and disabled people the opportunity to ride, while others look to reduce their carbon footprint.

The war on bikes continues, as a road raging English driver tries to run a bike rider off the road, before getting out and pushing him off his bike.

An automotive website looks at the problem of introducing dockless bikeshare to Amsterdam, where most residents already own one or more bikes, and don’t welcome the new bikes cluttering their sidewalks.

A Spanish man tells the tale of how he spent 28 days in a coma after being struck by lightening, then recovered enough to win a bronze medal at last year’s paracycling world championships. Oddly, he was struck just days after getting a lightening bolt tattoo.

New Zealand bicyclists complain that moving a bike lane to the opposite side of the street to avoid conflicts with bus stops has actually made it more dangerous.

Auckland, New Zealand turns to polka dot streets in an effort to get drivers to slow down and protect bike riders and pedestrians.

Caught on video: A lane-splitting Aussie bike rider slams into an 80-year old man who was crossing mid-block between stalled cars.

 

Competitive Cycling

Locals fear Philadelphia’s 33-year old professional bike race is over for good, after being canceled for the second straight year.

VeloNews offers photo essays from the winter Omloop and Muur cycling classics.

 

Finally…

When you feel the need for a hard ride, but don’t actually want to go anywhere. That feeling when the hit-and-run driver who ran you over is a Nintendo character in a go-kart.

And why bother building more bikeways when you can just declare your city bike-friendly?

 

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

Weekend Links: Own your own bicycle coffee café, slower driving works in Scotland, and WeHo candidate surveys

February 27, 2015 / / 3 comments

Ever want to just chuck your damn job and become self-unemployed self-employed like me?

Now you can become a bike-born coffee entrepreneur with your very own Wheelys.

No, not those kid’s shoes with a wheel in the heel.

But a full service café on wheels that folds out in just minutes to put you in the business of serving caffeine aficionados anywhere you can pedal. And it folds back down to store in the shipping container it came in, which doubles as a garage.

Think of it as your very own food truck. Without the truck.

Better yet, at just $3450, it costs less than a lot of road bikes. And less than 1% of the cost of opening your own Starbucks.

For that price, an enterprising cyclist could park one along PCH, and make enough to retire just from the riders who pass by.

Heck, I even want one.

If only to make sure I’ll have fresh coffee and Danish on my next ride.

Wheelys graphic

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As slower traffic speeds spread through Scotland, attitudes that bicycling is unsafe are changing, and more children are riding to school — jumping from 3% to 22% among older children in Edinburgh.

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Harelbeke posterThat ridiculous E3 Harelbeke poster has been banned.

As much as I hate censorship, this isn’t the way to promote bike riding to women. Or anyone but than teenage boys, for that matter.

Then again, it’s nothing new for the folks at Harelbeke.

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The West Hollywood Bicycle Coalition has received candidate surveys from 10 of the 12 candidates for the city’s three at-large seats in next week’s city council election.

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Still more bike events coming up this weekend and beyond.

Los Angeles Magazine recommends Saturday’s Chinatown Firecracker Run/Walk & Bike Ride, as does commenter Brian Nilsen.

Culver City Walk and Rollers will host a Family Fun Ride and Smart Gardening Workshop on Saturday.

UCLA’s Fowler Museum invites you to celebrate all things bicycle at the Bike Day Family Festival this Sunday.

The Santa Monica Bike Center is hosting a women-only Ladies Bike Ride for International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8th.

Zócalo and Metro host a discussion on whether Car Culture is Dead on Wednesday, March 11th at MOCA. We don’t actually have to kill car culture, just tame it.

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Local

Streetsblog asks what DTLA needs to do to get ready for bike share.

Tori Spelling teaches her unicorn-helmeted daughter how to ride a bike.

That gargantuan six-way Los Feliz mess where Hollywood Blvd, Hillhurst Ave, Sunset Blvd and Virgil Ave connect remains a challenge for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.

 

State

Maybe it really is a new era at Caltrans, as the notoriously auto-centric state transportation agency releases an annual report focusing on non-motorized travel. Although, as Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry points out, calling bicycling and walking non-motorized transportation is “like calling women nonmen.”

More confirmation of a change in attitude at the agency, as the Adventure Cycling Association looks at Caltrans’ agreement to allow bike tourists to legally ride through the high desert, completing the Bike Route 66 through the state. The ACA thanks Calbike and CABO, among others, for their help in finding a solution.

The San Diego Untion-Tribune says California’s proposed mandatory helmet law doesn’t make sense on the boardwalk, while BikeSD spells out the reasons a helmet law doesn’t make sense. And Pedal Love says requiring helmets is a step in the wrong direction; better to remember it’s another person out there, whether on a bike or behind the wheel.

A Sacramento bike shop doubles as a pedal-powered delivery service for farm-to-table restaurants.

A new city report says San Francisco is dangerous but not deadly for bike riders.

 

National

A trucking website suggests bikes could be the next wave in cargo hauling.

Clean Technica says the US has built as many protected bike lanes in the last two years as it had in the previous 140 years. But what exactly did bikes have to be protected from in 1875, except maybe outraged equestrians?

Maybe the LAPD should follow Portland’s lead and establish a bike theft task force.

A Colorado House committee votes to encourage dangerous driving by banning red light and speed cameras over the objections of law enforcement agencies.

Kentucky’s best known liability lawyer is back at work after a near-fatal bicycling collision; the driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card by saying he was blinded by the sun.

A Boston doctor says bicycling can help provide relief from migraine symptoms. Having blown chunks home more than once trying to make it back home home after developing one while riding, I can truthfully say it didn’t help me.

Credit fellow bike blogger the Witch on a Bicycle for pointing out a New York site that keeps track of cops who park in bike lanes, including here in LA.

Parking wins out over bike lanes in Princeton NJ.

 

International

Saskatoon gets its first protected bike lane this spring.

London introduces bike-friendly construction trucks loaded with safety features in an attempt to reduce bike fatalities, while a UK cyclist argues it’s safer to jump red lights, even if the cops ticket you for it.

A British woman posts a public sign demanding the return of her stolen bike.

Caught on video: A Brit bike rider jumps a railroad barricade as a train bears down on him.

A Chinese man set out on a bike ride in 1997 to explore different cultures. And he’s been cycling around the world ever since.

 

Finally…

Here’s your chance to be a star, as a British TV show is looking for a “speed freak” bicyclist to travel the world competing in local racing events, including Mongolian yak racing. You could own your very own Transformer as Ford patents plans for a car that reassembles into a bicycle.

And LA’s notorious bike thieves take it too damn far by snatching one of those new bicycle-shaped Echo Park bike racks.

I wonder if they realize it’s not really a bike.

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Not only was Leonard Nimoy one of us, but William Shatner stole his bike.

 

Category: Bike Events, Morning Links, The business of bikes / Tags: , , , , , , ,
 
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