Tag Archive for South Los Angeles

58-year old man struck and killed by two drivers on Crenshaw Blvd in South LA; one driver fled the scene

January 19, 2024 / / Comments Off on 58-year old man struck and killed by two drivers on Crenshaw Blvd in South LA; one driver fled the scene

Now they’re ganging up on us.

A man was killed trying to cross Crenshaw Blvd on his bicycle Wednesday night when he was struck by two drivers in rapid succession — one of whom fled the scene.

According to KTLA-5, the victim was attempting to cross Crenshaw from west to east, just south of Stocker Street, when he was struck by a driver traveling north on Crenshaw around 7:30 pm.

He was flung into the air, and was struck by a speeding driver, also heading north on Crenshaw, after hitting the pavement.

The first driver had the basic human decency to remain at the scene and attempt to aid the victim.

The second one didn’t.

The victim, identified only as a 59-year old man, died at the scene.

The story notes that he was crossing outside of a marked crosswalk, even though there is no requirement, or even an expectation, for people on bicycles to use one.

Police are looking for the driver of what witnesses described only as a sedan, which would likely have some front end damage. That doesn’t exactly give them a lot to go on.

As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD South Traffic Detective Ryan Moreno at 323/421-2500, or the South Traffic Watch Commander at 323/421-2577 or 1-877/527-3247.

This is at least the third bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the second that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the first in the City of Los Angeles.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for the victim and his loved ones.

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

Riding a bike to cure Blue Monday, results from LA’s Universal Basic Mobility pilot, and we’re #1 in hit-and-run

January 16, 2024 / / Comments Off on Riding a bike to cure Blue Monday, results from LA’s Universal Basic Mobility pilot, and we’re #1 in hit-and-run
If you haven’t already, stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding a public meeting with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking and biking on the streets of LA.

Then share it — and keep sharing it — with everyone you know, on every platform you can.

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Today is officially Blue Monday, a term coined by a British shrink to mark the “convergence of post-holiday blues, cold weather, and the realization that New Year’s resolutions might be more challenging than anticipated,” that accumulate around the third Monday in January.

But Momentum argues that riding a bicycle is the perfect way to beat the blues.

And forget the Prozac. A new study from the University of Edinburgh found that commuting by bicycle can improve mental health, and that people who bike to work are less likely to be prescribed antidepressants.

Photo by Burst from Pexels.

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Next City reports the results are in from the nation’s largest Universal Basic Mobility experiment.

LADOT and LA Metro teamed to give a “mobility wallet” to 1,000 lower-income South Los Angeles residents — a reloadable debit card providing $150 per month to spend on almost any form of transportation.

The key word is “almost.”

The catch? Funds can be used to take the bus, ride the train, rent a shared e-scooter, take micro-transit, rent a car-share, take an Uber or Lyft, or even purchase an e-bike — but they can’t be spent on the cost of owning or operating a car.

After the first six months of the one-year program, which ends in April, the biggest surprise has been the reliance on ride-hailing services.

According to data from the first six months of the program, the majority of estimated trips taken have been on public transportation (40,087 trips out of 67,379). The majority of the funds (about $500,000) have gone to ride-hailing or taxi services like Uber and Lyft, for about 26,000 trips at an average cost of $20.

You could buy a pretty nice bicycle for $1,800 for the full year.

But then you’d have to find a safe place to ride it, which isn’t always easy in Los Angeles. Especially in South LA.

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We’re number one!

Which should make us all feel like number two.

According to a study by Personal Injury Law Firm Suzuki Law Offices, California leads the nation for the rate of hit-and-run collisions in the state, with drivers fleeing in nearly 10.5% of crashes, compared to a national average of 6.3%.

Although seems low, given that other sources say nearly half of all crashes here in Los Angeles are hit-and-runs.

Either way, it’s too damn high. And long past time state officials actally did something about it.

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LA traffic safety organizations Streets Are For Everyone, Streets For All, Street Racing Kills and Santa Monica Spoke are teaming up for another die-in on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday, January 27th to protest the ever-rising rate of traffic deaths in the City of Angels.

I won’t be able to make it this time due to yet another medical appointment, as my doctors work to keep my own body from trying to kill me.

So make plans to be there in my place, and demand that city officials hear us and actually do something to halt traffic violence, instead of the usual endless talks and studies.

Or just ignoring the problem, which is what they do best.

Along with the die-in, supporting the Healthy Streets LA ballot initiative in the March 5th election is a good place to start.

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I want to be like him when I grow up.

A short documentary from a professional filmmaker looks at his 90-year old grandfather, who still finds joy in riding a bicycle.

Then again, what’s not to love?

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26 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And 30 months since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law, and counting.

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

Men’s Journal blamed ebike battery fires for being a leading cause of death in New York City. They only missed the mark by a factor of 1,000.

A road raging London driver was taken away in handcuffs following an escalating dispute that ended with him knocking another man off his bicycle, throwing his bike away, and running over a passing bike rider who stopped to help.

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

Miami’s annual Wheels Up, Guns Down bike ride once again took over the streets of the city, but what originally began as a ride to end gun violence once again devolved into a two-wheeled street takeover, with teenaged bicyclists, as well as dirt bike and ATV riders, performing stunts in traffic and raiding convenience stores; police made over 100 arrests.

Four English bike riders were fined after police in Surrey stopped a group ride for running a red light, and posted video of it online.

A British teenager faces charges of causing grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon — the ebike he was riding when he crashed into a cop, seriously injuring the officer.

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Local 

The Los Angeles Times says don’t bet on AI reducing traffic congestion on California roads, despite Caltrans request for Artificial Intelligence companies to pitch AI products to cut congestion and improve safety, noting that nothing short of a global pandemic has had an effect on our traffic. So maybe the solution is providing safe and efficient alternatives to driving, instead.

Streetsblog looks at Safe Routes to School improvements in Koreatown.

 

State

No bias here. A new state report shows California cops stop Black drivers a whopping 132% more than expected, based on a comparison of stop data and residential population.

A writer for the Orange County Register says the climate was the big loser in Gavin Newsom’s new state budget.

Bad news from Ukiah, where a 75-year old man died after falling off his bicycle.

 

National

Velo argues both sides of the issue when it comes to vehicle warning lights to prevent doorings, suggesting they’re useful, but encouraging drivers to use the Dutch Reach by opening doors with their right hand is better.

Momentum talks with the founder of Black Girls Do Bike about the organization’s remarkable growth.

A new anti-theft light uses Apple’s Find My tech to locate your bike anywhere in the world. Which is great if a thief can’t simply remove it from your handlebars.

Seattle Transit Blog says building bike lanes is a good idea, but not if they’ll prevent future bus lanes.

While we continue to wait for California’s moribund ebike voucher program to launch, the small southwestern Colorado town of Durango is tripling the funding for its ebike voucher program, with $150,000 earmarked for the town of less than 20,000 people.

A DC food delivery rider keeps smiling, despite working 17 hour days with his foot in a surgical boot after he was struck by a car in September.

 

International

A new device from Red Bull can turn your bike into an ebike in mere seconds — the second time you use it, anyway.

Talk about bike riders behaving badly. A 43-year old man executed in front of his wife and toddler son as they returned home from a Brazilian bike ride turned out to be a notorious Serbian hit man who’s been on the run from Interpol for the last decade. Thanks to Steven Hallett for the link.

A new study suggests that Toronto police data captures only a small fraction of bicycling injuries, with police reports registering only eight percent of bicycling injuries compared to hospital and ER records over a five year period. The same would probably hold true for any large city, Los Angeles included.

I want to ne like her when I grow up, too. A Toronto woman is still riding at 77, after 56 years on a bike; despite the toll of age and a recent injury, she still feels more comfortable riding a bicycle in rush hour traffic than walking or driving.

Canadians are ditching their cars for bicycles, even in the cold of winter. Yet we’re somehow supposed to believe that Angelenos won’t bike to work in our much balmier climate.

A Scottish BBC presenter says he’s not afraid of dying, after doctors discovered an incurable brain tumor following a fall off his bicycle.

Serious bicycling injuries and deaths have jumped by a third in London over the past five years, far outpacing the 14% growth in bicycling rates over the same period, despite the city’s investment in protected bikeways and slow streets.

A writer for London’s Guardian asks whether tech giant Lime’s ubiquitous dockless bikeshare bikes and e-scooters are a “convenient and sustainable form of transport or a menace clogging up pavements.”

Speaking of Lime bikes, a defender for London’s Fulham soccer team was spotted riding one home following a loss to Chelsea, forgoing the usual luxury car.

An estimated 500 people biked through the streets of London to mark the 100th day since the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel, including one man whose son died in the attack. Meanwhile, an Australian ride was marred by genocide graffiti sprayed on the wall of a Jewish community center. We’ll have photos from the Santa Monica ride later this week.

The Guardian remembers London’s Lycra lads circa 1987, bike messengers who “were fast, brightly dressed, sometimes earned decent money and rarely obeyed the Highway Code.”

That feeling when Pinarello’s “Fast and Furious new colorways,” aren’t.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling website looks forward to eight women’s only bicycling events.

A 22-year old man in India built his own DIY solar powered ebike that seats up to seven people, for the equivalent of just $100.

A new study in the prestigious British Medical Journal shows Australian bicycling deaths have declined an average of 1.1% annually over the past 30 years — except for people over 60, who now make up 50% of all bicycling deaths. The authors suggest greater fragility among older riders, though the answer could be as simple as more older bike riders on the roads. 

 

Competitive Cycling

L39ION of Los Angeles unveiled its new team roster for the coming season, as co-founder Cory Williams and several team veterans move to Florida to compete for the Miami Blazers cycling team.

 

Finally…

Who needs a mere bicycle when you can pedal your very own velomobile? That feeling when you can’t tell if it’s a bike path or a slalom course.

And your next ebike could tell you where to go.

And how to get there.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan

September 1, 2023 / / Comments Off on Trial starts for alleged Riverside road rage murder, ghost tire memorial in South LA, and new Metro Active Transportation Plan

Welcome to your last pre-Thanksgiving three-day weekend — not to mention the opening weekend for college football. 

Which means you can count on a higher than usual percentage of drunks and otherwise intoxicated people on the roads. 

So the usual protocol applies. 

Ride defensively. And if you’re riding anytime after noon today, assume every driver you see has had a few. 

Chances are, you won’t be far off. 

I expect to see you back here bright and early Tuesday morning. And I don’t want to have to write about you, unless maybe you pull a pack of puppies out of a burning building or something. 

Photo by Sora Shimazaki from Pexels.

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A 33-year old Riverside man is going on trial for murder with a deadly weapon enhancement, for the alleged road rage killing of a man riding a bicycle.

Sergio Reynaldo Gutierrez reportedly made a U-turn to reverse direction and run down 46-year old Benedicto Solanga from behind following an apparent traffic-related dispute between the two men.

Gutierrez was arrested three weeks after the July, 2021 vehicular assault, and continues to be held on $1 million bond.

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This is who we share the road with.

LA’s second ghost tire memorial was installed yesterday to honor the three Uber passengers killed in a high speed crash in South Los Angeles.

The victims, including two sisters, were riding in the back seat of the Uber when 31-year old Gregory Black slammed into them while racing through red lights at up to 100 mph.

Black, described as a known gang member with an extensive rap sheet, was charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter, and held on $4 million bond.

So much for the myth that bail is based strictly on the suspect’s ability to pay. And not a reflection of how seriously prosecutors take the crime.

Black was already serving a five-year probation following his release from prison for attempted murder.

Meanwhile, a 17-year old Las Vegas boy faces a murder charge for intentionally killing a bike-riding man, after video posted online indicated the fatal hit-and-run two weeks ago wasn’t an accident.

The teen was allegedly driving a stolen car and already fleeing an earlier hit-and-run.

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Metro unveiled the LA County transit agency’s new Active Transportation Strategic Plan on Tuesday.

According to Southern California Newsgroup’s Steve Scauzillo, the plan will “create a chain of paths, regional bikeways and pedestrian crossings to connect passengers who are walking, rolling or bicycling to and from the transit agency’s train lines, bus stops and depots.”

Metro, during a virtual public meeting Tuesday afternoon, Aug. 29, outlined three areas for improvement, identifying 602 “first and last mile” areas located near transit, 81 pedestrian districts and 1,433 miles of regional bikeways.

Just completing the list of regional bikeways, which would connect to existing ones, would cost about $36 billion, which is four times the entire LA Metro annual budget.

The plan has a focus on equity, improving service and safety first in areas where fewer people own cars, including including mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods.

But as we’ve seen with the City of Los Angeles, it’s one thing to make a plan, and another to implement it, as ActiveSGV’s special programs director Wesley Reutimann pointed out.

He said Metro should redirect budget dollars from highways toward completing bikeways and walkways. But getting the OK from cities and landowners can gum up the works. Metro is also asking cities to help fund the projects or apply for grant dollars. This can delay or nix projects altogether, he said.

“Long story short: Metro did a plan (in 2016) and most of it was never implemented. It just feels like this plan update is window dressing,” Reutimann said.

Even a fraction of what the agency wastes on highway engorgements could go a long way towards actually implementing this plan.

Let’s hope someone over there figures out how to do that.

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This will be great if it actually happens.

And that’s a big if.

A pair of Los Angeles City Council motions call for streamlining operations between LADOT, LA Street Services, the Bureau of Engineering, and the Bureau of Street Lighting, as well as developing a five-year infrastructure spending plan for the city.

Correction, they both call for a pair of studies on how to do it.

Which is what the Los Angeles city government does best — study problems, rather than actually solve them.

And as we saw with the city council alternative to the Healthy Streets LA initiative, those 60 day deadlines can easily slip to a full year, if ever.

So this will be great if it actually happens. But we’ve been here too many times before.

Let’s hope someone holds the city’s feet to the fire and makes it happen this time.

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A Denver TV station provides more information on the crash that severely injured professional ultra endurance bicyclist Jay Petervary as he was attempting to set a new record for the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route.

Investigators concluded Petervary was riding on a mountain highway in central Colorado when he was rear-ended by a 16-year old driver, who may have been speeding, while attempting to pass on a “straight on a wide, open road with no trees or obstructions.”

Petervary says he landed about 20 yards from his bike, skidding face first on the roadway.

He is now focusing on his recovery while his wife organizes his transport back home to Idaho, his future care and the legal repercussions. Donations are still being accepted for the Be Good Foundation. As of Thursday morning, he had raised about $9,500 of the $20,000 goal.

Petervary has a lengthy history with long-distance racing. The sponsored athlete has competed for 25 years, exploring new routes and races. But he also loves providing experiences and opportunities for others, he wrote on his website. He has adopted the mantra “Ride Forward” in not only his athletic endeavors, but in his business, relationships, friendships and more.

“It also meant to not have regrets or get bogged down in the past but also reflect and learn to move forward more fluidly,” he wrote online.

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While we’re catching up on crashes, an Arizona TV station talks with the Flagstaff bicyclist who was sideswiped by the driver of a passing RV, taking out around a dozen riders on a group ride like so many bowling pins.

Saturday, Wallace was biking on Lake Mary Road with a local cycling group, “Team Pay and Take” when he was hit in the head by an RV’s side mirror. His helmet came off, and he then crashed into multiple cyclists behind him, causing a pileup. “I mean, these people are like family,” Wallace said. “You know you ride with them every week. My partner was on the ride as well and she crashed right behind me. So your first thought is just like is everyone OK?”

Wallace said the person driving the RV stopped and cooperated with police, but this is an important reminder to share the road as it’s state law to give cyclists at least 3 feet of space. “I think it’s just a sad point that when we get behind the wheel of a car, we don’t see our fellow humans out there as someone who has someone to go home to after the ride,” Wallace said.

No word yet on whether the driver will faces charges; at last report, he was only ticketed for an unsafe pass.

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Good question.

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There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a handcycle from a disabled paracyclist.

Some schmuck did the same thing in St. Louis, too.

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Canada’s prime minister is one of us. And so are his kids.

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No surprise here, as a new Belgian study shows you’re twice as likely to be killed in a collision with a bigass pickup or SUV than with a typical passenger car.

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What’s the point of bike skills, if you can’t use them to clear a little litter off the road?

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Why settle for a hoverboard when you can turn it into a LEGO-like DIY Franken-ebike?

With sideways wheels, no less.

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

No bias here. The editor of WeHoVille continues his campaign against bike lanes in the city, citing the removal of the MOVE Culver City project as a warning for West Hollywood, while mischaracterizing the highly successful project that was removed by Culver City’s newly conservative council.

No bias here, either. Residents of León, Guanajuato, Mexico protested plans for a new bike lane, arguing that “about 8 cyclists pass the whole morning,” while official stats say over 65 times that many people ride it every day. Never mind that many more would probably ride there if they felt safer. 

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Local 

Far from abandoning bike lanes, Culver City is proposing mostly 2.5-mile protected bike lanes for lower Overland Ave below Venice Blvd.

Pasadena will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony a week from tomorrow for a new 1.5-mile-long, two-way protected bike lane on Union Street between Arroyo Parkway and Hill Ave; the project, which includes a 1/3-mile bicycle boulevard, is the first of its kind in the city.

Claremont residents debate whether to protect kids on their way to and from school with safety improvements including a curb-protected bike lane, but what’s the life of a little kid when it might inconvenience older bike riders or someone ordering pizza? Thanks to Erik Griswold for the link.

Shaq is one of us, riding a custom-made 36″ mountain bike nicknamed The Thompson Beast.

 

State

The CHP has introduced a free, learn-at-your-own-pace online ebike safety class, as required by a new bill signed into law by Governor Newsom last year; the bill was authored by Encinitas Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, who is behind the current effort to require licenses to ride ebikes — and who snatched the state’s latest effort to pass a Stop As Yield law from the jaws of victory.

San Francisco Streetsblog’s Roger Ruddick calls on the city’s transportation agency to tow drivers who park in bike lanes, after talking the staff at a bagel shop into refusing to serve a driver who parked in a protected bike lane in front of the shop. Note to traffic engineers and planners — if someone can park in it, it’s not protected.

Oakland residents are calling for more protected bike lanes, after the tragic death of a four-year old girl who was doored while riding on the back of her father’s bike. And yes, she was wearing a helmet and strapped into her seat.

 

National

A new study provides some of the data we’ve been missing on pediatric ebike usage, showing that while riders of regular bikes under the age of 18 were more likely to suffer injuries, ebike riders were 2.4 times more likely to suffer severe injuries requiring hospitalization.

A writer for Electrek takes the contrarian view to the current ebike panic, arguing that we need more teenagers on ebikes, not fewer.

Retired Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon accurately called Lance Armstrong a cheater when the ex-Tour de France winner argued trans athletes should compete in their own division, when both were competing on the Fox show Stars on Mars.

Outside says you should spend at least $250 on bike bibs, arguing that high-end bibs will literally save your ass. I’ll reserve comment, since I’ve never spent more than a fraction of that, and my ass is still firmly attached.

Washington state is set to begin a $1,200 ebike rebate program next year, as well as establishing a series of ebike lending libraries across the state.

Boulder, Colorado threatens to beat California to the ebike rebate punch with the city’s second round of ebike vouchers, before California gets around to issuing its first.

An 83-year old Iowa man was killed by a 77-year old driver, which once again raises the question of how old is too old to drive. Anyone who can still ride at that age deserves better. Then again, so do the rest of us.

A 30-year old Milwaukee man has been arrested for the hit-and-run, street racing crash that killed an 11-year old boy, even though police were quick to blame the victim for veering into traffic and not wearing a helmet.

A Vermont armed robbery suspect made his getaway from the cops by car, on foot, on a stolen bicycle and a purloined sailboat; at last report, he was still on the lam.

Streetsblog explains a new, “very controversial bill from a noted opponent” of increased bicycling that would require ebike registration in New York City.

Madonna is still one of us, riding around New York with friends and her personal trainer, just weeks after surviving a life-threatening infection.

That’s more like it. A Louisiana semi-truck driver is facing a negligent homicide charge for killing a man riding a bicycle by sideswiping the victim while attempting to pass his bike on a curve; the charge is an upgrade from an initial ticket for violating the state’s three-foot passing law.

New Orleans workers organize the first e-bikeshare employees union. Which is actually the second, because Metro Bike employees beat them to it, unless you want to split hairs since LA’s system includes both ebikes and regular bikes

A Florida transit bus driver has been busted for hit-and-run after allegedly crashing into a bike rider, then just continuing on his route rather than stopping; fortunately, the victim did not suffer life-threatening injuries.

 

International

Cannondale is the latest bikemaker to jump on the e-cargo bike bandwagon, with the bikes premiering in Europe this fall for the equivalent of $4,300.

Momentum offers ten reasons why cargo bikes top mini vans as the perfect family vehicle.

An English town swears their new ban on bikes in the city center won’t target disabled or “old and slow” bicyclists, after police ticked an 82-year old man for violating the ban.

A Welsh cop who was tailing two ebike-riding teenagers just before the crash that killed both of them now faces a criminal probe for dangerous driving; the deaths sparked riots when the cops denied following the boys.

Dockless scooters have been scoured from the streets of Paris, on the eve of a ban overwhelmingly approved by voters.

Dutch ebike-maker VanMoof will live on, after the company was purchased out of bankruptcy by Britain’s Lavoie, which makes high-end scooters based on McLaren’s Formula 1 tech; current VanMoof owners appeared to welcome the purchase.

Germany’s Buycycle is bringing its online marketplace for used and refurbished bicycles to the US. Let’s hope they have some mechanism in place to weed out stolen bikes. 

An Italian city counselor warns bicyclists not to ride in Milan because it’s too dangerous; the city is attempting to improve safety by requiring sensors on heavy vehicles to detect bike riders and pedestrians.

An Indian woman is calling for a fresh approach to urban planning, saying the country needs a greater emphasis on bicycling to boost the enrollment of girls in both urban and rural schools, increase productivity for individuals, and reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

Philippine bicyclists and motorcyclists reject a proposal for a shared lane along a busy roadway. Seriously, just because they’re both called bikes and have two wheels doesn’t make them compatible.

 

Competitive Cycling

American super-domestique Sepp Kuss soloed to victory in the sixth stage of the Vuelta, high-fiving fans the final 50 yards; meanwhile, Remco Evenepoel lost time to key rivals Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard, as he handed the leader’s jersey to France’s Lenny Martinez.

The annual Tour of Britain kicks on in Manchester tomorrow; Cycling Weekly offers a complete guide to the race.

 

Finally…

When life gives you a No Cycling sign, just turn it into a heart. That feeling when it takes longer to certify a record for riding around the world than it did to set it.

And why pedal through Burning Man when your butt can do the work?

@spotlightrose

Wierd people doing weird shit! #burningman

♬ original sound – Annie Bond

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

No one was ever charged in the case.

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

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

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

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

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

Which he did.

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

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

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

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

Thanks to David Drexler for the heads-up.

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

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

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Good question.

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

Or anywhere else, for that matter?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Local 

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

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

 

State

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

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

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

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

 

National

Your Strava privacy could be at risk.

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

 

Finally…

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

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

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Why LA fails the transit density test, new Metro K-Line bike lockers, and West Hollywood to give free bikes to residents

December 1, 2022 / / Comments Off on Why LA fails the transit density test, new Metro K-Line bike lockers, and West Hollywood to give free bikes to residents

It’s the 7th day of the 8th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive! 

There’s never been a charge to visit this site. No subscription fees, no paywall. Anyone and everyone is welcome, at any time, for any reason. 

This is the only time of year we ask you to contribute what you can to help keep it that way. 

So ask yourself, what this site is worth to you? Then take a moment right now, and donate via PayPal or Zelle.

And thanks to Paul F, Johannes H, The Muirs, Audrey K and Anonymous for their generous support to keep SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy coming your way every day.

Give today!

………

A new Brookings Institute report says creating urban activity centers combining “community institutions, tourism destinations, consumption amenities, major institutions, and jobs in traded sectors” are key to green commutes.

Which helps explain why Los Angeles ranks so low in transit use, despite its high density, since those activity centers are so widely dispersed, and lack many of the key components.

Thanks to Gordon Chaffin for the heads-up.

………

Metro reports bike lockers are now available at five K Line stations, on what was formerly known as the Crenshaw Line.

The lockers can now be found at —

  • Expo/Crenshaw
  • MLK Jr.
  • Leimart Park
  • Fairview Heights
  • Downtown Inglewood

………

West Hollywood is partnering with Schwinn to give away 50 free bicycles to WeHo residents in an effort to reduce car dependency.

You have to be over 18, and commit to riding at least 20 miles a month.

Although that really should be 20 miles a week, but still.

You can apply for the program here.

………

The last CicLAvia of the year rolls through historic South LA this Sunday, with an early 3 pm cutoff.

The latest weather forecast calls for showers ending late morning, leading to a cool and sunny afternoon.

So bundle up, and get out there for one last carfree celebration before the holidays.

………

This is who we share the road with.

Police in San Luis Obispo responded to a report of a driver striking a curb before hitting a street sign and crashing into a bridge abutment.

When the driver failed to show signs of intoxication, they just wrote it off as an oopsie, and had the car towed.

And somehow missed the couple lying dead in a creak bed, along with their dog, hidden under thick brush.

It wasn’t until their bodies were found the next day that police realized the speeding driver had slammed into them as they were walking their dog.

Which led police to go back and “interview” the 24-year old driver.

Not interrogate. Not arrest. Not even ticket.

At least, not yet. And maybe never.

Thanks to How the West Was Saved for the link.

………

Nothing like watching someone use bolt cutters to steal a bike in broad daylight.

 

………

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

No bias here. A New York judge pointed a finger at the city’s “problem” with ebikes and motorized bicycles, as he sentenced a man to one to three years behind bars for killing Gone Girl and Broadway actor Lisa Banes as she was crossing the street — even though the careless, red light-running rider was on an e-scooter.

No bias here, either. A New York writer suggests combating the scourge of ebikes by picking up your takeout in person, claiming speeding ebike riders have made jaywalking a blood sport.

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

Police in Oxnard CA are on the lookout for a bike-riding bank robber who made his escape on two wheels after ripping off a Wells Fargo.

……..

………

Local 

Urbanize LA offers more details on the $5.1 in Westside transportation improvements approved by the city council this week, in one of outgoing CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin’s final acts on the council.

 

State 

Palo Alto is considering a ban on ebikes on unpaved trails in local nature preserves, apparently concluding that only strong, able-bodied people who don’t need a ped-assist should visit them.

A San Francisco op-ed says Slow Streets helped bring the city’s Noe Valley community together, and the city needs more of them.

Police in Rancho Cordova arrested a 42-year old homeless man in the apparent unprovoked attack with a machete on a 60-year old, recently retired ebike rider, whose injuries were described as “unsurvivable.”

 

National

Streetsblog looks at where bikes scored big in the recent election.

A podcast from Outside looks at what happens to drivers who hit bicyclists. Short answer: Not much, in most cases.

More harm caused by motor vehicles, as researchers blame rubber particulates from car tires for a massive die-off of coho salmon in the Pacific Northwest.

The head man at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas is one of us, using a bicycle to get around the massive event.

Axios says Transportation Secretary Pete is big on bikes, as he stops in Chicago to promote aviation workers.

A furious Chicago father demands safe routes to schools after drivers hit his bike-riding daughter, not once but twice. Although he seems a lot calmer than I would have been under the circumstances.

That’s more like it. An Ohio man was sentenced to eight to twelve years behind bars for the drugged, head-on crash that killed a man riding a bicycle; he also lost his driver’s license for life and prohibited from buying or owning a motor vehicle.

Massachusetts Hyundai dealers honored Springfield’s Bob the Bike Man for his efforts to get more kids on bicycles despite suffering from a terminal brain condition.

Life is cheap in New York, where a cab driver walked with just a lousy one-year license suspension after his passenger fatally doored a bike rider when he failed to pull up to the curb to let them out.

Baltimore residents and business owners sound a familiar refrain, claiming they weren’t told about plans for a lane reduction and protected bike lanes, even though they’d been in the works for years.

Life is cheap in Louisiana, where a 29-year old woman walked without a day behind bars for killing a man riding a bicycle, after a judge suspended her entire five-year sentence.

 

International

No surprise here, as a new study shows protected bike lane networks have “significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower transport costs, prevent road fatalities, and improve the quality of life for people” around the world, concluding that bike lanes “reduce emissions as effectively as highways create them.”

Cyclist offers tips on how to keep your bike from squeaking and creaking. Although a well-lubed bike won’t do anything to keep you from doing creaking.

Cycling Weekly recommends the best holiday sales on bikes and bicycle gear in the US and the UK.

The UK’s leading bike-building school is permanently shuttering its doors, battered by Covid, Brexit and unrelenting financial challenges.

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson departed office with a number of gifts — included a secondhand, $4,800 bike from the president of Kurdistan.

The new SUB from Vienna-based Vello claims to be the world’s lightest e-cargo bike, checking in at a svelte 53 pounds for the titanium version.

Bicycling says Budapest residents are pedaling to power the city’s Christmas tree, which was jeopardized by the ongoing energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

More proof bicyclists face the same problems everywhere, as bike riders in Dwarka, India demand better bike infrastructure, arguing there’s currently nothing to protect them.

NPR reports more Afghans are using bikes to get around as the economy continues to decline following the Taliban’s takeover of the country, even though women and girls are now prohibited from riding, even if they had before.

An Israeli study shows 70% of ebike and e-scooter users who suffered facial injuries weren’t wearing helmets.

An Italian ultracyclist is attempting to bike across the bottom of the world, setting off on a record-setting effort to fat bike across Antarctica.

 

Competitive Cycling

Tragic news from Italy, where former Amstel Gold Race, La Fleche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Paris-Nice champ Davide Rebellin was killed when he was hit by a truck on a training ride; the Italian cyclist was still competing at age 51, despite a two-year doping ban that cost him an Olympic silver medal.

The Tour de France will depart from its traditional Paris finish for the first time in 2024, looking for a nice finish in Nice, instead.

Trans cyclist Emily Bridges says she still dreams of riding for Wales at the Commonwealth Games, even after the UK barred new trans cyclists from competition pending a review scheduled for next year.

 

Finally…

Charles Barkley is five grand poorer after losing a bet that he could ride a kid’s bike, even though Shaq could. San Diegans name their cute little street sweeper.

And look ma, no hands.

Or feet, for that matter.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

………

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

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

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

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

………

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

………

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

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

………

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

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

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

………

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

This time in Austin, Texas.

………

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

@norfolkdashcam

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

♬ original sound – Norfolk Dash Cam

………

Now that’s what I call an endorsement.

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

………

‘Tis the season.

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

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

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

………

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

………

Local

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

 

State 

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

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

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

 

National

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

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

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

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

 

International

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

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

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

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

 

Competitive Cycling

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

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

 

Finally…

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

No, not the kind you eat.

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

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Update: Man riding bicycle killed in South LA’s Florence neighborhood; 22nd SoCal bicyclist killed in hit-and-runs this year

September 30, 2022 / / Comments Off on Update: Man riding bicycle killed in South LA’s Florence neighborhood; 22nd SoCal bicyclist killed in hit-and-runs this year

This isn’t the news anyone wanted to end our week with.

The LAPD is looking for a hit-and-run driver who killed a man riding a bicycle in the Florence neighborhood of South Los Angeles last night.

The victim, identified only as an adult male, was riding north on Wall Street at 61st Street when he was run down by the driver of a westbound panel van around 11 pm Thursday.

He died at the scene.

The driver continued without stopping, dragging the victim around 30 feet underneath the van. Police say he had to have felt the impact and known he’d hit something.

The crash, which was caught on security cam, took place on a quiet residential intersection controlled only by two-way stop signs on Wall. KCBS-2 suggests the victim may have run the stop sign, though that is unclear at this time.

Police are looking for a white commercial panel van with a roof rack and conduit carrier, possibly a 1996 to 2022 GMC Savana or Chevrolet Express, with likely front end damage.

Investigators speculate the driver may be a plumber or construction worker who lives in the area.

Anyone with information is urged to call LAPD Officer Alex Guizar, Central Traffic Detectives, at 213/833-3713 or email 39761@lapd.online, or call the Central Traffic Division Watch Commander at 213/833-3746.

As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for any fatal hit-and-run in the City of Los Angeles.

This is at least the 69th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the 21st that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County; it’s also the 11th in the City of Los Angeles.

Twenty-two of those SoCal deaths have been hit-and-runs.

Update: The victim has been identified as 72-year old James Ledford. 

My deepest sympathy and prayers for James Ledford and all his loved ones.

 

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

6th Street Viaduct bike lanes get failing grade from bicyclists, and LA mayor candidate Karen Bass rides CicLAvia

July 11, 2022 / / Comments Off on 6th Street Viaduct bike lanes get failing grade from bicyclists, and LA mayor candidate Karen Bass rides CicLAvia

There were two big events in the Los Angeles bike world this weekend.

Although which will have a bigger impact in the long run remains to be seen.

First up is the official opening of the long awaited replacement for the crumbling, 1930’s 6th Street Viaduct.

The lengthy, multiple arched bridge stretching over the LA River, rail yards and highways received rave reviews from almost everyone, with outgoing LA Mayor Eric Garcetti calling it “our generation’s love letter to the city.”

With the exception of people on two wheels, that is, who questioned why a little more of the $588 million budget couldn’t have gone towards a better protected bike lane.

Something the LA Times just touched on.

“The layout is perfect,” Stevi Hardy said to her friends as she contemplated the design. “I wish the bike lane was more permanent. It would just be safer if there was a cement protection.”

The bike path is protected by plastic bollards with low rubber stoppers. A car had already rolled over one, according to a tweet.

Hardy and her husband are members of the Montebello Bicycle Coalition and trekked to the bridge with friends from various parts of Southeast Los Angeles County. Their son, Miller, who is 2, offered a thumbs-up from his shaded bicycle seat before doing his best Spider-Man impression, shooting a pretend web.

This complaints start at the beginning, which is oddly far from the start of the bridge, forcing riders to share the lane with impatient drivers for the first 200 feet.

The good news is there are some connections to the bridge from some existing bike lanes.

The bad, not enough. And not safe enough.

Then there’s the limited protected offered by the low curbs and chubby plastic bendy posts.

Which didn’t stand up to the very first vehicles on the very first day.

Top rendering from 6th Street Viaduct Twitter account.

………

Next up is the triumphant return of CicLAvia, which took over South LA’s Western Ave in the year’s first event.

CD8 Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson struck the right note in opening the day’s festivities.

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Karen Bass demonstrated she’s one us, as she rode Sunday’s CicLAvia along with her brother.

However, billionaire mall developer Rick Caruso, her competitor in the race, was apparently a no show, missing a golden opportunity to demonstrate a more human side and connect with thousands of LA voters.

Next up is a return of the popular Meet The Hollywoods CicLAvia through Hollywood and West Hollywood next month.

………

CLR Effect and Claremont Cyclist author Michael Wagner forwards a heartbreaking report about the installation of a ghost bike for Debbie Morgan-Alam, who was killed late last month by an alleged DUI driver.

Wagner reports her alleged 19-year old killer was driving with three times the legal alcohol limit, and with cannabis in her system.

Although the legal alcohol limit for underage drivers is zero.

Photos by Michael Wagner

Personally, I hate ghost bikes. I hope I never see another one.

But I will keep supporting them as long as people keep dying needlessly on our streets.

………

This is who we share the internet with.

And the answer is…

Thanks to How The West Was Saved for the heads-up.

………

The president of Slovakia is one of us, too.

………

Streets For All founder Michael Schneider visits New York, and discovers that outdoor dining and parking protected bike lanes can peacefully coexist.

………

Everyone knows you need an SUV to ferry the kids, right?

Right?

And note she’s riding uphill, too.

https://twitter.com/ProCyclingStats/status/1546061107407765504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1546061107407765504%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fmum-year-towing-trailer-mountain-goes-viral-294295

………

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

Portland police have rearrested a man who allegedly attacked a bike-riding man and his young daughter in a racist attack based on their Japanese ancestry, after he failed to appear in court.

A bicyclist learns the hard way to stay out of the door zone, in a horrifying crash that remarkably appeared to end without major injuries.

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

A Cleveland woman faces neglect charges after a pizza shop worker spotted her recklessly riding a bike, with her two-month old diaper-wearing twins in a milk crate held to the handlebars with just a bungee cord.

A Grand Rapids, Michigan man was arrested after weaving a Lime ebike in and out of freeway traffic with a BAC of .19, well over twice the legal alcohol limit.

An Ohio man was busted for shoplifting despite a failed attempt to make a getaway on his Huffy.

Police in New York are looking for a man who rode off on a bikeshare bike after stabbing another man to death on a park bench.

………

Local

He gets it. LA Times letters editor Paul Thornton says when it comes to the closure of Griffith Park Drive through Griffith Park, “Cyclists need this. Runners and walkers need this. Los Angeles needs this. And frankly, I need this.”

The Sierra Club calls the Healthy Streets LA ballot proposal “a big step closer to safer LA streets.”

Shia LaBeouf is still one of us, taking his tattooed thighs for a ride through Pasadena.

 

State 

La Jolla’s Fay Ave bike path will get year-round volunteer cleanup efforts, along with re-naturalization with native plants.

San Diego police were quick to blame the victim when a woman was seriously injured after she allegedly swerved her bike into the traffic lane, and collided with a car driven by a 79-year old woman. Although it sounds a lot more like a likely violation of the three-foot passing law to me.

He gets it. A San Diego letter writer says bikeways are an important part of the city’s future, with separated bike lanes proven to reduce bike crashes by 80%.

A 16-year old Palo Alto girl was the victim of a strong-arm robbery when a man pushed her off her bike, and stole her cellphone and debit card.

San Francisco plans to add another 50 miles of bike lanes in an effort to tame some of the city’s most dangerous streets.

 

National

A writer for the Kansas City Star shares the lessons learned riding the 512-mile Bike Across Kansas.

A Wisconsin man was bike-jacked at gunpoint, a crime that’s far more common in other countries, such as South Africa.

This is who we share the road with. After a Chicago man exchanged words with a driver who nearly ran him down as he crossed the street, the woman’s passenger pulled out a gun and shot at him repeatedly; fortunately, the passenger’s aim sucked. These days you almost have to assume there’s a gun in any car. And don’t count on a gunman’s bad aim to save your ass. 

President Joe Biden was back in the saddle this weekend, albeit sans toe clips, a month after he fell off his bike when he got his foot caught in one.

 

International

Rising gas prices in the UK are leading to surging cargo bike sales.

A bike-riding British mail carrier was run down by one of his own colleagues, who drove another 15 miles before telling police he “may have hit something.”

A UK military veteran shares his thoughts on riding across the country despite losing a leg in Afghanistan.

The brutal invasion of Ukraine didn’t appear to put a damper on Moscow’s summer bicycle parade, with thousands of riders taking part.

Add this one to your bike bucket list. A new 25-mile bike path leads past four major temples in the ancient Madras, in eastern India.

Speaking of India, bike-born knife sharpeners are slowly fading away in Rawalpindi.

Severe gas shortages in Sri Lanka mean residents are leaving their cars in the garage, and taking to their bikes.

The Global Times says “fancy” foreign bikes costing up to $15,000 — from makers like Specialized, Trek and Brompton — are the latest must-have fad for China’s Gen Z.

Peddle ice cream while you peddle your new $1,500 solar-powered ebike from China’s Alibaba — or get two for just $200 more.

 

Competitive Cycling

Who had Bob Jungels 40-mile solo breakaway win on their Tour de France bingo card for Sunday’s ninth stage? The Luxembourger made a triumphant comeback after battling arterial endofibrosis for the past two years.

The formidable Ineos Grenadiers team cracked a little on Sunday when Colombian Dani Martínez did the same, leaving three team members remaining in the Tour’s top ten.

Tadej Pogačar leads the pack by more than a minute over 22-year old Jonas Vingegaard, with American Nielson Powless a surprising ninth at a minute and 55 seconds behind the leader.

Cycling Weekly complains about pro cycling’s failure to mention the war in Ukraine, raging just over a thousand miles from the Tour de France; Russian oligarch Igor Makarov remains on UCI’s management committee, despite heavy sanctions and pressure to remove him.

Fans crowding the race course claimed another casualty last week, when Italy’s Daniel Oss was forced to withdraw from the Tour with a broken neck after clipping one fan, then slamming into another who was leaning out onto the roadway; fortunately, he’s expected to make a full recovery.

The breakout star of this year’s Tour de France is French sprinter Hugo Hofstetter’s black and tan Rottweiler.

Olympic road champ Annemiek van Vleuten won her third Giro Donne title, after surviving a Friday fall.

Hope for all us diabetics, as Canada’s Sébastien Sasseville overcame type 1 to finish 12th in the recent Race Across America, aka RAAM, riding over 3,000 miles in 11 days, 22 hours and 25 minutes.

Cycling Utah offers a brief recap of Saturday’s Crusher in the Tushar gravel race; Keegan Swenson and Haley Smith topped 800 riders from 37 states and eight countries to win the men’s and women’s titles, respectively; Swenson won his in a decisive solo breakaway.

 

Finally…

If you’re planning to steal a police bike, maybe try not to do it right in front of them. That feeling when you get chased on your bike by a crazed fan.

And every bike rider knows how good it feels to get a new bicycle.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cfub7B7j_yT/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=9022bafc-c7b8-4b7e-b477-392f7f87a619

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

37-year old father killed riding bike in South Los Angeles hit-and-run; once again, public not informed for weeks

July 25, 2020 / / 3 comments

Once again, a man has died following a violent hit-and-run while riding his bike in South Los Angeles.

And once again, the LAPD doesn’t seem to think the public needed to know about it.

According to KCBS-2/KCAL-9, 37-year old South LA resident Jorge Guerra was struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding home from the park with his two young children on July 8th.

Fortunately, his two-year old son Nathan and four-year old daughter Madelyn weren’t seriously injured; their father wasn’t so lucky.

Guerra was rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, but lapsed into a coma after arriving; he died of organ failure on July 16th.

The LAPD places the crash on northbound Wadsworth Ave north of 88th Street at 8:40 pm, when a speeding driver slammed into the bike they were riding after turning onto the narrow residential street.

The driver continued north on Wadsworth, crashing into several parked cars before stopping just south of Manchester Blvd. He ran off, leaving the damaged car behind.

Police are still looking for the suspect, who hasn’t been identified; unsurprisingly, the car he was driving was stolen. As always, there is a standing $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the driver.

Now Guerra’s wife is faced with raising her kids as a grieving single mother while in the middle of a pandemic.

A crowdfunding campaign to help defray Guerra’s funeral expenses has raised just under $6,000, far short of the $25,000 goal.

Unfortunately, like the death of Melvin “Peanut” Frye last month, the LAPD apparently failed to inform the public at the time of the crash — or alert them to a dangerous car thief hiding in their midst. Even though both Los Angeles and California have Yellow Alert systems to get the word out as quickly as possible.

There’s no explanation for why the LAPD continually refuses to use them; evidently, they’d rather wait until the trail goes cold and people have forgotten key details before asking for their help. Which could be one reason why hit-and-run drivers continue to get away with it here.

Even though similar systems have been used successfully in other cities to bring hit-and-run drivers to justice.

This is at least the 35th bicycling fatality in Southern California this year, and the seventh that I’m aware of in Los Angeles County. Over half of those deaths in the county have been hit-and-runs.

My deepest sympathy and prayers for Jorge Guerra and all his family and loved ones.

Category: Hit-and-Run, Injuries and Fatalities / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: LAPD corrals South LA Slasher, Arkansas adopts Idaho Stop, and LA isn’t the happiest place in US

April 4, 2019 / / One comment

Looks like they finally got him.

We hope.

After a nearly two week, bike-born crime spree that left nine men and women with severe cuts to their necks and faces, LAPD detectives announced yesterday that they have made an arrest in the South LA Slasher case.

Police identified 19-year old Len Rey Briones, a homeless man residing in South LA, as the suspect.

Briones would allegedly ride his mountain bike up to the unwary victims and slash them in the face with a knife or some other sharp object, then ride off before they had time to react.

He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

………

Call it the Arkansas Stop Law.

Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson signed a bill that will bring the Idaho Stop Law to the state, allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and red lights as stop signs, as long as there is no conflicting traffic.

This makes Arkansas just the second state to adopt the full Idaho Stop Law, though Delaware allows riders to treat stops as yield, but not roll through red lights.

Colorado also permits riders to roll stop signs, but leaves it up to local jurisdiction whether or not to actually allow it.

You can probably guess which state was the first to adopt the law.

Meanwhile, Northwest Arkansas is attempting to promote itself as a mountain biking destination, catapulted onto the global stage by winning the 2022 world cyclocross championships.

This new law certainly won’t hurt.

And it’s proof that promoting safe bicycling isn’t a liberal or conservative issue.

Just a human one.

Can’t wait to hear the first person argue that a similar law won’t work here because “This isn’t Arkansas.”

………

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that communities with a high level of bike commuting also rank high on the list of America’s happiest cities.

Which probably explains why Los Angeles checks in at a lowly 82nd.

………

The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes goes on. A Colorado Springs CO bike rider suffered three broken ribs and a broken clavicle when someone booby trapped a popular bike trail, stringing a rope across the trail just half an hour after he and a companion had passed through in the opposite direction.

………

Former pro cyclist Phil Gaimon is riding with this year’s Chef’s Cycle for No Kid Hungry; he has just over $1,800 to go to meet his $7,500 fundraising goal.

And hopes to raise an additional $100,000 for No Kid Hungry over the summer.

………

Local

Spectrum News 1 examines the Venice Great Streets project, and the road diet that sent opponents into fits of apoplexy. Then again, they only need to see the words Vision Zero to get the pitchforks and torches out.

Keep Rowena Safe offers their endorsements for the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council.

LA Walks introduces new Executive Director John Yi, replacing outgoing ED Emilia Crotty.

Santa Monica will host a Repair Cafe at the Camera Obscura at Palisades Park on Saturday to fix common household items; a bike mechanic from the Santa Monica Bike Center will be on hand, as well.

You’re invited to join an exploratory ride for the upcoming Mission to Mission 626 Gold Streets open streets event this Sunday.

The LACBC hosts their rescheduled tour of historic San Fernando and environs on Sunday as this month’s Sunday Funday Ride.

CiclaValley celebrates spring with a gravel bike ride on Sulphur Spring Road.

State

California considers joining Utah in dropping the legal blood alcohol level from 0.8. to 0.5. Which is probably the most effective way to increase the number of legally drunk drivers on the road.

The 405 Freeway will be shut down overnight between Beach Blvd and Goldenwest Street in Westminster this Saturday as part of a project to replace the Bolsa Ave bridge, eventually providing new bike lanes and sidewalks, as well as two additional lanes.

Caught on video: A thief makes off with a $5,000 bicycle from a Costa Mesa bike shop after giving a fake ID and riding off during a test ride.

The San Diego bike rider seriously injured in a crash with a scooter user was reportedly riding salmon on the boardwalk near Belmont Park; he suffered several fractured vertebrae and two broken ribs.

A Pismo Beach resident filmed a bike chop shop operating openly in the Oceano Dunes Nature Preserve, along with other illegal activities common to homeless encampments.

VeloNews looks forward to next weekend’s Sea Otter Classic in Monterey.

Cupertino is not so impressed with Apple’s proposal to pay for $9.1 million in bike and pedestrian improvements, in lieu of an employee head tax on local businesses.

San Francisco may beat Los Angeles to be the first California city to impose congestion pricing.

National

A new nationwide study shows an average of 25 children are treated in emergency rooms for bicycling injuries every hour; there was no significant difference in the rate of injuries whether or not the children were wearing bike helmets.

Outside offers their picks for the country’s best supported bike rides, including California’s Sierra to the Sea ride this June.

Salsa has issued a recall for their Warbird and Vaya bicycles due to a risk of the frame breaking.

Hundreds of Lime dockless bikeshare bikes ended up stacked in a Reno scrapyard after the company was unable to reach an agreement to continue its contact with the city. Evidently, there are no poor or homeless people up there who could have put the bikes to better use, or kids who could use a new bike.

A Texas bar is being sued for serving a man who got behind the wheel after getting extremely intoxicated and plowed into a group of bicyclists, killing one and seriously injuring another; naturally, the bar’s owners blame the victims for throwing themselves in front of a drunk. Unfortunately, California law prevents bars from being held accountable for the actions of their customers, no matter how drunk they help them get before driving home.

An 87-year old Texas man suffering from macular degeneration showed off his new bike, after a group of kindhearted people pitched in, with the help of a retired bike shop owner, to replace the one he had stolen.

Great idea. Springfield IL will install location markers on its 20 miles of bike paths to help first responders know where to go in an emergency. Docked bikeshare will return to Minneapolis this spring, though not to its twin city.

A Maine man will spend just 48 days behind bars for riding his bike up to a man in a drug store parking lot, threatening him with a knife and demanding money. Note to centralmaine.com — Seriously? Was the thief’s mode of transportation really his most important identifying feature? Would you describe a criminal who drove there as a motorist under the same circumstances?

Gothamist wants to know why the New York Department of Transportation ripped out a popular bike lane, and what happens now.

A Pennsylvania doctor is happy to be back on his bike less than a year after receiving a heart transplant, even if he can’t compete any more.

International

Here’s one more for your bike bucket list — bicycling the streets of Montevideo. I’m in.

Supporters say regular bicycles will survive, despite the competition from ebikes. If only because the growth of electric cars will put pressure on supplies of lithium, cobalt and other rare metals they both depend on for batteries.

London introduces a plan to replace commercial vans with cargo bikes, while hospitals are trying them out to deliver blood and tumor samples in anticipation of a new toxic air tax on motor vehicles to curb pollution.

Caught on video too: A pair of tag-teaming British bike thieves steal a locked bike in five seconds flat.

The Guardian examines how English workers built a 1951 bike tunnel under the Tyne River; it’s scheduled to reopen this year after an extended restoration. Thanks to Jon for the heads-up.

A very forgiving bike-riding woman tells an Irish court she doesn’t want the stop sign-running driver who seriously injured her when he crashed into her bike to go to jail.

Just days after an Aussie study said over half of all drivers think bike riders are less than human, a new study from the UK says over two-thirds think we’re inconsiderate. I’m not sure if that’s progress, or just typical Brit understatement.

Young South Africans use bicycles to bridge the divides left by apartheid.

Life is cheap in Japan, where a 26-year old man walked with probation following a conviction for attempted murder; he got angry during a fight with a relative, and threw a bicycle off the 12th floor of a building, striking a 76-year old woman walking in the courtyard below. Fortunately, she escaped with just a nearly six-inch gash in her forehead.

Finally…

Bike riders hardly ever engage in a one hour and 40 minute stand-off over a parking space. At least we don’t have to worry about deadly kite strings.

And if you’re riding with meth on your bike, despite being released on an earlier meth charge after your case was overturned, don’t run red lights.

And put a damn light on it.

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