Day 114 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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They got one, for once.
The CHP announced an arrest in the hit-and-run crash that injured a 15-year old boy as he rode his bicycle on a South LA sidewalk.
The driver, identified only as Krunal Jigneshbhai Dhanani, faces felony hit-and-run charges for driving up on the sidewalk and hitting the kid, in what appeared to be an intentional act.
But police evidently didn’t think so, because it wasn’t charged that way.
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It’s happened again.
A mob of around 30 bike-riding teens swarmed a grocery store near USC, before assaulting a gay couple and hurling homophobic slurs.
The teenaged boys, who looked to be middle school-aged, rode up to the Ralphs market on South Vermont Ave around 4:30 Saturday afternoon, running out with bottled cocktails, Gatorade and other items.
At least one of the boys was pepper sprayed by a security guard, after the kids threw things at store employees.
They then swarmed the gay couple as they tried to enter their car and drive off, honking their horn to clear the way, as the kids shouted slurs.
After one of the boys slammed himself on the side of their car, the couple got out holding pepper spray and a stun gun, chasing the group off before they approached once again, hitting the car window with a rock as they drove off.
This follows numerous other similar robberies where kids would ride up to a store on their bikes before swarming the aisles, overwhelming the staff and emptying shelves.
There have also been at least three instances of teen bike riders swarming cars and attacking the vehicles and their drivers.
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The LAPD has identified the suspect accused of riding his bicycle through DTLA while chopping down trees with an electric chainsaw.
According to the Los Angeles Times, 45-year old Samuel Patrick Groft was taken into custody about 90 minutes after police released a flyer with pictures of the then-unknown suspect.
Groft stands accused of felony vandalism for chopping down at least 13 trees in less than ten days in downtown Los Angeles, as well Glassell Park and Westlake.
Eight of the those trees were estimated to be worth $347,000.
Groft has an extensive record, including DUI, assault with a deadly weapon, vandalism and a hit-and-run. He has been living on a streets for several years, and was found with the chainsaw in his possession.
In California, felony vandalism carries a penalty of up three years behind bars and a fine of up to $50,000 if the damage exceeds $10,000.
Which means if the DA charges each tree as a separate crime, Groft could be looking at more than three decades behind bars, and $650,000 in fines.
Good luck collecting that.
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Hats off to the The San Fernando Sun, which appears to be the only Los Angeles news source that bothered to report on the Griffith Park protest marking the third anniversary of the fatal, high-speed hit-and-run that killed 77-year-old cyclist Andrew Jelmert
The paper also noted the protesters’ complaints over red tape needlessly holding up the fully funded and shovel-ready safety improvements promised for the park.
Which are two more reasons — the lack of progress and news coverage — explaining why people continue to die on our streets.
And the latter has a lot to do with the former.
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Streets Are For Everyone, which held that Griffith Park protest, celebrates ten years of fighting for safer streets on July 12th.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
It’s happened again, part two. A British ebike rider lost consciousness and suffered serious facial and eye injuries when he struck a rope that was deliberately strung across the trail he was riding on; police blamed a “group of youths” for the “deliberate and highly dangerous act” that could have led to “even more catastrophic” injuries.
But sometimes, it’s the people on two wheels behaving badly.
A British man has been banned from bicycling for ten years and sentenced to 19 months behind bars, after failing to convince the court that riding his bike up behind women and grabbing their butts was a harmless prank, as opposed to serious sexual assault. Schmuck.
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Local
Streetsblog explores a half-mile of new parking protected bike lanes on San Vicente in the Mid-City area.
Burbank invites you on a walking or biking tour to gather input for the Burbank Rancho Neighborhood Specific Plan on May 10th. Although it sounds like you’d be welcomed on horseback, too.
State
The Los Angeles Times examines the new process to apply for a California ebike incentive voucher this Tuesday.
Bingo. San Diego’s KGTV-10 says the city’s spending patterns shows its mobility priorities, spending three times more on repaving streets than it does on making them safer.
This is who we share the road with. A Fresno judge dismissed all the charges against a hit-and-run driver who ran down and killed a homeless woman, and dragged her body eight miles under his car — then ended up with permanent brain damage after jumping out of a top floor window trying to escape the police, leading the judge to rule he would never be competent to stand trial.
Alameda residents turned out to explore a pair of greenway popups slated for completion next year.
National
Um, sure, let’s go with that. Police arrested a Colorado man for attempting, and failing, to kidnap a 12-year old girl as she was bicycling with a friend, telling police he tried to stop the girl’s bike from falling, and she just happened to fall into his arms.
A Minnesota magazine considers the best biking apps and online communities, although the later has a distinctly Minnesota focus.
Streets Minnesota recommends this year’s “must-do” bike rides for the state.
If you’re missing a vintage bicycle from your childhood, you’ll have one last chance to buy it before a man who’s been restoring and selling them for the last 30 years holds his final bike auction. But you’ll have to go to, yes, Minnesota to buy one.
Tennessee is putting old tires to use as armadillos marking a protected bike lane.
One of my pet peeves remains lazy headline writers, like the one who says a North Carolina man rode his bicycle 4,000 miles coast-to-coast “for” breast cancer, rather than to fight the disease. And yes, I acknowledge that peeves make lousy pets.
International
Momentum recommends the best upright commuter bikes to sit up and enjoy the ride this spring, most of which clock in at under $600.
Bike Radar says no, gravel bikes will not replace endurance bikes.
A writer for the CNU Journal looks at the power of bicycles, especially ebikes, to transform 21st Century cities.
Velo takes you on a tour of Belgium’s bike-friendly culture, “exploring pathways, cafés, beer halls, and cycling museums” by city bike.
Clean Technica says a new “virtually bulletproof” ebike has the power to transform transportation in Africa.
Bicycling Australia marks Anzac Day, — an Aussie holiday commemorating the tragic WWI battle of Gallipoli — by considering the role of the “humble” bicycle in the war to end all wars, which didn’t.
Competitive Cycling
Say it ain’t so, Joe. Colombian cycling great and 1987 Spanish Vuelta champ Luis Alberto “Lucho” Herrera denied allegations that he was involved in the 2002 killing of four farmers who lived near him, allegedly hiring two ex-paramilitary men to kill the farmers because they wouldn’t sell their land to him.
No surprise here, as Slovenian cycling star Tadej Pogačar captured his second Flèche Wallonne by attacking on a steep climb, finishing 10 seconds ahead of France’s Kévin Vauquelin, with British rider Tom Pidcock in third; Dutch cyclist Puck Pieterse won the women’s Flèche, beating countrywoman Demi Vollering by two seconds, while Italy’s Elisa Longo Borghini came in third.
Cyclist looks forward to Sunday’s men’s and women’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Motherhood is no longer a barrier to a successful cycling career.
Finally…
Forget bike lanes, now people are driving in underground bicycle parking garages. That feeling when you get a punishment pass from a fellow bicyclist in an empty bike lane
And your next bike could have big red balls instead of wheels, and go in any direction.
But if it’s a bicycle, why doesn’t it have any pedals?
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
