Day 205 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
………
Burbank Congressional Representative Laura Friedman echoed last week’s call for safer streets in West Hollywood.
The Beverly Press quotes the 30th District House member as saying,
“We need to be thinking about this from every angle, from the way we design vehicles, to what safety features are in vehicles, to employing technology like speed cameras across the state in a thoughtful way, to driver’s education,” she (Friedman) said.
Friedman also commended West Hollywood and other cities for implementing safer traffic measures, calling the increase in fatal collisions a “public health crisis.”
Because a public health crisis is exactly how we need to be looking at traffic violence. Just like we should consider gun violence, but don’t.
In both cases.
The paper also quotes Streets Are For Everyone, aka SAFE, founder Damian Kevitt citing a “shocking” increase in traffic violence in the city of just 34,000 people.
Kevitt also cited the problem of drivers fleeing following a crash because the penalties for hit-and-run are more lenient than for DUI.
“That is a huge factor and that is where the law needs to catch up,” he said.
Kevitt added that reducing traffic congestion by adding surface area on streets has not been successful in Los Angeles and that using alternative means of transportation is a more effective way of reducing vehicle congestion.
However, we’re not likely to reduce congestion until people feel safer using other forms of transportation on those congested streets.
Egg, meet chicken.
The paper also reminds us about the petition to install a red light camera at Fountain and Gardner.
Which has gathered less than 250 signatures so far, when it should be at least ten times that number by now.
So if you haven’t signed it yet, do it already.
………
The same day an Englewood, Colorado bike rider was seriously injured by a hit-and-run driver, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation issued a Medina Alert, which is their version of a hit-and-run alert.
Which is exactly how it’s supposed to work.
Maybe someone should tell that to the cops here.
Because the hit-and-run alert programs for both Los Angeles and California were copied from Colorado’s successful program, which itself was based on the very successful program patterned after the Amber alert system that originated in Denver.
The only difference is they use it, and we don’t. Which just might have something to do with why Colorado solved every felony hit-and-run in 2022, while only around 20% ever get solved in California.
Or maybe they just care enough to devote the resources necessary to solve them, and the cops and elected leaders out here don’t.
But at least the LAPD only waited two days to ask for the public’s help this time.
………
A new video game allows you to ride a magical bike through a massive open world in search of some legendary bike part; The Verge calls it “the feel-good game of the summer.”
………
The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No bias here. New York bike riders are understandably frustrated after a nearly 1,000% increase in bike traffic tickets in the second quarter of this year — except their now criminal summons, which require recipients to appear before a judge in criminal court, rather than traffic court.
………
Local
A Hollywood judge will now determine whether a 62-year old Pasadena man will stand trial for killing his wife, dismembering her and stuffing her remains in a suitcase, then taking his bicycle on a train, riding his bike to North Figueroa and setting the suitcase on fire in a Home Depot parking lot, after his attorney questioned the man’s mental competency. Gee, ya think?
Burbank unveiled its draft Safer Street action plan, including plans for traffic calming measures on nine separate streets; you can weigh in at the August 12th city council meeting.
State
Calbike shares strategies used by local advocates in two California cities to add bikeways to state roadways.
Chula Vista became the latest California city to crack down on ebike riders, although they put off enforcement of the new restrictions for 90 days.
Just like West Hollywood last weekend, nearly 100 people in San Rafael gathered outside City Hall Monday evening to honor a “beloved husband, coach and cyclist” who was killed while riding his bike last month, and demand that the city fix the dangerous intersection where he was was run down by a driver.
National
Bike Mag examines the impact Black Sabbath and the late Ozzy Osbourne had on mountain biking.
They get it. A Bend, Oregon newspaper says if the state wants more people to ride bikes, it has to invest in bike safety; if not, maybe the city’s bike riders should just stay home.
Seattle Bike Blog says riding your bike to transit is the ultimate hack to get around the city’s freeway construction this summer — and every other day, too.
Two people have already died during this week’s RAGBRAI ride across Iowa, despite receiving prompt medical attention from medical professionals taking part in the multi-day event; meanwhile, the 140-member Air Force Cycling Team is riding along with the RAGBRAI participants to provide assistance to anyone who needs it.
A Milwaukee driver faces up to 31 years behind bars for — allegedly — blowing through a red light and seriously injuring a man riding in a bike lane, while a) FaceTiming with a contracting customer b) smoking a joint, c) driving on a suspended license, and d) driving a car belonging to someone else.
An Atlanta city councilmember got a first-hand look at the dangers bike riders face on the roads, when he was struck by a driver making a U-turn, while he was riding his bike home from a soccer match with his four-year old daughter; his attorney says his bike was properly lit and he was doing everything right.
A new video series tries to normalize bike riding as it follows Tampa, Florida ebike riders on their way to local businesses.
International
A Canadian woman just set new Guinness World Records for the fastest speed on a Penny Farthing by a woman at 25.93 mph, and the fastest women’s one kilometer on a Penny Farthing. But bikes like that have only been around for 150 years, so no big deal.
Friends of a Brazilian man who was killed while riding his bike in London last year plan to reinstall his ghost bike, after it was removed by the Tower Hamlets council just three months later without consulting his family or friends.
An English man discovers there’s nothing like working as a food delivery rider to train for an epic bike ride from the UK to Australia.
A bike-riding man in Singapore faces up to five years behind bars for killing a 70-year old pedestrian by failing to “keep a proper lookout” while riding his bike across an intersection.
Competitive Cycling
Italian cyclist Jonathan Milan won his second stage in this year’s Tour de France in a sprint to the finish after a big crash took down a number of riders, including Eritrean Biniam Girmay.
French gendarmes were quick to take down an imposter who tried to ride his bike across the finish line of yesterday’s stage just ahead of the peloton.
Velo offers the “ultimate guide” to all the bikes, components and gear used by the 22 teams competing in the Tour de France Femmes, aka Women’s Tour de France, which kicks off on Saturday.
A 68-year old Phoenix, Arizona woman is the world’s oldest elite-level paracyclist.
Finally…
That feeling when you borrow a kids bike to pedal to your first day of NFL training camp. Or when you go over your handlebars, and a TV reporter interrupts his live remote to ensure you’re okay.
And when you’re a convicted felon and known gang member illegally carrying a loaded weapon on your bike, just don’t ride salmon, already.
………
Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
