Tag Archive for Traffic Violence State of Emergency

Watch for smoke near Simi Valley, RoS meets LA Traffic Violence State of Emergency, and good bills die young in CA legislature

May 19, 2026 / / One comment

Before we get started, thanks to Kyle for sharing a candidate questionnaire prepared by the South Bay Bicycle Coalition for city offices in Torrance. 

Out of the nine candidates they contacted, four responded. It’s going to take me some time to format the questionnaire and their responses, so I’ll try to share it as a separate post later today. 

Let me applaud them for making the effort. Others have attempted similar surveys here in Los Angeles and surrounding communities, with varying degrees of success. It’s hard to get candidates to pay attention these days, let alone take the time to answer. 

I used to question candidates for my home council district, but as more money from special interests have flooded local races, the responses dwindled to roughly none. 

Okay, exactly none. 

So a nearly 50% response rate is pretty damn good. 

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If you’re in the Simi Valley or West San Fernando Valley areas, keep your eyes on the skies for the next few days.

The Sandy Fire has swelled to 1,300 acres, which could affect where you ride. But more important, it can affect the air you breath if you happen to find yourself downwind of the flames.

Wildfire smoke contains tiny particulates and toxins that can cause lasting harm, and affect your lung health for days, if not weeks, afterwards — let alone the possibility of damage that can last for years, if not a lifetime.

As a bicyclist, your ability to draw in strong and healthy breaths are of vital importance, providing a lifelong benefit.

It’s not something you want to take foolish chances with.

And yes, that includes smoking, too.

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As far as I’m concerned, tomorrow night mark’s one of the most important rides of the year.

The annual Ride of Silence takes place in cities around the world to remember those lost to, or injured by, traffic violence.

It’s a time to honor those victims — and we have a lot this year — and to call for traffic safety improvements. So that someday, the last person killed on our streets really will be the last person killed on our streets.

This year, we also call on Los Angeles city leaders to declare a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, after the complete and total failure to implement, let alone achieve, Vision Zero over the past decade. So if you haven’t already, sign the letter.

Then contact the mayor and your councilmember to demand action on safer streets.

Now.

And if they won’t do something, vote for someone who will.

Here are all the RoS rides I know about this year. If you know of any more, let me know and I’ll post them tomorrow.

Bakersfield
Contact: Louis Bravos   <–Send email
Distance: 8 mi
Notes: Meet at Café Smitten downtown 909 18th Street at 6:35. We will read names of riders to remember and the Ride of Silence poem with enough time to gather and start in silence at exactly 7:00 PM in brotherhood with all Ride of Silence events in our time zone.
Los Angeles
Contact: Rafael Hernandez   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi.
Notes: Contact the organizer for more details.
Palm Springs
Contact: John Siegel   <–Send email
Distance: TBD
Notes: 2026 Ride of Silence

Wednesday, May 20, 6:30 pm, Ruth Hardy Park, Palm Springs
Pasadena
Contact: Thomas Cassidy   <–Send email
Distance: TBD
Notes: When
May 20, 2026, 6:15 PM – 8:30 PMWhere
Rose Bowl (Lot K), Parking lot, Pasadena, CA 91103, USA
Rancho Cucamonga
Contact: Cycling Connection Nancy Michalski    <–Send email
Distance: 13 mi.
Notes: Details here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2842469792752657

Redding

Contact: Doug Holt   <–Send email
Distance: 8.8 mi.
Notes: Ride starts at Shasta Bike Depot 1322 California St. Redding.
Start time 7:00 PM. Public parking on south side of Bike Depot.

An additional Ride of Silence will be held in Long Beach, according to Bike Long Beach.

Ride and Walk of Silence

Organized by Car-Lite LB, community members, advocates, families, and local leaders will gather at Trolley Park at 2nd and Redondo on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, at 5:00 PM for the Ride of Silence, a worldwide memorial event honoring the lives lost and forever changed by traffic violence in Long Beach and beyond.

The gathering will provide a space for remembrance, reflection, and solidarity while calling attention to the urgent need for safer streets for everyone — including people walking, biking, using mobility devices, and driving.

Afterward, pedestrians and cyclists will walk and ride westbound on 2nd St to Bixby Park and from there head to Bluff Park for a candlelight vigil overlooking the ocean.

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Speaking of the victims of traffic violence, Christian forwarded news over the weekend that an 87-year old man was killed by a driver while riding a mobility scooter in Irvine Thursday night.

According to the Irvine Police Department,

On May 14, 2026, at around 8:30 p.m., the Irvine Police Department (IPD) responded to a traffic collision involving a Tesla SUV and an 87-year-old man using a mobility scooter at the intersection of Irvine Boulevard and Groveland.

IPD and Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) immediately responded and attempted life-saving measures; however, the man was pronounced deceased at the scene. The driver of the Tesla was transported to a hospital for minor injuries and is cooperating with investigators.

Preliminary information indicates the driver of the Tesla was traveling westbound on Irvine Boulevard with a green signal light, while the man on a mobility scooter traveled northbound in the crosswalk at Groveland when the collision occurred. DUI is not believed to be a factor in the collision.

Let’s repeat that.

The victim was an 87-year old man who needed a mobility scooter to get around. But cops somehow had to blame him because he couldn’t clear the crosswalk fast enough for a driver who couldn’t manage to avoid someone on a mobility device directly in front of them.

I mean, it’s not like Teslas come loaded with cameras and collision avoidance systems, or anything.

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Streetsblog offers a recap of the transportation bills that bit the dust at the state legislature at the first deadline, as well as the handful that managed to move forward.

And some very good bills died an ignominious death.

To wit,

  • AB 1557 would have limited the motor output of ebikes sold in the state to a maximum of 750 watts, aligning it with federal definitions; however, a similar bill (SB 1167) is still alive in the Senate.
  • AB 1833 would have allowed drivers voluntarily opt into insurance telematics, with privacy protections, to allow insurance rates to better align with actual behavior, so safer drivers could pay less.
  • AB 1976 would have streamlined planning, construction and protection of pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure across the state.
  • The good news is, AB 1942, which would have required owners of Class 2 and Class 3 electric bicycles to register them with the DMV and display a special ebike license plate, is dead — for this session of the legislature, anyway.
  • And SB 1035 would have suspended the state gas tax and other fuel charges for one year, which would have been a disaster for highway maintenance.

Among the bills moving forward,

  • AB 1546 increases penalties for repeat DUI offenders to bring California law more in line with other states.
  • AB 1662 would allow drivers who avoid fines through a court-mandated misdemeanor diversion program to still receive points on their driving record.
  • AB 2276 would have created a statewide pilot program requiring reckless and excessive speed offenders to install active intelligent speed assistance devices in their vehicles before they could regain driving privileges.
  • SB 1423 would steer half of State Transportation Improvement Program funds to projects to improve safety for people walking, biking, and taking transit, while also making the state’s top safe streets grant program easier for cities to access.

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Bike Long Beach invites you for Bikes and Coffee at the end of the month.

Toss in some donuts, and I’m in. Although for diabetics like me, that could be considered assisted suicide.

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LADOT wants you to check out the proposed final design for Pico Blvd between Crenshaw and Figueroa. And if “proposed final design” doesn’t tell you what’s wrong with LA’s process, I don’t know what will.

Twitter post

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Support the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit line tomorrow.

Twitter post

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ActiveSGV invites you to learn more about the El Monte Clean Mobility Nexus Program.

Twitter post

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Thanks to Megan for forwarding a pair of recent videos.

In the first, a Bay Area nonprofit exec is taking on the “grueling challenge” of Everesting in downtown Los Gatos to help fund a program that helps people transition out of prison, after losing $3.4 million in federal funding. And yes, you can thank Elon Musk and his chainsaw for that.

In the second, Italian TV reports on a crash that was barely reported here, as a driver slammed into a bike and a group of pedestrians, injuring eight people — four critically. Police were unsure if it was an act of terrorism, or just another “accident.” It’s also unclear if anyone was on the bike at the time.

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Just stunning.

Bluesky post

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

No bias here. An angry driver leaped out of his car to confront the UK’s Cycling Mikey, raging that “everybody hates you” for the bicyclist’s history of filming drivers illegally using their cellphones. Because the real problem isn’t distracted driving or even breaking the law, but getting caught.

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Local 

Secret Los Angeles looks forward to this summer’s CicLAvia—Meet the Hollywoods, connecting East and West Hollywood with seven miles of carfree streets this July. Although that skips over next month’s CicLAvia connecting Leimert Park with Exposition Park.

Metrolink will offer free rides for bicyclists on Thursday’s Bike Day, not to be confused with last week’s mostly ignored Bike to Work Day.

 

State

Forget traffic safety. The Laguna Beach PoliceDepartment led a multi-agency traffic enforcement operation that resulted in 140 citations — with a focus on loud and modified exhaust systems, while also netting three illegally modified ebikes.

The Pacific Beach Planning Group heard the case for opening a one-block section of Ocean Blvd to pedestrians and bicyclists on weekends, who already make up nearly 74% of all traffic for that section.

Bike riders in Santa Maria celebrated the city’s inaugural BiciChella event.

A German writer tours Specialized’s Morgan Hill HQ, and gets to see a military-style ebike customized for Arnold Schwarzenegger, and one made for Jason Momoa, “the actor from Aquaman.” Although I must have missed the sequence where he rides his undersea bicycle, effortlessly flipping through gearing on the fl…uh, swim.

 

National

Denver is opening yet another round of ebike rebates, though the amount has gone down to a max of $675, which can be combined with state rebates of $225. Which is about $675 more than Los Angeles offers, combined with $0 from California. 

A former Southern Californian is spending her retirement just a few miles from my Colorado hometown, putting over 10,000 miles on her bike. Or as I used to consider it back in the day, a good year. 

The Canadian National Railway agreed to sell an abandoned railroad grade for a new bike trail to connect Hurley, Wisconsin to Montreal. No, the other Montreal, about three miles away in Wisconsin.

A prothetic limb specialist in Saginaw, Michigan is attempting to address the global mobility crisis by fabricating prosthetic legs from old bicycle parts. Especially since wars in Ukraine, Iran, Sudan and other hotspots are increasing the need every day, with help from motorists.

Richmond, Kentucky will get its first singletrack course, in part because an 8th grade teacher and a bunch of kids in matching blue and orange jerseys stood before the city council to demand it.

A Florida triathlete was lucky to escape with road rash and a deep forehead cut when he got right hooked by a truck driver, despite riding in a completely coned-off lane.

 

International

Road.cc takes a deep dive into the Rover Safety bicycle, which they describe as the first commercially successful modern bike, introduced in 1885.

Um, okay. An “ebike fan” writes about his favorite bike helmets for the London Telegraph, and how to choose the best one. So next week, we can probably expect a “bike helmet fan” writing about ebikes.

No surprise here, as a new report says aggressive drivers are the main thing putting Irish women off bicycling. Aside from Irish men, that is. 

You may have seen this one before, but Steven forwards “a perfect example” of our car-centric roads from Swedish artist Karl Jilg.

 

Competitive Cycling

The 2028 Tour de France will move to the end of June to avoid a conflict with the Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games, rather than the usual July start.

Portugese cyclist Afonso Eulálio continues leading the Giro as the peloton reaches the first rest day, though even he recognizes his time in pink is short, if not over.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you name a local hiking and biking trail to scare the tourists away. Who says you have to go butterfly hunting on your feet with a net?

And there may be more than water in that discarded water bottle you grab at the Giro.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

 

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

Daily News endorses Kenneth Mejia, LAPD busts Playa road rage suspect, and sign LA traffic violence state of emergency

May 7, 2026 / / No comments

Before we get going, I had the misfortune of watching yesterday’s gubernatorial debate.

To quote Doonesbury, back when it was still funny, it had “all the subtle dynamics of a grade school recess.”

Six of the candidates kept insulting and shouting over one another, while Katie Porter asked people over and over not to interrupt her, which they continued to do.

If you listened to the only two Republicans on the dais, you’d be left with the assumption that Democrats were responsible for all the state’s problems, and if you just elect one of them, everything will be sunshine and puppies forever.

Personally, I thought former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came off best, although with this group, that’s such a low bar he could have tripped over it walking off the stage. But his chances of winning are somewhere south of a snowball in hell. 

My main takeaway when the whole damn thing was over was wondering if it was too late to get someone else.

Which it is.

I’d give you my take on the Los Angeles mayoral debate that proceeded it, but I fell asleep shortly after it began.

But considering the bickering that it began with, that would probably have been my take, anyway.

Photo of Kenneth Mejia and his corgis from Abundant Housing LA.

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On a related subject, the conservative Los Angeles Daily News surprisingly endorsed bicyclist and corgi dad Kenneth Mejia for re-election as City Controller.

That comes despite a $1.5 million campaign from opponent Zach Sokoloff aiming to oust him, which is funded by Sokoloff’s mother.

Yes, his mommy is paying for the whole thing.

But the Daily News evidently doesn’t want you to know about it, because even their own opinions are hidden behind the paper’s draconian paywall.

You’d think if they really wanted people to vote for Mejia, they’d want everyone to read it.

But you would be wrong.

………

Looks like they got him.

The LAPD made an arrest in the Monday morning Play del Rey hit-and-run that killed a one-year old boy and a 27-year old man on Vista del Mar, aka Deadly del Mar, as they were driving home after a night at the beach.

Twenty-seven-year old Osvaldo Sandoval died at the scene, while his 14-month old nephew Roger Sandoval died after being taken to a hospital; Osvaldo’s 15-year old sister, and Roger’s aunt, remains on life-support at UCLA Medical Center.

To make matters worse, Oscar Sandoval, the driver of the car and the father of one-year old Roger, believes the crash was an intentional act of road rage.

According to KTLA-5,

Oscar Sandoval survived the crash and said he believes it may have been intentional. Family members also told KTLA’s Rick Chambers that the driver of the white Jeep had been flashing his lights and trying to cut them off moments before the collision.

“The Jeep hit my door where my son and brother were sitting, the ones who took the strongest impact,” Oscar said in Spanish. “My son was still alive, but barely.”

Police confirmed a suspect was arrested yesterday morning, but only identified the him as a Hispanic male.

If this was an intentional act, let’s hope prosecutors charge him with two counts of felony murder.

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If you haven’t yet, sign your name, business or organization to the open letter urging city leaders to declare a state of emergency over traffic violence, sponsored by People’s Vision Zero and Streets Are For Everyone.

Because traffic injuries and deaths continue to be out of control, over ten years after former LA Mayor Eric Garcetti announced the city’s Vision Zero plan — and more than a year after it officially failed.

If you belong to an advocacy group, get them to sign it. If you belong to a bike club, sign for the club and ask members to sign individually. If you own or work for a bike shop or in the bike industry, do the same.

Add your name.

The letter will be released soon. So do it today.

Declare a State of Emergency in LA Due to Traffic Violence

Traffic Violence in Los Angeles is OUT OF CONTROL!

The City of Los Angeles has not been taking traffic violence and the public health crisis that is, seriously.

In 2015, the city committed to Vision Zero – its plan to end traffic violence by 2025. In 2025, traffic fatalities were reported by LAPD to be 290, 56% higher than in 2015.

For the past three years there have been more traffic fatalities than homicides.

An audit directed by the Los Angeles City Council found that Vision Zero failed – and thousands of people died – because of a lack of political will and poor coordination between city departments.

Traffic violence is the leading cause of death for children ages 4-14 in LA County.

Between 31 January and 5 February 2026, there were two mass traffic fatality events, resulting in 5 people killed and 7 others seriously injured.

The City of Los Angeles was about to return 100 million dollars in road safety funding to the State of California because it didn’t have the manpower to use the money.

What We’re Asking You to Do

Sign onto an open letter we will be releasing to the media and sending to the LA Mayor and City Council, demanding that they declare a State of Emergency due to traffic violence and treat it as the public health crisis that it is.

The full letter is on this page. Please spread this around to as many people as possible. Thank you!

Jonathan Hale — People’s Vision Zero
&
Damian Kevitt — Streets Are For Everyone

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This puts the horrible state of LA’s roads in perspective.

Although Mr. Smith somehow seems to think it’s a “gotcha” that Streets For All is a PAC, which they’re very open about, and that progressives tend to support safer streets that serve all road users, unlike their more conservative brethren.

Shocking, I know.

Twitter post

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Here’s a couple more posts from one of my favorite Bluesky accounts.

I confess, I never knew that Keith Haring rode a bicycle, let alone drew one. And ’60s bike advertising is just effing cool.

https://bsky.app/profile/coolbikeart1.bsky.social/post/3ml2e6oqdn22t

Bluesky post

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Nice story from San Diego, where a team of engineering students designed a pedal extension that allows a Marine vet to ride a bicycle for the first time since 2003, when an explosion shattered his leg while he was deployed to Iraq.

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

No bias here. When residents of the Scottish Isle of Cumbrae complained about drivers “speeding away from the ferry terminal and ‘pelting’ around corners towards oncoming traffic,” the local cops naturally responded by admonishing bicyclists, including toddlers on balance bikes.

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Local 

Writing for Torched, the great Alissa Walker had a different, and more positive, take from mine yesterday about Mayor Karen Bass’ Capital Infrastructure Program for the City of Los Angeles, though we’re both in agreement that it was long-overdue.

Metro will offer free rides across the their system, including buses, trains and the Metro Bike bikeshare all weekend to celebrate the three-stop extension of the D, aka Purple, Line subway. Although it still won’t go far enough for my wife to take the train to work. 

Secret Los Angeles writes that Los Angeles will shut down four miles of streets next month when CicLAvia connects Exposition Park and Leimert Park, which is hardly a secret.

The LAPD reminds drivers to share the road during Bike Safety Month. The other eleven months, it’s as you were, apparently. 

 

State

San José Spotlight gently breaks the news that construction on a local street is due to a bike lane project. And yes, I take great pride in including the diacritical in the website’s name.

Oakland skips the work requirement, and celebrates next Thursday as Bike Anywhere Day, instead of Bike to Work Day. Or as it’s known in Los Angeles these days, Thursday. 

A Marin County serial ebike thief was arrested after he was caught using a rented Amazon truck to make reverse deliveries.

The family of a UC Davis student who was killed riding a bike on campus last month are calling for protected bike lanes to be installed in his honor.

 

National

A writer for Bike Mag opens up about how bicycling saved his mental health, forcing him to slow down and breathe following his diagnosis of ACHD.

It’s now illegal to block a bike lane anywhere in Colorado. California, not so much. 

Jefferson City, Missouri, population 43,000, adopts the “Idaho Stop Laws,” allowing bike riders to treat stop signs as yields, and stoplights as stop signs.

Rock Island, Illinois is celebrating a colorful new bicycling sculpture in memory of a long-time local bicyclist, who rode a custom-built bike without a saddle, which is replicated in the sculpture. If anyone designs a sculpture in my honor after I depart this mortal coil, put a damn saddle on it.

Tennessee titanium frame maker Lynskey Performance Products, LLC, is just the latest company in the bicycle industry to go belly-up, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in hopes of reorganizing after a disastrous move to Shopify.

Massachusetts approves a new four tiered system defining bicycles and ebikes by their speed, with traditional bicycles, Class 1 and Class 2 ebikes, low-speed scooters and mobility devices in the new Class 0, up to Speed Tier 3 covering anything above 40 mph.

Bike advocates in Saratoga Springs NY are complaining that the city is ignoring its Complete Streets plan as it repaves streets, despite an ostensible commitment to improving its multimodal infrastructure. Something people in a certain Southern California megalopolis can probably relate to.

Okay, now he’s just rubbing it in. New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined NYC DOT Commissioner Mike Flynn to take part in a bike bus to announce plans for two new bike boulevards. I’m not sure if LA Mayor Bass knows what a bike bus is, let alone has ever ridden one.

Alexandria, Virginia and the DC region will offer giveaways and prizes to encourage people to bike to work next week. Los Angeles, not so much.

Atlanta will celebrate the week-long Atlanta Cycling Festival next week, including Spoke & Word, a two-day “progressive dinner” combining bicycling and storytelling.

 

International

Momentum highlights Canada’s most bike-friendly cities, in case anyone wants to flee north of the border, where things seem a little saner these days.

Speaking of draconian paywalls, that’s the reason I don’t link to the BBC anymore.

A Deutschland magazine looks back on those heady days of National Socialism, when bike races were just another form of Nazi propaganda.

You can now bring your bicycle on China’s high-speed Beijing to Zhangjiakou train line, although it’s limited to stops between Beijing North and Chongli.

 

Competitive Cycling

Britain’s longest‑running, biggest and most prestigious single-day and somewhat cobbled road race marks its 70th Anniversary on Sunday.

Road.cc answers the question of what pro cyclists do after they retire, profiling seven former racers who now work in professions as diverse as firefighter, banker and sommelier — including America’s one-time ex-Tour de France champ-cum-CBD maven.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you’re stopped for illegally impeding traffic in a teeny, tiny little car, and people want to know how many clowns were inside. Or when you pedal across the country to spell out “kindness,” while inviting strangers to ride along.

And now you, too, can have a MagSafe dock in the shape of the world’s ugliest truck.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Hoboken goes 9 years without a traffic death while LA gives up; and Streetsblog tracks transportation bills in CA legislature

April 8, 2026 / / 2 comments

Hoboken proves once again that Vision Zero works.

But only if a city actually commits to it.

The New Jersey city, famous as the home of Frank Sinatra, has now gone nine full years without a traffic death.

Not one bicycling death. Not one pedestrian.

Not even someone driving or riding in the big, dangerous machines.

According to The Good Men Project,

Sixteen years in, about two-thirds of Hoboken’s intersections are now furnished with physical deterrents, and the city has hundreds of high-visibility crosswalks and dozens of curb extensions.

After especially extensive road upgrades in 2022, Hoboken saw 18% fewer injury crashes and a 62% reduction in serious injuries from 2022 to 2023.

The key, according to outgoing Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, who oversaw the project for the past eight years,

Bhalla successfully rallied support from within and outside of government, launching Hoboken’s Vision Zero Task Force in 2019. Public engagement, Francese says, was and is core to this. Community surveys and meetings allowed leaders to hear from multiple voices, “not just the loudest,” he says, and piloting changes at one or two intersections first allowed people time to test and assess new infrastructure before commitments were made on a larger scale…

Not only did community members come to better understand the reasons for certain changes, but many also got on board once they saw the changes in action. Community members now play a role themselves, flagging when infrastructure needs fixing and asking for specific upgrades at intersections that don’t have them. Public reporting of “near-miss” data also supplements close calls caught by city cameras that are being piloted around the city.

No one said it’s easy, or cheap.

Vision Zero failed in Los Angeles because the city failed to adequately fund it. And the first time there was significant pushback, city officials ran scared, cancelling fully funded and shovel ready projects in multiple council districts, including dangerous and deadly streets like North Figueroa and Temple Street.

Now there’s a campaign urging Mayor Bass and the City Council to declare a state of emergency regarding traffic violence — although that may fall to her successor, whoever that may be, after June’s election.

You’ll find my name on the petition calling for it.

If you haven’t already, add yours. Do it right now; it only takes a few moments.

Then demand that our city leaders follow suit now, during the campaign, when they need our votes.

And let’s hold them to it this time.

Instagram post

Photo from Streetsblog LA shows former Mayor Eric Garcetti signing Vision Zero proclamation at his big, beautiful desk.

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Streetsblog offers a detailed update on transportation-related bills in the state legislature, including bills to increase the penalty for DUI and limit the power of ebikes to the same cap as in European nations, while another bans passengers on ebikes not designed for two people.

It’s worth taking a few minutes to read the entire list — and making a few calls to your representatives to make sure they pass.

Well, most of them, anyway.

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Now you, too, can build your own DIY bike frame. But whether you should is another question.

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Nothing like crash-landing on the roof of a car.

Relatively on purpose, for a change.

Instagram post

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

No bias here. A San Diego writer says recent news that ridership on the city’s 30th Street bike lanes has risen to record levels is absurd, because she and her friends hardly ever see someone using it from their comfy seats at a local cafe, bike counters be damned. And the bike lanes aren’t accepted by the local community, and never will be. So there.

San Francisco police staged a ticket crackdown blitz on bicyclists and other micromobility users at the intersection of Powell and Market, following the release of the city’s latest High Injury Network map. Never mind that the real danger comes from motorists, it’s also illegal selective enforcement to focus on one group of road users at the exclusion of another. So unless they also ticketed drivers during that enforcement operation, all of those tickets can and should be dismissed.

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Local 

A Los Angeles woman tallies up the cost of giving up her previous carfree lifestyle nine months ago. But you’ll have to find a way around Business Insider’s paywall, or sign up for a free trial that will automatically renew at 13 bucks a month unless you cancel it. 

Hats off to the Pasadena City Council for declaring five key “sacrosanct” budget priorities protected from budget cuts, including improving roadways and implementing pedestrian and bike safety strategies. Maybe they could have a little chat with LA’s city leaders. 

 

State

Apropos of our earlier discussion, San Francisco officials caved to angry drivers by removing a neck-down that had been shown to improve safety, making their ostensible commitment to Vision Zero “meaningless.”

Sad news from Mono County, where a 34-year old man was killed by a driver as he walked his bicycle along a highway after dark.

 

National

Dwell looks at the world of online urban planning influencers.

The bicycle industry has been protected from the latest round of Trump’s tariffs, after industry leaders came together to oppose a proposal by a kid’s bikemaker and an aluminum trade group to include bicycles in the 50% tariff on imported aluminum and steel.

Honolulu’s bikeshare system is given only a 50/50 chance of survival after a series of setbacks left it with just half the number of bikes it needs to operate sustainably. Funny how many cities refuse to adequately subsidize bikeshare, active transportation and transit, but have no problem pumping hundreds of millions into subsiding the motor vehicle network.

Seriously, it takes a special kind of asshole to steal an adaptive ebike from a Las Vegas Make-A-Wish kid with cystic fibrosis.

Speaking of which, ebike sales are surging at one Las Vegas bike shop, as gas prices top $5 a gallon. Never mind what gas costs here in LA.

A Salt Lake City bicycle collective refurbishes 5,000 bicycles a year to help Utah families, while a Rockford, Illinois “bike surgeon” fixes up old, unwanted bicycles to donate to families in need.

A Brooklyn man was caught on video jumping off his bicycle, just before it was completely run over by a wrong-way driver.

A Pennsylvania man is biking 6,000 miles across the US to visit every Ronald McDonald House to raise awareness and funds for families in need.

DC letter writers complain about the Trump administration’s efforts to rip out a popular bike lane in the city, which they say improves safety for everyone.

 

International

Your next set of bike fenders could set you back a thousand bucks.

Hundreds of Cayman Island bicyclists are expected to turn out next month to finish the ride of a father and triathlete who was killed by a driver last Easter.

Canadian MTB profiles airbrush artist Dylan Forbes, who they say is responsible for some of the “sickest” mountain bikes and helmets out there.

Ignorance is apparently bliss for a large subset of British motorists who somehow think signs reading “no motor vehicles” actually means “cars and motorcycles only”.

A new study from the Netherlands’ National Institute for Public Health and the Environment has found that ebikes offer clear benefits for older people and those with health conditions, but could reduce overall fitness among younger users.

A man from the Netherlands has spent the last 400 days bicycling along and across some of the world’s most challenging borders, questioning why he can pass so easily when so many others can’t.

Czech carmaker Škoda has developed a bike bell designed to penetrate even active noise cancellation headphones. Although the real question is whether it can pierce hermetically sealed motor vehicles with the windows up and the sound system turned to 11. 

A couple students from a Parisian political science institute learn the hard way that just because Manilla, Philippines is considered an “emerging cycling city” that doesn’t mean it’s going to be a smooth ride.

 

Competitive Cycling

People picks up the tragic story of Masters cyclist Colin “Creepy” Wilson, whose wife Tricia Jeffers was watching live online when he swerved to avoid a fallen cyclist during a race in Trinidad and Tobago, and severed his neck on the fence circling the course; his final words as he left for the race were “Tricia I going, I going to put us on the map.” Which he did, though not in the way either expected. 

Bike Radar answers the rocky question of why Paris-Roubaix is raced on cobbled roads never meant for bicycles. Kinda answers itself, doesn’t it?

Cyclist offers photos from the just completed Tour of Flanders. Insert gag about Bart and Homer’s neighbor here.

 

Finally…

Why climb to Everest Base Camp when you can ride there on a vintage foldie? That feeling when a press release for the 13th Annual Amgen Tour of California somehow pops up in the daily news — even though the race was cancelled six years ago.

And who really needs the whole front half of your bike, anyway?

Instagram post

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin. 

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

Demand a Traffic Violence State of Emergency in Los Angeles, and a Capital Infrastructure Plan for the City Charter

March 12, 2026 / / One comment

Let’s depart with our usual format today, because there are a couple of urgent matters we need to attend to right now. 

We’ll be back tomorrow to catch up on anything we missed today.

Pinky swear.

………

First off, I’ve signed onto a letter demanding that Mayor Karen Bass and the City Council declare a Traffic Violence State of Emergency, after the abject failure of Vision Zero in Los Angeles.

Now I’m asking you to sign on to that letter as well.

Below you’ll find the full text of that letter. If you support it, please click this link or scan the QR code in the graphic below to sign on, too.

Dear Mayor Bass and Honorable Members of the City Council:

The City of Los Angeles has not been taking traffic violence and the public health crisis that is, seriously. The facts speak for themselves:

In 2015, the city committed to Vision Zero – its plan to end traffic violence by 2025. In 2025, traffic fatalities were reported by LAPD to be 290, 56% higher than in 2015.

For the past three years there have been more traffic fatalities than homicides.

An audit directed by the Los Angeles City Council found that Vision Zero failed – and thousands of people died – because of a lack of political will and poor coordination between city departments.

Traffic violence is the leading cause of death for children ages 4-14 in LA County.

Between 31 January and 5 February 2026, there were two mass traffic fatality events, resulting in 5 people killed and 7 others seriously injured.

The City of Los Angeles was about to return 100 million dollars in road safety funding to the State of California because it didn’t have the manpower to use the money.

We, the undersigned, demand that the issue of traffic violence be treated with the urgency and importance that it deserves. We request that the City of Los Angeles formally declare a State of Emergency due to traffic violence, thus redirecting resources and prioritizing actions to address this city-wide problem. This includes but is not limited to:

  1. Recommitting to Vision Zero in its entirety – all five pillars, not just one or two.
  2. Take serious and meaningful actions to fully address the failures of Vision Zero found in the city’s own audit.
  3. Properly staff the LADOT, RIGHT NOW,  with the personnel needed to use the grants and funding it already has.
  4. Immediately empower the community to make their own roads safer through a community-led traffic safety program.
  5. Fast-track road safety programs and improvements that are already in the works.

Vision Zero cannot succeed if it is treated as a slogan rather than a mandate. Preventable deaths are not unfortunate accidents; they are the predictable outcome of design choices and policy decisions.

Our city’s leaders have the tools, data, and authority to act. Now we are asking them to decide that a commitment to protecting human life should not be negotiable.

Jonathan Hale, Founder
People’s Vision Zero

Damian Kevitt, Executive Director
Streets Are For Everyone

………

Second, Streets For All is asking for your help to support critical Los Angeles City Charter reforms at today’s meeting of the Charter Commission.

TODAY: TELL THE CHARTER COMMISSION TO PASS A CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN

This is it! Today the Charter Commission will be deciding whether to submit language for 1) a Capital Infrastructure Plan and 2) a Director of Public Works.

These reforms are absolutely critical. They will create transparency, accountability, and reform the City’s existing antiquated system for infrastructure delivery. This touches everything we care about, from crosswalks to trees to bike lanes to park space.

We are expecting significant push back defending the status quo. It is important that advocates make their voice heard.

EXAMPLE PUBLIC COMMENT LANGUAGE

3 WAYS YOU CAN HELP
Thursday, March 12, 4pm (AGENDA)

1) Show up in person and give public comment
City Hall, 200 Spring Street, Room 350, Board of Public Works Session Room

2) Call in and give public comment
Please call early, they are limiting public comment to 30 minutes only
Use this Zoom link, or call 1-669-254-5252 (Meeting ID: 161 156 7882)

3) Submit written Public comment via email
Add your name and zip code to the bottom, feel free to customize the suggested language. 

EMAIL THE CHARTER COMMISSION

Want to learn more about the Charter Reform process? Read about our research and suggestions here: charter.streetsforall.org

We’ll be back to our regular programming tomorrow.

Category: General / Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
 
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