Tag Archive for traffic violence

Sleeping driver charged in death of 17-year old Team USA cyclist, and proportion of bike traffic deaths rising worldwide

December 14, 2023 / / Comments Off on Sleeping driver charged in death of 17-year old Team USA cyclist, and proportion of bike traffic deaths rising worldwide

We’re nearing the end of the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive — just ten days left to support SoCal’s best source for bike news and advocacy!

Thanks to Kiersten S, Phaedrus L, Rob K, Ian D and James B for their generous donations to keep all the best bike news coming your way every day. And help keep the corgi in kibble.

So don’t wait.

Drop what you’re doing, and give now!

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Days left to launch the California ebike incentive program as promised this fall: 7

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If you haven’t already, take just a moment to sign the petion demanding a public forum with LA Mayor Karen Bass to listen to the dangers we face just walking or riding a bike in the City of Angels.

Then spread it to everyone you know, and ask them to sign, too. Because it’s long past time to take traffic violence seriously, and stop the needless carnage on our streets.

And if you’re one of the 139 people who’ve already signed it, thank you!

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Maybe Magnus White will see justice, after all.

The 23-year old driver who killed 17-year old US National Team cyclist Magnus White has been charged with vehicular homicide, six months after the Boulder, Colorado crash.

White was on a training ride, just weeks before he was scheduled to compete in the junior mountain bike worlds in Scotland, when Yeva Smilianska allegedly fell asleep before slamming her car into his bike.

According to Denver’s 9News,

Investigators came to this conclusion after interviewing Smilianska and people she knew, and by reviewing cell phone data, according to the affidavit. They also interviewed several people who had witnessed the crash or the aftermath, including another bicyclist who was riding behind White. That bicyclist also talked to the suspect on the scene, the affidavit says.

Police found a text Smilianska sent about 20 minutes before the crash. It read, “I’m falling asleep. So I’m going home.”

There was no indication that Smilianska was intoxicated, according to the affidavit.

Smilianska reportedly told investigators her steering malfunctioned, but admitted she hadn’t seen White, or another cyclist riding with him, prior to the crash.

And yes, you are legally required to be awake and alert when you operate a motor vehicle. Not to mention actually pay attention to others on the road with you.

She was released on $10,000 bond.

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The World Health Organization appealed to countries to improve safety for bicyclists, saying the proportion of bicyclists killed on the roads is rising, even as worldwide traffic deaths decline.

According to the WHO, despite a 16% decline in overall traffic fatalities per 1,000 people over the last decade, the proportion of bike riders among road deaths worldwide rose slightly, from 5% to 6%.

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The long and twisted tale of an Oregon DEA agent who killed a 53-year old woman in a collision as she rode her bike home from work gets another chapter, after a judge moved the trial to federal court.

That could allow the agent to claim immunity, arguing that he was performing his duties as an agent at the time of the crash.

The case was revived in August, after the Salem, Oregon paper accused the local police of a coverup in the case, apparently failing to conduct an investigation of the crash as a professional courtesy to the agent.

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‘Tis the season.

A Texas men’s group will give away over 500 bikes and electric scooters this weekend, in an event open to all kids.

Members of a South Florida Boys and Girls Club got the gift of freedom through a bike giveaway sponsored by a local car dealer.

Road.cc offers a gift guide for the pernickety pedaler in your life, while they insist the Raleigh Chopper remains the best holiday gift for kids everywhere. Today I learned that pernickety really is a word, while meaning the same thing as persnickety.

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Gabriel Wibmer presents five minutes and 41 seconds of singletrack gravel mania.

To mention some confused cows.

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

In what the Times of India calls “another example of rampant hooliganism,” a man was knocked off his bicycle by an idiot hanging all the way out of a motorized rickshaw.

No bias here. A New Zealand website says bike riders are causing problems on a new $17 million shared coastal pathway — then cites a pedestrian who says she was almost struck by someone on a bicycle, who she didn’t see riding towards her. So she wasn’t paying attention, yet it’s somehow the bike rider’s fault. Got it. 

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Local 

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton visits Pasadena’s one and a half-mile long Cordova Street Complete Streets project.

 

State

Calbike highlights ebike training resources currently available online.

The rich get richer, as San Diego received a $2.25 million federal grant to improve safety for bike riders and pedestrians with a pair of projects.

Palo Alto wants to preserve parking and traffic lanes on University Ave, while adding bike lanes and wider sidewalks, and transforming the thoroughfare to make it more vibrant. They also want to preserve the cake they just ate.

San Francisco’s transportation agency raised the possibility of installing protected bike lanes in place of the highly unpopular centerline bike lane on Valencia Street, which appears to be almost universally hated by people on every side of the debate.

A San Francisco writer says zero traffic deaths was an unrealistic goal for the city, and now they should focus on what actually works. Which is a fundamental misunderstanding of Vision Zero, which is the process of implementing safety measures to move towards zero traffic deaths, not the goal itself. 

 

National

A new US House report could result in higher prices for bicycles and bike parts, recommending restricting or banning some Chinese-made goods from the US.

Popular Science offers advice on how to fly with your bike.

An Oregon judge ruled a lawsuit against Portland can move forward, charging the city failed to comply with a 1971 law requiring a minimum investment in bicycling and walking infrastructure in tandem with major road projects.

Around a dozen people took to their bikes to call for expanding Medicaid in Kansas. Then again, given the population of Kansas, that’s a big turnout.

A popular New Hampshire bike shop was born when the owner was fired from his restaurant job 15 years ago.

Tragic news from Brooklyn, where stand-up comedian Kenny DeForest died Wednesday, five days after he was struck by a driver while riding his bicycle; the Missouri native has appeared on Comedy Central, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and The Late Late Show with James Corden, as well as HBO’s “Crashing,” and released his second comedy special in August.

New York unveiled a new 10-foot wide protected bike lane on 10th Ave, which a deputy mayor said would make life easier for people on bicycle, especially delivery workers. The city also announced plans for an 11-foot wide bike lane on 11th Ave, and 12-foot wide one on 12th Ave. And just wait until they get to 104th Street. 

Philadelphia got a $16 million federal grant to improve safety on the city’s High Injury Network.

An 80-year old former Florida councilmember got a lousy traffic ticket for killing a woman riding a bicycle, after claiming he somehow couldn’t see the woman riding across the street directly in front of him. And once again raising the question of how old is too old to drive. 

Police in Florida are looking for the driver who fled on foot after driving past traffic cops working security, and crashing into a competitor riding in an Ironman triathlon.

 

International

Life is cheap in British Columbia, where a truck driver walked without a day behind bars for killing a 28-year old man riding a bicycle; he got a lousy $1,150 fine for fatally right hooking the victim while turning from the center lane, rather than the right turn lane.

Quebec City, Quebec announced plans for the city’s first vélocité corridor, or bicycle superhighway.

A university in Nairobi, Kenya offers a “life-changing” bicycle leasing program just inside its front gates, giving students greater mobility in the traffic-choked city.

Police in Japan are resorting to yelling at bike riders who are wearing earbuds, as they struggle to differentiate between ear pieces that block outside noises and those that allow them to filter through.

 

Competitive Cycling

America’s most famous ex-Tour de France winner refuses to go away, explaining how he beat drug tests for so many years.

 

Finally…

That’s probably not Bill Gates riding that chopper bike. Your next e-cargo bike could be a scooter.

And a pizza delivery bike to boldly go where no pizza bike has gone before.

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Chag sameach!

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

NTSB calls for speed limiting tech, World Day of Remembrance, and LA Times calls for fast-tracking non-freeway projects

November 20, 2023 / / One comment

Time to start scrounging under your cushion for lost nickels and dimes, because we’re just five days away from the official kickoff of the Ninth Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive!

That means we’re also just five days away from my annual Eff Black Friday campaign, in which I urge you to skip the stores, save your money and get out on a bike ride, instead. 

And if you want to donate some of the money you save by not shopping, be my guest.

Then visit your favorite local bike shop the next day for Small Business Saturday, to help ensure they’ll still be there the next time you need something. 

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About damn time.

Fast Company is reporting that the National Transportation Safety Board, aka NTSB, is calling for speed limiting technology to be installed on all new cars in an effort to reduce the needless carnage on our streets.

The idea is to use geolocation to give drivers an audible warning when they’re going too fast, or make it harder, but not impossible, to press down on the gas pedal when they exceed the posted speed limit.

I vote for the latter.

Because that might have saved the lives of four young women on PCH last month, allegedly murdered by a driver doing 104 mph in a 45 mph zone. Along with countless others killed on American streets, whether on two feet, two wheels or four.

Speeding is now a factor in almost a third of the crash deaths in the U.S. The traditional approaches to reducing that toll all have significant limitations. Police can issue tickets to individual drivers, but law enforcement can hardly be in all places at all times. Automatic speed cameras, which allow police to mail citations directly to vehicle owners, are more effective; but many states, such as New Jersey and Texas, have banned their use (and they’re far from ubiquitous even where they’re allowed). Another partial solution would be to reconfigure dangerously fast roads with narrower lanes and additional intersections that naturally lead drivers to slow down, but doing so nationwide would be prohibitively expensive—and it would do little to combat reckless speeding on highways and interstates that facilitate car traffic at speeds of 45 to 85 mph…

NTSB’s proposed solution: Adopting Intelligent Speed Assist (ISA), a modern and techier version of the speed governors that Cincinnati considered a century ago. Rather than preventing a vehicle from ever exceeding a given threshold, ISA uses geolocation to automatically reflect the legal limit on a given street or highway. “Passive” ISAs issue audible or haptic alerts to drivers who exceed the top programmed speed, hopefully compelling them to slow down. “Active” ISAs intervene in the car’s mechanics, often by requiring the driver to apply extra force on the accelerator. ISAs can be set to kick in a few miles above the posted speed limit, giving drivers the ability to go faster when, for instance, passing a vehicle in the slow lane.

In the EU—where residents are several times less likely to die in a crash than in the U.S.—regulators are requiring that ISA be installed on new cars as of next year. But no similar effort is afoot in the United States (the federal government did propose requiring them on heavy trucks, a move that has faced stiff opposition from some truckers).

Let’s hope federal regulators take their recommendation seriously.

Because it can’t happen soon enough.

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Speaking of federal regulators, it starts at the top.

Fortunately, the Biden administration’s Transportation Secretary seems to get it, as Pete Buttigieg marked the World Day of Remembrance for the victims of traffic violence by calling for safer streets to get cities down to zero traffic deaths.

Including more protected bus and bike lanes.

For a change, the World Day of Remembrance got a lot of attention in the media.

Starting with a moving and dramatic display in Malibu, where volunteers installed 58 white car tires to commemorate the 58 people killed on PCH in the beachfront city since 2010.

Just in case you ever wondered why I call it LA County’s killer highway. Although it’s not much better in Orange County, either.

The World Day of Remembrance was also marked in San Diego, Fresno, Knoxville, Philadelphia, Portland, Charlotte and Houston, among many others.

Maybe one day we can remember those we’ve lost to traffic violence, without worrying about adding more names to the list.

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Good question.

After the mad-dash rush to repair the fire damage to the 10 Freeway that disrupted traffic for just over a week, the Los Angeles Times asks why more transportation projects can’t be fast tracked the same way.

So, why can’t more transportation projects get the speedy treatment? Although the work being done on the 10 Freeway is a model of expediency, other important transportation repair jobs have taken far longer to complete.

Take for example the rail line used by Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner and Metrolink between Orange and San Diego counties. It’s the second busiest passenger route in the country, but was out of service for six months from late 2022 to early 2023 after a landslide and coastal erosion undermined the tracks.

It’s taken a year in some cases to repair storm-damaged bike paths in Los Angeles, leaving those routes closed to riders and forcing them onto busy streets, notedMichael Schneider, founder of the road safety advocacy group Streets for All.

Meanwhile, a letter writer says the freeway closure is an opportunity for more people to try public transit, and to invest in bus lanes and a quick-build bike network.

Unfortunately, Los Angeles only seems to know how to quick builds when it comes to freeways.

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Evidently, they take murder seriously down in Texas.

A Texas jury sentenced former international fugitive Kaitlin Armstrong to a whopping 90 years behind bars for fatally shooting gravel champ Moriah “Mo” Wilson in Austin, Texas last year.

However, she will be eligible for parole in just a third of that time.

Armstrong was convicted of killing Wilson in a jealous rage, because she considered her a rival for the affections of her former boyfriend, pro cyclist Colin Strickland.

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While we endure the seemingly endless wait for California’s ebike incentive program, the nonprofit program chosen to administer it offers safety advice for ebike riders, though with a glaring omission.

Sign up for email announcements here for when and if they finally get it going.

Speaking of which, Electrek says all the sales currently underway make this the best time ever to buy an ebike, while CBS News lists all the best early Black Friday sales on ebikes.

None of which you can take advantage of if you’re waiting for California’s program to launch.

And waiting. And waiting.

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It’s almost always faster to ride a bike in city traffic for relatively short distances.

When I used to ride my bike from Westwood to DTLA for Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition — now BikeLA — board meetings, I found I could bike the roughly ten mile distance as fast or faster than I could drive it.

And have a hell of of lot more fun doing it.

Thanks to Zachary Rynew for the heads-up.

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I’ve never been a Dierks Bentley fan.

But anyone who carries his kid on a cargo bike is okay in my book.

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

The Port of San Diego says you’re not welcome on the city’s Embarcadero if you ride an ebike, e-scooter or a pedicab. Although something tells me they’re setting themselves up for a lawsuit under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

No bias here. A Wisconsin website says they drove Milwaukee’s new advisory bike lane and barely survived, calling it a game of automotive Frogger. Because evidently, drivers haven’t learned anything from the previous hundred-plus years of sharing narrow streets.

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Local 

Speaking of BikeLA, the nonprofit bike advocacy group is downsizing due to limited funds, announcing “a temporary reduction in staff and operating expenses.”

Hip-hop legend MC Lyte says her best Sundays in LA include renting a bike and going for tacos at the beach. Both of which I can wholeheartedly endorse.

 

State

A San Francisco city supervisor led an informal delegation of VIPs on a damp bike rider marking the last day of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.

At least two of the nearly two hundred triathletes whose bikes are impounded due to a shipping dispute live in the Bay Area; their hi-end trim bikes could be auctioned off for pennies on the dollar, and they won’t receive a dime. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the link.

 

National

Romper names the year’s best balance bike to unlock the joy of bicycling for your toddler.

The Seattle Times considers how the Pacific Northwest became the nation’s ‘cross capital.

A Las Vegas public bus driver faces charges for running a red light and killing a man riding a bicycle while apparently driving drunk on the job.

There’s a special place in hell for the Flagstaff, Arizona tow truck driver who ran a red light and killed a woman participating in a bike party ride, and injured several others; he reached a plea agreement after the investigation into the crash also turned up evidence he sexually exploited a minor.

New York’s fire commissioner says lithium-ion ebike batteries are a ticking time bomb.

Police in New York suspect a headless body that washed up onshore at Rockaway Beach could be an Irish filmmaker who disappeared on a bike ride two weeks earlier; despite the condition of the body, they don’t suspect foul play, suggesting he drowned and his body was dismembered by sharp rocks and fish. FYI, stop the page from loading before the popup to get around the paywall.

The Daily Mail seems to be suitably appalled by New York’s Bike Kill Brooklyn block party, featuring “‘freaks’ with mutant bicycles, scantily clad women and bizarre costumes,” along with Victorian unicycle jousting.

They get it, sort of. A Chattanooga, Tennessee newspaper applauds a road diet currently underway, saying safer streets and more bike lanes will benefit everyone — although the same site complains that bike lane construction is adding to the chaos on city streets.

A bystander was the innocent victim of an Atlanta shooting that began with a dispute over a bicycle. Yet another reminder that no bike is worth a human life. 

 

International

A columnist for Cycling Weekly argues that pre-internet local bike shops weren’t as good as you remember.

A kindhearted Saskatoon, Saskatchewan doctor is trying to donate more than 800 bicycles to African communities in need.

Who says you can’t carry big things on a bike? Road.cc says tradespeople like electricians, plumbers and gardeners are increasingly turning to cargo bikes to transport their goods and tools, while a London man borrowed a cargo bike to transport a big chest of drawers across the city, and had a blast in the process.

The BBC reports a spike in violent bikejackings has left some Londoners afraid to ride their bikes.

Belgian ebike maker Cowboy says they expect to become profitable next year, even as some competitors are swirling the drain.

A German bikemaker introduced what Road.cc calls the most unusual road bike of the year, which ignores UCI regs to ditche the seat post, incorporating it into the extremely compact frame.

Once he’s caught, an Indian truck driver will face a murder charge for the high-speed hit-and-run that killed one man riding a bicycle, and injured a woman and her son on another bike.

Times of Israel profiles a presumed hostage who disappeared after driving to meet friends for a bike ride near the border with Gaza; his car was later found shot up and abandoned.

Italian extreme cyclist Omar Di Felice is attempting a solo bike ride across the entire continent of Antarctica.

 

Competitive Cycling

Velo says Columbian cyclist Rigoberto Urán’s recent performance at the Gran Fondo of Colombia is a reminder that the pros are way, way faster than you and me.

Twenty-six-year old New Zealand mountain bike champ Kate Weatherly is being forced out of the sport by new UCI regulations banning trans cyclists who transitioned after reaching puberty from competing in women’s cycling.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be made for bikepacking, but look like a Penny Farthing drawn by a drunk who’s never seen one. We might have to dodge dodgy LA drivers, but at least we don’t usually have to worry about hit-and-run golf cart drivers.

And Rosalyn was one of us.

May she rest in peace, after a lifetime of service.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

22 people killed on bikes in LA this year, city on record pace for traffic deaths; no one feels safe on Caltrans highways

November 14, 2023 / / 2 comments

Color me livid.

For some time, I’ve been concerned that we’re not learning about people killed riding their bikes in the City of Los Angeles.

Now know they’ve been keeping the truth from us.

That worry stemmed from this year’s surprisingly low number of bicycling deaths that have been reported in the media, as well as the LAPD’s belated announcements of fatal hit-and-runs that come weeks, if not months, after the fact.

Never mind that they’re asking for our help long after the trail has gone cold, and any potential witnesses have likely forgotten key details.

So much for the city’s highly touted hit-and-run alert system.

Yesterday, Crosstown confirmed that they just aren’t telling us what we need to know to stay safe, and identify the problems on our streets — let alone fix them.

Following the death of Los Angeles resident Samuel Tessier in an apparent fall at the entrance to Universal Studios last week, I had counted nine people who had been publicly confirmed to have been killed while riding their bikes on the mean streets of the City of Angels.

But according to LAPD figures reported by Crosstown, the actual number is more than twice that high. In fact, of the more than 260 traffic deaths in the city through October 28th, 19 were people on two wheels.

It’s actually worse than that, however, because three more people have been killed riding bikes in Los Angeles since then, including Mr. Tessier, for a current total of 22.

Yes, 22.

Although that figure pales compared to the 138 pedestrians slaughtered on our streets, as the city is on track for more than 300 traffic deaths for the second year in a row.

And once again likely to top the highest number of traffic fatalities in more than a decade, topping last year’s total of 314 — or nearly one person killed on our streets every day of the year.

So much for Vision Zero.

We were promised that the city would pull out all the stops and do whatever was necessary to eliminate traffic deaths by — wait for it — 2025.

Which means they have a hell of lot of work to do to if they’re going to meet that goal in the next 13 and a half months.

Especially since they can’t even be bothered to tell us about the over half the bike-riding victims of traffic violence in the city.

Let alone the other 243 people killed in traffic collisions this year.

And if that doesn’t piss you off, I don’t know what will.

Photo by Wendy Corniquet from Pixabay.

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Then again, it’s not just Los Angeles.

According to a new survey conducted by Calbike, a whopping 83% of respondents would feel uncomfortable walking or biking on California highways controlled by Caltrans.

And 99% would be uncomfortable walking or biking those highways with a child.

But let’s just round up, and say all of us.

Then again, there’s pretty damn good reason for that.

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Evidently, LA officials are keeping us in the dark literally, as well as figuratively.

https://twitter.com/im_walkin_here/status/1724333507554718133

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Bike-riding state senator and congressional candidate Anthony Portantino landed a key endorsement in his campaign to replace outgoing Congressmember Adam Schiff, in what appears to be shaping up as a battle with equally bike-friendly Assembly Transportation Committee head Laura Friedman.

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‘Tis the season.

The bicycling holiday gift guides are coming in fast and furious now, with new editions from Bike World News, Popular Science and Engadget.

Meanwhile, Bicycling gets into the spirit by recommending six bicycling-related charities that could use your holiday donations. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

Just remember to save a few bucks for the 9th Annual BikinginLA Holiday Fund Drive, which officially kicks off after Thanksgiving.

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

Massachusetts Streetsblog reports hating on bike lanes was not a winning strategy for the state’s politicians in the recent election.

A London man got knocked off his bike by a hit-and-run mo-ped rider while biking with his cat, and all the cops care about is his lack of a helmet. And presumably the cat’s, too.

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Local 

Pasadena just got a federal grant for just over three-quarters of a million dollars to boost active transportation in the Rose City.

Long Beach is starting design work on an 8.3-mile, north-south curb-protected Backbone Bikeway on Orange Ave to compliment several east-west bikeways currently under development, as well as a 5-mile bikeway on Atlantic Ave currently in its earliest phase.

 

State

Solano Beach is considering adding signs along the city’s Coastal Rail Trail to encourage courtesy and slower speeds when approaching pedestrians, whether someone is riding an ebike or a regular bicycle.

Ebike riders are calling on San Diego to lift the city’s four-year old ban on riding on its boardwalks.

Seriously? A Blythe man walked out of court already on parole after pleading guilty to shooting a man riding a bicycle after the two men had quarreled over a dice game; 27-year old Deveon Keyshawn Smith was sentenced to four years time served for the crime, after being held behind bars since the 2018 shooting.

Bay Area bike riders turned out in force to celebrate the 4th anniversary of the bike lane on the Richmond-San Raphael Bridge, with an estimated 1,000 bicyclists riding to demand its retention in the face of a relentless campaign for its removal.

 

National

CNN tests 17 ebikes and one conversion kit and comes up with some surprising recommendations, as well as the usual suspects.

Singletracks talks with an attorney to understand why frame warranties for mountain bike frames are written to prevent replacement or repairs.

Pertinent advice from Road Bike Rider on how to keep your bicycling duds from stinking up the room.

That’s more like it. Bike Snob’s Eben Weiss offers five bike safety tips that are more important than wearing a helmet. Which is not to say that you shouldn’t wear one, just that it should always be seen as the last line of defense when all else fails, not the first. 

Bike Magazine considers the drive for ebike incentives across the US. Which serves as yet another reminder that California’s seemingly moribund ebike voucher program still hasn’t launched, over two years after it was approved and funded by the state legislature. 

Oregon Rep. Earl Blumaneuer continues his exit interview tour, as the co-founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus talks with Streetsblog about the state of bicycling, traffic safety and bi-partisanship in the US.

It takes major huevos — or maybe a distinct lack of common sense — to steal ten police bikes from a San Antonio police storage room.

Police in Missouri discovered a body in a local park after someone found an abandoned bike along a bike path, several months after a local person went missing.

I want to be like her when I grow up. An 83-year old Ohio woman wakes up with a smile every morning by looking forward to riding her bike each day, after overcoming polio as a child.

Horrible news from Alabama, where a 63-year old woman was apparently killed by dogs while riding her bike, after she was found unresponsive on the side of the road. A tragic reminder that unleashed dogs can be more than just an annoyance. 

 

International

GCN explains how to fit clip-on mud guards to almost any bike. Which could come in handy with the atmospheric river projected to hit California later this week. 

Nice guy. A Welsh man switched seats with his wife and let her take the blame after blowing through a red light and slamming into a bike-riding teenager, leaving the boy with life-changing injuries.

A British bike rider was suitably horrified as he filmed a swarm of rats along a local bike path.

The bereaved romantic partner of rising Irish cyclist Gabriele Glodenyte warns that the county’s roads are like a war zone, after the 24-year old rider was killed by a driver while the pair were on a training ride in May.

An Irish mother of two faces charges for an alleged drunken and stoned hit-and-run, accused of leaving an off-duty police inspector for dead in a ditch after slamming into his bicycle; she refused a friend’s offer of a ride, despite smoking a joint and downing at least ten drinks.

Two Cypriot bicyclists were hospitalized after they were both run down by a hit-and-run driver.

Eight bicyclist crisscrossed Kolkata, formerly known as Calcutta, during the night on bicycles outfitted to monitor air quality and pollution from Diwali fireworks.

Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan recalls riding his bike 155 miles from Delhi to Chandigarh after graduating high school, because he wasn’t having any luck getting into colleges in his hometown.

Seoul, Korea is proposing a 12 mph speed limit for bicyclists riding in bike lanes along the Han River to rein in speeding riders.

Borrow a bicycle for a free two-hour ride on your next layover at the Singapore airport.

A Melbourne, Australia man riding his bike with an Israeli flag was attacked by a woman and knocked off his bike, in an assault fueled by escalating Israel-Palestine tensions.

 

Competitive Cycling

Grand Tour veteran Geraint Thomas is apparently spending the off-season drowning in booze, admitting to being drunk 12 nights out of the previous two weeks.

The next time someone suggests cyclists aren’t tough, remind them of the time Dutch ‘cross rider Lars Van der Haar causally popped his own dislocated shoulder back in using his own bike. Read it on AOL if Bicycling blocks you.

https://twitter.com/kwoodzie14/status/1723352124828876978?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1723352124828876978%7Ctwgr%5E0ab0d0cb5a4b64820e9398ac0345d32bf7b9d086%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aol.com%2Flifestyle%2Fwatch-moment-lars-van-der-160100396.html

 

Finally…

Donate a bike, get a free burger and fries. You know you’re in a small town when failing to signal your lane change tops the local news.

And why your new carbon fiber, high-performance bicycle could be made by a Red Sox fan.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Why killer drivers seldom get charged, and SaMo considers speeding needed traffic safety improvements tomorrow

November 13, 2023 / / 2 comments

My apologies for another unexcused absence on Friday. 

One of the many insidious effects of diabetes is a dramatic decline in stamina; busing to a couple of medical appointments was enough to knock me out all night, and most of the next morning. 

On the plus side, at least I’m starting the week well rested. 

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Ryan Fonseca of the Los Angeles Times takes a look at why killer drivers are so rarely charged with murder in California.

Which is something we’ve probably all asked at one time or another.

Although to be fair, it’s not just here. From what I’ve seen, most drivers walk with just a slap on the wrist, no matter where it happens.

If they get charged at all.

Here’s how he explains it.

First off, killing someone with a vehicle is simply viewed differently under the law. That difference is codified in California’s criminal law, where manslaughter — “the unlawful killing of a human being without malice” — is divided into three kinds: Voluntary, involuntary and vehicular.

The key difference between murder and manslaughter is intention. There’s also the idea of implied malice, or what’s sometimes called a depraved heart — when someone should have reasonably known that an act was potentially deadly, but they did it anyway.

Like driving 104 mph in a 45 mile zone, for instance. Or weaving in and out of traffic at speeds up to 100 mph with a suspended license while stoned .

Or dragging someone under your car for nearly a mile while trying to flee the scene; police are still looking for the heartless coward in that one.

Let alone the rash of recent cases where crashes appeared to be intentional.

But perhaps the chief limiting factor, according to former prosecutors, is what a jury made up of 12 people who drive is willing to convict on, combined with prosecutors well-founded fear of losing.

Which is why you see so many killer drivers plead out for a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Or a lousy traffic ticket, for that matter.

And that means drivers get away with things they wouldn’t if they killed someone using any other means.

Damian Kevitt, executive director of the advocacy nonprofit Streets Are For Everyone, often meets with families who have lost a loved one to traffic violence. He told me the focus on a driver’s intent in a fatal crash creates a level of protection that doesn’t exist outside their cars.

“Instead of assuming that you have a responsibility and you have an obligation to drive safely, it’s more… ‘we’re going to assume that you have the best of intentions,’” he said. “That’s not right — not when you’re [operating] a two-ton vehicle that has just as much ability to kill someone as a gun.”

It’s worth reading the whole thing.

Because public pressure, or the lack thereof, can be the deciding factor on how serious the charges are that a driver could face.

And how much time they might end up serving.

……..

Santa Monica will consider a motion to speed up traffic safety improvements at Tuesday’s city council meeting.

According to an email from Streets For All,

This item will direct the city manager to expedite requests for stop signs, update the city’s guidelines to upgrade unsignalized intersections, update the process through which residents can report dangerous intersections, improve communication between SMPD and the Department of Transportation, update the Take The Friendly Road campaign, develop a proposal to allocate funding towards infrastructure in daylighting zones to address dangerous illegal parking, and more.

It can’t come fast enough.

Because a man riding a bicycle was lucky to escape with minor injuries when he was struck by a driver, at the exact intersection where Tania Mooser was killed in a collision while riding her bike just two weeks earlier.

And where local residents have spent years demanding safety improvements, with no one at SaMo City Hall seeming to give a damn.

……..

Don’t forget to voice your opinion on the LA County bike plan.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1719817893846614346

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1722818649856069795

………

Nice to see a good turnout for the ghost bike ceremony honoring fallen Hollywood producer Bob George.

Maybe someday, things like this won’t be necessary anymore.

………

Because of course he was one of us.

………

GCN considers the true cost of bicycling, including buying all the gear.

Never mind that you can get a used bike for a couple hundred bucks, and just start riding.

………

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

No bias here. Writing for the Orange County Register, the western director of a conservative think tank says sorry, but bicycling isn’t going to change the world, and only bicyclists demand “the world be rebuilt to cater to (their) somewhat-dangerous hobby.” He also compares bike lanes to social engineering, and insists, without evidence, that closing streets to cars destroys cities. Just wait until someone tells him about the social engineering that forces everyone into cars.

No bias here, either. A Marin paper says everyone has to accept that few people want to ride their bikes on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge compared to the 80,000 daily drivers. But fails to mention that drivers have connecting roadways leading to and from the bridge, while bike riders are still waiting for safe connections to get on and off. The paper’s editorial cartoonist weighs in, as well.

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

A Florida man is back behind bars for running down a pedestrian on his ebike while stinking of booze, after previously serving ten years for a DUI manslaughter.

A Scottish bike rider confesses to being one of those demon cyclists who jump red lights and ride on the sidewalk, sometimes putting his own life over the “the irritation of motorists and occasionally pedestrians.”

………

Local 

Streetsblog reports the LA City Council has taken the first steps to implement an automated speed cam program, and officially committed to using “crash,” “collision” or “incident,” rather than “accident” to describe two drivers trying to defy the laws of physics by occupying the same space at the same time. Although I’m more impressed that the LA Times is now using the term “traffic violence.”

 

State

Readers of the San Diego Reader compiled a list of the city’s most dangerous spots for bike riders, including Friars Road, Nimitz Blvd and University Ave. Which shows some things haven’t changed since I lived down there over 30 year ago. 

A bike-riding Santa Barbara boy suffered minor injuries when he was struck by a driver, although he apparently broke his guitar — unless the website meant a broken fender, not Fender. The story also suggests the driver may have been blinded by the sunset, which seems somewhat unlikely at three in the afternoon. 

A Santa Cruz website considers the ripple effects of one free bicycle given to a kid nearly two decades ago.

Who was that masked man? An unidentified San Francisco bike rider saved the day when burglars tried to break into a van belonging to Minneapolis-based indie band Yam Haus, apparently smacking one of the thieves to disrupt the break-in before riding off into the sunset.

Sad news from Oakland, where someone riding a bicycle was killed in a collision Friday night; the driver either did or didn’t remain at the scene.

A couple of men were busted after a man tracked his stolen bike to their car, then they drove into him when he tried to get it back; police tracked the suspects to their home, and arrested them on a raft of theft and drug charges.

Lake Tahoe’s Incline Village is banning scofflaw ebike riders from city sidewalks, adding ebikes to a current prohibition on sidewalk riding, although a spokesperson for the sheriff swears it’s only enforced when people ride recklessly.

 

National

Electrek explains why drivers should love seeing more people on ebikes — or any other bicycles, for that matter — from more bikes means less traffic and more parking, to better roads and more money in your pocket. Maybe someone should tell that guy from the Orange County Register.

Clean Technica looks at the “slow, painful process” of eliminating the sale of dangerous ebike batteries.

Bicycling reports the annual Cranksgiving food-drive ride is back after a three-year Covid hiatus, with over 100 rides currently scheduled in 35 states, although the nearest one to Los Angeles/Orange County appears to be in Redlands. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you; however, the second link works, regardless.

An Oregon state legislator responded to the death of a 16-year old boy riding an ebike by introducing legislation to ban throttle-controlled ebikes for anyone under 16, limiting younger riders to ped-assist ebikes.

NPR conducts an exit interview with Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, who has been bicycling’s biggest champion in Congress in recent years.

A Washington bike rider urges drivers to please respect the city’s new purple bike lanes. Apparently painted in an effort to make Barney feel at home.

Apparently, killing a 13-year old Denver-area boy as he rode his bike to school last month is just a minor traffic violation, after the driver who killed him got a lousy ticket for careless driving resulting in death.

Former President George W. Bush hosted his annual Warrior Ride for America’s veterans at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, expressing his gratitude and support for vets.

New York’s Transportation Commissioner considers how to safely integrate ebikes into the city’s traffic system.

Life is cheap in Pennsylvania, where intentionally trying to back over a bike rider while threatening to “smoke” the victim will get you two months of home vacation, followed by just two lousy days behind bars each week for 15 whole weeks.

Birds are bad enough. A South Carolina bike rider was startled when a deer literally jumped over him as he took part in a club ride.

 

International

Momentum readers nominate the world’s worst bike lanes.

Bike Radar suggests five areas of training that will make you a better roadie. None of which are better roadway courtesy or yielding to pedestrians, however.

Police in Ontario — no, the one in Canada — are searching a cornfield for a missing 34-year old man after his ebike was found in the middle of the field with a flat tire, and the wires leading to the battery dangling down.

This is who we share the road with. A London bike rider’s helmet cam captured video of a security van driver watching porn on his phone and masturbating while he was driving. Wanker.

That’s more like it. A British truck driver got eight-and-a-half years behind bars for killing a 53-year old woman riding a bike, and seriously injuring her 19-year old son, while using a social media app on his phone.

Finland addressed a smattering of people illegally crossing from Russia on bicycles by banning anyone from riding a bike across the border, months after a similar ban on people arriving in motor vehicles.

Over 35,000 people turned out for the fourth annual Dubai Ride, the region’s largest bike ride.

Don’t obscure your license plate with your trunk-mounted bike rack in Abu Dhabi.

 

Competitive Cycling

There may not be a 38th edition of Japan’s Tour de Hokkaido next year, after a cyclist was killed in a head-on collision that resulted in the immediate cancellation of this year’s event.

Up to 15 riders were injured in a mass pile-up in the final stage of Australia’s Tour of Tasmania.

One of the four climate activists on trial for disrupting the road Worlds by gluing their hands to the roadway claims the cycling community is complicit in the climate crisis through ignorance of the “oil and gas companies sponsoring their races.” Trust me, they know.

 

Finally…

Your next titanium road bike could be worth its weight in gold — or painted with it, anyway. Who needs 29 inch wheels when you can ride 36ers?

And Red Bull says it gives you wings, but maybe they should hand you floaties, instead.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Westside bikeways virtual meeting & Bob George ghost bike installation tonight, and PA Senator Fetterman gets it

November 9, 2023 / / One comment

It’s another light news day for some reason.

And this time, I actually managed to manage my diabetes well enough to stay awake to work. 

So let’s get right to it. 

And apropos of nothing, here’s an AI image of a corgi riding a tricycle.

………

A couple quick reminders of events taking place today.

LADOT is hosting a virtual workshop to discuss building bikeways connecting neighborhoods on the Westside, which they could find in the city’s decade-old mobility plan, if they bothered to dust it off.

However, judging by their tweet/post, the actual time is on a need to know basis. But since you may need to know, it starts at 5:30 pm.

The other event takes on a sadder tone, as street safety nonprofit SAFE — aka Streets Are For Everyone — will place a ghost bike for fallen Hollywood producer Bob George, who was killed in a dooring in East Hollywood last month.

……..

He gets it.

………

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

No bias here. After a dump truck driver struck and killed a Louisiana bike rider, state troopers and the local media were quick to remove any agency from the killer driver, while blaming the victim for “colliding” with the truck.

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

That feeling when the cops chase a bike-riding known felon through the streets of Red Bluff CA, where the local press apparently doesn’t know the difference between road and rode. Never mind that the police need probable cause to stop someone, let alone chase them, and “known felon” isn’t enough. 

A Texas man faces charges for repeatedly stabbing another man in a dispute over a bicycle, after he had taken the victim’s bike earlier in the day and returned without it.

………

Local 

Discover Los Angeles looks forward to next month’s CicLAvia – South LA on December 3rd, the final CicLAvia of the year. Just my luck they had to schedule it on my sister’s birthday, when I will be otherwise engaged. 

 

State

KPBS talks with former Caltrans executive Jeanie Ward-Waller, who was fired for blowing the whistle on a possibly illegal freeway project in Sacramento after watching the agency repeatedly skirt the rules.

Streetsblog’s Melanie Curry takes Caltrans to task after Director Tony Tavares tweeted that safety is the agency’s top priority, arguing that if it is, it certainly doesn’t show. Maybe he can explain how wasting billions to widen freeways makes anyone any safer.

Calbike announced plans for its next biennial California Bicycle Summit, to be held in San Diego on April 18th and 19th.

A long-awaited bikeway connecting Santa Barbara County’s iconic Santa Claus Lane with nearby Carpenteria has finally opened.

A San Luis Obispo bike rider was lucky to escape injury after being struck by a 15-year old boy driving a stolen car; the driver and his passenger fled on foot, but cops were able to track down the boy behind the wheel.

Sad news from Modesto, where a bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver in a Kia Soul as he was just trying to ride across the street.

A report on the contentious bike lane pilot program on the Bay Area’s Richmond-San Rafael Bridge confirms that it’s not the cause of traffic congestion on the bridge, along with the resulting smog, while opponents play the race card in a full-page ad trying to get it removed.

 

National

CleanTechnica explains how ebikes can make using a bike for transportation practical, or even pleasurable. To which Californians still waiting for the state’s long-delayed ebike rebate program responded, “We wouldn’t know.”

A new organization co-founded by a Portland phys-ed teacher is dedicated to helping kids and parents form bike buses throughout the US.

That’s more like it. An Iowa woman was sentenced to 20 years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed two men and injured another when she somehow mistook a bike path for a freeway onramp; she’ll have to spend at least 17 years behind bars before she’s eligible for parole. Which should give her plenty of time to sober up. 

That’s more like it. Several members of the Dallas, Texas city council rode their bikes to work as the city works on its first new bike plan in a decade; one council member said he only felt safe on about half of his ride. Which is probably more than many of the city’s bike riders could say. 

The Kaitlin Armstrong murder trial continued in Austin, Texas, with testimony from two of her friends who heard her threaten to kill gravel cyclist Moriah “Mo” Wilson, in a jealous rage over a perceived love triangle with pro cyclist Colin Strickland; a former prosecutor warns the case is built on circumstantial evidence.

Streetsblog introduces real New Yorkers who rely on ebikes, in an effort to get politicians to stop demonizing them; meanwhile, Curbed says licensing New York ebikes won’t make the sidewalks any safer.

Bicycles could be restricted, if not banned, under new rules proposed for the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway stretching through Virginia and North Carolina.

A student advocacy group at North Carolina’s Duke University took matters into their own hands, and striped their own DIY bike lanes using duct tape and temporary paint.

You’ve got to be kidding. Life is really cheap in Georgia, where a 28-year old man walked without a day behind bars for the hit-and-run crash that left a 60-year old man riding a bicycle with life-threatening injuries; he jumped a raised median with his car, striking the victim from behind and kept going despite literally running the man over. If you wonder why people keep dying on our streets, this is Exhibit A. 

 

International

Momentum suggests a dozen ways a bicycle could supercharge your life in the city.

Police in London say halting a rash of bike muggings is “among” their priorities, as a number of bike riders report being attacked for their bicycles. Not that they want to get carried away and stick their necks out or anything.

The sister of a fallen Welsh bike rider and two of his friends have refurbished the historic village pub where he used to hang out, and are re-opening it in his honor. Although someone should tell the Welsh news site about this nifty new invention called paragraphs, which would make stories like this much easier to read.

A new patent show Shimano may be trying to cut the weight on e-bike motor systems for gravel bikes and roadies.

A new ebike radar system developed by a 75-year old Japanese company uses an AI algorithm to worn of vehicles approaching from the rear that could pose a risk, as well as a multi-stage brake light for enhanced visibility.

 

Competitive Cycling

Three climate activists who halted this year’s Men’s Elite Road Race at the UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland by gluing their hands to the narrow roadway got off with a firm admonishment from the local sheriff, while the fourth was fined the equivalent of $307.19.

 

Finally…

Heavy bikes need a heavy duty bike stand and lift system. That feeling when low-cost Costco techwear is almost, sort of, but not quite as good as the name brand mountain bike stuff.

And your new ebike could have a motor developed for a Mars lander, for the low, low price of just 25 grand.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Four Pepperdine students dead thanks to official inaction on deadly PCH, and more context-free San Diego ebike panic

October 19, 2023 / / 5 comments

This is who we share the road with.

Tuesday night, four young Pepperdine University students were killed by an alleged speeding driver on Southern California’s killer highway.

The four 20-year old college seniors were standing on the side of the road in an area locals call Dead Man’s Curve when the 22-year old driver slammed into three parked cars, knocking them into the women.

And making them all collateral damage on a roadway designed and build to accommodate, if not encourage, high speeds.

The driver, Fraser Michael Bohm, was booked on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, which will likely be upgraded to four counts once he’s arraigned.

It’s only a pity that the people who have gone out of their way to keep this killer highway dangerous and deadly won’t face charges with him.

It was nearly a decade ago that I began representing the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, now BikeLA, on the PCH Task Force.

The task force was created by the state legislators who then represented the Malibu, Pacific Palisades, Santa Monica and Ventura County areas to address safety and other concerns on the highway, with input from the various stakeholders.

The LACBC took an interest because PCH is such a popular route for bicyclists of all kinds. And claimed so many as victims.

In fact, it is the single most deadly roadway for bike riders in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

The LACBC joined with other representatives to demand safety improvements to the highway, ranging from road diets and protected bike lanes, to eliminating roadside parking and reducing speed limits.

In almost every case, we were told what we were asking for was impossible. We were told the road, Malibu’s 22-mile long main street, was necessary to funnel commuters from Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in and out of the LA area.

The overly wide traffic lanes, high speed limits that were nearly universally exceeded, slip lane right turns and roadside parking were all necessary to prevent excessive traffic congestion, or so we were told.

Never mind they also encouraged speeding drivers weaving in and out of slower traffic 22 hours a day. And put bike riders at needless risk of right hooks and dooring.

Caltrans, which has responsibility for the roadway, could have taken steps to dramatically improve safety years ago.

They didn’t.

Malibu, Los Angeles and Santa Monica could have demanded changes that would have saved lives.

They didn’t.

Sure, minor changes were made. A painted bike lane here, widening the shoulder there. But the killer highway remained, and remains, a deadly speedway for most of the day and night.

Now four young women, who did nothing to put their lives in danger, are dead — victims of an alleged speeding driver, and the officials, engineers and bureaucrats who enabled him.

The young man behind the wheel is likely to be middle-aged before he gets out of prison, unless an overly lenient judge takes pity on him.

It’s just a pity that the others who have worked so hard to keep PCH so deadly won’t be there with him.

What a fucking waste.

A 2013 publication highlights the joys of biking sans helmets on SoCal’s deadliest highway.

……..

San Diego media sources were whipped into a tizzy by “startling new statistics” from the city’s Rady Children’s Hospital, which shows increasing rates of ebike and e-scooter injuries, especially among children.

Yet once again, they fail to put any of it in context.

Injuries can be expected to rise with increasing rates of any activity. If more people started playing Frisbee golf, we’d see rising rates of arm and impact injuries as a result.

What matters is whether those injuries are rising faster than the increase in ridership, or becoming more serious than a baseline of bicycling injuries.

Unless and until we have that context, reports like this are nothing more than a concerning, but anecdotal, data point.

……..

Frequent contributor Megan Lynch forwards news that UC Davis journalism students, not the professional press, are digging into what’s been done since a student was killed by a university employee while riding her bike.

I was lucky enough to be logged on to Mastodon at the time the MuckRock bot sent this through. Otherwise I’d never have known someone was finally making a CPRA request on this. Sadly, it was not made by UC Davis student journalists, but students in a journalism class at University of Nevada, Reno.

You may remember that (19-year old sophomore) Tris Yasay was killed by a yet-unnamed UC Davis employee driving a UC Davis sanitation truck on May 25, 2022. First responders were all UC Davis employees as well (UCDPD and UCDFD). Local press didn’t ask many questions and the few that the Davis Enterprise followed up on was because I got after the reporter about it. It still wasn’t what was needed.  UC Davis was successful in burying the questions.

Months later, its PR flacks linked the “accident” and the grant they applied for re “cyclist and pedestrian safety” that simply targets pedestrians and cyclists for re-education, not its own drivers.

So far as I know, UC Davis has not done any campaign to re-train its own drivers or at least it has not publicized one. I vaguely recall reading somewhere that the claim was that the driver could not see the cyclist in the side view mirror. In which case, the position and efficacy of these mirrors needs to be examined. Because cyclists are a regular feature of the UC Davis campus and if the side view does not accurately reflect what’s going on, drivers should be trained to crane their heads around and look for themselves BEFORE turning. “Blind” spots should be minimized on the vehicle.

But haven’t read about any of that happening.

I’m interested to see what the student journalist finds and if the MuckRock interface will let everyone see it when UC Davis responds. They also requested the City of Davis Bicycle Action Plan.

……..

Our Deutschland correspondent Ralph Durham forwards a newsletter from the ADFC, aka General German Bicycle Club, on the subject of licensing bicycles, and why that’s a bad idea.

Here is a link to the ADFC newsletter on the subject of bike license plates. And their list of reasons not to have them. A huge one is the cost because of bureaucracy. Something Germans know a little about.

However, you’ll either need to read German, or dump the story into a translation service like Google Translate.

……..

I used to ride this same route almost daily to get to Lake Hollywood when I first moved to Los Angeles about a hundred years ago.

It didn’t feel safe then, and it feels a lot less safe now.

………

Bike Talk posts their latest episode, starting with questioning the effectiveness of Vision Zero on both coasts.

………

LA County wants your input on proposed bike paths in the county.

https://twitter.com/streetsforall/status/1714684080581955821

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Local 

West Hollywood’s city council voted to end the city’s e-scooter trial phase and extend their contracts with Lime and Bird, although by a narrow 3 to 2 margin; the increasingly conservative WeHoVille site predictably did not approve.

 

State

Calbike claims a number of “big” legislative victories that survived the governor’s desk, along with concerns about bills creating an ebike safety study and a Caltrans bike czar.

The Kern County coroner’s office has finally identified the 39-year-old woman killed by a driver while riding her bike in Bakersfield last month; the CHP continues to blame her for crossing in front of the driver’s car.

The two people killed by shifting lumber form a passing Freightliner truck while riding their bikes on Napa County’s Silverado Trail were identified as a married couple from Portland, Oregon; no word on why they were riding in Napa. It’s questionable whether the driver gave them the required three-foot passing distance, which might have spared them from the impact. 

No one seems to like San Francisco’s new Valencia Street centerline protected bike lane, as advocates call it dangerous and counterintuitive, while merchants along the street say it’s killing their business.

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is looking for a new executive director once again, as current ED Jannelle Wong is stepping down after just 18 months on the job.

 

National

NPR reports on the recent study that shows regular bike riding can improve mental health for middle school students. Which is one more reason for Safe Routes to Schools. 

Bicycling offers a requiem and post-mortem for the popular Surly Cross Check, which has been discontinued by the bikemaker. This one doesn’t seem to be available from other sources, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

Friends of 32-year old BMX champ Nathan “Nate” Miller want to know why the Las Vegas driver who killed him hasn’t been charged for the September crash, after security cam video surfaced showing the speeding driver jerking between lanes before crashing into Miller’s bike, then crashing into a fence and a parked vehicle.

The wife and daughter of fallen former Bell, California police chief Andreas “Andy” Probst first realized he was injured when they got an alert of a fall from his Apple Watch, then heard police sirens and helicopters just blocks from their Las Vegas home; two teens face murder charges for intentionally running down Probst in a stolen car, apparently just for the hell of it.

A 62-year old Florida woman has been identified as the hit-and-run driver captured in a viral video crashing into an 11-year-old girl riding her bike in a school parking lot, and pushing her at least 60 feet with the car; instead of helping the girl, she just got out of her car, asked if the victim was okay, and told her to just go home and take a shower.

Once again, a cop has killed someone riding a bicycle, this time in Marion County, Florida, where a 22-year old sheriff’s deputy ran down a 63-year old man early Wednesday; investigators quickly blamed the victim for riding on a dark roadway without a helmet or reflective clothing, or using lights on his bike. Because apparently, patrol cars in Florida don’t have headlights that could have illuminated someone riding a bike.

 

International

Momentum offers 13 helpful tips for a worry-free first-time bike commuting experience.

Inside EVs says the new European Declaration on Cycling offers 36 principles aimed at advancing bicycling in the European Union, laying the groundwork for future legislation to unlock the full potential of bicycles.

An Australian woman has been seriously injured riding her bike, less than a week after warning a Victoria state parliamentary inquiry into road safety about the extreme risks bicyclists face on the country’s roads.

 

Competitive Cycling

Sad news from Arizona, where longtime bike racer John Timbers, a previous winner of the Iron Horse Classic and the Manhattan Beach Grand Prix, and founder of Arizona’s Vuelta de Bisbee stage race nearly five decades ago, was killed by a hit-and-run driver while riding his bike in Tucson early Tuesday morning; he was 78.

 

Finally…

That feeling when a trio of random tweets tells a story about traffic violence and automotive hegemony. Nothing like suffering a daily aerial assault on your bike commute.

And who says you can’t do stunts on a heavy-ass bikeshare bike?

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

LA study suggests replacing traffic cops with safer streets, and closing arguments today in Tour de Palm Springs murder trial

May 10, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA study suggests replacing traffic cops with safer streets, and closing arguments today in Tour de Palm Springs murder trial

It took awhile, but Los Angeles is finally back with a study suggesting the city should take cops out of traffic stops.

First proposed nearly three years ago in the wake of the George Floyd protests, the results of the study would turn traffic enforcement over to unarmed civilians, as well as remaking streets to prevent aggressive and reckless driving in the first place.

LA, meet your underfunded Vision Zero program.

According to the Los Angeles Times,

Among the recommendations put forth by the city report is investing in so-called “self-enforcing infrastructure,” such as narrower streets, dedicated bike lanes and more clearly marked pedestrian crosswalks.

Such measures naturally slow the flow of traffic and discourage drivers from speeding or breaking other road laws. Much like the Vision Zero initiative — unveiled in 2015 by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti to end traffic deaths within a decade — they would increase safety and reduce the need for active enforcement in “high-injury network corridors, low-income communities, and communities of color,” the report said.

While the city could build on the existing Vision Zero model, the report said, it should be less reliant on law enforcement.

Then again, Vision Zero supporters have stressed that last part since the program was adopted.

The program — at least as envisioned in the original European approach — is based on re-envisioning infrastructure to prevent behavior that too often leads to traffic deaths, rather than the Americanized approach of increased enforcement and education.

Which may be cheaper, but it’s a lot less effective, as countless failed Vision Zero programs across the US attest.

Including right here in Los Angeles.

The study goes on to address the rising rates of traffic violence — as well as other forms of violence from motorists — directed at people outside of cars, whether they’re walking, biking or living on the streets.

From the chronic problem of people running stop signs to a rise in sideshows that occasionally lead to injuries — such as street takeovers or drag racing — the work group found that the “aggressiveness of drivers towards nondrivers, including the unhoused, is a growing problem in Los Angeles.”

Headlines describing road violence involving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists have piled up in recent months, including one case last month in which police say a possibly impaired driver barreled into a mother and her 6-year-old daughter as they walked to school in Mid-Wilshire. The mother was killed and the girl was critically injured…

The city’s streets remain particularly deadly for pedestrians and bicyclists, with 159 people killed in collisions involving pedestrians and motorists last year. This is a 19% rise compared with 2021, LAPD data show. An additional 20 people died in collisions involving bicyclists and motorists, an 11% rise.

The report also calls for further reducing the kind of pretextual stops we’ve too often seen directed against people on bicycles — particularly people of color — who may be stopped for a minor traffic violation, only to find themselves handcuffed and searched.

Or in some cases, shot.

The question is whether the LAPD’s powerful police union will be willing to give up responsibility for traffic enforcement, which is anything but a given at this point.

Particularly since they haven’t even been willing to embrace automated speed cams.

Other questions involve what happens when drivers flee a traffic stop, or when the unarmed civilians are confronted by armed motorists.

But it’s worth pursuing to see if we can make it work.

Especially if it means finally embracing the changes to our streets we’ve already agreed are needed.

………

Closing arguments are scheduled for today, after the defense rested in the murder trial of Desert Hot Springs resident Ronnie Ramon Huerta Jr, for the high speed death of Washington resident Mark Kristofferson during the 2018 Tour de Palm Spring.

Huerta was allegedly driving stoned and without a license when he ran down Kristofferson at speeds up to 100 mph; he was arrested after being detained by witnesses in a nearby field as he attempted to run away on foot.

He also faces charges for leaving Huntington Beach resident Alyson Lee Akers with lasting injuries, in a crash just seconds from the brutal impact that killed Kristofferson.

The case could go to the jury as early as this afternoon.

………

A new bill could be the first step in ushering out parking minimums nationwide.

The bill, co-sponsored by four Democratic Representatives, including Long Beach Congressman Robert Garcia, would extend California’s approach to eliminating parking minimums near transit hubs to the federal level.

It’s a start, anyway.

Although the chances of getting the bill through the Republican-controlled House seem pretty minimal, at best.

………

Speaking of which, the Los Angeles Times reviews Slate columnist Henry Grabar’s new book, Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World, describing it as “a romp, packed with tales of anger, violence, theft, lust, greed, political chicanery and transportation policy gone wrong.”

If you own a car, you’ve got to park it somewhere. If you live in or near a city — most of us do — the consequences are all around you. Everyone already knows how fundamentally the automobile has shaped our physical environment, the residents of Los Angeles County perhaps most of all. Roads and highways are only part of it.

“Paved Paradise” sensitized me to just how profoundly parking itself has contributed to the uglification of urban life, creating, as one of Grabar’s sources puts it, “a super-mundane environment that people just want to move through.” He notes a sad fact about “The Sims,” the popular reality-cloning video game, which tried to simulate the world as accurately as possible but had to cut back dramatically on the overwhelming presence of parking lots for its simulated city. The visual result would have been too grim…

California, inevitably, figures heavily in “Paved Paradise.” The paradise line from the famous Joni Mitchell song “Big Yellow Taxi” that gives Grabar his title may have been inspired by Hawaii, but Los Angeles is its truest manifestation. In the 1920s, as those newfangled private motor cars gummed up traffic, street-side parking downtown was banned. The result: comfortably smooth traffic flow and a revenue decline for downtown merchants of 50%.

It’s a good read, about what sounds like a surprisingly good read about parking, and how too much emphasis on cars can destroy cities.

It’s going on my reading list, anyway.

………

LA street safety PAC Streets For All is hosting their virtual happy hour this evening, featuring CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez.

………

Metro is celebrating bike month in Los Angeles County with free rides on Bike Day — formerly known as Bike to Work Day — as well as $1 bikeshare passes and a long list of bicycle classes.

Although here’s a link to the Metro Shop to replace the broken link on the page above, in case anyone else wants the backpack in the photo, which doesn’t seem to actually exist.

https://twitter.com/metrolosangeles/status/1655996701767761922

However, the real peak to this year’s Bike Month may come the following weekend, when Long Beach hosts their latest Beach Streets open streets event on Saturday, May 20th, followed by CicLAvia’s first Ciclamini in Watts the next day.

………

San Diego’s BikeSD reminds us about next week’s annual Ride of Silence to remember bike riders killed in traffic violence.

So far, there are two rides scheduled for the Los Angeles area, with the usual Rose Bowl ride joined by another in East Hollywood.

Pasadena

Contact: Thomas Cassidy    <–Send email
Distance: 12 mi.

Los Angeles

Contact: Rafael Hernandez   <–Send email
Distance: 10 mi
Notes: Location is tentatively scheduled to start and end at Reciclos pending confirmation from the venue

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The San Diego County Bike Coalition wants to know where you want to see the city’s upcoming open streets events.

https://twitter.com/sdbikecoalition/status/1655997210738429952

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Works for people on bicycles, too.

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

Proving once again that no good deed goes unpunished, a New Haven, Connecticut bike rider was shot after arguing with a second motorist when he tried to help a driver who’d fallen asleep at the wheel.

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

A Florida man was busted for being a bike-riding porch pirate.

Actor James Norton is one of us, although he might regret that after London’s Daily Mail goes ballistic when he’s seen jumping a red light in the city.

Two friends were “viciously” attacked when a London man deliberately rode his bikeshare bike into one of them, then punched the other in the face, breaking his glasses. Although I’d think a truly vicious attack would result in more than just broken spectacles. But what the hell do I know?

………

Local 

LA County wants your input on how to update the county bike plan, and improve conditions for people on bikes in unincorporated areas of the county. Thanks to Dr. Grace Peng for the heads-up, who reminds us to request completion of the LA River and Ballona Creek bike paths, which are under county control.

Former UFC interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson was busted on suspicion of DUI after his truck hit at least two other cars and flipped over in Hollywood early Sunday; fortunately, no one was injured.

Santa Clarita wants you to Hit the Trail this Saturday, with an informal, self-guided community bike ride exploring the city’s bike trail system.

 

State

Streetsblog says the pandemic kind of increased street space allocation for California bike riders, but more is needed.

California’s Equity-First Transportation Funding Act (AB 1525) would require that 60% of the state’s transportation funds would have to directly benefit “priority populations” in historically marginalized communities.

A 23-year old San Diego man was hospitalized with an open fracture to his right ankle after failing to land a bike stunt.

Two 57-year old men were seriously injured when their bikes collided as they were riding together in San Diego’s Point Loma neighborhood last Friday.

Fresno is marking Bike Month with a Ride With the Mayor event. Meanwhile, Los Angeles isn’t.

Sad news from Hayward, where a 29-year old Salinas man was killed in a collision while riding his bike Sunday night. But the driver wasn’t drunk or stoned, so apparently it’s okay. 

Five people were injured when an ebike battery caught fire in a San Francisco apartment Tuesday morning.

 

National

Every city in Oregon can now use speed cams, after the state’s governor signed a bill expanding the current ten-city pilot program. Meanwhile, speed cams continue to be illegal in California, for reasons no one seems able to adequately explain. 

A Salt Lake City public radio station says it will take more than reducing costs to establish an ebike society in the region.

Denver is working with nonprofit bike registration program 529 Garage to replace the city’s existing bike registration system. Meanwhile, the LAPD is using Bike Index to register and recover bikes. Although bike registration does more to recover bikes after they’re stolen than to prevent thefts in the first place. 

Colorado is set to offer a $12 million income-based e-bike incentive program, building on the successful Denver ebike rebate program. It’s also $2 million more than California’s long delayed program, despite having just 14% of California’s population. 

Oops. A Wisconsin man will spend another six months behind bars after a judge revoked his deferred sentencing agreement for noncompliance, after he originally spent just two months in jail for seriously injuring a bike rider; he will also be required to maintain absolute sobriety for the next five years.

The Federal Highway Administration has approved New York City’s proposed congestion pricing plan, after an environmental review resulted in a “Finding of No Significant Impact” on the surrounding region.

The star of TLC’s Welcome to Plathville is taking a sabbatical from social media after her 15-year old brother was killed in a collision while riding his bike in Franklin County, Virginia.

Florida bike riders could soon get that healthy radioactive glow, after the state legislature passed a law mandating a study of using radioactive phosphogypsum as a paving material, although using the agricultural byproduct would require EPA approval.

 

International

No bias here. A couple of candidates for mayor of Toronto clashed over whether bike lanes help or hurt traffic congestion, even as one insists he’s not anti-bike lanes while promising to rip them out anyway.

That’s more like it. A British appeals court increased the sentence of a “callous,” speeding driver, resentencing him to six years behind bars for killing a man on a bicycle while driving at 82mph, after concluding the original sentence of four years and eight months was too lenient.

Ebike sales are booming throughout Europe — except in the UK, where they actually shrank last year. But that may have more to do with the UK deciding it’s not part of Europe anymore.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with the new Seine à Vélo bike route that follows the river from Paris to the Normandy coast.

Bicycling reports one man is dead, and two other people injured, after a stoned Spanish motorcyclist plowed into a group of Polish bike riders vacationing in Mallorca. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

After a South African bike rider was killed when he fell off his bike and was struck by a driver, the local press somehow feels the need to note that his bike was undamaged. As if it’s okay as long as his bike survived.

 

Competitive Cycling

In a surprising turn, Norway’s Andreas Leknessund took the leader’s jersey from pre-race favorite Remco Evenepoel in Tuesday’s 4th stage of the Giro, becoming just the second Norwegian to wear the pink jersey, and the first in 42 years.

American Sepp Kuss successfully pulled off a high risk, high speed battery swap in Monday’s Stage 3 of the Giro.

Bicycling offers a calendar of amateur bike races and events for the next two years. This one isn’t available on other sites, however, so you’re on your own if the magazine blocks you. 

 

Finally…

Your next e-cargo bike could be grown, not made. Now you, too, can use your new e-truck to charge your ebike.

And that feeling when the internet really loves your new bike fest logo.

[deleted by user]
by inDesignPorn

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

May 8, 2023 / / Comments Off on Guns versus cars, NIMBYs want to ban beach bike bridge in park named for late bike advocate, and SaMo anti-bike bias

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me. 

I’d like to say I’m better now, but my blood sugar is still more reminiscent of a ballistic missile than a placid stream. And my mental state is still swirling around the drain, in part due to my health issues, and in part due too many stories like the ones below. 

The former should get a boost when I see my doctor this week, and impress on her the need for more urgent and aggressive action; the latter should improve once the former does.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t count on the health of our streets getting better anytime soon. Or our society, for that matter.

Now let’s catch up on a little news. 

I’ve lost track of who sent me what over the last week, so let me just apologize in advance and thank everyone who sent me something.

And I’ll try to do better next time. 

………

This is who we share the road with.

On Saturday, an alleged rightwing extremist stepped out of a car in Allen, Texas armed with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing eight people and injuring at least seven others, before he was killed by a police officer.

The next day, a speeding driver plowed into a crowd of migrants standing outside a homeless shelter in Brownsville, Texas, killing eight people and injuring at least eleven others, in a crash witnesses allege was intentional.

If there is a difference between these two events, it appears to be one without distinction.

The body count is remarkably similar; the only difference is the choice of weapon, and the only question is one of intent. Which something tells me matters not one wit to the victims or their loved ones.

We will continue to fail as a nation, and a society, until we take comprehensive action to rein in guns and cars, and the out-of-control people in possession of both.

………

George Wolfberg, right, talks with LA County’s Kristofor Norberg.

I received an email from a friend who lives in the Pacific Palisades area while I was out of commission last week.

She writes that a new park in Potrero Canyon has been named after our mutual friend George Wolfberg, a lifelong civic advocate and volunteer who fought for better beach bike paths, bike lanes and other safety facilities to help Angelenos bike more and drive less, both for cleaner air and to combat climate change, and just for the sheer joy of riding a bike.

George worked on what will now be known as George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon for over 30 years, part of his larger vision of an interconnected Los Angeles.

What he envisioned was a park that would be open to all of the public, an oasis for recreation and beauty, in a fully sustainable environment of coastal native plants, while a restored riparian water capture system would protect the canyon.

Sadly, though, George didn’t live to see the park he worked for decades to build, passing away three years ago at age 82.

And taking nearly eight decades of civic pride and advocacy with him.

But more than just a park, George envisioned a bikeway that would safely allow average people to ride from downtown Pacific Palisades, through the park and across a bridge to the beach, as well as connecting to the bike path to take riders south to the Metro Expo (E) Line in Santa Monica, or even further to Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes.

The final step seemed to be when Senator Ben Allen and others earmarked $11 million for the bridge and bikeway,

But as we’ve seen too often in the past, someone always seems to step in at the last minute to throw a wrench in the whole thing.

In this case, it’s a group of wealthy NIMBY homeowners who bizarrely don’t want bikes of any kind to besmirch a park honoring a lifelong bike advocate.

Here’s how she described it.

HOWEVER, there is a group of homeowners in the Palisades with homes on or near the rim of the park who have been very vocal about not wanting any bicycles or any type or e-bikes to be allowed in the park (which goes against what the community came to agreement upon years ago). They are making a lot of noise and asking to return the funds and cancel the bridge.

  • Even though the Coastal Development Permit for the Potrero Canyon Park requires access to the beach;
  • The Recreation and Park Board of Commissioners’ approval for the George Wolfberg Park at Potrero Canyon envisions a bridge access across PCH to the beach parking lot;
  • A bridge would provide safe passage across PCH rather than the danger of people trying to cross through the traffic on foot;
  • The bridge is also something that Caltrans supports (and it does not support adding a crosswalk or light at that location).

Yes, they want to cancel an already funded, and potentially life-saving, bike project.

Where have we heard that before?

But here’s the problem.

Because it was assumed that this was moving forward and funds were set aside, elected officials are only hearing from people opposed to the project, and not from anyone advocating FOR the bridge.

To complicate matters, supporters of the project only learned about the opposition last Wednesday, while the vote is set for this Wednesday, May 10.

Which means if you want a bike path and connectivity to the beach via a safe bridge over PCH, you need to speak up now.

No, now.

Email your support to the following California state senators today —

I’m counting on you.

Because banishing bikes from a park named for one of their biggest advocates would be this city’s ultimate bike fail.

………

Speaking of NIMBYs, a group of motorists are once again raising their anti-bike heads to demand the removal of a SoCal bikeway, this time Santa Monica’s new 17th Street bikeway project.

And once again, they are arguing that a Complete Streets project designed to improve safety for everyone somehow makes them less safe for people in motor vehicles.

Which is just a socially acceptable way of saying they don’t want to be inconvenienced, and are willing to risk sacrificing human lives for their God-given right to go zoom! zoom! to their hearts content.

You can sign a free petition thanking the Santa Monica City Council and Mobility Division for the project, and expressing your appreciation for their work to make our streets safer.

Meanwhile, a new video explains how Santa Monica is turning into Amsterdam. And as you’d expect, drawing more people on bikes.

………

Streetsblog spots new and improved bike infrastructure in Silver Lake, after motorists managed to destructively dismantle the previous effort.

………

Streets For All will host a virtual happy hour with special guest CD1 Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez on Wednesday.

After all, anyone who could get “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo off the city council deserves all the support she can get.

………

Mark your calendars for SoCal’s largest Pride ride on June 3rd.

https://twitter.com/CulverCityPride/status/1653863048577445888

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Speaking of Culver City, drop in for a Bike Month Handlebar Happy Hour this Friday.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1653991731980034049

Meanwhile, LA’s Bike Week is next week, while Bike Day — formerly known as Bike to Work Day — will be Thursday, May 18th; Streetsblog offers an overview of Bike Month in Los Angeles and Long Beach.

And Santa Clarita is hosting its annual Bike to Work Challenge next week, as well.

………

Gravel Bike California grinds it out in the Cleveland National Forest. Which, oddly, is nowhere near Cleveland, thankfully.

………

Count on former Talking Heads frontman and bike advocate David Byrne to make a statement in white at the Met Gala.

………

God only knows how many times I’ve been tempted to do exactly this.

………

Who needs bike shorts, when you can just ride naked like Aquaman star Jason Momoa?

Although most bike riders don’t have that little bottle to follow us around.

………

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

Good question. A Montana writer wants to know when bicycle safety became a partisan issue.

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

There’s a special place in hell for the British hit-and-run bicyclist who left a two-year old boy lying in the street, after hitting him hard enough to knock the kid out of his shoes.

A Nairobi man faces charges after he was stopped while riding the bicycle he allegedly stole during a violent robbery of the bike’s original owner; his alleged accomplices are still at large.

………

Local 

LA Times Letters Editor Paul Thornton writes about the whiplash of Culver City caving to car culture, while other cities, like Alhambra, are resisting it; he also said Culver City’s ill-advised move made it a horrible week for ‘climate friendly’ cities. 

LAist explains how you can get involved in reshaping the size and structure of the Los Angeles City Council.

 

State

Calbike is asking you to email the California State Senate and the Senate Budget Committee to demand that California policymakers to “divest from regressive road-building” and invest $10 billion in Complete Streets and California’s transportation future. Works for me.

California saw a whopping 10% increase in pedestrian deaths last year, with a pedestrian fatality rate of 1.29 deaths per 100,000 people — a full 25% above the national average.

This is who we share the road with, too. A Corona man was found guilty of killing three teenagers, and critically injuring three others, when he ran their car off the road and into a tree, for the crime of playing Ding Dong Ditch and speeding off after mooning him.

The executive director of Bike SD says San Diego’s decision to widen SR-56 simply prioritizes short-term convenience over long-term sustainability.

San Diego’s Vision Zero is going the wrong way, as bicycling and pedestrian deaths spike on the city’s streets.

Arguello Boulevard in San Francisco’s Presidio will get a protected bike lane, after world masters champ Ethan Boyes was killed there last month. Although as usual, the decision to improve a dangerous street only came after it was too late. 

Hundreds of people rode their bikes in the annual Davis Loopalooza, as residents tried to reclaim their city in the wake of a serial stabber who killed two people, including one who was killed as he rode his bike through a local park.

 

National

If your favorite cyclist or bike advocate now has a blue check on Twitter, there’s a good chance they didn’t ask for it, let alone want it.

American men are three times more likely to ride a bike as American women, unlike many other countries.

Pinkbike’s editors explain what bike saddles they use on their own bikes and why.

A Spokane, Washington woman is — allegedly — a two-time hit-and-run loser, charged with killing two people after getting drunk and falling asleep behind the wheel, a decade after she was convicted of fleeing the scene after killing a bike rider. Which is precisely why drivers should lose their license for life after a single hit-and-run, because they’ve shown themselves to be unwilling to obey even the most basic requirement for driving. Let alone human decency. 

The definition of chutzpah. An Arizona driver, apparently dissatisfied with the gentle caress on the wrist he received for the hit-and-run crash that killed a bike rider, appealed his conviction and sentence of less than six months behind bars and five years probation; thankfully, the appeals court politely told him to pipe down and do his time.

A Salt Lake City TV station takes advantage of Yellowstone’s annual carfree soft-opening for a bike ride through the snowy Wyoming national park.

A Pittsburgh columnist argues the city should commit to zero traffic deaths by 2035. Although as we’ve learned the hard way, it’s one thing to commit to no traffic deaths, but it’s another to get elected leaders to actually invest the money and make the hard choices to make it happen.

If you build it they will come. No surprise here, as a controversial Staten Island lane reduction and bike lanes is seeing more two-wheel traffic as the weather warms.

There’s something wrong when a longtime advocate for bikes and improving New York’s deadly streets becomes a victim of them.

New York’s annual Five Boro Bike Tour brought 32,000 bike riders out for a 40-mile carfree ride through the city.

This is why people keep dying on our streets. The Washington Post looks at DC’s failure to rein in dangerous drivers, as one motorist manages to run up $186,000 in unpaid traffic fines. Just one more example of authorities keeping a dangerous driver on the streets until its too late.

WaPo also examines the dirty underbelly of “clean” electric vehicles, and explains why free street parking could cost you thousands more in rent.

 

International

Tragic news from the UK, where former track champ and Tour of Britain director Tony Doyle died after a brief battle with cancer; he was just 64.

An Irish columnist feels unsafe on the street after arriving at her office, then returns to find her bike missing.

They get it. France will spend the equivalent of $2.21 billion to boost bicycle use over the next five years.

More proof you can carry anything on a bicycle, as a Pakistani photographer catches a street vendor with his bike overloaded with garlic.

That’s more like it. A Johannesburg taxi driver has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for the drunken crash that killed a bike rider, after driving nearly one thousand feet — more than three football fields — with the victim trapped under his van.

 

Competitive Cycling

The home side was victorious in Sunday’s stage 2 of the Giro, as Italy’s Jonathan Milan took the day, and reigning world champ Remco Evenepoel held onto the leader’s jersey.

Dutch cyclist Martijn Tusveld survived a dramatic crash late in Sunday’s stage 2, but his bike didn’t, snapping in two when he was sent flying into a roadside barrier.

Cycling Weekly profiles four-time world champ Annemiek van Vleuten, saying Remco Evenepoel isn’t the only former soccer player to win the cycling worlds.

Conservative media was up in arms over a “biological man” winning the women’s Tour of the Gila, saying it renewed calls to ban trans women from competitive cycling. Which would only seem to matter if you ignore all the other times a trans woman didn’t win.

An Ohio woman finished the 2022 Race Across America, aka RAAM, in 11 months and seven days, completing the final 262 miles ten months after a crash into a wooden bridge left her with a broken hip.

 

Finally…

That feeling when you visit a Marin bike museum, and find your mother’s seatless bike on display. Your next bike could have brake levers poking out of the handlebars, even before you crash it.

And fortunately, this helped mitigate the trauma caused when Britain’s new figurehead not only failed to include a regiment of royal corgis in the coronation parade, but didn’t even his loyal four-foot soldiers a shoutout.

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

April 17, 2023 / / Comments Off on LA Planning’s “vacuous” and misleading report, tell Bass to focus on safer streets, and another successful CicLAvia

As we discussed Friday, the Los Angeles Planning Department’s recent report on the state of the city’s mobility plan is, as Streetsblog’s Joe Linton put it, “vacuous.”

Streets For All was a little harsher in their judgement.

Telling City Council and the general public that 67% of the mobility plan is complete just because it’s been started is an insult to our intelligence.

As they’ve previously reported, the actual figure is closer to three percent in the seven years since the transformational plan was overwhelmingly approved by the city council.

At that pace, the city will be lucky to complete ten percent by the 2035 expiration date.

If that pisses you off as much as it does me, let the city council know how you feel.

Especially since a Freudian slip by LA City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto seems to recognize just how little vision the city has when it comes to traffic safety.

Graphic by tomexploresla.

………

As new Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass prepares for her first State of the City speech and releasing her first budget, the Daily News says she’s likely to focus on homelessness and alternatives to armed police responses.

But that may not be not all she should focus on, according to the paper.

Michael Schneider, CEO of Streets For All, which advocates for street improvements such as additional bike or bus lanes and other pedestrian improvements, said he doesn’t expect Bass to increase funding to the city’s transportation department – but that she should.

In L.A., traffic fatalities surpassed 300 last year, the first time in two decades the city had reached that grim milestone, according to a report this year. From 2021 to 2022, pedestrian fatalities increased by more than 19% while cyclist deaths rose 24%.

“I understand why the mayor is so laser-focused on homelessness … but we are a big, multi-faceted city,” Schneider said. “We need to be able to do multiple things at the same time. And right now, we’re not. The mayor’s office is paying almost zero attention to transportation. Angelenos are paying a price for that.”

………

By all reports, Sunday’s Mid-City Meets Pico Union CicLAvia was another typical success, with a good time had by all.

Or nearly all, anyway.

Unfortunately, though, there’s not a lot of information available yet.

Although a story from KCBS-2 demonstrates how to write about CicLAvia while saying virtually nothing. But at least this story from KABC-7 had a little useful information.

KNBC-4 had a good report from the scene, but it doesn’t appear to be online yet. So check their website later.

https://twitter.com/Atticuz85/status/1647698155562209280

The next CicLAvia will be considerably shorter, as the event moves to Watts with the first-ever CicLAmini.

But really, there’s no reason to wait that long.

………

How to bring joy to a bike advocate’s heart.

………

The people who want to rip out the Move Culver City bus and bike lanes insist no one uses them.

Evidently, this is what no one looks like.

https://twitter.com/AlexFischCC/status/1647685802917494786

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That DIY handlebar basket is pretty impressive.

………

Apparently, spokes must be hard to draw.

………

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

A writer for San Francisco Streetsblog is harassed by cops wrongly accusing him of running red lights, while ignoring violations by wrong way motorists.

No bias here. An Ohio radio station bizarrely tries to tie ebike battery fires to Democratic politicians who support alternative transportation.

There’s a special place in hell for the Aussie driver who appeared to deliberately target a bike rider, then dragged his bike 100 yards down the road as he lay sprawled on the ground.

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

Police in New York are looking for a couple men who are using the city’s bikeshare ebikes to snatch headphones off women’s heads.

Classic English rock group The Hollies got off the ground when lead singer Allan Clarke swapped the Christmas bicycle his dad gave him for an amp, to his father’s chagrin.

There’s not a pit in hell deep enough for the convicted British child killer who rode his bicycle around his English community the day of the Queen’s funeral, in an attempt to intimidate witnesses. Because bicycles are so intimidating, apparently.

………

Local 

No news is good news, right?

 

State

Santa Clara County could get the region’s first bicycle superhighway, if the county transportation authority approves plans for a 10-mile protected bike lane between San Jose and Santa Clara.

A Sacramento TV staton says Pebble Beach’s 17-Mile Drive’s $11.25 entry fee doesn’t apply to bike riders, who can ride one of California’s most celebrated scenic roadways without charge. Now if we can just get them to charge drivers to use the state’s other roads, too.

 

National

Singletracks says the bike shortage pendulum has swung the other way, creating a glut of used bicycles on the market.

SRAM has applied for a patent to make bike wheels from natural fibers including flax, hemp, jute, kenaf and sisal to improve comfort, control and safety, as well as avoiding carbon fiber’s interference with electronic signals.

Even car-centric website The Drive recognizes the danger SUVs pose to people on bicycles due to their ever-higher hood lines and sheer bulk.

The Denver community steps up to save a nonprofit bike shop after the owner died, and his daughter took over.

A Rhode Island magazine says it’s an uphill battle for bicyclists in the state, as people who began riding during the pandemic compete for road space with drivers who think they own the streets.

Data from New York’s Citi Bike bikeshare demonstrates the need for safer routes through the city’s Central Park.

A Pennsylvania teenager founded his own nonprofit group to repair used bicycles and donate them to people in need, as well as staging clinics to teach people how to ride them safely.

DC bicycling and pedestrian death spiked 37% last year.

 

International

Bike Radar raises the lid on the best commuter bike helmets.

Supermodel Gisele Bündchen is one of us, as she goes for a sunny, and apparently joyful, Brazilian bike ride, without soon-to-be ex Tom Brady.

Hundreds of people turned out for a bike ride to honor a fallen Hamilton, Ontario patrolman.

Bikes and dogs are now allowed on Montreal’s metro system anytime, as long as you avoid morning and evening rush hours.

A Welsh woman operates a thriving e-cargo bike-based business selling Masala Chai tea, thanks to a government program that provided her with the bike.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, with a 150-mile bike route past the scenic coast and castles of Kent, England. Or take a 158-mile journey through Italy from Assisi to Rome, past seven abbeys and three archeological sites.

Scottish stunt cyclist Danny MacAskill got his ten grand bike back, two years after it was snatched in a burglary, along with over $4,000 worth of other items.

A quartet of British teenagers were arrested for an attempted strong-arm bikejacking that left a man with broken fingers and a swollen face after he was brutally beaten with a metal bar.

Fans of the iconic Dursley Pedersen bicycle, with its unique uptilted diamond-shaped frame, turned out in Pedersen’s Danish hometown to mark the bike’s 130th anniversary.

A new German study shows riding a bicycle can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, as well as high blood pressure and obesity — and the benefits of riding an ebike almost equal a traditional bike.

Czech carmaker Škoda’s We Love Cycling bicycling blog predicts a rosy future for bikes, with bicycles now considered an essential element of global efforts to reduce greenhouse gases.

A Nigerian woman goes viral when a brief video shows her riding a bicycle with her three kids onboard, including a toddler strapped to her back.

A Zimbabwean paper profiles a local bike mechanic who maintains a busy business at his outdoor shop in a suburb of Zimbabwe’s capital city.

Mongolia’s capital of Ulan Bator addressed traffic congestion by hosting an event in the city’s central square to boost the use of bicycles.

 

Competitive Cycling

Slovenian Tadej Pogačar won Sunday’s Amstel Gold one-day classic, after Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu van der Poel opted to sit it out; Pogačar says he owes van der Poel a thank you note for his advice on when to attack.

Pogačar won despite allegations of an unfair advantage after a pass by close-driving race vehicle.

With his victory, Tadej Pogačar became the first cyclist to win Paris-Nice, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold the same year.

VeloNews takes a dive into Strava data from competitors in last week’s Paris-Roubaix to demonstrate why it’s called The Hell of the North.

L39ion of Los Angeles swept both crits in stage four of the Tour of Redlands, with Skylar Schneider winning the women’s race and Cory Williams taking the men’s race; Schneider’s sister Samantha also made the podium after sprinting for third.

Former professional triathlete Heather Jackson made a successful transition to gravel, winning the women’s San Diego Belgian Waffle Ride with a solo breakaway; no word yet on who won the men’s race.

How to write about the United States Pro Cup Mountain Bike Series wrapping up in Fayetteville, Arkansas without mentioning who won.

 

Finally…

Your next e-foldie could be made by an iconic German car speaker company. That feeling when your wife somehow objects to you performing bike stunts dangling from a hot air ballon 2,000 feet above the ground.

And anyone can build a tall bike.

Bur how about a double decker bike for four?

………

Ramadan Mubarak to all observing the Islamic holy month. 

……….

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

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

Dana Point murder victim ID’d as OC ER doc, why an OC ghost bike needs to stay, and $800 million for safe streets

February 3, 2023 / / One comment

Let’s start with a quick update on the horrific events in Dana Point Wednesday afternoon.

The victim of the incident has been identified as 58-year old Michael John Mammone, an emergency physician with Providence Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach.

Mammone was reportedly stopped in the bike lane at the red light on PCH at Crown Valley Parkway, when a Lexus driven by 39-year old Long Beach resident Vanroy Evan Smith slammed into him from behind.

Smith then got out of his car and stabbed Mammone as he lay on the ground; Mammone died at a nearby hospital approximately three hours later.

After stabbing Mammone at least once in the back, Smith pulled out a gun and began shooting, apparently at random. Adding to the bizarre nature of the incident, there are reports that the weapon may have been a BB gun.

So far, investigators have found no link between Smith and Mammone, suggesting that it may have been a road rage attack, or possibly a case of mistaken identity.

Or it may have been completely random, which is even more frightening.

Anyone with information is urged to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Department at 714/288-6740.

You can read more about Smith’s murder of Dr. Mammone here.

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels.

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Yesterday, longtime Orange County bike advocate Bill Sellin included me in his email response to someone asking about an Irvine ghost bike.

I found his response so moving and insightful, I asked for his permission to share it with you here.

Thanks for reaching out.

I know it was placed shortly after the killing of Barbora Kabatova, 26 years old (July 11 2020) by her close friend(s).

I offered, but did not help place it, and I understand it is actually one of Barbora’s own bicycles.

Kabatova ghost bike photo taken from Facebook page

 

I do not know what Caltrans policy is, but I would be happy to see it in kept in place until Caltrans applies their own ‘Complete Streets’ best practices to call out the Jeffrey Class II bikeway where it is merged across by their freeway entrance, or better yet removes the free-right acceleration lane across the bikeway and makes a 90° intersection to ’square off’ this old style dangerous condition.

Since that fatality nothing has been done to deal with this hazardous condition, where the bike lane turns into a shoulder of the entrance, and even a pedestrian or sidewalk cyclist can be killed by high speed accelerating motorists.

Not even an on-demand warning light for those trying to use the crosswalk, much less a curb bulb-out.

Irvine has not reduced posted or actual speeds on Jeffrey either.

Every time I ride past it I think of Barbora and her death. It’s a good reminder. I am grateful that Caltrans has not removed it for the last 2 1/2 years.

Your resident is correct – it has been out there, motionless, day and night, rain or shine, silent, for over 2 years.

If it were her friend or daughter killed, she might understand it’s value.

If there was a ghost bike located at the site of the other 16 Orange County cyclist who died in 2020, and the 7 in 2021, the 19 in 2022 and 2 already in 2023, the motorists and traffic engineers might take greater steps to slow down and make our roads safer.

We can only hope.

………

After so much bad news, we have a little good news to share.

The US Department of Transportation announced the first $800 million of the five year, $5 billion — yes, with a B — Safe Streets and Roads for All Program that was established in the new federal budget.

Fast Company reports that’s just a down payment, with another $1.1 billion to be released later this spring.

California is set to receive $133 million of that, including six large “transformative” projects which will receive a combined $100 million, three of which are in Southern California.

  • Los Angeles County will receive $21 million for Florence-Firestone for All, a Vision Zero plan along corridors with high collision rates.
  • The City of Los Angeles will get $9 million for the La Brea Avenue Complete Streets Project. Or maybe only sort of complete, since it doesn’t include any bicycling infrastructure or improvements.
  • And as we mentioned yesterday, Wildomar is set to receive $2 million for the Sedco Blvd Improvements.

………

Somehow I missed the announcement that California Assembly Transportation Chair Laura Friedman is running to replace Adam Schiff in the United States House of Representatives 30th District, as Schiff runs for Diane Feinstein’s US Senate seat.

While we’ll miss her strong advocacy in Sacramento for active transportation, she’ll offer an even stronger voice in DC.

Thanks to Blake Dellinger and Ravener for the heads-up.

………

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

No bias here. An “avid bicyclist” says a hit-and-run Jersey City councilwoman may have been wrong, but the bike rider she hit doesn’t deserve a $1 million settlement because he’s “everything that serious bikers, like myself, detest.” Like riding in flip flops, for instance.

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Local 

Rides will be free on LA Metro, Metrolink, LADOT and San Bernardino County Transportation Authority buses and trains this Saturday to mark the 6th Annual Transit Equity Day celebrating the birthday of Rosa Park.

Metro is planning to start construction later this year on a “multimodal” widening project on the 605 Freeway, which somehow fails to include any actual multimodal elements.

Registration is now open for the 45th LA Chinatown Firecracker Run/Walk, including 2 and 40-mile bike rides.

 

State

A San Francisco bike messenger worker’s collective strives to straddle the fine line between competing with large businesses, and relying on them for business.

 

National

Apparently, justice delayed isn’t always justice denied. A Las Vegas driver was arrested for DUI ten months after he killed a bike rider while driving 80 mph in a 45 mph zone; he wasn’t arrested at the scene after passing field sobriety tests, but a blood test showed THC, oxycodone and oxymorphone.

Bad enough when Denver drivers run down bike riders, but they don’t have to kill their ghost bikes, too.

NPR looks at efforts to remove a bike lane on Kansas City’s Truman Road, as business owners complain about the loss of parking spaces, as usual. Even though multiple studies show bike lanes are good for business. 

Four Pittsburgh cops will fight their suspensions in an effort to regain their jobs, 16 months after a man was killed when he was tased ten times in a matter of minutes, for the crime of test-riding an abandoned bicycle that had been left on the sidewalk; no charges have been filed, and prosecutors have still not released video of the incident.

According to Streetsblog, entitled New York drivers have been whining about a lack of parking for over a century. Los Angeles drivers have been whining at least as long, even though DTLA has more parking per acre than any other site on Earth, according to UCLA parking meister Dr. Donald Shoup.

Momentum talks with New York City cargo-biker Michael Palacios, who was intentionally run down by a hit-and-run driver while riding with his massive dog; he was also the person who allegedly went on a axe-wielding rampage at a New York McDonald’s.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a 12-year old Menlo Park NJ boy’s bicycle in a strong-arm robbery.

She gets it. A Philadelphia student says for her low-income, immigrant family, bicycling wasn’t recreation, it was a question of survival. And helped her get a full-ride college scholarship.

This is who we share the road with. After a severed human penis was discovered in the parking lot of an Alabama gas station, investigators said it belonged to a motorcyclist who was killed in a collision with multiple vehicles on a nearby highway, and carried to the station on the grill of a truck; it fell off when the driver parked at the station.

 

International

A professional driver played the universal Get Out of Jail Free card, claiming he killed a Welsh bike rider because the sun was in his eyes; however, it didn’t work this time, because he was found guilty anyway.

Three people, a man and two women, have been arrested in the death of a father and his teenage son who were killed when they were struck by a hit-and-run driver while riding their bikes in the UK last month; another man was arrested when the abandoned car was discovered shorty after the crash. At least one man faces a possible murder charge.

Bicyclists in Cyprus called for the immediate repeal of a new mandatory bike helmet law just hours after it went into effect, as critics called it a step backwards that will make safety worse, not better.

 

Competitive Cycling

France’s first major bike race of the year came to a sudden halt, when a major pile-up forced organizers to cancel stage 2 of the Etoile de Bessèges with less than 15 miles to go.

Cyclist rates the year’s best pro cycling kits.

 

Finally…

Forget the sports drinks, and quaff an alcohol-free beer instead. Why ride out in the hot sun when you can ride a 57-mile long climate-controlled bike path?

And that feeling when you insist your rust-ridden tetanus express just needs a tune-up.

………

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

Oh, and fuck Putin, too.

 

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