Tag Archive for Vista del Mar

Two teens killed in crash where Vista Del Mar road diet removed, and elderly driver plows through a dozen French school kids

June 6, 2024 / / 2 comments
Just 208 days left until Los Angeles fails to meet its Vision Zero pledge to eliminate traffic deaths by 2025.
Stop what you’re doing and sign this petition demanding Mayor Bass hold a public meeting to listen to the dangers we all face on the city’s mean streets.

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

We’re up to 1,190 signatures, so don’t stop now! Let’s get it up to 1,200 before I send it to the mayor’s office!

Photo by Artyom Kulakov from Pexels.

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This is why people keep dying on our streets.

Back in 2019, a four-year old girl was tragically killed by a driver as she crossed the street in Koreatown, while holding hands with her mother.

In a crosswalk. With the light.

Alessa Fajardo and her mom did everything right as they crossed Olympic at Normandie that October day, yet she died anyway. Even though Los Angeles officials knew long before about the dangers of that area and intersection.

In fact, the school they were going to was ranked the city’s 13th most dangerous campus just six years earlier, while Koreatown as a whole was rated LA’s fourth most dangerous neighborhood for bike riders and pedestrians.

That’s pedestrians, like little kids crossing the street with their mothers.

It took four-and-a-half years, and a $9.6 million dollar settlement before anything was done about it.

Los Angeles Times reporter Ryan Fonseca took a deep dive into why.

Starting with the problem of each city councilmember acting like little kings in their own districts, responsible for identifying and approving any improvements before they are made.

Or not.

Neither former District 10 Councilmember Herb Wesson, who represented the district when Alessa was killed, nor his successor, Mark Ridley-Thomas, secured that funding. Ridley-Thomas was indicted on federal corruption charges, suspended from the council and later convicted and removed from his seat in late March 2022. Nobody represented the district until Heather Hutt was appointed that September.

Hutt identified and allocated $530,000 for the new signals in June 2023, but the installation work did not begin until April 2024, four months after the family’s suit against the city was settled.

District 10 staff would not comment on the record about why they could not secure the funds in 2020, 2021, 2022 and early 2023.

No surprise there.

Then again, even on the rare occasions when councilmembers really do try to do something, angry motorists too often rush for their torches and pitchforks — and threats of recall elections.

Tuesday night, two teenagers were killed, and three people seriously injured, in a head-on collision on Vista Del Mar in Playa del Rey.

And if that sounds familiar, it should.

Two years before little Alessa was killed in Koreatown, the city agreed to another $9.6 million settlement, this time with the family of a 16-year old girl killed crossing — wait for it — Vista Del Mar to get to her car after leaving Dockweiler Beach.

The same beach where the kids were killed on Tuesday.

Then-CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin responded by ordering long-delayed safety improvements on Vista Del Mar, and a handful of other streets in Playa del Rey. Both because too many lives had already been lost on the deadly roadway, and because the next settlement, for the next inevitable death, would be exponentially higher.

Yet the resulting lane reductions and bike lanes were unceremoniously ripped out weeks later on the orders of then-Mayor Eric Garcetti, after angry residents and pass-through drivers from Manhattan Beach rose up in anger — aided by angry rants from conservative KFI shock jocks John and Ken.

Hence that failed recall, as well as a lawsuit from anti-urbanist group Fix the City.

It only took another four years before there was blood on Garcetti’s hands, and all those who chose their own convenience over the lives of others.

Now just three years after that, two more people have needlessly lost their lives on that same bloody stretch of road. And despite a breathless report from Fox-11, police reports said there was no indication either driver was under the influence.

Never mind that the settlement for this one will likely be exponentially higher than the last one, since Los Angeles installed, then removed, safety improvements that might have prevented it.

Yet despite at least four deaths on the same section of roadway in just nine years, some people still seem to think they should have the unfettered, God-given right to go zoom zoom whenever and wherever they want, innocent lives be damned.

If you want to know why we can’t manage to do anything about the ever-rising rate of needless deaths on our streets, that’s it.

And it would be nice if our current mayor and council would somehow show they actually gave a damn, since the previous ones clearly didn’t.

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Once again, a car was a weapon of mass destruction, when an elderly driver plowed through a group of 12 schoolchildren at a French resort.

Three of the kids were critically injured when the 83-year old driver hit them head-on as they rode single file, leaving the children screaming in terror and pain amid their mangled bikes.

She was arrested at the scene, then released and taken to a hospital after police concluded she wasn’t in a “fit state” for questioning.

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Speaking of deadly roadways, here’s your chance to fight for bike lanes on PCH in Long Beach.

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No surprise that a town known for wealthy, entitled NIMBYs would choose to prioritize their convenience over the lives of bike riders.

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Bike Culver City offers a full schedule of bike events this month, including a screening of mobility justice leader Yolanda Davis-Overstreet two short film docuseries on Biking While Black on the 13th.

https://twitter.com/BikeCulverCity/status/1798102948452651350

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It’s now 168 days since the California ebike incentive program’s latest failure to launch, which was promised no later than fall 2023. And three full years since it was approved by the legislature and signed into law — and counting.

For a change, though, California wasn’t the only state whose competency was question, after Minnesota’s planned ebike rebate program was called off for now when the website crashed within minutes of launching.

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

Police in Surrey, England released video of a violent attack on a bike rider, who was knocked off his bike by two “masked thugs” on a motorbike while riding on a bike path.

One of the UK’s leading young women’s cyclists is out of this year’s Tour of Britain after she was struck by a hit-and-run driver; Kate Richardson was on a training ride when she was knocked off her bike by the impatient driver, who came back to verbally abuse her before driving off again.

 

A man in Cork, Ireland was irate after a driver pulled over directly in front of him in a bike lane to chat with a friend on the sidewalk, while he was riding uphill with two kids on his cargo bike.

Campaigning for the European Parliament, a Dublin, Ireland politician went on a “jaw dropping,” “reactionary” anti-bike lane rant, in which she compare them to a Berlin Wall dividing the city in two.

A bike rider in Brussels, Belgium is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off his bike by a driver who tried to pass him and his companion while driving in a clearly marked bike lane, then the enraged motorist got out and slashed the victim’s throat with a knife; the victim managed to escape with just six stitches when the driver barely missed his jugular.

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

A New York rabbi suffered a broken leg when he was struck by a rogue, salmon-riding hit-and-run ebiker as he was crossing a bike lane.

Residents of Glasgow, Scotland called for food delivery ebike riders to be required to wear identifiable numbers on their backs, as a result of a number of collisions and near misses. You know, sort of like prison inmates, but without having to be convicted of anything.

A couple of teen ebike riders naturally got the blame after they quarreled with a “crew of cranky elderly” Aussies — even though the reporter admitted he had no idea what the discussion was about or who caused it.

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Local 

Streets For All urges support for a proposed 28-mile The Hill to Sea transit corridor traversing 13 cities and unincorporated communities from Pasadena to Long Beach, which would “aggressively reduce car dependency by prioritizing high quality bus service, safe protected bike paths, and improved sidewalks for walking and businesses.”

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton asks what’s next for Measure HLA as Los Angeles continues to slow walk new bus and bike lanes.

Urbanize LA has more details on the planned Complete Streets makeover of Hollywood Blvd, with bike lanes scheduled to be on the ground next year.

Los Angeles is building more than four miles of bike and pedestrian corridors in South LA west of the USC campus.

Glendale is delaying a planned Complete Streets makeover of La Crescenta Ave to search for additional funding, after initial estimates came in over budget.

 

State

Orange County supervisors voted to crackdown on ebikes, including restrictions on sidewalk riding, imposing speed limits and reclassifying bikes that generate more than 750 watts through their motors — even though the latter two could put them in direct conflict with existing state law.

Police in Cathedral City released a description of the suspect vehicle in the hit-and-run death of a bike rider last month; they’re looking for a dark-colored 2014-2019 Nissan Versa with major front-end damage, as well as missing parts.

A 52-year old bike rider in Apple Valley was airlifted for treatment after suffering major injuries when the victim was rear-ended by a driver on Monday.

A Heyward man was sentenced to nine years behind bars after pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter and hit and run in the death of a 52-year old man riding a bicycle while driving a stolen car.

 

National

CleanTechnica sings the praises of Bike Index for registering your bike, which you can do right here for free, for life.

Bloomberg talks with University of Colorado-Denver professor Wesley Marshall about his new book, Killed by a Traffic Engineer: Shattering the Delusion that Science Underlies Our Transportation System; he’s the one who did a study several years back showing drivers and bicyclists break the law at the same rate — but bike riders do it for perceived safety, while drivers do it for their convenience.

Colorado took a step forward by creating a dedicated $7 million funding stream for “proven small infrastructure projects that improve safety for vulnerable road users,” such as bike lanes, sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements. While that’s far too little — even for a relatively small state — it’s a hell of a lot more than most are willing to commit to.

A Tulsa, Oklahoma man faces charges after he led police on a chase while driving on a bike and pedestrian pathway.

Police in Missouri are continuing to look for the SUV driver who nearly hit a man riding his bike, causing him to fall over a guardrail and down an embankment, where he lay in pain yelling for help for 13 hours.

Lawmakers in Michigan want to increase the penalties for drivers who strike vulnerable road users, while tightening the rules for who is considered one.

Vampire Diaries actress Nina Dobrev underwent successful surgery to repair an undisclosed issue resulting from an electric motorbike crash last week, as media sources continued to misidentify it as an ebike.

The Washington Post belatedly discovers bike buses can provide a viable alternative to the standard SUV school run.

Sad news from DC, where a 34-year old White House staffer was killed while riding his bike when he crossed the center line on a sharp curve during a fundraising ride, and was struck head-on by an oncoming motorist; Jacob Thomas Brewer was the husband of Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham.

 

International

Momentum explains why bicycles are the perfect vehicle for the 15-minute city, while offering policies to help your city go Dutch.

A writer for Cycling Weekly says forget talk about the “golden age” of bicycling, when there were ten times the number of bicyclists killed in the UK in 1950 compared to now.

A group of Queensland, Australia researchers consider what can be done about the bad weather, hills and dark nights that keep people from bicycling, particularly women. Ebikes can easily flatten the hills, but can’t help with the dark or bad weather.

 

Competitive Cycling

Bicycling reports the annual Red Bull Rampage freeride mountain bike competition will finally welcome women as something other than spectators. As usual, read it on Yahoo if the magazine blocks you.

People Magazine wants to catch you up on what’s happening with America’s best-known ex-Tour de France winner. But fails to explain why anyone should give a damn. 

Huh? Twenty-five-year old Australian cyclist Robert Stannard received a four-year ban for “abnormalities” in his biological passport, with the ban backdated to 2018. Which is pretty much the same as no ban at all.

Former pro Peter Sagan takes the party on the water in a new beer ad.

 

Finally…

Why spend thousands on a gravel bike, when you can do the Gravel Unbound on a Walmart cruiser? Who the hell would steal a Penny Farthing?

And Hitch was one of us.

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

Oh, and fuck Putin

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

Bike riding Sacramento amnesiac identified, calling out Manhattan Beach hypocrisy, and bikeshare for circus bears

September 24, 2021 / / Comments Off on Bike riding Sacramento amnesiac identified, calling out Manhattan Beach hypocrisy, and bikeshare for circus bears

One quick note before we get started.

It’s my birthday this weekend.

One I’ve tried to put off as long as possible, because it’s one of the big ones — marking the official demarkation between angry young man and crotchety get-off-my-lawn curmudgeon.

So do me a favor.

Ride just a little safer and more defensively for the next few days. Because we don’t want to ruin your weekend, or mine.

And I want to see you back here on Monday.

Even if I will be a crotchety old fart.

Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels.

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Good news from Sacramento, where the man who lost his memory after he was hit by a driver while riding his bike, and had no idea who he is, has finally been identified thanks to tips from the public.

Unfortunately, we may never learn who he is, though, because the hospital won’t identify him, citing patient privacy.

And yes, it’s yet another reminder to always carry some form of ID with you when you ride.

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This pretty much puts it in perspective.

Manhattan Beach commuters insisted on keeping Vista Del Mar a deadly throughway, while following a completely different set of rules in their own community.

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This tweet from the UK kind of sums up the current state of bike commuting almost anywhere.

https://twitter.com/TheCycIist/status/1441020478978764809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1441020478978764809%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Froad.cc%2Fcontent%2Fnews%2Fcycling-live-blog-23-september-2021-286571

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Here’s your chance to be a somewhat different kind of bike messenger.

And you can still use the bike lane.

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

No bias here. A Yorkshire, England county councilor insisted that people on bicycles “do drive motorists somewhat insane,” and are “making themselves a great number of potential enemies and therefore dangerous situations.” And as an added bonus, trotted out the old myth that bike riders don’t pay for the roads.

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

A 19-year old Missouri man was busted for vandalizing homes by riding a bicycle around his own neighborhood with a backpack full of spray paint, and marking walls with phrases like “Blood Gang” and “Death to America.”

An op-ed writer says the only things keeping Brussels, Belgium from being a pedestrian-friendly city is a long list of problems, from bad drivers to embarrassingly reckless bicycle riders. (Emphasis hers.)

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Local

Long Beach is finally getting around to building the long-delayed Wrigley Greenbelt Project along DeForest Avenue from 26th Way to 34th Street, including what appears to be a meandering bike path.

Residents of remote Del Sur in the Antelope Valley are outraged after their hand-built BMX track was plowed under by the city.

 

State

Encinitas is the latest California city to adopt Vision Zero. Let’s hope they take it seriously, unlike a certain megalopolis to the north we could name.

San Diego belatedly installs car-tickler bendie posts along the bike lane through Balboa Park, too late to save the lives of a bike-riding woman and a scooter-riding man in recent months. But at least they’re doing something.

A writer for San Francisco Streetsblog says traffic engineers and DMVs need to learn from the aviation industry how to make Vision Zero work.

Life is cheap in Contra Costa County, where prosecutors have apparently concluded that the killing od long-time NFL coach Greg Knapp was no big deal, declining to file criminal charges against the driver who swerved into the San Ramon bike lane Knapp was riding in to run him down from behind; Knapp died five days later. More proof, if we needed it, that a little stripe of white paint doesn’t keep drivers out. And that authorities don’t always care when it doesn’t.

In a case of corporate Biking While Black, a Google product manager says he was stopped by security while biking across the company’s massive Mountain View campus, because they couldn’t believe he worked there.

 

National

Cycling News explains the difference between a hybrid and a gravel bike.

The Washington Post looks at efforts by Congress to combat climate change by encouraging alternative transportation, including a proposed $750 tax rebate for buying an ebike. Although if they were really serious about fighting climate change, they wouldn’t have reduced the proposed $1,500 rebate down to a paltry $750. Especially when e-car buyers get ten times that amount.

Smart Cities says “we can’t forget public transit, walking and cycling in the push to decarbonize transportation,” adding that preserving private vehicle use won’t move us to a more equitable transportation future.

CleanTechnica wants to know why bikes are booming in the US, while sales of electric motorcycles are stagnant.

A new PeopleForBikes campaign encourages commuters to fight climate change one ride at a time.

A commercial trucker’s website says you can thank bike riders, along with early “automobilists”, for today’s highways.

Newsweek says Vision Zero is gaining speed across the US. Unfortunately, so are most drivers.

Spy considers the best bike gloves for every season.

A pair of kindhearted Massachusetts cops dig into their own pockets to buy a new bike for a six-year old boy after his was stolen for the second time in weeks.

A Cambridge, Massachusetts group has refurbished and given away over 340 bicycles since it was founded last summer.

New York’s bicycle delivery riders won first-of-their-kind protections from the city council, guaranteeing them bathroom breaks, minimum delivery payments and the right to keep whatever tips they earn.

A Savannah, Georgia physician and columnist reflects on life’s priorities, and the “vast amounts of irrelevant garbage that distracts us from the wonder of life’s everyday miracles” after surviving a hit-and-run collision while riding his bike.

 

International

The Guardian wants to know why other big bike brands aren’t following Trek’s lead by tracking their environmental impact. And then doing something about it.

Tragic news from Ontario, Canada, where a man was found dead in ditch next to his bicycle; he is believed to be the 81-year old man who went missing after leaving home on a bike ride a week ago.

A Canadian op-ed writer pens a loving ode to the amazing bicycle.

He gets it. A UK letter writer says it’s angry and selfish driving that kills people on bicycles, not the actions of the victims.

An Irish woman was convicted of dangerous driving for running over a bike rider following a collision; the woman, who was driving alone despite only having a learner’s permit, said she panicked after the crash and hit the accelerator instead of the brakes.

Belgian ebike maker Cowboy is coming to America, after rapidly becoming one of the most popular brands in Europe, although they’re only making one model available in the US for now, at an early bird price of $1,990.

Here’s another one for your bike bucket list, as the Croatian town of Vodnjan has built walking and bike trails to explore the city’s many churches, some several centuries old, as well as hundred of artworks and holy relics dating back to the fifth century. Okay, maybe just my bucket list. But still.

A man in Bangalore, India is lucky to be alive after he was knocked off an overpass when a motorcyclist sideswiped his bicycle; he survived by hanging onto some loose wires dangling over the side.

Hundreds of Mumbai bike riders took to the streets on two wheels to celebrate World Car Free Day.

 

Competitive Cycling

Road.cc says no, the pros aren’t switching to disc brakes just to get you to buy a new bike.

Cycling Weekly looks at UCI’s new gravel bike series, as well as a new ‘cross format and the relatively new sport of Snow Bike.

 

Finally…

That feeling when the nice cops explain you’ve been driving over a mile on walking and biking trails. At last, an ebike with an attached sidecar for your corgi…uh, dog.

And it’s about time Moscow had a bikeshare for circus bears.

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

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

Arrest made in fatal Vista Del Mar hit-and-run, PCH shoulder closing near Point Mugu, and feds cut ebike tax rebate

September 17, 2021 / / 4 comments

It looks like the LAPD got their man.

Police arrested 39-year old Darwin Dantzler for the hit-and-run death of a mother as she carried her three-year old son across Vista Del Mar last weekend.

Wendy Galdamez Palma was attempting to make her way from the beach to her car parked on the other side of the deadly roadway. She reportedly turned away from the onrushing car, sacrificing herself to save her child.

Palma would not have had to cross the street if city leaders had the courage to keep a road diet in place that shifted parking to the west side of the street to protect beachgoers, after a 16-year old girl was killed crossing the street several years ago.

The city settled a lawsuit over that crash for $9.5 million.

Palma’s death will likely cost Los Angeles a lot more, after city leaders caved in to demands from angry pass-through drivers used to using the street as a free-flowing  freeway bypass, ripping out the road diet and returning Vista Del Mar to its previous dangerous state.

And making another death virtually inevitable.

Authorities showed just how seriously they don’t take traffic crime in California, releasing Dantzler on a remarkably low $50,000 bail, given the seriousness of his crime.

Then again, he faces a maximum of just four years behind bars for felony hit-and-run. And if he’s convicted, he’ll likely serve less than half of that with good behavior.

Meanwhile, Wendy Galdamez Palma was — allegedly — given the death penalty at Dantzler’s hands.

And her husband and kids will have to somehow find a way to go on without her.

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Caltrans will be closing a section of shoulder on southbound PCH in Ventura County for several months to repair damaged retaining walls.

If you ride through that area, you can expect to share the right lane with motorists.

But at least they’ll be dramatically lowering the speed limit through the construction zone. Let’s just hope drivers obey it.

Especially when someone on a bike is in front of them.

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PeopleForBikes is urging everyone to voice your support for a proposed federal ebike tax credit and bike commuter benefit.

Although Treehugger argues, correctly, that ebike incentives are laughable compared to those for electric cars — especially after the House Ways and Means Committee cut the proposed benefit in half to just 15% of the purchase price, with a max of a lousy $750.

But at least that’s $750 we wouldn’t get otherwise.

Meanwhile, Calbike wants you to email Governor Newsom and urge him to sign AB 122, aka the Bicycle Safety Stop Bill, which will allow bike riders to treat stop signs as yields. Which most of us already do anyway.

AAA and the CHP had an outsized influence on our last governor. Hopefully they won’t oppose this bill. Or if they do, let’s hope Newsom listens to more enlightened voices and signs it anyway

And congratulate him on keeping his job while you’re at it.

It never hurts to suck up a little.

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Valley Blvd is well on its way to getting shiny new curb-protected bike lanes.

https://twitter.com/boyonabike62/status/1438329554058186753

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More proof, as if you need it, that Bike Index works.

So what are you still waiting for? Get free lifetime registration now, before you need it.

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This could be huge.

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Evidently, the new bike lanes on the Brooklyn Bridge pass inspection.

https://twitter.com/BrooklynSpoke/status/1437880719410442241

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Milan is reclaiming space from cars, and giving it back to people.

So what the hell are we waiting for?

https://twitter.com/_dmoser/status/1438388469785575431

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We may have to deal with LA drivers, but at least we don’t have to worry about avian dive bombers.

https://twitter.com/gplama/status/1437311200002408451

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

I don’t even know what to say about this one, as a cop tells someone on a bicycle that it’s not safe to ride in a bike lane, because of all the cars in it. Thanks to Keith Johnson for the forward.

https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBike/status/1438514018881138692

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

Be on the lookout for bike-riding Santa Monica cello thieves.

Dallas police are looking for a shirtless, purple-pantsed, pistol-packing bike rider who fired a shot into a vehicle Wednesday afternoon.

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Local

Metro Bike bikeshare is now brought to you by Doordash.

Los Angeles approved plans to make street improvements, such as bulbouts, speed humps and traffic circles, to deter street racing, which should improve safety for everyone by slowing all traffic.

CD14 Councilmember Kevin de León will host an open house to discus plans for the NoHo to Pasadena Bus Rapid Transit through Eagle Rock on October 2nd; if you live, work or ride in the area — or want to — show up to support the Beautiful Boulevard Complete Streets plan.

 

State

Caltrans offered an update on $100 million in funding for Complete Streets projects on state roadways, including three projects in Los Angeles County, as well as others in Orange, San Diego and San Bernardino counties.

Yuba Bicycles is moving its HQ to San Juan Capistrano, with a couple new jobs in the front office.

Chico’s Sierra Nevada Brewing is working with a number of bike brands to give away a couple of custom bicycles, to raise funds and awareness for a pair of nonprofits working to repair severe damage to trail systems due to flooding and wildfires in Northern California and North Carolina.

 

National

Bicycling offers tips for better trail etiquette on your next off-road expedition. As usual, read it on Yahoo if Bicycling blocks you.

A Streetsblog op-ed offers advice on how to take on the NIMBYs, and beat opponents of street safety.

A physicians website argues that riding a bicycle to work can make you a better doctor.

Cycling News takes a deep dive into the “unique sizing, geometry and design of gravel bikes.”

Your next bike helmet could filter the air you breathe while you ride.

A new app promises to help you get your bike fit right.

Scary news from Alaska, where a doctor is urging everyone to leave their bikes at home because all the hospitals are full of Covid patients, and they may not be able to treat you if you get hurt.

You’d think it would be hard to go belly up in the middle of a worldwide bike boom, but a Denver bike shop would beg to differ.

An Oklahoma driver had his manslaughter conviction and 19-year sentence for killing a 12-year old, bike-riding Cherokee boy overturned, after the state Supreme Court ruled it had no jurisdiction on Indian lands.

A 74-year old Wisconsin man pled guilty to the hit-and-run death of a teenage boy riding a bicycle on the eve of his trial; he allegedly drove off after the crash, then returned to slowly drive by the crash site before fleeing again, leaving the boy to die in a ditch on the side of the road.

Shades of Vista Del Mar, as a Chicago bike rider was killed by a hit-and-run driver on a street where parking protected bike lanes were ripped out eight years ago, just because homeowners wanted to park next to the curb.

NatGeo sings the praises of Minneapolis as a bicycling city and a leader in the urban bicycling movement.

This one will put a smile on your face, as an Indianapolis paper profiles a 72-year old woman who’s famous locally for riding her pink bicycle everywhere she goes in her neighborhood.

A DC writer argues that every block matters in the fight for safer streets and a better climate.

Nice story from South Carolina, where a young boy riding an old bike crashed into a stranger’s car because he didn’t have any brakes, so instead of screaming at the boy, the man bought him a new bicycle, presumably with brakes that work.

 

International

Cycling Weekly offers a beginner’s guide to shifting.

A woman riding through Mexico discovers firsthand what it’s like to run out of water in the middle of the desert; fortunately, she stumbled on total strangers who saved her.

Britain’s ex-health secretary is one of us, as he was spotted riding a Lime ebike through Trafalgar Square after being forced out of the government over an affair, while leaving his wife to suffer through long Covid alone. Schmuck.

Paris continues to free itself from the tyranny of motor vehicles, as Slate talks with David Belliard, the city’s adjunct mayor for transportation and public space.

Time is running out for Afghanistan’s women’s cycling community following the Taliban takeover of the country; a campaign to evacuate and resettle 28 bicyclists and their families has raised nearly $100,000 of the $250,000 goal.

 

Competitive Cycling

L39ion of Los Angeles founder Justin Williams is attempting to jumpstart the moribund heart of American cycling with a one-day, $100,000 crit in Sacramento next month, including equal payouts for men and women.

Of course, the way they’ve performed this season, there’s a good chance L39ion will just win all of that money back.

 

Finally…

One sure sign you’ve got too much money — paying $65 for an ounce and a half of chain lube; then again, what else would you use on your $12,700 ebike? Your next bike could come complete with a retractable plastic roof.

And always ride with a friend.

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

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

Blood on Garcetti’s hands as hit-and-run driver murders mom on Vista Del Mar, and big pickups blind drivers to little kids

September 13, 2021 / / One comment

We knew it was going to happen.

Just four years after a road diet was unceremoniously ripped out on deadly Vista Del Mar, a mother was killed by a hit-and-run driver while carrying her three-year old son.

And immediately, local residents jumped in to demand that something be done to stop the street’s speeding drivers.

Like this man who was quoted by KCBS-2.

A day after the tragic incident, some neighbors are saying that something needs to be done about people speeding down Vista Del Mar.

“Nobody respects the speed limit here,” said a neighbor Adolfo Navarro. “I mean, you’ll see the cops on motorcycles here during the day enforcing it, but at night, it’s…you can hardly see because the lights don’t even gloom right and then you can only see as far as you can using your headlights.”

Except something was done.

And Playa del Rey residents and Manhattan Beach commuters immediately got out the torches and pitchforks demanding its removal, until our weak-kneed mayor cut the legs out from under the local councilmember to force its removal.

Now every damn one of them have this woman’s blood on their hands.

CD11 Councilmember Mike Bonin had ordered the road diet when the city was forced to settle a lawsuit for $9.5 million, two years after 16-year-old Naomi Larsen was killed while crossing the road at Dockweiler Beach.

Just like 33-year old Wendy Galdamez Palma on Saturday night.

Bonin understood that, without quick action, people would continue to die on the killer street.

And the next settlement would make that $9.5 million look like peanuts.

So he ordered LADOT to implement a long planned, and long delayed, road diet on Vista Del Mar, along with a handful of other local streets.

Unfortunately, the work was done over a weekend, without warning or public announcements, resulting in massive traffic backups and the inevitable hot tempers.

And somehow, everyone blamed bike lanes — and bike riders in general — for the road diet, even though LADOT used diagonal parking to narrow the street, rather than bike lanes, so speeding drivers wouldn’t keep killing people.

So in the face of demands from angry cut-through commuters, as well as lawsuits and threats of recalls — that was back in the day, before recalls were an everyday thing — Garcetti ordered all the road diets and bike lanes that had been installed on other streets removed.

Making Bonin look like a hapless fool.

And making more deaths inevitable.

As an added bonus, the actions of the future ambassador to India undercut virtually every road diet that had been planned anywhere in the City of Angels, as councilmembers ran scared, and quickly concluded they’d rather see more needless deaths than have those angry drivers come after them.

Most notably on LA’s Temple Street, where both CD1’s Gil Cedillo and CD13’s Mitch O’Farrell quickly backed out of a desperately needed, shovel-ready lane reduction.

Which was soon followed by CD2 Councilmember Paul Krekorian cancelling plans for similar safety improvements on Lankershim Blvd in North Hollywood.

That’s how we ended up with bike riders and pedestrians continuing to die on our streets, six years after the city adopted Vision Zero, and just four years until traffic deaths were supposed to be a thing of the past.

Yeah, right.

Never mind an ever rising epidemic of hit-and-runs, as drivers recognized just how unlikely they are to be caught. And just how likely they are to get away with a slap on the wrist if they are.

All of which brings us to the needless death of a mother cradling her child in her arms, who reportedly turned away from the oncoming car to sacrifice her life in order to save his.

I honestly don’t know what to say anymore.

Wendy Palma did not need to die. Steps were taken to tame high speed drivers on deadly Vista Del Mar. And spineless cowards took them out.

Which means the next legal settlement won’t by $9.6 million, but significantly higher. Because the city knew there was a problem there, and not only didn’t fix it, they actually removed the fix.

And the one after that will be higher still.

And the one after that.

And people will keep dying, because the cowards in City Hall don’t have the courage to do anything about it.

Photo shows the road diet that was removed from Vista Del Mar.

………

If a driver can’t see what’s on the road directly in front of them, they shouldn’t be allowed on the road.

Period.

………

Everyone knows you can’t carry stuff home from the market or hardware store on a bicycle.

Let alone a dozen kegs.

Right?

https://twitter.com/pedalmeapp/status/1436314640825393153

………

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

This is who we share the road with. A British driver somehow seems to find humor in seeing an injured bike rider on the side of the road. Schmuck.

https://twitter.com/ldnparks/status/1435872982610612224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1435930878392274949%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cyclingweekly.com%2Fnews%2Fgrim-viewing-as-video-emerges-of-driver-mocking-injured-cyclist-in-richmond-park

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

London police “nicked” a teenage fake food delivery rider who was dispensing cannabis instead of food, catching him with nine bags of weed and the equivalent of more than $700 in cash.

It takes a major schmuck to punch a British man walking his dog and kick him in the head, just because the man asked a passing bike rider to slow down.

………

Local

Speaking of Mike Bonin, the councilmember announced improved bollard-protected bike lanes on Airport Blvd in Westchester (scroll down), even if half the riding area is in the gutter.

The LA County Sheriff’s Department’s Fugitive Task Force busted a man riding a bicycle in West Hollywood who was wanted for a New York murder, after his barber gave away his location by posting a photo of him getting a haircut on Instagram.

Fifty South Bay bike riders honored bicycling advocate Julian Katz with a ride in his memory, three years after Katz passed away at the age of 88.

They get it. The Long Beach Business Journal makes the case that a $20 million reconstruction plan for Artesia Blvd through Compton, Long Beach, Cerritos and Paramount, including an upgraded bike lane, will be good for business growth along the corridor.

 

State

San Diego will be the first US city to get the Bird, as the Santa Monica-based company deploys a fleet of their new ebikes in the city.

Twenty-eight-year old ex-con Martin Valdez Arias has been charged with randomly attacking a woman while riding his bike on a Ventura bike path; he faces charges of false imprisonment by violence and attempted sexual battery.

A travel website offers tips on how to ride your bike across San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

 

National

They get it, too. Vox says US cities must be designed to encourage much more biking, walking and transit use to end America’s obsession with driving and fight climate change.

A Denver PBS station looks at the local chapter of Black Girls Do Bike, a nationwide group dedicated getting more Black women to ride bikes. And dispelling the myth that they don’t.

Authorities are looking for a man who went missing not far from my Colorado hometown after he set out for bike ride on Friday, and never came home.

A Missouri construction crew devised a brilliant solution to keep the 287-mile Katy trail open during a bridge replacement project, using shipping containers to form a makeshift tunnel to protect riders from falling debris.

A Chicago group gave away 75 refurbished bicycles to kids from two to ten years old, as well as giving them basic safety training.

This is who we share the road with. A three-month old Brooklyn baby is dead, and her mother clinging to life, after a wrong way driver slammed into another car, and both vehicles spun out onto the sidewalk; the driver, who had an incredible 160 traffic violations in the past four years, attempted — and failed — to jack another car to flee following the crash. Just one more example of authorities keeping dangerous drivers on the road until it’s too late.

Don’t hold your breath. New York’s mayor promises answers after the NYPD turned a new bike lane into their own parking lot.

A New Yorker gets his stolen bike back two months later, after spotting it in a photo of abandoned bikes recovered by the police.

Camila Cabello is one of us, riding her bike with a friend on the streets of New York.

An Atlantic City paper is surprised to learn that county officials have been building a bike network for the past decade, but they support the effort, saying rising bike deaths make it a necessity.

No surprise here. A Pottsville PA cop wasn’t charged for killing a 31-year old man who reportedly was struck when he rode his bike into an intersection; no word on who actually had the right-of-way, or whether the officer was using lights and siren. Unfortunately, police have a well-deserved reputation for blaming the victim in any crash involving a cop.

 

International

If you think traffic is driving you nuts, you may be right. A new study shows exposure to traffic and railroad noise increases the risk of dementia in general, and Alzheimer’s in particular.

A Canadian man is looking for the Good Samaritans who came to his rescue after he did a face plant when a brake cable snapped on a steep descent, while visiting family in Vancouver.

A Toronto columnist says the future of the city’s downtown is not car-friendly. And that’s a good thing.

A man in the UK will spend the next six months behind bars for violating his probation, after being caught in possession of a bicycle that wasn’t registered with police, which was a condition of his suspended sentence for selling weed; he had been allowed back on the streets despite 13 previous convictions.

An Irish paper says carfree housing developments don’t have to be a utopian ideal, and that removing cars from homes can eliminate the risk they pose to children.

A new Netherlands study show bicycling injuries in the country are eight times higher than what has been reported by the police.

United Arab Emirates VP Sheikh Mohammed is one of us, taking to his bike to explore Dubai’s World Expo site ahead of its opening next month. Although he doesn’t look very happy about it, at least in the top photo.

September is the most dangerous month to ride a bike in South Korea, with August second.

More confirmation that Russell Crowe is one of us, as he took his mountain bike out for a spin around Sidney, Australia with his girlfriend.

 

Competitive Cycling

Dutch cyclist Pascal Eenkhoorn was the star of Saturday’s 7th stage of the Tour of Britain for handing his water bottle to a young fan who pedaled furiously along the sidewalk to keep up with the lead breakaway.

 

Finally…

Let’s be honest, it would probably be worth the $6.51 fine to ride with a jet engine on your bike. That feeling when you’re tired of horseshit bike lanes — no, literally. Or get attacked by a pair of naked and mostly naked men.

And who says you need a surfboard to ride the waves?

………

On a personal note, yesterday marked the 14th anniversary of the Infamous Beachfront Bee Incident. But I’m still here, and the bees aren’t.

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

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

Morning Links: Vision Zero in reverse on Vista del Mar, and an indignorant self-pious anti-bike lane cyclist

August 29, 2017 / / 4 comments

This is not how Vision Zero is supposed to work.

Bowing to complaints from angry motorists, Los Angeles reversed the road diet on Vista del Mar in Playa del Rey last week.

Streetsblog’s Joe Linton reports the reconfigured street is now a “desolate, 4-lane highway,” with nothing to keep drivers from exceeding the already too high 40 mph speed limit.

And exceed it, they will. And already are.

Which means it’s just a matter of time until the next death on a roadway that has already seen far too many.

Except this time, the inevitable lawsuit will settle for far more than the $9.5 million paid out by the city recently in the death of a 16-year old girl. Because they had a chance to fix the problem and not only didn’t do it, but undid the fix they made.

A cost that will be born, not by the South Bay drivers who use the roadway as their personal speedway, but by the people of Los Angeles.

Or the South Bay cities that believe in calming traffic, but only inside their own city limits, for that matter.

It’s too early to give up on Vision Zero.

But this is exactly the wrong thing to do. And for exactly the wrong reasons.

Photo of deconfigured Vista del Mar by Streetsblog’s Joe Linton.

………

Once again, the specter of an indignorant, self-pious cyclist raises its ugly head.

This time in the form of a San Luis Obispo columnist who says he obeys the law when he rides, but accuses the city council of appeasing those damn scofflaw bike zealots with a cycle track he insists no one else wants anyway.

Maybe someone should tell him that many law abiding bike riders desperately want safer places to ride their bikes, and better bikeways have been shown to reduce illegal bike behavior.

And no, drivers don’t pay all the taxes and fees for the construction and maintenance of our roads.

Or even most of them.

………

BikinginLA sponsor Thomas Forsyth will team with Wolfpack Hustle to host the Forsyth Cup at the Encino Velodrome on September 16th.

………

Team USA announced the women’s team for the coming world road championships, including 42-year old defending world time trial champ Amber Neben, Chloe Dygert, Megan Gaurnier and SoCal’s own Coryn Rivera.

The Colorado-based Cannondale Drapac cycling team — home to Taylor Phinney, Alex Howes and Rigoberto Uran — has reluctantly started a crowdfunding campaign to stay afloat after losing a key sponsor for next year; the Denver Post reports it’s already raised around $1.5 million.

Chris Froome shrugged off concerns that his Team Sky has an unfair financial advantage over the other teams, comparing efforts to level the playing field to communism. Which is easy to say when he’s guaranteed a job for next year.

Good thing the doping era is over. This year’s Dana Point Grand Prix winner Kayle LeoGrande was banned for a whopping eight years after a drug test revealed seven separate prohibited substances.

……….

Local

West Hollywood’s WeHo Pedals celebrates its first anniversary tomorrow at Sal Guarriello Park at Santa Monica Blvd and Holloway from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. In case you’re wondering, the traditional gift for a one-year anniversary is paper; do with that what you will.

Pasadena’s planned two-way Union Street cycle track could start construction before the projected 2021 kickoff date.

Santa Clarita sheriff’s deputies will be conducting a bike and pedestrian safety enforcement program tomorrow, ticketing people for behavior that can jeopardize the safety of either, regardless of who commits it. Which means ride to the letter of the law until you’re out of their jurisdiction, which extends beyond the city limits.

The Expo Line bike path continues to be closed for maintenance work between Centinela and Stewart Street in Santa Monica; SaMo is also conducting a bike technology demonstration project at the intersection of Pico and 11th this week.

 

State

The OC Register gives you the lowdown on California ebike laws.

Nearly 20 special needs kids in Ventura get new adaptive tricycles, thanks to a Los Angeles-based nonprofit.

A Fresno school bus driver apparently right hooked a teenage bike rider, and just kept going.

The victim of Sunday’s Guerneville hit-and-run that killed a bike rider as he checked his phone on the side of the road has been identified as the chief legal counsel for UC Berkeley; a 28-year old Rio Nido man has been named a person of interest in the case.

Sacramento State University students will be greeted with several new green bike lanes leading to campus, as well Sacramento’s first bike boxes and bicycle traffic signal on a dangerous corridor near the school.

A large landslide nine months ago will keep a popular Sacramento riverfront bike trail closed until at least next spring.

 

National

PlacesForBikes’ Michael Andersen says improving bicycling is as much about slowing traffic speeds as it is building bike lanes.

A Seattle woman celebrates bike riders of all sizes with stickers reading With These Thighs.

The war on bikes continues, as a 72-year old Arkansas bike rider was seriously injured when he ran into barbed wire that had been strung at chest level across a bike trail. Lets hope they catch the jerks who did it and lock them up for a very long time.

A Pittsburgh website says new bike lanes are a good first step, but more has to be done to ensure safety.

Boston cops have accepted an invitation from the founder of a Boston stunt-bike group to ride with them, after the riders were booted from a parade that banned bikes over the weekend.

The New York Times examines dockless bikeshare companies, which are currently banned from the city.

 

International

Montreal bike cops accidently bust one of the United States’ most wanted criminals.

Six-time Brit Olympic champ Sir Chris Hoy says pretty much anyone who weighs more than 112 pounds looks awful in Lycra, and looks ridiculous in fluorescent colors or a full team kit; he later issued an apology for some of his remarks. Although I do have to agree with him about white bike shorts, which don’t look good on anyone.

A paper in the UK offers advice on how to keep your bike from getting stolen.

Organizers of a British mountain bike race face charges for not doing enough to ensure the safety of spectators after a young woman was killed by an out-of-control bike in 2014.

After months of reports that self-driving cars can’t recognize bike and riders would have to wear some sort of transponder to improve safety, German auto parts maker Bosch is introducing a radar system designed to recognize and automatically respond to bicyclists even in heavy fog, as well as spotting riders coming from behind in order to prevent doorings.

A sharp decline in Australian imports of children’s bikes prompts fears that children are less active in the country. It could have something to do with the country’s dangerous, auto-centric streets, and a mandatory helmet law and draconian fines that discourage their parents from riding. Or it could have something to do with dangerous bikes, after an Aussie teenager was impaled by the gear shift on his bicycle.

 

Finally…

Your next foldie could weigh just 15 pounds. Who needs spin class when you can just pedal your desk?

And why let a little thing like a hurricane keep you from riding?

 

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

Morning Links: Second lawsuit filed over Playa del Rey road diets, and bizarre racist traffic manifesto mailed

August 11, 2017 / / 25 comments

You knew it was coming.

In news that should surprise no one, a second lawsuit has been filed over the lane reductions on Vista del Mar and other streets in Playa del Rey.

This time, by the un-ironically named driver-activist group Keep LA Moving.

Which is fighting efforts to do just that in Playa del Rey and Mar Vista, by demanding a continuation of the failed auto-centric planning that has harmed so many parts of our city, at the expense of everyone who isn’t currently in a car.

What is only a little surprising is the paranoid, tinfoil-hat wearing extremes to which they’ve taken their case.

According to a story in the Daily Breeze,

City officials have “engaged in a campaign of misinformation, name calling and race baiting, claiming that the aforementioned changes were made for ‘safety’ reasons, while the changes have made the affected roadways exponentially unsafe,” the lawsuit states.

Race baiting? Seriously?

In response to backlash, the lawsuit says, Bonin misleadingly used the stories of victims who were killed on the streets, failing to mention details that show lane reductions wouldn’t have prevented their deaths.

“In none of these cases was the unfortunate death caused by too many lanes on the road, or the lack of dedicated bicycle lanes,” the suit states.

Never mind that the victims might have survived the crashes if the traffic had been moving at a less deadly pace. Which was the expressed purpose of removing those lanes.

But here’s the best one.

It also accuses the city of failing to conduct adequate public outreach for the Safe Streets for Playa del Rey Initiative, saying only 150 of Playa del Rey’s 12,000 residents were engaged in the process.

“LADOT thereafter populated neighborhood forums with outside, paid supporters to make it appear that local residents were overwhelmingly supporting the projects,” the suit states.

If you didn’t get your check, contact LADOT and demand payment. Because evidently, everyone else who supported the projects did.

And never mind that many, if not most, of those opposing the projects don’t even live in Los Angeles, let alone in Playa del Rey.

Keep L.A. Moving also alleges Bonin’s office has suppressed free speech by allegedly deleting critical comments and blocking users from his Facebook page.

Maybe they should give the 1st Amendment another read. Because I don’t think it means what they think it means.

Then finally, there’s this.

Keep L.A. Moving director Karla Mendelson said her group isn’t against safety, but wants to make elected officials think twice before implementing road diets.

No, they’re all for safety. As long as it doesn’t inconvenience them.

You can download a full copy of the lawsuit here.

………

Traffic safety advocates and neighborhood council members around Los Angeles have been receiving a very strange and offensive screed purporting to discuss traffic safety.

This bizarrely auto-centric piece, which is filled with bike hate and 180 degrees wrong on most traffic safety efforts, reads like the Unibomber’s manifesto, but without the intelligence.

Take this section on wide bike lanes. Please.

Even more frightening than the writer’s obvious glee at the fantasy of watching another human being die in the street, is the fact that these fliers have been mailed to people’s home addresses — an implied threat clearly saying “we know where you live.”

I’m told that at least one neighborhood council member has resigned as a result.

It’s horrifying to think that working to make this a more bikeable, walkable and livable city could put you in the crosshairs of people willing to threaten others to maintain their philosophy of autos über alles on the streets.

But that seems to be the world we live in.

……….

The self-proclaimed “LA’s #1 walking and biking advocacy group” we mentioned yesterday —which calls Vision Zero “population control,” and falsely claimed to be part of the non-existent group behind this website — says it will hold a public meeting at Intelligencia Coffee in Venice on Saturday.

If you live in the area, maybe you should drop in and see if they really exist.

And if they’re really there, give them a nice, big WTF for me.

And maybe a restraining order.

………

The Colorado Classic aims to reimagine bike racing; the Denver Post gives the details on all four stages.

Here’s your spoiler-free result of the first stage.

A Denver TV station says the presence of the Rwandan cycling team at the Colorado Classic sends a message of inspiration and hope, even if they’re not expected to win any stages.

Ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis says banning Lance’s podcast is just being petty, as he prepares to return to mountain bike racing at the Leadville 100 with his Floyd’s of Leadville medicinal dope partner Dave Zabriskie.

Cycling great Andre Greipel says he’s lost all his instincts on the bike.

The Guardian offers a beautiful photo essay examining the 2,400-mile Transcontinental bike race across Europe.

……….

Local

Maybe one day your summer bike rides could be a bit cooler, as Los Angeles experiments with changing the surface color of streets to reduce roadway temperatures.

Great profile of 16-year old Los Angeles public transit enthusiast Kenny Uong.

CiclaValley discovers the San Fernando Valley’s secret climb.

Helen’s Cycles is sponsoring a trio of rides throughout the LA area tomorrow.

Cycling in the South Bay’s Seth Davidson offers his own inimitable advice on commuting to work.

The South Bay’s Easy Reader News credits the removal of the Herondo wall on the Hermosa border and widening the bike path with opening the entrance to Redondo Beach, leading to a boom in business along Harbor Drive. So much for bike lanes killing business, as the above lawsuit asserts, as well as the “fat bike lanes” in the manifesto.

 

State

Residents insist that traffic congestion is a nightmare in Lytle Creek, even without any road diets or bike lanes. Thanks to Erik Griswold for the heads-up.

Caught on video: A San Francisco bike rider is sent flying when he apparently hits a curb after swerving to avoid an SUV that left-crossed him.

A San Francisco website says there ain’t no party like an East Bay Bike Party.

A 74-year old Healdsburg man will face a misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter charge for an unsafe pass that apparently caused a women to fall off her bike during a charity ride.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a specialized bicycle from a Navy vet who was using it to recover from paralysis, after he was shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan.

Violent crime is increasing on a Sacramento bike path with one of the region’s highest concentrations of chronically homeless people; one rider reported getting punched in the jaw just for being there.

 

National

Streetsblog asks why cities shouldn’t fund student bikeshare passes like they do transit passes.

No surprise here. A new study showed that adult-supervised bike trains to and from school increased physical activity for kids, providing 35% of their daily recommended exercise.

Seattle discovers the most effective way to cut solo car commutes is charging for parking by the day, rather than by the month. Just imagine if they combined that with safer streets to encourage more walking and biking at the same time.

Speaking of Seattle, the city’s limited experiment with dockless bikeshare doubled to a total of 2,000 bikes this week, and could double again when two more suppliers hit the streets. My apologies to whoever sent this; unfortunately, I’ve lost track of where I got this story. But thank you anyway.

Caught on video too: A safety conscious Spokane burglar straps on a helmet before riding off with a homeowner’s bike, while ghost riding another.

Good idea. A Kalamazoo MI bike club printed and distributed 100 lawn signs to promote the city’s five-foot passing law.

The Pennsylvania bicyclist on trial for obstructing traffic testified that he was simply riding in the center of the lane to avoid debris on the right and prevent unsafe passing.

A tone-deaf Atlantic City editorial says bicyclists have to ride responsibly to protect themselves from distracted drivers. Which is probably true. But wearing a bike helmet isn’t likely to prevent a collision. And even the brightest hi-viz and lights won’t help if someone is looking at his or her lap instead of the road.

Emmy nominee Keri Russell is one of us, as a fellow bike rider strikes up a conversation about her show The Americans as she waited at a Brooklyn stop light. A) Conversations like that never happen when you’re in a car, and B) it’s proof that bicyclists really do stop for red lights.

Leonardo DiCaprio is still one of us, and still riding bikeshare bikes across New York. No word on whether he stopped for stop lights or paused to speak with any other bike riders, however.

A New York lawyer goes looking for video of the hit-and-run that put a bike rider in the hospital, and finds a city-owned truck with damage matching the one that hit her.

 

International

A 16-year old Calgary boy has raised $8,000 to fight cancer as part of a 124-mile charity ride, four years after an eye exam lead to the discovery of a baseball-sized tumor in his brain.

Edmonton, Canada is testing side guards on trucks to protect cyclists and pedestrians.

Toronto developers are starting to build carfree, bike-only condos.

The sister of a fallen teenage bike rider lashes out at young Brit riders who put their lives at risk by pulling stunts in front of cars. Although you’d think she’d blame the stoned driver who killed him, instead.

Caught on video three: A Dublin bike mechanic tackles a bike thief who tried to make off with his bike after he leaned it against a wall for a few moments.

The mayor of Melbourne, Australia threatens to deal with the problem of abandoned dockless bikeshare bikes by banning them entirely.

 

Finally…

Why bother biking to work or slogging through traffic when you can just swim. You could do worse than the Sneaky Cyclist Robber, as far as bank robber epithets go.

And a mountain biker tries to take a $149 Walmart bike down some steep singletrack, with predictable results.

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

Morning Links: Vista del Mar timetable released, LADOT Active Transportation Staff grows, and a little good bike news

August 10, 2017 / / One comment

One important note before we get started.

A Twitter account recently came to my attention for an organization incorrectly claiming to be “LA’s #1 walking & biking advocacy group.”

This same group, Westside Walkers LA, also falsely claims to be sponsored by the city.

However, the only Westside Walkers group that appears to actually exist as anything other than a Twitter account is a mall walking group sponsored by UCLA Health.

Last night, they misrepresented themselves as being associated with, and one of the founders of, this website and/or the associated Twitter account @bikinginla.

Just to be clear, neither this group or its Twitter account, or any person(s) responsible for it, are associated with BikinginLA, or its Twitter account or Facebook page, in any way whatsoever. Nor are any other social media accounts or organizations, on any platform.

If you become aware of anyone falsely claiming to represent this site, whether online or in person, please contact me immediately at the address on the About BikinginLA page.

Thank you.

………

A timetable has been released for the restoration of two travel lanes on Vista del Mar in Playa del Rey, following the uproar from inconvenienced commuters after they were removed in an effort to improve safety.

The lanes, not the commuters.

Although that would probably improve safety, too.

The Daily News reports the work will begin on August 21st, and take two to three weeks to complete.

Never mind the misleading headline, which a) incorrectly implies there are bike lanes on Vista del Mar, and b) suggests that the other recent lane reductions in the area, which do have bike lanes, are also being removed.

They’re not.

Although not everyone is happy about the change back.

I’ve been copied on an email to a representative of the Coastal Commission from a rider named Gregory, who’s fighting a rearguard action to keep the changes in place.

Hello! I’m a resident of Los Angeles in Mike Bonin’s district. I just left you a voicemail. I’m concerned that Los Angeles is planning to remove the parking along Vista del Mar and thereby adversely affect beach access for Californians.

Recently a road diet was implemented on Vista Del Mar and Culver Blvds because of the dangerousness of the area and settlements paid to dead pedestrians.  The road diet created a bottleneck and caused a large amount of delays for commuters. However, after a recent reconfiguration and change to the light timing, any delays seem to have disappeared.

I drove the road three times on rush hour last Tuesday. I videoed one trip which I could share if needed. At 7:0 am it took about 7:30 to get from Imperial to Jefferson, at 830 am it took about 9:15, and at 930am it only took 6 minutes and I drove the speed limit the entire time and was first in line at the one light that caught me.

So once again, the problems with traffic really seem to have gone away and actually driving down Vista del Mar was pleasant! I didn’t have to worry about someone passing me at 60 mph and zooming from lane to lane. Hopefully that lane can remain gone. However, Mike Bonin’s office has recently come out and said that they will change the road back to two lanes and remove parking along Vista del Mar. This concerns me, as that would lead to a net loss of parking and loss of access to the beach for Californians, and would generally make the road less pleasant and less safe. Do we really want Vista del Mar to turn into a freeway?

Thank you for looking into this.

Update: You can find contact information for the Coastal Commission here.

He followed-up with an email to LADOT and Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office.

Hello! I would like to express my happiness at the current lane situations on Vista del Mar, Culver, and Pershing Blvds. With the recent changes to light timing and the lane tweaks the traffic situation seems to have been fully ameliorated. I feel safe driving on Vista del Mar for the first time now! It used to be a race track with cars weaving in and out at high speed, occasionally creating collisions that stopped traffic completely. Now traffic goes at a reasonable speed and even at rush hour there isn’t much of a delay. I recently travelled north at 930 am and drove the speed limit the entire way. Hopefully a few reactionaries won’t get the lanes removed without a study. This is LA, traffic is to be expected, and the current configuration on Vista del Mar, Culver, and Pershing is the best of both worlds.

It will be interesting to see what, if anything, is done to ensure Vista del Mar doesn’t return to the deadly, high-speed raceway it used to be once the restoration is complete.

And if Bonin can resist the pressure to return the other streets to their original dangerous configurations.

……….

Vision Zero LA tweeted a photo of the new Active Transportation Team at LADOT; 21 people, by my count.

It was only a few years ago that the entire active transportation staff at the agency consisted of former Senior Bicycle Coordinator Michelle Mowery.

Let’s hope that the larger staff leads to a better job of communicating than they’ve done lately.

………

We could all use some good news these days. Like these stories gleaned from yesterday’s headlines.

A Willow Glen CA man joined with his brother, sister and brother-in-law to bike 300 miles through Minnesota, raising $10,000 for healthcare clinics in the Congo.

From Texas comes the story of a newly elected Dallas city councilwoman who led an 11-year fight to stop a planned $1.7 billion highway expansion that would have destroyed a local waterway, after scouting it out on her bicycle.

Austin TX honors three cops and four civilians who joined together to save the life of a woman whose bike was hit by a spinning car following a crash, lifting the 3,000 pound vehicle off her so she could be rescued. Thanks to Steve Katz for the heads-up.

Nice story from North Carolina, where locals knew a man who rode his bike everywhere as Bicycle Johnny. And the whole town came together to pay for his funeral when he died.

Also from North Carolina, the inspiring story of a bike rider who befriended the driver who ran him down and left him briefly paralyzed, as well as the doctor who saved his legs and his life; a year to the day after the crash, he’ll join that doctor in running in a half marathon.

………

Cycling Weekly lists the six most bizarre non-cycling injuries sustained by professional cyclists. Although they limit it to the modern era, starting with Greg LeMond’s turkey shoot in which he ended up being the turkey.

A pair of websites question the fairness of allowing transgender pro cyclist Jillian Bearden to compete as a woman in the new Colorado Classic bike race, which begins today in Colorado Springs.

Kiwi rider Jesse Sergent makes the difficult transition from pro cyclist to real estate agent.

……….

Local

Speaking of good news, the Militant Angeleno is back with his latest epic CicLAvia guide, just in time for Sunday’s San Pedro meets Wilmington event. Personal issues will keep me from attending this one, so feel free to send photos or stories from the event for Monday’s post.

Longbeachize says a proposal to stripe bike lanes on Junipero Ave in Long Beach is lacking in imagination, for both drivers and bicyclists.

 

State

One more in the “I’m a cyclist but…” category. A San Diego letter writer says he’s been commuting to work by bike for 20 years, but that city officials goal of an 18% bicycling mode share is just burdening the public unless they ride, too. But since when is getting people out on their bikes a burden?

San Jose gets a temporary pop-up protected bike lane, as representatives of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, aka NACTO, visit to advise the city on how to create a world-class bicycling network.

The Sacramento Bee offers a drone’s-eye view of 20 bicyclists with Type 1 diabetes who rode through the city on a 4,280-mile journey that began in New York.

 

National

The Adventure Cycling Association is planning to add 400 miles to the 2,700-mile Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, already the world’s longest mountain biking trail.

Ex-Tour de France winner Floyd Landis introduces a hemp-oil CBD supplement for athletic aches and pains.

Bicycling offers advice on how to extend the life of your drivetrain.

A representative of the Denver Department of Environmental Health says traffic fatalities are a public health crisis, and Vision Zero is the solution.

Paramedics in Jackson Hole WY may take to their bikes to get around during the solar eclipse later this month, concluding it could be the fastest way to reach people who need help.

Kindhearted Omaha NE paramedics give a girl a refurbished bicycle to replace the one a man stole from her in a strong-arm robbery. Although the TV station seems confused as to just how many girls there are in the story.

The prosecution has rested in the case of the Pennsylvania cyclist charged with deliberately obstructing traffic on multiple occasions; an off-duty cop testified the rider intentionally crashed into his car, then claimed the car hit him.

Cambridge, Mass pulls the plug on a protected bike lane in mid-construction after local businesses complain, putting the job on hold for 30 days.

Someone is riding his bicycle up to the windows of New York cab drivers, and stealing their cash.

A New Jersey bike group visits the castles of Muenster, Germany.

A DC advocacy group calls for sharing trails with ebike users.

A concerned Florida motorist was already on the phone with 911 to report a dangerously reckless driver when the allegedly stoned driver struck a bike rider; police found cocaine, marijuana, hash oil and drug paraphernalia in his car.

 

International

A new study from the University of Duh says middle-aged men, aka MAMILs, don’t take up riding because of a mid-life crisis, but because of the enjoyment they get from bicycling.

Good writes about those vaporware Chinese smog-eating bikes, saying prototypes should be on the streets of Beijing by the end of the year.

 

Finally…

If you’re going to drive drunk and scream racial slurs at the cop that pulls you over, always have a bike in your trunk to attempt a getaway.

And if you’re carrying a debit card and company ID belonging to someone else, as well as burglary tools, and have an outstanding warrant, maybe a train platform isn’t the best place to ride your bike.

 

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

Morning Links: A struggle for lights on the Orange Line bike path, and more Playa del Rey road diet madness

July 28, 2017 / / 5 comments

Maybe someone can find a solution to this one.

Last week I was forwarded an email from Robert Cable, asking for help solving a seemingly intractable problem getting help with a dark and dangerous section of the Orange Line bike path.

He gave me permission to share this in hopes that someone who reads it might be able to point him to some person, anyone, who could help get lights installed and make the Orange Line bikeway a safer and more practical alternative for people who commute after dark.

Especially in light of the many homeless encampments now dotting — and sometimes blocking — the San Fernando Valley’s longest and most important east-west bikeway.

And after getting bounced repeatedly between Metro, the city, the county, the local councilmember’s office, and back again.

My name is Robert Cable.  I had the good fortune to meet with several LAPD officers over the past two days.  They suggested I reach out to you after I told them how I tried to get some lighting installed on a short stretch of the Orange Line Bike Path but was completely shot down by my district reps.

Most of the path from Chandler to the 405, and then west of White Oak has lighting.  There is one area just west of the 405 at Haskell to Balboa (but mostly to Woodley) that is unlit and gets extremely dark at night.  The path is set back from Victory, rides thru areas of thick trees, has low visibility and feels unsafe for many reasons.  Additionally, along with the lack of lighting, lights from oncoming cars makes it even more difficult to see.

Originally, after reaching out to District 6 for help, Lauren Padick told me it was metro’s jurisdiction.  Metro responded that it was city.  After going back to Padick with that information, she immediately responded, and I am talking two minutes, with this,

Robert,

“There is no existing poles besides Metro’s. At this point, the City would be unable to install lighting.”

Since then, I learned that a colleague of mine who also commutes by bike, departs the bike path at that section and rides in the street.  Well it turns out that one night, he was hit by a car over there as a direct result of feeling unsafe on the path.

So, who can help me?  Who can I contact about this?  There is no reason that a small, less then half mile stretch of path shouldn’t have the same lighting as the rest of the run.  Coincidentally, I believe this to be the same area where the Rabbi whose family sued and settled a multi million dollar suit with the city, was hit.  Lastly, Hotchkiss thought that solar lights, like those installed in Glendale would be a good solution.

Many thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Best,

Robert Cable

………

The LA Weekly looks at the insanity in Playa del Rey, where Mike Bonin announced Wednesday that Vista del Mar will be returned to two lanes in each direction.

KPCC’s Take Two talks with Bonin about traffic safety, and why the changes on Vista del Mar had to be made right away, in an unusually balanced report.

The Daily Breeze notes that this weekend’s planned meeting to discuss the lane reductions has been postponed until further notice.

And The Argonaut reports on KFI shock jocks John and Ken’s efforts to trim up anger over the road changes with a rally in Playa del Rey last week.

………

Great news, as Italian cyclist Claudia Cretti has awakened from a medically induced coma and starting to recover from the near-fatal brain injury she suffered in a crash during the Giro Rosa earlier this month.

Chris Froome targets rare back-to-back titles, competing in next month’s Vuelta after winning the Tour de France for the fourth time.

Twenty years after winning the Tour, Jan Ullrich suggests cycling’s doping past is just that. Or maybe they’ve just gotten better at hiding it.

Next month’s inaugural Colorado Classic will feature second place Tour de France finisher Rigoberto Uran, Taylor Phinney and other top riders.

Cycling in the South Bay looks forward to Sunday’s 56th Manhattan Beach Grand Prix.

……….

Local

This year’s AIDS/LifeCycle Ride brought in $15.1 million for the HIV/AIDS services at the Los Angeles LGBT Center and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

LA Curbed looks at Gil Cedillo’s efforts to effectively ban road diets by any name in his district.

The LACBC provides a wrap-up on last year’s successful Operation Firefly light distribution program.

 

State

After an eight-year old boy was killed riding his bike in Newport Heights last year, residents chose sidewalk improvements over a bike lane, condemning 35 trees to death.

No bias here. It wasn’t a bicyclist who bit and attempt to rob a San Diego woman at gunpoint; it was a thief who happened to be riding a bike.

A San Diego review board rules sheriff’s deputies were justified in shooting an unarmed ex-con as he worked on his bicycle in his own garage, even though deputies gave three different versions of what happened.

An anonymous artist is decorating an abandoned bicycle in Northern San Luis Obispo County.

Former LACBC Executive Director Tamika Butler will be the keynote speaker at the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s annual Bike Summit next month.

Vallejo police arrested a man on a charge of vehicular manslaughter for killing a 16-year old boy as he and his dad were riding their bikes together two weeks ago.

 

National

Bicycling offers advice on how to offer bicycling advice.

The Bike League looks at the many problems with the new Oregon bike tax.

A writer for the Chicago Tribune goes mountain biking in Moab, Utah.

A Colorado newspaper says maybe bikes should be taxed at $25 or $50 a year, with the funds dedicated to building and maintaining bikeways. Except an annual fee — especially that high — would only serve to discourage more people from bicycling, and result in more unused bikes remaining in garages.

A Houston driver describes the attack by a bicyclist who allegedly scratched the man’s car with his bike, then reached in and beat him through an open window. While violence is never the answer, something tells me there’s another side to this story; a violent attack on a totally innocent driver just doesn’t add up.

A trio of Texas brothers finish a 52-day, 3,500 mile ride across the US to raise funds for charity.

This is what heroes look like. A Chicago firefighter is retiring after 27 years on the job, and 25 years after starting a program that promised kids a refurbished bicycle if they came in with a report card showing good grades and perfect attendance — boosting attendance at a local school from 20% to 92% in a single year.

There’s a special place in hell for whoever stole a recumbent tricycle from an Illinois teenager suffering from a degenerative muscular disorder.

After just 30 days of sobriety, a recovering Kentucky junkie is riding his bike 500 miles to DC with his mother to call for an end to the opioid epidemic.

A Rhode Island public service campaign suggests waving at others on the roads to improve safety. At least if they wave back, you know they’ve seen you. Unless they’re waving at someone behind you.

New York Streetsblog says ticketing bike riders after a man was killed riding his bike isn’t doing anything to fix the dangerous streets.

He gets it. Instead of just calling for more bike helmets, a New York chief of emergency medicine says the best way to prevent traumatic brain injuries is to slow traffic, as well as improving lighting, widening medians and building more bike lanes.

A financial writer goes for a New York bikeshare ride with non-obnoxious cyclist and hedge fund founder Mark Carhart, who spends his spare time riding tandems with blind bicyclists.

If you build it, they will come. When Macon GA installed a temporary eight-mile bike lane network, average ridership shot up over 800%.

 

International

A Canadian woman says riding solo around the world is seldom lonely.

London’s transportation department announced it will spend the equivalent of $112 million dollars on creating livable streets, with an emphasis on transportation cycling.

A British couple is celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, after choosing a wedding over buying a bicycle. Tough choice, but it seems to have worked out okay.

A new survey shows riding a bike on the sidewalk ranked number seven on a list of the top minor laws broken by people in the UK; riding through a red light only ranked 35th out of 40. Number one was singing Happy Birthday in a public restaurant.

The Washington Post goes for a birthday ride along the Danube.

 

Finally…

More proof you can use a bike to commute from work — even if your work is robbing banks. Evidently, bike theft is as old as bicycling.

And if you’re going to steal a bicycle, you might as well leave your old one in its place.

After all, it’s only polite.

………

Photo of Orange Line bike path taken from the LADOT Bike Blog.

 

Category: Morning Links, Streets and Infrastructure / Tags: , , , , , , ,

Morning Links: Playa del Rey road reversal, Cedillo tries to gut Vision Zero, and zero speed for no hand driving

July 27, 2017 / / 54 comments

Evidently, the angry drivers in Playa del Rey have made themselves heard.

CD 11 Councilmember Mike Bonin took the unusual step of offering a public apology to people inconvenienced by the road diets in Playa del Rey, while announcing steps to alleviate their anger.

Hopefully, anyway.

Bonin announced an agreement with LA County Commissioner Janice Hahn that will allow “free or affordable” street parking in the county parking lot at Dockweiler Beach, enabling the city to eliminate street parking on Vista del Mar and restore the street to two lanes in each direction.

The city had moved parking to the beach side of the street after being warned by the City Attorney that it would face continued liability if people had to cross the busy roadway after parking on the opposite side, after paying out $9.5 million for the death of a 16-year old girl in 2015.

He also announced the formation of a Playa del Rey Road Safety Task Force, made up of both supporters and opponents of the lane reduction projects, charged with finding solutions to traffic safety problems in the area.

Maybe now the people opposed to the project will take a breath and calm down a little.

And while they’re at it, maybe the city can remove those nonexistent bike lanes that opponents keep insisting were the reason for the road diet on Vista del Mar.

………

While Bonin is focused on saving lives by implementing Vision Zero, CD1’s “Roadkill” Gil Cedillo appears intent on keeping his nickname intact, and his district dangerous.

Cedillo filed a motion with the city council (scroll down) that would make a handful of pedestrian safety improvements, while gutting Vision Zero by halting all “road diets, lane removals and/or lane reductions” in his district without his personal stamp of approval.

This comes after his earlier failed attempt to get the council to remove all the bike lanes planned for his entire district from the city’s mobility plan.

The question is whether he really hates bike riders that much. Or if he just lacks Bonin’s courage to face up to angry drivers.

Or more likely, both.

Thanks to Bike the Vote LA for the heads-up.

………

A California appellate court rules that the basic speed law applies to conditions inside the vehicle as well as outside.

And that the appropriate speed when driving with a cigarette in one hand and a cellphone in the other, with no hands on the steering wheel, is zero.

Thanks to Jonathan Weiss for the link.

………

Sad news, as former two-time European cycling champ Reg Arnold passed away at age 92.

An Op-Ed in Cycling Tips says when the press goes soft on doping, it only serves to normalize it.

Bicycling list seven sort-of-bold predictions for next year’s Tour de France.

……….

Local

Work is under way on a much-needed new community plan for Hollywood, including plans to make Hollywood Blvd, Edgemont Street, Finley Avenue, Rowena Avenue and Los Feliz Boulevard more bike and pedestrian friendly.

CiclaValley says Vancouver could be a model for Los Angeles.

An anti-growth columnist in Santa Monica says build more affordable housing — somewhere else. And uses kids, the disabled and the elderly as an excuse to maintain the city’s failed auto-centric policies. Never mind that kids, the disabled and older people benefit from walkable, bikeable streets as much as anyone, if not more. Thanks to Megan Lynch for the tip.

The Acorn profiles the Conejo Valley’s coed, all-level Stonehaus Cycling Club, established by the founder of what would become the Amgen Tour of California.

 

State

Laguna Beach unveils new stairs leading to the beach, complete with bike parking.

The bikelash has spread to San Diego’s Hillcrest neighborhood, where merchants would rather have a few dozen parking spaces than business from customers who arrive by bike, and residents can’t figure out what those bicycle symbols on the street mean. Here’s a thought — if bike lanes and sharrows confuse you, either find out what the hell they are or park your car, and leave it there. Permanently.

The bike-riding San Diego man accused of murdering four homeless men has been found mentally incompetent to stand trial.

The annual week-long Big Bear Cycling Festival begins this Sunday.

I want to be like him when I grow up. A 69-year old Cambria cyclist has done a century ride every month for 100 months, and plans to keep it up until he’s 70.

A allegedly drunk Harley rider plowed into a group of up to 20 Fresno cyclists on a club ride Monday evening, sending three riders to the hospital with major injuries; the motorcyclist faces a pair of felony DUI charges. Hats off to the Fresno Bee for getting it right by reporting the victims were wearing helmets, but that those weren’t enough to keep them safe.

This is who we share the roads with. An 18-year old Fresno woman faces multiple felony counts for the fatal DUI crash that took the life of her sister, which she livestreamed as it happened.

A San Francisco ride will follow the route of the original, two-day AIDS Ride over 30 years ago.

 

National

Tillamook OR tries a bike lane protected by angled parking to give riders adequate road space. Although judging by the photo, there’s not much left after drivers nose over the limit line.

Washington state has banned handheld cellphones while driving, or even resting your hand on a phone at a red light. But doesn’t do anything about hands-free cellphone use, which studies show is just as dangerous.

Bicyclists in Colorado Springs CO have noticed an increase in angry and dangerous drivers in recent years.

No surprise here. A new Wisconsin study shows that investing in infrastructure and policies to encourage bicycling and walking results correlates with improved bike and pedestrian safety. And not doing it correlates to worse safety figures.

New Hampshire Public Radio discusses the state of cycling in the Granite State.

Boston unveils a new Vision Zero website that allows people to individually report safety concerns pinpointed on a crowdsourced map.

An Op-Ed in the New York Daily News says lay off ebikes — which are bizarrely banned in the city — and target reckless cars. But even when they get it right, they get it wrong — cars aren’t reckless, their drivers are.

 

International

Columbian pro golfer Camilo Villegas is one of us, taking advantage of his “obsessive cycling disorder” to deal with stress. So evidently, cycling is the new golf, and golf is the new cycling.

Kelly Ripa is one of us, running into a bear as she rides with her family in British Columbia.

A parking cop in Toronto takes to Twitter to embarrass people who park in bike lanes. And it works.

A Toronto Op-Ed says pedestrians take precedence in complete communities, and more young people are choosing to forgo driving in favor of walking, biking and transit.

Campaigns to get more British women bicycling have paid off, with nearly three-quarter of a million more women riding than in 2013.

A man in the UK rode his bicycle three days to attend a court hearing on a charge of riding his bike on a freeway, and pled guilty to avoid another three-day trip back for a trial. Pro tip: If police try to stop you for a traffic violation, probably best not to tell them to fuck off, and refer to them by a slang term for female genitalia.

An Aussie rider says you get what you give, so don’t be the jerk who runs a red light on his bike.

 

Finally…

One more reason you should do your cycling outside. If you’re going to steal a high-end racing bike, at least dress for the part.

And who needs a moving van when you’ve got a bicycle?

 

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

Weekend Links: Lawsuit madness in Playa del Rey, walking a bike through G20 riots, and Saturday bike videos

July 15, 2017 / / 20 comments

Amidst all the madness, we’re starting to see a few glimmers of sanity.

And more madness.

Wealthy Playa del Rey townhouse owners have filed the first of what may be the first of many lawsuits over the safety improvements in the area, claiming the city failed to file an Environmental Impact Report because they knew it would be unpopular.

Although their lawyer seems a tad confused, claiming the changes on Vista del Mar were made to benefit a handful recreational bike riders. Even though there are no bike lanes on Vista del Mar.

And the changes have made it worse, not better, for cyclists using the roadway.

Meanwhile, Manhattan Beach continues to threaten to sue, while apparently laboring under the same misconception that a bike lane was added on Vista del Mar.

The irony is that the city alleges the lack of advance notice before implementing the road reconfigurations violated the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. But no one seems to consider the environmental damage done by the unsustainable commutes of countless solo drivers who insist on living in the wealthy beach community while working miles away in LA and Santa Monica.

And expect the people of Los Angeles to put up with it without complaint. Or concerns for their own safety.

Surprisingly, the sanity comes in two pieces written for City Watch, which is more often a home for the bike-hating trolls, or just the very strange.

A member of the Mar Vista Community Council says, despite his personal opposition to the Venice Great Streets Project, the uproar means they have to do their jobs, and find a solution that works for everyone.

And the former president of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council says it’s time for everyone to just calm down, and if you can’t abide the presence of another human being on the roadway, move to South Dakota already.

Although I suspect the people in South Dakota might just send them back.

Meanwhile, a Santa Monica writer belatedly discovers the Venice Great Streets project while somehow blaming CicLAvia for it, and suggests that its members can show up for meetings because they don’t have jobs.

Never mind that CicLAvia had absolutely nothing to do with the project other than hosting a pop-up demonstration, and bike riders who supported the project have jobs, too. Just like real people.

Seriously, though, you have to admire someone who’s not afraid to show he doesn’t have the slightest clue what he’s writing about.

Do you see a bike lane here? Both photos by Joni Yung.

………

Megan Lynch forwards an extraordinary series of photos taken by photographer Thomas Lohnes, which appear to show 60-year old historian Martin Bühler calmly walking his bike through the recent G20 protests in Hamburg, Germany as police fire water canons around him.

………

CiclaValley shares a look at a driver who insisted on passing, even after being warned there was no room to do it safely. Which is something most of us have experienced far too often.

Although his choice of language is much milder than mine has been in similar situations.

However, no such language is needed in this video depicting a day in the life of an LA Brompton rider. My apologies are in order, though, since I’ve lost track of who sent this one to me. But thank you, anyway.

………

The Tour de France is starting to get interesting, as Chris Froome is no longer looking invincible. America’s last remaining Tour de France winner says all is not well at Team Sky.

Alberto Contador overcame injuries to attack on Friday.

………

Local

The Southern California Association of Governments, aka SCAG, was awarded the 2017 Transportation Planning Excellence Award for its Go Human campaign.

The next Draft: LA Meetup, sponsored by People For Bikes, will be held this Thursday at Pure Cycles in Burbank. But no, it will not last for 27 hours.

A Burbank letter writer says he always rides his bike as far to the right as safely possible, and gets irritated at bike riders who don’t when he’s behind the wheel. In other words, he turns into an angry driver when he sees bicyclists riding safely in the center of the lane, just like they’re supposed to, because that’s not the way he does it.

You can now use your Metro Bike membership in the Rose City, as Metro’s bikeshare system officially opens in Pasadena. Boyonabike welcomes the program to his hometown.

Santa Monica is now considering installing more physical barriers to create protected bike lanes.

This Sunday marks the Whittier Walk & Roll Open Streets event, a four hour, six mile carfree festival.

 

State

Irvine plans to close a 1.2 mile gap in the Jeffrey Open Space Trail, including a new bridge over the 5 Freeway.

An Op-Ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune says the city’s bike commuting plan faces a bumpy road from reluctant commuters, and people who prefer parking to bike lanes. And seemingly expect bike traffic to somehow appear overnight when lanes are built.

A San Diego judge orders a competency hearing for a homeless man accused of striking several people in the back of the head while riding his bike, killing an 83-year old woman.

San Francisco is installing parking-protected bike lanes on two streets to provide a quick safety fix.

Oakland will celebrate bikes this weekend with the Jack London Square Pedalfest, including amphibious bike races.

Bad news from Vallejo, where a father and son were run down from behind by the driver of a pickup, leaving the teenager fighting for his life.

A Sacramento athlete is overcoming his cerebral palsy to compete in a triathlon this weekend.

 

National

NASCAR’s Ryan Newman doesn’t get the whole race driver cycling craze, preferring to work on his farm when he’s not driving.

Milwaukee moves forward with its first bike boulevards. Too bad you can’t say the same about Los Angeles.

Police are looking for a bike raging Chicago rider who put a rock through the window of a BMW after the driver accused him of scratching his car. As tempting as it can be sometimes, just don’t. Period.

A New York man makes his escape on a Citi Bike bikeshare bike after fatally shooting a man.

Residents of an Atlanta neighborhood are angry after the city ripped up a one-year old bike path for no apparent reason, after they’d fought for it for eight years.

A Florida letter writer gets it, telling drivers to calm down, put their phones down and pay attention when they see someone on a bike.

 

International

You think? Gizmodo says maybe dockless bikeshare isn’t a good idea, as abandoned bikes turn up everywhere.

Modacity looks at the insanity of licensing bicyclists, especially when it comes to kids.

Spend your next bike vacation touring Cuba.

The Calgary mountain biker who claimed to have been clotheslined by barbed wire strung over a trail says people have turned on him, questioning the legitimacy of his story — and his now-closed crowdfunding campaign.

Probably wasn’t the best idea. A British headmaster is looking for a new job after calling in sick so he could go on a charity bike ride in Cuba.

A Welsh cyclist got a medal for finishing a charity ride, despite getting lost and ending up riding with the pro cyclists. And so did his dog.

A South African cyclist is on trial for an alleged bike rage attack on two motorists; he claims the driver had “been impatient” with other bicyclists and made him fall off his bike. This is what happens when you can’t control your temper; instead of holding an impatient driver accountable, it’s the guy on the bike who’s facing jail time.

The New York Times examines why people on bicycles inspire such animosity in Australia. And pretty much anywhere else. Thanks to Victor Bank for the heads-up.

 

Finally…

Your next bike could be a fire truck. Or maybe a $10,000 eco-friendly wooden bike made with no-so-eco-friendly carbon fiber. Or just effing weird.

And new anti-lock bike brakes could promise an end to the endo.

 

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