Day 126 of LA’s Vision Zero failure to end traffic deaths by 2025.
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It’s open streets season again.
The City of Bell kicked things off on Saturday with a one-mile carfree event on Gage Ave; as usual, Streetsblog’s Joe Linton offers photos capturing the day.
Long Beach is hosting its next Beach Streets event from 10 am and 5 pm this Saturday.
According to a press release from the city,
This year’s event route will feature Willow Street and Santa Fe Avenue. Entertainment hubs along the route will feature live music, a kid zone, food trucks and more. More information regarding this year’s event, including a more detailed event route, entertainment, activities and other highlights, will be provided by the City at a later date.
That will be followed by the year’s first CicLAmini the following Saturday, a CicLAvia-style event with a shorter route to encourage people to walk rather than ride their bikes.
Here’s how their press release describes it.
Come enjoy a more pedestrian-oriented, car-free experience at CicLAvia’s 60th Open Streets event, CicLAmini—Pico Union, taking place on Sunday, May 18, between 10 a.m.–3 p.m. The public is invited to enjoy this compact neighborhood route for the day to explore Pico Union along Pico Blvd between Normandie and Union Aves. For all ages and abilities, CicLAmini—Pico Union offers walkers, joggers, bikers, skaters, and those who simply want to play with one’s favorite people-powered way to enjoy this 1.4-mile unique “pop-up park.” Always free, CicLAvia participants just show up anywhere along the route at any time to enjoy the open streets and to take the time to explore one of the most historic neighborhoods in all of Los Angeles…
“CicLAmini—Pico Union includes two hubs, where you’ll find the essentials, community partners, resource booths, photo ops, and more, plus activities for all ages sprinkled throughout the route. CicLAvia encourages participants to jog, walk, ride, skate, and bike along the open space. Free pedicab rides are also available next to each information booth to ensure that everyone, regardless of age or ability, is able to enjoy open streets. Please visit the CicLAvia website for updates regarding local gems, additional activities, and specials offered by local businesses along the route.
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Sadly, no surprise here.
Word broke yesterday that the woman who killed a popular Loyola high school senior just a month before graduation was driving on a suspended license due to a 2023 DUI.
And yes, she was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence once again after the early morning collision on Sunday, as Levi Braun was walking with a friend along Sepulveda Blvd in Manhattan Beach.
Which means 33-year old Jenia Belt could face a murder charge, assuming she signed the required Watson notice informing her she could be charged with murder if she killed someone while driving under the influence anytime in the future.
She’s currently being held without bail in Manhattan Beach.
Compounding the tragedy, the 18-year old Levi, a three-year captain of his high school tennis team and four year league tennis champ, was living in Manhattan Beach because his family’s home was destroyed in the Palisades Fire.
This is yet another tragic example of the many people who continue to drive — and yes, drive under the influence — after their licenses are suspended.
We will never know just how many of those we share the road with are driving without a license, because only a handful ever get caught. But even one is one too many.
It’s not enough to take away a driver’s license. We also need to impound or immobilize the driver’s car until they get their license back.
It’s clear that nothing else will stop a percentage of suspended drivers — perhaps a sizable percentage — from getting back behind the wheel anyway.
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Streetsblog offers a disappointing legislative update, with most of the bills benefiting bike riders placed in the suspension file.
Which means they could be revived, but it’s usually just a way to kill a bill without leaving fingerprints, so no one can be blamed for it.
To make matters worse, AB 697, which would allow SR 37 to be widened between Vallejo and SR 121 in Sonoma County moved forward, even though the project would run through protected habitats and wetlands, while endangering protected species.
Widening the highway also runs against California’s climate policies. Although it does make me wonder if we could get bicyclists and pedestrians added to California’s endangered species list.
And whether that would make any difference, given this misguided bill.
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A group of cops and their loved ones are riding over 800 miles through the heart of California to honor fallen officers.
According to the Santa Clarita Signal, the group stopped in the city to hold a ceremony at the SCV Sheriff’s Station to honor of officers who died in the line of duty.
Law Enforcement United is a group of federal, state and local officers, along with survivors who pedal their bikes to remember the surviving families, according to Rich Gallo, long-ride division director of Law Enforcement United.
“We started in San Francisco on April 30; we’ll end in San Diego on May 7. That’s 851 miles since we went via Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto, Fresno, Bakersfield to Tehachapi and now into Santa Clarita. Tomorrow, we’ll do the circuit through and around Los Angeles and then down into Camp Pendleton into San Diego,” Gallo said.
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Thanks to John Cinatl for forwarding this item from Safe Routes to School announcing their annual summit this fall.
Get ready to connect, collaborate, and chart a path forward at the 2025 Safe Routes to School Virtual Summit! The 2025 Summit is completely virtual, and early bird tickets are now on sale for just $99!
We’re planning three days of engaging presentations, hands-on trainings, and educational conversations focused on topics that matter most to Safe Routes practitioners, including:
- Quick win projects
- Rural Safe Routes programs
- E-bike safety and education
- Walking school buses and bike trains
- Creative partnerships
- …and so much more!
Speakers are currently being confirmed, but you can expect useful tools, inspiring stories, and a community working to make walking and rolling safer and more accessible for communities throughout the country!
Early bird ticketing closes July 4, 2025!
Don’t miss this deal: register now!
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Yep. That about sums it up.
Thanks to someone who wishes to remain anonymous for the forward.
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The war on cars may be a myth, but the war on bikes just keeps on going.
No surprise here. A British road safety expert says a new law that imposing life in prison for bike riders who kill pedestrians is unlikely to significantly improve safety, especially when the biggest threat comes from speeding drivers.
But sometimes its the people on two wheels behaving badly.
Police in Dorsett, England are already spaying scofflaw riders of ebikes, quad bikes and motorbikes with fluorescent paint in order to identify and ticket them later, as part of a pilot project.
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Local
This is who we share the road with. A man in his 70s somehow drove through the security gate at the home of Friends and The Morning Show star Jennifer Anniston, and was held at gunpoint by security guards until police arrived; at last report, there was still no word on whether the act was intentional.
Culver City issued a proclamation in support of Bike Month. Which unfortunately didn’t include restoring the MOVE Culver City protected bike lanes they ripped out, which is probably the only proclamation most of us want to hear from them.
ActiveSGV hosts a three-hour Bikes and Boats Tour this Saturday; the ride will explore the San Gabriel River Bike Path, the Whittier Narrows Recreational Area and the Merced Ave Greenway project, as well as including a free 30-minute paddle boat ride at Legg Lake. Although we all remember what happened with the last three-hour tour. Right, Gilligan?
State
Police in Westminster will hold a bicycle and pedestrian safety operation today, ticketing anyone who commits a violation that could endanger either group. As usual, ride to the letter of the law until you cross the city limits so you’re not the one who gets written up.
Redding says forget the state’s failed ebike voucher program, and get one of that city’s $1000 ebike vouchers instead.
National
Pee Wee Herman’s iconic cruiser bike from 1985’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure was sold to a private collector for $125,000. Which was over twice the estimated price, and a hell of a lot less than I thought it was worth.
Popular ebike maker E-Cells was the latest bikemaker to bite the dust, bringing the company’s all-wheel-drive, extremely high performance fat tire ebikes to a grinding halt, in part because of Trump’s 170% tariffs on Chinese-made bikes.
A judge in Queens, New York dismissed a lawsuit from a group of Long Island business owners, clearing the way for a protected bike lane through an industrial area that will probably improve safety for their drivers, as well as people on bicycles.
International
An Ontario, Canada website reminisces about those halcyon days of North America’s first bicycle craze.
Speaking of Ontario, a small town is celebrating its new crossrides, as opposed to crosswalks, allowing bicyclists to cross the intersection without dismounting. Or, go with me on this, they could just allow bicycles to use the already existing crosswalks.
Bicyclists in Northern Ireland decry the country’s dramatic and dangerous jump in drivers illegally parking in bike lanes.
A Welsh website recommends the rugged, jaw-dropping hiking and biking trails around the UK’s tallest dam that you’ve probably never heard of.
Stars & Stripes warns US service members about Japan’s new restrictions on bicyclists, making it illegal to ride salmon, ride abreast or ride using a smartphone. So much for using your phone’s GPS.
Three thousand people turned out for a race/fondo on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with elite teams competing for the win, and leisurely bicyclists just out for the ride.
Competitive Cycling
Sports Illustrated celebrates Colorado’s three-day Durango to Silverton Iron Horse Classic, calling the festival founded in 1971 America’s second-oldest bicycling event. Although it’s kind of sad that the second oldest bike event is only 54-years old, which says a lot about this country’s inability to sustain bike races and other bike events.
My home state scored big in the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, as Colorado Mesa University and the University of Colorado Boulder won the team omnium titles.
Finally…
That feeling when an AI written story wants to give California’s $2,000 ebike vouchers to motorists. Or when just riding your bike without a satnav is somehow a big deal.
And your next bike seat could rock and roll each of your buns separately.
No, really.
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Be safe, and stay healthy. And get vaccinated, already.
Oh, and fuck Putin.
