Bike Friendly City?

As a matter of personal choice, lots of cyclists (myself included) prefer the faster, straighter, although more dangerous road shoulder to a meandering, lazy trail designed for a casual, "who cares when I get there" riding pace. A law saying that if there is a turkey trail you have to use it instead of a roadway is a bit overreaching IMHO. Here, bicycles aren't allowed on the freeway for good reason and signs are posted to that effect. It doesn't appear to be a freeway or turnpike. Not bike friendly to say " We (ie.: the Nazis) built this here trail for you-Now: get outtahere!". :x
 
Hehe... "meandering, lazy trail designed for a casual". Prob. designed by a guy/grrrl that drives a gas/diseasal-powered contraption to work. Gotta say though, I tried rushing once. Didn't like it much, myself. Prefer to slow down and sniff the flowers. (AKA "leave more time" BEFORE blast off/hitting the little "GO button".) In the daze before bike w/"power-assist", did used to operate antique Stinko-Mobiles, and "rushed" to drive from Toronto to Halifax, NS, and (stupid, young, inexperienced) new driver left Toronto one AM and arrived in HFX via old Volkswagon "Beetle" same time the next day. (Think "Gumball Rally-style".) HFX to get married (see comments re "new driver" above). And today the cycle repeats itself. (See re operators comment above. The first one re "new drivers" I mean. NOT the second re "marriage". :) )
 
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/04/27/man-on-bicycle-fatally-struck-by-vehicle-in-sunnyvale/ :cry:
CalCoast News shows how rankings work, with bike riders shouldering most of the blame. Watch for cops! :evil:
http://calcoastnews.com/2015/04/san-luis-obispo-county-leads-california-in-bike-deaths/
Motor vehicle crashes are a frequent sight for many California motorists, but state roads are also plagued with bicycle collisions, and the Central Coast is a leading contributor to the problem, data from the California Highway Patrol shows.
In 2014, five bicyclists died in San Luis Obispo County crashes, the CHP reported. That placed SLO County as the statewide leader in bicycle fatalities per capita.
Including fatalities, SLO County ranks number five among California counties for the most collisions per capita. The Central Coast counties of Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara are higher on the list. CalCoastNews excluded Alpine County in the rankings. Alpine County has a population of less than 1,200 residents, the smallest in the state, and it jumps to the top of the rankings if one or two bicycle crashes occur in a year.
Santa Cruz County reported the most bicycle accidents per capita for each of the past three years. The population of Santa Cruz County is about the same as that of SLO County. Last year, Santa Cruz County reported 203 collisions. That was 81 more than SLO County.
Santa Barbara County trailed Santa Cruz County with 5.7 bicycle collisions per 10,000 residents in 2014. In 2014, the CHP received reports of 122 bicycle accidents in San Luis Obispo County. That equates to 4.5 bicycle crashes per 10,000 residents.
Third and fourth place went to Marin County and Yolo County.
As with San Luis Obispo County, Yolo, Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara counties each have universities that bring in more cyclists and increase bike traffic.
San Francisco previously ranked among the leaders in bicycle crashes per capita, but the total collisions reported in the county dropped from 699 in 2012 to 185 in 2014.
Statewide, bicycle collisions have decreased over the past couple years. They peaked in 2012 after several years of slight increases.
Most bicycle collisions reported locally involve bicycles and cars, according to records obtained from police departments in San Luis Obispo County. Less often, law enforcement receives reports of single-bicycle crashes or bicyclists colliding with pedestrians or other bicyclists.
CalCoastNews requested CHP data on bicycle crashes after the series of fatal SLO County collisions in 2014. Those fatalities included a Los Osos woman who died while riding with her fiancé.
The data CalCoastNews obtained from the CHP includes the total reported bicycle collisions, as well as the numbers of injuries and deaths that resulted from those collisions. The CHP provided data spanning 2003-2014, and CalCoastNews calculated each county’s per capita collisions for the years 2012-2014.
As usually occurs, Los Angeles County had the most bicycle collisions and fatalities among California counties. CHP data shows 4,376 bicycle crashes and 22 bicyclist deaths occurred in LA County last year. Per capita, LA County had the sixth most accidents per capita among California counties.
California statistics show that the counties with the highest rates of bicycle collisions do not tend to be densely populated. Rather, they tend to be coastal counties, often with a state university.
A national study recently found that bicycle collisions are occurring at an increasing rate in urban environments. In California, planners and legislators are encouraging city residents to bike to work as part of a statewide effort to reduce carbon emissions.
Local agencies have recently constructed many bike paths in California, and bicycle advocates say more are needed to improve safety conditions.
California lawmakers recently placed added responsibility on motorists in an attempt to reduce collisions. Last September, a law took effect that allows officers to cite drivers who come within three feet of bicyclists while passing them.
Nevertheless, of the 1,503 vehicle versus bicycle accidents in 2011 and 2012 in California, 61 percent were the fault of the bicyclist, 20 percent were the driver of a motor vehicle and the rest were not determined or hit-and-run, according to CHP data.
Central Coast police departments have recently begun conducting increased enforcement activities targeting bicyclists who break rules, like those against running stops signs and riding on the sidewalk. Police in the cities of Santa Barbara and Santa Maria, for instance, have focused efforts on intersections with frequent bicycle traffic and issued tickets to riders they catch violating traffic laws.
 
Update to post of a week ago today: (4/21/2015)
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-83401250/
A federal magistrate ordered the Los Angeles Police Department on Monday to give an attorney video footage that she says shows her client being assaulted by an LAPD officer in South L.A.
Clinton Alford, the man being struck in the video, is suing the department, its chief and officers for violating his civil rights. He says he was riding his bicycle on the sidewalk along Avalon Boulevard near 55th Street last October when officers attacked him.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Alicia G. Rosenberg directed the department to turn over footage from a security camera to Alford's attorney, Caree Harper. Prosecutors last week charged Officer Richard Garcia with assaulting Alford under color of authority.
“Today a judge validated my client’s right to have a copy of the raw video footage of the brutal beating that included him being kicked and hit by members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Newton Division," Harper said. “I said six months ago that if Chief [Charlie] Beck were sincere about transparency he would have released the video then. He wouldn’t have made me compel the production of evidence showing what was done to my client.”
Under the order, Harper can pick up the video Wednesday. She said she will have a forensic expert on hand to examine it. A prior order forbids the public release of the video.
Police officials who saw the video of the arrest described it as disturbing in earlier interviews with The Times. The sources said the video showed an officer kicking or stomping on Alford, and later hitting him repeatedly with his elbows in the head and upper body. Garcia has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charge.
Beck last week acknowledged the public interest in viewing the footage of the Oct. 16 incident, but he said Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Jackie Lacey "has been very, very clear that she does not want that video out there." Releasing the footage before the officer's trial, Beck said, could taint the jury pool or "otherwise interfere" with the case.
"My desire here is justice," Beck told reporters. "I know that there are other things that could be met by the release of the video.... But I want to get justice. And I think that's what this city deserves."
Last week, Beck said that after watching the video, he called Lacey and asked her office "to not only look at this case but to file criminal charges....I was shocked by the content of the video."
Garcia, who has been with the LAPD for a decade, has not worked in the field since the October incident.
Three other officers and a sergeant who were also involved in the arrest remain out of the field and assigned to their homes, pending ongoing internal affairs investigations by the LAPD. Beck declined to discuss the actions of the other officers but said they were "not nearly as culpable as Garcia."
 
http://www.bicycleretailer.com/nort...y-remembers-prominent-cyclist-who-died-sunday :cry:
HINESBURG, Vt. (BRAIN) — The Vermont cycling community is mourning Richard Tom, a prominent cyclist and former bike shop employee who died Sunday after being hit by a car.
Tom, 47, had worked at Earl's Cyclery and Fitness in South Burlington, Vt., for more than 10 years, and he most recently worked at VBT Bicycling and Walking Vacations, according to the Burlington Free Press.
The driver of the car, a 17-year-old high school student, also died. According to the newspaper, the driver may have been going about 60 mph in his Honda Civic when he struck Tom. After hitting the cyclist, the car went over an embankment and hit a tree, ejecting the driver, the police said.
According to the paper, passersby created a memorial at the site of the collision.
A handwritten sign placed above the memorial stated: "As you come here to grieve the sad loss of Joseph and to pay your respect to his memory, please remember that a man named Richard, who also was loved by family and friends, went out for a bike ride on a beautiful Sunday morning and never came home.
"When you get back in your car, remember the epic responsibility you have to those who love you, and those who don't even know you, to come home safe!"
 
Turns out you don't even need to be riding your bike to get killed in SF. :cry:
http://sfist.com/2015/04/29/sfpd_makes_arrest_after_argument_ov.php
Less than a day after a man was fatally stabbed just steps from the San Francisco Chronicle's headquarters, a suspect has been arrested in the slaying.
As previously reported, at 6:49 Monday night, the San Francisco Police Department was called to the 400 block of Minna Street between Mary Street and 6th Street.
When police arrived, they discovered a man "suffering from multiple stab wounds to his upper torso," SFPD spokesperson Officer Grace Gatpandan says.
Though "aid was immediately rendered," the man died at the scene. As of Wednesday morning, the San Francisco Medical Examiner's Office has not publicly identified the victim, citing pending family notification issues.
According to the Chron, which occupies much of the block on which the homicide occurred, the stabbing was caught by their surveillance cameras, and was the result of "an argument about a bicycle."
A suspect described only as "a black male adult, approximately 30-40 years old, approximately 5' 11", last seen wearing a black beanie, leather jacket, and dark jeans" was witnessed leaving the scene, Gatpandan says.
Monday night at 11:55 p.m., officers "on routine patrol" at 5th and Bryant Streets detained 33-year-old Antonio Taylor, who they say matched that description. He was taken to SFPD's Homicide Unit "for further investigation" and was eventually booked into San Francisco County Jail on charges of murder, possession of suspected heroin, and an outstanding traffic warrant.
Gatpandan says that Taylor's booking photo won't be released at this time due to "pending identification matters," but that anyone with additional information on the on the slaying should contact SFPD's Anonymous Tip Line at (415) 575-4444 or can text-a-tip to TIP411 with SFPD at the beginning of the message.
 
https://m.facebook.com/brandon.tyler.scott/posts/10200631113058245?__mref=message_bubble :evil:
Police on bikes making regular daily sweeps along isolated river trails could help prevent muggings of cyclists. I have been assaulted more than a couple of times myself over the years on the trail I ride, and on the streets during the night and early morning hours. :x
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10101009647540437&set=p.10101009647540437&type=1&permPage=1 :evil:
I wish I would have caught up to the guy who clipped me with his mirror late one night. He was going too fast to get the license number and there weren't any witnesses around. :x
Hit and run with even minor injury is a crime most anywhere for sure, but without witnesses or video and at least the vehicle tag number the police are powerless as a blind bullbog with rubber teeth.
 
The fingers said:
drunken-motorist-23-kills-3-cyclists :cry:
Some young (inexperienced) University students DRINK! Who knew! The REAL villians might be the car manufacturers (closely followed by "authorities" aka Gov.) that put Weapons of Mass Destruction into the hands of some who can ill afford the payments. (Think "car loans".)
 
http://www.dailycomet.com/article/20150506/articles/150509719?tc=ar :cry:
A bicyclist struck and killed Tuesday by a hit-and-run driver along Grand Caillou Road would have celebrated his 46th birthday Wednesday, family members said.
Police are still searching for the driver who killed Robert Clowder Jr., of 102 Sterling Drive, Houma.
His sister, Lena Clowder, 29, of Dulac, said she was "in shock" when she first heard the news Tuesday afternoon and tried to find out where his body had been taken.
"My other brother told me, 'Call Terrebonne General, call Chabert," she said. "But when we got to the scene, the ambulance wouldn't even pick up Robbie because he was already dead."
Robert Clowder was riding his bike north on the highway's southbound shoulder near the Terrebonne Parish jail when a vehicle struck him head-on, throwing him into a ditch, State Police Troop C spokesman Evan Harrell said.
He was probably on his way to buy groceries at the Dollar General store at 2693 Grand Caillou Road, his sister said.
State Police are still uncertain about when the crash occurred, but troopers discovered Robert Clowder's lifeless body about noon Tuesday, Harrell said. He was last seen leaving his house about 8:45 p.m. Monday.
"We collected some vehicle debris at the scene and are trying to match the make and model, along with video from the area," Harrell said Tuesday. "The only thing we have as of now is that it is most likely a light-colored pickup truck with right front damage to the headlight and possibly a missing right-side mirror."
The unknown driver is charged with hit-and-run driving, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Although Lena Clowder said her brother used to own a truck, he started riding a bicycle after he moved into a rented trailer on Sterling Drive at the beginning of the year. He would often use the bike to run errands north of Ashland, she added.
Robert Clowder was starting to get back on his feet after going through a rough patch in his life where he lost most of his money and possessions, she said.
"He was a very hard-working man. He would give you the shirt off his back," she said.
He primarily worked at a Dulac seafood store and dock but was also known in the area for his mechanical and welding skills, she said.
Jessica Frederick, 37, of Dulac, said she mostly remembers Robert Clowder through interactions with her husband, who was a co-worker at the seafood store and a close friend.
"He was always working on motors. I called him a 'grease monkey,'" Frederick said. "He did whatever he had to do to make a dollar."
Robert Clowder leaves behind a teenage son, three sisters and a brother. His son is in the custody of his former wife, Lena Clowder said.
The Clowder family plans to put up a cross in Robert Clowder's honor at the crash site.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at KC Hall in Dulac. A fund set up to help with related costs, including Robert's memorial, can be accessed at http://www.gofundme.com/tud6p8rk.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run driver is asked to call Troop C at 857-3680 or Bayou Region Crime Stoppers at (800) 743-7433.
Staff Writer Maki Somosot can be reached at 857-2208 or maki.somosot@houmatoday.com. Follow Maki on Twitter at @mdlbsomosot.
Although Lena Clowder said her brother used to own a truck, he started riding a bicycle after he moved into a rented trailer on Sterling Drive at the beginning of the year. He would often use the bike to run errands north of Ashland, she added.
Robert Clowder was starting to get back on his feet after going through a rough patch in his life where he lost most of his money and possessions, she said.
"He was a very hard-working man. He would give you the shirt off his back," she said.
He primarily worked at a Dulac seafood store and dock but was also known in the area for his mechanical and welding skills, she said.
Jessica Frederick, 37, of Dulac, said she mostly remembers Robert Clowder through interactions with her husband, who was a co-worker at the seafood store and a close friend.
"He was always working on motors. I called him a 'grease monkey,'" Frederick said. "He did whatever he had to do to make a dollar."
Robert Clowder leaves behind a teenage son, three sisters and a brother. His son is in the custody of his former wife, Lena Clowder said.
The Clowder family plans to put up a cross in Robert Clowder's honor at the crash site.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at KC Hall in Dulac. A fund set up to help with related costs, including Robert's memorial, can be accessed at http://www.gofundme.com/tud6p8rk.
Anyone with information about the hit-and-run driver is asked to call Troop C at 857-3680 or Bayou Region Crime Stoppers at (800) 743-7433.
 
http://www.news-press.com/story/new...riff-investigates-bicyclist-shot-at/70883892/ :evil:
The Charlotte County Sheriff's Office has found the man accused of driving and intentionally knocking a man off his bike before shooting at him Tuesday.
Deputies arrested Michael Allan Coley, 30, of Hariet Street in Port Charlotte, on drugs charges, according to the CCSO.
The incident occurred shortly before 3 p.m. in the area of Meehan Avenue and Aaron Street in Port Charlotte.
The bicyclist suffered minor injuries from the crash, which appears to be intentional. Despite at least one of the several rounds shot going into a nearby residence, nobody was hurt in the shooting.
Through their investigation, detectives identified the car was a 2002 silver Lexus. Just before 8 a.m. Wednesday, detectives found the car Sheehan Boulevard and Peachland Boulevard.
Deputies searched the area and found a baggie with nearly 28 grams of marijuana inside.
Analysts found the Lexus had damage consistent with the bicycle crash and found evidence they did not go into detail about inside the car that proved its involvement shooting incident, according to the CCSO.
Detectives in the process of filing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony and shooting into an occupied dwelling against Coley.
Even though the CCSO has already arrested Coley, detectives are still investigating. Anyone with information can call the Sheriff's Office at 941-639-2101 and ask for Major Crimes.
 
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/loca...killing-father-3-bicycle/nk8pz/#__federated=1 :cry:
Police have now charged a driver they say illegally passed a truck and then slammed into a cyclist, killing him.
The victim, Jason Young, 45, was a husband and father of three. He died three days after the crash on Wednesday.
“His smile was infectious. His smile, his laughter – I think that’s what we’re all going to remember the most about Jason,” his friend Brian Skouras said.
Young’s friends say Young was on his weekly Wednesday night ride from Woodstock to Milton with a group of cyclists when he and several others were hit by a pickup truck. Police say the driver, John Blankenship, crossed the yellow line while trying to pass a box truck on a two lane road.
"I was just in the house and I heard a big thump sound,” said neighbor Karen White, who is also a nurse.
White was working in a home just yards away and rushed out to see Young laying on the side of the road. His bicycle was smashed into pieces.
“He was just straight out of it and wasn't responding, but he had his friends talking to him saying help is on the way and things like that,” White said.
Young hung on for three days but his head injuries were too severe. Police tell us they charged Blankenship, the pickup's driver, with felony vehicular homicide and reckless driving for crossing the double yellow line on Freemanville Road.
“He was passing a large vehicle on a blind curve and that's ultimately what led to the accident,” said Capt. Shawn McCarty with the Milton Police Department.
Blankenship remained in the Fulton County Jail Monday. Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt learned a judge denied Blankenship bond Monday. He has another court date later this month.
Meanwhile, Young’s friends are calling for increased safety for cyclists as they continue to mourn his death.
“I know going to the hospital one evening, the amount of people who were there from cyclists to runners he was coaching along the way at the high school, he touched so many lives,” Skouras said.
The family has set up a fund to raise money for his wife and children.
 
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...ultiple-Times-in-San-Francisco-303190941.html :evil:
A bicyclist said he was just riding on the road in San Francisco when a driver tried to run him down--and more than once.
Now, he wants the person behind the wheel to face justice.
The bicyclist said it was a scary ordeal for him. He said a driver tried to knock him off his bike and seemed to keep coming for him Thursday night.
According to the cyclist Anthony Ryan, a witness apparently was able to shoot some video. http://sf.streetsblog.org/2015/05/08/video-shows-driver-attempting-to-ram-sfsu-lecturer-on-bike/
Ryan said he was on Phelan just North of Ocean Avenue making a left turn when a car came up behind and hit the horn. He said the driver pulled up and tried to open the door in order to knock him off the bike.
Ryan said he tried to get away by crossing the street, but the driver followed. He believes he intended to ram him. He said he tried to get a picture of the license plate, but the driver took off toward San Francisco City College.
And when he stopped at a light, things escalated even more.
"He actually put his car in reverse and tried to run into me again, and I kind of dodged him, but at that point he was behind me," Ryan said. "And I was basically riding for my life with this person behind me looking for cover between some parked cars, so I basically intentionally crashed my bike between two parked cars and leaped off my bike."
Ryan said the driver tried to side swipe him and took off. He said a number of people stopped to see if he was OK. He was leaving San Francisco State where he teaches a class.
City College police responded, saying a report was filed. The car is a white two-door Honda, police said.
Ryan said he suffered bruises and scrapes.
 
The fingers said:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...ultiple-Times-in-San-Francisco-303190941.html :evil:
A bicyclist said he was just riding on the road in San Francisco when a driver tried to run him down--and more than once.
Now, he wants the person behind the wheel to face justice.
The bicyclist said it was a scary ordeal for him. He said a driver tried to knock him off his bike and seemed to keep coming for him Thursday night.
According to the cyclist Anthony Ryan, a witness apparently was able to shoot some video. http://sf.streetsblog.org/2015/05/08/video-shows-driver-attempting-to-ram-sfsu-lecturer-on-bike/
Ryan said he was on Phelan just North of Ocean Avenue making a left turn when a car came up behind and hit the horn. He said the driver pulled up and tried to open the door in order to knock him off the bike.
Ryan said he tried to get away by crossing the street, but the driver followed. He believes he intended to ram him. He said he tried to get a picture of the license plate, but the driver took off toward San Francisco City College.
And when he stopped at a light, things escalated even more.
"He actually put his car in reverse and tried to run into me again, and I kind of dodged him, but at that point he was behind me," Ryan said. "And I was basically riding for my life with this person behind me looking for cover between some parked cars, so I basically intentionally crashed my bike between two parked cars and leaped off my bike."
Ryan said the driver tried to side swipe him and took off. He said a number of people stopped to see if he was OK. He was leaving San Francisco State where he teaches a class.
City College police responded, saying a report was filed. The car is a white two-door Honda, police said.
Ryan said he suffered bruises and scrapes.

They should put that jerk on charges for manslaughter and see how aggressive he maintains.
 
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150511_Philadelphia_filmmaker__26__struck_on_bike__killed.html :cry:
At Philly CAM, which runs the city's public-access television station, people take classes or rent equipment and facilities. The person who helped them with their independent films and TV shows was Jay Mohan.
"He was very welcoming and able to communicate technical things to people who didn't have much experience in a way that would make everyone feel comfortable," said Gretjen Clausing, executive director of Philly Community Access Media.
Shortly after midnight Sunday, Mohan, 26, was riding his bike on Girard Avenue near Ridge when he was hit by a 1993 Buick Roadmaster traveling west on Girard, police said.
He suffered multiple fractures and head trauma, and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he died around 2:45 a.m., police said.
His death, a distraught Clausing said, is "going to be a big hole."
Mohan, who lived on the 1300 block of North 26th Street, was like many in the city who have embraced a two-wheeled lifestyle. But as more people use bikes to get around - with or without helmets, during rush hour or after dark - some invariably are struck by cars.
Last month, a 22-year-old Temple University lacrosse player, Rachel Hall, was critically injured in a hit-and-run accident while she was riding her bike. Last week, an 18-year-old man was arrested in that case. Hall remains hospitalized on life support.
Police said the driver of the Buick that hit Mohan stayed at the scene after the accident and was taken to Hahnemann with neck pain. The driver's identity wasn't released; it wasn't clear whether charges would be filed.
Maori Karmael Holmes, the victim's girlfriend, said Mohan, whose given name was Vijay, was born in a suburb of Chicago, attended high school in India and studied at Temple University, where he earned a degree in film and media arts.
Recently, he helped his sister, who graduated from a college in Georgia, pack and move back to India, where their mother lives, Holmes said.
Mohan was committed to Philly CAM's mission to make noncommercial, community-based television, though he also was working on his own fictional web series, Clausing and Holmes said.
He had a passion for music and produced a panel discussing hip-hop at the most recent Asian American International Film Festival.
Before going to work at Philly CAM, Mohan worked at the Scribe Video Center, which also works with the independent-film community.
"He was interested in all types of repertory films," Clausing said. "We would talk about all kinds of experimental films. He had a rich and varied taste in films.
"And he had a very funny sense of humor."
 
https://www.redfin.com/blog/2015/05/most-bikeable-cities.html#.VVdqGGa3PMK
Good or bad, once again; depends on where you live, and wether or not you agree. Presumably, they're showing evedince that being bike friendly can demonstrably pump up real estate values. :mrgreen:
Makes me want to get some paint, and go out and paint a line in the street in front of my house. :pancake: Then all I have to do is get a bag to hold all the money in. :lol:
Uh oh. The city and the neighbors might not like my bicycle graffiti. :x
Complete list here:
https://www.redfin.com/research/unc...full-ranking-and-new-cities.html#.VVdvGma3PMJ
 
Back
Top