Bike Friendly City?

[The fingers]

http://www.automotive-fleet.com/mobileye/ Maybe this would help some of the idiots to avoid hitting us.
On the road, danger appears in the blink of an eye. Help your employees stay safe with the advance warning of Mobileye®, the industry leader in collision avoidance.
Only Mobileye combines critical safety warnings and features in one unique, vision-based system. When a threat is detected, Mobileye warns drivers with simple visual and audible alerts – all in real time. This allows drivers time to react, correct and possibly avoid a collision. Mobileye is not a recording device so driver privacy is never compromised, and there are no subscription fees.
The human and financial impact of crashes is high. Find out how easy and affordable safety can be.

 

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https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/201...ate-night-biking-police-say-no-bikers-say-yes :x Why open an elevated, lighted bicycle Thruway and close it for almost a third of the time? Maybe it would be much safer for night travel if there were people using it. Safety in numbers, you know. :wink:

LOGAN SQUARE — No one should be on The Bloomingdale Trail after 11 p.m., regardless of where they are headed, according to the police commander who, until recently, was in charge of most of the trail.
That strong statement follows multiple reports of people being robbed along the elevated trail in the past two months.
It also goes against Chicago Park District rules that say parks close down at 11 p.m., but people can cut through them for transportation purposes — as long as they don't stop.
And therein lies a rub: police say the Bloomingdale Trail (the elevated trail that's the centerpiece of The 606) is city property and not subject to that Park District clause. But the Trust For Public Land, the city's public/private partner that manages The 606, disagrees, saying that the "travel through" exemption applies.
The Chicago Police department issued a community alert warning of robberies along the trail Saturday after they said three people had been robbed along The 606 since Feb. 19.
"The fact is that the trail closes at 11," said Cmdr. Marc Buslik, a 36-year veteran of the department who took over the Shakespeare District last April but left the position in February. "Nobody should be up there for any reason."
One of the victims who was robbed at 11:30 p.m. on a Friday night in February was pulled off his bike by a group of men, beaten and had his wallet, cell phone and bike stolen.
Last month, Buslik was tapped to assist federal officials in their probe of the Chicago Police Department and left his position in the Shakespeare District.
Despite the recent reports, Buslik said the trail has been safe with few incidents of crime other than tagging.
Buslik's insistence that no one be up on the trail after hours goes against the Park District's rules, but the commander says the trail itself is a "city park," such as Fireman's Park at Kimball and Milwaukee avenues, which means the trail is city property but managed by the park district. Thus, according to Buslik, the park district rules that allow for traveling through the park do not apply.
The commander said the five parks alongside the trail are Chicago Park District parks, but the trail is not.
A spokesperson for the Trust For Public Land disagreed.
As of now, cutting through after hours is allowed "only without stopping, and only if the park provides a direct route from current location to destination. Once the park closes, people are not allowed to congregate, walk dogs, or engage in other activities," according to Alka Nayyar, a spokeswoman for the Trust For Public Land.
Park District park hours are 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Some bikers, such as 65-year-old Jim Angabright, argue the late night and early morning riding should be allowed due to the trail's original purpose of being used for transportation.
More than half of the $95 million cost for the trail built on an old elevated rail line was covered by federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grants, which were earmarked for commuting projects.
"I really hate Milwaukee Avenue," he said. "I enjoy taking The 606 instead of Milwaukee. It's a couple blocks extra riding, but no problem. It's pleasant."
Angabright, a Logan Square resident without a car, said he constantly rides the trail on Friday and Saturday nights and occasionally rides on it past 11 p.m. The trail, for him, is an alternative to Milwaukee Avenue.
"At 1:30 or 11 o'clock at night there's more people [biking] on Milwaukee Avenue than cars," Angabright said. "You can tell by the way they are dressed, they are either coming to work or going to work. You have to get that through people's heads. This isn't just for funsies."
Angabright said he usually sees "a few" people up on the trail while riding after curfew.
Nayyar, the spokeswoman for the Trust for Public Land, urged "extra caution" for those who choose to access The 606 and trail after hours under the narrow exception. She stressed the other park rules including noise restrictions, as the train runs through four residential neighborhoods with many residences butted up directly to the trail.
"How are you going to keep people off The 606?" Angabright said.

 

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http://www.kusi.com/story/31426421/bicyclist-hit-killed-by-mts-trolley-in-barrio-logan

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A trolley struck and killed a bicyclist riding on the tracks Wednesday morning in the Barrio Logan neighborhood.
The 27-year-old rider stopped for a southbound trolley as it traveled alongside Harbor Drive at Sampson Street around 5:45 a.m., but went under the lowered crossing arms shortly afterward and was hit by a northbound trolley, San Diego police Officer Frank Cali said.
Emergency personnel attempted to revive the cyclist, but he died at the scene, Cali said. His name was not immediately released.
The Metropolitan Transit System, which operates the trolleys, announced via Twitter that its blue line trolleys were running up to 30 minutes behind in
both directions.
Police closed Harbor Drive in the vicinity of the crash and advised motorists to use an alternate route.

 

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http://blog.sfgate.com/bicycle/2016/03/09/should-bikes-be-allowed-in-transit-lanes/San Francisco constructs lanes for taxis and buses but not for bikes. :x
SFMTA crews were out at 24th and Mission in the rain this week painting provisional markings for Mission’s new configuration. The street’s four narrow lanes will be replaced with three, a general traffic lane in each direction and a transit-only lane heading south. South of Cesar Chavez Street, where Mission is wider, transit-only lanes have already been striped in both directions.
The transit-only lanes on Mission are part of a major SFMTA push, called Muni Forward, to speed and smooth bus service city-wide. Other transit-only lanes, painted red for emphasis, are planned or have already been installed on 16th, Market, Van Ness, Geary, and other streets.
The new transit lanes are an enormously welcome improvement, but unfortunately San Francisco’s standard approach to transit lanes often makes biking those streets confusing and potentially dangerous. SFMTA needs to address this issue as the city’s network of transit lanes expands.

The problem is best illustrated by Post and Sutter Streets downtown. Each street has three one-way lanes, with the right-most lane marked as transit-only. Post and Sutter are also important bike corridors, designated by the SFMTA as Bike Route #16 and the only official east-west bike route between McAllister and Broadway. So where is a bicyclist using Bike Route #16 supposed to ride?
Because bikes are banned from most transit lanes in San Francisco, people on bikes are officially meant to ride in the center lane on a street like Sutter, right behind the minivan in the photo here. If this sounds strange and more than a little dangerous, it should. The law-abiding bicyclist heading west on Sutter, uphill and therefore slowly, would have cars moving at two or three times her speed on all sides: legally on the left, illegally on the right in the much-abused and sometimes poorly-marked transit lanes, and coming directly from behind her and not expecting bikes in the center lane.

SFMTA officials are aware of this problem. In 2011, the agency erased newly-painted sharrows from the middle lanes of Post and Sutter because it considered these middle lanes too hazardous to direct people to ride in. This should be the point in the story where I explain how SFMTA solved the problem once it became clear that middle-lane sharrows weren’t working, but the agency in fact did nothing. Research has shown sharrows don’t improve safety, but they’re useful for signaling where to ride in situations where it isn’t obvious. With the sharrows gone, people directed to Post and Sutter by official city maps and signs face a confusing and unpleasant choice when they get there: ride illegally in the right-hand transit lane, or ride in the center lane, something that SFMTA decided was too dangerous to even suggest.
While the SFMTA refused to openly admit this, the only reasonable way to interpret their erasure of the center lane sharrows is that they’re tacitly encouraging bicyclists to illegally ride in the transit lane, and this seems to be what most bicyclists using Post and Sutter do. This may have counted as a muddled but workable solution in 2011, but we’re now in the John Sanford era, where San Francisco bicyclists expect random crackdowns, with support from Mayor Lee, for violating even the smallest regulations.
Post and Sutter are rare in that they’re both official bike routes and have transit-only lanes. The city, rightly, tries to separate the two when possible. The 16th Street bike lane in lower Potrero Hill, for example, will be moved to 17th Street when 16th gets a transit lane. This works well except, obviously, if your destination is on 16th Street itself. In any case, it’s not always possible to separate bike routes and transit lanes—there are no good alternatives to Post and Sutter, for example. People on bikes need, and have a legal right to, safe access to all streets, not just official bike routes.

Placing transit lanes in the center of the street, as is the case on Market and as is planned for Van Ness, rather than along the curb is probably the best solution, because it avoids conflicts between bikes and transit while also speeding up buses, which in the center of the street are not impeded by illegally parked or right-turning cars. Center-running transit lanes tend to be more complex and expensive to build, however, because they require platforms for waiting and boarding in the center of the street.
Another possible solution is simply to allow bikes in transit lanes, a practice used in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Vancouver, and Paris. San Francisco’s 2009 bike plan proposed allowing bikes in some transit lanes as a pilot project; data could then be collected to assess the impact on safety and the speed of buses. It’s entirely possible that bikes wouldn’t slow buses at all. Muni buses move at a leisurely average speed of 8-10 m.p.h. even under the best of circumstances, and even a slow bicyclist can generally maintain a speed of 13 m.p.h., the average speed assumed for the city’s “green waves” that give bicyclists green lights. The term “transit-only lane” is also already something of a misnomer: taxis and cars making right turns are already allowed in these lanes and sometimes commercial vehicles as well. SFMTA officials have claimed in the past that state law prevented them from allowing bikes in transit lanes, but the agency has already allowed bikes into a few transit lanes, for example on Sansome Street, and an SFMTA representative confirmed by email that there’s nothing stopping them from legislating other exceptions.

If the city intends to stick with its current position, that bicyclists are meant to ride in the lanes to the left of the transit lanes, then signs—“Bicyclists use left lane”—and pavement markings—perhaps extra large, green sharrows—are needed where bicyclists aren’t used to riding and motorists aren’t used to looking for bikes. This should be standard practice even on streets like Mission that are not official bike routes. The no-guidance, pick-your-poison approach on Post and Sutter amounts to a shrug, not a solution, and is the exact opposite of the kind of proactive approach the city needs.
Bikes and transit are natural partners. Even dedicated bicyclists hop on Muni when rain threatens or they’re carrying something heavy, and many Muni devotees bike the last stretch between a bus route and their destination. As more transit lanes are rolled out across San Francisco, SFMTA needs to do more to ensure that these streets—some of the city’s most vibrant and important—remain safe places for both kinds of riding.

 

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http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/l...uck-killed-rancho-palos-verdes-371463891.html
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a moving truck in Rancho Palos Verdes Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said.
Deputies responded to the crash on Vallon Drive near Hawthorne Boulevard at 2:50 p.m.
Vallon Drive was closed to traffic near Hawthorne Boulevard, the LA County Sheriff's Department said.
When paramedics arrived, they determined the cyclist was dead, deputies said.
Deputies said they believe the cyclist was traveling down the boulevard, which has a very steep hill, and was traveling at an estimated 45 mph.
"The grade on Hawthorne Boulevard is quite high, so if you're going that speed, it's really impossible to stop," Keith Swensson of the LA County Sheriff's Department said.
It's believed the Mayflower truck was making a right at a cross street when the crash occurred.
The truck driver, unaware that the cyclist had slammed into the truck, continued driving down Vallon Drive.
Swensson said that no crime was committed.
"The driver had no idea what had happened with the bicyclist," Swensson said. "Everything the driver was doing was legal at the time."
Residents would have to walk into the neighborhood off Vallon Drive as traffic was not allowed onto the street during the investigation.

 

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http://www.ocregister.com/articles/collision-707925-police-bicyclist.html
SANTA ANA – The driver of an SUV struck and killed a bicyclist early Saturday morning, then fled the scene before officers arrived, police said.
At about 5 a.m., officers responded to reports of a dark colored SUV colliding with a bicyclist in the 1400 block of West Warner Avenue, just East of the South Pacific Avenue intersection, Santa Ana police Cmdr. Jeffrey Smith said.
The bicyclist, who has been identified only as an adult male, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police did not have a description of the driver of the SUV, Smith said, but witnesses reported that it traveled eastbound on Warner after the collision.
Warner was closed between Pacific and Bristol in the hours after the collision, as traffic investigators went over the scene.
Details of the collision itself were still sketchy on Saturday morning, Smith said. Authorities don’t yet know which direction the vehicles were traveling prior to the collision or whether speed or driver impairment was a factor in the crash.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the collision or the whereabouts of the SUV driver to contact Santa Ana police Cpl. Matt Wharton at 714-245-8209.

 

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http://kron4.com/2016/03/14/police-assailant-shot-6-year-old-boy-as-he-rode-on-his-bike/
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) — Police are searching for someone they say approached a 6-year-old boy as he rode his bike outside Atlanta and shot him in the chest.
Gwinnett County police said in a Monday statement that “it’s imperative” the suspect is apprehended in the Saturday shooting of Ni-Shawn Moore.
Police said previously that the boy was shot during a neighborhood birthday party in the Lawrenceville area, northeast of Atlanta. Police said he’s expected to survive.
Police said initial reports were that the boy was shot with a BB or pellet gun, but hospital workers later determined that he was actually shot by a small-caliber bullet.
Police said their investigation has found that someone approached the boy and shot him in the upper chest. They haven’t given any possible motives.

 

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http://www.nottinghampost.com/Unsaf...ontroversial/story-28927504-detail/story.html :x Nice place for a bike lane, right next to a trolly line, just inches from death.

Graffiti has appeared on a cycle lane which has been the centre of controversy after cyclists have injured themselves in tram tracks.
Spray painted words which say "unsafe bike lane" have been marked on the surface of Chilwell High Road.
It is the same spot where concerns have been raised by local cyclists and Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry.
Ms Soubry has previously said that it is just "a matter of time" before a cyclist is killed on a half-mile stretch of tramway.
Nottingham City Council, which was behind the expansion of the tram network run by Nottingham Express Transit, said it has had meetings with the MP and members of the public.
The council is in the process of creating road safety signs which are intended to aid drivers and cyclists to make all travellers aware of the cycle lane. Designs are currently underway.
A spokeswoman said: "We've agreed an 'all-party' review of the signs and lining to ensure that cyclists are fully aware of any hazards and we also agreed to an awareness campaign."
Meanwhile, Nottinghamshire County Council, which is responsible for highways in the Chilwell area, condemned the graffiti.
A spokesman said: "The county council is aware of safety concerns from local cyclists using High Road, Chilwell/Chilwell Road, Beeston and has therefore been working with all interested parties, including local cycling groups, to better understand these concerns and how they may be addressed," said Neil Hodgson, the county council's service director for highways.
"This work is ongoing but additional warning signs have recently been put up advising cyclists to take extra care along this section of road.
"The county council does not encourage anyone to make a point in this fashion which is essentially vandalism."

 

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http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2016/mar/16/bicyclist-killed-fatal-crash/

CARLSBAD — A 59-year-old bicyclist died of injuries when she swerved in front of a car and was hit on Carlsbad Boulevard Wednesday, police said.
The cyclist’s name was not released.
She was heading south past Agua Hedionda Lagoon and north of the power plant when she veered out of the bike lane and into a traffic lane at 10 a.m., Carlsbad police Lt. Greg Koran said.
The driver of a southbound Ford Fiesta, a 64-year-old woman, couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting the cyclist. The bike rider died before she could be taken to a hospital.
Police closed southbound lanes at Tamarack Avenue for their investigation until almost 1:30 p.m.

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.137...ata=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s4ru3yGA6Tk7WmqDM4_aIPw!2e0Nice door zone buffered bike lane.

http://fox5sandiego.com/2016/03/16/beach-cruiser-rider-killed-in-crash-with-prius-in-carlsbad/
Looks like an ebike, similar in appearance to my daughter's beach cruiser.

 

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http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimor...more-bike-share-to-have-largest-electric.html
Organizers are turning to electric assistance to give Baltimore's long-delayed bike-share program a jolt.
The city's planned bike share will lean heavily on electric assistance, with 200 of 500 bicycles featuring electric pedal assistance known as pedelec systems, officials said Wednesday. The 200 assisted bicycles will make Baltimore the largest pedelec bike-share system in the Western Hemisphere, according to the company the city selected as the program's vendor, Bewegen Technologies Inc.
Baltimore's Board of Estimates approved a $2.36 million contract Wednesday under which Bewegen will design, install, operate and maintain the city's bike-share system. The award comes after city bike-share efforts dating back to 2010 failed to gain traction amid problems with vendors.
Bewegen plans to launch Baltimore's system in the fall of this year. It expects to set up 50 bike-sharing stations. The system will initially serve the Inner Harbor and surrounding areas.
Bike-share systems allow riders to rent bicycles for short trips around town. A rider can typically pick up a bicycle from a station and drop it off at another location. Cities including Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, London and Paris have bike-sharing systems.
A functional bike share is critical for the city's business and tourism sectors, said Jon Laria, managing partner of the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP's Baltimore office and chair of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's bicycle advisory committee.
"This is a market-driven initiative," Laria said. "It's an economic imperative. People want these options, and the city has to provide them if we're going to remain competitive in the national and global marketplace for people to locate here, for businesses to come, for residents to come."
Pricing for the bike-share system has yet to be set, according to city Department of Transportation officials who said comparable cities charge roughly $4 per hour with some built-in free time per ride.
Price structures vary in other cities. The Zyp BikeShare system in Birmingham, Ala., purchased its bicycles from Bewegen. It has several tiers of service including an annual membership for $75 that includes the first 45 minutes of each ride. Zyp charges $6 for a 24-hour membership and $20 for a seven-day membership.

 

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http://www.ocregister.com/articles/park-708899-buena-pick.html
A Buena Park cyclist who was hit by a pick-up truck Thursday has died from her injuries, according to the Orange County coroner’s office.
The victim has been identified as Becky Sheehan, 35, the coroner’s office said.
Authorities say Sheehan was riding her bicycle near Stanton Avenue and Page Street at 7:41 p.m., when she was struck by a pick-up. She was taken to the Anaheim Regional Medical Center, where she died about an hour later.
No information was available on the possible cause of the accident or the driver.
The Buena Park Police Department, the investigating agency, could not immediately be reached for comment.

 

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http://www.sbsun.com/general-news/20160320/devore-bicyclist-dies-after-struck-by-car

DEVORE >> A Devore man died Saturday evening after he was struck by a car while he was riding a bicycle, the San Bernardino County Coroner’s office reported.
The victim was identified as Jimmy Lynn Fraley, 21, according to the Coroner’s website.
The incident was reported about 5:50 p.m. in the area of Devore Road and the northbound on-ramp of the 15 Freeway, the Coroner’s website reads.
California Highway Patrol officers went to the area after receiving 911 calls reporting a traffic collision and found Fraley had suffered head and neck injuries.
Paramedics with the San Bernardino County Fire Department arrived at the scene and confirmed the victim had died of his injuries at 6:01 p.m., according to the website.
The Coroner’s office will scheduled an autopsy to determine the cause of death, the website reads.
CHP officers are investigating the incident.

 

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http://www.donegaldemocrat.ie/news/home/204647/Cyclist-s-narrow-escape-in-wire.html Anti-bicycle terrorism, not just a silly prank.

A Ballyshannon cyclist cheated death after a length of bull wire stretched across a track caused him to be thrown from his bike.
The incident occurred at around 9.30 last Wednesday night at the new flyover in Ballyshannon.
Thomas Cleary, who is in his early 40s and lives in St Benildus Avenue, was on his way home after training with Gabriel Timoney and Matthias McCosker. “The Bally Boys” as they call themselves, will be cycling from Mizen to Malin non-stop in 24 hours this July in aid of the North West Hospice.
As Thomas cycled across the pedestrian track under the flyover, bull wire that had been stretched across the path caught him and threw him from his bike.
“Lucky”
Gabriel Timoney said, “Thomas was extremely lucky, as he was caught just below his neck.
“If he was two inches shorter, the wire would have caught him in his throat and crushed it.
“We could have been looking at a very different outcome.”
As it is, the force of the fall threw Thomas off his bike, unclipping him from the pedals and tossing him onto the ground.
He had to attend Sligo University Hospital for damage to muscles and ligaments in his shoulder, and his hip is severely bruised from the fall. “Only for his helmet, he could have had head trauma as well,” Gabriel told the Democrat.
“This is an issue that has to be highlighted. Someone took bull wire from nearby fencing, stretched it across the track and tied it to a lamppost.
“It really was an attack on everyone because that track is heavily used by the athletics club, the triathlon club, pedestrians and lots of children as well. If someone shorter than Thomas had come along, the situation could have been very, very different.”
Appeal for information
Gardaí are investigating and anyone with information is asked to contact Ballyshannon Garda Station on 071 985 8530 or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111

 

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http://www.abc10.com/news/local/eldorado-hills/riders-encounter-gunfire-on-popular-trail/99344281Rural area not too friendly either.

 

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http://www.coffscoastadvocate.com.au/news/safety-fear-over-bike-lane/2975614/ Bike lane or Road Train track? Only your highway planner knows for sure. :? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iFkKRh5kcM

CONFUSION is mounting among motorists and cyclists over the incomplete Solitary Islands Way bicycle lane between Woolgoolga and Arrawarra.
Construction ended along the stretch of road after the lane was painted, with no signage or dividing bollards to inform cyclists and motorists of the changes.
Woodsey’s Wheels owner Scott Bocking said the concept of the bicycle lane was excellent, but said it was important the project was finished quickly with clear signage and bollard dividers to protect all commuters.
“I’m 100% in favour of it. It’s good infrastructure, but they just have to finish it. There is no signage at all designating it as a bike lane, and this is causing confusion for both motorists and cyclists,” Mr Bocking said.
Mr Bocking said his customers had told him about close encounters with motorists drifting into the new lane due to the current lack of signage.
“You need signs at each intersection where cars are pulling out, and you need clear signage on the lane itself,” Mr Bocking said.
“Until that is done, it is not a bike lane, but just paint on a road. A real concern would be for cyclists riding Northbound during dark.
“Their lights would be against the traffic, and without a clear divide, this could be very dangerous.”
Coffs Harbour City Council road safety and transport officer Anne Shearer could not provide a date for when the project would be finished.
But she said she would do her best to post temporary signage before the Easter long weekend to clear up any confusion.
Ms Shearer said the speed limit along Solitary Islands Way would remain at 100kmh.
“At this stage, it doesn’t look likely the 100kmh (speed limit) will change. The cycleway was designed for 100kmh roads,” she said.

 

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http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news...mmee-sword-bb-gun-assault-20160329-story.html
Two men were jailed Sunday after a bicyclist in Kissimmee said he was threatened by someone wielding a BB gun and sword, Osceola County Sheriff's deputies said.
Richard Delgado-Mendez, 23, and Kristian Rodriguez, 21, were being held in the Osceola County Jail on Monday.
A man was riding his bicycle on West U.S. Highway 192 around 8:30 a.m. when someone shot at him from a red Dodge truck, deputies said.
The driver, Delgado-Mendez, then got out of the truck and raised a 2-foot-long sword, deputies said.
Deputies said the victim pulled out a pocket knife for protection and Delgado-Mendez fled the scene.
Originally there was confusion about who was shooting because there was a female in the passenger seat and another male in the back seat, deputies said.
Deputies found Delgado-Mendez at the Kampgrounds of America near the intersection of U.S. 192 and Seven Dwarfs Lane.
Deputies said Delgado-Mendez told Rodriguez to hide the gun but deputies recovered a black plastic Airsoft under the sink of a public bathroom.
Deputies said they found the sword in the garbage.
Deputies said Delgado-Mendez admitted to having previous disputes with the victim, but the victim said he has never had any issues with the suspects.
Delgado-Mendez of Kissimmee was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and tampering with evidence.
He was being held at Osceola County Jail on a $1,650 bond.
Rodriguez, a transient, was charged with tampering with evidence and was being held on a $1,000 bond.

 

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http://kron4.com/2016/03/31/marin-co-deputies-will-use-radar-devices-to-monitor-cyclists/ The country is becoming less bike friendly.

MARIN Co. (BCN) — Marin County sheriff’s deputies will start using LIDAR and radar devices in April to monitor the speed of bicycles and mountain bikes in the county’s Open Space District lands.
The speed reduction measures are already in use on the Mill Valley-Sausalito Multiuse Pathway. A serious injury accident between a cyclist and pedestrians in September 2014 demonstrated the need for immediate speed reduction measures, Marin County parks officials said.
The Marin County Open Space District manages 34 open space preserves that include 249 miles of roads and trails within their 16,000 acres.
The Marin County Parks Road and Trail Management Plan that was approved in December 2014 aims to improve visitor experience and safety of hikers, equestrians and mountain bikers alike. There is a mandatory 15 mph speed limit for unpaved roads and trails, and a 5 mph limit when passing and around blind corners.
However, open space rangers have not had an accurate way to measure speed, and uneasiness about safety still exists with some visitors, parks officials said.
Just what we need: More Space Rangers.
A sheriff’s deputy has helped rangers patrol open space preserves for the past 25 years, and a second deputy was added in October. Starting in April, deputies will use radar and more accurate LIDAR — Light Detection and Ranging — devices that measure distance with a laser.
Marin County Parks’ Share the Path initiative has used LIDAR on the Mill Valley-Sausalito Multiuse Pathway since last May.
“Since then, Marin County Parks has seen a decline in user complaints and incidents tied to biker speeds on that path,” Marin County Parks’ interim director Pat O’Brien said in a statement.
Using LIDAR in the open space reserves was a natural and proven development, even though the great majority of bike riders respect safety on open space trails, O’Brien said.
Measure A funds for Marin County Parks will pay $4,986 for two LIDAR devices.
“This new measure will augment our current efforts to address violations and hopefully lead to a safer and more enjoyable experience for visitors,” Acting Parks and Open Space superintendent Ari Golan said in a statement.

Unless they're biding bicycles of course!

 

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http://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/metro-investigates-traffic-stop-preceded-dui-death

By WESLEY JUHL
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
When Las Vegas police stopped Mark Obermeyer for riding an unregistered all-terrain vehicle in the road, they didn’t observe any signs of impairment. But state troopers said he fatally struck a bicyclist an hour later, and they arrested him on suspicion of DUI.
Now an internal Metropolitan Police Department investigation seeks to find out why he was let go the first time.
Las Vegan Karl Frederick Vanderwyk, 58, was killed when he was struck by a Polaris RZR off-road vehicle at about 1:30 a.m. Feb. 21 on St. Rose Parkway near Interstate 15, Nevada Highway Patrol has said.
Vanderwyk died at the scene.
The off-road vehicle’s driver, identified as Obermeyer, 28, of Las Vegas, was taken to University Medical Center for a possible broken leg. He was later booked into the Clark County Detention Center to face charges of DUI resulting in death, failure to yield or exercise due care to a bicycle rider, driving with a suspended driver’s license and operating an unregistered vehicle.
Obermeyer was stopped by a Las Vegas police officer a little after midnight that morning. A Metro spokesman said the officer didn’t observe any signs of impairment, and Obermeyer was given tickets, for driving with a suspended license and operating an unregistered vehicle, and let go.
Nevada Highway Patrol records suggest Obermeyer may have been drunk at the first traffic stop.
A trooper reported that after the crash Obermeyer had glassy, watery and bloodshot eyes. His speech was “thick and slurred,” and the trooper could smell an “unknown intoxicating beverage” on his breath, according to highway patrol records.
Obermeyer showed all six signs of impairment during a field sobriety test, and a breathalyzer logged his blood-alcohol level at 0.156 — nearly twice the legal limit — according to Highway Patrol records.
But “based on the totality of circumstances,” Metro’s internal affairs is investigating the incident, officer Michael Rodriguez said.
In a similar incident in October, Las Vegas police let a Las Vegas woman accused of drunk driving leave a traffic stop two days before she was involved in a fatal DUI crash.
A driver and a witness told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Nicole Johnson, 30, reeked of alcohol and had been driving into medians and onto sidewalks. But Las Vegas police officers who administered field sobriety tests that day said she wasn’t impaired and allowed her to drive away from the scene without writing a report.
Two days later, Richard Glen Bryan, 78, was run down and dragged to his death, and Johnson was taken into custody on suspicion of DUI resulting in death.
Johnson pleaded guilty earlier this month and was sentenced to serve eight to 20 years in prison.
Obermeyer is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on May 24.

 

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http://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/accident-kills-92-year-old-man

 

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http://patch.com/california/studiocity/cyclist-struck-killed-studio-city

STUDIO CITY, CA - A bicyclist was struck and killed by a truck today in Studio City, authorities said.
Paramedics sent to the 12000 block of Ventura Place about 7:45 a.m. pronounced the male, whose age was not known, dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
The name of the fatally injured bicyclist was not immediately available.
City News Service

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2016/04/05/bicyclist-struck-killed-by-large-truck-in-studio-city/

 

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http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-enviro-bike-lanes-20160407-story.html Don't expect Gubernor Gerry[sic] "Brown-Nose" Brown to do anything about it.

For many years, Berkeley bike advocates have pushed for their own lane on a two-block stretch of Fulton Street. The conditions seem ripe for one. It would connect two existing bike lanes in a bustling area between UC Berkeley and downtown. Bike racks already line the sidewalk.
But when asked, the city delivered an answer the advocates say they have heard time and again: The bike lane couldn’t go in because of the state’s premier environmental law.
The California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, has stymied bike lanes up and down the state for more than a decade. Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego and San Francisco have faced lawsuits, years of delay and abandoned projects because the environmental law’s restrictions often require costly traffic studies, lengthy public hearings and major road reconfigurations before bike lanes are installed.
All told, bicycle advocates say the law has blocked hundreds of miles of potential bike lanes across the state.
“The environmental law is hugely frustrating,” said Dave Campbell, advocacy director for Bike East Bay, which has pushed for the Fulton Street bike lane. “It’s a law that allows you to say no. It’s not a law that lets you say yes.”
How bike lanes in California are decided
If you want a bike lane in your neighborhood, it's not that simple.
The bike lane issue is just one frustration state leaders have faced in trying to overhaul CEQA. Gov. Jerry Brown has called efforts to reform the law “the Lord’s work.” Major efforts in recent years to make it easier to build urban residential development and reduce businesses' costs under CEQA have failed.
But as lawmakers face difficulty in changing the landmark law, a solution appears to be on its way for bike lanes. Thanks to a provision tucked into a bill that allowed the Sacramento Kings arena to be built more than two years ago, bike lanes might finally get a green light.
The issue has festered for a long time. A decade ago, a lawsuit against San Francisco's citywide bike plan stalled the city's plans to add more than 30 miles of bike lanes for several years. After that lawsuit, Los Angeles decided to conduct a full environmental review of its master bike plan to ward off potential legal challenges. And two years ago, a neighborhood activist in San Diego sued under CEQA after the city painted a bike lane on a main road.
Even without the threat of litigation, the environmental law can stop bike lanes in their tracks. When city of Oakland officials wanted to narrow a wide road near a major transit station and add two bike lanes, they realized it would be difficult to comply with the environmental law’s rules and didn’t proceed, said Jason Patton, Oakland’s bike program manager. About a decade later, the road remains a six-lane highway.
“CEQA is an incredible burden to doing work in urban areas,” Patton said. “And I say that as a committed environmentalist.”
The environmental law requires proponents of new projects — including bike lanes — to measure the effect the project would have on car congestion. When a traffic lane is taken out in favor of a bike lane, more congestion could result along that road. That result can put proposed bike lanes in peril. And traffic studies to show whether installing a bike lane would lead to greater congestion can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Oftentimes, cities won’t bother with the effort.
Twice in recent years, state legislators have passed laws aimed at making it easier for bike lanes to dodge the environmental law’s restrictions. Bike advocates say these efforts have helped, but because they have not eliminated requirements to produce traffic studies and hold public hearings, they haven’t fixed the problem.
Dave Snyder, executive director of the California Bicycle Association, said his organization was preparing to lobby legislators to propose another bill on the matter when SB 743 emerged in late 2013.
That bill’s main purpose was to exempt the new Sacramento Kings basketball arena from lengthy review under the environmental law. But tucked into the measure was a provision that changed the way projects would gauge their effects on traffic under CEQA. Once SB 743 passed, Snyder dropped his own proposal.
“It solves our problem completely,” he said.
The new law says that traffic congestion is no longer the preferred metric to be used. In its place, cities will measure how much a project impacts the number of miles cars will travel along nearby roads. Since replacing a traffic lane with a bike lane won’t increase the number of cars on the road, the new standard should allow cities to install bike lanes without environmental conflict.
Now the standards must be put into place. SB 743 called on the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research — a state agency that handles guidelines related to the environmental law — to write the new traffic rules. More than two years have passed, and the agency is still writing them.
Based on state regulators’ current schedule, the Kings will have built and started playing in their new arena before the traffic guidelines will have gone into effect in early 2017.
By changing the way all projects measure automobile traffic, environmentalists and urbanists hope the new regulations will lead to fewer car-centered developments and help the state meet its climate change goals. Others fear the new rules will derail projects already in the pipeline. The Southern California Association of Governments, a regional planning organization with jurisdiction over 18 million people in and around Los Angeles, is warning that the new traffic rules could endanger major plans for highway widening.
Darrell Steinberg, the former Democratic leader of the state Senate who authored SB 743, said it was difficult to understand the consequences of changing the environmental law. Dealing with CEQA, Steinberg said, was the hardest thing he did as a legislator.
“You take any substantive provision of CEQA and an advocate can credibly cite an example where that provision was used to save an environmental treasure,” Steinberg said. “You take the same provision and someone from the other side can cite an example where it was misused in some way.”
In February, a car hit and dragged a Berkeley research scientist on Fulton Street as she was cycling home after work, causing major injuries. After that accident, there were renewed calls for a bike lane, but Berkeley city officials again cited the state environmental law as the reason one couldn’t go in immediately.
Campbell and other bike advocates continued pushing until Berkeley’s mayor finally said the city would do whatever necessary to install a lane by May due to the safety concerns. If the city hadn’t, Campbell said, his group had an alternative in mind.
“We said if you don’t do it, we’re doing it,” Campbell said. “We have paint.”

 

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http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/gen...truck-killed-by-bus-on-10-freeway-in-alhambra

ALHAMBRA >> A bicyclist died early Sunday after he was struck by a bus while riding a bike in the carpool lane of the 10 Freeway in Alhambra, authorities said.
The fatal collision too place about 4:30 a.m. on the eastbound 10 Freeway, just west of Garfield Avenue, Officer I. Vivas of the California Highway Patrol’s East Los Angeles area office said in a written statement.
A Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority bus was heading east on the freeway in the carpool, with a 44-year-old man at the wheel, the officer said. The bicyclist, estimated to be 40 years old, was also riding east in the carpool lane.
“The (MTA) bus suddenly collided with the bicyclist,” Vivas said. “As a result of the impact, the bicyclist was thrown into the train track.”
Paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene, officials said.
No additional injuries were reported, CHP Officer Alex Rubio said. It was not clear Sunday whether the bus was carrying any passengers.
The identity of the bicyclist was not released pending positive identification and notification of family. He was riding a Schwinn Mesa GSX bicycle.
No further details were available. It was unclear why the bicyclist was on the freeway.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the CHP’s East Los Angeles area office at 323-980-4600.

 

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http://road.cc/content/news/185678-bristol-driver-knocked-cyclist-bike-then-chased-him-metal-bar Once again, the comments illuminate the big picture.
A court has heard how a Bristol driver who knocked a cyclist from his bike chased after him brandishing a metal bar – with the entire episode witnessed by police officers in a vehicle behind. Mark Bray, aged 37, initially told police he had swerved to avoid hitting a cat but later claimed that the cyclist had pulled out in front of him, reports the Bristol Evening Post (link is external). He added that he had not realised he had driven into the bike, but admitted having chased the cyclist with a metal bar in his hand. Bray pleaded guilty at Bristol Crown Court to careless driving and possession of an offensive weapon in relation to the incident which took place in Lower Knowle in September 2015. He had been spotted veering off the road by police constables Andrew Simpson and Robert Brown, who subsequently realised he had struck the cyclist, who ran off and subsequently declined to assist police, according to Alistair Haggerty, prosecuting. Robert Morgan-Jones, defending Bray, said that the motorist had seen the cyclist approaching from the left but believed he would stop. When he didn’t, Bray panicked and veered onto the pavement. He added that his client acknowledged his driving had been careless and that he should not have chased after the cyclist. Bray was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, and ordered to attend a thinking skills course. He was also fined £200 and ordered to pay £200 towards the prosecution’s costs, and had his driving licence endorsed with six penalty points. Recorder James Townsend told him: "Road rage is a menace and can lead to people becoming involved in quite significant violence. "You're a man who has a record which suggests you have a problem with your anger and a tendency to resort to violence. "But you pleaded guilty at the earliest possible opportunity. You are in employment and you have been honest with your employer," he added.

 

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Way overdue for some positive news.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/trav...-progress-central-florida-20160408-story.html
Progress in building trails for cycling and walking in Florida has been sporadic and sometimes nonexistent for years.
But now with $25 million rolling into a state program every year, trail activity has blossomed so that wish-list maps depicting state-crossing and multicounty-loop routes stand to become reality even within this decade.
As Florida assembles segments to complete the nearly 250 miles of its Coast to Coast Connector from the Atlantic Ocean past Orlando to Tampa Bay, an even more adventurous route inked on state planners' mapping appears increasingly doable.
Though no schedule has been set, bike riders and hikers one day may be able to trek more than 800 miles from Pensacola to Key West, with the choice of hugging either Florida's west or east coast.
"It's mind-boggling," said Dale Allen, director of Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation, a group advocating for trail construction. "There's so much excitement out there."
Paving 12-foot-wide recreation trails in Florida traditionally has been the task of cities and counties, scraping together their own money and tapping into state and federal grants.
The hodgepodge efforts have produced showcase routes, including the often-urban West Orange Trail and Pinellas Trail, and the Van Fleet State Trail and Withlachoochee State Trail in rural Central Florida.
But last year, lawmakers approved funneling $25 million annually from the receipts of registering new vehicles to the Department of Transportation for trail construction.
"That was such a breakthrough," said Linda Chapin, who was Orange County mayor in the 1990s and pushed for the then-novel idea of building the West Orange Trail from Apopka through Winter Garden to the county line.
Chapin said key to securing the recurring appropriation was backing from state Senate President Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, an early supporter of the Coast to Coast Connector.
Regular funding will elevate trail building from primarily a local effort geared toward recreation to a more coordinated approach that can make trails part of daily transportation and a major element of tourism, Chapin said.
The state's transportation department is working with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to set priorities for spending the yearly $25 million under a program called the "SUN Trail Network."
A 21-member group, the Florida Greenways and Trails Council, of which Chapin is a member, has been evaluating proposed trails and late last month recommended another Central Florida trail as next in line for big funding.
The council picked the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop, which has been long in the works and so far has about 50 paved miles along a 260-mile route that will connect the St. Johns River, St. Augustine and Titusville.
State agencies expect to divide SUN Trail money into thirds: the Coast to Coast Connector would get a share; the St. Johns River-to-Sea Loop would get another; and the rest would go to gaps in major trails.
The boon of trail activity is unmistakable, including in Central Florida, where projects gaining momentum with and without SUN Trail help include:
•A push to complete a difficult Coast to Coast segment of 4 miles in the Pine Hills area of Orange County from U.S. Highway 441 to Hiawassee Road expected to cost about $7 million.
•Construction of a $3 million bridge section at Garden Street in Titusville, furthering progress toward completing the Coast to Coast in Brevard County near its easternmost point at Canaveral National Seashore.
•The opening this week of a $122,000, 2 mile section of unpaved trail at the west side of former Lake Apopka farmland, where a network of trails is becoming increasing popular and is expected to eventually link to the Coast to Coast.
•The coming completion of 2.4 miles of paved trail that leads to Blue Spring State Park and eventually will join Volusia County's Spring to Spring Trail, which serves as part of the Coast to Coast.

http://www.phillyvoice.com/slew-protected-bike-lanes-planned-philly-streets/
As the city of Philadelphia increasingly embraces shared roadways to provide safer routes for pedestrians and bikers, the Philadelphia Streets Department has revealed a series of new protected bike lines that will be phased in using funds from the federal Transportation Alternative Program.
Last month, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission announced it would commit $7.6 million in TAP funds to 11 projects throughout the region, including light fixtures for the Manayunk Bridge Trail and a $300,000 program called "Safe Spaces for Cyclists: Building a Protected Bicycle Network."
The specifics of the initiative were revealed this week to PlanPhilly by Streets Department deputy commissioner of transportation Mike Carroll, who detailed the location of new protected and buffered bike lanes on streets spread across the city. Protected lanes use plastic delineators to separate automobile traffic from bikers, while buffered lanes offer a wider pathway with additional paint to alert drivers of the demarcation.
The list of projects below, while not exhaustive of the city's long-term bike lane goals, will expand upon existing protected bike lanes on Ryan Avenue and along a strip of Frankford Avenue.
• Torresdale/Frankford Avenue: A two-way protected bike lane with delineator posts placed along the current bike lane on Torresdale Avenue. The bridge over Pennypack Creek on Frankford Avenue will also get protected lanes that allow bikers to travel both ways on the same side of the road.
• Race Street: A protected bike lane from 9th Street to 5th Street.
• Parkside Avenue: Protected upgrades to bike lanes along Fairmount Park.
• North 33rd Street: Conventional bike lane to be upgraded to protected lane.
• Spruce Street/Pine Street: Delineator posts will be added to buffered lane between 22nd Street and Fairmount Avenue.
• Walnut Street: Delineator posts will be added to bike lane on left side from 23rd Street to 63rd Street.
• 30th Street: Delineator posts will be added to bike lane between Walnut and Market streets. New posts between Chestnut and Market streets, where the bike lane flows against automobile traffic, will help drivers recognize and anticipate bikers.
• Lombard Street/South Street: Delineator posts will be added to Lombard Street bike lane between 22nd Street and the South Street Bridge. The South Street bike lane from the bridge to 22nd Street will also be upgraded.
• Lindbergh Boulevard: Protected bike lanes will be painted onto street connecting John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge to Bartram’s Garden.
• Passyunk Avenue/Oregon Avenue: Protected bike lanes will be added to West Passyunk Avenue where roadway crosses the Schuylkill River. PennDOT, which is expected to kick in $200,000 to bike lane upgrades, will also resurface grates along the bridge to address slippery conditions for bikers.
Philadelphia bikers looking for additional resources can check out the Bike Lane Toolkit, the city's Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan and the Complete Streets Design Handbook.
On Friday, May 20, Philadelphia will celebrate Bike to Work Day, with support from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Those who sign up will have access to "service stations" with free giveaways and coffee along specified bike lanes.

 

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http://www.turnto23.com/news/nation...nched-by-teens-in-car-while-on-bike-ride-home
The carnage continues.