Bicyclist harassment outlawed by Los Angeles City Council: A new law makes it a crime for drivers to threaten cyclists verbally or physically.
Photo: A bicyclist pedals through downtown Los Angeles after the City Council passed a pioneering law to protect cyclists from harassment by motorists that backers described as the toughest of its kind in the nation. Credit: Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times
(Source: Los Angeles Times, via patrickedwardkiefer)
Street memorials can take many shapes; Silver Lake, Los Angeles, now has a bicycle shaped memorial for the victim of a April 17th shooting.
A Ghost Bike For Manuel Santizo
Manuel Santizo, 28 years old, was murdered on Del Mar Avenue at Hoover Street last Sunday by unknown assailants as he pedaled home from a trip to the store. First they reportedly struck him with the vehicle they occupied and then shot him where he’d fallen.
Last night a contingent of Midnight Ridazz gathered at the location of the crime to install a ghost bike in his honor.
Until 6 p.m. today family members and friends are holding a carwash to raise funds to help his wife and infant son who are absolutely devastated.
If you find yourself in the neighborhood of Myra and Effie (pinpoint map) in Silver Lake, find it in your heart to make a contribution.
LA: Chatsworth High Senior Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver »
A hit-and-run driver is at large after striking a 17-year-old bicyclist and fleeing the scene in Canoga Park Wednesday night. German Alex Romero, a senior at Chatsworth High School from Reseda, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Romero was riding bicycles along with a 17-year-old friend on northbound De Soto Avenue near Valerio when he was struck from behind by a Toyota Corolla or Camry hatchback, according to the LAPD. The driver then sped away from the scene. Romero’s friend was not injured.
Anyone with information can call the LAPD Valley Division at 818-644-8034 or 818-644-8032.
LA Times: 'Ghost bikes' stand in memory of fallen cyclists »
White bicycles placed near spots where riders were killed ‘serve as a reminder’ that more must be done to make roads safe, say cycling advocates and family members of victims.
by Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times September 30, 2010
The well-trod sidewalk beside a busy urban boulevard is an unlikely place for a young man’s memorial, but there it is, chained to a signpost outside a furniture store: a man’s bicycle painted ghostly white. Flowers cover the frame and snake up the signpost, and a rust-colored shawl is tied carefully to the handlebars.
For months after her son Asif’s death on the adjacent street, Lizi Rahman would visit the bicycle at least twice a week. Sometimes she would stand in the middle of the wide, buzzing avenue and visualize Asif, 22, riding alongside the buses, trucks, cars and other cyclists.
“When I go there, it’s like I see him,” said Rahman, who still can’t believe that anyone could have missed her nearly 6-foot-tall son as he pedaled home one afternoon in February 2008. But a truck driver hit and killed Asif, and the so-called ghost bike erected in his honor is now one of nearly 70 in New York City, planted near the spots where riders were killed.
Long Beach Shifts Cycling in to High Gear
Clarence Eckerson, Jr. on April 16, 2010
Although their proximity to car-dominated Los Angeles can’t be denied, southern neighbor Long Beach has put the money and effort behind making cycling an attractive and safe mode, and it’s already paying dividends.
Bicycling Magazine’s 2010 rankings for bike-friendly cities ranked Long Beach a respectable 23rd, but that doesn’t satisfy them. In fact, their goal is to ultimately make Long Beach ”The Most Bicycle Friendly City in America,” a bold statement thatadorns the art at City Hall (photo by Greg Page/Page One Studio).
With a bike-friendly mayor and big support from the city council, their plans are ambitious. But most importantly they are think big and thinking fast. A couplet of physically protected cycletracks, sharrows with unique green striping, Southern California’s first bicycle boulevard, and hundreds of additional bike racks are just a few of the items already in the ground or coming very shortly.
This video doesn’t even touch upon their comprehensive education program in place for students, police, and transit operators. Ahhhh, well - I guess we’ll just have to go back and cover that on another trip (and then go sit on the beach.)
