News, Links, and Other Views
Here is this week's editions of news from around the web to get you inspired and informed.
City of San Diego
- The Festival of Dankness is around the corner and the proceeds will support our work to bring you protected bike lanes. Get tickets here, volunteer here.
- Vince Peppard Jr., 18 sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a driver in Linda Vista earlier this month. The impact from the vehicle threw Peppard forty feet. No charges have been filed and SDPD states that investigation is ongoing.
- Juan Carlos Viñolo who is now paralyzed after he was hit by driver on Fiesta Island, is adjusting to a life of permanent paralysis.
- Worst excuse for not funding San Diego youth bus passes goes to: MTS (via)
- Pacific Beach is aiming to promote more bike traffic in PB. Some PB groups are opposed to bike share stations on the boardwalk. Here is our letter of support for bikeshare in PB.
- Smoother roads for everyone are coming soon.
County of San Diego
- San Diego Mountain Biking Association Hires Susie Murphy as Executive Director
- Massive traffic calming efforts in Chula Vista are underway.
Elsewhere
- Some answers to just about any bike forum post I’ve ever read (via)
- Expecting cars and bikes to follow the same rules "like equating shotguns with water pistols."(via)
- Self-driving cars are being hit surprisingly often by other drivers who are distracted (via)
- Stop. talking. about Copenhagen. (via)
- The worst thing many American cities have done, for low-income people, is create a world in which you need a car (via)
- Man is Shot and Killed by the Officers He Called to Help Search for Stolen Bike. Is it a Livable Streets Issue?
- Even North Korea is building bike lanes
- Commuting time has emerged as the single strongest factor in the odds of escaping poverty
- A new study indicates that the safest urban streets have lanes that measure 10-10.5 feet wide. Narrower and wider lanes have higher crash frequencies, and wider lanes have higher crash severity
- Detroit will get protected bike lanes before San Diego does. (via)
Preventable Carnage
- Jaws of Life Used to Extract Driver From Car After Crash
- Car crashes into Ocean Beach clothing store
- Woman suffers serious leg injury after driving into parked car near Mount Soledad
- Building scaffolding in danger of collapsing after suspected DUI crash in East Village
- Woman injured after crashing off cliff, down 90-foot canyon in University City.(story)
- Woman seriously hurt in hit-run near convention center
News, Links, and Other Views
San Diego
- SANDAG Bicycle Corridors – Finished Before They Even Started
- Family of Rady Children's CFO killed in bike crash wants answers, apology
- The city of San Diego paid out $225,000 to a local rider who who sued over the city's inadequate and defective bike lanes.
- SDPD is advising everyone to lock their bicycles even in the garage
- UC San Diego Report: More Bikes, Less Parking Is Better For Business
- Anatomy of a Dangerous Intersection
San Diego County
- Carlsbad Police Looking to Reunite Owners With Their Stolen Bikes
- Three Arrested During Investigation Into High-End Bicycle Thefts in North County
- Comprehensive strategy unveiled for bicycle, pedestrian improvements in Solana Beach
- Santee has opened the longest segment of the San Diego River Trail
- Encinitas residents want latest plan for a bike and pedestrian pathway on the east side of the coastal rail line in Cardiff to be tweaked\
- Cardiff’s Chesterfield Drive railroad crossing will soon be redesigned to remove the free right turns to make it safer to walk and ride
- County Supervisor Dave Roberts writes that bicycle riding is invigorating and good for San Diego
- Valley Center may be home to the county's first mountain bike park
- An update to the 2011 Regional Transportation Plan is underway by SANDAG
- The San Diego Union Tribune writes about sharrows spreading in North County. A survey in the story shows 65% of the readership don't think San Diego is a bike-friendly city.
- The Cardiff city council votes to put bicycle and walking facilities on San Elijo Avenue, instead of Coast Highway 101
California
- California has climbed the ranks to become the 8th most bicycle friendly state in the country.
- Sausalito residents complain about the bicycle traffic but remain curiously silent about the vehicle traffic
- California Bicycle Coalition will hold its summit in October
Elsewhere
- A woman accused of being distracted by her cellphone when her car struck and killed a bicyclist has been barred from using any portable communication device for two years.
- America Could Have Been Building Protected Bike Lanes for the Last 40 Years
- Former resident of North County retires and moves to Nevada County and declares that Nevada County is unsafe to ride a bicycle
- Santa Fe, NM has installed the city's first bike corral.
- The Board of Supervisors in Santa Cruz County, Fl has approved supporting an interstate bicycle network that will stretch from Florida to San Diego
- Philadelphia is the latest major city to launch a bike share program
- Malibu opens dedicated lane for bicycle riding
- Toronto cyclists hold 'die-in'
- Garmin to launch first bicycle-use rear-view radar
- The League’s outgoing president on state of biking in Portland and beyond
- Tips on how to deal with the heat while bicycling
- All talk? Here are the actions the City of Portland is taking toward Vision Zero
Inspiration
With Vision Zero, A Chance To Lead
Under the leadership of Mayor Kevin Faulconer, San Diego has become the sixth major U.S. city to publicly commit to Vision Zero - a plan to reduce all traffic deaths to zero in the next 10 years. While the City Council still has to formally adopt the plan (including funding for both infrastructure and enforcement, as well as policy commitments), this is still a big step. San Diego joins the ranks of New York City, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington D.C. in committing to this vision. The implementation of Vision Zero was one of BikeSD's third-year advocacy goals. We're thrilled that this public commitment, for a plan which is generally viewed as a "progressive" goal, comes with bipartisan support, from our Republican Mayor, as well as both Republican and Democrats on the City Council.
That bipartisan support is very important to BikeSD. In last year's Mayoral special election, we endorsed Councilmember David Alvarez over Mayor Faulconer, in part because of Councilmember Alvarez's willingness to push Vision Zero forward. Now we're happy to applaud Mayor Faulconer for his own leadership in taking Vision Zero to the next step. In an increasingly divided national political climate, it's no small thing for a Republican Mayor of a major city to champion a plan which would challenge our prevailing culture of how we move in the city. Now we need more. For Vision Zero to work, local elected officials of all stripes have to be ready to stand up and carry through on the policies which will achieve the vision's goals. All too often, at all levels of government, we're seeing this crucial follow through ignored.
In the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare"), President Obama delivered a game changer in how Americans interact with their healthcare services and their ability to acquire insurance coverage. But no health insurance available will get us moving out of a sedentary lifestyle. Obesity costs the country about $150 billion a year and has been brought on in part due to declining levels of physical activity - including increased levels of driving. Yet with Democrats being the champions of this sweeping healthcare transformation, they also undermine the health goals by continuing to ignore the very transportation options which may stem the tide of this epidemic. Just yesterday, the U.S. Senate Transportation Committee, led by Senator Barbara Boxer (CA-D), released their $275 billion transportation bill (to be possibly spent over two years) called Developing a Reliable and Innovative Vision for the Economy Act, or "DRIVE" Act. As the League of American Bicyclist's Caron Whitaker writes, the DRIVE act "is not focused on improving multi-modal transportation but rather on the interstate and highway system".
We see the undermining of sweeping visions locally, as well. Earlier this year, despite a prior record of terrific support for safe streets and the draft Climate Action Plan, Councilmember Marti Emerald fought the implementation of bike lanes in her own district near a major university.
On June 5th, Councilmember Todd Gloria, despite consistent public comments about the paramount importance of bike infrastructure, the need for the city to move past its auto-oriented status quo, as well as his support for the draft Climate Action Plan and the City's Bicycle Master Plan, broke his own constituents' trust when he voted to water down the University Avenue alignment in the Uptown Bike Corridor.
We've no doubt they'll both support the adoption of Vision Zero. But statements of support are no longer good enough. The time for talking is over. A "progressive" goal is only as good as the force of will for building an environment for its achievement. The true test of leadership is in the follow through.
Likewise on Monday, Councilmember Mark Kersey, a Republican and chair of the City Council's Infrastructure Committee, spoke of the importance of implementing protected bike lanes to save lives. He noted the recent tragic death of his own constituent, Mr. Roux of Rady's Children's Hospital - killed last week while cycling. Will Mr. Kersey follow through and see that the rhetoric of Vision Zero is matched with a substantial, fully realized environment built for safety? Will he champion for those outside of his own district?
The Mayor has ownership now. Can he deliver Vision Zero? Last February, Voice of San Diego's Liam Dillon wrote of how Mayor Faulconer was sidestepping the national GOP brand. Now's his chance to show how true that is. The realization of Vision Zero requires it. And BikeSD will be there to support whoever takes on the mantle of leadership - no matter what their party affiliation.
Do you Bike San Diego? New Merchandise Available to Show-Off
Last week we got some new merchandise that we're very excited about: jerseys.
These Primal Wear, sport cut jerseys are the classiest things you will own.
Get yourself a jersey (you can pick it up at our office and save on postage costs), support our work, feel good and show off while out and about on a ride. If you're curious about other items you can purchase to support our work, check out our online store.
CFO at Rady Hospital Killed While Riding His Bicycle - His Death Was Preventable
On Sunday, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that a local rider was killed by a distracted driver:
A bicyclist was struck and killed by a car driven by a distracted driver in Torrey Highlands Sunday afternoon, San Diego police said.
The rider was identified Monday as Roger Gerard Roux, 64, the senior vice president and chief financial officer at Rady Children's Hospital.
Roux was hit as he was bicycling along Camino del Sur near Torrey Meadows Drive at 3:24 p.m., police Officer Robert Heims said.
Roux, was riding along Camino del Sur, a road with a posted speed limit of 45 mph with a striped bike lane. Mr. Roux was a person who had a family, was a friend and a neighbor who also happened to work at an organization that is striving to do incredible things for children and his death was completely preventable.
Our hearts out to his family, and those of others who've suffered the same tragedy.