Category: california

California bicycle legislation update 2013

Richard MasonerAugust 15, 20133 Comments on California bicycle legislation update 2013

$44.5M for Safe Routes (kinda sorta); larger bike racks for Sacramento buses approved. Environmental review exemption for bike plans and three feet passing on today’s Senate agenda.

The California Senate returned from their summer recess this week and they’re busy plowing through the hundreds of bills on their agenda. Among them are a number of bills that can have a direct impact on California cyclists. I’ve also thrown a couple of transit-related bills in this update.


San Jose Bike Party No Pants Ride July 2013

(more…)

Posted In california | news | politics

California 3 foot passing law committee hearing Monday

Richard MasonerAugust 9, 2013Leave a Comment

Update: No committee hearing today for AB 1371; a second reading is scheduled today for the full Senate. Next step is a vote after a third hearing and then, if it passes, the Governor’s desk.

Assemblyman Steven Bradford’s “Three Feet for Safety Act” for California passed the state Assembly last May. The bill has been winding its way through the Senate.

I’m getting contradictory information from the status update for this bill, but AB 1371 is either headed to a second reading on the Senate floor this Monday, or a crucial hearing in the Senate Appropriations Committee takes place on Monday, August 12, 2013. Since this is not an appropriations bill, no hearing is required, but just in case…

Senators on the Appropriations Committee are:

  • Kevin De Leon from District 22 (a big chunk of Los Angeles and other nearby cities)
  • Mimi Walters, District 37 (southern Orange County, including several beach towns)
  • Ted Gaines, 1st District (northeastern California, from Folsom north to the Oregon border and including El Dorado, Shasta, Placer, Nevada, Sierra, Plumas, Lassen, Modoc and Siskoyou counties)
  • Jerry Hill represents Senate District 13 (Santa Clara County north of about Cupertino and most of San Mateo County)
  • Ricardo Lara of District 33 (a piece of L.A. County from Long Beach north to Vernon).
  • Alex Padilla from the 20th District covers the San Fernando valley, fer sure fer sure.
  • Darrel Steinberg, District 6 (Sacramento and its suburbs).

If you live in one of these areas, please contact your Senator today to let them know how you feel about the three foot passing bill. Historically, a three foot bill has passed easily through both chambers of the California legislature, but Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed both previous attempts at similar laws. Bradford’s AB 1371 attempts to address the concern Brown brought up in his previous vetoes, which explains some of the convoluted language in this year’s incarnation. You can read the text and status of AB 1371 here. The final vote on the bill occurs immediately after the third reading to the full Senate.

Posted In california | politics
Tagged

Bicycles in the 2013 California Driver Handbook

Richard MasonerAugust 6, 20136 Comments on Bicycles in the 2013 California Driver Handbook

CA DMV California Driver Handbook 2013

I haven’t looked the California Driver Handbook since 2010. Since then, the DMV has added significant bicycle safety content.

As in previous editions, several paragraphs are devoted to cyclist rights. The 2013 edition expands on this section by explaining sharrows and describing situations where cyclists might cycle down the middle of the lane.

Perhaps more importantly, the 2013 Driver Manual integrates bicycle safety throughout the text, reminding those behind the windshield that bicycles can be expected on California roads.

(more…)

Posted In california
Tagged |

Impeding traffic as a pretext for warrantless search

Richard MasonerJuly 25, 20133 Comments on Impeding traffic as a pretext for warrantless search

Old news I know, but I missed it since I was on vacation.

A group of people cycling down four lane Western Avenue in Gardena, CA are stopped and cited for “impeding traffic,” frisked, and then lectured by clue-impaired Gardena officers that they should stay out of traffic because, apparently, they refuse to enforce traffic laws against motorists. The only law that matters for Gardena PD is the one that doesn’t exist: YOU MUST GO FASTER AND STAY OUT OF THE WAY!


22400 (a) vc Impeding Traffic from Danny and Kat ZKO on Vimeo.

Lots of discussion about the nuances of California Vehicle Code in this matter.

More bicycle news, etc

75,000 signatures on a petition demanding a female edition of the Tour de France. ASO says they’re thinking about it.

Streetsblog dares San Francisco prosecutor George Gascon to send the same message to deadly drivers that he sends to cyclists.

VA Tech hiring a bicycle program coordinator.

Check out what DC Metro Police send to their local bike party.

DC Metropolitan Police Bike Patrol at DC Bike Party

Much nicer than the helicopter our most recent San Jose bike party were treated to. Photo stolen from Gwadzilla, where you can see several more photos from that fun event.

A bicycle camp in Spokane for disabled children.

The USA Pro Cycling Challenge begins August 19 in Aspen, Colorado. I haven’t heard of any women’s events for the Colorado race; at least Amgen Tour of California has a token (if untelevised) women’s time trial or criterium in most years.

For great professional women’s racing this weekend, don’t miss the 8th Annual Menlo Park Grand Prix on Sunday, Menlo Park, California.

Posted In california | Quick news

Santa Rosa, CA passes anti-harassment statute

Richard MasonerJuly 10, 20131 Comment on Santa Rosa, CA passes anti-harassment statute

The city council in Santa Rosa, the county seat for Sonoma County in California, unanimously passed an cyclist and pedestrian anti-harassment law yesterday after the city police department and city attorney endorsed the ordinance.

The law, which will take effect on August 10, allows cyclists and pedestrians to file a civil suit against those who assault, threaten, or force them off of the road. The cyclist or pedestrian can sue for up to treble damages or $1000, whichever is greater.

The city of Santa Rosa is now the second and largest city in Sonoma County to pass an anti-harassment ordinance. The city of Sebastopol passed a similar law in December 2012. The county passed their own anti-harassment ordinance in March 2013 that covers unincorporated parts of Sonoma County. The Sonoma County cities of Windsor and Healdsburg considered and rejected similar legislation for their towns.

The law is modeled on legislation passed in the city of Los Angeles in 2011. Other California cities with similar laws on the books now include the San Francisco Bay Area cities of Berkeley and Sunnyvale.

The Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition made adoption of this anti-harassment law countwide a goal for their organization after an Oakmont man intentionally ran down a cyclist in a road rage incident in the summer of 2012. The 82-year-old man who was convicted in that case, Harry Smith, will serve his sentence wearing an ankle bracelet at a private senior living facility with a dementia program.

Read more in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. H/T to Murph.

Posted In california | law
Tagged |