April 3, 20131 Comment on Hearings scheduled for California bicycle legislation
The California legislature returned from their spring recess on Monday, and various committees took action and scheduled hearings on the various bicycle related bills that we’re tracking here at Cyclelicious. Details on these bills below the break.
March 27, 20136 Comments on California Assemblyman Steven Bradford introduces 3 foot passing bill
Will the third time be the charm?
Steven Bradford of Gardena, California introduced Yet Another Attempt at a safe passing law by amending AB 1371. It has the usual safe passing with a minimum of three feet language we’ve seen in the previous two attempts introduced before by then-State-Senator Alan Lowenthal (who has moved on to the US House of Representatives). To overcome any possible bogus objections from the Governor’s office on this go around, Bradford includes precise language on how motorists should and should not pass when they’re driving past a bicycle. It also allows motorists to cross the double yellow centerline or double white lines (which mark “preferential use lanes” e.g. HOV lanes and bus lanes) to pass a cyclist when it’s safe to do so.
March 26, 20133 Comments on California bill amended to remove bicycle knowledge requirement from license test
Quick quiz: Who remembers California Assembly Bill 840 introduced by Tom Ammaniano for the 2013 legislative session. Anybody? Anybody?
This is the bill that would have required questions on bicycling, including questions about “bicycle markings, bicycle lanes, and bicycles in travel lanes” on California’s driver license test. Pretty cool, huh?
March 25, 2013Leave a Comment
Today, Figueroa Street in Los Angeles is kind of your typical six lane traffic sewer. As Steve Hymon writes for The (LA Metro) Source:
Figueroa is one of those big, wide Los Angeles streets that resembles a freeway stuffed into the midst of a city. Los Angeles Councilwoman Jan Perry and the city’s Department of Transportation have been pushing efforts to transform Figueroa into something better — and I think it’s already improved somewhat.
Here’s how Figueroa looks today looking north at 11th Street as seen by Google Streetview:
March 12, 2013Leave a Comment
I’d heard of these California Highway Patrol on bicycles patrolling the Golden Gate Bridge but I’ve never seen them in real life. They park themselves on the pedestrian walkway and tag speeders as they zoom by. Stanley Roberts reports for KRON.
March 11, 20131 Comment on Petition for three feet in California
Two years in a row, Alan Lowenthal of Long Beach introduced a safe passing bill to the California legislature. Two years in a row, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill in spite of heavy lobbying by California cyclists.
Lowenthal has since moved on to the U.S. Congress, and nobody has yet taken up his safe-passing torch in the California legislature.
Los Angeles cyclist Rick Risemburg hopes to bring this to statewide attention again with his safe passing online petition to be delivered to Jerry Brown’s desk. He’s already most of the way there to the required 1000 signatures. Sending this over the top will highlight the importance of this issue for California cyclists.
20 states and several local governments have a 3 foot law in place. Rick Perry of Texas and Brown are the only two governors to have vetoed 3 foot legislation.
Risemburg realizes the deadline has passed to introduce new legislation in California for the 2013 session, but hopes for action in 2014. Although Lowenthal termed out of the state Senate last year, we now have other bona fide bike people among the freshmen members of the California assembly.
View the petition here –> Three Feet Please! for California.
Via Biking In LA, where you can find a good collection of weekend CARnage.