Bike at your own risk in L.A.

Bike riders have long complained about being second-class citizens in the capital of car culture. The Times' Jeannine Stein looks at their complaints. Consider this guy: "Scott Sing has had a tire iron hurled at him, a water bottle thrown at his head and been bombarded with racial epithets. And all he was trying to do was ride his bike on Los Angeles city streets." Here are some stats:

In Los Angeles County, bicycle-related accidents have increased slightly in the past year, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety. There were 25 deaths and 2,885 injuries in 2005 and an estimated 28 deaths and 2,910 injuries in 2006. Statewide, fatalities numbered 120 in 2002 and about 155 in 2006. Injuries, however, which had gone up and down since 2001, declined last year, from 10,428 in 2005 to about 10,275 in 2006 (the office doesn't have any theories why). The number of run-ins could rise further, cycling enthusiasts fear, as more people turn to bikes as an alternative means of transportation, or to get fit, or both.

More stories of cyclist abuse from Stein here. Plus, LAist writes about a Pasadena bike-riding controversy.

Comments

[Mark]

Bicyclists clearly don't get the rights they deserve. But they often don't fulfill their responsibilities, either. I see daily examples of running stop signs, fudging traffic lights in every possible way (including all the illegal ones), riding on the wrong side of the road, riding on sidewalks, etc. And often the worst offenders are the most experienced, frequent riders. They know what they're doing, but they yell for their rights anyway. Total hypocrisy. They make things much harder for the portion of the bicycling public that respects the law.

[Daniel OC]

johnny dollar, not that this pertains too much to my point, but the bicyclist was to my side so there was no three second time counting (hence yielding to him). it can become infuriating just as well when you take a careless driver out of a car and place them on a bicycle. the point is, it's far easier to accidentally ding another car and live than it is to accidentally 'ding' a bicyclist and live.

[Gordon Owens]

I have been riding for several years for the exercise I need due to a heart problem that requires some pretty potent medications. I cover 10 to 20 miles a day in the south bay with an occasional trip to downtown LA from Torrance. The really nice thing is the bike racks on the busses make it easy to get around if you overdo it or have to go long distances. The really bad thing is the drivers who don`t realize a bicycle is the same as a car or motorcycle and has to abide by the same rules of the road. And of course there are the bicycle riders who abuse these same rules. The one thing I would change is to allow cyclists to ride on the sidewalks when it is UNSAFE in the streets. There are places where the street is just too narrow for both motor vehicles and bicycles. There are several of us over 65 year-olds who ride bicycles every day for the exercise and the economy of it. We all enjoy riding. Gordon Owens

[Gordon Owens]

I have been riding for several years for the exercise I need due to a heart problem that requires some pretty potent medications. I cover 10 to 20 miles a day in the south bay with an occasional trip to downtown LA from Torrance. The really nice thing is the bike racks on the busses make it easy to get around if you overdo it or have to go long distances. The really bad thing is the drivers who don`t realize a bicycle is the same as a car or motorcycle and has to abide by the same rules of the road. And of course there are the bicycle riders who abuse these same rules. The one thing I would change is to allow cyclists to ride on the sidewalks when it is UNSAFE in the streets. There are places where the street is just too narrow for both motor vehicles and bicycles. There are several of us over 65 year-olds who ride bicycles every day for the exercise and the economy of it. We all enjoy riding. Gordon Owens

[yours truly, johnny dollar]

Daniel OC, how can a bicyclist "cut you off" if you are following the vehicle
(bicycle) in front of you at the "one thousand and one, one thousand and two,
one thousand and three legal distance as dictated in the DMV driver's manual?
Simple law of physics. PS: San Francisco ADI may be the place for you.

[yours truly, johnny dollar]

I know about the aggressive people in cars, aggressive people in trucks, aggressive people in buses; still it takes a lot of effort for me to be
depressed after a long bicycle ride as I still have a big smile on my face.
(courtesy to "Frazz.")
It's the aggressive people in the cars, trucks, and buses who have to
effort to find something to smile about.

[Kate]

My husband commutes by bike 5 miles each way. For several days, he encountered a belligerent driver who leaned on the horn, revved his engine, and caused his car to lurch forward when my husband didn't run the red light. (I guess the driver couldn't figure out what a red light was, either.) One morning he threw coffee on my husband. Guess what--that's assault, and the police will investigate it. Unfortunately my husband couldn't identify his assailant from a photo line-up, but it was made clear that this guy had a history, and that someone would go talk to him. My husband hasn't seen him on his commute, so no doubt the driver has chosen a different route and found new coffee targets.

[Daniel OC]

i may be intruding, but i originally hail from orange county, but i've found myself living in the bay area for the past few years. i can admit that some bicyclists infuriate me -- largely because they don't follow the law. case in point, i was driving down a boulevard with a bicyclist to my side. i slowed and yielded so as to no strike him, but as we both came upon a blind intersection, he cuts me off! he obviously decided that as a bicyclist he has the magical ability to be both a vehicle and a pedestrian -- so i yell and angrily drive away. it does chip away at my patience for all bicyclists unfortunately...