Ramping up, July 15

LAPD defends chase

The Los Angeles Police Department said an officer acted properly when he chased an alleged drunk driver down Hollywood Boulevard on Sunday night. The driver subsequently rammed into two people in a crosswalk and killed them. Sergio Delgado, 29, was booked on suspicion of double murder. Police say that Delgado was driving erratically and they were trying to stop him. Read the full story by my colleagues Molly Hennessy-Fiske and Richard Winton.

You can probably guess the next sentence: Delgado was convicted of DUI in 2003. In 2006, 32,046 motorists were convicted of second-offense DUIs and licenses were revoked from 7,649 third offenders and 2,170 fourth offenders in the state, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

It's long been established that repeat offenders are a huge problem when it comes to DUIs, yet it's been difficult to find a way to stop them. In that vein, a bill (AB 2784) by Assemblyman Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles) proposes to allow some first-time DUI offenders to have their full driving privileges restored if they agree to install an ignition lock device in their vehicles. That's a device that measures whether the driver has been drinking and, if so, prevents a vehicle from starting.

Some groups have complained that the bill doesn't go far enough -- that all first-time offenders should have to have an ignition lock -- and that the bill has been watered down by the Legislature. With more than 13,000 people being killed in alcohol related car crashes in 2006, it seems to me that anything that gets drinking drivers off the road should be on the table.

LaBonge accepts bike rack challenge

I challenged Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge yesterday to intervene and get more bike racks installed at the NoHo subway station. The existing racks are stuffed full and there's plenty of room to install more of them -- if only someone made it a priority.

It's not like gasoline is hitting record prices. Oh wait. This just in: gas prices are hitting record prices, mass transit ridership is up and the citizenry is looking for alternatives to driving!

Anyhow, a LaBonge deputy phoned yesterday afternoon to say that LaBonge believes the Bottleneck Blog has a point and that he has begun his initial round of inquiries. Well, we're here to help. And so let the record reflect that we are now on Day 2 of the NoHo Bike Rack Challenge.

Note to other elected officials: I'm not picking on LaBonge. I will shortly be assigning worthy projects to others.

Proof that the 101 still stinks

Jennifer Forkish, an Ek & Ek lobbyist, submitted this photo she took of the trip meter on her dashboard after a recent hellish afternoon rush hour drive from downtown to Woodland Hills. Forkish must be a hyper-miler: 18.9 mpg is pretty good in stop-and-go traffic.

In her frustration, she also has stumbled upon a great idea. What if a lot of readers regularly took photos of their trip trackers? It would give us a pretty good idea of what commute times are really like across the Southland.

Most cellphones have cameras these days and it's easy to email a photo from them. If you like this idea, send me a photo of your dashboard. If submissions are plentiful, I'll start posting them and you can commiserate with fellow Bottleneckers, a breed known for its compassionate ways.

-- Steve Hymon

Photo credit: Jennifer Forkish

Comments

[Ingrid Peterson]

Tom LaBonge recently demonstrated his commitment to bicycling in Los Angeles by hosting 5 summer bike rides around the city, calling it "Tour LaBonge"... Pictures from the rides may be found at the Councilman's website...(tomlabonge.com)

Admittedly there is a wide range of opinion in the political landscape but for my two cents, LaBonge is on target with his comprehension of the benefits of bicycling.

Encouraging him to follow through with promises like this one about the bike racks in NoHo is exactly the right approach. This "positive pressure" should be placed on all elected officials...especially our current bike-friendly L.A. City Council...

Keep up the good work, Road Sage!!

[louis H. Abramson]

Why don't we change the working hours of certain businesses like we did during the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Manufactures, wholesale businesses as well as many other industrries can change their times of operations to night hours. Many businesses can work from 9:00PM to 6:00AM for example. It worked before and it can work again. This would certainly change traffic flow.

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