News and Events

As an educational tool to help ensure the safety of all people riding bicycles in LA County, we’re proud to announce the release of the LACBC “Bike Safe” Rules of the Road pocket guide (just in time for CicLAvia and Bike Month). Crash data shows that when there are collisions involving motor vehicles and people riding bikes, motor vehicle drivers are typically at fault 50% of the time and people riding bicycles are usually at fault the other 50%. Simply knowing the rules for bicyclists and then following those rules means that every person riding a bike can reduce the risk of a collision by 50%. We believe that’s valuable information to know and to keep on-hand.

The Bike Safe guide is designed as a simple reference tool. Key features include:

• Compact size that riders can carry in their pocket, wallet, saddle bag, etc.
• Summary of key California vehicle codes for bicyclists with vehicle code numbers that users can look up on the California DMV website.
• Bilingual with English on one side and Spanish on the other side.

Look for copies of the Bike Safe pocket guide in your membership packet and at events where LACBC is at.  The online version includes PDFs that can be downloaded or printed, as well as the guide content with links directly to the California DMV website and an alphabetical list of LA County cities with their rules for sidewalk riding (the main rules that vary from city to city).

LACBC would like to thank Marcy Rye and Wire Media for designing the guide and Aaron Salinger for the Spanish translation. For the first edition print run, we thank Metro as well as Pocrass & De Los Reyes LLP for their sponsorship.  We welcome future sponsorship inquiries which can be directed to Colin Bogart, LACBC Education Director, at colin@la-bike.org.

It's no longer a rumor when it makes the LA Times, and we're sad to say it's true. After relentless lobbying by the film industry, the City is considering letting the green Spring Street bike lane fade away. This is despite LACBC's counts showing that the green lane greatly increased the number of women riding on Spring Street, which is critical if LA is to become a city in which "interested but concerned" people are willing to ride.

Downtown has gone through an amazing transformation over the past decade. Unfortunately, the film industry has not kept up with the times. Instead of Hollywood's backlot, downtown is a neighborhood with 50,000 residents and 500,000 workers. Spring Street through the Historic Core (home to LACBC's HQ) is one of the most filmed streets in LA, standing in for cities all over the world. But unlike a film set, our streets change over time to meet the needs of the community. The green lane has paved the way for a streets renaissance with parklets and continental crosswalks following just this year. This has been good for residents, good for businesses, and good for the City's tax base.

We are proud of our green lane and the message it sends that bicyclists matter on even our busiest streets. But ultimately it's a safety treatment. In high traffic areas, the green draws attention to bicyclists and helps keep drivers out of the bike lane. It makes people more comfortable riding through downtown, creating a positive feedback loop wherein having more bicyclists makes bicycling safer.
 

Please let Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmembers Huizar, Garcetti, and LaBonge know that you support the green lane!

To: mayor@lacity.org, councilmember.huizar@lacity.org, councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org, councilmember.labonge@lacity.org
Bcc: info@la-bike.org
Subject: Keep Spring Street Green!

Dear Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilmembers Huizar, Garcetti, and LaBonge,

As cities from coast to coast add color to their streets, I'm disappointed to hear that LA is considering removing ours. I urge you to keep the Spring Street bike lane green so that it can continue to attract "interested but concerned" bicyclists to ride downtown. Our city streets shouldn't just be accessible to people at special events like CicLAvia. We need to use the best tools available to make riding our streets safe and welcoming every day.

While Downtown LA is a stand-in for cities around the world, it is also a neighborhood for over 50,000 Angelenos. Other cities are competing for our creative talent that increasingly seeks out the urban lifestyle available in Downtown. We can't afford to be held back by an industry that refuses to adapt. The green bike lane, parklets, and continental crosswalks all contribute to a vibrant streetscape that makes Downtown worth living and working in. The ultimate irony is that our peers in New York, Chicago, and many other American cities are ahead of us in implementing these street projects, yet we are told that we can't improve our streets because then we wouldn't look like them on the silver screen.

Please keep LA competitive as a bike-friendly city by keeping our most distinctive piece of infrastructure and giving it a fresh coat of paint.

Sincerely,

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