two wheels and a mic: L.A. city council votes to protect cyclists

hitc — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:43:57 +0000

This week on Hear in the City we talk to LAPD Sergeant David Krumer about the a law that was approved by the Los Angeles City Council last weekmaking the physical or verbal harassment of cyclists a civil crime. Does it inhibit free speech? Wasn’t physical harassment already a crime? This past Friday, Sara jumped on her outdated bicycle, pulled on her red helmet, rolled up her right pants leg, and made her way down to First and Main to meet with the police officer in charge of community relations for the over 100,000 estimated bicyclists in Los Angeles. On the way, she got stuck behind a bus and wondered if it was legal to pass in the left lane, so she did, but got clipped by a BMW who did not appreciate sharing— something she definitely asks a Sergeant David Krumer about in this episode in our series, Two Wheels and Mic.

Also, we preview the quirky films of independent animator Jodie Mack. Her work will screen this Sunday, July 31st at Los Angeles Film Forum. Next week, our arts editor Jesse Lerner interviews Jodie about her work.

Some cycling resources…

L.A. Streetsblog on on LAPD’s cycling safety videos.

Bikesidela.org on incidences and collisions.

L.A. Department of Transportation’s Bicycle law and etiquette page.

We want to hear from you, dear listeners. If you have a memorable story to share about an interaction with a drive while biking or about sharing the road with a cyclist while driving, call us and leave a message at: 213.394.5468.

Two wheels and a mic: rights and cyclists in the city

hitc — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 18:04:02 +0000

On this episode of Hear in the City we resume our conversation with Patrick Miller who is an arts educator, DJ, and avid cyclist. He is also involved in several cycling initiatives both official and more informal across the city of Los Angeles. Last week, we focused on an incident where a motorist who is alleged to have possibly been intoxicated ran into a group of cyclists neat Culver City seriously injuring 11 of them. This week, Patrick Miller and a group of affiliated cyclists have presented a statement to City Hall asking for fair and equal treatment of the bicyclists injured in that collision, and more broadly for better protections and respect for bicyclists in the public streets of L.A. We ride along on L.A. Critical Mass‘s latest outing.

Incidents aside, Mr. Miller and many thousands if not millions of fellow cyclists in Los Angeles focus not on the dangers, but rather on the joys of riding two wheels on their own power in a city designed by humans for cars, but perhaps designed by nature for other purposes. Stay tuned for more audio forays into cycling in a city designed for cars.

Hear in the City » LAPD

two wheels and a mic: L.A. city council votes to protect cyclists

Two wheels and a mic: rights and cyclists in the city