July 10th, 2019: Dying For Change

More of the same today weatherwise:

Wednesday Weather

Wednesday Sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind becoming south 8 to 13 mph in the afternoon.

Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. Southwest wind 5 to 13 mph.

Sunrise 5:34am

Sunset 8:29pm

New speed cameras go into effect tomorrow:

Of course you can always count on drivers to stay a step ahead:

Downtown, Oonee has officially removed its bike parking pod:

And the City Council is pledging to respond to the growing crisis out on the streets:

Meanwhile, we're not keeping pace with our peer cities elsewhere in the world:

In London, bike riding is soaring, with over 900 million bike miles traveled in 2018, likely far more than New York, which gives statistics only in total number of trips, not distance, at 178.8 million in 2017. Cyclists in the British capital rode an average of nearly 2.5 million miles per day last year, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to city figures.

If cycling is declining in New York City, it will have a ripple effect because many cyclists say they get a strength-in-numbers feeling when bike riding is on the rise. But it’s the “De Blasio-22”: Cyclists will ride less if they don’t feel safe, but the city will be less inclined to build more protected infrastructure if cycling declines. Left in the breach are plenty of would-be riders.

But strength in numbers was certainly on display at yesterday evening's die-in:

It was truly inspiring to see such a powerful gathering of...lunatics?

First, he should watch this ten times:

Then, he should try riding a bike in New York City without getting hit by a driver and without getting his bike stolen for a few days after which he can report back and let us know if he still thinks drivers have more responsibility out there.

Of course, what mistake for "driver responsibility" is in fact being completely trapped in and in thrall to the car matrix:

It’s no secret that American public policy throughout the 20th century endorsed the car—for instance, by building a massive network of urban and interstate highways at public expense. Less well understood is how the legal framework governing American life enforces dependency on the automobile. To begin with, mundane road regulations embed automobile supremacy into federal, state, and local law. But inequities in traffic regulation are only the beginning. Land-use law, criminal law, torts, insurance, vehicle safety regulations, even the tax code—all these sources of law provide rewards to cooperate with what has become the dominant transport mode, and punishment for those who defy it.

And it's a matrix that must be broken:

Wow, maybe RuPaul should be Bike Mayor.