Los Angeles County will soon begin an ambitious repair program of damaged bike paths between Torrance and Playa del Rey.  The bike trails along the stretch of coastal California have been in bad shape for a while now.  For bicyclists, the damaged trails have meant an increased risk of bike accidents.

The trail covers a 22-mile stretch between Torrance and Will Rogers State Beach in Pacific Palisades.  In September, a repair program planned by Los Angeles County will begin.  Repairs will include reconstruction of parts of the bike paths with fresh concrete, and smoothing over of patches at Dockweiler State Beach. 

Authorities have already begun alerting bicyclists to the repair program by placing orange cones on the paths.  The work is officially expected to commence on September 12.  The program will continue over the next two months.  The authorities want to have the bike paths fixed and ready to use before the Labor Day traffic, when bicyclist volumes are expected to increase.  The repairs will cost $400,000 in just the first phase of the program.  The second phase will be initiated later. 

Obviously, the repairs have been welcomed by the local bicycling community and Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyers, but what would be even better would be maintenance programs that continue even after the fresh biking trails are laid out.

Bicycle safety is an important issue during the summer months, when ridership typically increases.  Most bicycle accidents occur because of the negligence of motorists, who fail to look out for bikers.  However, bike accidents can also occur because of the lack of bike paths or the unsafe condition of existing biking paths.  Cracked asphalt, potholes, and debris can greatly increase a bicyclist’s risk of an accident.

The South Bay is the one of the best areas in the country for bicycling.  Unfortunately, Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyers have frequently found that bicycling has not been a viable form of transportation here because of the risks to bicyclists, and the lack of awareness about bicyclists’ rights.  The South Bay Bicycle Coalition wants to set that situation straight. 

The group has released the South Bay Bicycle Master Plan that would increase the number of miles of bike lanes and paths across the region.  The plan would also recommend policies and programs that would bring about a change in the current auto-centric culture in the South Bay.

A number of local cities already have bicycle plans in place, but these are not comprehensive, or have not been properly implemented.  The South Bay Bicycle Coalition plan would properly define bike lanes, bicycle paths and shared streets in seven local cities.  There will be another 235 miles added to the current 79-miles of bike paths, bike lanes and shared streets in this area.

The group hopes to not only expand the current biking network to include more bicycle lanes and bike paths, but also to encourage a bicycle safety culture that promotes the idea of people bicycling, not just for leisure, but also for work.  The aim is to get more people out of their cars and on to bicycles, by ensuring that they not only have the infrastructure to do so conveniently, but also safely.  Under the South Bay Bicycle Coalition plan, bicycling should be not just convenient and inexpensive, but also safe.

The South Bay Bicycle Coalition consists of bicyclists from a number of cities.  Founded in 2009, it had its first big victory in 2009 when it received a $240,000 federal grant aimed at reducing obesity.  The funds have since been used to conduct accident prevention workshops.

This week, the Royal Mail in the UK announced that it was doing away with bicycles for postal deliveries.  That decision was made because of the large number of accidents involving letter carriers on bicycles.  In fact, according to the Royal Mail, between 2008 and 2009, letter carriers suffered more than 1,000 injuries.  The English postman on his bicycle, a long and beloved tradition that dates back to 1880, will soon end.  Not that Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyers don't understand why the British want to keep letter carriers off bicycles, considering that we live in one of the country's most hostile areas for bicyclists.

Last month, the city's first citizen had a sampling of what Los Angeles bicyclists face every day when he had a taxi pull out in front of his bike, sending him head first to the ground.  Fortunately, the mayor suffered no serious injuries.  However, it only served to underscore the kind of risks bicyclists face every day.  A bicyclist or Los Angeles bicycle accident attorney will tell you that this one of the most frequent ways that bicycle accidents are caused.  Motorists must understand that it's dangerous for bicyclists to brake suddenly, and that doing so can throw a bicyclist off his bike.

Unfortunately, bicycle safety groups, who were expecting strong action against the motorist in the mayor's accident, were disappointed.  Mayor Villaraigosa said no charges will be pressed against the motorist, citing that the motorist was “careless” but that wasn't illegal.  It is that kind of attitude that's very troubling to Los Angeles personal injury lawyers.  To a bicyclist, it matters greatly when a motorist is careless.  In fact, it can mean the difference between life and death when a motorist decides to drive too close to a bicyclist, or pulls out in front of him, suddenly and without warning.  The mayor could have been less flippant about his accident, and a little more concerned about the city's bicyclists.

The lack of safety for bicyclists in Los Angeles has long been a major safety issue for the bicycling community here.  Bicyclists in the city have long complained of an inadequate number of bike lanes, hostile motorists and a “don't care” attitude on the part of law enforcement agencies.  The discussion about bicycle safety in Los Angeles will get interesting this week, after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was injured in a bike accident.  The mayor was riding his bicycle on Venice Blvd., which is notorious for its lack of bike lanes.  Apparently, a taxi suddenly pulled out in front of the mayor, who applied his brakes to avoid an impact and fell off his bicycle.  He sustained an elbow injury and had to undergo surgery.

What happened immediately after the accident will be of great interest to Los Angeles bicycle accident lawyers, and will confirm what Los Angeles biking groups have been saying for years.  The mayor was accompanied by security, but no one managed to take down the number of the taxi or the name of the taxi company.  The taxi fled the scene of the accident, and the driver hasn't been heard from since.  There were no witnesses to testify about exactly what happened.  There has been no investigation into the accident at all.

Bicycle safety advocates will tell you that when something like this happens to the mayor of the city, it's easy to imagine what the regular Joe riding by on his bike is subjected to.  Bicycle safety in Los Angeles would have been a joke, except for the hundreds of injuries that occur in Los Angeles on the streets every year.  Motorists pulling out in front of bicyclists, driving up close to bicyclists and honking loudly to scare them, yelling, taunting, teasing, throwing stuff at bicyclists - these are common on Los Angeles streets as any bicyclist will tell you. 

The mayor has a great opportunity to bring attention to the problem of bicycle safety in Los Angeles.  Los Angeles bike accident lawyers and bike safety groups here will be hopeful that he will step up and add his voice to ours.