City Council gets it right
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Bernie at 07.21.11 - 8:36 am
By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
July 21, 2011
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday passed a pioneering new law intended to protect bicyclists from harassment by motorists.
The ordinance, which backers described as the toughest of its kind in the nation, makes it a crime for drivers to threaten cyclists verbally or physically, and allows victims of harassment to sue in civil court without waiting for the city to press criminal charges.
Its passage comes one day after a 63-year-old bicyclist was struck and killed by a car on a downtown street — an incident that bicycle advocates say underscores the dangers cyclists face.
The new law is the latest bicycle-friendly measure to hit L.A., where an increasingly vocal community of activists has been calling for more protections.
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My brother, the sports car driver, was worried about "militant cyclists" abusing this. I'm on the opposite side, worried that it is going to be hard to get a jury full of asshole drivers to rule in favor of a cyclist. I'm really curious to see how these cases turn out.
jeshii07.21.11 - 10:59 am
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