E Hollywood Adopts Cyclists' Bill of Rights
Thread started by
Alex Thompson at 03.18.08 - 1:24 pm
Ridazz,
Last night the
East Hollywood Neighborhood Council adopted the
Cyclists' Bill of Rights. So next time you're riding from the Kitchen and some motorist gives you crap, let em know you have rights!
Email the EHNC to thank them for recognizing cyclists:
They voted unanimously to approve the rights as they are, printed below.
The Bike Writers Collective showed up in style with Josef Bray-Ali's new Bakfiets to represent bikers. Mad thanks to those who showed - Mikey Wally, Will Campbell, Erik Knutsen, Stephen Box, Josef Bray-Ali, and Mihai Peteu. Also me! And thanks to the young Parisian Sara who spoke eloquently in accented in English about living in LA vs riding in Paris. Double extra thanks to Stephen Box, who kept his head above water and found out this was a possibility, and lobbied to ensure the document was adopted unmodified. I don't know who originally brought this to the EHNC's attention, but rumor has it that Colin Bogart may have had a hand in it, so thanks to him.
Word:
WHEREAS, cyclists have the right to ride the streets of our communities and this right is formally articulated in the California Vehicle Code; and
WHEREAS, cyclists are considered to be the “indicator species” of a healthy community; and
WHEREAS, cyclists are both environmental and traffic congestion solutions; and
WHEREAS, cyclists are, first and foremost, people - with all of the rights and privileges that come from being members of this great society; and
NOW, THEREFORE, WE THE CYCLING COMMUNITY, do hereby claim the following rights:
1) Cyclists have the right to travel safely and free of fear.
2) Cyclists have the right to equal access to our public streets and to sufficient and significant road space.
3) Cyclists have the right to the full support of educated law enforcement.
4) Cyclists have the right to the full support of our judicial system and the right to expect that those who endanger, injure or kill cyclists be dealt with to the full extent of the law.
5) Cyclists have the right to routine accommodations in all roadway projects and improvements.
6) Cyclists have the right to urban and roadway planning, development and design that enable and support safe cycling.
7) Cyclists have the right to traffic signals, signage and maintenance standards that enable and support safe cycling.
8) Cyclists have the right to be actively engaged as a constituent group in the organization and administration of our communities.
9) Cyclists have the right to full access for themselves and their bicycles on all mass transit with no limitations.
10) Cyclists have the right to end-of-trip amenities that include safe and secure opportunities to park their bicycles.
11) Cyclists have the right to be secure in their persons and property, and be free from unreasonable search and seizure, as guaranteed by the 4th Amendment.
12) Cyclists have the right to peaceably assemble in the public space, as guaranteed by the 1st Amendment.
And further, we claim and assert these rights by taking to the streets and riding our bicycles, all in an expression of our inalienable right to ride!
reply
The email of the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council, is
ehnc@easthollywood.net
Alex Thompson03.18.08 - 1:28 pm
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Joseph Bray-Ali, are you related to Adam Bray-Ali? I have no idea how common that last name is, but if so, I've been a motorcycling friend of Adam's for a long time.
ideasculptor03.18.08 - 1:38 pm
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WOWOWOW!!!
congratulations!!!! EAST SIDE WINS BIG.
Roadblock03.18.08 - 1:52 pm
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Bravo! Albeit a small step, it is a step forward. Thank you and congrats!
indigis03.18.08 - 1:53 pm
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I think it's BIG. these rights could be printed and posted passed out etc.
Roadblock03.18.08 - 2:00 pm
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Yeah! Nail it to all the telephone poles! Screw it to every door! Weld it to every vehicle!
mr rollers03.18.08 - 2:18 pm
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Eastside > Westside
hahaha.!
\\ Thats awesome. Emailed! //
jchungerford03.18.08 - 2:29 pm
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West Side has a tougher nut to crack and West sidazz helped big time in making this happen for the East Side. Now it's time for this to hopefully help get the ball rolling on the west side by creating "green pressure" on their city councils. wow thanks everyone who made this happen listed in the first post. really cool.
Roadblock03.18.08 - 2:42 pm
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hi everyone,
i was at the meeting and just wanted to transmit to the ridazz community how well it went.
the council was so receptive to us.
they were eating out of our hands. at one point it seemed like they were about to motion to change their own bike recommendation sheet thing. it was tight.
it doesn't take much to make life more decent for all of us.
mikeywally03.18.08 - 2:45 pm
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(lemme know if something should be added / changed or if someone has a better version to post up.)
Roadblock03.18.08 - 3:04 pm
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Yeah - Mikey reminds me. They happened to have their recommendations for the Bicycle Master Plan on the agenda as well, and we convinced them to make these changes:
- ask for more community input meetings
- change the term bikeways (which is bike lanes, bike paths, and bike routes) to bike lanes.
- ask for motorist education.
The planets were aligned last night. Best sober St Patrick's Day ever! Stephen talked to everyone on the council before the meeting, and so when we showed up they were expecting us.
Alex Thompson03.18.08 - 3:17 pm
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As President of the EHNC, a fellow cyclist himself and one of a handful of EHNC governing board members who have gone on Midnight Ridazz rides - two of our governing board members, Ed Magos and Caleb Larson went on the MR ride last Friday night (it also helps when you have the rides start in East Hollywood :)),
I thank you all for your comments and am proud to see us make this happen.
I do bike myself, but even when I am driving my car or riding on a bus, I do see more and more people ride their bicycles in our general area. The always-full inverted-U bike racks on Heliotrope and Melrose, just a couple blocks down the street from where I live is also a definite sign, as well as the usage of bicycles by low-income service industry wokers in our area. And one of our deputies from Eric Garcetti's office, Helen Leung, rides her bike to work from Elysian Valley to Hollywood every day. So this is no pipe-dream stuff, it's already REALITY.
As for who brought it to the EHNC's governing board, yes it was Colin Bogart, who is a member of our Planning and Beautification Committee, which also deals with transportation issues.
I also want to add that we're not done yet! We want to see more bike lanes, shared-use street markings, traffic calming and await the establishment of the Hollywood/Western Bikestation (which will sit in our NC boundary).
See you all on the next ride!
Elson Trinidad
President
East Hollywood Neighborhood Council
elsongs03.18.08 - 6:36 pm
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mikey wally -
It wasn't that hard for us to "eat out of your hands" when a number of us on the council are cyclists too.
But best of luck trying to get many other neighborhood councils to endorse this. I'm not gonna name any names, but just letting you know you're gonna get laughed at by some of the other neighborhood councils, which don't even consider bicycles as a legitimate form of transportation and want more parking and more cars on the road. Just sayin...but you already know who your allies are and if you need us for support in the future, we're here.
Elson
EHNC
elsongs03.18.08 - 6:46 pm
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Right on Elson!
You practically have Mikey eating out of your hand!
BTW, nice job on making this a reality.
User103.18.08 - 7:34 pm
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Great Job BWC, but how does this work practically?
Situation: Car weaves around and cuts off cyclist riding in the street
Driver: "Get off the fucking road, you idiot! Ride on the sidewalk!"
Cyclist: "I have rights!"
Driver: "Fuck you! Get a job first, then get a fucking car."
Cyclist: "But, I have rights."
Driver drives off.
I guess my point is that I don't foresee anything different happening. Just because we have this new BBofR that maybe 100 people (95% cyclists) know about, doesn't realistically change anything. Perhaps a cyclists may feel more confident while riding, but I don't really see a benefit to this. Enlighten me.
Here's another story:
I was riding up Heliotrope toward Santa Monica and these three pricks pull up next to me and try to pick up on me. I ignore them and keep riding. As I make a right on Santa Monica, the fuckers throw a 24oz cup of liquid at me. I get license plate number and car model and call the cops because 'I have rights'. The police arrive fifteen minutes later take a report, run the plate, everything matches up, and they inform me that a detective will contact me within two weeks.
How can the BBofR help me here, if at all? Is this even relevant?
meandmybluebike03.18.08 - 8:02 pm
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Good Question!
Our target is our political leadership. Our Mayor and our Councilmembers.
Our target is also the cyclists who may not know that they have rights, lots of them, and that they are part of a community that will stand with them.
The Cyclists' Bill of Rights is the simple document that puts the discussion on the table. It's now up to us to work it and to get it codified.
Today I was at the City Council Transportation Committee. On Saturday I will be at the NC Alliance to pitch Councilwoman Greuel.
The more we fight for our place on the streets, the stronger we get.
SoapBoxLA03.18.08 - 8:17 pm
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Ridazz Roulette!
