Category Archives: News

Just Another Sunday Morning in Beverly Hills

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Beverly Hills car crash

Except it’s like so many other days in Beverly Hills: a violent crash on local streets. Just like the previous Thursday.

Beverly Hills car crash

One wag asked in the comments over at the department’s Instagram, “Why is everyone hauling ass and crashing in BH?”

That’s a great question! It is a question we’ve asked time and again of our Traffic & Parking commission and police department officials. Why can’t the department enforce our traffic laws? Read our memo to the commission about traffic safety in Beverly Hills. Consider the longtime decline in enforcement. Then ponder some more crashes as seen through the BHPD lens.

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Beverly Hills car crash

Not one of these Beverly Hills Police Department Instagram posts came with the standard police advisory: “Slow down, speed kills.”

Complete Streets Draft Plan is Out!

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City of Beverly Hills has finally released a draft Complete Streets plan! Transportation consultant Iteris and bike-planners at Alta have posted a two-parter for our review: a 43-page executive summary and a 200-page technical report. Now is time to get busy! Sharpen that pencil and get ready to provide your hard-won local knowledge so that the final complete streets plan is as good as it can be. Continue reading →

Recreation and Parks Commission: Bicycles Ain’t Our Thing

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Recreation and Parks commission this January formally decided to abandon the bicycle safety and training program the city undertook in 2015. Every month at a city school a trainer was on hand to educate children about bicycle safety and to provide hands-on ride-safe instruction. But the sessions were under-attended so it came as no surprise when the program was put on hold in 2017. More recently the commission showed little interest in revisiting the program. That was just the latest sign of the commissioner’s lack of enthusiasm for pro-bike park policies. Continue reading →

Beverly Hills Puts the Brake on Shared-Mobility Devices

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Beverly Hills City Council adopted a total ban on shared-mobility devices effective immediately. The sweeping action came at a special meeting called 24 hours prior. The ad-hoc regulation targeted device companies like Bird and Lime but would ban all ‘dockless’ devices (including motorized bicycles). The action prohibits any device from being placed in any public right-of-way or on public property, operated in any public-right-of-way or on public property, or offered for use anywhere in the City. Penalties include impound and fines. Read the press release. Continue reading →

Collision Injuries in Beverly Hills Sill Reach for Record Highs in 2017

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Nearly 5,000 road users have been injured on Beverly Hills streets in the eleven years that our police has been disclosing monthly traffic data. That’s about ten crash injuries every week – enough for the state’s Office of Traffic Safety to rank our city among the most dangerous small California cities for those who walk, bike and drive. And it is especially dangerous for seniors. This dubious distinction reflects the both city’s lack of multimodal planning and the declining enforcement of traffic laws. Continue reading →

Mark Your Calendar: Complete Streets Workshop #1

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Better Bike invites you to attend the Beverly Hills complete streets visioning workshop tonight, Monday, March 12th at 6:30pm. This event kicks-off a planning process for which our alternative mobility community has long waited: the preparation of an actual complete streets plan 40 years after the city adopted our first, and only, Bicycle Master Plan. Continue reading →

Beverly Hills City Council UNANIMOUSLY OKs SM Blvd Bike Lanes

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In an incredible turnabout, all five Beverly Hills councilmembers agreed to include bicycle lanes on our segment of Santa Monica Boulevard. The unanimous vote demolished the specious claims put forth by NIMBY opponents. And it recognized the solid arguments brought forth by forty speakers and scores more comments: bicycle lanes not only make riders feel safe, they actually make us more safe! Continue reading →

Is a Mandatory Bike Helmet Law the Answer?

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State Senator Carol Liu

State Senator Carol Liu recently introduced a bill that would require every bike rider regardless of age to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle. Though a well-intentioned safety measure, SB 192 and its helmet mandate has spurred a backlash among some riders and several established statewide bike advocacy organizations. Why the opposition? Why not mandate helmets for adults?

Beverly Hills OKs Bike-share Feasibility Study

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Beverly Hills City Council recently gave its preliminary OK to city bike-share and authorized a feasibility study to explore the merit of a 50-bike system. We’re following Santa Monica’s lead here: it has tapped vendor CycleHop to implement a ‘smart bike’ system (as we previously reported). Should we piggyback on that contract, would this be a significant step forward for mobility in Beverly Hills? Or would it be only a tourist amenity for the ‘golden’ triangle?

TPC Commissioner Alan Gruschow Passes

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We are very sorry to hear about yesterday’s untimely passing of Beverly Hills Traffic and Parking Commission member Alan Grushcow. In our experience working with transportation officials at City Hall, Commissioner Gruschcow distinguished himself as a near lone voice for bike safety in the city. And he was always a voice of reason on the commission dais.

Bike Share for Beverly Hills?

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Santa Monice bike-share system promo

In study session this week, City Council deferred to February a discussion about our city’s possible participation in a regional Westside bikeshare program. (Ours would piggyback on the coming Santa Monica system.) It’s very early for a substantive discussion about our participation, but that the question even comes up might herald a new approach to multimodal mobility for Beverly Hills. With new(ish) bike lanes on Burton and Crescent and Mayor Bosse strongly behind a bike-friendly city, are we turning the page on our auto-centric past?