iZip Via Rapido electric bike

We’re  featuring some great items, from bikes to a Trikke to snappy t-shirts and a messenger bag.

Here’s a sample:

• A fully-equipped 7-speed commuter bike from one of the most stylish new brands out there: PUBLIC.
• The industry-leading Dahon offers its Vitesse D7 folding bike.
• Need a little assist? Check out this gorgeous electric bike: the iZip Via Rapido.

The auction also features some high quality clothing and accessories, including gorgeous t-shirts from Reckless Behavior, stylish cycling tops from Sheila Moon,

The Shed messenger bag by Mission Workshop

Cordura jeans from SWRVE and The Shed messenger bag from MissionWorkshop.

On the gear side of things we offer Bontrager saddles and a DuraAce crank from JAX Bicycle Centers.

And this special offer from Mike’s Bikes: a personalized fitting session or a complete bike overhaul.

In order to bid, you have to register  – it’s free and secure and just takes a moment.

Bid often! Refer your friends and family! Help support the CBC!

DuraAce crank set donated by Jax Bicycle Center

We share the disappointment of the thousands of Californians who contacted their legislators and the Governor on behalf of this bill and of author Sen. Alan Lowenthal and our cosponsor Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who worked hard along with us to get this bill enacted.

Here is the Governor’s veto message:

The intent of this bill is to improve bicyclist safety, a goal I wholeheartedly support.

This bill changes the longstanding law for how motor vehicles should pass a bicycle traveling in the same direction. Current law requires drivers to pass at a safe distance; this bill would specify that the distance must be at least 3 feet or at a speed not exceeding 15mph.

This bill offers some needed and clear improvement to the law such as specifying a minimum buffer of 3 feet. However, Caltrans and the California Highway Patrol have raised legitimate concerns about other provisions such as the 15mph requirement. On streets with speed limits of 35 or 40mph, slowing to 15mph to pass a bicycle could cause rear end collisions. On other roars, a bicycle may travel at or new 15 mph creating a long line of cars behind the cyclist.

I encourage the author, proponents, and opponents to send me a bill next year that solves these problems….

Frankly, we’re baffled by this statement. How can the Governor support a three-foot buffer and simultaneously oppose a requirement that motorists slow down until they can provide a three-foot buffer?! We offered him positive examples of other states that have enacted these laws without any of the problems imagined by Caltrans and the CHP. We also shared research findings that show how improved safety enables more people to choose bicycling for transportation in a way that actually reduces all types of vehicle collisions and makes the roads safer for everyone.

The Governor’s veto doesn’t make the hazards associated with unsafe passing go away. Drivers will continue guessing how much clearance to give bicyclists when passing and those who get it wrong will continue injuring and killing bicyclists. Until the Governor appreciates the need to make real changes to existing law, more bicyclists will continue to die from drivers hitting them from behind than from any other cause.

The Governor’s reason for vetoing SB 910 demonstrates the pervasive misunderstanding among so many public officials about how bicyclists use the road and the actual specifics of existing law, including why it’s inadequate for protecting bicyclists from preventable hazards.

Today’s news is one more reminder of how tough it can be to change car-centric attitudes in California. But the state’s goals for improved air quality and public health simply can’t be met without making it safer for more Californians to get to school, work and essential services without having to drive a car. California needs bicycling. We’re confident the Governor will eventually come to recognize this.

Fortunately, SB 910 awakened a sleeping giant, the thousands of Californians who care about the safety of those who travel by bicycle. We’ve heard from adults and teens, parents and spouses, teachers, healthcare providers, law enforcement officers and corporate leaders who want safer roads. Gov. Brown can count on these constituents to continue asking him to safeguard all Californians on the road, and not simply the interests of drivers and their defenders at Caltrans and the CHP.

This issue isn’t going away and neither are we.

CBC is responding to reports that the California Highway Patrol is conjuring up worst-case scenarios as part of its whispering campaign to persuade Gov. Jerry Brown to veto Senate Bill 910, the 3-foot-passing bill cosponsored by the CBC and the City of Los Angeles.

The CHP reportedly is telling Gov. Brown that SB 910 would cause an epidemic of rear-end collisions as drivers slam on their brakes when they realize they don’t have space to pass bicyclists by at least three feet. Yet the CHP hasn’t produced any evidence of such problems in any of the 20 states that have 3-foot-passing laws on the books.

Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists, the nation’s oldest bicycling advocacy organization, wrote this week in a letter to Gov. Brown, “In our experience working with the 19 [sic] other states that have passed three-foot passing laws, we have heard of no increases in the number of motor vehicle crashes due to the new requirements or any increased burden on law enforcement. In contrast, we have received nothing but positive responses to these laws.”

The Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin has seen no traffic problems in the 38 years since Wisconsin enacted the nation’s first 3-foot-passing law. “I’m not aware of any negative repercussions on traffic safety or capacity due to the passage of this law,” wrote Kevin Hardman, the federation’s executive director, in a letter to the CBC.

That’s also been Minnesota’s experience under the nation’s second 3-foot-passing law, enacted in the mid-1980s. “[The law] has, however, had a positive impact on bicycling,” wrote Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota Executive Director Dorian Grilley. “Over half of Minnesotans bicycle and they are bicycling more frequently.  Motor vehicle drivers seem to have noticed this fact and appear to be at the beginning stages of a significant cultural shift toward respecting bicyclists and pedestrians….”

Grilley’s observation is supported by the landmark 2003 study, Safety in Numbers, which demonstrates that increases in bicycle ridership reduce the incidence of all types of bike-car collisions.

Nothing like the CHP’s nightmare occurred in Arizona after it became the nation third state to enact a 3-foot-passing law. “With respect to any assertion that this kind of law may cause some major difficulties or ‘mayhem,’ we simply have not found that to be the case in Arizona, where the law has been in effect for approximately ten years,” wrote Coalition of Arizona Bicyclists President Robert Beane.

Same in Oklahoma, according to Mike Flenniken of the Oklahoma Bicycle Coalition: “No motorists have died or been injured because of the law, not one editorial or letter to the editor has been published against the law, [and] in fact, one municipality that I know of (Edmond, Oklahoma) acted at the request of their police officers to install an ordinance to add teeth to the State law which would make it enforceable even if there were no injuries incurred.”

Nor did anyone in Nevada raise the possibility of problems when that state’s bill was being debated. According to the Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada’s 3-foot-passing law, which took effect last Saturday, attracted no opposition at all. The Nevada Senate unanimously approved 3-foot-passing legislation in April 2011.

Originally CHP supported SB 910, a surprising sea change from five years ago, when it managed to get CBC’s earlier 3-foot-passing bill killed in its first legislative hearing.

Throughout the legislative debate over SB 910, CHP said it supported the idea of giving bicyclists at least three feet of space. And CHP actually wrote the portion of SB 910 that authorizes drivers to cross a solid double-yellow centerline – currently prohibited under CA law – to give bicyclists at least three feet when passing.

Dan Empfield, publisher of Slowtwitch, contacted the CHP’s legislative representative Capt. Avery Brown about the CHP’s opposition to the bill. Brown told Empfield the CHP prefers to see text in the bill that does not mandate a specific distance.

In effect, the CHP endorses the status quo in California, where existing state law leaves drivers to figure out what constitutes a “safe” passing distance and where more bicyclists are killed by drivers passing from behind than by any other single cause. CBC and the City of Los Angeles continue to insist that the situation is unfair to drivers and presents an unreasonable hazard for people who rely on bicycles for transportation.

Meanwhile, more than 1,500 Californians, including bicycle advocates, bicycling club officials and members, survivors and the families of victims of passing-from-behind collisions, parents, teachers, healthcare professionals and corporate leaders, have written to Gov. Brown to urge him to sign SB 910.

California drivers could see signs like this one if Gov. Jerry Brown signs SB 910 into law.

VICTORY!

California is one step closer to providing better protection for bicyclists when sharing the road with other vehicles.

Late on Tuesday afternoon, the California Assembly voted 44 to 25 to approve Senate Bill 910, the 3-foot passing bill co-sponsored by the California Bicycle Coalition and the City of Los Angeles. The bill was approved by the California Senate in June and now goes to Gov. Jerry Brown for his signature.

With this year’s rescissions deadline looming recently, we said, “enough is enough.” Thanks to Laura Cohen of the Rails to Trails Conservancy and the voices of bicyclists organized by the California Bicycle Coalition, the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, the understanding of Caltrans Deputy Director Marty Tuttle, among others, the California Transportation Commission just decided that not a single dollar of transportation enhancements money will be returned this year!

We made a difference! Caltrans also has adopted a policy that will make it easier for Enhancements projects to be delivered quickly so that rescissions from this category are even less likely in the future. The CBC will work with its partners throughout the state now to ensure that the Enhancements funding we get to keep is put to good use, and quickly!

“It’s nice to savor a victory in the midst of all the federal policy struggles,” said Ms. Cohen.

Hosted at the new state-of-the art Bikestation Long Beach, the event will raise money for the CBC’s two main advocacy campaigns, including the Give Me 3 campaign to enact Senate Bill 910, authored by Long Beach Senator Alan Lowenthal.

The fundraiser is co-sponsored by Alta Planning + Design, Bikeable Communities and Ryan Snyder Associates.

The event will also raise funds for the CBC’s campaign to ensure that motorists aren’t the only road users represented on the powerful California Traffic Control Devices Committee, which advises Caltrans on standards for bike lanes, crosswalks and other traffic control devices.

The committee has two seats for the state’s two main automobile associations — they’re the only road users represented on the committee. Assembly Bill 345, authored by San Diego Assemblymember Toni Atkins, would require representation for all road users, not just motorists. The bill is a first step toward enabling more communities to install the kind of innovative bicycling facilities Long Beach is famous for.

“We picked the Long Beach Bikestation to launch our campaigns because the city is an epicenter for both efforts. Its senator is the author of the safe passing legislation, and its commitment to innovative design, such as its new cycle-tracks, are a model that other communities will be able to follow, if AB 345 has its intended effect of changing the toolbox at Caltrans,” said Dave Snyder, CBC relaunch director/CEO.

On Tuesday, May 3, the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee approved Senate Bill 910 on a 6-3 vote.

Senator Alan Lowenthal, SB 910′s author, passionately defended the bill against the same criticisms that defeated our previous safe passing bill five years ago. Representatives from the City of Los Angeles, our co-sponsor, the Sierra Club and the Humboldt Bay Bicycle Commuters also spoke in favor of the bill.

During the discussion, two senators told of their own experiences of being run off the road by motorists passing too closely. Bakersfield Senator Michael Rubio said, “It’s been my experience that dangerous passing is often a deliberate act of intimidation and not just an ‘accident.’ I see this bill as a way to help stop that.”

Speaking against the bill were representatives from the Automobile Associations of California and the California Association of Bicycle Organizations, although both said they might be able to support the bill if it’s amended. AAA doesn’t like the provision exempting motorists from the 3-foot requirement if they pass at roughly the same speed (within 15 mph) as the cyclist. CABO has stated that bicyclists are already covered under the existing rule requiring safe passing of all vehicles.

Prior to the hearing we contacted the cycling clubs and advocacy groups located in the districts of committee members, and in just a few days, more than 50 letters of support poured in from clubs, local bicycle advocacy organizations and individual cyclists. Few bills generate this much public support.

At the hearing the committee approved two amendments to the bill, and debated another:

- The $220 base fine (before court costs and fees are added) is limited to violations that result in a bicyclist being injured. Otherwise, the base fine was reduced to $35 (plus $198 in court costs and other fees), same as the fine for unsafe passing. We support this change as necessary to gain votes, but we still believe that passing a cyclist dangerously close is a more serious offense than passing another car unsafely and deserves a steeper fine.

- Motorists will be allowed to cross the double yellow centerline in order to give a bicyclist 3 feet of clearance. This provision ensures that narrower 2-lane roads won’t keep motorists from giving bicyclists adequate clearance.

The Senate committee and the bill’s author see the problems with the provision that gives motorists the option to pass closer than 3 feet so long as they’re traveling no more than 15 MPH faster than the bicyclist. We promised to work with the author to improve the language to better meet the goal of letting motorists pass more closely at very low speeds in tight urban settings.

The committee’s vote is a huge step toward protecting bicyclists from unsafe conditions and harassment.