Cyclists Demand Civil Rights in LA

Looking for “the support of educated law enforcement” in LA. Photo by Alex Thompson.

Maybe it’s a Ray LaHood hangover, but today on the Streetsblog Network we’re keeping the focus on the positive call for change on the home front.

Leading the charge is a post from SoapboxLA on the Cyclists’ Bill of Rights recently voted on in that city, where a booming cycling community is challenging LA’s car-centric mindset on a daily basis. Soapbox highlights the third item on the Bill, which addresses the need for police to understand and uphold cyclists’ civil rights:

“Cyclists have the right to the full support of educated law enforcement.”

In
all fairness to the sensitivities of our law enforcement partners, we
ain’t there yet! And until we get there, we should be working together
to make it happen…

Sure
we’re partners when we’re at City Hall or in a Committee meeting or
when there’s a press conference, but late at night, when the street is
dark, that’s when our Civil Rights get tested and that’s when cyclists
call for the support of educated law enforcement…

Los Angeles is
the second largest city in the country. We should be a Great City,
setting the standard for Civil Rights, but instead, LA looks for the
minimum and argues for mediocrity.

Inspiring stuff. There’s more good news from Transit Miami, which celebrates a year of growth for cycling awareness and infrastructure (even if the mainstream media wants to ignore it), while M-Bike in Detroit notes the creation of a municipal office of Energy and Sustainability.