5 Killed in Motorcycle-Car Collision

On Saturday November 13th, 21 people of the Saddletramps Motorcycle Club were riding 80 miles outside of San Diego on Route 98 when a man in a Dodge Avenger swerved into them. Four of the riders and the driver's companion in the passenger seat were killed instantly.

Though the driver, Carlos Ramirez, was later arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence, Carl Smith, president of the motorcycle club, does not blame him for this tragedy.

What caused Ramirez, who was going 5 miles under the speed limit, to swerve into the motorcyclists was a Honda Civic that sped past him, forcing Ramirez off the road.

According to this article:

Smith doesn't blame Ramirez, despite the allegation that he was driving under the influence. He considers Ramirez a victim because his companion died.

"It looked like he overreacted, but the guy in the Honda Civic was at fault," said Smith, who estimated the Civic was going 95 mph when it passed the motorcycles."

However, California Highway Patrol Officer DeeAnn Goudie remarked that had Ramirez gone off to the right, he would have landed safely in the sand.

It's unclear whether or not he was under the influence at the time of the accident and whether or not it was a contributing factor to the deaths and injuries of the motorcyclists.

What are your thoughts on this tragedy?

The FDA Acts 32 Years Later

Last Friday, the Food and Drug Administration announced that the drug propoxyphene (sold under the brand names Darvon and Darvocet) is going to be taken off the market.

Propoxyphene was a generic pain medication with similar effects as Extra Strength Tylenol, but with serious side-effects on the heart that has led to a "staggering" number of deaths during its 53-year use.

A petition to ban propoxyphene first came to the FDA in 1978 from the advocacy group Health Research Group of Public Citizen, led by Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe and again in 2006 after Britain banned the drug in 2005.

In 2009, medical examiners in Florida reported a large amount of deaths linked to propoxyphene, leading the European Union to ban it. And finally, in January 2009, the FDA followed suit. Dr. Wolfe responded to this victory, saying, "I would have praised them if they had done this six years ago, but it's hard to praise them when there have been 120 million more prescriptions filled since 2005 and conservatively 1,000 to 2,000 more deaths. It's inexcusable."

This frightening oversight--one that kept the FDA blinded for 32 years--should come as a shock, but we have seen again and again the FDA's fallibility when it comes to our health and safety.

Source: The New York Times - Business Day (Saturday, November 20, 2010)

Upcoming Projects and Changes for BART

For almost a decade, BART has been planning and funding a transit village in Walnut Creek that would house 596 apartments. This $100 million project took a few steps back after being hit by the recession. Construction is likely to start in 2012 and take 6-8 years to be completed. (Source)

And in West Dublin/Pleasanton, a new BART station is set to start operating in early 2011. BART recently set the fares at: "$4.15 for a trip to Berkeley, $5.05 for a trip to Walnut creek, and $10.40 to travel to SFO." (Source)

Biking For the Real City Experience

In yesterday's NYtimes, Seth Kugel gave his amusing and illuminating account of Los Angeles from the perspective of a cycling tourist.

Kugel made it his goal to visit a reasonably large stretch of LA county comprising of places like Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice Beach, Downtown, and Pasadena on a budget of $100/day. Undeterred by lore on the impossibility of getting around LA without a car, Kugel made his ambitious week-long adventure depending only on public transportation and a rented hybrid Trek bike.

You can read his detailed saga in its entirety in "Frugal Los Angeles". But to sum up the author's verdict, biking is not only a possible means of sight-seeing, but ultimately gives you a more enriching and more authentic exposure to your vacation site. Even after a lot of sweat and not a lot of bike lanes (things that LA is known for), Seth Kugel came to this conclusion:

"I had expected getting around Los Angeles by bike and public transportation to be a barely tolerable chore--a money-saving second-best way to see the city. Why, then, was I feeling so elated about my trip and smitten by a city I had never particularly liked before? [...]

What I had really liked were the moments in between: the strangers who shared secrets on the buses, the dog walkers and Dutch tourists who stopped to chat with me along Rodeo Drive, the aspiring actor I struck up a conversation with on Santa Monica boulevard, as he cycled to an audition and I cycled to pick up my U.C.L.A. football ticket. These were true Los Angeles moments--moments that most visitors, stuck in freeway traffic behind the steering wheel of their rental car, never get to experience."

Kugel claims that these experiences speak to an authenticity of L.A. And I think this can be found in S.F. too. Not only is our city filled to the brim with an eclectic culture and electric sights, but we can also boast of more bikers who take advantage of this. When we fight for safer streets, we also fight for people to get out of their cars and into the "true" San Francisco.

Electric Bikes for Beginning Cyclists

Most of us have seen in the city (if not experienced for ourselves) the spectacle of bicyclists sweating their way up a hill (Filbert, anyone?). These vertical terrors might be deterring people from biking, says a recent article in the Chronicle.

So Point Reyes is combining forces with John Granatir (owner of Go Green Electric Bikes) to encourage more people to bike and "[get] people out that normally wouldn't be". At Point Reyes, you can now rent an electric bike and take on all the hills you'd like. These bikes have pedals so you can still get an exercise from your outing; and the motor will start as soon as you reach an incline.

The article also mentions the stigma behind electric bikes because "many avid cyclists believe that you should earn every hill on your own". But for those who are just starting to get in shape or just want a relaxing day outdoors without the epic (and often painstaking) workout, these electric bikes could be a good alternative.