This is the headline that went through my mind yesterday afternoon as I watched a bicycle flying towards me on the freeway, moments after being jarred loose from a bike rack on the car ahead of me in the lane next to mine. It hit the pavement, and bounced in the unpredictable way you’d expect from a twisting object with two rubber tires. It’s trajectory was directly towards me. I moved as close to the right side of my lane as I could without risking being sideswiped by a car.

“Isn’t this ironic?” I asked myself, images of the steel BMX frame impaling me behind the steering wheel I gripped for my life. I ducked in reflex, and watched it fly past, just inches from my window.

Ironic indeed. It would have been. When was the last time you heard about a bicycle killing a driver? And yet the reverse happens all too often. Advocating for bike lanes, sidewalks, and safer community design for everyone is something we all have the power and the right to do.

Thank you Governor Brown for signing the 3′ passing law! And please, if you live in Northeast L.A., go fight for bike lanes on Figueroa Boulevard at the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council tonight:

http://www.asnc.us/committees-2014/AdHocTransportation/140925_AdHocTransportation.pdf