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Crime & Safety

Cruising the sharrows by the seashore

Bikers in Hermosa need to know the same rules of the road apply to them

For those of us in the South Bay Bicycle Coalition (SBBC) this has been a great spring from Los Angeles County, and the $6,000 grant we're receiving from the Beach Cities Health District.

Hermosa Beach is a big part of the county grant because it's one of the seven cities included in the new South Bay Master Bike Plan the grant provides for. Hermosa will also benefit from the pollution and greenhouse gas we'll be cutting as we add more bicycles to the traffic mix and make it easier and safer for bike riders to share the streets.

Besides the bike plan itself, we're going to need a lot of public outreach and education to make sure everyone gets along according to the rules of the road.  That means educating both bicyclists and motorists. 

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That's why I was glad to see Hermosa Beach Chief of Police Greg Savelli get the ball rolling last weekend. I was even happier to see him Tweet about it:

Twitter / Chief Greg Savelli: "Saturday bicycle 'Sting' netted 28 cites to bicyclists who failed to stop @ stop signs on Hermosa Ave. Bicyclist must obey rules of the road."

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I couldn't agree more with the chief and I appreciate him busting those bikers and letting us all know about it. If we bicyclists expect to be treated with respect and courtesy from car and truck drivers, then we need to follow the rules. Period. And if we get nailed and fined, we have to understand that we've only chosen to punish ourselves.

Some people think it sucks to be on your bike and have obey stop signs or signal when turning. I won't argue that it's a lot easier to just do what you want as if you were the only person on the road.

I am "Star Trek" Spock logical when it comes to this issue because I believe that we need to be absolutely consistent with enforcement standards and treat bicyclists and motorists alike. I love a zero-tolerance mentality when it comes to these safety laws, and I love seeing it work both ways. 

Savelli and I agree on this. He posted this on his Twitter account the morning of March 30: "Distracted driving is dangerous! Be it on the cell phone, looking in your purse, tending to children, using the Radio/CD or eating on the go."

I encourage Savelli to "sting" distracted motorists who are violating the hands-free cell phone law, who roll through stop signs California-style or don't use their blinker lights before turning. Torrance police have recently been cracking down on drivers breaking the cell phone law. On Tuesday they gave out 65 citations in under two hours, according to their Facebook page.

It's obvious there's plenty of room for improvement by both bikers and motorists.  Part of that improvement is people understanding what the rules actually are – especially the rules that allow bicycles to legally share the road with vehicles. 

There's an awful lot of road rage and anger that goes along with the ignorance level many people operate at. I see it when I ride my bike in Hermosa and throughout the South Bay and I see it in the hostile and threatening comments anonymous people leave on local news message boards. It's not unique to our area. 

The sharrows (a combination of "share" and "arrow," meaning "share the road arrow" on the street for bikes and cars) recently added to Hermosa Avenue are a good example of this. Most people don't know that bicyclists may legally take up the right-hand lane, as the "Bikes May Use Full Lane" signs now indicate. 

Educating both drivers and riders on what's allowed and what isn't - and helping them see how sharing the road is a win-win for both groups - is a job the SBBC is eager to tackle. We know the rules work when people follow them.

We live in the world's greatest place to ride a bicycle. It's about to get even better as we all work together to become more bike friendly.

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