West Hollywood has implemented another part of its “Education, Enforcement, Engineering” campaign, which is focused primarily on pedestrian crosswalk safety.
The “Ride Don’t Race” campaign is focused on bicyclists on the city’s streets and is promoted with signs at various bus stops and other places. A bigger issue has been pedestrian safety, especially after the death in August of Clinton Bounds, a well-known figure in the city’s gay nightlife community, who was hit by a car while trying to cross Santa Monica Boulevard at night.
A state law that took effect in September requires motorists to maintain a distance of at least three feet when passing cyclists. If a motorist isn’t able to maintain that distance, he must slow down and keep a safe distance behind the cyclist. A motorist who violates the law faces a $35 fine.
Other elements in the city’s safety publicity campaign include production of “Alice in WeHoLand,” a crosswalk safety video featuring Todrick Hall, a YouTube phenomenon (with more than one million followers) known for videos such as “Mean Gurlz,” “The Wizard of Ahhs,” and a safety video for Virgin Airlines that has gotten international attention. As of today, that video has attracted nearly 300,000 views.
Other initiatives include distributing already produced pedestrian safety brochures and cards, installing street banners and signs and launching an advertising campaign to alert pedestrians and motorists to safety issues.
@Markel…..Of course they should set an example. But I’m not really worried about the bike cop on the sidewalk because I’ve never seen one.
What I do see (a lot of) are civilians bicyclists riding dangerously fast on sidewalks that have very expensive bike lanes in the street……and frankly if there are no bike lanes on a given street, bicyclists should not be allowed on those sidewalks either.
It’s the civilian bicyclists that are not setting the good examples.
Manny, that’s like saying that seeing a cop who is driving while talking on his cell phone is rare and not a concern. It is and should be a concern. They should be setting examples that others follow. Randy, you are a part of the problem. You deserved the ticket. Slow down. Pay attention.
Weho bike cops (rare anywhere) on sidewalks are the least of our worries.
There are some places where its unsafe to bike on the street and there are no bike lanes (I’m not referring to areas where biking on the sidewalk is prohibited). There are many cases where biking on the sidewalk is warranted, and cyclists should express caution when doing so. Try riding your bike on SMB going east from Sweetzer to Crescent Hgts, for example (its terrifying). In general, I try to avoid major thoroughfares on my bike, because unless there is a bike lane, you take a great risk that cars won’t see you. Not to mention the number of… Read more »
I see WeHo bike cops riding their bikes on sidewalks (in areas marked as not allowing bikes on sidewalks) ALL THE TIME.
How about advocating for pedestrian safety on our sidewalks? Let’s enforce no bike riding on the sidewalk when cyclists should instead be on those very expensive bike lanes that we all paid for.
We should also prohibit skateboarding on sidewalks. There has been a tremendous uptick of that dangerous nuisance in the last couple of years.
I, for one, would like to see the Sheriff’s Department start ticketing cyclists that blow through stop signs in residential areas. I have yet to see one person on a bike stop for a stop sign.