Bicyclists Deserve Praise, Not Punishment

Despite two unexpected days of May showers, the Bike to Work Week Challenge here in the South Bay had no shortage of participants from the cities of Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, El Segundo and Torrance.  South Bay businesses Aerospace Corp., Zislis Group, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and DirecTV all took the challenge as well.

The exact number of participants and challenge winners wasn't tabulated yet by our deadline, but Bike to Work Week's success was evident at the VIP Reception honoring the event's co-chairs at Shade hotel in Manhattan Beach.

One of those co-chairs, Redondo Beach City Councilman Steven Diels, traveled to the hotel on his tandem bike, arriving with his wife and young son on his zero emission ride. Diels is also a member of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition.

Shade co-owner and event co-chair Andrea Zislis, who is well known for her work on the Manhattan Beach Environmental Task Force, says bike riding is popular among visitors to the upscale hotel and its workers. She's excited about the Shade hotel that's being developed for Redondo's Harbor Drive area and about how bicycle accessible and friendly it will be.

One thing I wish I had remembered to ask Diels about was the appearance last week, at two different places on the Esplanade in Redondo, of solar powered digital message boards flashing one message over and over again: "Bicycle Laws Strictly Enforced."

I wonder what prompted the placement of those signs. Is there a big bike event I don't know about scheduled on the Esplanade? Was there a bicycle incident or an accident on the Esplanade that prompted the signs' placement? Were they a warning about an upcoming "sting" operation like the one Hermosa Beach Police Chief Greg Savelli staged last month? Savelli gave out 28 tickets to bicyclists who failed to stop at stop signs on Hermosa Avenue.

I also wondered why the focus was on bicyclists and not motorists as well.  There's a 25 mph speed limit on the Esplanade, and it's my experience having lived in this neighborhood for 17 years that at least half the cars average 40 mph on that street. Rolling, California-style "stops" at the stop signs are just as popular on the Esplanade as is speeding. People holding cell phones while they drive the Esplanade happens every day as that traffic law is routinely ignored. So why don't the message boards say "All Traffic Laws Strictly Enforced"?

Better yet, why not spell things out even more plainly? Why not have the signs say "We Ticket Speeders" or "You Stop or You Pay $100"? A little creative thinking would probably make those message boards a lot more effective. 

In case people want to know which "bicycle laws" are "strictly enforced" on the Esplanade—they're the exact same traffic laws that apply to motor vehicles.

Drivers and riders are required to stop completely at each stop sign. They are supposed to yield to any pedestrian crossing the street. They are supposed to ride on the right side of the road and signal every turn they intend to make.

They're all common sense rules, but sense isn't very common these days so they need to be spelled out over and over again for a big percentage of the population.

When Redondo Beach wants to send a message to bicyclists on an electronic board, here's what those messages should be:

Thanks for riding a bike here!

Thanks for not adding to our pollution levels! 

Thanks for helping to lower our greenhouse gasses! 

Thanks for helping us fight obesity! 

Thanks for helping to cut traffic congestion!

Thanks for helping to cut our road maintenance costs!

Thanks for keeping the beach culture we love alive!

With the city so strapped for funds, it should transfer the responsibility of writing those sign messages to me. I'll be happy to do it pro bono right from my laptop.

Joe Galliani, a member of the South Bay Bicycle Coalition, resides in Torrance.