In a first, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck vows to better protect cyclists, train officers on biker rights

Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck told a group of bicycle advocates that department-wide training  would be implemented to highlight the rights of bicyclists on the road and ensure that officers know how to deal with incidents involving bikes.

Beck's statements come amid growing complaints from cyclists that their rights are being infringed by drivers. It marks the first time top LAPD brass has publicly addressed the issue.

Beck said bike riders are “our most vulnerable commuters” and that the police department needed to do a better job protecting them.

“We hear you, we know we need to do a better job for you,” Beck said.

Assistant Chief Earl Paysinger said the training would include a document that would be included in official department policy outlining officers' responsibilities in dealing with cyclists on the road. He said it was still unclear what would be in the document but said he hoped to meet with bicycle groups and have it ready within 30 days.

Paysinger also said that in less than 45 days the department would create a computer-based “e-learning” agenda that would be mandatory for all police officers to help them better recognize problems and issues involving cyclists.

Paysinger also pointed to other actions the LAPD had recently taken involving bicyclists – creating a working group with advocacy groups, appointing an official liaison within the police department and ensuring that all incidents involving bicyclists are handled by each bureau’s traffic division – as evidence the LAPD had begun to take bicycling safety more seriously. 

Beck’s statements came during a transportation committee meeting Wednesday afternoon. About 20 cycling advocates, including some from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, came to the meeting to address Beck after they completed a bike ride to call for justice for victims of hit-and-run accidents and to protest what it says is unfair treatment of cyclists.

Councilman Bill Rosendahl, chairman of the transportation committee, said it was a “historic first” to have the chief of police listening directly to the experiences of cyclists and promising reform.

“Today is the beginning of a new day with the LAPD,” Rosendahl said. “My hope is that six months from now an officer will know the rights of cyclists as well as the rights of motorists.… I think the LAPD, like pretty much the citizenry in general, has had the car culture.”

The ride traced the route that local cyclist Ed Magos used to take on his daily commute to City Hall, where he works in the information technology department. Magos was injured Jan. 6 when he was struck from behind while cycling on 2nd Street near Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles, according to the coalition. The motorist stopped but then drove away. The motorist later went to an LAPD station but was  not charged with a crime. 

--Ari B. Bloomekatz

Photos: L.A. Times file

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Comments

[James Sullivan]

With rights come responsibilities. Before the LAPD starts worrying about bicyclists' rights I'd like to see some enforcement of the many traffic laws that MOST bicyclists break every time they take to the streets.

[sgrant]

The hatred and intolerance for bicyclists on the streets of LA is akin to the old racism and bigotry. It will take more than the LAPD's chief vow to protect cyclists. It will take Civil Rights-type laws on the books. It may also take Federal oversight and protection. Hating people because of they have choosen an alternative transportation choice is bigotry and hate. It must stop. Bicyclists will only take so much before they strike back, in self-defense.

[Citizen]

You mean the lazy L.A.P.D. cops would have to finally write a report. I got hit from behind the guy had no insurance and no license and they did nothing. But I did complained to the Commander of traffic division and I got action. She called me told if I needed a report she would set it up so I could in and make a report. She must have said something to everyone, because a couple of weeks later I saw another accident on the same street and cops were making a report. Shocking Now they have to do there jobs.

[Otis]

Chief Beck should ride a bike to work everyday. That would bring a bright spotlight to biking as transportation.

[anonymous]

I am all for cyclist rights as long and Chief Beck ALSO requires officers to cite them as they do drivers. I think that if cyclists want to be on the road and have the same exact rights as drivers they should also be required to purchase insurance (I can't tell you how many times I have almost been hit by a cyclist while walking around the Rose Bowl) and register thier bicycles. There are entitled to and use the roads just like drivers, they want to be treated with equal rights as drivers - well, then assume equal cost and liability. On Monday I was on Colorado in front of Pasadena City College, a cyclist (anticipating a light change) went into the intersection running a red light and was narrowly missed by a driver entering the intersection to make a left while thier light was yellow. I hope that law enforcement takes the traffic infractions done by cyclists as seriously as they are apparently taking the infringement of thier "right" to the road...

[danceralamode]

James Sullivan,

If that philosophy were used to determine the rights of every road user, there would be NOT ONE car on the road. Motorists make traffic violations more often than cyclists do and with more serious results, since a bike weighs 20lbs and a car weighs 400olbs. If a drunk driver slammed into you then fled the scene while you were in your car, but you had rolled through a stop sign a few miles back, would you want the LAPD to say, well, since we have you rolling a right turn a few miles back, we're not going to look for the person who almost killed you.

Also, you cannot group all cyclists together in this "they all break the law" discrimination. You have never seen me commute to work. How can you know if I violate any traffic codes? That's the equivalent of me saying that all motorists are drunk drivers and should have their licenses revoked, just because a few people drive drunk.

Get a clue, Sullivan. You have to share the road; it's the law. And you have to do it regardless of whether or not you like how the people around you use the road. Seeing a cyclist roll through a stop sign is no justification for passing them so quickly that you hit them and seriously injure them or for trying to run them down or for throwing objects out your window at them. And the LAPD do hand out citations to cyclists who break the law, but they have to see it to do so.

Before LAPD starts investigating any car on car DUIs or accidents, I want to see them fully enforce the cell phone ban. So no justice for you either, Sullivan, how do you like that?

[Timber]

I'm a bike commuter and agree with other comments. Cops should take accident and theft reports. Bicyclists should NOT crash lights and should ride single-file. OTOH, I'd like to see some vehicle code exceptions for cyclists, like one-way streets, rolling stops, etc. where they make sense. But - if there's any chance of actually finding stolen bikes, a return to compulsory licenses may be necessary. Oh, and WAYY more bike lanes.

[jt]

good deal but its not only motorists that break these laws - stop signs mean stop even if you are on a bike -

[danceralamode]

I would also like to say that I was at this meeting, although I don't consider myself an advocate, just some one who's sole mode of transportation is a bicycle (by choice a got rid of my car and took to the bike, as it fit my lifestyle). While it was very productive, and Chief Beck and Paysinger both were willing enough to make statements to assure us, the proof will be in their actions and whether or not we witness a true culture shift. Beck did say something to the effect of "you'll see the proof in my actions" or "watch what I do and what I say" (paraphrasing), but again, the cycling community has heard these things before.

I would also like to say that the efforts of these advocates and community members are not to push cars off the streets in favor of bikes entirely, rather we want to create safe, liveable, walkable, rideable, and driveable streets for everyone. Right now, roads aren't even safe for motorists, if you think about how 40,000 motorists will die in car accidents this year. This is one part in a process that will make LA grander and greater for all.

[Alan]

As a bicycle commuter, I welcome enforcement of the vehicle code on both drivers and bicyclists. I've had things thrown at me, it's common to have someone come up behind me and lay on their horn, and I'm often yelled at to ride on the sidewalk. Sidewalks are for pedestrians, streets are for vehicles, including bicycles, as defined by the California Vehicle Code. The attitude of too many drivers (as shown on this board already) is that bicycles don't belong on the road, and cyclists are automatically in the wrong if they ride anywhere other than a dedicated bike trail that doesn't run on the side of a road.

[jt]

i agree with a previous poster - drivers treater bicyclists like bicyclists treat pedestrians that are on foot -

[Jeff]

Anonymously posting information that generalizes bike riders with a broad swath is exactly why it takes the Chief of Police to address the issue personally. Everyone knows at least one incident of bicycle riders ignoring the "rules of the road", but to paint all riders with the brush shows ignorance. Claiming that bicycle riders need insurance and registration before they use the roads shows the same ignorance. Take your bike to work just once and see what commuting riders put up with daily. The problem is not in the occasional roll-through, the problem is that automobile drivers have the mistaken belief that bicycles are not vehicles.

They are, and they are afforded the same rights as any other vehicle on the road. It's about time.

[Larry]

I ride four or five times a week for recreation. I will roll through a stop sign if there there is no other traffic - just like most cars do. On the whole LA drivers treat me very well, I have often had a driver at an intersection yield the right of way to me. I would prefer that all vehicles and bicycles follow the rules but I am not going to stand in the street and argue with a motorist that wants me to go first.

My two pet peeves about drivers is that most do not signal turns so you have no idea what they are going to do and the tinted glass in the side windows of many cars does not allow me to make eye contact with the drivers. I would like to see LAPD write tickets for those voilations.

As for LAPD writing more tickets I don't think it is going to happen. The cops could be writing hundreds of tickets a day for cell phone use while driving and it doesn't seem to be happening.

[Bob Pederson]

Bikes can't adhere to all the rules of the road. It has nothing to do with the rider, it has to do with the differences between cars and bikes. Speed and size allows cars to do things bikes simply cannot do.

I don't ride to please cars. I don't ride to break or follow the law. I ride in a way it keeps me alive.

[HelloDare]

This new trend of fixed gear bikes with no brakes is against the CA vehicle code. Bike are required to have brakes. Those bikes are illegal and should be outlawed.

I drive in Venice, part of Rosendahl's district. At night, many cyclist ride without lights on the front or rear. And most don't wear helmets. All are violations of the CA vehicle code.

After bikes almost crashed into the side of my car on two successive night, I emailed Rosendahl's office calling for some kind of enforcement of existing laws. I got a curt reply that was basically a form letter.

These new fixed gear bikes, usually in all black with bare handlebars and no reflectors, are aesthetically pleasing. But they are going to get people killed.

[Larry]

Hellodare - did you really say "Those bikes are illegal and should be outlawed."?
What's the difference between illegal and outlawed? And, if you read the vehicle code you will see that helmets are only required for children.

[downtown commuter]

last year i was issued a ticket by an LAPD officer in downtown LA..to make a long story short i paid $637 for my violations..is it fair enough for a cyclist to pay that much money?? then what's next? my insurance will increase because of a traffic violation..for sure if i got into an accident while riding my bike my insurance will not cover the repairs on my bike. so is that fair enough??

[Mark]

I agree with sgrant. The hatred for cyclists reminds me of the hatred that people spew about gays and same-sex marriage. It's so irrational and narrow-minded.