L.A. plans crackdown on harassment of bicyclists. Are new laws necessary? [Updated]

The L.A. City Council is moving to get tough on harassment of bicyclists.

The council this week asked its attorneys to draw up an ordinance that would make it a civil violation to harass or assault bicyclists. The proposed law, which the council could consider in two months, would make it easier for  cyclists to sue those who allegedly harass them and recover a cash settlement. [Updated: In response to readers who asked for more information on the proposal, here are city documents on the issue.]

The bike rights campaign has been galvanized by the case of an L.A. doctor convicted a few weeks ago of purposely hitting bikers in Brentwood.

More people are turning to two wheels for commuting and recreation. Cyclists are asserting their rights as never before. In Los Angeles, advocates are pushing for more bike lanes and other road improvements, a cyclists' bill of rights and more protection from police.

Updated at 12:30: By noon this post had received more than 100 comments. Here is a sample, along with some social media reaction:

 

Is the proposed law a good idea? Share your views below.

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Pita]

Fine, as long as they also stiffen laws for cyclists who engage in provocative behavior, doubling up on single lane roads with double yellow lines...then flipping off motorists who want to proceed at more than 10 mph.
Happens all the time on the road to the arroyo in Pasadena. Dressed-up bike lads, with thousand dollar bikes blocking the roadway. impeding traffic, endangering themselves and others...and calling out "share the road" like agitated chipmunks when fed up motorists honk.

[dsszippedy]

Anyone who rides a bike AND drives a car knows the truth of the issue. Anyone who just drives a car is usually biased. Same with a bicycle only rider.(I taught my kids not to trust drivers BLINDLY even if bikes have "right of way" because young kids are unaware of driver imperfections.) Fact is, auto drivers do NOT ...look both ways exiting driveways or turning right onto a street. auto drivers ARE racing impatiently to pass bicyclists into crosswalks. Bicyclists DO, I repeat, DO have the RIGHT to share sidewalks, in accordance with Road and Highway Design. Sidewalks are one of four "bike pathways" BY DEFINITION. Police and city ordinances need to take note and heed the intentions of sidewalks by design and stop pushing ALL bikers onto the street. And COPS need to stop harrassing kids and adults on sidewalks.

[graciela]

@Dave,
Some of the issues you bring up with the cyclists you've seen are actually things that are perfectly legal and allowed in the CVC. You say that they ride in vehicle lanes, but they are allowed to. Even if a bike lane is present, cyclist are not required to only ride in the bike lane because the exceptions in the CVC are commonplace in a city.

Also, they are not required to use a cross walk. I'm not even really sure what your complaint is with regards to that because when traveling forward in one direction, there is no need to use a cross walk. If making a turn either left or right, a bike can make a turn as a car would from either a left or a right turn lane. A cross walk is not required but some are not comfortable going into a left turn lane and will use the cross walk as an option.

Riding between lanes is a bad idea, so I'm with you there. The only time I can think of that actually being safe is if you are waiting at a red light in the right lane. Being between lanes the right two furthest lanes is actually safer so you don't get right hooked by drivers making a right.

For anyone that needs clarification on the bicycle specific language in the CVC, you can check it out on wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycle_law_in_California

[graciela]

hapa, it's clear from your comments that you don't know the CVC and can't fathom any circumstances when taking a lane is necessary. It is within every cyclist's legal right to take a whole vehicle lane if they need to (yes, a vehicle lane, not a car lane. Bikes are vehicles under the law). If there is debris on the road, parked cars, not enough space to share the lane with a car, and for any other reasons that a cyclist feels is for their safety, it is okay to take a whole lane. Obviously, you can't be bothered to take the 5 seconds to switch lanes, which I'm sure you do all the time for slow cars.

Only in the case where there is only one lane going in each direction and the cyclist has more than 5 cars behind them is it necessary to pull over and not take the lane. Busy streets in LA have more than just one lane in each direction. So the next time you get so upset that a cyclist is taking the lane, maybe you should just chill and realize that it's allowed in the same legal document that gives you all the information to operate a car.

[Ingrid]

YES!!!!!!!!

Anybody who doesn't like the law should get on a bike and ride around for one week. Then tell me this law is not needed.
Come on dare ya!!!
You night actually have fun if you weren't being harassed and bully by a 3000 pound speeding cars.
The new law is a step in the right direction in making the streets safer for all bicycle riders: children, and adults.

[Robert F. Ewald]

This may provide a better legal remedy for bikers, but the real problem is auto drivers ignoring the law. In three years, I have been hit four times. All these accidents were at guarded intersections where drivers ignored turning and crosswalk laws and rules. One could make a ballet of left-looking, right-turning drivers. Their astonishment that they have a biker or pedestrian in front of them is inspiring. Does the NRA have a solution, given that the police do not?

[steviemartinz]

First of all the conviction of the Dr that purposely hit the bicyclists proves that the current laws are working, what needs to be done is to have ALL bicyclists OBEY the Rules of the Road. I myself use my bike for short commutes, unfortunately I cannot use it to and from work because of the distance and equipment I must sometimes use for work. I can no longer count the number of times bicyclists cross red lights and weave dangerously in and out of traffic, just because they can get across an empty intersection on a red light does not mean they should.

[sandra m]

The crackdown should be on bicyclists who drive on the sidewalk. As a senior citizen, I'm scared to death of walking on the sidewalk because of bicyclists zooming by. Skateboarders are bad enough. But, at least you can hear a skateboarder approaching and move in time. Bicycles are quiet and fast. And, I fear, deadly in the wrong place. Stay off the sidewalks, bicyclists!

[wordman]

Can anybody out there who carries a badge explain why cyclist who blow red
lights NEVER get tickets.Just wondering?

[nathan]

I nearly hit some idiot riding a bike down a LA city side walk going a crazy speed and not bothering to stop at stop signs or even yield to on coming traffic. This wasn't some kid, but an adult hispanic riding what looked to be a very cheap Wal-Mart type bike.

Good to know the city will have my back if I hit one of these morons. How many bicyclists are like this guy, riding their bikes on the sidewalk like a 3 year old, and just waiting to get hit so they can sue the motorists for all they have.

[Folife]

Unless the city spends the money the put in bike lanes, I think bicycles in the non-bike lane roads are dangers to not only themselves,. but the drivers as well. Do they allow cars to travel 5 mph down the road, disrupting the flow of traffic? Do they allow cars to run stop signs like cyclists do? It puts everyone at risk, including the cyclists, to allow them to ride on unmarked streets, period! I say, ride cautiously on sidewalk. This will prevent 99% of cyclist deaths.

[bill gates]

i bike to work every day, and almost never drive, and i can say from the point of view of a cyclist, we don't need new laws. sometimes people in cars honk at me or whatever, but i know how stressful it is to drive, so i just don't take it personally.

i think the people who would gain from a new law like this would be the lawyers. and if foolish cyclists actually start suing motorists, that's just going to piss motorists off even more.

it's a law in search for a problem really, and only the lawyers win.

[david]

Harassment from a cyclist means scratched paint on a prius. Harassment from a driver means vital organs and bones possibly being crushed under a 5000 pound car. A car can be a deadly weapon. A bike is not.

Seriously, people are going to argue this?

[Jim]

Some how we have gotten away from the old rule that slower traffic belongs to the right. Since bikes are slower, they SHOULD be on the extreme right edge of the road.

And not riding in packs, side by side.

I ride a bike, but NOT in a place I'm likely to be hit no matter how legal it is to be there. The idea that bikes and cars could possibly "share the road" is ridiculous given the speed and acceleration difference.

One of those "What are they thinking?" moments.

[2 wheel fan]

Yes, more laws, more laws, more laws. Just what we need.

[Curmudgeon]

The request for an ordinance by the City Council is so vague and general that it sounds like you better let bicyclists do whatever they are doing without protest or you could be prosecuted.

I've noticed that most people riding bikes don't wear helmets, often don't wear shoes that cover their toes, don't obey traffic laws, ride fast on sidewalks regardless of the proximity of pedestrians, and generally behave without much appreciation of what they are doing.

Adding to the poor behavior of cyclists are some of the rules offered by Cities, like having bicyclists riding in front of vehicles in traffic lanes, encouraging bicyclists to ride on sidewalks, "safely", and generally encouraging behavior which is patently dangerous but seems to escape the minds of those who are developing policies for encouraging the use of bicycles.

Anyway, with time and many injuries, I guess reasonable laws will be developed, but I don't see it happening soon.

[Curmudgeon]

I've read postings claiming that boulevard stops should not apply to bicycle riders because it is physically taxing for them to stop and restart. I've read postings that claim bicycles are safe to ride on sidewalks close to pedestrians. These are interesting takes upon reality but they are not reasoned well.

Pedestrians and motor vehicles must wait for green lights and must stop for traffic at stop signs because it is inherently unsafe to project one's body or vehicle in the path of others unexpectedly. We teach our children not to run out in front of traffic, even in crosswalks because drivers cannot stop on a dime and are more likely to hit a people or vehicle that they cannot see in time to stop. This is why cyclists must stop, too.

When bicycle riders ride twice, thrice, or five times as fast as pedestrians the forces at work are often sufficient to cause grave injuries to themselves or pedestrians in collisions. If riders perceive a potential for a collision with fixed objects, they try to avoid them, intuitively understanding that it will hurt to strike the object at the speed they are traveling. Yet, they will often ride past pedestrians or doorways to shops without thought to what it would be like to hit a pedestrian who suddenly appears in front of them. Pedestrians can move in many more directions than can bicycle riders and without warning, so the potential for bad outcomes is sobering. It's not safe for anyone to ride close to pedestrians on sidewalks or in crowded areas of any kind -- not even kids.

[gern]

How about creating bikeways that connect the entire city, from downtown to the beaches, from the Valley to the South Bay?

Consider making some roads bicycles-only during certain hours. This will avoid the autos vs. bikes friction and allow people to actually CHOOSE to ride bikes instead of driving cars or riding buses.

This city is too big and too crowded to expect anyone to take bicycle commuting to work seriously. I tried riding my bike to work when I had a job that was a little over a mile away. Each day, on each leg of the trip, I would have at minimum 3 near-death experiences with cars running stop signs or gunning it around corners without signaling, or just plain not caring that I was there.

It is too dangerous. Bicycle transportation *must* be considered as part of LA's infrastructure. Every person on a bike instead of in a car is not adding to the pollution, is not using fossil fuels, and is getting healthier in the process, not to mention it is one less car in traffic.

Thank you, cyclists.

[AimeeX]

If anything the law should be more vigilant about enforcing cycling ordinances. More bike lanes certainly are needed. I'm always walking as I take public transportation, and the cyclists are wary of riding in the street on the main thoroughfares. They ride up behind you on the sidewalk and you often don't see them until the last second and have to jump out of the way. Sometimes they speed past too close for comfort. One guy made a snide remark when I didn't move out of his way fast enough. Bicycles are vehicles, and the law states that riders are to use the road. If they're afraid of the busy streets, they can take the quieter side streets.

And law enforcement needs to crack down on cyclists in the street as well. Riding as a passenger in cars and buses, I've seen them cut in front of the vehicles and break the traffic laws in other ways--cyclists are the biggest offenders.

[ppldontgetit]

It would have been nice if this clueless and ignorant city actually thought ahead and made streets wide enough for something called a bike lane and or even lanes that are actually 12 feet wide like they're suppossed to be, not 7 feet. All this city does is bitch and complain about everything, that's it. There is NEVER anything positive coming out of LA or even this most corrupt state in the nation, California. If you don't see, you have proven my point.

[gabe shangle]

New laws wouldn't hurt, sort of like the new (to people still figuring out there is one) cell phone law that at least keeps drivers more alert to watching for cops while they still talk on their phones.

But, making drivers (me included) take refresher driver's ed courses would be much more beneficial. I can't even count how many people I know are unaware that it's ILLEGAL for a cyclist to ride on the sidewalk. It's written right in the Drivers Hand Book that we ALL supposedly read and signed our name at the DMV when we were issued a license but for some reason, nobody remembers reading it.

Also, cyclist's have the same rights as cars, and are punished by tickets just as drivers are. I am fully aware that most cyclists need to do a better job of obeying stop signs and red lights but motorist's need to realize that if we are going to be issued a ticket, with the same fines as a motorist, we need to be treated just as if we were a vehicle occupying the lane and not be pushed to the curb.

Seems like everyone these days is in a real big hurry, only looking out for themselves, and not really caring about a fellow human being. Some motorist's need a rude awakening though. A multi-ton car speeding within a foot or two of a person on a bicycle, possibly yelling or throwing an object at the cyclist is not how we were taught to drive...or to act.

Start having some respect. Others will see it and follow suit...hopefully.