Bike Committee Continues Work on Events, Education

The Newport Beach bike safety committee is continuing to focus on educating the public about cycling safety and working on an event to bring its messages to the forefront.

At Monday's afternoon meeting, Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Gardner again addressed the creation of a map that would highlight alternate bicycle routes in Corona del Mar and throughout the city of Newport Beach. In June, city engineer Brad Sommers presented the map to the committee and explained that similar alternate bike routes have been used in other places, such as San Clemente, where riders are directed to a better route using clearly visible signs. Committee members said they are working on putting the map on the city's website in an effort to get the public's input on the routes. 

Organizing Bike the Beach, which will be similar to a bike week, was also discussed at the meeting. Gardner said the event will be held in May and will be fun for cyclists and families. More details will be discussed at the committee's September meeting.

"This is something where the bike community will really have to get behind; it can't just be the city," she said.  

Other business

Newport Beach police Traffic Officer Spencer Arnold said there were 16 bicycle-related incidents for July, 12 of which were the fault of the bicyclist and one in which a drunken driver hit a bicyclist. Fifteen injuries were reported, but none were serious, Arnold said. 

In June only six bicycle-related accidents were reported. Arnold could not attribute the rise in incidents to a specific reason but said the season could be a factor.

"We do see an influx of about 100,000 people per day into the city during summer months," Arnold said. 

Arnold also told the committee that the Police Department has received a private donation that will be used to purchase bicycle helmets for children. The donation comes at a good time, as the Police Department continues to ticket kids for not wearing bicycle helmets.

"We are thinking about creative ways to disperse the helmets to kids in the community," Arnold said. "We could use the school resource officers at school to identify at-risk kids who can't afford the helmets and give them the helmets."