Long Beach municipal 10.48.070, makes it illegal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk in a business district; upon the sidewalks of bridges; in pedestrian underpasses; on pedestrian overpasses; upon sidewalks adjacent to any school building, church, recreation center, playground, or senior citizens' residential development; within the area south of Ocean Boulevard between the Long Beach Museum of Art on the west and Bluff Park on the east; on the northerly side of the Downtown Marina mole which directly abuts said marina, between Gangway A and Gangway P.

That sign used to illustrate this article, by the way, is illegal in California. California municipalities are forbidden by state law to enact any laws (and post signs to that effect) that are more restrictive than the state vehicle code.

Dear Chief Batts,
I called and spoke with a Sergeant regarding the citation and he is looking into it. With regards to your incident, I don't think that is the same "gentleman" we're talking about. This incident occurred on Anaheim as he was commuting to work. He is also a trained cycling safety instructor.

What I hope to come from all this is the start of a dialogue between the bicycle community and the police. I know that there are many lawless cyclists out there and they SHOULD be ticketed. Cyclists riding the wrong way. Cyclists blowing through red lights. Cyclists on the sidewalk. Cyclists under 18 riding with no brakes and a helmet. They should be ticketed. I think we have so many with an utter disregard of the law because there is NOT ENOUGH enforcement.

That said, the police should also be sensitized to identify what is lawful and safe riding. Riding as far to the right as you can is NOT safe. Riding closer to the middle of the lane IS safe, it increases visibility, lets the rider avoid the door zone, etc., The phrasing in 21202 allows for this, cyclists only have to ride to the right as long as it is "practicable" (a big difference from "possible"). "Practicable" allows us to claim the lane when we deem it unsafe to ride to the right. Many cities make this point clear with signs that say "BIcyclists allowed full use of the lane."

I believe that the police is one of the most important keys to making Long Beach bicycle friendly. Without proper enforcement we will just see a rise in unlawful cyclists and more hostile interactions between motorists and cyclists that will escalate into violence (there are many incidents of this happening in Los Angeles right now). That is why it is paramount that officers on your force that work in areas with a high concentration of cyclists (downtown, Belmont Shore, CSULB) should receive training to differentiate when a cyclist is lawfully riding in the street (claiming the middle of the lane when need be) and when they are putting themselves and others in danger. Further, I would also like to see the bicycle mounted police follow the CVC. It is very difficult for me to defend my rights to a motorist who is yelling at me to "get on the sidewalk" or "you don't belong here", when the bicycle mounted police can often be seen riding on the sidewalk, against traffic or in the door zone.

If you are willing, the bicycle advocacy group I work with, The Long Beach Cyclists, has trained bicycle safety educators from the League of American Bicyclists. We would very much like to set up a program with the police department to slowly train the force with issues regards to bicycles in traffic. The League offers a curriculum specially tailored to law enforcement. I think this would more quickly and efficiently make Long Beach more bicycle friendly than any thing else we can do.

Thank you once again for responding to me personally. I hope you will seriously consider bicycle training for some of your force.

Sincerely,
Russ Roca

http://www.biketreasurevalley.org/node/391

(begin quote)
"...Both the judge and the prosecutor commented that it had been a learning experience for them, and while the judge acknowledged that Officer Lim was just trying to do his job, given that the law is less than clear about what is "as far right as practicable", the final verdict was Not Guilty.

After my trial there was a Sheriff's department bike officer there who was talking to Craig Quintana from ACHD. The officer was interested in setting up some seminars for the Sheriff's department so that we could explain what the League of American Bicyclists is trying to teach in the Smart Cycling program and why. He took Craig's card and will contact him to see about setting something up. TVCA has also been in contact with the Sheriff's department and we met with representatives during the April Board meeting. One of the goals from that meeting was for TVCA to try to set up some seminars for the Sherrif's department to help the officer's to better understand what we are trying to teach bicyclists and why. Hopefully with requests for the seminars coming from multiple fronts it will help to convince the decision makers that it would be a good thing."

(end quote)

21201(a): No person shall operate a bicycle on a roadway unless it is equipped with a brake which will enable the operator to make one braked wheel skid on dry, level, clean pavement.

It was pointed out that the officer will have the opportunity to "correct" the code when submitting the ticket for processing, but even so this discrepancy furter demonstrates the officer's lack of understanding of the laws and could and should be used as cause for dismissal.