Safe Routes to School according to the Santa Monica Police Department

Santa Monica High School, 17 February 2010, 3:20 pm

After school students find the police in front of the Michigan Gate, right next to the bike parking. It is Wednesday, school started late, a good day to go by bike and not use the car. In the course of the police operation against cyclists three tickets are being issued to student cyclists for not wearing helmets. Is that a way to encourage kids to ride the bike?

Students riding the bike to school do the right thing. They support the environment. They reduce traffic congestion. They improve their health through active transportation. They reduce the carbon footprint. They live in a Bicycle Friendly Community (Bronze). Students under 18 who do not wear a helmet break the law.

Those who use a car to drive or be driven to school increase pollution, traffic, obesity. If they use a hand-held phone while driving they break the law.

If you want to support your young cyclists in a bicycle friendly city you reach out to them. With information. With warnings. By applying for grants to offer free helmets to the kids who cannot afford one. Or by rewarding those who wear a helmet. You go out and partner with the school, with student groups, with the PTSA and offer bike safety classes. Stay tuned. Continue the conversation that the local bicycle advocacy group has started with the police in May 2009. This is work and it takes time. Ticketing a few kids is easy. But it does not bring you respect. It brings contempt. In the process the police loses community which is the worst thing that can happen to a police force. If you speak to a child who knows about the environmental impact of fossil fuels, it may be a good idea to turn off the motor of your vehicle. Kids take note of these things. In this process kids have to learn the law, and the police has an equal responsibility to learn how to deal with kids and cyclists.

Indeed, on the basis of a sustained educational effort, especially if it is embedded in a diversion program, which removed the fine when the student attends a safe cycling class, a ticket does have its value. But probably not every officer is suited to this delicate work with children. Some forget to take off their dark reflective sunglasses when talking to a child. Some have never received special training for dealing with adolescents and children, and are more suited to work with hardened criminals. Some have never ridden a bike on city streets, and confuse the public by cycling on the extended sidewalk which is Third Street Promenade. Why not ride your bike while interacting with students? Would it not be a good idea to coordinate with the school or the school district in order to develop a comprehensive educational program for young cyclists? To support them and to make them safe? And to acknowledge that the helmet by itself does not make you safe, that only safe cycling education offers you the tools to stay safe on city streets. Without a sustained educational program, ticketing works as bicycle discouragement. If DUI checkpoints are being announced in advance, why not announce a helmet checkpoint?

Speaking about helmets is only half the story at this school. This school is located close to Lincoln Boulevard, and many students will have to use or cross Lincoln Blvd to get to school. This being Santa Monica, the police may well give you another ticket if they see you cycling on the sidewalk on Lincoln. It sounds unbelievable, but I have seen it happen more than once. More bicycle discouragement from the SMPD? Sure, in this city it  it is not legal to cycle on the sidewalk, and for many well documented reasons, the sidewalk is an unsafe place for cyclists, but Lincoln is a really horrible street, for children and adults, to share with cars. This community deserves better solutions than tickets.

So if you are a cyclist, or a parent, or a student, and you think the SMPD does not do enough to encourage cycling in this Bicycle Friendly Community (Bronze), or if you want to support the police action, please leave your comments below, and come to the next City Council Meeting on February 23, and offer you opinion during the public comment period. 


Police deputy chief Sanchez is so kind to meet concerned cyclists on Wednesday 24th Feb, 2010 at 3:30. Please let me know if you want to attend so that we can prepare the meeting. We are specially interested to strengthen our "legal department", and concerned citizens with expertise in civil liberties and equity issues are encouraged to get in touch with velocipedus at gmail dot com. We also warmly welcome highschool and middle school students to get in touch.

Beauty and the Bike

This is a girl project between Darlington (UK) and Bremen (Germany) - it set about getting girls on bikes. There is a book, a documentary (DVD), and the short preview below, with a great deal of serious beauty. The girls move from skepticism about cycling to exhilaration about how "liberating" it is. Look out for a fleet of those red bikes riding onto the stage of  he? what? Barnum Hall ? ?






This is a project that meets girls on their own terms, and that doesn't minimize or denigrate the importance of peer pressure.

For teenagers the question of their image is crucial. And if cycling is seen as mad or eccentric, it is unlikely to appear attractive. Statistics show that the already low percentage of British girls who have cycled regularly as a child, stop doing so when they reach puberty.

Thanks to StreetsblogLA for sharing this.

This is a Dare

Yes, you know EVERYTHING. You know how to ride your bike. Now tell us how you do it. This is a dare. Thursday 15 October, 15:30, T 109.

I will listen to your bicycle wisdom, and you will listen to mine. And then we count the points, and if you are a safe cyclist, then I will give you a bicycle.
 
PTSA Transportation has received a 5 used bicycles, great little riders, mostly of the mountain bike variety. A free bike for the first five students who can teach us how to stay safe on the road, and who can show that they master the art of safe cycling.

Show us what you can. This is a dare. Pictures of the bikes on bike-it-day.org. You know Everything. Now come and get your bike. Everyone welcome

Learn How to Ride Safely in Traffic (Includes Free Bike Pins)

Cycling is hard. Muscles ache. But worse still is the lack of respect many drivers have for cyclists. They just do not see you, they overtake dangerously. Cars turn without looking, doors fly open, all this intimidates and frightens. But are cyclists really powerless?
Safe Cycling is a 2-hour course is offered again to all Students by SAMOHI Solar Alliance / SAMOHI Bike Coalition on Thursday, 8 October at 3:30 pm. After a short classroom introduction with an original eyewitness account on what to do when a car brings you down, we will work on those essential bike handling skills and maneuvers. Students will learn the tricks which keep you safe on the road: how to effectively control the traffic around you by changing your position in the lane. Eye contact. Show teeth. All is revealed. You already know how to ride a bike, now learn to cycle proud, and learn how fear can put you into real danger on the road.

We meet at T 109. Please bring your bike and helmet to the classroom. Snacks will be provided. Free Bike Pins!

This week we offer the class free of charge. To register, please send an email to velocipedus@gmail.com. Waiver form not required, because we will not leave the campus


Dear Parents!

We are offering a safe cycling course at SAMOHI on Thursday, September 17th. The course is taught in accordance with the curriculum of the League of American Cyclists and introduces your son/daughter to the principles of vehicular cycling: Visible, Predictable, Assertive, Alert. We encourage the students to explore alternatives to motorized traffic, and find a safe place on the road. The ususal cost of the class is 12$ for two students, it is being waived for the 8 Oct event. 

Please email us (velocipedus@gmail.com) if you want more information about this work or if you want to support us

Walk to School Day

In case today is October 7, then today is Walk to School Day. I too want to go there,  perambulating, strolling, marching, capering and hopping, I want to wander, amble, skip, yeah, skip to school, and I want to do it all over the world. I want to walk backwards, sideways like a dachshund, jog, and run. I want to imitate the gait of the other person, now that is difficult, I want to go upright, straight, "yes sir!", and "I am sorry." Well, then.

Power Cycling is doing it again !

Due to popular demand, we are offering our Power Cycling class again. The class takes place Thursday, 24 Sep 2009, Thursday, 1 Oct, after school, 3:30, room T109. Snacks will be provided. For details see the previous posting! Print Out the announcement

Power Cycling: How to ride your bike safely in traffic

Cycling is hard. Muscles ache. But worse still is the lack of respect many drivers have for cyclists. They just do not see you, they overtake dangerously. Cars turn without looking, doors fly open, all this intimidates and frightens. But are cyclists really powerless?
Power Cycling is a 3-hour course offered to all Students by SAMOHI Solar Alliance / SAMOHI Bike Coalition on Thursday, 17 September, at 3:30 pm. After a short classroom introduction we will work on those bike handling skills and essential maneuvers. Students will learn the tricks which keep you safe on the road: how to effectively control the traffic around you by changing your own behavior in traffic. You already know how to ride a bike, now learn to cycle proud, and learn how fear can put you into real danger on the road.

We meet at T 109. Please bring your bike and helmet to the classroom. Snacks will be provided. Free Bike Pins!

Bring a friend. The cost of this course is $12 for two cyclists if you register together. Single signups $ 8, financial assistance available.
To register, send an email to velocipedus@gmail.com, including names and email addresses of you and your friend. The waiver form is here, it must be signed by the parents of each participant. The fee is due at the day of the class. Those not in possession of a helmet (it’s the law!) can buy one before the course starts (10$)


Dear Parents!

We are offering a safe cycling course at SAMOHI on Thursday, September 17th. The course is taught in accordance with the curriculum of the League of American Cyclists and introduces your son/daughter to the principles of vehicular cycling: Visible, Predictable, Assertive, Alert. We encourage the students to explore alternatives to motorized traffic, and find a safe place on the road. The cost of the class is 12$ for two students. Please sign the waiver and make sure your son/daughter brings it to school on that day, together with a helmet.

Please email us (velocipedus@gmail.com) if you want more information about this work or if you want to support us

Dr Michael Cahn
PTSA Transportation Chair