Manhattan Beach City Councilmember Joe Franklin, an avid lifelong cyclist, has been working with the Manhattan Beach Police Department since last July on an e-bike safety campaign.
But his effort got an unexpected - and welcome - boost of support when two Mira Costa sophomores, Alex Chun and Justin Newman, called in to the February 15 Manhattan Beach City Council meeting to volunteer to spearhead such a campaign.
"One of the things we really needed was young folks to do videos, PSAs, Tik Tok videos, and to bring some of that youth experience," said Franklin. "I couldn’t believe it when they came on to the public comments [at the meeting]. I had no idea what they had planned. It was spontaneous, but they did their research, and they presented it well."
Franklin said that Chun and Newman's timing - and instincts - were "a godsend."
The boys are now part of the team, working alongside Franklin, Sgt. Will Pereira, Sgt. Scott Combs, and Captain Andy Harrod of the Manhattan Beach Police Department on a bike safety education effort.
With a goal of launching a wide-reaching safety campaign in May, the group is ready to "start rolling up our sleeves and doing the work," said Franklin.
Personal Experiences Brought Team Together
Manhattan Beach Police have long been involved in helping educate residents about general bike safety. In fact, they will be out in force today (Friday) on a bike safety education campaign.
The other members of the team were drawn in to the e-bike safety issue for a variety of reasons.
Franklin is a lifelong cyclist who has done rides across Arizona, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, and across Europe, riding as much as 70 to 80 miles per day.
He is extremely cognizant about bike safety, and he - like many residents of Manhattan Beach - has had growing concern about electric bikes around town.
"Hardly any kids these days ride regular bikes," said Franklin,
noting that on a recent trip to Manhattan Beach MIddle School he observed
that more than 90 percent of the bikes were e-bikes. "In terms of weight, and speed, they're at an order of magnitude more potentially dangerous than a regular bicycle."
Yet many
kids riding them who are under 16 have not had any kind of driver
education, so they are most likely not familiar with the rules of the
road, said Franklin, which creates a greater potential for accidents.
Franklin said that it was important to him for an education campaign to cover basic "rules of the road" such as stopping at all top signs, riding on the road, wearing a helmet (required for ages 16 and younger, yielding to pedestrians, and keeping to one rider per bike.
Chun said that he was motivated to take action on bicycle safety after his cousin was in an accident - and he wanted to help both drivers and cyclists be more aware of their surroundings.
"Over
the holidays, my cousin Xavier was riding his e-bike and was hit by a
car and ended up with a broken arm," said Chun. "It was a very scary situation for my
family that really hit close to home for me. The driver of the car
wasn't paying attention so he didn't see my
cousin as he was trying to pass him. It made me realize how common this
is. People always assume drivers see bicyclists and will stop and give
them the right of way. But these days everyone is distracted so it's
really important that people are aware of their surroundings."
Chun continued: "I always
look at driver's faces now when I'm on my bike to make sure they see me.
I wanted to get involved with this program so that I can help educate
other kids so that what happened to my cousin doesn't happen to anyone
else."
Newman said he was inspired to get involved after a recent experience on his own bike where he barely avoided an accident going downhill.
"I ride my bike to and from school on most days," said Newman. "On my way home
from school - which is going down a big hill - my brakes were not working
and
I was unable to stop so I had to use my feet to stop. I found out later
that I was supposed to be getting monthly tune-ups, which of course I
had not been doing or even thinking about. I just assumed my bike was
fine. After that incident, I make sure to always
do a safety check on my bike before I head out."
Outreach to Include Work with Bike Stores, New Media
Franklin said that the team had been working closely with local bike stores and bike rental shops (including those in Manhattan, Hermosa, and Redondo Beach) on the e-bike campaign. One idea would be to have a hang-tag on all sale and rental bikes that would remind cyclists of rules of the road and best practices - and stores would go over the rules before releasing the bikes.
Other special events may include hosting safety pop-up tents along the bike path, and free helmet distributions.
Chun and Newman are also planning a new media outreach element. "We
plan to reach out to our peers by going where we know they are, on
social media, at school, and around town," said Chun. "We are going to create a PSA
and safety video that can be shown in schools and shared online. We also
know summer is just around the corner so we are working on some ideas
to keep safety top of mind for everyone as we enter peak biking season."
Added Newman, "The core target for this campaign is probably teenagers our
age who use bikes as their main way to get around. The best way to reach
us is Instagram, Tik Tok, and Snapchat, so the bulk of outreach will
focus on social media and creating impactful
content."
Franklin noted that police are considering a special citation that would be given to a young person if he or she is cited for a road violation while on a bike. That citation would most likely have some sort of education component. "We just want to make sure that if a young person is not following the rules of the road, they have the opportunity to learn from the experience and have an opportunity to expunge the citation," he said.
Newman and Chun agreed that education is key to keeping young riders safe.
"E-bike safety is much more than wearing your helmet," said Chun. "It's understanding the
basic rules of the road, keeping your bike properly maintained and in
good condition, and being aware of your surroundings. It seems basic but
you would be surprised how many people - including myself - often forget
this."
"Prevention and preparedness is the best strategy for safety," agreed Newman. "It is everyone’s responsibility to be aware of basic bike safety so that
we can help keep residents of all ages safe. Tweens are allowed
to ride electric bikes. My cousin is 9 and I want to help her and other
tweens understand how important e-bike safety is before they get on one or sit on the back of a friend's [bike seat]."
Newman added, "It only takes a minute
for an accident to happen."
