Recently I spoke at the City Council meeting about the dangers from wheeled vehicles on sidewalks, paseos and in public spaces. I offered a suggestion and here are my remarks:
Recently, my wife and I were walking on the sidewalk on the south side of McBean Parkway nearing the corner with Arroyo Park Drive.
Along came a motorized bike with a young boy traveling at a high speed. He went onto McBean’s oncoming traffic to avoid us. At that time a motorist was making a right turn and fortunately was driving slowly and carefully and managed to avoid the motorized bicycle, thereby preventing injury or even death to the boy.
Our neighbors have a problem, my friends have a problem, I have a problem and likely all of you also have experienced the same problem at some time. The problem is wheeled vehicles, including motorized bikes, skateboards and scooters, moving dangerously causing risks, problems and challenges to people on sidewalks, paseos and public areas of the city.
Fortunately, there may be a simple solution to mitigate the problem that could also provide modest revenue for the city of Santa Clarita. One solution is for you to pass an ordinance like this:
Everyone operating a wheeled vehicle on any sidewalk, paseos or public areas within Santa Clarita must have and use an auditable sound-emitting device to warn and/or alert any nearby people of their location.
Failure to comply with this ordnance is subject to a fine of an appropriate amount for non-compliance to be paid by the operator of the vehicle or the parent or legal guardian of the operator if the rider is a minor.
On behalf of me and my neighbors, I would like to thank you for your time and consideration. We are all counting on you to act now before any of our residents get seriously injured or killed.
G.A. Ben Binninger
Valencia
