Bicycles

NEWPORT BEACH — The City Council will consider whether to approve a new striping and sign template for bicycle lanes that would be applied at "free" right-turn locations, according to a staff report included in Tuesday's meeting agenda. If the council approves the templates, the first location where they would be implemented would be along East Coast Highway from MacArthur Boulevard to Irvine Terrace, the staff report states. In May, members of the city's Bicycle Safety Committee targeted the Coast Highway-MacArthur free right turn as particularly dangerous to cyclists because motorists heading westbound onto Coast Highway often move quickly to the far-left lane and cut over the cyclists' ride-through lane.

NEWPORT BEACH — In the shadow of three cycling deaths since 2009, Newport Beach city crews on Friday added an extra reminder along one stretch of highway that drivers need to share the road with bicyclists. On Bayside Drive, between El Paseo Drive and Carnation Avenue, city staff added sharrows — painted markings on the street that depict two white arrows and a bicycle. The city is including the markings only on this stretch of two-lane road, about three-quarters of a mile long, as a test-run before possibly adding sharrows to other parts of the city.

The Newport Beach City Council will likely make it official during its meeting Tuesday night: Councilman Tony Petros will head up a revamped version of the Citizen's Bicycle Safety Committee. The council is expected to vote on the establishment of a Bicycle Master Plan Oversight Committee to pick up where the bike safety committee left off when its term ended in January. The new group will work to develop a more comprehensive approach to bicycle safety throughout the city. According to a staff report, its mission will be to "propose improvements and enhancements to the existing bicycle infrastructure and network, prepare a sustainable education and outreach plan, propose outside funding sources and prioritize projects...

A Huntington Beach woman is in good spirits despite being injured in a weekend biking accident at Crystal Cove State Park. Karen Joyce, 39, suffered head trauma, bruises and facial swelling after she hit a bump and crashed during a Saturday morning bike ride. However, she said she was in good shape Monday. “[I’m] improving. The swelling is going down and I’m taking on many interesting colors,” she said with a chuckle. A Costa Mesa police helicopter with two officers found Joyce in a remote area of the park, police said.

A driver pleaded not guilty Friday to hitting and killing a bicyclist on Jamboree Road in Newport Beach while under the influence of prescription medication. Patricia Ann Izquieta, 37, of Riverside, is charged with felony hit and run, vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, and misdemeanor driving without a valid license. The charges carry an enhanced sentencing provision for allegedly causing great bodily injury. Prosecutors claim Izquieta was under the influence of Methadone, an opiate used to suppress addiction, and Clonezepam, an anti-anxiety medication that relaxes the muscles, about 6 a.m. Dec. 9 when she drifted from the far-right lane of northbound Jamboree Road into the bike line, fatally hitting bicyclist Donald Murphy as he rode down the street.

Four local police agencies, including the Newport Beach Police Department, will join forces to conduct a Bicycle Safety Enforcement Operation on Feb. 19 and Feb. 24, police announced. "Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas frequented by bicyclists and vehicles," according to a police news release. "Officers will be addressing traffic violations made by all vehicle operators, bicyclists, and other vehicle drivers that lead to bicycle vs. vehicle collisions, injuries and fatalities.

A Pedego Electric Bike shop will open - possibly next week - at 2515 E. Coast Hwy., a company spokeswoman has confirmed. The shop will sell and rent Pedego bikes as well as possibly offer tours, said Beth Black, a spokeswoman. “These bikes are really hot,” Black said. Pedego shops also have opened in Huntington Beach and Newport Beach, with another shop planned for Dana Point, she said. “They really want Orange County to be the center of it all,” Black said. ...Continue reading "Electric bicycle shop to open in CdM"  

dpt-harbor13TextL828EVCFON THE WEB To comment on this column, go to www.dailypilot.com and click on "Blogs and Columns." Then click on the column and scroll to the bottom to find the comments field. Ahoy, Someone almost made the Darwin Awards while cruising the harbor in a Duffy. He was skippering an electric Duffy boat when he made a conscious decision to cut in between the Brusco tug and the scow being towed for the upper Back Bay dredging operations, according to Eric Hovland, my radio show's roving reporter.

If there were a morning rush for early sales on Black Friday, it wasn’t at Fashion Island. Up to 11 a.m., parking spaces were still available, and the Atrium Court looked more like a dog park for families than the apex of a business bonanza. With all the hype that generally surrounds shopping the day after Thanksgiving, perhaps police would have had their hands full. Not so much in Newport-Mesa. Instead of arresting shoplifters and car burglars, Newport Beach police spent the better part of their Friday meeting and greeting store owners and the casual customer.