Pedaling Safety : Simi Program Focuses on Reducing Bicycle Accidents

For 9-year-old Justin Dooley, learning to ride a bike was a treacherous experience.

“One time, one of my training wheels came off and I bailed right into a tree,” said Justin, a third-grader at Madera Elementary School in Simi Valley.

But that was last year. Now Justin fits his flame-adorned “Hot Head” helmet snugly over his turquoise baseball cap and pedals to school with confidence.

“I’m a pretty safe rider,” he said. “I always look both ways and I don’t go out in traffic.”

In the wake of several bicycle and pedestrian accidents since September, Simi Valley’s City Council, Police Department and school district are stepping up efforts to educate children about safety.

Although the number of accidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians has gone down in recent years, most of the mishaps involve children, and concerns over safety have grown, Police Chief Willard Schlieter said.

“We’ve been hearing a lot from people who are worried about these accidents,” Schlieter said. “We want to do our part to reduce (them).”

Mary Beth Wolford, superintendent of the Simi Valley Unified School District, said traffic before and after school has increased noticeably this year, in part because some children stopped taking the bus to school rather than pay a newly instituted fee for the service.

“I have talked to many parents who want to make sure that their children are going to be safe walking or riding their bikes to and from school,” Wolford said. “With more children out there, this is a very good time to increase our safety education efforts.”

Between 1990 and 1992, the number of accidents in Simi Valley involving bicyclists or pedestrians dropped from 117 to 95 a year. In 1993, the number rose slightly, to 105. The number of accidents is down substantially for the first 10 months of 1994, with 57 reported, police said.

Several of the recent accidents have occurred near Simi Valley schools.

Three students were hit while trying to cross streets near schools and a fourth, who was riding his bike on the wrong side of the street, was injured when he collided with a police cruiser.

“We need to concentrate on changing the type of behavior on the part of the kids that led to these accidents,” Lt. Jon Ainsworth said. “Kids need to learn to be more cautious before just riding or wandering into the street.”

In the coming months, the three police officers who work full time in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, program will spend several hours each week teaching traffic safety in the schools, Schlieter said.

In January, police will begin issuing written warnings to children who do not wear helmets while riding their bicycles.

Under a state law passed early this year, authorities can verbally warn bicyclists caught without helmets. But starting in January, bike riders under the age of 18 who are not wearing helmets face fines of up to $25.

And the city is considering proclaiming January bicycle safety month to draw attention to the department’s efforts and commemorate the one-year anniversary of the bike helmet law.

Mari Tilson, whose 7-year-old son attends Madera School, applauded plans to step up bike safety in the city.

“Any time there is an accident, all the parents get really concerned,” Tilson said. “Anything the city can do to cut down on the problem is a good thing.”

After school on a recent afternoon, Madera fourth-grader Phillip LeGault raced for his bicycle. When asked why he wasn’t wearing a helmet, the 9-year-old smiled sheepishly.

“I always wear it,” he said. “I was just in a rush this morning, so I forgot.”

At a press conference last week, Councilwoman Sandi Webb joined other city officials in praising the efforts of the Police Department and school district to get children to pay more attention to safety.

“Nobody wants to see a child getting injured,” Webb said. “I’m glad to see the schools and the police getting involved.”

Webb, who is up for reelection Tuesday, has pledged repeatedly during her campaign to step up bicycle safety.

But Michael S. McCaffrey, one of six challengers battling with Webb for two seats on the council, questioned the timing of the press conference.

“I’m all for bike safety, but I wonder why the city is holding a press conference on it less than a week before the election,” he said. “The number of accidents hasn’t gone up, so why all the attention?”

Webb defended the press conference, saying the timing was coincidental.

“This is something I’ve been talking about for a long time,” she said. “Even if the number of accidents has not actually gone up, I think we’d all feel better if we knew our kids were being taught the rules of the road.”