As City Council Extends Scooter Rules, SMPD Gets Traffic Safety Grant

11/13: The Santa Monica City Council voted to extend Santa Monica’s Shared Mobility Pilot Program.

You may recall that Bird started putting its scooters in Santa Monica without first obtaining any sort of permit. The City initially resisted, after some residents complained. Then it devised a plan to allow 4 companies including Bird and Lyft, to put their scooters and semi electric bikes in Santa Monica.

“The extension through May 2020 will pave the way for a second pilot program with intensified regulations that facilitates greater customer reliability and affordability, and more effectively achieves safety and public outcomes. Council directed staff to come back in early 2020 with a second pilot plan,” said the City in press release.

“Scooters and e-bikes are undoubtedly popular and user data tells us people are riding them instead of hopping in a car,” said Mayor Gleam Davis.

The City says that there were 2,673,819 trips on e-scooters and e-bikes over the last year, half of which replaced car trips.

SMPD Gets Traffic Safety Grant

=Santa Monica Police Department received a $250,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) for a one-year enforcement and education program. The money will fund various activities intended to reduce deaths and injuries on California roads.

The grant-related activities are for the 2020 federal fiscal year, which runs from Oct. 1, 2019 to Sept. 30, 2020.

The funding from the OTS will be used for numerous programs, including:

DUI/driver’s license checkpoints. Patrols specifically looking for suspected alcohol and/or drug-impaired drivers.

Patrols targeting violations of California’s hands-free cell phone law and vehicle code violations by drivers, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians that put other roadway users at risk.

Patrols targeting the primary causes of crashes: Speeding, improper turns, running stop signs or signals, right-of-way violations and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Traffic safety education presentations for youth and community members on distracted and impaired driving, bicycle and pedestrian safety.

Serving warrants to multiple DUI offenders.

Creating “Hot Sheets” identifying repeat DUI offenders.

Officer training to identify suspected impaired drivers and conduct sobriety tests.

“Getting in a vehicle remains one of the most dangerous things we do,” OTS director Barbara Rooney said. “We must continue to work with our partners in law enforcement to shift that realization and make traveling on our roads safer.”