The Carlsbad City Council voted to allocate $2 million in funding for immediate traffic safety efforts and ratified last week’s proclamation of local emergency, following an over 200% increase in collisions involving bikes and e-bikes since 2019.
In his remarks to the City Council, City Manager Scott Chadwick said e-bikes themselves are not the problem and actually fit in well with the city’s goals of reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. The city’s focus is making sure everyone knows the rules of the road, continuing to implement dozens of projects to make Carlsbad’s streets inviting for all modes of transportation and increasing traffic safety enforcement.
Chadwick also said traffic safety concerns are not unique to Carlsbad. Two weeks ago, the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration put out its estimates for the first quarter of 2022, which showed the highest number of fatalities from motor vehicle crashes in 20 years.
“It’s going to take all of us working together to reverse this trend,” said Chadwick.
Police Chief Mickey Williams said he has redeployed additional officers to traffic enforcement, especially around schools that started classes this month. In the week since the emergency proclamation, the Police Department has issued about four times as many warnings and citations as a typical week. One third were written warnings and the rest were citations. The breakdown by type of travel were:
- 57% cars
- 35% e-bikes
- 8% pedal bikes
- 1 pedestrian
In the past week city crews placed 11 electronic message boards at locations with higher collision rates and repositioned signs that show drivers how fast they are driving along streets with complaints about speeding. Today additional green bike lanes were added in 11 locations, with more planned, including parts of Carlsbad Boulevard and in the Village, both heavily used by cyclists.
On Sept. 27, city staff will present the City Council with a comprehensive list of options to address the emergency. In the meantime, on Tuesday the City Council approved $2 million that can be spent immediately on:
- Increasing traffic enforcement by the Police Department
- Buying more message boards and speed feedback signs
- A new traffic safety training program offered by the city
- A safe driving and riding education program
- Projects to change the striping on roads to allow more space for bikes and increasing the visibility of bike lanes and crosswalks
In March, Carlsbad became the first city in the region to pass traffic safety laws specific to e-bikes to supplement its community education and enforcement efforts. Carlsbad’s e-bike rules include a diversion program for young riders, who may complete a training course to avoid a citation on their first offense.
In January 2021, the City Council passed a comprehensive plan to make Carlsbad streets more inviting to walkers and bikers. The city has already completed dozens of projects, such as expanding bike lanes, installing speed bumps in neighborhoods and widening sidewalks. In June, the City Council voted to accelerate several projects within the plan as part of the fiscal year 2022-23 budget.
Cities can proclaim a local emergency when there is an imminent threat to public safety. The combination of increasing collisions involving bikes and e-bikes and thousands of kids returning to school compelled the City Manager to make the proclamation Aug. 23. Proclamations must be ratified by the City Council within seven days.
Proclaiming a local emergency gives cities more options to address a threat to public safety, including:
- Activate the Emergency Operations Center, which enables a centralized emergency response
- Immediately redeploy resources
- Streamline procurement and other processes
- Increase focus and collaboration among residents, businesses, other agencies and the business community
The City Council must review the city’s emergency status no less frequently than every 60 days until it decides to end it. Staff will propose a package of additional traffic safety actions to the City Council for consideration on Sept. 27.
