As many readers probably know, SFGATE is basically the “digital spinoff” of the San Francisco Chronicle. Thus, while I provide myself with a satisfying number of news feeds, which I manage through The Old Reader, I still enjoy the “affordances of paper,” particularly when it comes to the comics pages. When I turn to local news, I have a feed for ABC7 but not for SFGATE. However, because SFGATE knows my electronic mail address, I receive a few items every day; and these direct me to news items that I usually have not seen in the Chronicle.
More often than not, I skim SFGATE sources; but today was an exception. The title of the article was “'Epidemic levels': California's e-bike war explodes in Orange County” with “Injuries are up 430%, and the hard-nosed district attorney has had enough” as a subtitle. The opening paragraph describes the e-bike as a potential “reason to rejoice, as the state continues to stretch toward giant climate goals like carbon neutrality by 2045.” However, the next sentence calls attention to “a darker vision of the e-bike world, where suburban idyll is shattered by hordes of law-breaking riders, often children, on souped-up electric weapons of discomfort, mayhem and, occasionally, death.”
To be fair, there is more to the situation than “cool technology.” Ever since my wife and I left Palo Alto and made our Opera Plaza condominium our primary residence, I have enjoyed the pleasures of being a pedestrian. Nevertheless, I sometimes think that the sidewalks are more dangerous than the streets for motor vehicles. Furthermore, this is not just a case of the new generation of electronic vehicles. For some reason or another, sidewalks seem to be “fair game” for bicycles, roller skates, and skateboards. You would think that pedestrian safety would be monitored by the police; but, over the course of the last two decades, I have yet to see a “beat cop” negotiating either pedestrians or motorists. This is a far cry from the setting I encountered back in the day when I would get off a train at New York’s Grand Central Station and walk from there to Lincoln Center. The streets were crowded; but, thanks to the police force, they were more orderly than Van Ness Avenue!
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who is not afraid to “tell it like it is!” (photograph by Allen J. Schaben, courtesy of the Los Angeles Times and Getty Images)
This now takes me back to the SFGATE article about Orange County. Here are two more paragraphs:
From his Santa Ana office, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer has led a sweeping effort to solve the region’s e-bike and e-motorcycle headaches, including increased threats of prison time for family members who have enabled misuse of these vehicles. In May, Spitzer debuted a new law enforcement unit called RIDE SAFELY (a muddy partial acronym meaning “Smart Accountability for E-Bikes and E-Motos and Law Enforcement for Youth”). The group’s stated focus is to review existing e-bike and e-moto cases with increased scrutiny for possible prosecution, and to “assist law enforcement agencies through the investigatory process” as needed, as noted in a news release.
“The death and devastation caused by e-Bikes and E-Motorcycles has reached epidemic levels,” Spitzer says in the release.
Of course, actions speak louder than acronyms; but Spitzer deserves credit for raising his voice. Now, will anyone else earn credit by paying attention and doing something?
