Those that participate in organized, planned or spontaneous street takeover events using a bicycle in a willful or wanton disregard for public safety are being targeted by the Manteca City Council.

Municipal ordinance changes before the City Council Tuesday would allow police to:

*Cite violators that would be subject to fines up to $1,000.

*Impound their bicycle for 30 days with a $200 release and storage fee to get it back.

*Require offenders 16 and under to attend a bicycle operator’s school.

Bicyclists not involved in group rides in a reckless manner but who ride in a manner that violates existing provisions of the ordnance already in place can also be fined, have their bicycles impounded, and required to attend a bicycle operator’s school.

Those violations include:

*Anyone who rides a bicycle upon a sidewalk in the business district.

*Those 12 and over who ride a bicycle on any public sidewalk in city.  

*Reckless and unlawful operating includes, but not limited to swerving, riding into income traffic or performing stunts and tricks in the roadway.

That proposed citation and impound language will also allow the police to more aggressively address those popping wheelies and weaving in between cars on major arterials and other streets.

The proposed changes come a month after of upwards of 100 teens bicycled down the auxiliary lane and shoulder of the eastbound 120 Bypass — including some doing wheelies — between Union Road and Main Street.
It was just a part of dozens upon dozens of traffic infractions caused by teen bicyclists that day including drivers reporting teens doing wheelies across all four lanes of heavily traveled Yosemite Avenue.

 The changes are similar to language in Ceres and Modesto ordinances that was adopted to address reckless behavior during group rides.

 The California Vehicle Code, for the most part, requires bicyclists to follow the same traffic laws as motorists.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com