No surprise here. The pedicab industry in San Diego is a mess, and has been a problem for years. The city has been talking about regulations for quite awhile. Maybe they'll actually do something now, but this time it won't be pretty.
Council members seek pedicab regulations
Driver is arrested, may face involuntary manslaughter charge
Four San Diego City Council members yesterday called for a clampdown on pedicab operators, citing the deadly ride of a 60-year-old tourist on Saturday.
Police said Sharon Miller, a retired teacher from Illinois, was fatally injured when she fell out of a moving pedicab on a downtown promenade and hit her head on the ground.
Driver Sukru Safa Cinar, 23, of Turkey, was arrested yesterday in connection with the incident. He was to be charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Councilwoman Marti Emerald and her colleagues said the death underscores the need to step up oversight of an industry popular with tourists and day-trippers.
“This was our greatest fear – that someone would be injured or killed in a pedicab,” Emerald said at an afternoon news conference.
Council members Emerald, Kevin Faulconer, Todd Gloria and Tony Young want the council to swiftly approve regulations drafted by City Hall staffers over the past year.
Among other things, the proposed regulations would:
Ban the three-wheeled taxis from sidewalks and from streets with speed limits greater than 25 miles per hour.
Require pedicab operators to carry proof of insurance and clearly display fare rates on each vehicle.
Cap the number of pedicabs allowed to operate in San Diego at 250. City officials say more than 400 of the taxis work the streets during the summer.
Limit the number of pedicabs allowed to operate in high-traffic areas of Petco Park, Balboa Park, downtown, Ocean Beach, La Jolla, Pacific Beach and Mission Beach.
Since at least 2000, pedicab operators have been required to register with the city. Each vehicle must have seat belts, but riders are not required to wear them.
Emerald, chairwoman of the council's public safety panel, said more needs to be done. Her committee last month endorsed the proposed regulations.
“I think the industry has been regulated too casually,” she said.
Faulconer agreed. “Pedicabs are part of what makes San Diego special,” he said. But, he added, the city must do more to make sure the vehicles are safe.
Police said the pedicab involved in Saturday's fatality did not have seat belts. The driver was reportedly swerving through Martin Luther King Promenade when Miller was tossed from the vehicle.
The city bans bicycles and pedicabs from the promenade.
Guy Swanger, the city's acting assistant police chief, said Cinar arrived in the United States on June 18 on a four-month visa. Swanger said Cinar leased the vehicle from Shakespeare Pedicab of San Diego.
Shakespeare representatives were unavailable for comment yesterday.
Wednesday, July 08, 2009
Regulations coming to San Diego?
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1 comments:
(Note: I posted this comment yesterday in response to the article announcing the Council's new found emphasis on regulating the pedicab industry in San Diego - Pops)
The City Council will likely make passing the new pedicab amendments a priority in the wake of this tragic event. In the main, the regulations are a very positive step forward, and hopefully there will be appropriate time for public comment and discussion about all aspects of the proposed changes.
The Council should be wary about touting themselves as the hero of the day by jumping onto these amendments now - after all, these amendments were written last year (the SDPD held meetings with the stake holders last summer to introduce the proposed changes) These amendments should have gone to council last summer/fall - however, they weren't deemed important enough in an election year. You can play "What If" all day long, consider what if these amendments made it through council last year and were implemented in January of 2009 as the original plan was? The pedicab scene in downtown San Diego would look totally different today, and who knows - maybe this recent tragedy would have never happened. I suppose there is a good political "reason" to explain why it's taken a year and one senseless death for the proposed amendments to garner City wide attention.
For the record: I'm for the amendments, I was in 2005, I was in 2007 and I am in 2009. I think they will be good for my industry. I do feel there is one element of the proposed regulation that needs to be removed or modified and I have presented my position during the public comment phase at the last PSNS Committee meeting when the amendments were proposed. I will provide my input again when these amendments meet the full Council in hopes that rational discussion will ensue. I can only hope.
Dale Hill, Owner
Pops' Pedicabs
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