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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0679.047 2022-2024 P/PcPL riII 125 Collµ. 1q Testimony for Bill 125 Hawaii County Council Committee f 03-05-24 ~�< cam, 5 Aloha: A Personal Introduction Aloha, thank you for speaking with me today on Bill 125, the Bike Tour Ban proposal. My name is Raymond Pajek, and I have lived in Kapa'au for nine years. I am a University of Hawaii professor, an at-large board member of the newly formed Kohala Heritage Center at the historic Bond Library, a former board member of a regional 30,000-member Bay Area, California bicycle coalition, an Ironman athlete, and an advocate for bicycling for health and for addressing environmental stewardship. I present this testimony with great hesitation, as I realize this is a small island, and I wish to do good for the community in the years ahead. Alas, this issue is close to my heart, so I must speak out. While I believe this bill has been crafted and sponsored with very well-intentioned efforts by our council members, several elements should be considered. My testimony aims to uncover these here at this meeting. Putting Context to Testimony This proposal was initiated by North Kohala resident drivers out of their deep concerns for the safety of bicyclists on roads that traverse their residential, rural neighborhoods. These drivers believe bicyclists should not be on the roads as they fear their vehicles might strike them due to short sight lines and curvy, narrow roadways. And they claim that the number of bicyclists in recent years is increasing due to tourism, a frequent and valid concern. As a bicyclist and bicycling advocate with over 40 years of riding roadways and devoting my time to ensuring that bicyclists are allowed full and legal access to public roads, I have encountered this argument many times. In the end, whether by litigation or through enhanced awareness, the only possible avenue for the County to emit° address bicycling safety is through greater driver awareness and education for what constitutes fair, legal BIKE access by all users: vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. In fact, many options exist for bike safety to making our roads safer that fit within tight budgets here in BICYCLISTS Hawaii County. SLOW As a resident who uses a bicycle for social exercise, training, errands, and to get to work, I can tell you first that this proposal makes a critical error in judgment. In truth, I choose to ride from Hawi to Pololu Valley as the safest, least strenuous, level route for bicycling. The first safety Comm. No.,, I le ••�4 Ref. To: ■I��1,!�� 5 Ref. Date MAR — _ e consideration for bicyclists is always motor vehicle speed since overwhelming evidence proves that speed is directly responsible for bicyclist deaths. So, the road from mile marker 25 to the valley is the safest place for cyclists to ride in Kohala. Bicycling nationally has been gaining in popularity, hence there may be more bicyclists on roads in Kohala. Riding from Hawi towards Kawaihae is much more dangerous, with vehicles traveling at freeway speeds, even Hawaii Fatal Bicycle Accident Statistics though there is a shoulder for bicyclists. A distracted driver or driver under the aw'torn rho prim war what,,adh r1:•Ihrrr• ,below that nl,u rrlrartu<ltiro all hye ,7, ,fermar art urd t etr.v aIHighvray Traffic Sarrty influence drifting into the shoulder is a Acnin.stration INHTSAI.It represents two percent of the total number of traffic fatalities.whit' Is the same as the national average. primary cause of death. Note this hat h» .•h.,..tWEnt.,lalwrr.inlin,.n., '„.,.nh rofhocyrin.rr ,terl lr:,rl research: NO serious bicyclist injury or in2315 hum 2014.wT,i,hi,AS011',highr,i,,rr,hm vet..1995.H,mrw ra•alh,haw'd• sir„c 1975 by 19 percent.The greatest deer ease cones I.un,those age 20 and vuunger death has been reported on the 38 oe•cert decline since then The number of deaths for those age 23 and oiler nas triptd:- : hill's banned roads going sane time More males have been victims that-females for every year since 1975. proposed , g g Haw .101r,all'girl,ai;el5arkrw,,„,n• In,w•arahrin„-.I at all ling,y.iii back to 1985. For the road to Pololu, it 21,totes iha!i'aw ,ehater-nntlawhtado'.,.h° r_h „wthath ,„t, 1gt.etx., would be rare to imagine a vehicle killing a head inlun es by 53 percent.which is the most Scripps'slaty incurred ire eirs' . un;1 ,d reduces face and neckir..uries by 33percent In adiirion'ewe•th ar 17oercent of victims were bicyclist, even with the narrow road and wearing helmets at the time of the accident short sight lines. If it happens frequently, 11000.11W Haw31,,,„1nr1,311,the ugly lwa,m ed t e r„„n:i, n11.1W ,tIOO O thu yr'Metal'les.Froth please provide this Council with evidence. of the reportwer than six ter 7015.Honolulu Co unt y had p.rst ore ticath,whir,v+as down born two for the previous year.Hawaii County aho reported one which it consistent with the This proposed Bill was crafted based on test two years while two were reported in 2012.Maui drooped from are the east two veers to 0ro1112015 Maui legislation addressing Haleakala tours. I've actually done that tour, and it justified a ban. There were numerous well- documented injuries and cyclist deaths on that tour route. And multiple numbers of tours per day that put speeding guests in the direct pathway of visitors driving up the the National Park. Two Roads, Two Situations The Kohala Mountain road is different. It's considerably more dangerous for bicyclists, although in my opinion, not nearly as dangerous as, for example, the thousands of miles of rural Wine Country roads in California where the speed limit is 55 mph. I know this. I'm a competitive triathlete and a tour cyclist who has ridden hundreds of thousands of miles. Here in Kohala, the speed limit is 35 mph, and the roadway is wide enough for it to be two lanes and safe to operate by bicyclists. That said, many individual bicyclists such as myself choose not to ride on this highway. For me, it is primarily because drivers choose to speed excessively. The engineers who build roads nationwide use the same parameters to build highways, and thousands of bicyclists are currently sharing rural roads all over the U.S. But really, how many bicycle tours use this route? None, really. It's a 3,000-foot heart-pounding climb in tropical heat. No pleasure-seeking bicycle tour guests (i.e., Backroads) would be conditioned to attempt this climb. Are they even carrying enough fluids for such a grueling endurance test? I drive this route twice or three times per week and in over nine years I've only once seen a large group of bicyclists, which I clearly remember out of sheer curiosity as a competitive athlete. Where did they come from? We're talking about Ironman type athletes riding up the mountain in a large, scattered group of 20-30 riders. To be clear. Once. In nine years. I researched here and found that no bicycle tour groups have Kohala Mountain Road on schedule. Backroad's regular route doesn't use it. What does Backroads use? They provide meal vouchers to guests, and their customers buy food and gifts in Hawi at local establishments employing dozens of residents. Other Non-Vehicle Users Exist I know of several ultra-running competitions over these roadways and a round-the-island cultural run that honors a traditional Hawaiian god, Lono. I've personally encountered runners, distracted utility inspectors, ignorant sightseers, and even loose cattle on Kohala Mountain Road. The point is that, as noted by the council member, there are statutes in Hawaii that do not allow laws that ban users other than motor vehicles from public roadways. It seems like this legislation won't satisfy vehicle drivers and won't make bicyclists who will continue to use these streets any safer. Rather, we should address this important matter through the lens of bicycling safety instead. Are the numerous gripes about encountering bicycles on the mountain road really about safety, or is it an issue of desired driving speeds over the legal limit of 35 mph? Bicycle Safety is an Imperative Bicycle safety comes from the concerted effort of government to create awareness by drivers. For drivers, sharing the road begins with the understanding that bicyclists and motorcyclists have the same rights as drivers. They also face unique safety challenges, such as being smaller and less visible. There is virtually no signage in Hawai'i County to advise drivers that bicyclists exist and have a right to the roads. This is entirely deficient, outdated, and clearly presents many opportunities for the emerging popularity ,. of e-bikes to create an outburst of anger - - towards the County for not clearly t .... presenting more signage and support for shared roads. Pedestrians have rights on the road, too. 4 Summary of Testimony „$ ;' '., My final comment is how this Bill puts the . : ,w,, ¢ .y r ` : r County at risk of future litigation. Yes, there hasn't been litigation in Maui's legislation since implementing their bicycle tour ban. Still, as previously mentioned, there was widespread support there to do something to stop island visitors from getting injured or killed. The road downhill from a popular national park doesn't have a constituency of residents who must ride a bicycle to work. To wit, drafting this Bill as including 'unguided' tours introduces thorny questions. How does this get implemented? Many individuals ride together in groups for social activity and safety from speeding, aggressive drivers. Does this Bill encourage traffic stops by police officers to verify compliance? Or will bicyclists now be monitored by citizens who feel more emboldened to supervise and chase fellow resident bicyclists off public roads? If we give in to efforts to censor and limit part of our growing community of non-vehicle bicyclists who need and want to safely share the road with motor vehicles and access these streets, what else will we see?The real effort of this council should be to create more awareness of bicycling as a legal occupant of our roads. If the council prefers to sign this law, it should be amended to include visibility signage to clearly show all users that non-vehicle residents can legally share the roadways. 111P1111 agar- Additionally, the bill 111,. should be amended to clearly state how this law will bed implemented so that enforcement efforts, N)•• O for fairness do not infringe upon the rights of private citizens, and to insure that the County does not pay the price of future risky litigation. This Bill resulted from a few outspoken residents who do not like to share the County road and not from documented proof of bicycle tour customers being injured or killed during their journey(i.e., the Haleakala, Maui circumstances). The Bill doesn't seem allowable and conflicts with State statutes governing the shared use of public roadways. The final image above is that of what is known as `Sharrow' signage. This is another example of a very cost-effective method to elevate awareness of shared roadways on Kohala Mountain Road and Akone Pule Highway to the Pololu lookout. As noted, there's no way of stopping individuals from riding bicycles on public roads. So why not accept this as a fact and instead make riding a bicycle safer by elevating awareness to the people responsible for bicyclist deaths, drivers?