Pacifica Municipal Code Art. 17 Bicycles, Skateboards, Mopeds, and Roller Skates

The City finds and declares that the provisions of this article are enacted to establish specific local regulations governing the operation of bicycles, roller skates, skateboards, and mopeds on the roadways and sidewalks of the City, which regulations shall supplement the provisions of Section 4-1.11 of Chapter 1 of this title which apply the general traffic laws of the State and the City to bicycles.

(§ 1, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)

The intent of this article is to provide reasonable safety regulations to promote the safety of those persons using bicycles, skateboards, and the like in the City, to prevent hazardous conflicts between pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the sidewalks and parking lots and in the business districts of the City, and, due to the particular danger to users, to provide specific use regulations for skateboards and roller skates.

(§ 1, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)

For the purposes of this article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases used in this article are defined as follows:

(a) "Bicycle" shall mean any device upon which a person may ride, which is propelled by human power through a system of belts, chains, or gears, having two (2) or three (3) wheels in tandem or tricycle arrangement.

(b) "Skateboard" shall mean a single platform, mounted on wheels, which is propelled solely by human power.

(c) "Moped" or "motorized bicycle" shall be defined as set forth in Section 406 of the Vehicle Code of the State.

(d) "Roller skate" shall mean a form of skate worn on the foot with four (4) wheels or rollers for self-propulsion.

(§ 1, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)

No bicycle, skateboard, moped, motorized bicycle, roller skate, or similar device may be ridden, operated, or used upon any sidewalk in any commercial district of the City, including the C-1, C-2, C-3, C-1-A, O, and C-R Zones established by Chapter 4 of Title 9 of this Code.

(§ 1, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)

It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or ride a skateboard, roller skates, or other similar device upon any public street within the City in violation of the following restrictions:

(a) Such use shall not occur upon any street or roadway in any area zoned for commercial use in the City.

(b) Such use shall not occur after sunset nor before sunrise.

(c) Such use shall not occur where the volume or speed of vehicular traffic or the width of the roadway renders the roadway unsafe or unsuitable for such use.

(d) Such use shall occur as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable.

(e) No person riding a skateboard or roller skates shall attach such device or person to any other vehicle.

(f) No person shall ride a skateboard or roller skates when approaching or upon the crest of a grade or a curve where the person's view is obstructed within such distance so as to create a hazard from an approaching motor vehicle.

(g) Such use shall not occur upon any structure or lot in any commercial district, whether publicly or privately owned, which is designed or used to accommodate the parking of motorized vehicles.

(h) No more than one person shall operate or ride on a skateboard at one time.

(i) Skateboard and roller skate operators shall yield the right-of-way to all vehicular and pedestrian traffic upon sidewalks.

(j) Except as provided in this section, any person riding a skateboard or roller skates shall be subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle under the Vehicle Code of the State, except those provisions which, by their very nature, can have no application.

(§ I, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)

(a) Any person convicted of a violation of any provision of this article shall be deemed guilty of an infraction and may be punished by a fine not to exceed Fifty and no/100ths ($50.00) Dollars, by the impoundment of the offender's device by the Department of Public Safety for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days, or a combination thereof.

(b) Where this article has been violated by persons under the age of eighteen (18) years, in lieu of a fine and in lieu of filing charges in juvenile court, the Director of Public Safety or his duly appointed representative may issue a written warning to the violator, notify the parents of the violator of his or her offense, and require any of the following, or a combination thereof:

(1) That the parents of the violator deprive the violator of the use of the offender's bicycle, skateboard, roller skates, moped, or similar device for a period not to exceed thirty (30) days;

(2) That the offender read this article and submit to the Department of Public Safety a composition about the safe use of his or her device; and

(3) That the offender take an examination on the safe use of his or her device.

(§ 1, Ord. 481-C.S., eff. May 27, 1987)