Yesterday, Next brought you video of a truck driver maliciously and intentionally driving over every bollard on the 23rd Street Protected bikeway. Within hours of the story being posted, Councilmember Dan Hall wrote on his Instagram post about the video that the driver has been caught and his truck towed.
Next has reached out to the SMPD for more information, and will update this story if we here more.
For those just joining us….
A driver crashed through the plastic bollards protecting Santa Monica’s 23rd Street bike lane over the weekend, highlighting concerns about whether the city’s current barriers provide enough protection for people riding bicycles. Video of the August 9 incident, recorded by a local resident, shows the driver striking the bollards before leaving the area. The resident said they contacted police but did not receive a follow-up about the video.
The incident is not isolated. Another Santa Monica resident reported seeing a vehicle parked on top of a bollard in downtown, with the barrier bent underneath the car. While plastic bollards are inexpensive and relatively easy to install, bicycle advocates have long argued that more substantial barriers are needed to protect bike lanes from vehicles.
Santa Monica installed the 23rd Street protected bike lane in December 2021, using plastic bollards and green pavement to separate cyclists from traffic. The corridor had previously received conventional bike lanes around 2017 and is part of the city’s broader effort to build a network of protected bicycle facilities. The recent damage raises the question of whether the city should upgrade the corridor with more durable protection, such as rigid plastic barriers or concrete.
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