The continual presence of unruly juveniles on bicycles ignoring traffic laws and impeding vehicles prompted Ceres City Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra to bring it to the council’s attention last week.

“I’ve had a lot of community reach out to me,” said Vierra. “I was involved and saw one of the incidents with the bikes this weekend and the response as well as an hour later they were on Service Road between Walmart and In-N-Out where my daughter got stuck while they were darting in and out, even approaching her car trying to do a wheelie as she was trying to get to the freeway. That is very scary, especially in that intersection where we’re seeing 17 million cars a year. Just driving on the wrong side of the road, not paying attention to traffic lights just really concerns me and I was really kind of surprised.”

She also questioned the effectiveness of the recently adopted ordinance to crack down on the problem.

“I don’t know how many bicycles we’ve confiscated but this seems to be a pattern,” Vierra stated. “And I know Manteca just released their numbers that their ordinance seems to be effective. I don’t know how effective this is. And then are we able to take steps? Because we do have the fines, they have to pay the fines. Do have a way of collecting those fines? So those are some of my concerns here.”

In December the council unanimously amended Ceres Municipal Code to add title “Section 10.05.120 – “Organized, Planned or Street Take Over” and penalties.

The police chief said bicyclists must follow the same California Vehicle Code as do those who drive vehicles. One common bike offense is blowing through stop signs and red lights and improper lane usage.

Juveniles who are caught are issued a citation and their parents notified. The new ordinance allows an officer to impound the bike for 30 days at fines of $250 for the first impound, $500 for the second, $750 for the third and $1,000 for the fourth or subsequent impounds.

One provision of the code allows the Police Department to refer minors 16 years of age or younger, who violate any part of this ordinance or a related Vehicle Code section, to a Saturday bicycle safety course.

The new ordinance outlaws bike riding at any sponsored event where the street has been closed to vehicle traffic, such as the Ceres Street Faire or opening night of Christmas Tree Lane.

Vierra announced that the first town hall offered by the Ceres Unified School District next school year will be on the subject of bicycle safety. There are also plans to hold a bike rodeo in the Ceres Community Center parking lot.

Vierra said the city will be providing informational flyers at the Concerts in the Park intended to make people aware of the city’s new bicycle ordinance.

Chief Trenton Johnson thinks word of the passage of the new bike law has been effective in staving off any future bike takeovers.

“Word got out and I think it’s been colder,” said Johnson.

He said one or two bikes have been seized since the new local law went into effect.

A big problem for Ceres Police is that officer staffing is sometimes not strong during weekends.

“If we get a bike takeover we have to rely on outside help and we can’t count on that all the time for bicyclists,” the police chief said.

Another problem is how takeover groups will scatter when an officer approaches.

Still, he suggests that folks who see takeovers should report to Ceres Police non-emergency number rather than first post on social media.

“We won’t respond if it’s not called in so my thing is let us know. We will get officers out there if we have officers available.”

Last year a large group of bicyclists riding through Ceres prompted action by the Modesto Police and its airplane unit as well as the Sheriff’s Department.

“As it gets warmer and more people are out and about, we do have some operations planned and hopefully we’ll line up for when some of these happen but they’re so hit-and-miss. There’s not a lot of intelligence to say this is gonna happen for us to do a targeted approach.”

Johnson feels bike takeovers were born of the pandemic lockdown of 2020 and 2021. He said while it started with “legitimate” organized bike outings to cope with isolation, somehow it evolved into lawless behavior in the absence of adult supervision.

“It really comes down to all these kids have parents and they are not paying close attention,” Johnson said. “Their kids are out doing these things in the community and they’re not being stopped by the parents.”

Many of the actions of some on bikes defies common sense, the chief commented.

“They frustrate me too as a citizen. They swerve right at your car and then swerve out of the way at the last second – they’re going to get hurt and it’s not the fault of the driver; the kid on the bike is going to be found at fault.”

Johnson theorized that if Ceres Police could seize the bikes and write tickets for a group of 70, “the next weekend it could be a different group dealing with the same thing. We just don’t have the staffing in Ceres to deal with that.”

Sharrie Sprouse, program coordinator with the Stanislaus County Bike and Pedestrian Safety Program within the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, said she is working with the city of Ceres and Ceres Unified School District to conduct a bike rodeo whereby safety practices would be instilled in kids, especially among junior high school age students.

Sprouse said the county offers bike safety workshops primarily in afterschool programs. The agency has other programs like the April 29 Walk and Roll to School Day in Hughson and an afterschool bike rodeo later that day.