Cycle safety committee en route for Newport Beach

On the heels of the third fatal bicycle accident in a year, the Newport Beach City Council is looking to create a permanent bicycle safety committee to oversee cycling routes, safety and education.

The council will take up the issue at Tuesday’s meeting.

The committee would start where the city’s bicycle safety task force left off: putting into motion a series of recommendations to make Newport Beach more bicycle-friendly among vehicle traffic.

A task force on cycling safety issued its report to the council in May, recommending that officials create more bike lanes, a map of cycling routes in the city and raise public awareness of bicycle laws in regards to vehicle traffic.

The resolution to create the committee does not offer any ways to fund the committee, though, so city staff recommend keeping the city’s help to a minimum once it’s formed.