Hawthorne Press Tribune
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 61, No. 23 - June 6, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Calendar of Events.............2
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.......................7
Wiseburn School Board.....3
Classifieds............................3
Entertainment......................5
Hawthorne Happenings....2
Lawndale..............................4
Legals............................. 4,6,7
Pets........................................8
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
AM Clouds/
PM Sun
67˚/60˚
Saturday
Partly
Cloudy
68˚/61˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
69˚/62˚
The Weekly Newspaper of Hawthorne
Dana Students Earn First Place
Science Award at Herndon Event
Dana Middle School Students recently received the First Place Science Experiment Award at the Aerospace Corporation’s 42nd Herndon Science Competition with their exhibit “Algae Bloom Detection Using
Low Cost Underwater Robots.” In the photo from left: Alonzo Prater (Aerospace Corporation), Adam Tittle, Michael Consolazio, Joseph Beard, Matthew Banuelos, Logan Padilla (Dana Middle School), Oliver
Ambrosia (Aerospace Corporation) Photo: Aerospace Corporation
Local Lawmaker’s E-Scooter Bill
Offers Path Forward for Cruisers
By Rob McCarthy
Legislation to regulate electric scooter rentals
offers them a chance to operate again in
South Bay cities, some which have banned
the motorized boards over liability and safety
concerns. Supporters think that Assemblyman
Al Muratsuchi has struck the proper balance
between protecting cities from lawsuits and
being opened-minded about a new technology.
Scooters and bikes for rent are popular
with office employees and tourists for short
trips. The bill requires rideshare companies,
including Bird, Lime and L.A-based Wheels,
to work with cities before launching operations.
The Consumer Attorneys of California
supports the attempt to regulate e-scooters
and bikes and the “Wild West” nature of
the business.
The attorneys don’t consider the state protections
a huge burden, calling them minimal.
One of those protections is to set a limit on
how much insurance the scooter companies
must carry before they approach local governments
to enter their zones. “E-scooters and
bikes have appeared in major California cities
often overnight,” and left cities and counties
“in the dust as they attempt to catch up and
create regulations,” the consumer attorneys
group said. The chaotic rollout of e-scooters
led to a “patchwork of conflicting laws and
regulations” that needs continuity, according
to the group the filed its remarks in support
of AB 1286. The State Assembly approved
the bill on May 3.
The State Senate must approve the bill yet,
and the governor sign it for the e-scooter
regulations to become law. The scooter and
bike operators themselves are divided on
the idea of being regulated in California.
Three operators of mobility devices oppose
restrictions while three are neutral, according
to Muratsuchi’s office.
Short trips under 10 miles account for a
majority of the travel by car done by local
residents and commuters, according to the
South Bay Cities Council of Governments
that studies transportation trends. The
council is drawing up a map of low-speed
corridors in the South Bay, which would
be safe routes for e-scooters and bikes to
travel. The goal of regional transportation
planners is to ease traffic congestion and
gridlock by promoting access to bus and
Metro lines in the hopes that more drivers
will use public transportation.
The scooter and bike companies would be
required to carry liability insurance in case of
accident, injury and damage under the proposed
legislation. The general liability policy
must cover at least $1 million per event. A
company must be insured for $5 million or
more against multiple crashes and mishaps,
and must cover injuries and damage claims
made by the person riding the e-scooter or
bike when the crashed occurred, according
to the bill.
A city or county that authorizes a provider
to operate within its jurisdiction on or after
January 1 next year must adopt rules regarding
the use of e-scooters and bikes before a
provider can offer them for rent. Local rules
must cover the operation, parking, maintenance
and safety of the devices within the city or
county limits, under the law.
E-scooters are a “last mile” transportation
option and they give access to bus and Metro
lines to people living in traditionally underserved
communities, Muratsuchi noted. The
regulations in his bill reflect the approach taken
successfully by Santa Monica, he believes,
and create guiding principles and financial
obligations for the free-wheeling industry.
“California has been in the forefront of
consumer protection with emerging technologies
such as our first-in-the-nation insurance
requirements for transportation network
companies such as Uber and Lyft,” the assemblyman
said. Companies that offer shared
mobility devices are already complying with
minimum insurance requirements in cities
like San Francisco and Santa Monica. “This
bill would codify these regulations to create
a uniform statewide standard, require basic
safety standards, and prohibit waivers of
rights to protect riders,” Muratsuchi added.
As noted, three of the rideshare operators
in the state oppose the restrictions on how
and where e-scooters are permitted to go.
A group called the Civil Justice Association
of California opposes this bill over a
concern it will lead to more lawsuits against
See E-Scooter, page 6