Pat Hines

I would like to respond to the letter (Aug. 17) regarding the need for school bicycle safety education. Bicycling in the Los Angeles area has grown tremendously over the last year. Thousands of adults and children utilize the bicycle for recreation and transportation, and, unfortunately, along with the increase of bike riders there has been an increase of accidents. The city of Los Angeles and the Department of Transportation have recognized the need for bicycle education and for the last three years have funded a bicycle safety program called Bike Moves.

The sunny, warm day aboard the city sanitation vessel Marine Surveyor was shaping up as picture-perfect Friday as the boat cruised the waters off Santa Monica--until a paper toilet seat cover floated by. And so it goes in the campaign to persuade people that Santa Monica Bay is safe for swimming.

Just two weeks ago, city officials urged swimmers to go back into the water in Santa Monica Bay, but world-class swimmer Pat Hines said her experience last weekend shows that the bay can be hazardous to a swimmer's health. Hines, a supporter of the Heal the Bay organization, said she plans to distribute 5,000 flyers at Santa Monica beaches this weekend warning that people could get sick from swimming in the water.

Just two weeks ago, city officials urged swimmers to go back into the water in Santa Monica Bay, but world-class swimmer Pat Hines said her experience last weekend shows that the bay can be hazardous to a swimmer's health. Hines, a supporter of the Heal the Bay organization, said she plans to distribute 5,000 flyers at Santa Monica beaches this weekend warning that people could get sick from swimming in the water.

The sunny, warm day aboard the city sanitation vessel Marine Surveyor was shaping up as picture-perfect Friday as the boat cruised the waters off Santa Monica--until a paper toilet seat cover floated by. And so it goes in the campaign to persuade people that Santa Monica Bay is safe for swimming.

Almost 1,000 swimmers are expected to compete in the 21st Seal Beach Rough Water Swim July 23. Defending champions Jim McConica and Pat Hines will be among 70 swimmers taking part in the featured 10-mile race, which begins at 6 a.m. at Huntington Beach Pier and will end at Seal Beach. McConica of Ventura won the men's division and Hines of Santa Monica won the women's division last year. In addition to the 10-mile race, a one- and three-mile swim will begin at 8 a.m.

George Rico's message on bicycle safety probably carried more weight at Morningside Elementary School than at other schools on his schedule. Two weeks ago, Morningside fifth-grader Frankie Pinuelas, 9, was killed in a bicycle accident. He was not wearing a helmet. Frankie was a passenger on a bike that overturned while rolling down a steep dirt hill in Pacoima.

An estimated 100,000 Los Angeles students walked to school with their parents Wednesday to mark National Walk a Child to School Day. Two San Fernando Valley schools, Strathern Street Elementary in North Hollywood and Noble Avenue Elementary in North Hills, made particularly strong showings. "At Noble there were hundreds," said Los Angeles Unified School District administrator Carole Takaki, one of the event organizers.

I would like to respond to the letter (Aug. 17) regarding the need for school bicycle safety education. Bicycling in the Los Angeles area has grown tremendously over the last year. Thousands of adults and children utilize the bicycle for recreation and transportation, and, unfortunately, along with the increase of bike riders there has been an increase of accidents. The city of Los Angeles and the Department of Transportation have recognized the need for bicycle education and for the last three years have funded a bicycle safety program called Bike Moves.

When a car threw Phillip Le off his bicycle last month, he became the first child in the county seriously injured in a bike accident. He also became the first to be saved by the state's bicycle helmet law. On Tuesday, the Fire Department paramedics who treated Le that morning teamed up with police officers and a bicycle safety group to reward the 10-year-old for wearing a helmet.

A children's bicycle safety program has been saved from its own crash by a last-minute grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Safe Moves, a nonprofit organization that stages safety demonstrations at schoolyards across Los Angeles County, will receive a $231,000 allocation for the fiscal year that starts today, officials said Friday. MTA administrators had disclosed plans last month to terminate Safe Move's funding.