Crackdown on Cyclists Announced : Enforcement: Irvine police will begin a monthlong campaign, first warning then citing bicyclists who run stop lights or impede traffic while riding in groups.

IRVINE —  Bicyclists beware. The Irvine Police Department may slap you with a ticket.

After repeated complaints that cyclists who ignore stop lights or block traffic by riding in packs are hell on two wheels, Irvine police this weekend will begin a monthlong, focused crackdown on bicycle traffic violations.

“We’re going to take a very letter-of-the-law approach,” Police Lt. Al Muir said. “If you run the stop sign, you get a ticket. If you run a red light, you get a ticket.”

This weekend, a pedal patrol of two traffic officers will be deployed on Irvine streets to seek out offending bicyclists. Four officers will be deployed thereafter. While the bikers will get off with a warning this weekend, they might also wind up as unwilling stars in a police bicycle-safety videotape meant to demonstrate improper, unsafe and illegal riding practices, Muir said.

In the coming weekends, the warnings will end and a vigorous flurry of citations will begin, Muir said. The crackdown will continue every weekend through June 2, when police will evaluate its success and decide whether to continue the campaign.

News of the enforcement effort evoked anger among bicycle enthusiasts.

Jim Von Tungeln, 37, a schoolteacher and vice chairman of the city’s Bicycle Trails Committee, said city officials should attempt to expand bike trials rather than issue citations.

“Instead, they’re spending money on things like this, which is absolutely absurd,” he said. “Is that the highest priority in Irvine?”

Muir responded that the officers assigned to the special bicycle enforcement unit have had their schedules altered and will not be working overtime, so the city will not be hit with any extra costs. He said he expects the traffic officers to be met with responses such as “don’t you have something better to do” this weekend.

“It’s a very negative thing to do,” he said, “no doubt about it.”

During this weekend’s warning phase, two traffic officers will spread the word among organized bicycle clubs and issue warnings to cyclists who ride two or more abreast, fail to heed stop signs and commit other common violations. The Police Department already has written a letter to the three bicycling clubs in the Irvine area to explain the problem and warn of the crackdown.

A reserve officer in an unmarked car will videotape the violations, to be used in court if necessary and to produce a bicycle safety film showing common violations, Muir said.

Among the more dangerous violations is riding in large groups, which can slow traffic and possibly lead to accidents, said Richard T. Worcester, an Irvine traffic officer who will join the enforcement team in the coming weeks.

Last weekend, Worcester said, he waited for a red light to change at Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive as a group of 50 bicyclists ignored the light and made a wide right turn into traffic lanes.

“They were all over the street,” Worcester said, “taking up one to two lanes plus the bike lane on a three-lane road--on a red light.”

Some bicyclists, however, said that such incidents are rare and that Irvine police are overreacting to a minor problem.

Craig Wright, 27, assistant manager of Performance Bicycle Shop in Irvine and a regular cyclist, said avid bicyclists, such as members of elite racing clubs, occasionally violate traffic laws by running stop signs when cars are not approaching or riding in traffic lanes rather than bike lanes. But a crackdown on such minor violations is “ticky tacky,” he said.

But Muir said the enforcement campaign is warranted because violations are becoming increasingly severe and complaints are mounting.

“If there was a bike club in which everybody was riding two abreast and that’s all, you wouldn’t see the city taking this approach,” he said. “But we’re not seeing just two abreast, but four, five, six and seven abreast, taking up the whole street.”

Mayor Sally Anne Sheridan said that she and all City Council members regularly receive calls from irate motorists who have had to swerve to avoid large packs of bicyclists.

“They’re riding outside the lines, they’re not obeying the rules and they’re making our motorists crazy,” Sheridan said. “We’re going to educate them first and cite them second.”

Cheryl McConnell, president of the Bicycle Club of Irvine, agreed that large groups of riders can be a safety hazard.

“There are a couple of groups that are notorious for riding in large packs and taking up a whole lane of Santiago Canyon (Road),” said McConnell, whose club organizes recreational rides almost daily.