For Immediate Release
August 24, 2016
Contact: Doug Cleavenger, Senior Code Enforcement Officer
310-456-2489 ext. 231
DCleavenger@malibucity.org [mailto:DCleavenger@malibucity.org]
Malibu Passes Ordinance Requiring Reflective Apparel for
Valets to Improve Safety on PCH
(Malibu, CA) – The City Council approved an ordinance on June 27, 2016, requiring valet parking attendants working in the public rights-of-way within the City to wear high-visibility safety apparel in order to improve safety for the attendants, their customers, and motorists on Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and other streets in Malibu.
“Valet attendants are out working on PCH while hundreds of vehicles are whizzing past with little room to spare, at high speed, often at night when visibility is already low,” said Mayor Lou La Monte. “Highly reflective apparel will help keep the valets safer while they work, and help motorists avoid them. Our priority is to do everything we can to improve safety on PCH.”
The City is partnering with the L.A. County Sheriff's Volunteers on Patrol (VOP) team on outreach efforts to local valet services and restaurants to encourage valet attendants to wear high-visibility safety apparel at all times. The ordinance applies to all valet services anywhere in the City, at restaurants as well as private events. The VOP will be visiting valet services to explain the ordinance. The City is also mailing information to valet services and restaurants directly, and distributing information about the ordinance on social media and on the City’s Code Enforcement web page at www.MalibuCity.org/CodeEnforcement [/CodeEnforcement] .
In 2012, the Malibu Public Safety Commission raised concerns about the safety of valet attendants while they are parking and retrieving vehicles along PCH. The Commission recommended an ordinance requiring valet attendants to wear high-visibility safety apparel at all times as a precondition and requirement for valet services to receive City-issued business licenses and Conditional Use Permits (CUPs).
The new ordinance was modeled after the California Department of Transportation’s Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (Cal-MUTCD), which specifies that people working in the public right-of-way who are exposed to traffic must wear high-visibility safety apparel that meets the requirements of the American National Standards Institute/International Safety Equipment Association (ANSI/ISEA).
According to the PCH Safety Study Final Report, approved by the City Council in 2015, which examined road conditions, accident patterns, and recommended ways to improve safety on PCH in Malibu, there were 19 pedestrian collisions, including six fatalities, between 2012 and 2014. The cities of Los Angeles and Austin, Texas have enacted similar ordinances aimed at enhancing safety for valet parking attendants working in the public rights-of-way.
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