Houston's new police chief is pledging to enforce a safety ordinance that requires motorists to stay at least 3 feet from bicyclists and pedestrians - an effort advocates say is overdue since fewer than three dozen citations have been issued in the past 21/2 years.

Enforcing the 2013 ordinance was always considered an uphill battle, but Chief Art Acevedo says a new radar device attached to bicycles will help police enforce the safe passing law.

"Even limited enforcement helps shine a light on this," said Neil Bremner, co-owner of Bike Barn and chairman of Houston B-Cycle's board of directors. "This is a big city with a lot of crime and a police force that is understaffed and working hard; I appreciate what they are doing every day and any attention to enforcement of this law is appreciated by all cyclists."

Four years ago when the law was signed, police, cycling advocates and then-mayor Annise Parker conceded it would be tough to enforce. Still, when zero tickets were written in the first seven months the law was in effect, cyclists condemned the city's efforts. A handful of tickets and a sting operation after a high-profile fatality along Waugh led to 11 citations in the law's first 20 months.

Since then, there has been an uptick, though citations remain very rare. In 2015, 16 citations were issued, according to Houston Municipal Court records. Nine citations were written in 2016.

As of June 30, police had issued 10 citations this year, five within Loop 610 and five outside the freeway.

Being 'more aggressive'

Of the 35 citations written since Jan. 1, 2015, a dozen of them were written by five Houston police officers, meaning one-third of the safe passing citations issued in Houston were written by one-one-thousandth of the department's roughly 5,000 sworn officers.

"We are ramping things up for safety purposes," Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday, saying he supported police "getting more aggressive in their enforcement."

In the past four months, Houston Police - led by Acevedo - have made cycling safety a priority in coordination with advocates such as BikeHouston. The group partnered with police and Clear Channel Outdoors for 20 billboards urging bike safety. Billboards began going up in June.

Bremner said although the number of tickets "may not appear that a lot of progress is being made," he believes police are improving enforcement and rightly focusing on education via the billboards and public awareness campaigns.

Still, bicyclists note problems remain where police can do more. In a blog post Monday, BikeHouston Executive Director John Long criticized police regarding a July 26 incident in which the driver of a pickup struck a cyclist riding in a bike lane at Heights Boulevard and Interstate 10.

Police "arrived to investigate and determined that the driver was at fault," Long wrote. "Even so, no ticket was issued. This is wrong. BikeHouston is pressing (Acevedo) to make good on his pledge to issue citations when drivers endanger cyclists and break traffic laws. This means re-orienting traffic officers and the vehicular crimes division."

Comprehensive review

Despite bumps, many are pointing to better relations between police and the cycling community. Critical Mass, a monthly ride that can draw thousands of bike riders, has operated more smoothly since police were included in discussions. Acevedo, who came to Houston with a strong reputation of working with Austin cyclists, also has exceeded his peers in terms of addressing cycling laws and educating motorists.

Though cyclists often point to a need for better infrastructure, even that is improving, with the passage of an updated Houston Bike Plan in March. Efforts now are on making the changes suggested by the bike plan a reality.

"A top-to-bottom review of street and road designs is in order, as are comprehensive reviews of enforcement mechanisms," said Michael Skelly, a cyclist and advocate. "Other cities around the world have made inroads, but not without the right combination of leadership and sweating the details."