PASADENA >> A group of cyclists this week urged the City Council to enact stricter protections for bicyclists and pedestrians.

The newly formed Pasadena Complete Streets Coalition launched an online petition this week seeking an ordinance that would impose penalties for drivers who “harass” cyclists, skateboarders, pedestrians and other “vulnerable road users.” Harassment could be anything from physical assault and injury to forcing a bicyclist off the road.

“The goal is to raise awareness of cyclist and pedestrian rights to the road and to give enhanced civil protection to both those classes of road users and several others who feel that certain motorists will harass or threaten them because they are on the road,” CSC member Christopher “Qrys” Cunningham said.

The form has gotten 96 signatures since it launched last week and seeks 500 before going to the City Council.

The ordinance would levy civil penalties rather than criminal, similar to an ordinance passed in 2011 by the Los Angeles City Council.

According to the Pasadena Department of Transportation, in 2012 there were 185 collisions between a motor vehicle and a bicycle and 169 with a pedestrian. The California Office of Traffic Safety ranks Pasadena as the third worst city of its size for bicycle fatalities and injuries in 2011, when the city had 101.

Cunningham said he has heard instances of harassment are even more common.

“The most common thing is motorists shouting at bicyclists to get off the road or honking or aggressively cutting you off,” Cunningham said.

Mayor Bill Bogaard, a bicyclist himself, said he supported a better relationship between motorists and other road users as bicyclers on the road increase.

“We have some progress to make, but I am optimistic that the time has come for steady expansion of bicycle use and that as time goes by the entire community will be accepting of that and supportive,” Bogaard said.

But Jess Gilman, a retired Costa Mesa police officer who grew up coming to Pasadena, however, said he thought the law was redundant and would be difficult to enforce. As a police officer he said he did see tension between motorists and cyclists, but he doesn’t think the law will help.

“We all want to live together and share the road, but unfortunately you can’t legislate people to be nice to each other,” Gilman said.

The CSC petition comes an opportune time for bike awareness, as the city celebrated Bike to Work Day on Thursday and will culminate the annual bike week festivities on Saturday with the final leg of the Amgen Tour of California.

About 150 riders stopped by a small bike fair at City Hall on Thursday morning despite 90 degree heat. Henry Kuwahara, 53, of Chatsworth, accompanied his wife on her ride to work in Pasadena.

He said he has been riding his whole life and said he thinks that awareness about cyclists is improving in Pasadena.

“It’s becoming more bike friendly,” he said. “Especially with Amgen coming here, people are more aware of bikes.”

Alan Purnell, owner of Pasadena Cyclery, credited Pasadena residents’ environmental consciousness with boosting biking popularity. The city is in the process of creating a bike master plan to create more bike infrastructure in the community, after sending the original draft back for not being aggressive enough.

“It’s growing nationwide,” Purnell said. “Not just for the obvious fitness reasons but also it costs a lot of money to own a car so if you can take some wear and tear off that or eliminate it altogether, that’s huge.”