Santa Maria has never exactly been known as a bike-friendly city, but the police department is taking action to change that.
Starting on Nov. 22, the Santa Maria Police Department (SMPD) implemented new enforcement operations for bike and pedestrian safety. Enforcement will focus on collision-causing factors involving motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists, according to a news release from the department.
In the past three years, SMPD has investigated more than 300 such collisions, 10 of which were fatal. The department has tracked the most common locations for pedestrian and bike collisions in that time, and extra officers will patrol those areas as part of the new enforcement operations.
“Officers will be looking for violations made by drivers, bike riders, and pedestrians alike that can lead to life-changing injuries,” SMPD’s news release said.
It said officers will direct special attention toward dangerous violations including drivers:
- • speeding;
- • making illegal turns;
- • failing to stop for stop signs and signals;
- • failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
Officers will stop and cite cyclists who “fail to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists,” as well as pedestrians who jaywalk or fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way.
The extra enforcement comes from a $293,000 grant provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety, and it’s the first of seven operations that will focus on bicycle and pedestrian safety in Santa Maria over the next year.
This article appears in Nov 24 – Dec 1, 2016.
