Enforcement

Law enforcment can be a pedestrians best friend. Police enforcment can be more expensive than traffic calming but it can help enforce traffic laws.

Enforcement Data

Operation Safe Passage (Santa Clara County) Local Police Departments work with the CHP in Santa Clara County for “Operation Safe Passage’’ initiatives. During the specific weeks, an increased emphasis is put on enforcing traffic laws around school zones. Officers in cars and motorcycles patrol in the morning and afternoon hours. The emphasis is to protect children as they go to and from school and to encourage safe driving so that children and adults who choose to walk or bike, can do so in a traffic-safe environment.

Officers watching for stop sign and red light runners, speeders in the school zone, and pedestrian right of way violations. Errant motorists should not expect warnings after being stopped for an array of bad driving behavior. In September 2002’s Operation Safe Passage, 561 participating officers in Santa Clara County wrote 2,567 citations, including 1404 for speeding, 280 for running stop signs and 50 for passing a school bus; and 112 citations were issued for child restraint and seat belt violations.

 

Double Fine School Zone Speed Limits

Oakland…..

Pedestrian Stings

El Cerrito Police Department, in an effort to educate the driving public and increase pedestrian safety has stepped up enforcement of pedestrian right-of-way violations. On Wednesday April 11th, 2001 a decoy officer was deployed as a pedestrian using the crosswalk located on San Pablo Avenue at Madison Avenue between 6:00 PM and 11:00 PM, during which time patrol officers issued approximately 50 citations for failure to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian.

Manteca crosswalk sting,  Back-seat driver: Crosswalk sting catches 64 unyielding drivers  January 31, 2005, Sacramento Bee.  Police cadets in Manteca went undercover last week for an operation that lightened the wallets of dozens of drivers but may have made the town a little safer for pedestrians.   As cars approached, decoys would cautiously step into the crosswalk, making it clear they intended to exercise their right to get to the other side.   If a motorist speeded up or switched lanes to get by -- basically refusing to yield the right of way -- officers ticketed them.   The one-day total: 64 tickets, some for as much as $271.   "Some of them were just paying no attention to the pedestrians,"Lt. Mike Cook said. "They'd just drive right through."  Others, it seemed, saw the pedestrians in plenty of time, and took it as a challenge to speed up to claim the right to go through first.  Cook said the decoys made a point of getting into the crosswalk in plenty of time for the cars to see them and slow down. "They didn't step out at the last second."  Crosswalks used were at spots where there were no traffic signals  or stop signs. Some were near schools and residences.  Manteca police say they are pleased with how it worked out, and plan to conduct a few more of these operations.

 

Red Light Running Cameras

San Francisco

The Red Light Photo Enforcement Program began enforcement in October 1996, and issued more than 25,000 citations in the first five years.

The Program is expanding from the original pilot project of five cameras rotated among five intersections, to 27 cameras rotated among 36 intersections. This expansion effort is funded by the City and County of San Francisco through fines collected from red light violators, the California Department of Transportation, the Moscone Center Expansion Project, and donations from the Chronicle Publishing Co. Fines from red light violators also fund the Department of Public Health's "Stop Red Light Running" campaign and other pedestrian safety publicity efforts.

 

Speed Cameras