Modesto police enforcement to target pedestrian, cyclist violations

Modesto Police Department officers will be out Friday and Tuesday to conduct special enforcement regarding pedestrian and bicycle safety.

Officers will watch for violations made by drivers, bike riders and pedestrians alike. Such actions by drivers include speeding, making illegal turns, failing to stop for signs and signals and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.

Pedestrian violations include crossing streets illegally and failing to yield to drivers who have the right of way. Pedestrians are permitted to cross streets only in marked crosswalks and at corners.

Bicyclists will be cited when they fail to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists. Additionally, all riders under 18 years old are legally required to wear helmets.

The Police Department has mapped out locations over the past three years where pedestrian and bike collisions have occurred, along with the violations that led to those crashes. Extra officers will be on duty patrolling those areas.

Bicycle and pedestrian fatalities are rising in California as more people use the nonmotorized means of transportation, the department said in a news release. The MPD has investigated 39 fatal and injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists during the past three years.

In 2013, California witnessed 701 pedestrians and 141 bicyclists killed, accounting for more than 28 percent of all traffic fatalities.

This story was originally published April 12, 2017 at 12:17 PM with the headline "Modesto police enforcement to target pedestrian, cyclist violations."