Traffic operations planned in Modesto throughout August

The Modesto Police Department is conducting a variety of operations through August geared toward traffic safety.

Bicycle and pedestrian safety, motorcycle safety and distracted driving will be the focus of about a half-dozen operations that start Saturday.

The Modesto Police Department will conduct specialized motorcycle safety and distracted driving enforcement operations Saturday, and again on Thursday.

Extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas frequented by motorcyclists and where motorcycle crashes occur. Officers will be looking for violations made by drivers and riders alike that can lead to motorcycle crashes.

Motorcycle fatalities saw a drop of 37 percent from 2008 to 2010, but then rose 23 percent by 2012, according to a news release from the Modesto Police Department.

On the same days of the motorcycle operation, offices also will look for drivers who are talking or texting on their cellphones or participating in other forms of distracted drivers. In 2012, 3,328 people were killed and 421,000 were injured nationwide in crashes involving a distracted driver, according to the release.

Beginning Monday, officers also will conduct a series of bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement. The operation will continue Tuesday, and a third will be held Aug. 31.

Enforcement will be focused in school zones where officers will be looking for collision-causing factors involving motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

The department has mapped out locations over the past year where pedestrian and bike collisions have occurred, along with the violations that led to those crashes.

This year four of the six fatal collisions in Modesto involved pedestrians.

This story was originally published August 7, 2015 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Traffic operations planned in Modesto throughout August."