Santa Rosa police conduct bike and pedestrian safety enforcement operation

Santa Rosa police officers are scheduled to conduct a traffic enforcement operation in the north end of the city today, a daylong effort aimed at reducing the number of cycling and pedestrian deaths.

Police said extra officers will patrol areas with a history of pedestrian and bike-related crashes. Officers will be on the lookout for drivers speeding, making illegal turns, failing to stop for signs and signals, failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks or any other dangerous violation.

Pedestrians who cross the street illegally or fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way will also be targeted. Bike riders will be stopped for not obeying the same traffic laws that apply to motorists, police said.

Police said bike and pedestrian fatalities are on the rise across the state. Locally, police have investigated seven fatal collisions involving pedestrians during the past three years. In 2013, California had 701 pedestrians and 141 bicyclists killed, accounting for more than 28 percent of all traffic fatalities.

-Martin Espinoza