Motorcycle, Bike, Pedestrian Crackdowns Underway in Orange County: HEADS UP!

ORANGE COUNTY, CA – The Orange County Sheriff’s Department is conducting two specialized efforts this weekend -- a Motorcycle Safety Enforcement Operation beginning today looking for violations by drivers and riders that can lead to motorcycle crashes, and a Bike and Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation on Saturday and Sunday with focused enforcement on collision-causing factors involving motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

Funding for these programs are provided by grants from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The 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, and extra officers will be on duty patrolling areas where bike and pedestrian traffic crashes occur in an effort to lower deaths and injuries.

Officers will be looking for violations made by drivers, bike riders and pedestrians, alike, that can lead
to life-changing injuries. Special attention will be directed toward drivers speeding, making illegal
turns, failing to stop for signs and signals, failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks or any other
dangerous violation.

Additionally, enforcement will be taken for observed violations when pedestrians cross the street
illegally or fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way. Bike riders will be stopped and citations
issued when they fail to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists.

For motorcyclists, officers will be looking for violations made by drivers and riders that can lead to motorcycle crashes and cracking down on those operating vehicles and motorcycles who are violating traffic safety laws.

California collision data reveals that primary causes of motorcycle involved crashes include speeding, unsafe turning and impairment due to alcohol and other drugs by both riders and drivers alike. Over the past three years, motorcycle-involved collisions resulted in 288 fatal and injury crashes within Orange County Sheriff’s Department Jurisdiction.

For bikers and pedestrians, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department has investigated 759 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.

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--Patch file photo