CHP to conduct pedestrian safety enforcement in North County this week
Operation planned in San Miguel and Templeton
– The California Highway Patrol Templeton Area office will conduct a pedestrian safety enforcement operation in the communities of San Miguel and Templeton on March 11.
Officers will focus on motorists who fail to yield the right-of-way or who take unsafe and illegal actions.
Pedestrian-involved crashes in California continue to be a concern for the California Highway Patrol. From January through December, provisional statistical data showed three injury crashes involving pedestrians and one fatal crash involving a pedestrian within the Templeton Area office’s jurisdiction.
The public awareness and enforcement program is intended to educate and encourage community members to develop and maintain safe practices while driving, walking, and bicycling throughout the unincorporated areas of northern San Luis Obispo County.
Officers dressed in plain clothes will cross the street while uniformed officers monitor crosswalks for motorists who fail to yield the right-of-way. Drivers stopped during the operation may receive warnings or citations.
The California Highway Patrol encourages drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists to follow basic safety practices:
• Drivers should follow the speed limit and slow down at intersections and be prepared to stop for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks.
• Drivers should avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make a right-hand turn.
• Pedestrians should use sidewalks and crosswalks whenever possible, where drivers expect to see them.
• Pedestrians should watch for approaching vehicles and practice due care. At 30 miles per hour, a driver needs at least 90 feet to stop.
• Pedestrians should look both ways before crossing and continue scanning while crossing.
• Pedestrians should wear light colors and reflective material and carry a flashlight, particularly at dawn, dusk, or at night, to make it easier for drivers to see them.
• Pedestrians should use extra caution when crossing streets or entering crosswalks at night or when crossing busier streets with multiple lanes and higher speed limits.
• Bicyclists should obey traffic laws, use hand signals, use lights at night, including a front white light and a rear red reflector, and wear a helmet.
• Bicyclists must travel in the same direction as traffic and follow the same requirements as other slow-moving vehicles.
• Bicyclists should use a bike lane when available unless making a left turn, passing, or approaching a location where a right turn is allowed.
• Bicyclists must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians in marked crosswalks and in unmarked crosswalks at intersections.
Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
