The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Traffic Services Detail will conduct a Bike and Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation on Friday, May 13 in West Hollywood. The focus will be on factors that can result in collisions between motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

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 the crashes. Extra officers will patrol areas where bike and pedestrian traffic and crashes have been shown to occur.

Special attention will paid to speeding, illegal turns, failing to stop for signs and signals, and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. Additionally, pedestrians will be targeted when they cross the street illegally or fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way. Bicyclists will be cited when they fail to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists.

Bicycle and pedestrian fatalities are rising in California as more people use non-motorized transportation. Locally, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has investigated 253 fatal and injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists in the past three years. Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.