The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will conduct a traffic safety operation on, April 17th from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. focused on the most dangerous driver behaviors that put the safety of people biking or walking at risk.
These violations include speeding, making illegal turns, failing to yield or provide right of way to bicyclists or pedestrians, or failing to stop for signs and signals.
“We all have places to be and not everyone gets there by car,” Sergeant Michael Lennig said. “Bicyclists and pedestrians have the same rights to the road but face even more risk without the protections vehicles have. We should all be looking out for one another.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department offers steps drivers and pedestrians can take to greatly reduce the risk of getting injured or in a crash:
Pedestrians
- Be predictable. Use crosswalks, when available.
- Take notice of approaching vehicles and practice due care.
- Do not walk or run into the path of a vehicle. At 30 mph, a driver needs at least 90 feet to stop.
- Be visible. Make it easy for drivers to see you – wear light colors, reflective material and carry a flashlight, particularly at dawn, dusk or at night.
- Be extra careful crossing streets or entering crosswalks at night when it is harder to see, or when crossing busier streets with more lanes and higher speed limits.
Drivers
- Follow the speed limit and slow down at intersections. Be prepared to stop for pedestrians at marked and unmarked crosswalks.
- Avoid blocking crosswalks while waiting to make a right-hand turn.
- Never drive impaired.
Bicyclists
- Obey traffic laws, use hand signals, use lights at night (front white light and rear red reflector), and wear a helmet.
- Bicyclists must travel in the same direction of traffic and have the same requirements as any slow-moving vehicle.
- Avoid the door zone: do not ride too closely to parked cars.
- If there’s a bike lane, use it, unless making a left turn, passing, or approaching a place where a right turn is allowed.
- Yield to pedestrians. Bicyclists must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians within marked crosswalks or within unmarked crosswalks at intersections.
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
And I should have added..it might be a really smart move to ask any willing 60’s Survivor of the 60’s….I am one, how drug use effected the average person back then. I lived in SF and Boston. I was part of the times and the lifestyle. Much has changed. But getting high or buzzed or loaded has only gotten better due to the magic of science. We are the folks the powers that be should talk to. And not all of us are afraid of the “years ago” that we lived. ‘m not.
Has anyone considered the influx of BAD drivers has something to do with Legal Cannabis? All the above is excellent advice. Having lived in pedestrian cities here and abroad, I am well versed in the rule of walking and driving populated cities. The rules haven’t changed. What has changed is the fact that a couple of tokes on joint in the car, behind the wheel, alters perception. Period. And unlike drinking and driving…still a serious problem as well, a toke is not the same. It affects each smoker differently. It alters perception. I speak from days in SF in the… Read more »
Yet the Sheriff are too cowardly to go after the gangs of 80 to 100 thugs doing street takeovers and wheelies with ATV’s and Motocross bikes up and down Fairfax. They’d rather go after easy targets. Pretty pathetic…..
Only a sliver of Fairfax is in WeHo, the rest is LAPD’s jurisdiction.
Irrelevant. His point is valid.
There are the instructions for pedestrians, for drivers, and for bicyclists… But where are the instructions for scooter riders? Even if they are the same instructions as for bicyclists, (and they may not be) shouldn’t they at least be mentioned?
Scooter riders are usually toddlers, so… Oh wait, you mean scooters in WeHo… Ok, then you have a point as it’s the only place in the world where adults aren’t embarrassed riding kids scooters in public.
Byers needs instructions, have you seen what a hazard she is on a scooter. Stop signs mean nothing to her, she races up and down the streets with no regard to basic road laws. If she drives a car the way she rides a scooter, she would be locked up in no time.
Mikie—read what I have written and let me know if it makes any sense to you?