Cape Coral Police Officers will take to the streets in the coming weeks on bicycles and in cars in the first of many High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) operations focusing on bike and pedestrian safety.

The funding for these operations is provided through a $12,480 grant from the Florida Department of Transportation for High Visibility Enforcement addressing pedestrian and bicycle safety.  This is the fourth such grant awarded to the Cape Coral Police Department by the Florida Department of Transportation.

Officers will target areas of the city where bicycle and pedestrian traffic is prevalent and will distribute educational materials, issue warnings and/or citations to pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists who violate Florida statutes.  The primary objective of this effort is to reduce traffic crashes and fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists through the use of selective traffic education and enforcement operations.

This campaign is a component of Florida’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Focused Initiative Communication & High Visibility Enforcement Implementation under the direction of the Florida Department of Transportation and the University of South Florida.

THE CAPE CORAL POLICE DEPARTMENT WANTS TO REMIND YOU THAT:

• Pedestrians should always walk on the sidewalk and if no sidewalk, walk facing traffic.
• Pedestrians and bicyclists should not wear headphones or talk on their cell phones.  
• Pedestrians and bicyclists should cross streets at marked crosswalks or intersections when possible and obey traffic signals such as WALK/DON’T WALK signs.
• Bicyclists should have their bicycle equipped with a white light on the front visible from a distance of 500 feet and a red light visible from a distance of 600 feet, between sunset and sunrise during operation.
• Bicyclists operating on the roadway are subject to obeying all traffic control devices to include stop signs and lighted traffic signals.
• Bicyclists operating upon a sidewalk or crosswalk shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian.

SOME UNSAFE DRIVER BEHAVIOR ASSOCIATED WITH PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE VIOLATIONS, CRASHES AND FATALITIES INCLUDE:

• Speeding (5 MPH can make the difference between types of injuries)
• Failure to stop for red lights or stop signs
• Failure to yield to pedestrians and bicyclists
• Distracted driving
• Blocking crosswalks
• Turning on permitted light (green signal) but not looking for pedestrian properly crossing in a crosswalk -Right and Left turn crashes with pedestrians.

Information based on the following Florida State Statutes F.S.S. 316.130 Pedestrians; traffic regulations (1 through 18) and F.S.S. 316.2065 Bicycle regulations (1 through 19).