Palo Alto, CA -- The Palo Alto Police Department will be joining other law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County for the latest “Operation Safe Passage’’ initiative. During the week of January 13 –17, an increased emphasis will be put on enforcing traffic laws around school zones. Officers in cars and motorcycles will be patrolling in the morning and afternoon hours. The emphasis is to protect children as they go to and from school and to encourage safe driving so that children and adults who choose to walk or bike, can do so in a traffic-safe environment.

Officers will be watching for stop sign and red light runners, speeders in the school zone, and pedestrian right of way violations. New this year, officers will be enforcing the children’s responsibility for wearing head protection when skating or scooting to school. Veteran motorcycle officer Chris Hammett said, “Crashes aren’t accidents. There is always some sort of vehicle code violation as cause of the collision.”

Errant motorists should not expect warnings after being stopped for an array of bad driving behavior. In September 2002’s Operation Safe Passage, 561 participating officers in Santa Clara County wrote 2,567 citations, including 1404 for speeding, 280 for running stop signs and 50 for passing a school bus; and 112 citations were issued for child restraint and seat belt violations.

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