The Antelope Valley Times

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Bicycle and pedestrian safety operation planned for Lancaster this Thursday

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PALMDALE – Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies will conduct a traffic safety operation in Lancaster from 2 to 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8, authorities announced.

Deputies will be on the lookout for dangerous driver behaviors that put pedestrians and bicyclists at risk, including speeding, making illegal turns, failing to yield or to provide the right of way to bicyclists or pedestrians, and failing to stop for signs and signals, sheriff’s officials said.

“We all have places to be and not everyone gets there by car,” Sgt. Robert Hill 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 the following tips for pedestrians, drivers, and bicyclists to 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. To make it easier for drivers to see you, wear light colors or 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.
  • Travel in the same direction of traffic and apply the same requirements as any slow-moving vehicle.
  • To 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 the bicycle and pedestrian safety operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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9 comments for "Bicycle and pedestrian safety operation planned for Lancaster this Thursday"

  1. People in AV drive like they are the main character in a video game, utterly selfish and constantly distracted with their phones. Always speeding and illegally parking. The only safe time to bike is before morning rush hour and even then always some risk that a random drunk, distracted, senile driver will hit you.

  2. Back then I was taught by the DMV to ride my bike in the opposite lane to see exactly what’s in front of me and better avoid potential head trauma from a reckless vehicle behind me. After all, its 2 tons versus 200 pounds. I’m still paranoid riding my bike with the flow of traffic. Unfortunately, the police aren’t really around when idiot drivers are around me. That’s my luck.

  3. I know people have to go places, living the daily grind while trying to make it on time, but certain people don’t respect people the way that they themselves want and DEMAND respect. They believe that driving is a right rather than a privilege and damn whoever gets in their way or slows them down. It’s like they take it as a threat, or a challenge and they devalue whatever or wherever the person in front of them is venturing too whether on foot, bike or vehicle. Just the other day I got blamed for damaging a persons front bumper after she hit me on my bike even though I had the right to cross the intersection. She could have killed me while attempting a right turn, did not acknowledge my presence, and yet she was worried about her bumper that got scratched because of my bike pedals. Stay in your lane [removed]!!! If they don’t have law enforcement breathing down their necks, they are extremely likely to impose their sickle and animal stigma on the very roads our loved ones venture on… Kinda like what they are already doing on our publics streets and neighborhoods and local markets. Thanks Obama and Biden.

    • WTF do Obama and Biden have to do with it? Note that the person that hit you was expressing the “never say you’re sorry, never take responsibility” approach espoused and exemplified by Trump…and expressed by Fredsie below.

      • Illusions of grandeur can affect one’s judgement on the road. Lordy help us if they’re taking out their political frustrations on the road as well… which I’m sure they will be in 2024.

        • Again, when it comes to turning political frustrations into violent behavior, that’s primarily a Trumpist trait.

          • Interesting point. So, Trumpist traits are responsible for the L.A. Riots in the 90’s along with the crack cocaine epidemic in urban cities along with BLM aggression. It seems that MAGA was hip before it was popular.