Sarasota Police launch education patrols aimed at pedestrian, bicycle safety

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - In any given town, cars, pedestrians and bicyclists don’t always mix.

In fact, the City of Sarasota ranks in the top 25 cities in the state for traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists, the Sarasota Police Department says.

To try and improve on those numbers, Sarasota Police will be keeping a closer eye on preventing accidents between vehicles and pedestrians around town for the next year, focusing on a three high-risk areas, based on crash data:

Siesta Drive to Bahia Vista Street in the South Tamiami Trail corridor
16th Street to Myrtle Street in the North Washington Boulevard (U.S. 301) corridor
May Lane to Sylvan Drive in the North Tamiami Trail corridor

The goal of the beefed-up enforcement is to increase awareness of and compliance with traffic laws that protect the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists. Police will focus primarily on education, but violations may result in warnings or citations, depending on the circumstances.

“We’re going to work to educate every driver, pedestrian, and bicyclist to know and understand the rules of the road. The safety of our community is our number one priority,” said Officer Jason Frank of the department’s traffic unit.

The high-visibility patrols will be funded through a contract with the University of North Florida, in partnership with the Florida Department of Transportation’s focused initiative to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety.