SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Serious crashes and traffic-related deaths have increased in San Diego, a trend the police department is hoping to reverse.
One strategy to tackle the problem is education through enforcement operations.
On Saturday officers focused on the Hillcrest and Linda Vista neighborhoods, citing drivers for speeding, making illegal turns, failing to stop for signs/signals and failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks. They also cited pedestrians crossing the street illegally or failing to yield to drivers who have the right of way.
"For me personally I really want to see the number of our serious collisions reduced because when I am on my normal shift I do go to the serious injury collisions since I work traffic division, and it's just really disheartening and sad to see people involved in preventable collisions getting seriously injured," said traffic Sgt. Robert McDonald.
McDonald says the city saw 56 fatalities in 2018, a roughly 51% increase in deaths from 2017. He says 34 of the fatalities were pedestrians.
Officers were also targeting people on scooters breaking the rules.
"I have seen more and more people riding the scooters on the street, like they're supposed to, instead of the sidewalk, but we still have a continuing problem with people riding on the sidewalk, going too fast, drinking, colliding, injuring themselves," said Sgt. McDonald.
Funding for the program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
