SANTA MONICA—The Santa Monica Police Department will be increasing its Bike and Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation on Saturday, November 29 to prevent primary collision factors that involve motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.

The department has already identified locations in the past five years that have been prone to pedestrian and bike collisions and reasons why those accidents occurred. Additional officers will be on duty to patrol areas those bike and pedestrian collisions have occurred to decrease deaths and injuries.

Authorities will pay special attention to drivers speeding, making illegal turns failing to stop for signs and signals, failing to yield to pedestrians in cross walks and similar dangerous violations.

Officers will also be on the lookout for pedestrians who cross the street illegally or fail to yield to drivers in oncoming traffic. Bike riders can also face citations for failing to follow the same traffic laws that apply to motorists.

Bike riders are being asked to wear a helmet; riders under the age of 18 are required to wear a helmet by law and pedestrians are informed to only cross the street in marked crosswalks or at corners.

According to a press release from Sgt. Rudy Camarena of the SMPD, the department has investigated more than 874 fatal and injury collisions involving pedestrians and bicyclists in the past three years. In 2012, the state of California saw 612 pedestrian and 124 bicyclists killed. On a national level, 4,743 pedestrians and 726 bicyclists were killed that year.

The Governors Highway Safety Association’s and the National Highway Traffic Safety 2012 Data indicates that California leads the country in bicycle and pedestrian deaths.

Funds for the program come from a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.