Police to focus on bicycle safety next week

School opens next week for Petaluma students and police, and the schools are trying their best to make it a safe beginning for all.

The Petaluma police department will beef up morning and afternoon patrols in areas near schools, focusing on pedestrians, drivers and bicyclists to make sure all are not only obeying the law, but also paying attention and traveling safely.

Some young bicyclists might be startled and a bit concerned to be pulled over or approached by a police officer, but the cops may be handing out not tickets, but gift certificates for Baskin-Robbins ice cream as a reward for safe riding. The program is sponsored by State Farm Insurance.

Police will also be on the lookout for students riding improperly, including those riding without helmets.

Police will be conducting crosswalk sting operations near schools, sending adults into crosswalks to make sure motorists are respecting the pedestrian right of ways.

"We are going to have maximum enforcement the first week," said Petaluma Police Sgt. Ken Savano. "We want everyone to be safe."

Police will also release a Safe Routes to School plan, identifying the safest routes and crosswalks for students returning to each school, and offering information on how to ride or walk safely on those routes.

The Safe Routes to School plans for each school were initially prepared in 2005 by W-Trans, a transportation planning company based in Santa Rosa.

"We went to each school and conducted an inventory of traffic features within a 1,000-foot radius of each one," explained Josh Abrams, transportation planner for W-Trans.

"We looked at the conditions of the sidewalks, how the sidewalks network, the types of intersections, the infrastructure at those intersections, the volume of traffic and other factors at each school."

"We want to educate the students on how to ride and walk safely on those routes," says Savano.

And, just as a reminder, Petaluma Police will be watching those routes to hand out warnings, advice, citations if necessary, and, if you are really good, certificates for ice cream.

(Contact John Jackson at johnie.jackson@arguscourier.com)