Officers
in Fontana work hard to ensure that children and adults are safe whenever
they are on the roads.
Safety is a priority in Fontana. The City Council has passed
clear cut ordinances and adopted policies that protect children and adults
alike and serve to reduce injury and crime. Of all the safety issues that cause
concern for a community, it is traffic that affects the largest percentage
of the population. As a result, yearlong traffic stings serve to increase
citizen safety, reduce emergency vehicle response times, and improve neighborhoods.
Operation School Bus
School
bus safety is one of the first
lessons learned by
students and
drivers.
Operation School Bus targets drivers
who fail to stop for a school bus that is loading or unloading students.
The law is simply stated, “The driver of any vehicle, upon
meeting or overtaking, from either direction, any school bus that is stopped
for the purpose of loading or unloading any schoolchildren and displays a flashing
red light signal and stop signal arm, visible from front or rear, shall bring
the vehicle to a stop immediately before passing the school bus and shall not
proceed past the school bus until the flashing red light signal and stop signal
arm cease operation.”
In short, anyone driving on a two lane road approaching
or following a stopping or stopped bus with the red lights and flashing stop
sign must also stop. Many drivers get a little more confused about
situations when there is a divider or multiple lanes between the vehicle and
bus going in opposite directions.
The law states that “The driver of a vehicle upon a divided
highway or multiple-lane highway need not stop upon meeting
or passing a school bus that is upon the other roadway.”
What can drivers expect on Fontana roads? Throughout the year,
the Fontana Police Department’s Traffic Division follows a random selection
of school busses and watches for any drivers who fail to stop as required.
The latest sting operation resulted in 20 driver citations.
The program is significant in keeping children safe on their
ways to and from school as well as educates drivers of the laws.
Emergency!
Emergency
vehicles need safe passage to-and-from calls.
The emergency vehicle sting is another program
that serves to limit and educate those who do not stop for emergency vehicles.
Unlike Operation School Bus, the emergency vehicle sting uses a more controlled
environment where a fire truck, ambulance, or police car drives along a thoroughfare
with sirens on and an additional police unit watching out for those who do
not stop for the emergency vehicle. The best way to avoid a citation, or an
accident, is to keep your eyes and ears open for emergency lights or
sirens.
Pedestrian Crossing
Pedestrian
crossing stings focus on vehicles that do not stop for people in crosswalks.
Throughout the year, the Fontana Police Department stages stings
for drivers who do not stop for pedestrians. Anyone crossing a street
runs a risk of approaching vehicles that fail to stop.
Using plain clothes officers, the Fontana Police Department
Traffic Division has made it clear, when a pedestrian is on the road and someone
fails to stop, punishment is swift and immediate. Up to 75 violations have
been recorded from the latest stings.
What constitutes a citation? Anyone who fails to stop
for a pedestrian in a crosswalk or who tries to drive around another driver
who has stopped for someone in a crosswalk is in violation of the law. What
about jaywalking? Although jaywalking itself is a crime, it is far safer for
the driver to stop the car for the pedestrian than to barrel through the area.
Both pedestrian and driver are asked to move with caution.
Other Blitz Campaigns
Area
blitzes focus on abandoned vehicles and parking citations.
There are other efforts at work within the city to diminish
vehicle crimes. Each quarter, the Fontana Police Department focuses on citywide
sweeps targeting abandoned vehicles, parking citations, and miscellaneous
citations.
Traffic violation campaigns are ongoing. They involve both
uniformed and plain clothes officers. To find out more about any of the traffic
laws, please call the Fontana Police Department Traffic Division at (909)
350-7772 or visit online at www.fontanapd.org.
Traffic Division representatives from each city area are usually in attendance
at the neighborhood community meetings and often provide updates
on the sting operations and other local concerns. Please visit the community
neighborhood meeting link from the Police Department webpage for details.
