1. Share The Road Traffic Safety Program Sausalito Police Department’s

2. Throughout the County of Marin and the City of Sausalito, bicyclists are failing to obey the rules of the road and motorists are failing to recognize the bicyclists’ rights to “Share the Road.”

3. It is the mission of the Law Enforcement Agencies of Marin County along with the Marin County Bicycle Coalition to obtain compliance from bicyclists and motorists regarding their obeying stop lights, stop signs, and other rules of the road through education and at times enforcement.

4.  The “Share the Road” traffic safety program was developed in 2002. This program was developed by numerous law enforcement agencies in the Marin County working in conjunction with the the Marin County Bicycle Coalition. The Sausalito Police Department was one of the lead departments in the development of the program.  The purpose of the “Share the Road” is to demonstrate law enforcement’s commitment to traffic safety and to provide educational literature in a friendly atmosphere about the ways that motorists and bicyclists can safely and conscientiously “Share the Road” together.

5.  Sausalito Police  Mill Valley Police  Tiburon Police  Fairfax Police  Twin Cities Police  Marin County Sheriff  National Park Service  Marin County Bicycle Coalition  Novato Police  San Rafael Police  Ross Police  San Anselmo Police  College of Marin Police  California Highway Patrol  Marin District Attorney’s Office

6. Checkpoint Times  The “Share the Road” checkpoints are conducted during the spring and summer months (peek months for bicycle travel).  Agencies conduct one to two checkpoints a year.  Agencies can conduct the checkpoints as a solo or joint operation along with other agencies.

7.  Checkpoints are set up at specific intersections that are controlled by stoplights/stop signs or along bike paths.  The physical set up for the checkpoints follow the DUI sobriety protocol, with orange cones narrowing the local street down to a single lane.  Toward the end of the coned off lane, motorists and bicyclists are stopped in order to distribute educational flyers regarding ways that motorists and bicyclists can share the road.  Along bike paths, officers and volunteers contact bicyclists and/or pedestrians in order to distribute the educational flyers regarding sharing the road.  Checkpoints run for 2 to 3 hours.

8.  Police vehicles are positioned in the area of the checkpoints with their emergency lights on in order to make as large of a visual impact as possible and draw maximum exposure to the event.  “Share the Road” and “Prepare to Stop” signs are posted along the roadways prior to the checkpoints.  Each checkpoint staffs an information/refreshment table that will distribute educational flyers regarding motoring/bicycling safety to all interested parties as well as water/energy drinks/snacks.  The educational flyers provided contain Codes of Conduct for bicyclists and motorists to insure their safety and foster respect for each other, California Vehicle Code information, safety tips, and information about a bicycle Basic Street Skills class offered at the local hospitals.

11.  The Sausalito Police Department wholeheartedly supports the Share the Road Program.  The Sausalito Police Department have conducted 7 checkpoints during the 6 years of the program (6 road checkpoints, 1 bike path checkpoint).

12.  The Sausalito Police Department staffs our checkpoints with sworn and non sworn officers, the Department’s Volunteers in Public Safety, and volunteers from the Marin County Bicycle Coalition.  The Sausalito Police Department has worked with the following Law Enforcement Agencies on Joint Checkpoints in Sausalito:  Marin County Sheriffs Office  California Highway Patrol  Mill Valley Police Department

13. Two press releases are issued for each checkpoint.  The first press release is issued one week prior to checkpoint. This press release informs the public of the location, times, and dates of the checkpoint.  The second press release is issued immediately after the checkpoint. This press release provides information such as the departments/groups the participated in the checkpoint and the number of flyers distributed to bicyclists/motorists/pedestrians during the checkpoint.

14.  Television and radio news media have covered the checkpoints.  The news stories have been very positive and showed the Sausalito Police Department’s checkpoints in a favorable light.

15. Citizen Support In 6 years of conducting checkpoints there have been no complaints made regarding the checkpoints from either bicyclists or motorists. The vast majority of comments from motorists and bicyclists going through the checkpoints have been positive. During checkpoints, numerous citizens have approached event personnel and expressed their gratitude for the Police Department addressing the issue of bicycle and motorists safety and interaction.

16.  In the last 6 years, the Sausalito Police Department has distributed 5,295 bicyclist/motorist safety-educational flyers.  Through news media interviews and pre and post checkpoint press releases, the Sausalito Police Department has been able to reach many more hundreds of thousands of people with our message of bicycle/motorist safety traffic education.  The Sausalito Police Department has issued 14 citations to bicyclists and motorists that have violated sections of the California Vehicle Code in view of checkpoint personnel.

17. Since 2002, the Sausalito Police Department has conducted the following educations efforts:  Contact bicycle/car rental agencies and informed them of the vehicle code laws.  Made public presentations regarding motorist/bicyclist safety-education.  Distributed Traffic Safety bulletins to the public.  Granted numerous interviews with local media outlets regarding motorist/bicyclist traffic safety issues.  Authored awareness articles in a community magazine regarding traffic safety as it relates to motorists and bicyclists.

18.  In addition to the educational aspect of share the road, there is an enforcement portion of the traffic safety program.  Since 2002, the Sausalito Police Department has issued 6,785 citations to motorists for hazardous moving violations and 741 citations to bicyclists.  Directed Enforcement Teams are used during the summer to specifically target bicycle/motorist vehicle code violators.

23.  Bicyclists committing vehicle code violations along the streets of Sausalito are still one of the major complaints the Sausalito Police Department receives from citizens.  Traffic Safety Programs such as “Share the Road” and the “Pedestrian Safety Plan” have reduced the number of accidents involving bicycles, the number of bicyclists violating traffics laws, and has improved relations between bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians.

24.  The Sausalito Police Department will continue the “Share the Road” traffic safety plan in an attempt to further reduce traffic accidents, bicyclists/motorists violating traffic laws, and better relationships between the bicycling, motoring, and walking public.  2008 was the first year the Sausalito Police Department conducted two checkpoints. The Department will continue this trend by having a checkpoint in the spring and the summer in order to contact and educate as many people as possible about traffic safety.

25. Sergeant William R. Fraass Sausalito Police Department 300 Locust St Sausalito, CA. 94965 Tel. (415) 289-4100 ex 657 Fax. (415) 289-4175 E-Mail: bfraass@ci.sausalito.ca.us