Gainesville Police Department participates in High Visibility Enforcement Program to improve pedestrian and bicycle safety
Press release from Gainesville Police Department
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Alachua County ranks in the top 25 counties in Florida for traffic crashes resulting in serious and fatal injuries to pedestrians and bicyclists. To help reverse this trend, the Gainesville Police Department is participating in the Florida Department of Transportation High Visibility Enforcement (HVE) Program aimed at educating motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians on Florida’s traffic laws to improve safety on city roads.
Starting this month through May 2026, the Gainesville Police Department will have additional officers on patrol at specific corridors with a high occurrence of pedestrians’ and bicyclists’ crashes. Special attention will be directed towards increasing awareness of the dangerous behaviors that are contributing to serious and fatal injuries at these locations. Officers will look for drivers speeding, failing to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, conducting improper turns or signal violations, and using hand-held devices while driving.
Officers also will watch for pedestrians who cross the street illegally or fail to yield to motorists who have right-of-way. Bicyclists will be stopped for riding against traffic, riding at night without lights, or not abiding by the same laws as motor vehicles. Officers will issue warnings and citations only when appropriate.
“Whether you are on foot, behind the wheel, or on a bike, you have a responsibility to share the road safely,” said Sgt. Valdes of the Traffic Unit. “Understanding the rules of the road helps ensure we all arrive at our destination safely and makes our streets safer for everyone.”
Funding for this program is provided through a contract with University of North Florida’s Institute of Police Technology and Management (IPTM) funded by the Florida Department of Transportation. The Gainesville Police Department will receive funds for overtime hours for officers to conduct operations and for special training on Florida’s bicycle and pedestrian laws, procedures, and best practices.
Insanity is when you do the same thing over and over, expecting different results. It is time to cite the walkers and riders who violate the law and let the public know these people who ignore the law and common sense are having to pay real money for their insolence.
And, don’t forget the drivers who don’t stop for the red flashing lights on SE Williston Rd./SR 331, whether out of ignorance or frustration with the terrible design of the hybrid pedestrian beacon at the mid-block pedestrian crossing. Hopefully, that signal will get fixed soon, but in the meantime, drivers need to know that if they see a red flashing traffic light/beacon there or anywhere, they are required to STOP and make sure all is clear before they proceed.
If GPD is looking for specific areas to police I’ll be glad to help. For starters, NW 6th & 39th, Main St & University. While you’re at it, get someone to fix the 🚦s at NW 6th & NW 23rd, NW 6th & NW 16TH. The intervals are all messed up. Have the traffic engineers look at the cameras in the mornings.
Don’t forget the school drop-offs & pick-ups. Last I checked driving while smoking cannabis is illegal as well. Watch for the plumes of smoke when their kid(s) get out of the car; or just take a breath, only an idiot won’t notice.
I will never ride a bicycle with the flow of traffic unless I’m on a sidewalk situated well away from the road. Thirty-seven years ago, when traffic wasn’t nearly as bad as it is now, a friend was hit and dragged more than 100 feet under the car of a driver who got distracted and veered too far to the right. My friend never stood a chance, even with mirrors. I will never forget her closed-casket funeral. She was only twelve years old, following the law as she was taught.
Not even a month ago, I stopped to help a driver whose vehicle became disabled in a turn lane. Even with the disabled vehicle’s hazard lights activated, with cones set out behind a service vehicle with lights also activated to discourage people from driving in the passing lane, and with me waving drivers toward the outside lane where there was no traffic, more than fifty percent of the drivers who passed ignored all precautions while exceeding the speed limit just a couple of feet from this disabled vehicle and those of us trying to get it out of the way. Roughly ten percent of those drivers were staring at their phones, and the other ninety percent looked me right in the eye and wouldn’t budge. Absolutely maddening.
Laws equating bicycles with motor vehicles for the purposes of traffic management are simply ill advised. Arguments that head-on collisions are more forceful than rear-end collisions are irrelevant with respect to bicycles in the tens of pounds that don’t stand a chance at any speed against motor vehicles in the thousands of pounds. Arguments that drivers might not look both left and right when entering an intersection are nonsense, when we’re all taught to look both ways for all sorts of reasons. Arguments that a driver looking head-on at a bicyclist to his right will somehow distract that driver and cause him to veer into the bicyclist are as delusional as arguing that any sort of unexpected object on a driver’s right will somehow generate an otherworldly magnetic force propelling him into said object. Casual cyclists and pedestrians put only themselves at any serious risk by traveling in and near roadways, so they’re the only ones with incentive to pay close attention, and they really ought to have some leeway in how they choose to keep themselves safe. Speed cyclists are a different story, and they tend to avoid congested roadways. The only argument that makes sense? “It’s the law.” Well, it shouldn’t be the law. It made for decent law a hundred years ago when there weren’t so many vehicles and they couldn’t travel much faster than bicycles, but not since then.
But for what it’s worth, I stay out of Gainesville as much as possible, and I certainly have no desire (and thankfully no need) to ride a bicycle there. The hare-brained lunacy I regularly and often narrowly avoid as an automobile driver is enough to keep me away. I grant that there are a lot of self-centered cyclists and pedestrians out there, too. But that ought to make drivers more cautious, instead of making them more angry and self-entitled—except it doesn’t.
Good point. I never did understand the “trust the motorist” mentality they expect casual cyclists to adopt. As a former resident of a congested city, I always ran/jogged opposite the flow of traffic. That way I was responsible for my safety. I could (and did) react to unsafe/distracted motorists much quicker than I would have if they were coming up from behind me.
When I went to UF and lived in nearby off campus housing on Archer and 34th, I used the sidewalks when cycling to campus. Bike lanes were too unsafe…and that was before cellphones were popular (drivers are more distracted today than 30 years ago)
On the flipside, as a pedestrian/casual cyclist, I never stepped in front of an oncoming vehicle (legally) unless I knew they were going to stop. It’s weird seeing kids step into crosswalks blindly, without even looking up
Well thought out and informative response, Michael.
When I rode a motorcycle in Gainesville long ago I’d always assume every car could be a weapon.
Just to share a defensive move: When you’re waiting at a red light and a car is approaching from way behind you, tap your brakes repeatedly until you see they are paying attention and slowing down.
Another move I learned from my stepdad, who drove an ambulance as an EMT, is to leave plenty of room between yourself and the vehicle ahead of you, so you have a chance to get out of the lane if someone comes barreling up behind you. And try to avoid getting boxed in. That has saved me from being rear-ended a couple of times. Being on offense all the time is extreme, but having a good offense prepared is just good defense.
If every driver does what you do, and leaves “plenty of room,” (depending on whatever their definition of that is,) maybe half the drivers who should will get through each intersection, with each change of the light cycle. (BTW,I am a driver and a cyclist.) It is frustrating as hell to have to sit through multiple cycles of the traffic light at intersections when drivers ahead of you are leaving multiple car lengths of space, presumably trying to avoid getting rear ended by stopping multiple car lengths behind the vehicle in front of them. Hey, Everyone- Don’t tailgate.DON’T STOP WAY BEHIND the vehicle ahead of you. If you do that, you are PART OF THE PROBLEM on our roads. You are adding to the frustration that encourages drivers to try to beat the yellow lights, etc. We all need to focus on our driving when we are behind the wheel, and realize that it’s not all about us. We need to drive in a way that is safe and civil. Like people used to…
Solution: leave for your destination a few minutes earlier, and learn that you are not especially entitled to having all your personal frustrations alleviated. As you point out, it’s not all about you. Enough room is a matter of a few feet, not your exaggeration of one or more car lengths. Further, a professional EMT who was not my dad pointed out to me that, over a 100-mile trip, he saved on average three minutes by driving aggressively. Unless you’re in the middle of saving a life, you’re only risking a life by rushing.
I’m talking about City of Gainesville intersections, where people are leaving one or more car lengths of space between them and the vehicle ahead of them. This is a relatively new phenomena that I have seen in recent months, and I hope isn’t going to be increasing in frequency. A few feet is what we are supposed to leave between vehicles. Thank you for clarifying. We are supposed to be able to see the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of us when we stop for a red light. But there isn’t supposed to be enough room for another 1-3 vehicles, or stop way before we reach the intersection, and that is what I am starting to see out there lately.
I see it as well, and those vehicles are, as often as I can see the drivers, driven by people who are looking at their phones instead of the road.
They’re not leaving room to avoid getting rear-ended.
9 times out of 10 they’re texting and don’t want to rear-end the person in front of them.
I agree with some of what you say.But I do not think that riding a bike against the flow of traffic in the road or in a bike lane is safer. It really IS a big distraction to drivers to see someone coming at them on a bike on their side of the road. Cyclists who choose to/need to ride in the roads (including in the shoulders or bike lanes) should always use a rear flashing red light AND wear a helmet, AND use a helmet, handle bar or eyeglasses mounted rear view mirror. Then they would be visible to the drivers while not presenting a distraction to them, and would be able to see what is coming up behind them.
I agree that pedestrians and runners should always run or walk facing traffic. If walking/running at night, they should carry a light and wear high vis (not dark) clothing.
You’re welcome to disagree. But if you think flashing red lights are somehow less distracting than any other unexpected object on your right side, or that an object facing toward you is somehow more a distraction than an object facing away from you, then you may be possessed of those otherworldly magnetic properties I wrote about. Mirrors, especially those convex types that increase field of view at the expense of distorting perceived distance, mounted on handlebars that wiggle back and forth as bicyclists in particular pump their legs in locomotion, are not sufficient for making split-second decisions. I do not object to your obeying that law, but I will not obey that law myself.
I sincerely hope you stay safe out there, especially when you are riding your bike. If you see me out there while you are riding your bike, and I am driving, and you are coming at me on the road/shoulder or bike lane, please excuse my facial expression. It will be similar to what my face would look like if another vehicle was coming at me across the center line to my left. (Shock/surprise at seeing something that’s not right.)
Making eye contact with oncoming drivers and those to the right and left, before proceeding across an intersection is very wise, even crucial when riding a bike. But I remain unconvinced that seeing the drivers coming at you is going to be of any help to you if you, the cyclist, are riding towards the vehicles, against the flow of traffic. (Although the driver might never forget the look on your face if they happen to hit you…)
I appreciate your concern, but I haven’t ridden a bicycle in Gainesville for nearly ten years because I no longer have a need (also, because it’s just not very safe). I mentioned that at the end of my original comment, though not the number of years. I did get the occasional look of shock or disgust back then, but the fact remains that those drivers saw me, and I saw them seeing me. Whether you are convinced or not, I know for myself that, at those times a driver didn’t see me, I still was able to see them not seeing me, and it gave me time to get out of their way.
In much the same way, I look at drivers’ faces when I cross an intersection in front of them even on foot, so I can tell if they see me; and when I’m driving, I look pedestrians and cyclists in the eye to let them know that I see them. The only times I have to be extra cautious is when I’m driving and a cyclist is riding with traffic behind me, because if that cyclist fails to see my turn signal (which has happened), and I don’t see the cyclist in my mirror due to a blind spot (which has also happened), an accident would cause serious injury to the cyclist though only a dent in my truck (which has almost happened).
I hope you ride and drive safely also, in whatever way you choose to do so. And if you find yourself behind me while I’m driving, and get frustrated that I’m driving a little too cautiously for your taste or that you’re not getting somewhere as quickly as you’d like, please understand that I’m doing it to be sure I don’t hit anyone—cyclist, pedestrian, or other driver; responsible or irresponsible.
These (college) kids step off into crosswalks and expect cars will stop for them at the last second. This works for them on UF campus but out in the city it can turn into a disaster. Imagine if auto insurance companies figured out a way to raise rates when they catch drivers trying to naviagte through campus during a weekday class change time. It is a wonder there are not more traffic homicides on campus.
How bout a course in ‘get-your head-out of your a$$’ (and cell phone) when walking in traffic for the snowflakes at UF?
Bike lanes could be off the road. Where there are sidewalks there is usually a green belt next to it. Split the walkway and the bike lane and get the bike lane off the narrow congested road in this poorly planned town. A biker could fall into a pothole and never be seen again. I also was taught to walk and bike against the traffic so I could see the on coming traffic.
Walk facing traffic. Ride a bike in the same direction as traffic is driving, if you are riding in the road, on the shoulder or in the bike lane. That is the law, and it is the safest way to walk and ride Cyclists should ALWAYS use a rear light and wear a helmet on a bike.
Same circus, different pony. Units will spend the majority of time stopping cars& pedestrians for equipment violations and ‘Hey how are ya’ encounters.
All in hopes of making arrest.
The TRAIL CROSSING AT SE WILLISTON RD./SR 331, PLEASE!!!!
That trail crossing/intersection of frequent trail users, including pedestrians/runners and cyclists with many, many drivers, including many 18 wheeler trucks on a 45 MPH state highway is a tragedy waiting to happen. The mid-block pedestrian crossing with its hybrid pedestrian beacon is not right for this location. It is confusing and not safe. A runner was hit there a week ago and badly injured when a confused driver didn’t stop. The flashing red light that comes on after only 10 seconds of a solid red light confuses drivers and makes many of them cynical and they are increasingly ignoring it. Some drivers stop when they see the red flashing lights, and others don’t. The speed limit is too high there, considering how many people are walking or riding their bikes across that 4 lane highway. The cyclists and runners and walkers need to ALWAYS STOP and MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE DRIVERS HAVE STOPPED BEFORE CROSSING. I have watched law enforcement officers go through that trail crossing without stopping. A flashing red light always means STOP, and make sure it’s safe before proceeding. GPD needs to educate drivers at that location with warnings and citations. The City of Gainesville and FDOT need to work together to make that trail crossing safer. They have a “to-do” list of simple, inexpensive measures that they could take to improve things greatly at this location. I hope they will make it a priority before someone else gets hurt there, or, God forbid, is killed there.