OCSO Promotes Operation BFF, Pedestrian Safety with New PSA

Thank you to Orange County Sheriff’s Department for putting together this video recap and reminding drivers and pedestrians alike to stay safe and alert.

The Best Foot Forward program is a coalition of concerned citizens, city and county officials, local school districts, health organizations and local law enforcement. The program would not be possible without the help of each partner.

In 2012, then-Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings and the Orlando police set out to change driver behavior through their first-ever Crosswalk Crackdown. At the time, BFF data tracked only 17% of drivers stopping for pedestrians in marked crosswalks. Thanks to dozens of these Crosswalk Crackdowns, that rate increased to 57% in 2018.

The most recent Operation BFF took place on March 20, 2019. Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) and the Orlando Police Department (OPD) enforced driver yield laws at seven busy crosswalks. That day, officers and deputies handed out 50 citations and two warnings.

Across the six years of the program, more than 7,600 drivers have been cited or warned for not yielding for a person in a crosswalk.

BFF has grown into a powerful coalition that reaches thousands of Central Floridians each year with the simple message to drivers: yield to a person in a crosswalk. BFF’s primary goal today remains the same as in 2012: to increase driver yield rates at pedestrian crosswalks by focusing on education, enforcement and engineering—the three E’s.

See our social media coverage of Operation BFF, March 20

Watch local news coverage of Operation BFF, March 20

Read our full recap of Operation BFF, March 20