Recap of Back-to-School Operation Best Foot Forward

As students across the region prepared to go back to school, eight law enforcement agencies in Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties educated drivers who failed to yield about Florida’s driver yield laws.  Deputies from Orange and Seminole sheriffs’ offices joined officers with Orlando, Apopka, Kissimmee, St. Cloud, Casselberry and Oakland police departments to conduct a pre-back-to-school Operation Best Foot Forward on July 27 & 28.

“This was a HUGE operation spanning across the Central Florida region – receiving significant media and community attention and bringing awareness to pedestrian safety,” said Best Foot Forward program manager Kayla Mitchell. 

In summary, this two-day high-visibility enforcement operation consisted of: 

• 8 law enforcement agencies  
• 15 details at 14 crosswalks near schools 
• 301 ‘failure to yield to pedestrian’ warnings and citations issued  
• Attendance from 5 elected officials and 15 coalition members 
• 111 media placements  (see full media report below)
• 2.9 million impressions (each view) 
• Impact value of $395,000 (ad-value equivalency) 

Most of the crosswalks selected for the July operation were in close proximity to schools where children cross for school. Examples of a few included in the back-to-school operations were:

• Pine Hills Rd. & El Trio Way in Orange County, near Evans High School with only 28% of drivers yielding to pedestrians and where a resident was hit and killed earlier this year.
• 5^th & S. Park Ave. in Apopka , the first location enforced as part of the City’s participation in the Best Foot Forward program. Apopka recently added advanced warning signs to give drivers notice that they must stop for pedestrians.
• Millenia Blvd. & Timarron Dr. in Orlando, directly in front of Millenia Gardens Elementary School where only 1 out of 10 drivers stopped for people trying to cross in this crosswalk in a July study.
• Snow Hill Rd. & Jacobs Trail in Seminole County, where only 10% of drivers are yielding to pedestrians in this crosswalk by Walker Elementary School and the Flagler Trailhead.

Interactive Google Map of All BFF Crosswalk Locations

July 2021 Operation Best Foot Forward at a glance

On-site support from elected officials and partners

Some of our elected officials and partners in the Best Foot Forward program were available to stop by, observe the operation and show their support of pedestrian safety and the program. Below are a few snapshots of these officials and a few words from Kissimmee City Commissioner Jim Fisher.

Operation Best Foot Forward Media Report