Whether you're behind the wheel, riding a bike or travelling foot, the rules of the road apply. This month, Saskatoon Police want to make sure cyclists and pedestrians in particular know their responsibilities. Both bike and beat officers will be on the lookout for people skirting the rules in the when it comes to walking or cycling.

"The traffic division has street sweeps ... [where] they put an additional focus on targeting vehicles and the fitness of the vehicles," explained Saskatoon Sergeant Keith Meckelborg on Saskatoon Morning. "But, we're doing it at the pedestrian and cyclist level."

Cyclists who choose to ride on the sidewalk are one of areas Meckelborg said police would like to address.

"[In the] downtown core and [along] Broadway, especially we get a lot of complaints about cyclists on the sidewalk and pedestrians getting hit by them and they get hurt as a result of it," said Meckelborg. " A lot of the public don't realize is that on the entire city of Saskatoon sidewalk system, where not marked, it's actually illegal to ride [a bike]."

Meckelborg also said cyclists who run red lights are concerning and that offenders are probably not aware the penalties may be steeper than they expect. Running a red light on a bicycle can net a fine of $230.



"When they are doing a violation under the Traffic Safety Act or the traffic bylaw for the city of Saskatoon those fines which are commonly handed out to drivers... they get pretty shocked especially when the fines are so much greater," he said.

Most cyclists, Meckelborg said he's found in his experience, do follow with the rules of the road. "There's a select group out there that aren't operating correctly when they're driving their bike on the street as well and the make it bad for the good many."

As for pulling over a cyclist while riding a bike himself, Meckelborg said the uniform does most of the heavy lifting.

"We use our voice as well to get them to pull over and they do; we don't have too many problems with that."