Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies hold special enforcement operation for 'Rail Safety Month'

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- Santa Clara County Sheriff's deputies held a special enforcement operation in San Jose on Friday along the VTA light rail system for "Rail Safety Month."

They are making sure drivers, pedestrians and cyclists are aware of the laws around VTA tracks.

"This is really just an educational exercise for us today. Many people think they can just beat a train and oftentimes as we've seen in the Bay Area, if you're going to try to beat a train often time the train wins," said VTA Spokesperson Holly Perez.

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Sheriff's deputies told me they were looking for speeding drivers and red-light runners during Friday's special enforcement operation along the VTA's light rail system.

They're also making making sure pedestrians aren't distracted or jaywalking.

Del Mar High School sits at the corner of Southwest Expressway and Stokes Street in San Jose, one of three intersections where the operations were held.

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Sadly that intersection has seen tragedies.

Two people, in two separate accidents, were hit and killed by a VTA train there in 2014, including a 14-year-old girl.

According to VTA, Friday's enforcement exercise resulted in 16 citations and 25 warnings.