The campaign was a reminder to drive safely near school zones.

The California Highway Patrol coordinates the program, which runs three times a year after summer, winter, and spring breaks.

"Motorists need to remind themselves that school's in session," San Jose police Sgt. Ruben Chavez said.

Many judges consider 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as school hours, making citations hard to contest, he added.

The "concentrated effort" and "countywide commitment" during Operation Safe Passage is "very successful," he said.

Traffic citations doubled for the week of Sept. 8­12, he noted. Ninety percent of the people warned or ticketed were not students, Chavez said.

Four hundred San Jose police officers participated at 260 schools to prevent drivers from passing school buses with red lights flashing, speeding and not yielding to pedestrians. There were also a number of citations given for jaywalking, not wearing a bicycle helmet or seat belt, child-restraint violations and collisions.

"People forget and go too fast," said Chavez, referring to the 25-mph speed-limit requirement around schools.

And the campaign also cuts down on the number of parents whose cars block streets while dropping children off.

"We regularly get about 10 complaints a week" from areas near schools about speeding and blocking streets, he said.

Officers answer complaints throughout the year, but otherwise they patrol school areas as time permits, Chavez said.

Overhead flashing yellow lights were placed at a few schools such as Leigh High School and Bagby Elementary School more than 10 years ago, he adds, to remind people to slow down.

During Safe Passage week, the police department's traffic enforcement unit assigned two of its radar display trailers to schools and used three trailers belonging to the department of transportation to display vehicular speeds.

The department of transportation also runs the Street Smarts campaign during the first week of school, which is aimed more at educating, while Safe Passage focuses on enforcement, said Chavez.