YIELDING TO PEDESTRIANS:
Program aims to make streets safer
Dozens of valley motorists ticketed
By Michael Squires | Las Vegas Review-Journal
February 23, 2004
LAS VEGAS, NV - Danielle Matthews never saw the pedestrian
trying to cross the street, though he was hard to miss in
his bright yellow shirt with a uniformed police officer standing
at his side.
Nor did she notice the pedestrian crossing signs, the crosswalk
or the motorcycle officers as she drove through the marked
crossing on Maryland Parkway in her PT Cruiser.
"I didn't see anybody," she said as she waited for
an officer to fill out her citation. "I didn't expect
to see people out in the street."
Matthews wasn't alone.
Over two hours on Friday afternoon, police issued 58 tickets
and 12 warnings to motorists who failed to yield to pedestrians
in crosswalks along Maryland Parkway. The law requires motorists
to yield to pedestrians in marked and unmarked crossings and
drive with enough care to avoid hitting people on foot.
The citations were issued by officers training in law enforcement's
newest strategy to make valley streets safer for pedestrians.
Under this strategy, a plainclothes officer in a marked crosswalk
acts as a pedestrian while a team of traffic officers observes
motorists' reactions. Those who fail to yield to the pedestrian
are pulled over and cited or warned.
 |
Pedestrian safety consultant John
Moffat crosses Maryland Parkway on Friday as Las Vegas
Police Sgt. Phillip George watches motorists. Moffat posed
as a pedestrian to train valley officers in pedestrian
safety enforcement techniques.
Photo by Jeff Scheid. |
On Friday, John Moffat was the team's pedestrian. Clad in
a bright yellow shirt, the Washington-based pedestrian safety
consultant, who was in Las Vegas to train officers in the
program, crossed Maryland Parkway's seven lanes of traffic
dozens of times as officers gauged motorists' response and
cited those who failed to yield.
The program's goal is to help drivers start seeing pedestrians
and remember their responsibility in pedestrian safety, Moffat
said.
"Clark County has a very serious problem with pedestrian
safety," he said. "We're writing a few tickets and
getting them publicized so a few tickets are heard about by
everybody in the valley."
Friday's exercise was just the beginning of the effort.
Using a grant from the state's Office of Traffic Safety, the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Safe Community Partnership
will pay for officers from the Metropolitan Police Department,
Henderson Police, Boulder City Police and UNLV Police to conduct
similar enforcement at different valley locations over the
next three years.
"It's a good program," said Las Vegas traffic officer
Troy Jones, who was involved in Friday's exercise. "It's
definitely something Las Vegans aren't used to seeing enforced,
that they need to yield to pedestrians."
Nevada has long ranked among the worst states in the nation
for pedestrian fatalities, with Clark County usually accounting
for about 70 percent of the state's pedestrian deaths. Officials
are concerned about a trend taking shape in 2002. In Clark
County, nine pedestrians have died so far this year, compared
with two on this date last year.
Safety advocates give a number of reasons for Southern Nevada's
pedestrian problem, among them wide, straight streets with
high speed limits and poorly marked crossings. Jaywalking
also contributes to the problem.
Erin Breen, director of the Safe Community Partnership, believes
enforcement and driver education will play an important role
in reversing the deadly trend and make crosswalks more appealing
to pedestrians.
"Hopefully, we've made some pedestrian advocates out
of the officers," she said.
Dan Burden, a pedestrian safety expert who along with Moffat
conducted the two-day training session, said the program has
helped change motorists' attitudes in other cities where it's
used.
"I think it's very effective," he said. "When
it's done properly you remind drivers to recognize that they
have a duty in pedestrian safety."
Las Vegan Jeff Allen, who spent a few minutes observing the
enforcement exercise from the back of his bicycle, said he
hoped it would make an impression on motorists.
"I'm glad they're doing something," he said. "You
know how many times I've almost been crushed on this bicycle?" |
191 TICKETS
TO WRITE
By Andrea Damewood | News Oregonian
October 15, 2004
TIGARD, OR - Traffic officers from seven agencies issued
191 tickets and 21 warnings Thursday in a sting at more than
five locations throughout the city, officials said.
The purpose of the sting was to raise awareness of the 20
mph school zone law and to ensure that motorists were yielding
to pedestrians at intersections, said Tigard police spokesman
Jim Wolf.
"Motorists have to recognize that even though it's not
painted, it still counts as a crosswalk," Wolf said.
Oregon law says a pedestrian has the right of way at any intersection,
regardless of whether it is officially marked by a crosswalk,
Wolf said.
Police began at 8:30 a.m. on the corner of Southwest Hall
Boulevard and Southwest Omara Street, near the Tigard Public
Library, where library employees and patrons have complained
of difficulty crossing.
Eight officers waited at the intersection, marked on all four
corners by barriers with yellow flashing lights and a sign
that read "Yield to Peds," as community service
officer Michelle McMahan stepped into the bike lane and attempted
to cross Hall Boulevard. If drivers failed to stop and allow
McMahan to cross, they were cited.
Officers issued 33 tickets with a base fine of $237 in less
than an hour at that site, Wolf said.
Of the $237 fine, $180 goes to the city, $39 to state fees
and $18 to Washington County, said Nadine Robinson, Tigard
Administration Services Manager. Robinson added that many
fines are lowered by judges in court.
The sting raised the ire of some drivers, who saw it as an
unfair way to raise funds for the city or as an inefficient
use of police time, Wolf said. However, police received fewer
than five calls, he said.
Wolf said that some of the tickets -- including two issued
on Southwest Gaarde Street near Gaarde Christian School to
motorists going 59 mph in a 20 mph school zone during school
hours -- illustrated the disregard some drivers had for the
law. Speeding fines in a special zone range from $132 to $672,
Robinson said.
Gaarde Christian School Principal Kellie Cooper said she hoped
the sting would cause drivers to slow down near the school,
but she was sympathetic to those who got tickets.
"I don't want to say I'm glad there was a sting,"
she said. "I think because we're a private school, and
we're in a church, people don't realize that it's a school,
even though it's posted."
The average speed of cars in the Gaarde school zone was in
the low to mid-40 mph range, Wolf said.
The speed zone at the site of the sting on Hall Boulevard
is 40 mph. The Oregon Department of Transportation, which
has jurisdiction over Hall Boulevard, is reconsidering a request
from the city to install a traffic light and controlled crosswalk
at the north end of the library.
A total of 16 officers from the Washington County Sheriff's
Office; the Oregon State Police; and the Tigard, Beaverton,
Tualatin, Sherwood and Hillsboro police departments were part
of the sting. Officers also patrolled Highway 217, Highway
99 and Walnut Street on Thursday. |
