Pittsburgh police officers cite drivers during pedestrian safety blitz

[HiredGoon]

Officers cite drivers during pedestrian safety blitz
Friday, May 15, 2009
By Jon Schmitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A young man on his way to work at Palomino restaurant, Downtown, was spared the trouble of finding a parking space yesterday.

But not the expense.

His black Pontiac Torrent SUV wound up in the priciest lot in town -- the city tow pound -- all because he picked a terrible day to ignore the crosswalks and "yield to pedestrian" signs on Liberty Avenue.

Eight Pittsburgh police officers fanned out in Gateway Center at lunch time as part of a two-hour pedestrian safety enforcement blitz sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

One after another, motorcycle officers pulled over drivers who zipped through the mid-block crosswalks without yielding to pedestrians.

David Pritt, safety press officer for PennDOT District 11, said 24 drivers were cited.

Police also were prepared to cite jaywalkers, but were kept so busy by motorists that no one on foot got a citation.

Mr. Pritt said there were 16 pedestrian fatalities in the three-county district (Allegheny, Lawrence and Beaver) last year, up from 10 in 2007.

The crosswalks selected for the enforcement blitz are unusual because they are in mid-block with no traffic signals, he said. "There's nothing here but the motorists' knowledge of the law to cause people to stop," he said.

That, and the large green and white "Yield to Peds in Crosswalk" signs.

Drivers who failed to yield faced fines and costs ranging from $105 to $250, Mr. Pritt said.

One of the first to be collared was the Torrent driver, who police said turned out to be driving with a suspended license. After several minutes and a conference with Officer Andre La'Van, he got out of his vehicle, looking stricken, and walked the remaining distance to work.

"That's it. He's suspended. He can no longer drive. His car has to go to the tow pound," explained Sgt. George DeVault, who supervised the enforcement crackdown. The driver, whose name was not released, faces fines up to $1,000 and a longer suspension.

"He didn't seem very happy," observed Ron Koch of Upper St. Clair, who was working in a visitors information booth and popped outside to see what the police officers were up to.

"Cars go ripping by. I'd say 80 percent of them don't pay any attention to the crosswalks," he said.

"I [also] see people walking, talking on their phones, not paying attention, almost getting hit," said Mr. Koch, who called Pittsburgh "the jaywalking capital of Earth."

Officer Kevin Head scribbled out a memento for a young man in a gray BMW who blew through a crosswalk near the Hilton Pittsburgh hotel. It will cost him $134.50, the officer said.

The drivers of a copper-colored Acura SUV with a Steelers logo on the back; a cream-colored Lincoln Aviator with a NASCAR Dale Earnhardt license plate; a red Honda CR-V with an Ohio license plate and Obama bumper sticker; a silver Volvo with Maryland plates; and a gray Lexus met similar fates.

"It's a problem in Pittsburgh, both on the part of the operators and the pedestrians," Officer Head said. The tickets handed out yesterday "will raise the awareness," he said.

No one was getting off with a warning, although several motorists and pedestrians who clearly broke the law got lucky because the officers were too busy ticketing others to stop them.

After being pulled over, the driver of a sporty red Mazda, a Bluetooth tucked in his left ear, got out of the car to plead his case with Officer Head as the officer jotted in his ticket book.

The officer listened, then resumed writing, and the transgressor drove off with an expensive yellow slip of paper, not to mention the awareness

[GoldWinger]

Gee, back in the 70s and 80s when I was spending a lot of time in downtown Pittsburgh, jaywalking was a way of life. However, back then we didn't have cell phones, iPofs, blackberries and PDAs to distract us.

[knight0334]

For those who will be visiting Brookville, the opposite is happening. They are cracking down on jay-walkers that dont use the cross walks.

[Emptymag]

For those who will be visiting Brookville, the opposite is happening. They are cracking down on jay-walkers that dont use the cross walks.

As it should be.

[LittleRedToyota]

16 people in 3 counties over the course of a year?

not to sound like a cold-hearted bastard, but, so what? most of them were probably idiots who walked out into traffic anyway.

i'm an adult...i can cross the damn street without the government holding my hand. and the laws of physics dictate that pedestrians should yield to cars, not the other way around.

argh.

[GoldWinger]

Sorry but I see no reason that I should have to walk a half mile out of my way to cross at a certain point. Or when I'm on foot, why I should have to wait for a green light when there's no traffic.

The whole concept of jaywalking as a crime implys that motorists are more important than pedestrians.

[TXDMERC73]

16 people in 3 counties over the course of a year?

not to sound like a cold-hearted bastard, but, so what? most of them were probably idiots who walked out into traffic anyway.

i'm an adult...i can cross the damn street without the government holding my hand. and the laws of physics dictate that pedestrians should yield to cars, not the other way around.

argh.

yeah cuz we have to pay for new brakes and braking system parts for always stopping to yield to pedestrians , they should make crosswalk bridges that go over the road . and make semis take another route aorund town.

[GoldWinger]

yeah cuz we have to pay for new brakes and braking system parts for always stopping to yield to pedestrians , they should make crosswalk bridges that go over the road

Oh sure, now I have to climb stairs with my bad knee. That's discrimantory. Why not make the road go over the cross walks?

and make semis take another route aorund town.

You won't get an argument here.

[camper]

Sorry but I see no reason that I should have to walk a half mile out of my way to cross at a certain point. Or when I'm on foot, why I should have to wait for a green light when there's no traffic.

The whole concept of jaywalking as a crime implys that motorists are more important than pedestrians.

That's why we should let nature sort it out. Let the two people breaking the rules battle over supremecy, and the victor go unpunished.

camper

[GoldWinger]

Nature provided me with my feet so pedestrians should always have the right of way.