[nfb-talk] Police Crackdown On Pedestrian Safety

[Sherri]

This is great for South Daytona. We need to do something like this in the Orlando area. We have three of the top 10 worst intersections for pedestrians right here in the Orlando area.
Police Crackdown On Pedestrian Safety
Posted: 12:49 pm EST December 3, 2009Updated: 6:28 pm EST December 3, 2009

DAYTONA, Fla. -- South Daytona police are cracking down on pedestrian safety. Police used volunteers to ticket drivers, who didn't give pedestrians the right-of-way, on Ridgewood Avenue at Big Tree Road Thursday. 

"$166 ticket! I'm so upset. I've got three points on my license," one driver said. "It won't happen again, you best believe that." 

Drivers did not like the tickets being handed out by the dozens Thursday, all for breaking the rules of cars versus crosswalks. 

The rules of the road say a pedestrian has to get to the curb before a driver can cross the crosswalk. 

One-by-one officers stepped out into traffic to pull over each vehicle that violated the rule, but Eyewitness News found most drivers didn't even know they'd broken the law. 

"I didn't realize you have to wait until they cross to the other side," ticketed driver Brianna Hulst said. 

"So you honestly didn't know you were doing anything wrong?" WFTV reporter Steve Barrett asked. 

"I didn't, but now I know. Lesson learned," she replied. 

Excuses don't matter when you're blind like Frank Andrews. He was helping in Thursday's sting as a pedestrian volunteer. 

"Drivers don't respect pedestrians basically," said Andrews. "We've got to make drivers more aware of pedestrian safety and respecting the law." 

With three pedestrian deaths in the last two years, South Daytona is far behind Orange County where a record year has seen an average of one pedestrian death per week. 

Tuesday in St. Cloud, a 33-year-old woman was rundown by a semi truck at a marked crosswalk. 

"We have a lot of children who cross here, we have elderly people, vision-impaired people, hearing-impaired people," an officer said. 

However, there are plenty of rules pedestrians can break themselves and cops are watching them and handing out fines for the walking violations too. 
Copyright 2009 by wftv.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sherri Brun
flmom2006 at gmail.com
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