cops and crosswalks?
(Photos © J. Maus)
One of the tools we can use to make our streets safer is to get tougher on enforcement. So, what happens when police officers focus on particular violations at specific locations?
Recently, we came across a report detailing five years of crosswalk enforcement actions carried out by the Traffic Division of the Portland Police Bureau. The results (below) show that in most locations, there is either simply ignorance or blatant disregard for basic traffic laws that protect our most vulnerable road users.
PBOT data reveals that from 2005 to 2010 police officers gave out 904 citations during 51 enforcement actions focused specifically on failures to yield to a person in a crosswalk (an average of about 18 citations for each 1-1.5 hour enforcement action).
The actions (you might have seen this excellent Streetfilm on them) are managed by the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety program.
According to the PBOT staffer in charge of the program, Sharon White, the actions are typically conducted every month on Wednesdays between 12:30 and 2:00 and the number of officers that participate varies from three to as many as eight (therefore, the number of citations issued also varies). During the actions, a decoy is “strategically positioned” at locations that have marked or unmarked crosswalks (after all, in Oregon “every corner is a crosswalk”). Locations are chosen based on high walking volumes and/or known trouble spots.
Below are results from the 51 crosswalk enforcement actions in Portland from 2005 – 2010 (data taken directly from PBOT, with emphasis given to highest citation action of each ear):
- 800 Block of NE Multnomah St.: 25 citations, 3 warnings
- NW Pettygrove at 25th and 23rd: 20 citations, 3 warnings
- NE Glisan St. and NE 76th Ave: 31 citations, 3 warnings
- N Killingsworth and N. Kerby; NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. and Jessup St: 7 citations, 7 warnings
- SW Barbur and SW 13th: 28 citations, 25 warnings
- 800 Block of NE Multnomah st: 12 citations, 5 warnings (repeat location)
- 1111 SW 10th Ave.: 25 citations: 60% vehicles, 40% pedestrians & bicyclists
- SW Sam Jackson Park Rd. & SW US Veterans Hospital Rd. 1 citation
- SE 82 Ave. and SE Foster: 37 citations, 5 warnings
- SE Powell at SE 36th Ave.: 33 citations plus 1 tow
- NE 30th & NE Killingsworth; 41 citations, 6 warnings, 2 arrests
- 1111 SW 10th Ave.: 48 citations (62% vehicle; 31% pedestrian and bicycle; 7% other non-moving violations), 1 warning
- NE Fremont & NE 48th: 18 citations (14 Failure to yield to ped (all vehicles, no bikes); 3 seat belt violations, 1 misc. non-moving violation), 4 warnings
- Westbound “slip lane”, intersection of SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy & SW Bertha Ct.: 15 citations, 8 warnings
- SE 82nd and Holgate, and SE 82nd and SE Francis: 18 Citations (9 Failure to yield to pedestrian; 3 Non-moving violations, 2 Pedestrian disobey signal, 4 Other moving violations), 9 warnings
- N Lombard at N Richmond: 11 citations (1 uninsured, 1 tow), 3 warnings
- SE Powell at SE 45th and SE 49th: 3 citations (all 3 vehicles towed), 4 warnings
- NE Alberta at NE 19th Ave. and NE 33rd at Jarrett: 11 citations (10 to motor vehicles, 1 ped; all citations except 2 were given at the NE 33rd location)
- SE Foster at SE 80th: 4 warnings, 1 citation
- NW Pettygrove at NW 25th, NW Vaughn near NW 27th, NW 21st at NW Irving: 15 citations (14 of them at NW 21st and Irving), 6 warnings (4 at NW Vaughn, 2 at NW 21st)
- SE Belmont at SE 33rd, 8 citations
- NE 47th at Multnomah: 22 citations (22 Fail to Stop for Peds, 2 speeders, and an assortment of other violations), 4 warnings
- E Burnside at SE 16th: 35 citations (35 Fail to Stop for Peds, 1 custody for a warrant), 3 warnings
- SW 4th at College: 40 citations (36 for Fail to Stop for ped, 2 Ped disobey signal, 1 Obstructing cross traffic, 1 No operator’s license)
- SW 4th at College: 23 citations
- SE 122nd at Main: 26 citations (18 for Fail to Stop for ped, 8 for other issues, 3 vehicle tows)
- W Burnside at SW 20th Place: 33 Citations (33 for Fail to Stop for ped, 1 arrest for an outstanding warrant, 2 warnings
- N Williams at NE Morris: 34 citations (31 for Fail to Stop for ped (29 vehicles, 2 bikes), 3 non-mover violations, 3 vehicle tows), 6 warnings
- NW 16th at Johnson: 21 citations (20 for Fail to Stop for ped, 1 for Driving with a Suspended License), 3 warnings
- NE Multnomah at NE 6th and NE 8th: 17 citations, 10 warnings
- SE Division at SE 58th: 10 citations (10 for Failure to Stop for ped (this Crosswalk Enforcement Action was for 1 hour compared to 1.5 hours for typical Crosswalk Enforcement Actions)
- NE Broadway at Ross: 20 citations (20 for Failure to Stop for ped (18 vehicles, 2 bikes) (involved 3 officers compared to 5-7 officers for a typical Crosswalk Enforcement Action)
- E Burnside at SE 24th Ave.: 14 citations (all for Fail to Stop for ped (11 vehicles, 3 bikes)), 3 warnings
- SE Division at SE 35th Place: 5 citations (2 for Fail to Stop for ped, 3 other (involved 2 officers compared to 5-7 officers for a typical Crosswalk Enforcement Action)), 10 warnings
- NW Glisan at NW 22nd Ave.: 13 citations (11 for Failure to Stop for ped, 2 others (1 for not wearing seat belt)), 2 warnings
- SE Tacoma at SE 7th Ave.: 19 citations (all for Failure to Stop for ped)
- NE 82nd at Pacific: 13 citations, 18 warnings
- SE 82nd at Cooper: 23 citations, (1 rear-end crash at the site), 7 warnings
- NE 82nd at Thompson: 21 citations (17 for Failure to Stop for ped., 4 others)
- SE MLK at E Burnside: 10 citations (2 for Failure to Stop for ped, 2 for equipment violations, 6 for Failure to Stop for the light), 4 warnings (Failure to Stop for ped)
- SE 17th at SE Center (outside TriMet depot): 5 citations
- SE 17th at SE Marion: 2 citations, 17 warnings
- NE 33rd at Klickitat St.: 10 citations, 4 warnings
- SE Foster at SE 80th Avenue: 9 citations, 3 warnings
- In front of 9920 NE Cascades Parkway and 10005 Northeast Cascades Parkway: 6 citations, 2 warnings
- N Kerby north of N Graham: 9 citations (3 for Fail to Stop for ped, 6 for speeding), 3
- 7635 SW Barbur Blvd. (near SW 13th Ave.): 9 citations, 21 warnings
- SE Foster at SE Cora: 10 citations (9 for Fail to Stop for ped, 1 for cell phone usage), 1 warning
- SE Division at SE 68: 2 citations (1 for Fail to stop for Pedestrian, 1 for speeding) 10 warnings
- SE 122nd at SE Stephens: 5 citations (2 for Fail to stop for Ped, 3 for other violations), 4 warnings (2 vehicle drivers, 2 pedestrians)
- N Williams at NE Failing: 27 citations (most for Fail to Stop for ped, a few for Driving While Suspended and unlawful use of cell phone), 5 warnings
While the outcry about “scofflaw cyclists” continues to permeate the public dialogue, what these actions show is that, similar to cell phone use and speeding, violation of the crosswalk law is common among motor vehicle operators. Just imagine how traffic behavior (and our entire street culture) might change if we had more funding and stronger tools to make enforcement actions like this a much more common occurrence.