The Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Police Bureau will be watching you during the evening rush on N Williams Avenue on Tuesday night (8/23).
As I reported back in July, PBOT and the PPB will be doing a “crosswalk enforcement action” at the intersection of Williams and Morris. The idea is to educate the public about Oregon’s crosswalk laws.
The cops will be out in force with a special focus to make sure people operating cars and bikes stop — and stay stopped — when someone tries to cross the street. (They’ll also be watching for jaywalkers, they say.)
The idea is to “raise awareness of pedestrian safety and traffic law.” This action is notable not just because Williams has been focus of a high-profile traffic safety project of late, but also because it’ll be the first such enforcement exercise to take place during rush-hour.
As of last January, the PPB and PBOT had racked up 904 citations in five years of crosswalk enforcement actions. According to PBOT data, the most tickets ever issued during one, 60-90 minute action was 48 citations back in 2006 (it was held at 1111 SW 10th Ave if you’re curious). Given what I’ve personally experienced on Williams, I can envision a record-breaking event.
A PBOT staffer trained as a decoy will attempt to cross at both marked and unmarked crosswalks and police officers will wait in the wings, hoping to nab violators. Chances are, only the most egregious (and/or distracted) vehicle operators will get caught. Signs will be posted prior to the intersection and a veritable phalanx of motorcycle cops will be parked nearby.
On Williams, the problem seems to be especially acute. With three lanes of high-speed (and often impolite) traffic, the inability to safely cross the street has been a common complaint. Several times recently, I’ve stopped for someone only to have numerous people on bikes and in cars blow by me as if they can’t fathom why I’d be stopping in the middle of the lane.
Tuesday evening’s event should be quite interesting. Be forewarned — a ticket for violation of ORS 811.028 could set you back $281.
To prep, keep your eyes peeled for people trying to cross the street. When you see them, stop, and stay stopped until they are safely through the lane next to you. For handy animated videos and more traffic safety resources, check out PBOT’s website.
You’ll just have to accept my assurances that I take both rights and responsibilities seriously, but as many times as I’ve ridden with a rush hour convoy through that intersection, I had to look on the map to make sure the crossing even existed.
FWIW, it’s nigh impossible to make a left toward Boise/Overlook without just stopping at a corner, but *from there*, it’s never been a problem to get across Williams or Vancouver.
I’m stopping and staying stopped, until people safely cross.. I like it when people do the same for me.
Whenever I stop for a pedestrian while driving, particularly at a non-painted crosswalk, I will throw on my hazard lights. This helps to increase the awareness of people coming up behind you or passing in the next lane.
similarly, a cyclist should signal the stop and if possible assert the travel lane, so as to cause trailing motorists to stop as well
I think that could send mixed messages and confuse people. I’d be confused.
what are the two messages
Perhaps one of the messages is that people should go into the adjacent lane as you’re stopped to let out a passenger or to pick one up in your travel lane. The other message is that the person is stopping and trying to bring about awareness of being stopped (because someone is attempting to utilize the crosswalk) -consequently they should not attempt to speed around you hurriedly. Either message may not be contradictory in themselves but how people read them are.
i guess the way i look at it is this. if i were on a street with no striped bike lane and i were stopping to let a pedestrian cross, i would absolutely assert the travel lane to prevent an overtaking motorist from nullifying my effort to let the pedestrian cross. and the striped bike lane, especially on williams, might as well not be there anyway, so in effect i am on a street with no striped bike lane. therefore.
also, this is probably one of those situations where creating confusion is a positive virtue.
I was responding to Chris’ post about putting on his hazard lights. When I see hazard lights I assume someone is parked (illegally) and likely waiting to unload or load a passenger/cargo. So if someone was stopped in front of a crosswalk with their hazard lights on I would probably be confused.
Jonathon – I must echo your experience. There are scads of folks who cross in that areas, many of them elderly and disabled or mothers with children. I find it dangerous to stop b/c the bike(s) behind me might run me over.
I realize many of us bike b/c it’s faster than driving out of the city center, but I hope this helps raise some awareness that the right of way has more vulnerable useres than cyclists.
Good night to climb the Interstate hill – actually, most nights it’s better to take Interstate, even though I’m headed out to NE.
Hey Paul, do you feel that way even if you use the stopping/slowing down signal?
Just wondering…
I’m not sure how Paul feels…but I know from personal experience that the slowing/stopping hand gesture is pretty much useless on this stretch. I would venture that over half of the people on bikes on Williams during the spring and summer have no idea what that signal is, and another quarter of the people on bikes don’t care what it is. I have used it to indicate that I’m slowing and stopping (to the people a good deal back from me), then actually slowed, stopped, put a foot down (with slow/stop hand still extended) and nearly been smashed in to by four or five people on bikes with no intention of stopping for the pedestrian…who was already in the crosswalk at this point (I, as the lead bike, had stopped, as had the two lanes of car traffic).
I definitely let them know, as I passed them all again on the next block, that stopping for pedestrians is the right thing to do, and also happens to be the law.
Paul, the way to deal with this issue is to amplify your position in the bike lane.
When you see someone waiting to cross, not only do you slow down yourself, but you look back, establish as much eye contact as possible with the person/s behind you, and swing wide when stopping, thus assuring those in the bike lane/car lane that you are serious about stopping.
And at the same time assuring them that there is a good reason for everyone behind you to stop..
This makes you Captain Crosswalk when done right(yes, I just made that up), and you are helping control the situation.
Most people are not going to stop if you use hand signals.
But if you use your whole body and bike, they will stop.. They will have to.
Nothing will change. I predict that a week later, a month later, a year later, I will experience the same negligence and obliviousness from countless drivers who look right at me as I walk in the middle of a marked crosswalk anywhere in Portland and continue as if I am the one who must stop for them.
Quentin — have you tried crossing MLK lately? It’s pretty easy at one of the many marked crosswalks.
I wasn’t around 10 years ago, but I suspect that it was a whole lot harder to cross MLK back then.
Things have changed, and will change. They’ll change faster if we throw around ideas, make proposals, ask for enforcement of existing laws, etc.
Ted Buehler
True! I find it remarkably easy to cross MLK these days, especially at the Going bike boulevard. I think it’s because cars can see you from further away, since there aren’t as many parked cars. Also the curb bulb outs help.
Would love to see some enforcements at NON-marked crosswalks.
Seems to me that the widespread ignorance of Oregon’s crosswalk law might be countered if the cops weren’t reinforcing misconceptions by doing enforcements almost exclusively at marked crosswalks.
I tried to stop for a runner at the north end of the RQTC yellow line platform last Wednesday. I’m elated that the runner was paying attention when after slowing, I went. (Illegal, yes, wrong yes, my bad)
The reason?
Checking my rear view, a geezer in an outback wagon full on staring at something out of his passenger window! (the display on the side of the RQ?), wasn’t even going to hit the brakes before slamming into me, totaling my car and likely driving me into the runner anyway.
My point here is to say thank you to the pedestrian for being aware (and making eye contact!) and highlight the importance of paying attention not to say we should do anything but stop for peds.
I really hate driving to work.
your accommodating the bad driver means that he’ll likely just rear-end somebody that isn’t paying attention… you’ve passed the problem onto somebody else…
I would have told everybody to brace… then that person would be paying attention the next time…
Really? Rather than avoid the collision you’d let someone run into you, to what, teach them a lesson?
What about the potential injuries the occupants of your car would receive, and perhaps the jogger as well? Not to mention the insurance hassles, even with it being their fault since they rear-ended you. I’d rather not have my property destroyed to teach some stranger to pay attention – they can learn that lesson someplace else.
It just seems like a silly idea to me. Sorry.
IME, MLK in that neighborhood is as bad or worse than Williams. I can routinely count 12 or more cars as I stand with one foot in the crosswalk, and more often than not, if someone in the near lane stops, drivers whip into the other, far lane to avoid the “idiot stopped for no reason.” MLK cuts the neighborhood in two almost as effectively as the Columbia separates the ‘Couv from Portland.
I have to admit that while I’m driving, I routinely miss the opportunity to stop for peds on MLK who should have the right of way. I swear I’m working on it – I’ve yet to hit anyone, but my sins are as great as everyone else’s.
Just dropped my bike off at the shop for some repairs so I’m sorry to say I’ll miss this. I’ve had similar experiences on Williams when I stop my bike, with hand signals, for pedestrians. Cars blow right by, people on bikes often aren’t expecting to stop. But once I also had a pedestrian standing in the crosswalk get mad at me for stopping (and stopping traffic) for her.
I notice that this interesection has a bus stop right next to the crosswalk. It is often hard to distinguish the difference between folks waiting for the bus and folks preparing to cross the street. I don’t drive Williams, but I have seen this same situation along Barbur.
In general, my experience as a jogger in Portland is that auto traffic is quite courteous, often stopping and waiving me across even when they have the through street.
I hate that they put bus stops on corners like that… they should put them across the street to avoid this confusion…
because of this I rarely ever stop for a pedestrian if there’s a bus stop on the corner… when I first moved here I stopped every time, but the majority of the time the people are just jumping quickly into the street to see if they can spot their bus coming… so after stopping in the road many times only to have the people oblivious to my courtesy I simply don’t stop unless it’s obvious they’re crossing…
I’m confused. The bust stops should be across the street? Wouldn’t we be asking the bus passengers to step off the bus into a lane of auto traffic?
No. He means the same side of the street, but on the far side of an intersection instead of the near side. This means the bus would stop beyond the crosswalk, not at it. Of course, there’s another crosswalk on the far side of the intersection usually too, but the bus stop itself would be offset by several feet because it would be beyond that still
If that is what he is getting at, it makes more sense.
Gah! Does anyone else hate it when overly courteous drivers cede the right of way? Don’t DO that…unpredictable actions are not safe! If I plan on crossing mid-block, I’ll take care of it myself, thankyouverymuch. I have literally turned my back on drivers when they’ve insistently waved me on (while another lane of traffic is whizzing merrily by, happy to crush me).
I am curious how they will be looking for jaywalkers. Are they just trying to get people crossing outside the crosswalk? Oddly enough, the term ‘jaywalking’ is not recognized by Oregon law.
See a diagram of pedestrian positions in crosswalks in the Oregon Bicyclist Manual, pages 13 and 14 “Crosswalks”
http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/BIKEPED/docs/bike_manual.pdf
Ted Buehler
it seems that in their example the bike lane isn’t considered a lane… I always consider the bike lane a lane… maybe I’ll get a ticket some day…
I’m glad I’m not the test dummy that has to walk across the street all day next to noisy, stinky, menacing cars. Sounds like a day in hell to me.
it had been my impression that the decoys would include not only PBoT staff but also some volunteers from the community. yes? no? it might be amusing to flood the place with pedestrians, and not just at this one crosswalk.
i don’t often have a reason to thank the PPB for things they do but in this case… THANK YOU VERY MUCH! went though the enforcement action about an hour ago and they were very busy issuing citations. again, many thanks.
Very much by coincidence, I rolled through right around 5. The PPD had its cherries on and was talking to a female cyclist, but in my time passing the scene, I didn’t see a citation being issued—or anyone at the actual intersection.
It’s a very good point that the bus stop does cause some confusion about who’s intending to cross, and who’s just waiting for a bus. Relocating it farther from the corner certainly would help clear that up. It’s possible that I have run afoul of someone’s ROW just by not knowing the person’s intentions.
I would be very interested in a followup article on the results of this sting, especially the tickets issued at unmarked crosswalks.
I was there for about 70 mins yesterday and counted about 15 cars, 5 bikes that were stopped. Not sure how many were citations and how many warnings, but I do know at least one jaywalker was ticketed.
The police did make a point of yelling “good work” for the group I was in that stopped for a walker (a middle aged woman of color, for those of you curious about the demographics of the undercover walkers). I saw a car pulled over and the husband saw a cyclist.
I always try to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks, but never for people sauntering across the middle of the street.
really? why?
I think, while stupid, people sauntering across the street still have the right of way Greg…
You should stop when safe to do so.
I don’t want to hit them, because I’ll suffer as much as they, but they earn a dirty look as I swerve around them. If you don’t have the ROW, show some respect to whoever does.
Glad the sign announcing the enforcement action was small. In fact if you were traveling at 25 mph and could read that sign, your eyes were off the road so long, you probably just hit a pedestrian. The flashing lights of multiple officers, however, would have alerted anyone.
Good scene last night. Did the normal ride up williams. Lots of cops and lots of people hanging out at Dawson Park. I stopped for an older gentleman at the south crosswalk as he walked by saying something to the effect of, “yeah, they’ll pull you over for not stopping for a white lady but ain’t gonna happen for a black man”…it was classic. Rolled up to the next crosswalk at Morris to see a random white lady crossing the street who was an obvious decoy. At least five or six moto cops and a couple cruisers waiting on Morris. Only saw a car pulled over on Williams, no bikers.
It has been my experience that the black people don’t look when they cross the street or simply ignore don’t walk signs.
I have buzzed several when they entered the bike lane without looking.
I’m not so sure that’s unintentional in some cases. I have them walk in front of me with a look in their eyes almost as if to say “I dare you to hit me!”. Probably anger from the gentrification.
My husband, who was totally unaware of this enforcement action, got rear ended by another bike when he stopped for a pedestrian while it was going on. No damage done to either of them, the guy was apologetic but a little boneheaded like “why did you stop?”
Yeah people are clueless. I was driving on Powell yesterday and stopped for a ped at a marked crossing, and the person driving behind me came *very* close to the rear end of my car. I don’t think they were expecting me to stop for them.
Did the guy that ran into your husband get cited?
Wow….so who does one blame in a bike/bike accident? The infrastructure?
I am all for stopping for pedestrians but I will not slam on my brakes when someone turns to face the crosswalk, indicating they want to cross. Also, pedestrians should look both ways before entering the road. I realize this is portland and people need to show that they don’t give a rip but LOOK BEFORE YOU CROSS!!!! Again, there is responsibility on both parties to be safe though heaven forbid this site promotes that.
Just remember, the second they set foot in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, they have the ROW.
While I agree it is the responsibility of both parties, the law is pretty clear. No complaining if you do get a ticket if you refuse to stop of wind up paying for someone’s medical bills.
Thats not exactly true. They need to give drivers enough room to stop. If they cause you to slam on your brakes, its not enough room.
I rolled through at about 6:45 and saw a gaggle of cyclists ahead of me dodge the incredibly obvious decoy lady– a middle-aged woman in sunglasses walking stridently across the intersection in a bright red shirt. After the cyclists skirted around her I saw her lift a radio to her mouth and call something in– but I didn’t see any of the cyclists get pulled over. The motorcycle officers had nabbed a couple other drivers up in the next block by Pizza-a-Go-Go. Good work PPD!
I think the law is you have to wait until the pedestrian is up on the opposite curb before you can actually start moving which really seems a bit much. To sit there in a bike lane while some one walks across 2 lanes of traffic is a bit odd. Were they giving tickets to people who didn’t wait until the decoy was up on the other curb?
Or am I wrong about the law?
your lane and the next adjacent lane
Explained graphically in Animated Law Center’s video: http://bikeportland.org/2009/06/03/pbot-film-reminds-road-users-that-every-corner-is-a-crosswalk-19439
(Crosswalk with signal: 6′ clear in front and behind pedestrian. No signal: pedestrian’s lane and one lane in front and behind that lane.)
Recently, I was out running on the Peninsula Crossing Trial in N Portland and came to a marked crosswalk across Lombard, a car stopped for me and before I even took a step out into the street a truck hit the car at full speed. The police were called and I waited to give a statement, but the officer was not going to write any tickets. I plan to file a complaint with the Independent Police Review Division, does anyone have any experience with how this process works?
The results —
Follow-up Enforcement Action N Williams/NE Morris Inbox
City of Portland Bureau of Transportation
Crosswalk Enforcement Action Follow-up Report
August 24, 2011
Crosswalk Enforcement Action
Location: N Williams at NE Morris
Date: Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Time: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Outreach and Education
Portland Transportation conducted extensive outreach and education prior to the crosswalk enforcement action:
A media advisory was released in advance of the mission notifying members of the media about the date, time, and location of the crosswalk enforcement action.
Portland Transportation participated in meetings with the Urban League of Portland, the North Williams Ave.
Traffic Operations Safety Project stakeholder group, and others to discuss the upcoming crosswalk enforcement action and outreach and education strategies
Portland Transportation developed a “Public Notice” flyer announcing the event that was provided to community members and businesses
City staff engaged in conversations with community members at Dawson Park the day before the event and while the event was in process
Legacy Emanuel Hospital was provided an electronic version of the “Public Notice” flyer and an Oregon crosswalk laws flyer for distribution to all of their employees
Businesses in the area were notified of the event and encouraged to share with other staff members and co-workers information about the event and Oregon crosswalk laws
Portland Transportation displayed signs announcing “Pedestrian Crosswalk Enforcement Action Ahead” along with an orange traffic cone and orange flag located 1 block in advance of the site of the crosswalk enforcement action
Crosswalk Enforcement Action Results
Citations issued: 22 (20 out of 22 violators received the option to attend a $35, 2-hour SHARE THE ROAD SAFETY CLASS instead of the ticket)
Warnings issued: 0
Mode breakout:
motor vehicles stopped – 13
bicycles stopped – 8
pedestrians stopped – 1
WHAT DID THEY STOP THE PEDESTRIAN FOR?