(Photo: Portland Police Bureau)
What does it take for people to stop when someone’s trying to cross the road?
How about being on a commercial corridor full of shops? Maybe crosswalks with median islands and flashing lights? Perhaps a pandemic that asks everyone to lighten the load of first responders and hospitals? How about the presence of police officers – one of whom is acting as a decoy?
It seems not even these things work for some people who are so selfish and rude they ignore Oregon law and put innocent lives at risk.
Yesterday the Portland Police Bureau held one of their infamous “pedestrian safety crosswalk missions” at two locations in southeast Portland. In the five hours between 11:00 am and 4:00 pm on Foster and Hawthorne they stopped 46 people. 27 people received citations and 19 earned just a written warning. Seven people were cited for driving on a suspended license.
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The PPB used a decoy to set up the mission. The decoy crossed on foot at SE Foster and 65th and then at SE Hawthorne and 38th.
The Hawthorne intersection is five blocks from where 15-year-old Fallon Smart was struck and killed in 2016. It has a painted crosswalk and signs warning people of the presence of people on foot.
65th and Foster is a deadly intersection with a long history of crashes. It’s also six blocks from a crash last year that claimed the life of 82-year-old nearby resident Lou Battams as she tried to walk across the street.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation has partnered with the PPB Traffic Division on these crosswalk missions for 15 years now. Read more about the program in our profile on their 10th anniversary in 2015.
— Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org
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