Police cite, warn 71 in Oakland traffic campaign

‘ ‘ ‘ Police issued 71 citations and warnings to Oakland pedestrians and drivers during a… ‘ ‘ ‘ Police issued 71 citations and warnings to Oakland pedestrians and drivers during a three-hour campaign Wednesday. ‘ ‘ ‘ Police patrolled Oakland from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in their second traffic enforcement campaign in fewer than 40 days, issuing citations and warnings for running red lights, failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and failing to cross properly. ‘ ‘ ‘ While 23 pedestrians received written warnings for failing to cross properly, none were cited yesterday. ‘ ‘ ‘ In the Feb. 18 enforcement campaign, 12 pedestrians were cited and nine were warned for the same offense. ‘ ‘ ‘ David Pritt, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation safety spokesman, whose district includes Oakland, said that the department chose the area around Pitt’s central campus for the campaign because of the high volume of pedestrians in the area as well as its traffic patterns. ‘ ‘ ‘ While the act of jaywalking is not illegal, pedestrians can still create unsafe situations that could call for a citation for failing to cross properly. ‘ ‘ ‘ The 11 drivers cited for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk could pay up to $250. ‘ ‘ ‘ Eight more drivers were warned for the same offense. ‘ ‘ ‘ Police also cited 29 drivers and warned 11 more for running red lights yesterday. ‘ ‘ ‘ Offenders face a bill of about $110, police said. ‘ ‘ ‘ No drivers were cited or warned for running red lights during last month’s campaign. ‘ ‘ ‘ City police, Port Authority police, CMU police and Pitt police all partook in the PennDOT campaign. ‘ ‘ ‘ During the same three-hour time period, more than 4,600 pedestrian/vehicle crashes occurred across Pennsylvania resulting in 155 fatalities, ‘Most of which could have been avoided if motorists and pedestrians were more cognizant of pedestrian safety laws,’ said a PennDOT news release. ‘ ‘ ‘ Since 2003, the number of crashes involving pedestrians have steadily increased every year from 113 to 139 in PennDOT District 11, which includes Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties, although the number of fatalities has dropped from 24 to 10. ‘ ‘ ‘ Pritt said that future enforcement campaigns will be sporadic throughout the rest of the year and will include other portions of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County.