Police crack down on drivers, pedestrians

‘ ‘ ‘ Police issued citations and warnings to 47 drivers and pedestrians yesterday during a… ‘ ‘ ‘ Police issued citations and warnings to 47 drivers and pedestrians yesterday during a two-hour enforcement campaign in Oakland. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pitt police, Carnegie Mellon University police and city police patrolled the area around Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard from 10 a.m. to noon yesterday as part of The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s Drive Safe PA pedestrian safety campaign.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While police issued citations to 21 drivers and warnings to five others, they also cited 12 pedestrians and warned nine more for failing to cross properly. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Cited drivers could face about $250 in fines, while cited pedestrians face fees up to $80. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I think it is ridiculous that trained police officers are spending their time busting college kids for crossing the street, rather than getting out there and fighting crime,’ said Pitt student Tim Allen in an e-mail. Allen said he received a warning when he crossed Bigelow Boulevard during a ‘do not walk’ signal. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ David Pritt, the PennDOT safety press officer whose district includes Oakland, said that the enforcement was necessary to keep everyone safe. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘For every problem, there’s two different sides of the problem,’ Pritt said. ‘It’s not just the motorists that have to be safe.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Pritt said that while there is no law prohibiting jaywalking, pedestrians can still create unsafe situations, such as if someone emerged into the street from between two parked cars. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ While Pritt said that there aren’t any more safety enforcement campaigns planned in the near future, Oakland hasn’t seen the last of the initiative. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There are going to be some pedestrian safety events this spring through this fall that will circle around Oakland, Downtown Pittsburgh and the South Side,’ he said, ‘We’re just advising all people to be safe.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ During the two-hour period of the campaign, ‘more than 4,600 pedestrian [and] vehicle crashes occurred across the state resulting in 155 fatalities, most of which could have been avoided if motorists and pedestrian were more cognizant of pedestrian safety laws,’ a PennDOT news release said.