Tickets-a-plenty written to crosswalk violators

With so many drivers bullying pedestrians at this particular outer East Portland intersection along SE 82nd Avenue of Roses, Traffic Division officers could hardly keep up …

Although this casually-dressed Portland Police Bureau officer is already in the crosswalk, the driver of the SUV steps on the gas and zooms right by.

Story and photos by David F. Ashton

Because it was installed by the Oregon Department of Transportation, and not the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), the pedestrian crossing on SE 82^nd Avenue of Roses at Cooper Street isn’t marked with broad black-and-white stripes.

The crosswalk, located between traffic signals at SE Duke and Flavel Streets, does have a pedestrian median island, and signs alerting drivers that it is an official crosswalk.

“We’re holding a ‘crosswalk education and enforcement action’ here today,” observed PBOT Public Information Officer Dylan Rivera on April 26.

Seeking a break in the traffic, the “designated walker” again stops in his tracks as a minivan whizzes past him without stopping.

A police Traffic Division motorcycle officer takes off in pursuit of the traffic law-violating driver.

“SE 82nd Avenue is one of ten ‘High Crash Corridors’ that PBOT has prioritized for stepped-up education, enforcement and safety improvements,” Rivera said as he watched a plain-clothes Portland Police Bureau (PPB) officer dodge cars and trucks as he crossed the thoroughfare.

These “police actions” involve a designated pedestrian crossing at a marked or unmarked crosswalk, while police monitor how people who are driving, bicycling, and walking, adhere to the traffic safety laws,” Rivera pointed out.

“Drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk and pedestrians who fail to follow Oregon traffic laws may be issued a warning or citation,” Rivera told East Portland News.

On this day, it was difficult for PPB Traffic Division officers to keep up with the need for “education”; during almost every attempted street crossing, a vehicle or two swooshed past the “designated walker” with impunity.

Inside the cab of this Ford F350 FX4 Off-Road truck the driver appears to be too busy on a cell phone call to notice the pedestrian he zooms past.

After the event, Rivera reported, “Portland Police wrote 36 citations and eight warnings for traffic violations.”

Citations:

Failure to stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian: 27
Seatbelt violations: 2
Passing a stopped vehicle at a marked crosswalk: 1
No Operators License: 1
Driving While [License] Suspended: 3
Expired registration: 1
Failure to Carry Proof of Insurance: 1

Warnings

Failure to stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian: 8

Under Oregon law, every intersection is a legal crosswalk, whether it is marked or unmarked, Rivera reminded.

Another police Traffic Division unit rolls, ready to stop and “educate” another errant driver.

“Vehicle drivers must stop, and stay stopped, for people walking when the pedestrian is in the travel lane or in the adjacent lane,” Rivera said. “People walking should make sure oncoming traffic has adequate stopping distance, and make sure vehicles have stopped, before they enter a travel lane.”

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