CHP Tickets 50 in Crosswalk Crackdown
Did you see this woman crossing Redwood Road near Modesto Street last month? The CHP says 50 drivers did not yield to this pedestrian and got a ticket.
Yielding to a pedestrian crossing in a crosswalk is the law, a lesson more than 50 people learned the hard way during a California Highway Patrol safety enforcement as part of National Pedestrian Safety Month.
On the morning of September 21, CHP Hayward conducted a Pedestrian Safety check at a crosswalk on Redwood Road near Modesto Street in Castro Valley. People working with the CHP, including a woman wearing a bright orange top, casually attempted to cross the four-lane road. Within four hours, the enforcement team issued more than 50 tickets to motorists who failed to let pedestrians pass.
On October 31 (Halloween), the Hayward Area CHP office will have additional officers working throughout the unincorporated communities to focus on pedestrian safety, according to CHP Officer Jen Pabst.
“The Hayward Area CHP office is committed to ensuring pedestrian safety and preventing another tragedy like we had in 2020 with Lana Carlos,” CHP Hayward Captain Danmeier said. “We aim to reduce pedestrian-related crashes through ongoing enforcement and educational campaigns.”
Carlos, 12, was walking with the signal in the crosswalk with her sister when a Ford F150 turned left from Manter Road onto Crow Canyon Road and hit and killed Lana. The incident set off a wave of measures to help protect pedestrians in the area.
In 2013, a series of pedestrian accidents on Castro Valley Boulevard prompted the CHP to conduct similar crackdowns on the Boulevard at the intersection with Wisteria Street that eventually led to the installation of a traffic light.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) promotes National Pedestrian Safety Month every October and offers the following tips for drivers:
Look out for pedestrians everywhere, at all times.
Use extra caution when driving in hard-to-see conditions, such as nighttime or bad weather.
Slow down and be prepared to stop when turning or otherwise entering a crosswalk.
Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and stop well back from the crosswalk to give other vehicles an opportunity to see the crossing pedestrians so they can stop too.
In the U.S., in 2021, an estimated 60,577 pedestrians were injured in traffic crashes, an 11-percent increase from 54,771 pedestrians injured in 2020. On average, a pedestrian was killed every 71 minutes and injured every 9 minutes in traffic crashes in 2021.