That pedestrian strolling across the street at a crosswalk in Mill Creek may not be as unassuming as he or she looks.
Mill Creek Police officers will be out in teams of three starting this week, testing abidance to crosswalk safety laws. The crosswalk safety emphasis started on Thursday, April 17 and will continue through May, and maybe beyond.
Plain-clothes officers will monitor locations that have had an increase in pedestrian-to-vehicle collisions, or safety concerns raised by citizens.
The Crosswalk and Pedestrian Safety (CAPS) emphasis was inspired by numerous complaints from citizens, said Mike Reidt, Mill Creek Police Officer.
The CAPS emphasis will focus on education and enforcement. Some violators will be cited, while others will benefit from the education element of the emphasis: they will be provided with information on rights and responsibilities of pedestrians and drivers.
CAPS teams will focus their attention on those days to issues of pedestrian safety.
“We’re going to have officers that are going to be specifically targeting crosswalk and pedestrian safety,” Reidt said.
CAPS officers will have an assigned duty to focus on crosswalks, issue citations to pedestrians and drivers, at crosswalks, and enforce “jaywalking” laws when pedestrians cross roads illegally.
The penalty for a crosswalk violation is $86 for a driver, and $42 for a pedestrian.
The city of Mill Creek has responded to five collisions involving pedestrians in the last two years. The emphasis is intended to raise awareness of crosswalk issues for pedestrians, drivers and officers. Reidt said after an emphasis patrol, officers become more likely to watch for those types of violations. That was the effect of last year’s seat belt emphasis on him.
“Once you’ve been involved in an emphasis you’re more attuned” to those kinds of violations, Reidt said.
Mill Creek Police Department is conducting its crosswalk safety emphasis while others around the state do the same. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission kicked off a pedestrian and crosswalk law enforcement campaign April 7 in Seattle.
Reidt said Mill Creek may apply for a grant to cover the costs of further emphasis in crosswalk safety, but, for now, the department is acting on their own.
“We’ve gotten a lot of complaints from pedestrians,” Reidt said. “That’s mainly why we’re doing it is in response to community concern.”
For more information on the crosswalk safety emphasis, contact Anne Kruger at 425-745-6175.
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