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Motorists angered by crosswalk 'sting' By John Darling Daily Tidings Correspondent When Teri DeSilva steps into the crosswalk on busy Ashland St. the radar gun goes up, the camcorders roll, the walkie-talkies are flipped on. Usually, someone is about to get $175 tickets for flying through a crosswalk when a "pedestrian" is trying to cross in one piece. Officer Teri Desilva throws up her hand at a motorist who narrowly misses her in a crosswalk Monday. Ashland Daily Tidings /DENISE BARATTA Actually, DeSilva is not a real pedestrian. She's a cop. And that didn't sit well with some of the drivers in the Ashland Police Department's Pedestrian Safety Enforcement on Ashland Street at Normal Avenue for four hours on Monday. "It was a sting operation," said Terry Lehman of Ashland, who got a ticket. "The cop even said it was. She (the pedestrian) was 20 feet from me and four lanes away when she stepped out. I would have had to hit the brakes hard. If it was a real pedestrian, she would have waited. I think it's screwed." It was a sentiment shared by many motorists Monday. "It's a crock of chicken----," said Steve Tallhunter of Ashland, also ticketed. "I was distracted by all the TV cameras, cars and people on the right when she put one foot in the crosswalk in my left peripheral vision. We all know enough to stop for pedestrians. This is a trap and it's bull----." Another motorist, who asked to remain anonymous, called the ticket "hardass" and told the patrolman she resented being cited by a policeman who didn't even see the violation. Traffic officer Tom Cook said the operation was not a sting because "sting" means you try to lure someone into committing a crime. Here, big orange signs 100 yards before the crosswalk say, "Warning, Pedestrian Safety Enforcement." Despite the signs and the lone pedestrian in the crosswalk, one or two drivers in each wave of vehicles would sail through the crosswalk. "It's no big effort. You don't have to set people up," said DeSilva. "You've got cones and signs, but they're just not paying attention." Ashland police run pedestrian operations like this once a month. It's even advertised in the newspaper. They give warnings to about half the drivers they stop - the ones who run the crosswalk when the "decoy" was more than two lanes off and the ones who are too close (inside the orange cone) to comfortably stop. "I was shocked I didn't get a big fine," said teacher Eric Sandrock of Ashland, who got off with a warning. "She came off the curb when I was too close, but I should have tried to stop. I think it's great they're doing this, as long as the emphasis is on public education rather than the punitive side." Police explain the rules to drivers they stop. You don't have to stop if the pedestrian is on the curb. You do have to stop if a pedestrian is anywhere in the crosswalk -- and you can't proceed, even if they've cleared your lane. You have to wait till they're totally off the street. It's no excuse if a stopped car screens you from seeing the pedestrian; if someone is stopped, that should clue you the crosswalk is being used, said Cook. The long, busy, four-lane stretch of Ashland St., AKA Hwy. 66 never had crosswalks till last year. Drivers are slowly getting used to the idea. Police earlier set up a pedestrian operation at the walk a block west of Normal and quickly nabbed 28 drivers, citing only half. Squad cars wait three blocks away in both directions, as volunteer and Traffic Safety Commission member Terry Doyle writes violators' make, vehicle type, color and speed violation, if any. He barks the data to Cook, who directs cops to either cite or warn. "People are careless with driving occasionally," said Doyle. "They're in their own world. That's what we're trying to change. The idea is not more revenue (most goes into the city general fund), but to increase pedestrian safety." Some of the drivers thought pedestrians should get tickets for carelessly strolling out in the middle of traffic and expecting the world to stop around them. "I was born and raised here and the tourists have always run the show and stepped in front of cars as they please where there's no crosswalk," said Katie Taylor, now of Las Vegas. "This (operation) is excessive. Police can't expect us to come to a screeching halt if someone sets a foot in the crosswalk. There was no way I could safely stop. I think the police are looking real hard for picky, minuscule things. This is irrational. It was kind of a sting." Lehman said a friend beat a similar citation in court by using the police video to show the pedestrian was several lanes away and he was too close to stop. Lehman said he would do the same. Violators will usually complain, said camera volunteer David Chapman, "but the last time we set up here, people came out of their houses to ask why cars were stopping for pedestrians. They told us traffic never stops for pedestrians." LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -