Heads up drivers and pedestrians – Menlo Park Police will be vigilant on June 27
The Menlo Park Police Department will conduct a pedestrian safety enforcement operation intended to educate drivers and pedestrians on traffic laws meant to keep them safe on the road.
On Thursday, June 27, officers will be looking for violations made by drivers and pedestrians that are illegal and dangerous. Special attention will be directed toward drivers failing to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, speeding, making illegal turns, not stopping for signs and signals or any other traffic violation. Officers will stop pedestrians who cross the street illegally, fail to yield to drivers who have the right of way, or are distracted while walking.
Pedestrians should only cross the street using crosswalks or intersections, preferably with a stop sign or signal. In addition, pedestrians should be looking for cars backing up and avoid darting between parked cars, make eye contact with drivers and wear bright clothing during the day and reflective materials or use a flashlight at night.
Drivers should wait for pedestrians to cross the street, slow down or prepare to stop when crossing an intersection where there is foot traffic, and stop at the crosswalk line to allow other drivers to see and yield to pedestrians.
Pedestrians and drivers can also ensure everyone gets where we need to go safely by avoiding distractions.
“Drivers and pedestrians should be looking out for one another and not down at their phone,” Menlo Park Police Corporal ChrisAdair said. “When it comes to roadway safety, they share equal responsibility.”
Funding for this program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Photo by Linda Hubbard (c) 2019
Bob Smithson June 24, 2019 at 5:11 pm
Unfortunately, the MP police should stage this “enforcement operation” during the school year. They should camp out right around the street from their headquarters, at the corner of Alma and Ravenswood, where they would see 30-40 middle-school children riding their bikes on the sidewalk, on the cross-walks (even though their are signs that tell riders to walk their bikes) and against street signs and signals.
MenloResident June 28, 2019 at 9:47 am
Pedestrians are not doing their part. Too many times I have seen pedestrians and bicyclists brazenly walk into the crosswalk with no regard for the traffic. Do they have a right to do so? Yes. And they can get injured or killed exercising this right, which is foolish. In a bigger city, such as SF, the outcome would be dramatically different. Crosswalks are an area designated for pedestrians, but pedestrians need to consider the probability that a driver may not see them. I was taught to never trust or assume a driver can see you. Whether I have a right to enter a crosswalk is secondary to my desire to stay alive.
The “enforcement operation” was essentially entrapment, but the PD gave it forethought and “announced” the operation beforehand, thereby heading off potential claims of entrapment as seen in DUI checkpoints and as mandated by the US Supreme court. The plain clothes cop walking back and forth in the crosswalk, daring motorists, was comical at best. Does the PD have any other priorities?