Sandpoint’s crosswalks get attention

Sandpoint police will be among 40 law enforcement agencies in Idaho to target pedestrian safety this month in a program sponsored by the Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Highway Safety.

The program, which provides safety and awareness training for police officers and sheriff’s deputies, came in response to a surge in pedestrian fatalities across Idaho in 2002. According to annual collision reports posted by the Office of Highway Safety on the ITD Web site, the number of people killed after being hit by cars jumped by 25 percent between 2001 and 2002. The number of collisions between cars and pedestrians was up 13 percent in the same time frame, the study said.

“We haven’t had anybody hit this year, thank God,” Sandpoint police Capt. Steve Maurer said Friday. “We have had several close calls where people have had to jump out of the way.”

With heavy tourist traffic through the city – including both vacationers in cars and RVs and shoppers on foot – Maurer jumped at an invitation from the Office of Highway Safety this year to send an officer to Boise for crosswalk safety training, he said.

Sandpoint will begin safety emphasis patrols in crosswalks on Tuesday, and again on July 27 and 28.

Maurer said one officer will cross the street while two others in marked patrol cruisers will be stationed nearby to track motorist behavior. Last year, he said, the officer on foot had to jump to avoid being clipped by a car.

For motorists failing to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians, officers will issue either a warning or a citation, depending on the severity of the situation.

The goal of the program is to increase awareness of right-of-way and safety issues between motorists and pedestrians, Maurer said.

“We are trying to get the public to be aware,” Maurer said. Most of the close calls, he said, are “people just not paying attention.”