(January 22, 2015) -- The Portland Bureau of Transportation and Portland Police Bureau advise the traveling public that a crosswalk enforcement action is scheduled for Wednesday, January 28th to raise awareness of pedestrian safety and traffic law.
The enforcement action will be from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the marked crossing on SW Capitol Highway at SW Miles.
This location was chosen at the request of the community, which has been active in educating and encouraging drivers to be alert, aware and slow down. The crossing is heavily used by school children and transit riders - a pre-school is on one corner and the crossing also supports two TriMet stops and is close to a public school bus pickup and drop off location on SW Miles.
A crosswalk enforcement action includes a pedestrian decoy positioned at marked or unmarked crosswalks. These actions are designed to inform the public of longstanding Oregon crosswalk laws and to improve pedestrian safety. Drivers who fail to stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk and pedestrians who jaywalk may be issued a warning or citation by the Portland Police Bureau.
Crosswalk enforcement actions are an effective way to communicate pedestrian right of way laws to both drivers and pedestrians. The transportation and police bureaus do enforcement actions about once each month in response to requests by community members, city traffic safety engineers, and Portland Police to educate the general public on the rules at marked and unmarked crossings.
Learn more about the Transportation Bureau’s safety work at http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/40390 and pedestrian rights and responsibilities at http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/435879
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