Coping with $4-plus per gallon of gasoline, clogged roadways, unsynchronized traffic signals, talkative cell-phone-using drivers, speed bumps and, in some areas, road rage, now comes something else for weary motorists to worry about:
Could that person stepping into the crosswalk ahead be --- a cop?
That new police sting debuts in Chicago next week.
Print and broadcast editors around the nation should be on guard that officials in their area, inspired by the potential for fines, don’t duplicate the routine that has cops, dressed in civilian clothes, stepping into crosswalks as cars approach, says Grumpy Editor.
Chicago officials claim it’s an effort to improve safety. Illinois and Chicago ordinances, as in most other parts of the U.S., require drivers to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks.
In these cash-strapped times, issuing more citations certainly is a tempting by-product.
As if designing a new aircraft, officials have determined speed and stopping distance in their model. The plan is for a plainclothes officer to cross the street as a vehicle approaches from 140 feet away. That, they add, is an adequate stopping distance based on the 30 m.p.h. speed limit on most streets.
A fellow police officer down the street will pull over non-stop-for-pedestrian drivers.
Initially, drivers who fail to give the right-of-way to the “pedestrians” will be issued warnings, reports the Chicago Tribune, adding “real tickets will follow as the campaign expands to other locations.”
The development comes at a time when most city police departments are concerned about shortage of personnel especially with tight or cut budgets (accentuated by higher fuel costs) that, in some cases, are curbing patrols.
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