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Jaywalking uptown? It could cost you $213

Record year in pedestrian deaths spurs ticketing of jaywalkers, errant drivers. Cost: $213 and up

By Lindsay Ruebens

lruebens@charlotteobserver.com

The Charlotte Observer

Posted: Tuesday, Jul. 31, 2012

Following a record year of pedestrian fatalities, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police began a crackdown Monday uptown against jaywalkers and unlawful drivers to raise safety awareness.

On foot and bicycle, officers at five heavily traveled intersections handed out 41 tickets – which brought hefty penalties.

Tickets will cost jaywalkers $213, Officer Michael Tinsley said. The fine for jaywalking is $25, and court fees are $188. Citations for driving infractions, such as failing to yield to pedestrians, cost $223, $35 of which is the fine.

The three-week campaign was spurred by back-to-back accidents in January at Stonewall and College streets. Bank executive Brett Morgan, 47, was struck and killed while walking to work. The next day, pedestrian David Smuda, 42, was hit and injured at the same spot. Both men were struck while walking in a crosswalk.

An Observer analysis found Charlotte has seen an increase in pedestrian-related crashes in recent years.

Jaywalking was among one of the most common contributing factors in wrecks with pedestrians. Other factors: distracted drivers and a lack of sidewalks.

Fourteen pedestrians have died in incidents involving motor vehicles so far this year. There were 24 such deaths in 2011. Mecklenburg County leads the state in the number of pedestrians injured and killed by motor vehicles.

Tinsley, who is heading the ticket campaign, said an increase in complaints to the police and to the Charlotte Department of  Transportation about jaywalkers and unsafe drivers uptown was a factor in starting the campaign.

He said after the January incidents, he was asked to devise a solution. Tinsley said dangerous intersections had “a direct correlation with pedestrians not following the rules of the road and vehicles not following the rules of the road.”

Tinsley said he did not know whether other CMPD divisions outside uptown would enforce jaywalking laws.

The campaign is focused on morning traffic, lunchtime and the evening rush hour. Some of the most heavily traveled intersections that police are watching are on College and Tryon streets. At least six pedestrians have been struck by vehicles in recent years at those locations.

The campaign targets aggressive jaywalkers and drivers, which include “those who dash in front of cars or run across the street or just walk nonchalantly in front of a vehicle,” he said.

Monday, uptown pedestrians were taken by surprise when officers started handing out tickets.

An officer on a bicycle ticketed one man for jaywalking on Tryon Street between Trade and Fifth streets. He said he was very angry. “I can’t even talk,” he said before stalking away down a sidewalk.

Large cities such as Charlotte, Orlando, Fla., and Phoenix grew in the automobile age and now rank among the most dangerous places for pedestrians and bicyclists.

David Goldberg, of  Washington-based Transportation for America, said he has seen periodic efforts across the country to educate people how to follow the rules of the road.

“What a lot of places are doing is auditing how the problem intersections are regulated as well,” he said.

Design and signal timing are also factors in considering problem areas with jaywalkers and motorists.

Peter Flucke, a former police officer, is assisting a statewide pedestrian safety program based in the Raleigh-Durham area called Watch For Me NC. Flucke said a cultural change needs to take place for accidents between people and vehicles to stop. “Enforcing jaywalking typically is not a really effective pedestrian safety measure,” he said. “There really is a cultural change that has to take place.”

Goldberg agreed, and said that he has observed that West Coast cities, like Seattle, have a much higher level of respect between pedestrians and vehicles. On the East Coast, drivers rule the road, he said.

“In Atlanta, the car almost always presumes it has the right of way, and the driver always presumes roads are for cars and people just need to look out for cars,” he said.

Monday afternoon, Eric Tester jaywalked across Trade Street but wasn’t ticketed. He said jaywalking is a normal part of life in uptown Charlotte.

“I pretty much go if it’s clear,” he said. “I guess I know it’s illegal, but if somebody goes before the light, everyone else just follows. I think that’s pretty common.”