Crossing the street is hazardous in Surf City

An undercover traffic sting in Surf City ticketed 50 motorists in

about two hours.

With pedestrian fatalities on the rise in Huntington Beach, police put

an plainclothes officer at a busy intersection to see if cars would stop

for him.

The police department’s traffic bureau issued 50 citations for

crosswalk violations from 2 to 4:15 p.m. on Feb. 6 at the intersection of

Yorktown Avenue and Windward Lane, said Sgt. Mike Reynolds.

Motorcycle officers nabbed violators for failing to stop for the

pedestrian.

Police chose that intersection because an 80-year-old woman was struck

and killed while trying to cross the street in November. It is also a

school crossing location for nearby Newland Elementary School, which is

staffed by crossing guards for an hour when children are going home,

Reynolds said.

Several guards working crosswalks on Yorktown Avenue have complained

that motorists frequently disregard their directions to stop, police

said.

Statistics from the police department showed a 32% increase in

pedestrian injuries due to traffic collisions from 2000 to 2001.

Huntington Beach had 10 fatal pedestrian traffic collisions in 2001, the

most in Orange County, police said.

When pedestrians are in the crosswalk, it is the responsibility of the

cars to yield to them, said Sgt. Gary Meza.

“Pedestrians have the right of way at a crosswalk,” Meza said. “They

have to be careful, but they can’t demand that cars stop. Some cars don’t

pay attention to pedestrians.”

Two additional citations for were given to drivers who failed to obey

a crossing guard’s directions to stop at another nearby crosswalk on

Yorktown Avenue, Reynolds said.

Police said additional sting operations are planned for other problem

areas.