Alameda Police Initiate Pedestrian and Driver Awareness Campaign

A new safety awareness initiative by the Alameda Police Department’s Traffic Section will focus on educating pedestrians, as well as drivers.

“Traffic safety is a shared responsibility,” said Alameda Police Chief Paul Rolleri. “Although pedestrians have the ‘right of way’ in California, they too need to be vigilant and attentive when crossing. Pedestrians can improve their safety by attempting to make eye contact with approaching drivers and not looking at their phones while crossing streets.”

Drivers need to concentrate on driving too, he added.

The effort is in response to a recent increase in vehicle-pedestrian collisions and will include a pedestrian awareness campaign as well as street-level enforcement.

The police department released a statement today saying that, “As of January 31, 2014 eight collisions involving pedestrians have been investigated. In 2013 there were 41 collisions involving pedestrians and vehicles. The drivers were found to be at fault 36 out of the 41 collisions for various reasons such as: (26) failing to yield to a pedestrian in the crosswalk; (5) failing to yield to pedestrian in the roadway or while turning; (3) inattention; and (2) speeding.”

Enforcement operations began February 10th. In February, 62 citations were issued compared to 26 in January.