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SOUTH SALT LAKE — A concerning trend in South Salt Lake as more people head outdoors this spring. A police spokesman said about 40 drivers were recently stopped and half were cited for not following crosswalk safety laws.
Officer Ryan Alvarez, public information officer for the South Salt Lake City Police Department, said drivers were cited with failure to yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian. Officers conducted an operation on Wednesday at different marked crossed walks in South Salt Lake.
"If there is a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk, you are supposed to stop for them if they are on your half of the road or quickly approaching your half of the road," said Alvarez. That rule applies to parallel bar crosswalks.
School zones, however, are different. They have a ladder bar design and have different rules. "At that crosswalk, motorists are required to stop for any pedestrian in any part of the crosswalk. So even if they're on the other half of the road and the school zone lights are flashing, you are required to stop," Alvarez said.
The operation focused on motorists, but Alvarez said pedestrians must also follow traffic signs and pedestrian signals and do not always have the right-of-way.
"You've got to be aware of people and stop for them, and as a pedestrian you do want to walk defensively. Just like drivers drive defensively, you want to make sure that cars are watching out for you," he said.
The goal is to make the roads safer as more people enjoy the warmer weather.
"A few extra seconds of waiting for somebody to cross the road is not going to delay you that much in terms of the huge impact you could have on somebody else's life or your own by not waiting," Alvarez said.
For a complete list of laws for pedestrians and motorists, go to pedestrianmyths.utah.gov/know-the-laws/.
