Directed Enforcement Officer Dustan Peterson enters a crosswalk during a Brown County Sheriff's Office 'frogger' crosswalk education effort. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
ALLOUEZ, WI (WTAQ) – The Brown County Sheriff’s Office conducted a crosswalk awareness event in Allouez on Tuesday morning.
It was almost like a game of human ‘Frogger’. A deputy with a reflective vest crossed the street with timed moves as vehicles approached the intersection of Greene Avenue and Libal Street.
“Trying to bring the education and awareness to motorists who are out here traveling along with those pedestrians,” says Brown County Directed Enforcement Officer Dustan Peterson, “We’re not expecting people to slam on the brakes within 5 or 10 feet of that pedestrian, but what we’re looking for is a safe stopping distance…These motorists today are over 200 feet away. That’s a reasonable amount of time for your brain to engage in a normal response to safely stop your motor vehicle.”
“We really want to make sure that drivers are aware that there’s going to be more foot traffic on the roads. And also for the bicyclists and pedestrians to know what their role is, because we all have a role to play to really make sure that everyone can travel safely throughout the community,” says Wello Communications Manager Mario Gonzalez, “One of the things that really makes the community attractable and makes people want to live here is to be able to bike and walk safely, and an event like this helps us to achieve that.”
Cones were set on Libal Street about 200 feet away from the crosswalk. If Peterson was in the crosswalk when a vehicle passed that cone, it was game-on. Those who yielded to the pedestrian continued on with their days like usual. But those who kept going were quickly lit up by a nearby squad vehicle.
“You should have yielded to that pedestrian who was lawfully within that crosswalk,” Peterson says.
A Brown County Sheriff’s deputy pulls over a driver during a ‘frogger’ crosswalk education effort. (PHOTO/WTAQ News)
Tickets and citations would be handled per each officer’s discretion, depending on what else they found during the stop. It was a more educational approach regarding the crosswalk violation, and ‘awareness warnings’ would be issued. Other violations observed during the stop, like failure to wear a seatbelt, would be addressed however the officer felt appropriate.
Peterson adds that incidents between vehicles and pedestrians or bicyclists tends to rise during the summer months, as people get outside more often. There have been a few recent incidents around the area involving pedestrians or bicyclists being injured due to collisions with inattentive drivers.
“Especially with COVID, we have more people walking and biking than I think we ever have before. Part of that is just with activities canceled, events canceled, and not much being open – I think people are just getting out and about,” Gonzalez tells WTAQ News, “I just hope that as a person when they hop into their vehicle may approach that sidewalk that little light goes in their head that ‘I should be looking for pedestrian, and if there’s a pedestrian, I need to yield.'”
“We are all going from Point A to Point B, and that’s the part that a lot of motorists are focused on…Whether it’s a motorist or a pedestrian just walking…We have to remember there’s that part in between there we want everybody to get to their destination safely,” Peterson says, “With the amount of technology in cars, it distracts you from focusing with just driving your vehicle.”
Those distractions can range from cell phones to built-in GPS or radio systems inside newer vehicles.
“Please be aware of your surroundings and when you see that pedestrian crosswalk just be sure to yield, because: One – it’s the law. Two – it’s just the courteous thing to do. And three – it’s for safety reasons,” Gonzalez says.
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