Crosstown drivers get crosswalk refresher.

Byline: Diane Dietz The Register-Guard

A unit of motorcycle patrol officers lent a hand Monday at the intersection of First Avenue and Monroe Street - the top pedestrian-vs.-car trouble spot in Eugene.

Cars roar past walkers there despite the thick crosswalk lines, a blinking yellow caution light, two pedestrian warning signs - and a city ordinance that wages a $135 fine for failing to yield to pedestrians.

But many of the 6,800 drivers who take First Avenue each day have their own pressing business: traveling across the city east-to-west or west-to-east without slogging through the stoplights they'd otherwise encounter on a major arterial, such as Sixth Avenue.

But police figured that the drivers zipping along First Avenue needed a little re-education about the law.

Drivers still don't seem to get it, said officer Bobby McDermed, who organized the operation. "It's like the seat belt law: They don't seem to understand or agree with it," he said.

Officers conducted a three-hour sting in the afternoon, stopping 37 drivers, writing 29 citations and delivering eight warnings.

It was a repeat of a similar enforcement effort at the same intersection last year, when police stopped 22 drivers, wrote nine citations and gave 13 warnings.

In 2001 and 2002, vehicles struck 94 pedestrians inside Eugene's city limits, and at least six of them died, police records show. In the two years before that, vehicles hit 55 pedestrians and four died.

Officers choose where to conduct stings at based on the number of pedestrian complaints, the volume of traffic and the presence of clear intersection markings.

Past enforcement projects were at Willamette Street and 16th Avenue (near the L & L Market Place) and West 15th Avenue and Chambers Street (near Patterson Elementary School).

Intersections under consideration for future stings: Bailey Hill Road and Westleigh Street or maybe 28th Avenue and McLean Boulevard, McDermed said.

During a sting, officers set up cones on the approaches to the intersection. The cones designate safe stopping distance for cars traveling the speed limit, or a little over.

If drivers are outside the cones and don't stop when a decoy pedestrian steps into the intersection, they're liable to get a citation from one of four motorcycle officers who are tucked out of sight around nearby corners.

On Monday, decoy officer John Flora wore blue jeans and a straw cowboy hat with a red bandana tied around the crown.

Several motorists slowed to a roll until he got just past their tire and then hit the gas. Flora lifted a radio microphone from under his collar and said simply: "Cite."

Some drivers told officers they didn't realize they had to fully stop for the pedestrian. Some said they couldn't believe that the officer's contention was true.

"They get upset because half the time they didn't even see (Flora)," said officer James Ball. "It's scary."

Of the 104 stops during stings since last year, three drivers asked to see videotape evidence. Only one contested the ticket in court - but lost, McDermed said.

Many are contrite, such as driver Lisa Burke, 36, who was making a quick lunch trip home on First Avenue to let her dogs out of the house for a bit.

She said she generally makes eye contact with pedestrians, and she made eye contact with the officer but didn't stop.

"That's not correct," she said. "It's embarrassing, but I'm glad he did it."

Another driver, Ashley Gangle, 20, was crestfallen. It was her first traffic ticket. She was on her lunch break from her job at Cascade Tile.

"He started to go so I stopped for him," she said, with tears spilling from her eyes. "Obviously I didn't mean to put him in danger."

Pedestrians, however, thanked the officers for the enforcement, including Meggan Uecker, 27, who crossed the intersection with her 3-year-old and a wagon piled high with laundry in tow.

"That's the worst corner for cars stopping," she said. "Maybe every 10th car will stop."

Neighbor Susan Dayhill, 52, said the driver courtesy will improve for a few days after the enforcement, but will return to normal in a couple of days.

A stoplight would help, she said.

But City Traffic Engineer Tom Larsen said that's not likely because First Avenue is supposed to carry a lot of traffic through. "It's a very convenient connecting street," he said. "It gets used; it's designed for that. We don't force everybody down Sixth or Seventh."

CROSSWALK STINGS

Eugene police have conducted six stings since last year to remind drivers they must stop when pedestrians are in crosswalks. They plan four more. Here's the score so far:

Cars stopped: 104

Tickets issued: 72

Warnings given: 32

CAPTION(S):

Officer John Flora, in street clothes, radios to other officers after a motorist failed to stop.