45 Drivers Stung in Taravel
In the past, I’ve lobbied Sgt. Tom O’Brien to do it here in London. So far I’ve not had any response, even though Sgt. Tom would like to amend London’s Street By-Law so that police can charge London pedestrians with jaywalking.
The ‘it’ that I’d like Sgt. Tom to try, is the tactic of police conducting sting operations to nab automobile drivers who put pedestrians at risk.
The Los Angeles Police Department has done it for some time (“Pedestrian crosswalk sting operation“; LAPD News Release; 2002/03/21). And now I’ve discovered that the police in San Fransisco are doing it too (”Police sting lends hand to Taraval pedestrians“; David Smith; SF Examiner; 2007/11/08).
If Sgt. Tom was motivated by a concern for the safety of pedestrians, wouldn’t he want to consider this tactic (and others) in addition to his jaywalking initiative? Regretfully, I fear that it’s got more to do with the flow of traffic and upset drivers.
For now, I can at least console myself that pedestrian safety is being taken seriously elsewhere.
© Fowler Media
