Buellton Crosswalk Sting

Buellton - March 2nd, 2009

In its ongoing efforts to improve pedestrian safety in the city, the Buellton Police Department conducted a crosswalk safety operation on Thursday, February 26, 2009.  Police used a plainclothes deputy to walk across a crosswalk at two different locations on state highway 246.  Uniformed motorcycle deputies then watched for motorists who did not yield the right-of-way.  Twelve drivers were cited for crosswalk violations during the 2½ hour operation.

This was the fifth operation of this type in the city since August of 2007.  “We are still getting violators almost as fast as we can write them,” said Sheriff’s Lieutenant Julie McCammon, Buellton’s Police Chief.  “We hope that by increasing the frequency of these operations, and by publicizing the results, drivers will be actively looking for pedestrians when they drive through the city.”

Police say that a common misconception is that these operations constitute entrapment.  Entrapment is where the police persuade someone to commit a crime that they had no previous intent to commit.  Most violators do not intentionally drive through crosswalks with pedestrians; usually they just are not paying attention.  However, having a plainclothes deputy legally walk across the street does not persuade or pressure the driver to violate the pedestrian’s right-of-way.

State Highway 246, which runs through the city, is a major commuter artery.  Residents tell police they are afraid to cross the highway because drivers do not yield to pedestrians.  “The school zones are full of parents driving their kids two blocks to school because they are afraid to let them cross the highway,” said Win Smith, the City’s Traffic Deputy.

Smith said they received a complaint about the problem just as they were starting their briefing for the operation.  “A woman complained she had been trying to make a delivery across the street.  She got stuck in the middle of the highway because drivers were not yielding the right-of-way.”  Smith said he was nearly hit himself while setting up the operation.  “I was walking in a marked crosswalk, in full uniform, carrying a big bright traffic cone.  The driver had plenty of time to stop, but he blew past me at about 45 mph.  Now how could he have not seen me?”

Police remind drivers that they must yield to pedestrians in unmarked crosswalks as well as marked crosswalks.  Unmarked crosswalks are the extensions of the curb lines at intersections.  In one case, the driver saw the pedestrian crossing in this manner at an intersection.  He started to stop, but his wife told him to keep going because she thought the pedestrian was wrong.  He drove through the intersection, past the pedestrian, and was cited. 

The City of Buellton contracts with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department for police services.

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