Updated on: 10/2/2019
A local police department is rolling out a safety emphasis campaign in hopes of increasing awareness to drivers about the importance of yielding to pedestrians and other vulnerable bystanders.
Officers with the Everett Police Department spent last week monitoring some of the busier intersections in the city in hopes of educating (and disciplining) drivers who jeopardize the safety of others. Specifically, the department says its focus was on drivers which failed to yield to pedestrians in marked crosswalks at busy intersections.
This week, the Traffic Safety Unit made 22 traffic stops & issued 18 citations to drivers for not yielding to pedestrians in a crosswalk. We will continue enforcing this law. #PedestrianSafety #SafeStreets pic.twitter.com/HfJQMynuQD
— Everett Police (@EverettPolice) September 28, 2019
Washington State Crosswalk Laws
RCW 46.61.235 governs the duty of an approaching vehicle to “stop and remain stopped to allow a pedestrian, bicycle, or personal delivery device to cross the roadway within an unmarked or marked crosswalk when the pedestrian, bicycle, or personal delivery device is upon or within one lane of the half of the roadway upon which the vehicle is traveling or onto which it is turning.”
RCW 46.61.180 states that a driver’s failure to yield to a pedestrian, bicyclist, or other vulnerable user is subject to an additional fine. RCW 46.61.526 addresses the specific definitions and applicable penalties associated with traffic offenses involving “vulnerable users,” the label used to group bicyclists, pedestrians, scooters, mopeds, wheelchairs, and other similar modes of travel.
Get Legal Help After A Pedestrian Accident
As mentioned in the department’s Twitter post, officers made 22 individual stops and issued a total of 18 citations over a one-week period during this emphasis. According to the Washington State Patrol’s traffic collision database, there have been 129 documented pedestrian injury collisions in the city of Everett over the last 12 months.
The award-winning Seattle pedestrian accident lawyers at Davis Law Group currently represent dozens of people who were injured in pedestrian collisions in Everett and throughout Snohomish County. If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident, call the top-rated personal injury legal team at Davis Law Group to request a free legal consultation today.
