After reading about GPD’s anti-jaywalking initiative in the Alligator, I took care to legally cross the street before my weekly trip to Chipotle Mexican Grill.
As I was legally walking on the crosswalk on Northwest 15th Street, I heard an engine rev, and a GPD squad car nearly hit me — if I hadn’t stopped, the mirror would have clipped me. The officer had sped around a line of cars at the red light — driving in the wrong lane of traffic — and then ran the red light, causing traffic on University Avenue to halt.
Because the officer almost hit me in his rush to illegally cross the intersection, I figured there must have been a serious emergency or something else big going on, but then I heard the PA call out two jaywalkers.
I don’t disagree with the tickets themselves, but I think it’s ridiculous when officers act recklessly and break laws “to keep everyone safe.”
I’ll admit it — I’ve jaywalked before, but I’ve never been closer to getting hit by a car than when I was legally crossing on the crosswalk. When the actions of officers upholding the law — possibly hitting pedestrians or causing collisions on University Avenue — are more dangerous than the crime itself, enforcement becomes 100 percent counterproductive.
This letter to the editor ran on page 7 on 9/24/2013 under the headline "Jaywalking enforcement is counterproductive"
