MEDFORD, Ore. — Officers with the Medford Police Department (MPD) will be conducting another stakeout aimed at enforcing crosswalk laws for pedestrian safety, according to a statement released on Tuesday.
The next "Targeted Pedestrian Safety Enforcement Operation" takes place next Monday, August 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the intersection of Crater Lake and Minnesota Ave.
While the focus of the stakeout is on drivers failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians in the crosswalk, officers have historically handed out a number of citations within the short three-hour operations for different traffic violations.
MPD says that the focus of these operations are to "raise pedestrian safety awareness" through the use of decoy pedestrians and targeted enforcement of right of way laws. Violaters will be stopped and cited if they fail to stop and remain stopped for a pedestrian—whether it is a marked or unmarked crosswalk.
While Crater Lake and Minnesota Ave is a marked crosswalk, "there is a crosswalk at every intersection, regardless if it is marked or unmarked," according to MPD.
The cost of violating right of way laws? The presumptive fine is $265.
Oregon law requires that a driver must stop and remain stopped if a pedestrian is walking in their lane of traffic or the lane adjacent, which also applies to multi-lane roadways. The law also prohibits passing a vehicle stopped at a marked or unmarked crosswalk if they are stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross.