OC police safety focus is on pedestrians
By Don Klein

Jaywalking doesn’t seem to be a problem with visitors from Canada, the Pedestrian Safety Task Force was told. Most of the visitors from north of the border are from big cities and are familiar with similar systems back home and easily fall into the pedestrian traffic patterns in existence here.

If you cross against the light in Ocean City or take your chances by not using a crosswalk, you could end up with a citation as police are refocusing attention on pedestrians this year to try to eliminate accidents that, until recently, plagued the resort during the height of the season.
 
The Ocean City Pedestrian Safety Task Force unveiled its plans for the coming season by re-emphasizing its goal of education, enforcement and engineering to make the resort safe for residents and visitors alike. The group met at the public safety building on 65th Street last week.
 
Capt. Mike Colbert, police patrol head at Ocean City, explained to the group, “Last year we focused on drivers, this year we will give attention to pedestrians as well.”
 
He said officers on bicycles would be the major enforcement factor as they saturate problem areas. They will be supplemented elsewhere by regular patrol units.
 
About 90 percent of the time, violators will be given printed warnings, but each officer will have the option to issue regular tickets depending on each situation. Repeated violators will be more seriously treated, he indicated.
 
“Writing tickets take officers out of service for 10 to 20 minutes depending on the situation so handing out printed warnings with the offender’s name written on it by the officer” is the preferred plan, said police Chief Bernadette DiPina.  
 
The task force was formed after the 2000 season when a record four pedestrian fatalities shocked local authorities. The group is headed by Terry Hough, former manager of a real estate firm and presently a member of the board of the Ocean City Development Corporation. It includes a mix of leaders in highway engineering, visitor service groups, state and local police, transportation, public relations, the chamber of commerce, plus the mayor and a city councilman.
 
The task force will kick-off it campaign this year on May 15 with five new public service announcements broadcast on Comcast, on local radio and appearing in newspapers.  There will be rack cards in buses, bookmarks given out at schools, messages inserted in real estate guides, bumper stickers on all town-owned vehicles and many taxis and business-owned vehicles as well.
 
The task force is looking into using electronic road signs to alert walkers to safe pedestrian behavior and Chief DiPina said police will target “vehicles that don’t stop for pedestrians and they will be writing tickets” this year for other moving violations.
 
There was one pedestrian fatality last summer when an 18-year-old man was killed by an 18-year-old driver.  Both victim and driver, according to police, had traces of alcohol in their bodies.
 
Taking travelers off their feet and onto bicycles was another point brought up. Mayor James Mathias, a member of the task force, said “The safer the roads are the more likely people will use bicycles.”  But that requires some adjustments.
 
To begin with, the law requires all bicycles to have a headlight and at least a reflector in the back and there is a need to set up bicycles stands around the town so bikers can safely store their two-wheelers when they get to their destinations.
 
“Racks are like trash cans,” Mayor Mathias said, “if they are there, they will be used.” 
 
The police are planning one-page fliers which they will ask churches to distribute with their bulletins to Sunday worshipers. They will also urge visitors to hold the hands of children whenever crossing roads.
 
Among road improvements, it was noted by Terry McGean, city engineer, that all intersections on St. Louis Avenue will be marked with crosswalks this year.  One of the problems leading to jaywalking is that pedestrians become impatient waiting for the green light when there are no vehicles in sight. The longest traffic light sequence in town  was reported to be two minutes.
 
Mr. Hough praised the work of the task force over the past. “This committee has been at work for five years now and I’ve seen great improvements over that period.”

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