My letter/article published in the paper!
I had an issue with a policeman about a month ago, and decided to write to our local columnist who deals with traffic issues. His name is the ROAD WARRIOR, lol, and he does lots of research and will tell you whether you are in the right or wrong, if that's what you letter is about.
Read on to hear of my story!
Letter to the Road Warrior
Here it is without the link:
Right of way isn't always pedestrians'
Dan Hartzell
The Road Warrior
January 18, 2010
Q: I saw a man walking across the road on Johnston Drive in Bethlehem recently. I didn't notice until I was steering around him that he was a Bethlehem police officer. I had already slowed down and gone out of my way to avoid him as he crossed in the middle of the block. Apparently, this is the wrong thing to do. The officer angrily motioned me to pull over and began to assail me about the rights of pedestrians, that all pedestrians have the right of way no matter where they are walking, and what was I trying to do, run him over? A bit flustered, I said I thought I'd acted correctly, since I understood that crossing in the middle of the block amounts to jaywalking. I was sternly told it doesn't matter where pedestrians are, you must stop immediately and allow them to cross. Have the laws changed? Are pedestrians granted the right of way anywhere on the street, or was the officer having a bad day and taking it out on me?
-- Jennie Hall, Allentown
A: A very bad day, apparently. There's been no change in law; it most certainly is not the right of any pedestrian, police officer or otherwise, to cross any street wherever he pleases. To get a fuller sense of what took place, here's more of your tale:
''[The officer] asked for my license, registration and insurance, after which he said 'Oh, you're from Allentown. Is this what they do in Allentown when someone is crossing the street?' I told him, yes, actually, this is what we do. … I was then told, 'This is Bethlehem, and we don't do that here.' [Later] he learned that I am a teacher, which prompted him to ask how it would look if it was in the newspaper that I had broken the law. I said it would not be good, but I didn't think I had done anything wrong. I was taught to cross at intersections or crosswalks, obeying traffic lights. He finally allowed me to leave without writing a ticket, but admonished me for almost running him over, which I did not.''
Generally, the rules seek to protect pedestrians -- a necessity of the basic laws of physics. People-vehicle conflicts always end badly for people.
But we have a transportation system to run, too, and it could not operate in orderly fashion if either side was granted absolute rights. So we try to develop reasonable regulations that balance competing interests.
In our state, a blanket rule forbids pedestrians from stepping in front of oncoming traffic without warning, and that applies on every portion of every street, everywhere.
Outside of that, pedestrians have the right of way at intersections and crosswalks without traffic lights. At ''signalized'' intersections, the signal rules prevail.
At places other than intersections or crosswalks, the right of way reverts to the motorist: ''Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a crosswalk at an intersection or any marked crosswalk shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway.''
Given all that, I still think it's a better idea to stop for pedestrians crossing the street illegally. Going around them, even slowly, could prove to be a pothole. If you switch lanes to avoid the hoofer, you risk encounters with other cars. A parked car nearby could be pulling out at that inopportune moment. Many things could go wrong.
The offending pedestrian could be too young to know what's going on, or to have any responsibility for such awareness. Kids too young to be fooling around in the streets, but doing so anyway, are not uncommon. Where the parents are, I don't know, but it's every adult's charge to look out for youngsters.
Adult pedestrians also can act foolishly, sometimes with seeming intent -- crossing in mid-block, extra-slow, on the diagonal, in purposeful disdain toward approaching motorists. Police should cite them, but motorists have little recourse. Better to slow down or stop till they clear.
Bethlehem police Capt. David Kravatz agreed, saying the loss of a few seconds is a small price for evading even the possibility of anyone getting hurt. The city conducts periodic ''stings'' targeting not only motorists, but sometimes pedestrians as well, in a balanced public-education effort, he said.
OK, but what irks me about your story, Jenny, as much as the officer's jaywalking, is his willingness to raise irrelevant issues in admonishing you. In this case, your profession and city of residence matter no more than your sex, race or religion. His threat to shame a teacher by putting her name in the paper is shameful in itself, and highly presumptuous of his own influence. The condescending Allentown remark was bogus.
Neither Kravatz nor I witnessed this discussion, and since you don't know the name of the officer in question, he can't speak for himself, which is kind of unfair. But if your description is accurate, his lecture clearly crossed the double-yellow line. Kravatz assumed your car must have gotten close enough to startle him, prompting his reaction, but even if true (and I know you disagree), that still wouldn't justify it.
Generally I'm a big fan of the police, and I have to assume this behavior was an aberration. We all have bad days. And again, I don't think steering around him was the way to go. But your question really is whether this officer was out of line in this particular case.
And the answer is -- absolutely.
Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at mcall.com. E-mail questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, along with your name and the municipality where you live, to [email protected], or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.
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