Provo Police conduct pedestrian crosswalk safety operation

PROVO, Utah (ABC4) — Provo Police Department conducted a pedestrian crosswalk safety operation on Tuesday to remind the public of the importance of following Utah traffic law.

The Provo Police Department announced the operation on social media, reminding the public to pay attention to their surroundings, slow down near crossings, obey crossing light signals, and always yield to pedestrians.

The operation took place at the intersections of 600 W Center St and 500 W 100 S. Sgt. Stephen Brough with Provo City Police told ABC4.com that they chose this location because it is used by pedestrians very frequently.

Two civilian employees of Provo PD spent the day crossing in the marked crosswalk intersections, and officers were stationed to stop motorists that violated pedestrian safety.

“Utah law is that vehicles have to yield to the pedestrian if the pedestrian is on their half of the roadway in these intersections, because it’s a marked crosswalk,” Brough explained. Once the pedestrian has crossed to the other half of the intersection, then the vehicle can proceed.

Brough explained that another part of Utah pedestrian law is that if a car is stopped waiting for a pedestrian to cross, any car traveling in that same direction has to also stop for the pedestrian. It’s common for a car to be stopped in the second lane and a car in the first lane to turn anyway because they don’t see the pedestrian, so that is why the law is written the way it is.

Brough added that this operation was not prompted by any sort of uptick in pedestrian injuries, but they chose this location because of how frequently it is used by pedestrians. This intersection also has flashing lights that indicate to drivers when a pedestrian is crossing, so it has great visibility.

If you get a ticket in a situation like this, you will receive a moving violation ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.