In Chicago, police are enhancing some forms of crosswalk enforcement (the article makes reference to a sting) but the streets remain mean.The former crosswalk law in Illinois required drivers to yield to pedestrians and stop only when necessary.
Now, drivers must stop for pedestrians in all crosswalks — even those that are unmarked or don't have a stop sign or a traffic signal. The penalty for failing to stop is a traffic citation of $50 to $500. Fines vary by county.
The new law also applies to instances in which a pedestrian enters the crosswalk against a "Don't Walk" signal or a red light, just as the old law required drivers to yield in such cases, officials said.
But police said they are not focusing enforcement on those types of situations.
Perhaps a ban on right turns on red lights, Manhattan-style, and a prohibition of left turns from two-way streets to two-way streets will help tame the traffic. Failing that, Cold Spring Shops endorses more vigorous use of the red-light cameras against the rolling right turn on red. You know the one: the cell-phone yakker, looking only to the left, rolls through the crosswalk that has the light, into the turn, and if there is nobody close, rolls through the remaining crosswork, making a right turn on red without stopping.The situation can be even worse downtown, where a vehicles-versus-pedestrians culture seems to flourish unchecked. Simply walking across Adams Street outside Chicago Union Station at rush hour can feel like you're taking a big risk, as pedestrians dodge cars, buses and cabs and then must maneuver around the panhandlers and assorted vendors clogging the sidewalks near the curb.
It's a mystery why such mayhem is tolerated by city or Amtrak police. The highest volume of pedestrian traffic downtown is right there at Adams and the Chicago River outside the station, according to a study conducted for the city.
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