Best Foot Forward partnered with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the Orlando and Casselberry Police Departments today to ticket drivers not following the pedestrian yield law.
Spring Break, Daylight Savings Time and people returning to work and school after getting the vaccine all pose an increased threat to bikers and walkers.
Drivers who don’t stop for pedestrians in crosswalks in Florida can get a $164 dollar ticket and three points on their license.
Best Foot Forward volunteer Roni Wood was at Michigan and Cayman St where officers were passing out tickets to people who buzzed past pedestrians in the crosswalk.
Wood survived being hit by a car walking her bike across the street only five minutes from where she’s now helping to run the crosswalk enforcement.
“A driver did a right on red. Without looking the direction he was turning. He was looking left to make a right hand turn. And he struck me in the crosswalk.”
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Wood says she was in a wheelchair for three months and it took her a full year to learn how to walk again after being hit.
City of Orlando Transportation Department employee Yameli Hershelman says local governments are working to expand roads and improve signage to make roads safer.
Hershelman says that’s crucial as the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metropolitan area continues to rank first in the country for the most dangerous area for pedestrians.
“We need to make sure that everything is code complaint, ADA compliant and that we’re providing whatever it takes to make sure all the citizens are safe.”
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Operations will continue in these areas tomorrow.
For more information on Best Foot Forward,click here.
