Santa and his helpers hit the streets Tuesday, promoting pedestrian safety to shoppers and drivers at the Langley Park Plaza Shopping Center.
“Every year the opportunity for pedestrian collisions increases during the holidays,” said Montgomery County police spokeswoman Lucille Baur. “We wanted to make the point to both drivers and pedestrians that it’s a shared responsibility to ensure safety.”
Police from Takoma Park, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties enlisted Santa to help spread their message as they passed out fliers and bright green shopping bags with the pedestrian safety instructions printed in English and Spanish on each side. During the midday event, Santa gave a demonstration of how to properly cross the road using a crosswalk.
The law enforcement agencies chose the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard because it’s both a jurisdictional crossroads and an area that’s home to a large Hispanic population, Baur said.
“We’re anxious to get pedestrian safety information out to Hispanic community members because they may not be as aware of pedestrian laws and safety measures in the United States,” Baur said.
She added, “pedestrian collisions are often preventable.”
Pedestrians, police said, should never assume that a driver sees them and should always be aware that a car may be traveling faster than it appears. It’s important to wait until all traffic is clear before crossing the street, and to use crosswalks and follow the signals when they’re available. Drivers should never block the crosswalk or drive through it.
Even with the heavy police presence in the area Tuesday afternoon for the pedestrian safety event, some drivers still failed to yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, Baur said. Those drivers were pulled over and ticketed.
“When it comes to a contest between a pedestrian and a car, the pedestrian will always lose,” Baur said.
