Traffic Education and Enforcement Project
November 7, 2000
Corporal Randy Phillips
(626) 812-3200
Azusa Police Department
725 N. Alameda Avenue
Azusa, CA 91702
The Azusa Police Department, with the cooperation of Azusa Pacific University, will be starting a traffic education and enforcement program in coming weeks. In recent years, we have experienced an observational increase in the number of pedestrian and vehicle violations in and around the campus of Azusa Pacific University at 901 E. Alosta Avenue. The presence of these violations is not new and they are destined to result in serious accidents if allowed to continue unchecked. We have seen numerous near accidents involving people and cars, mostly due to crosswalk violations; cars brake suddenly, and pedestrians run to avoid collisions. Pedestrians also cross against red signals, and diagonally within intersections. Fortunately, we have not experienced any serious or fatal accidents thus far, and our hope is to continue that record.
The City of Azusa has already addressed the engineering aspect of our concern. Signs were placed at the corner of Alosta Avenue and Powell Street directing pedestrians to use marked crosswalks already at nearby controlled intersections. We will use campus publications, flyers, posters, and assemblies to warn Azusa Pacific University students and faculty of the traffic hazards. We plan to post flyers in area businesses, with their permission, to publicize the program to area residents.
Our intent is to explain the pedestrian and vehicular traffic laws and encourage compliance with them. We will initiate a "Zero Tolerance" approach to enforcement of the pedestrian violations two weeks after the completion of our educational phase of the project.
