 "Photo: Peter Franklin/The Daily Texan")
“Now I owe the city of Austin, like, $100 — for walking across a street,” said Andrew Carlson, glancing at the ticket Austin police had just given him for crossing Guadalupe Street against the signal.
The astrophysics junior actually owed the city $97, or $121 if paid late, for a Class C misdemeanor violation. And despite his disbelief at being ticketed — he had crossed with a green light but ignored the red, glowing hand — Carlson was hardly alone that day.
At least 35 pedestrians got tickets Thursday afternoon, and many more received verbal warnings, as the Austin and University police departments launched a crosswalk crackdown at the intersection of 24th and Guadalupe streets — the first of its kind in Austin, according to police.
Police said a complaint about dangerous conditions at the intersection — which often resembles a cattle crossing when mobs of students and columns of vehicles jostle through it at peak hours — prompted the joint-agency operation.
The crackdown caps off a semester where campus police began ticketing stop-sign-running cyclists in large numbers.
While it was primarily organized by the Austin Police Department, the operation fell in line with UT Police Chief Robert Dahlstrom’s stated goal of bringing pedestrians, cyclists and motorists into compliance with traffic laws.
“We have to bring all three to a safe nucleus,” he said in an April interview. “What’ll happen with 70,000 people on this campus is eventually someone will get seriously hurt, and the fingers will point to UTPD.”
The operation was originally intended to target both errant pedestrians and drivers who commonly make illegal right turns into the intersection, APD officers said. But less than an hour after it began, the two motorcycle officers who were supposed to chase down cars had dismounted to help two officers in APD’s community-policing unit ticket the large volume of pedestrians.
So many pedestrians were packing the crosswalks, the officers said, that the drivers never got a chance to break the law.
“I’ve never written a ticket for something like this before today,” said APD Officer Kelly Lahood, who spent several minutes with each violator, explaining why they were being ticketed and amiably lecturing them about traffic laws.
“Some students are upset,” she said. “But we’re trying not to keep anyone from finals — we’re trying to educate people.”
Some were angry, some understanding, but almost all looked surprised to be fined for breaking rules that had not been enforced in previous semesters.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous,” Carlson said after he got his ticket. “It defeats the entire purpose of a police department. Instead of fighting crime, we’re fighting mature citizens capable of watching out for themselves.”
Journalism and government junior Danielle Flahrity said she was distracted by her cell phone when she and two other students stepped off the curb seconds before the light turned green.
“I was talking to my mom about my degree,” she said. “I guess it was careless on my part. It’s still disappointing to be out this much [money] just before summer.”
APD officers said they handed out more than $3,300 in fines Thursday to only those who were caught crossing against a red light or solid red hand. Lesser infractors — such as those dawdling through a flashing red hand — got verbal warnings, they said.
From a cash-strapped student’s perspective, it seemed far better to be caught by the two UTPD officers set up on the campus side of Guadalupe. Halfway through the operation, they said they had only issued warnings.
While the UTPD officers didn’t know if they would repeat the operation next semester, APD Officer Troy Schouest said students could expect the crackdowns to continue periodically — not just at 24th and Guadalupe streets, but also at crossings on West Dean Keeton Street and in front of the University Co-op.
“We’ll probably be back in a month or so,” he said.
It's amazing any of us live past 10!