Bob CollinsIn the Twin Cities, all of it, or so it seems.
Driving out of downtown St. Paul last evening, I was particularly struck by the number of people who ignored the “don’t walk” signal and strutted into the crosswalk, defying the cars to hit them. It’s been going on for years, of course.
It wasn’t that they didn’t understand what the red hand meant, they just didn’t care. It’s been that way for years in the city, save for the occasional week or so once a decade when St. Paul announces a crackdown against jaywalking.
So while we support it, we’re skeptical of the Twin Cities Daily Planet’s story that officials around the University of Minnesota are threatening to start ticketing pedestrians who cross against the light near the light rail line.
“We are just asking they use common-sense, alert behaviors around the light rail,” Metro Transit police captain Jim Franklin told the Daily Planet.
It’s a flawed plan if it depends on common sense.
“People on the commute like listening to music and believe the signs are good enough,” sophomore Gabe Gornet said. “It’d be too much to enforce. I feel that a person listening to their headphones is their own liability.”
“Ultimately, they (police) will start writing citations for people crossing against the light and [performing] dangerous behaviors,” Franklin said.
