September IO, 2014
^ortlanb (Dbserucr
Page 9
East County
Beaverton
photo by
M ark W ashington /T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Transportation Director Lea Treat (right) and transportation staff member Sharon White, participate Friday in a crosswalk enforcement
action at Northeast Killingsworth Street and 22nd Avenue in front o f Vernon Elementary School.
L o o k out for Kids !
T he Portland B ureau o f T ransportation and P ortland
Police B ureau are raising aw areness o f p edestrian safety and
O regon traffic law s as kids go back to school from sum m er
break.
T ransportation D irector L eah T reat and staff m em b er
Sharon W hite served as designated p edestrians crossing
the street at V ernon E lem entary School in northeast P ortland
Friday, one o f several crossw alk enfo rcem en t actions across
the city in recent days.
T he crossing near the front entrance o f th e school on
N ortheast K illingsw orth is heavily used by fam ilies w alking
o r biking to school and to A lberta Park. T he traffic safety
m ission started at 7:30 a.m . and by 9 a.m ., police had issued
10 citations 8 w arnings, official said.
. “W ith the start o f school, it’s m ore im portant than ever for
everyone to look out for children crossing our streets,” Treat
said. “As a m other o f four, I know how im portant it is for people
to slow dow n w hen driving near schools. As transportation
director, I ’m proud o f our partnership with police, schools and
neighborhoods to spread the w ord about traffic safety.”
In addition, transportation and police bureau officials offer
these safety tips: If you're driving, obey the 20 m ph speed limit
Crosswalk enforcement
for back-to-school safety
in school zones; be vigilant and courteous to children crossing
the street; and if you're a parent, consider w alking or biking to
school with your students where possible to reduce conges
tion, im prove safety and provide young people with needed
physical activity.
Each crossw alk enforcem ent action involves a designated
pedestrian crossing at a m arked or unm arked crossw alk while
police m onitor how m otorists, bicyclists and pedestrians ad
here to traffic safety laws. D rivers w ho fail to stop for pedes
trians in the crossw alk and pedestrians w ho fail to follow
O regon traffic laws can be issued a w arning or citation.