Walking from point A to point B should be a simple task.
"We do it almost every day," said Victor Jett of Robbinsdale about walking around Crystal Lake with his wife. "It's our daily routine."
But Victor and his wife, Holly, have noticed something about their daily walk around Crystal Lake that's not exactly Minnesota nice.
"We approach the curb and prepare to cross and people often just drive by," Victor said.
Signs along Shoreline Drive clearly alert motorists to the crosswalks.
Whether they pay attention to those signs is another question.
"People are driving along, they're looking over at the lake, they're not watching where they're going," said Holly Jett.
Now, Robbinsdale police are cracking down.
"It's a major safety issue," said Officer Ryan Pankratz of the Robbinsdale Police Dept. "These parks are out here and they're widely used by the residents."
Local officers received enough complaints about crosswalk violations from the Robbinsdale Senior Commission that they decided to set up a sting here to address the problem.
"Within a 3–hour time frame we stopped at least 40 vehicles," Pankratz said of the sting.
On a Friday morning, Pankratz pulled over another motorist for failing to stop at the crosswalk for a reporter from 12 News.
The officer let off that motorist with a warning, however, getting the message out was the important thing.
"So far, statewide, I believe it's 15 traffic/pedestrian deaths related to crosswalks," Pankratz said. "And even last year, it was 40 deaths. So 40 is too much, but in my opinion, one is too many."
Despite the enforcement efforts, Victor and Holly Jett aren't letting their guard down.
"I think we'll always have to look both ways, be careful," Victor said.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation plans to launch a big advertising campaign next month to alert people about crosswalk laws.
Robbinsdale police say a citation can cost up to $150.
Delane Cleveland
dcleveland@twelve.tv
Aug. 17, 2012