Last month, the Montgomery County Police Department announced it will hand out tickets instead of issuing warnings for jaywalkers in an attempt to cut down on pedestrian accidents and increase safety.

The improvements will be completed over a stage of several years, with the first stage being stepping up enforcement with a new zero tolerance policy.    

“The goal of the program is to get people to voluntarily comply with the law in the most dangerous locations, [called] High Incident Areas,” said captain Thomas Didone of the Montgomery County Traffic Division. “We know that warnings have helped the problem but not convinced enough people to comply with the law, so we are optimistic that the citations will be more effective in changing behavior.”  

Jaywalking is crossing a street at a place other than a regular crossing, which some students choose to do for convenience.   

“I choose to jaywalk because sometimes I’m impatient,” sophomore Christina Reese said. “It’s worth the risk because I have good judgment. If there is a cop around I won’t.” 

The new program will only be in effect in a few crucial areas.  

“This new initiative will be focusing only in high incident and complain areas and is not a countywide crackdown,” Didone said. “That being said, an officer has complete discretion or authority to give a citation to any violation that they see.”

Students caught jaywalking will receive a ticket no matter their age. 

“High school students will be treated like adults and given citations,” Didone said. “We will continue to give small children warning, lectures and/or speak to their parents.”

This new policy may come as a shock since according to the August Montgomery County Pedestrian Safety Initiative Update, pedestrian fatalities have dropped in the past few years. 

“I don’t think that Montgomery County needs to update the way they handle pedestrian safety,” freshman Burke Niner said. “They already have safety measures in place, and it’s pedestrians’ fault if they choose not to use them.”

Montgomery County spent a total of $532,000 on pedestrian safety in the fiscal year of 2011 on education, enforcement, engineering and construction.  With the budget for the fiscal year of 2012 being $1,325,000, more improvements are expected.  The changes promoting pedestrian safety could also improve the mood of drivers.

“It’s better to stop for jaywalkers than hit them,” senior Hannah Lewis said. “But it is annoying when someone just cuts in front of you.”