Yesterday the Santa Cruz Police Department Traffic Unit wrote 20 citations in 2 hours for vehicles
failing to yield to pedestrians on Soquel. The pedestrian safety operation was conducted in the mid-afternoon and came as a result of complaints from businesses and residents in the Soquel/Cayuga and Soquel/Marnell corridor about vehicles not yielding to pedestrians. Officers had plainclothes community service officers cross Soquel at several
different locations between Soquel/Cayuga and Soquel/Marnell. Drivers who
failed to yield to the pedestrians in the crosswalk received citations for that
violation.
Summer weather in the eastside business district encourages
more people to walk to their destinations. Vehicle versus pedestrian collisions are
preventable when drivers and pedestrians follow the laws. Proactive enforcement activity such as
this event serve to raise driver awareness and prevent tragic accidents.
