Corner of Navajo Drive and North Main Street
SALINAS – Salinas PD Sergeant Gerry Ross recently noted that the city has seen four pedestrian deaths so far this year “as a result of vehicle collisions,” and added that “this is unacceptable.”
Last Tuesday the SPD conducted a pedestrian sting at three notoriously dangerous intersection with the goal of stopping recklessly dangerous driving behavior.
Abbott and Maple Streets
In this operation, a plain clothes officer would walk back and forth in the crosswalk while fellow officers waited nearby in marked patrol cars or motorcycles.
90 vehicles were stopped as a result of this sting, and 77 citations were issued. SPD states that the citations were not issued for “borderline violations.” Rather, “all of the citations were written to drivers who had a clear opportunity to see the officer crossing the street and had plenty of time to come to a stop,” constituting “blatant, dangerous violations of the law.”
The sting was conducted at intersections where pedestrians had been seriously injured or killed. These included North Main Street and Navajo Drive, Natividad Road and Sorrentini Drive and Abbott and Maple Streets.
