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Columbia PD cracks down on jaywalkers

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The Columbia Police Department is cracking down on pedestrian and bicycle violations along Providence Road to increase safety awareness. 

Officers from the Columbia Police Department performed pedestrian and bicycle enforcement details at three different intersections along Providence Road last Thursday. 

Sergeant Curtis Perkins of the Columbia Police Department says the areas where Rollins Street, Stewart Road and Business Loop 70 intersect Providence Road were selected because they have become hot spots for dangerous pedestrian crossings. 

Perkins says the areas were not specifically chosen to target college students.

“The one up by Providence and Business Loop 70 is actually near Hickman High School where you have high school students who are crossing in front of traffic,” Perkins said.  “So, we’re not targeting any particular group; we’re just trying to solve problems and not have people get hit by cars.”

Perkins says the police detail resulted in 11 warnings and 12 citations for pedestrian violations, five citations for bike violations and one citation for a scooter riding on a sidewalk.

MU student Sam Woodruff was one of the 12 pedestrians ticketed by the Columbia PD. He says the officers caught him completely off guard.

“I just jogged across really quick, and then I started walking up the street, and then out of nowhere this white pickup truck comes in like really fast and slams on the breaks, and it was unmarked completely,” Woodruff said.  “There wasn’t a radio antenna on it or anything.”

Woodruff was fined $80 and says he knows he was technically off campus but was not expecting to be ticketed, especially with the lack of jaywalking enforcement on campus.

“I cross there all the time,” Woodruff said.  “It’s really weird that they started doing this right now.”

Perkins says the Columbia PD is planning more pedestrian enforcement details for the near future.

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