Missoula Police Adding Extra Enforcement on Pedestrian Crossings Thursday

On Thursday June 27, Missoula Police will be conducting extra enforcement at pedestrian crossings.

"It will be directed towards pedestrians crossing," said Sgt. Greg Amundsen of the Missoula Police Department. "We are looking both at making sure that pedestrians are crossing legally, where they are supposed to, especially in the downtown area where you are only allowed to cross at intersections which have crosswalks. The second and main part of the emphasis is making sure vehicles are yielding to pedestrians when they are crossing correctly."

Amundsen says its important to remind the public that they need to stop if a pedestrian is in a cross walk, even if that pedestrian is not crossing the same lane the driver is in. Some of these same rules apply to bicycles.

"The rider on a bicycle is also required legally to stop and yield to a pedestrian crossing a crosswalk," said Sgt. Amundsen. "Another interesting issue is an opinion from the city attorneys office that says if a bicycle is riding at a low rate of speed on the crosswalk or sidewalk and they want to cross the crosswalk you have to treat them like a pedestrian, however, if they are on the roadway and stop at a stop sign, you do not yield to them; you treat them as if they were a vehicle on the roadway"

Pedestrians should also be aware that a flashing red walk sign does not mean you can enter a cross walk, only that you must finish crossing as soon as possible.

Sgt. Gregg Amundson