Jaywalking Kids to Get Police Escort Home

In a novel bid to reduce the high number of pedestrian accidents in Santa Ana, police today will begin escorting home young children who jaywalk or play recklessly near busy intersections.

The Police Department’s 28 motorcycle officers will also attempt to talk with parents about the importance of teaching their children how to safely navigate the street on foot and send reminder letters to homes a few weeks later.

“I’m not going to give a little kid a ticket,” Police Cpl. Eric Mattke said. “We don’t want to penalize the kid and take food off the table. We want to correct the behavior and educate them on street safety.”

The enforcement is part of a larger effort begun in March that includes more jaywalking patrols, crosswalks and traffic signals and a public-education campaign targeting the city’s Latino population. The department has also been training residents to use radar guns to track speeders on the city’s narrow streets.

The program comes in the wake of a UC Irvine study that found Santa Ana to have the highest pedestrian-death rate in Southern California and the third-highest in the state. In 1998, Santa Ana had five pedestrian fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

This year, the city has recorded four pedestrian deaths, including that of a 76-year-old woman who was struck by a van while crossing Bristol Street on April 19. Six days later, a 49-year-old Buena Park man was killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing 17th Street.

The UCI study found that children ages 1 to 14 accounted for 46% of those injuries. “The majority of child pedestrian injuries occur on residential streets near the child’s home,” the report stated. “Motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for children.”

Since the crackdown began, police have issued more than 1,490 jaywalking citations and more than 250 tickets to motorists who failed to yield to pedestrians.

Mattke said escorting children home is one of several steps aimed at reducing the number of young people hurt or killed in pedestrian accidents. Officers also are citing and towing illegally parked vehicles that could interfere with a child’s line of sight.

Many Santa Ana residents welcome the new push.

“It’s a good idea,” said Paula Martinez as she crossed Flower Avenue with three of her five children. “Maybe that way everyone will obey the law more.”

Leonor Orozco said she cautions her children not to cross the street against the signal. She approves of the new measures but worries about irresponsible drivers who run red lights. “I tell my children to look both ways before they cross. Even with the green signal they have to be careful,” she said.