Only on 11: Monaca police stepping up enforcement after two pedestrians hit in crosswalks

MONACA, Pa. — Monaca Police are sharing videos only with Channel 11 of two pedestrians hit by drivers in the crosswalk to bring attention to the problem. While both pedestrians survived with just broken bones, police believe something needs to change.

“Monaca has always had a reputation for the police department enforcing the crosswalks and pedestrians and we’d like to get back to that,” said Monaca Police Chief David Piuri.

That’s why the chief told Channel 11 they are stepping up enforcement, pulling drivers over for violating the law.

“In general, just safety, we want our pedestrians to be able to cross the street safely and both these incidents they were avoidable,” Piuri said.

With the Ninth Street Bridge set to close this summer, the borough is anticipating even more traffic on its streets. The responsibility falls on both the driver and pedestrian to look for each other. Chief Piuri said often these accidents occur when the cars are turning so drivers should be extra aware and pedestrians should try to make eye contact with the drivers to ensure they will stop even if they have the right of way.

“In one of these incidents the pedestrian was distracted using her cell phone, she had the right of way but if she wasn’t on her phone she may have seen the car coming. It wasn’t clear if the driver was distracted at the time,” Piuri said.

For pedestrians on the street like Daniel Stover, he sees the problem daily.

“No one pays attention, I think I’ve been almost hit at least four times. It’s not really a good system, people just whip around real quick and people here don’t even see the signal,” Stover said.

He hates crossing even at the crosswalks and hopes the enforcement makes a change.

“Anything that stops people getting hit in this intersection, I think is an improvement,” Stover said.

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