WATCH | Hot Springs Police campaign aims to improve pedestrian safety

Hot Springs Police will spend the next few weeks educating the public about crosswalk safety.

Officers will take a closer look at zebra crossings and stop pedestrians and drivers who behave unsafely at pedestrian crossings.

“Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be focusing on crosswalk and pedestrian enforcement,” said HSPD Sergeant Joey Williams. “Since January 1, we’ve had 10 vehicle-pedestrian crashes, including two pedestrian fatalities. So we’re trying to focus on public safety.”

He said: “It’s not really about tickets or anything like that. It’s about making people aware: vehicles need to watch for pedestrians on zebra crossings and know where pedestrians can cross the road. But for their own safety, pedestrians also need to cross the road at the designated zebra crossings.”

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Police launched a social media campaign earlier this week to raise awareness of the problem, and officers have been out at intersections where problems have been noted in the past. Shortly after arriving at one location Wednesday morning, officers stopped a pedestrian crossing Central Avenue near the intersection with Plateau Street, where there is no crosswalk.

“We just want pedestrians to cross the street where they should and for cars to yield to those pedestrians in the crosswalks,” Williams said. “It’s summer. It’s tourist season. There are a lot of people downtown. Put down your phone, turn down the radio and be aware of your surroundings and where people are walking.”

While several crosswalks, such as those in downtown Hot Springs or Oaklawn, are equipped with flashing lights to alert drivers, pedestrians are not required to turn on those lights, Williams said.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean they have to flash yellow,” he said. “It’s not a legal requirement, they have to do that. But we want drivers to pay attention. If someone steps out of the road, you are legally obligated to stop at those crosswalks and let the people in front of you pass.”

“Once you are safely on the other side, you are allowed to cross that crosswalk. The same goes for pedestrians. We want you to stop and make sure there is no traffic directly in front of you before you step in front of a car. They also have to do their duty of care.”

Williams noted that if a driver has a green light and a pedestrian is still in the crosswalk, the pedestrian still has the right of way.

“You could have a green crosswalk with arrows here (at Central Avenue and Grand Avenue),” he said. “You still have to yield the right of way to the pedestrian. A pedestrian always has the right of way in that crosswalk. But now pedestrians have to give a signal that they’re paying attention and not just step out the door. There are still people who step in front of a car with their cell phones or whatever. You have to exercise some degree of care.”

Drivers attempting to turn right on a red light must wait for the pedestrian before they can proceed, Williams said.

“Once they are out of the path of your vehicle and safe, you can proceed,” he said. “However, at these lights (at Grand Avenue and Malvern Avenue), they should stop and get the green light to proceed.”

Another thing people need to understand, he said, is that “pedestrians are required by law to obey those instructions if there is a traffic light there that tells them when they can and cannot cross the street. They can’t just walk in front of a car just because there is a crosswalk there. If there is a traffic light there that tells you to go on green or stop on red, they have to obey those laws.”

Williams said police hope this campaign will help reduce the number of pedestrians hit by cars on the road.

“We’re going to try to create some awareness,” he said. “I’ve told officers, ‘Put out some warnings. Make people aware.’ It’s not about the tickets. It’s about public safety.”

Sergeant Joey Williams of the Hot Springs Police Department talks about the department’s campaign to reduce pedestrian accidents in the city. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)

Pedestrians cross Central Avenue near the Gangster Museum of America on Wednesday. (The Sentinel-Record/James Leigh)