KISSIMMEE, Fla. – For the first time, both Orange and Seminole counties simultaneously held Operation Best Foot Forward, a program aimed at pedestrian safety.
The multijurisdictional crosswalk crackdown sends plainclothes officers to busy marked pathways to cross back and forth. Drivers who don't stop for the pedestrians face a minimum $164 fine.
It is Florida law to stop for pedestrians in crosswalks. It is also law for pedestrians to use marked crossing ways or intersections.
"We've seen people who have been crossing at crosswalks or outside of crosswalks and have endangered their lives and been hurt because of that, so we need to raise awareness," Kissimmee Police Department public information officer Bailey Myers said.
On Tuesday morning, a 72-year-old woman was killed while crossing near the Orange County Convention Center. It was not immediately clear if she was in a crosswalk.