Wilton Manors, located in south Florida right by Fort Lauderdale, has long been know to residents as not pedestrian friendly. It is often referred to as “the drive” because Wilton Drive is the main street through the city. City officials have been in negotiations with the State of Florida in an attempt to make one of the unsafest pedestrian areas much safer. Police reports claim that nearly eighty percent of accidents since 2009 that involve a pedestrian have taken place on or around Wilton Drive and four other areas in the city. Those other areas in the report were Northeast Sixth Avenue, Powerline Road, Oakland Park Boulevard and Andrews Avenue.
There have been half a dozen pedestrian accidents in the past seven years and police are aware that it is not all the drivers who are at fault. Jaywalking has played a major role in these fatalities and as a result, they too are going to start receiving tickets for not crossing in the appropriate areas.
While the city has been working hard with the State, they have not been given permission to update the current pedestrian walkways. The city has had to increase manpower in order to make sure that both pedestrians and motorists alike are obeying the rules of the road and the crosswalks.
Police have even gone as far as attempting to educate on the proper safety procedures that pedestrians need to take in order to remain safe amongst motorists. They have remained vigilant in their ticketing and have issued several citations for pedestrian disobedience.
“We’re a very pedestrian friendly city, and we have a lot of crosswalks, and the sidewalks are very easy to use but… people do what they want to do,” said Mayor Gary Resnick. In an attempt to make sure that the city remains pedestrian friendly and that all can coinhabit peacefully, police will be writing tickets to both pedestrians and drivers for not following safety protocol. The tickets and increase in police presence will continue to run until after the very busy Independence Day Celebrations, likely ending on July 5th. However, depending on compliance police may be forced to remain vigilant and issuing tickets indefinitely. Those injured due to pedestrian accidents in the area can call a Wilton Manors personal injury lawyer with Zimmerman & Frachtman.