FULTON – The city of Fulton Police Department will be ramping up efforts to enforce the New York state law that says motorists must stop when a pedestrian is in a crosswalk, as announced by Fulton Mayor Deana Michaels and Fulton Police Chief Mike Curtis.
This will be a city-wide enforcement effort and violators will be ticketed.
“In recent years, we had a fatality at the intersection of W. Broadway and W. Second St,” Michaels said. “And earlier this year, we had a pedestrian sustain serious injuries after being hit by a vehicle in this area. I reached out to the New York State Department of Transportation who is conducting a study to recommend remediation for this intersection. Getting their final recommendation, however, could take up to a year or more, so our police department is taking action.”
Chief Curtis explained that the W. Broadway intersection is a challenging situation because there is a heavy traffic flow through the intersection when school is dismissed and when workers leave for home at 5 p.m.
“Drivers need to be more aware of what’s ahead of them and if someone is in the crosswalk,” Curtis said. “Drivers just aren’t stopping and that increases the chance that someone’s going to get hurt. Our officers will be monitoring this intersection as well as other busy traffic sections throughout the city, and they will be ticketing drivers who violate the law.”
Fulton Police Lieutenant Charles Burlingham, who is the city’s traffic and training officer, said that he has obtained two state grants to address this and other safety situations.
“The Fulton Police Department continues to be proactive in gathering grant funding and other resources to help increase the safety of our pedestrians, reduce motor vehicle-pedestrian incidents, and reach out to the our city’s children and parents to promote bicycle safety,” he said.
A Police Traffic Services grant provides funding toward the cost of overtime associated with police traffic details. This grant specifically targets aggressive driving behaviors that statistically lead to traffic crashes, Burlingham explained.
Speeding, passing through red lights and stop signs, failure to yield the right of way and failure to obey traffic control devices are some examples of what the officers are targeting. The grant stipulates that the focus be on enforcing these laws on state routes through the city.
The second is a Highway Safety Grant. This grant is directed toward pedestrian safety and other similar issues. The Fulton Police Department focuses on bicycle safety and they use the grant money to purchase bike helmets and bike safety educational materials that are handed out to school age children.
“Prior to the pandemic, we held an annual bike rodeo,” Burlingham said. “Since then we have begun attending local events to hand out these materials and speak with children. We have attended the Fulton Farmer’s Market and will again attend the upcoming Fall Festival. Next spring, we will be expanding our opportunities to meet with children and get these materials in their hands.”
For more information, please contact Lt. Burlingham at [email protected] or call the non-emergency Fulton Police number, 315-598-4504.
missing or outdated ad config
It’s good to see aggressive actions being carried out for state route intersections. Too many drivers both automobiles and bike riders pay attention to their surroundings so maybe now they will be encouraged to do so.
I meant to say… too many drivers, bike riders, and pedestrians do NOT pay attention to their surroundings.