Downtown mobility crackdown nets 335 violators

05:25 PM CDT on Wednesday, June 22, 2005

By Janice Williamson / 11 News

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KHOU-TV

A recent downtown mobility crackdown totaled 335 citations, but most of the offenders were motorists.

People in Houston have plenty to say about a plan to safely move foot traffic and vehicles through downtown.

You might remember HPD started cracking down a few weeks ago. But Tuesday, the department released some telling numbers.

Getting around downtown has its challenges.

"A guy just got hit over on this corner on Monday," says downtown worker Rick Breidenbach. "I think it's great they're cracking down. People are going to get killed if they don't watch it."

For several weeks Houston police watched pedestrians and motorists navigate the concrete canyons.

They determined a quarter of them were breaking the law. That's when HPD cracked down and handed out 335 tickets.

Approximately 5 percent of the citations (17 tickets) were issued to cyclists. About 25 percent (90 tickets) went to pedestrians and a whopping 70 percent (228) of the tickets went to drivers.

"I was going a little too fast," says Mike Melikian. He admits to speeding but doesn't believe HPD's crackdown is all about saving lives.

"I think it's revenue," says Melikian. "I don't really think it's safety oriented."

The majority of drivers who got tickets ran red lights. And those numbers give police more reasons to install cameras at intersections they identify as dangerous.

Red-light runners could be caught on camera soon.

"What they need to do is slow down and be patient versus risking the lives of themselves and other users of streets downtown," says HPD Chief Harold Hurtt.

Police will put 10 red light cameras at intersections with the most accidents by year's end. Signs will be posted alerting people that they are entering a "red light camera zone" at those intersections.

Chief Hurtt also says that about 100 more officers will soon be hitting the streets. Those officers currently work in the city jail and the city plans to replace them with civilian workers.