Undercover Cops Posing As Pedestrians To Start Issuing Tickets

The Chicago Police Department has been cracking down on motorists who don't yield to pedestrians crossing the street. Officers will start pulling over and ticketing motorists who do yield to undercover plainclothes officers posing as pedestrians at intersections that are not controlled by traffic control devices. This effort started several weeks ago when police started issuing warning to motorists. Now the police will start issuing traffic tickets which carry fines up to $500 per ticket. Currently, drivers are required to yield to pedestrians that are in the crosswalk. There is legislation currently pending in Springfield which would require drivers to stop when a pedestrian is in the crosswalk. Eleven other states, and the District of Columbia, have similar laws. Under the proposed legislation, a ticket for failure to stop for a pedestrian in the crosswalk would carry a minimum fine of $150. Approximately 6,000 accidents involving vehicles and pedestrians occur in Illinois every year. Approximately half of those accidents have occurred in Chicago. The number of such accidents has been declining nationally but staying at the same level in Illinois.

The Chicago police have made it known that they plan on having several high profile undercover operations throughout the City until at least September of this year. An undercover officer, posing as a pedestrian, will enter an uncontrolled intersection and if an approaching driver fails to yield, they will be stopped and ticketed by uniformed officers. Some of the intersections mentioned are Peterson and Nagle, 119th Street and Stewart Avenue, 103rd Street and South Prairie Avenue, and 86th Street and Commercial Avenue. Our readers are advised to be especially careful at those locations.

For more information about the Chicago criminal defense attorneys at Legal Defenders, P.C., visit us at www.thelegaldefenders.com or call us anytime at 1-800-228-7295.