Beacon Police running a checkpoint on Main St for vehicles not yielding to pedestrians
I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. After living in Beacon seven years, and experiencing drivers on Main Street ignoring me and others in crosswalks, I’ve seen several incidents that show Beacon police making serious efforts to change that behavior.
The first incident was about a month ago, when my wife and I were crossing Main St near the Key Supermarket, and a woman passed high in front of us when we were halfway across. There was a Beacon police car behind her, and my wife commented to the police officer that he should pull her over. He said, ‘I will’, turned on his lights and pulled her over near Fu Xing. As we walked away he was talking with the driver, and I suppose he gave her a ticket. That was a first.
But a week ago I experienced something even more interesting. Beacon police were running a checkpoint with four or five police cars and officers on Main Street, near the intersection with Cross Street. I saw them pull over at least one car as I strolled past, a car that had -- as usual -- ignored a pedestrian who was already in the street and motored past at the speed limit. Wow.
However, this new focus has not led to an end in the pattern of drivers ignoring pedestrians in crosswalks. In the past week, I have had three close calls with cars, and yesterday a teenage boy on a bike almost crashed into me as I was almost at the other side of the street: literally passed within inches of me. I was really tempted to push him into the parked car in front of the Lady Gray dress shop.
I applaud this new police activity, and also the foot patrols that are taking place on Main, too. However, Beacon remains a city where the drivers appear to have little respect for pedestrians, public safety, or the law.
