Apr 10, 2006 9:03 am US/Pacific
Sunland Woman, 82, Fighting Crosswalk Citation
SUNLAND, Calif. (CBS) ―
Mayvis Coyle is upset with the LAPD.
Coyle, 82, said a traffic police officer sat watching her as she carried groceries and shuffled her cane through an intersection at Foothill Boulevard Feb. 15.
Before she finished crossing the intersection at Woodward Avenue, he had written her a $114 ticket for crossing against a don't-walk signal, the Daily News reported.
"I entered the crosswalk, it was green," Coyle, who is fighting the citation, told the newspaper. "It turned red before I could get over. There he was, waiting, the motorcycle cop. He said, 'You're obstructing the flow of traffic.'"
Coyle and other seniors at Monte Vista Mobile Estates are upset about signals they say are too short to safely cross the five-lane boulevard, the Daily News reported.
So many seniors have complained about hasty intersections that Councilwoman Wendy Greuel asked transportation officials last week to study how to accommodate them, according to the Daily News.
The Coyle incident "has brought to bear an issue that is relatively common," Greuel told the newspaper. "We should look at those areas with predominantly seniors and accommodate their needs in intersections."
The danger to pedestrians -- particularly seniors -- is acute, according to police. Of the 94 pedestrians killed in the San Fernando Valley from 2005 to 2005 while crossing the street, 31 were seniors, the Daily News reported.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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