Students on foot and riding bicycles must be as cautious of the men in blue as motorists these days.
Police have been giving tickets to pedestrians and bicyclists who violate traffic laws for a number of years, but because of recent grant money received by the Tucson Police Department, the agency is cracking down on violators, said Sgt. Carlos Valdez, TPD spokesman.
TPD received a $15,000 grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety to "create a harmonious environment where pedestrians, bicycles and cars can operate safely," Valdez said.
Valdez said the money is being used to implement three phases to ensure safety. The plan is to engineer safer areas where pedestrians can cross the street by installing pedestrian crosswalk lights, educating people by explaining the laws to them and enforcement of the law through citations, Valdez said.
"(Police are) not just out ticketing bicyclists and pedestrians; they're ticketing cars, too," Valdez said.
Though the University of Arizona Police Department was not given a grant, they have been and are still giving citations to bicyclists and pedestrians who violate traffic laws, said Sgt. Eugene Mejia, UAPD spokesman.
Both agencies' spokesmen said bicyclists must be aware they must abide by the same rules of the road motorists follow or they will be cited.
Bicyclists must stop at stop signs and wait at red lights until they turn green, Valdez said.
"It is possible to give a citation for speeding (to a bicyclist)," Valdez said.
Students riding at night must be aware that they are to have a headlamp and a rear tail lamp just like cars do, Mejia said.
Tickets for pedestrian and cyclist violations can reach and exceed $100, both spokesmen said.
Pedestrian and bicyclist safety is a big issue on campus because there are such a large number of both, not because there is a common occurrence of fatalities on campus, Mejia said.
Students must take precautions like wearing bright clothing, crossing at cross walks, paying attention to their surroundings and following all traffic laws in order to maintain their own safety, said Mejia.
"You have the power to minimize your involvement in a collision," Mejia said.
Mejia said police will continue to issue citations to those in violation of traffic laws.
"(It is) for the safety of students," Mejia said. "Not to up our numbers and arrests, not to up our fines, but because it's our job to make sure when a student arrives on campus they leave safely and hopefully with a degree in hand."