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Whether a marked crosswalk or not, 159 drivers in North Hollywood were ticketed yesterday for failing to yield to pedestrians -- actually, plainclothes LAPD officers -- trying to cross the street, according to the Daily News. Drivers tried to get out of the tickets, saying officers were jaywalking. That was not the case as corners without signs and paint are still considered crosswalks, just unmarked ones."We wanted to bring the awareness that it doesn't matter if it's marked or unmarked, you shall yield the right-of-way to a pedestrian at a corner," Sgt. Art Gomez told the paper. "It's obvious that people are distracted and people don't care. Things happen any given minute of the day, but you have to be mindful and responsible for your fellow human beings."
The North Hollywood area has seen a 40% uptick in pedestrian-related incidents this year. Valleywide, crashes involving pedestrians is down 2% with 300 so far this year. But pedestrian deaths in the Valley are up by 27% -- a 14th fatality occurred over the weekend when a pedestrian was trying to apparently jaywalk across Cahuenga Boulevard.