Spring Break
Police crack down on Main Street traffic violations
Tawnie Thompson
Issue date: 10/29/08 Section: News
City and university police are stepping up safety efforts at the Whiton and Main streets intersection after a former student was hit by a car while crossing.
Mike Chaloupka, 23, suffered from 12 broken bone and collapsed lungs. He died about two weeks after being struck Aug. 26.
Since the accident, four citations have been given out for Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian and one verbal warning was given for inattentive driving on at the intersection.
The campus police log archives, which go back to Sept. 4, 2006 show only one other citation for failure to yield, which occurred April 10 on Starin Road.
"I'm not going to mince words, there is an increased level of enforcement taking place in that area," said University Police Chief Matt Kiederlen of the intersection between Whiton and Main streets.
Kiederlen said there is a heightened concern in the area.
"And when the community says that there's a heightened concern, we react," he said. "It's not necessarily enforcement for enforcement's sake, but it's just that there's a higher presence. The presence of the officers alone tends to decrease a lot of the problem."
Improvements on Whiton and Main were discussed at the last four Whitewater Common Council meetings.
"My opinion is the same as pretty much everybody else that has discussed this, and I believe that there should be a light at that intersection," Kiederlen said. That is the safest possible means of controlling the traffic flow at that intersection,"
"The city is exploring other options and considering what they might do with the Hawk System - it's a pedestrian activated stop system," James Coan, Chief of the Whitewater Police said.
The campus police are paying more attention to getting pedestrians safely across the street than to the speed of vehicles.
"Our main focus of concern, obviously, has been getting the pedestrians across as safely as possible," Kiederlen said. "We haven't been highly concerned with the speed of traffic or other aspects with the vehicles."
Thirty-three speeding citations have been issued near the intersection since Nov. 23, 2006, four of which were issued after Aug. 26.
Mike Chaloupka, 23, suffered from 12 broken bone and collapsed lungs. He died about two weeks after being struck Aug. 26.
Since the accident, four citations have been given out for Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian and one verbal warning was given for inattentive driving on at the intersection.
The campus police log archives, which go back to Sept. 4, 2006 show only one other citation for failure to yield, which occurred April 10 on Starin Road.
"I'm not going to mince words, there is an increased level of enforcement taking place in that area," said University Police Chief Matt Kiederlen of the intersection between Whiton and Main streets.
Kiederlen said there is a heightened concern in the area.
"And when the community says that there's a heightened concern, we react," he said. "It's not necessarily enforcement for enforcement's sake, but it's just that there's a higher presence. The presence of the officers alone tends to decrease a lot of the problem."
Improvements on Whiton and Main were discussed at the last four Whitewater Common Council meetings.
"My opinion is the same as pretty much everybody else that has discussed this, and I believe that there should be a light at that intersection," Kiederlen said. That is the safest possible means of controlling the traffic flow at that intersection,"
"The city is exploring other options and considering what they might do with the Hawk System - it's a pedestrian activated stop system," James Coan, Chief of the Whitewater Police said.
The campus police are paying more attention to getting pedestrians safely across the street than to the speed of vehicles.
"Our main focus of concern, obviously, has been getting the pedestrians across as safely as possible," Kiederlen said. "We haven't been highly concerned with the speed of traffic or other aspects with the vehicles."
Thirty-three speeding citations have been issued near the intersection since Nov. 23, 2006, four of which were issued after Aug. 26.
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