When senior Coral Schneider was informed by a Los Angeles Police Department officer that she would be ticketed for crossing the intersection at Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue at a slight diagonal, her initial reaction was one of disbelief.
"I wasn't aware there was a rule about it," said Schneider, a senior majoring in business administration. "I went straight [across the street] and clipped the corner without going up on the sidewalk. There were three LAPD cops on bicycles basically riding behind us, telling us to pull over. I explained I was sorry and I wasn't aware of the law, and from a different state, but I still got a ticket."
Because many students cross the intersections of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street and Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue at a diagonal, LAPD will continue its efforts to ticket students for improperly crossing the street.
John Thomas, captain of field operations for the Department of Public Safety, said anyone "crossing outside of the crosswalk," as Schneider did, is violating California law.
"The law has not changed recently," he said. "[Jefferson and McClintock] is an intersection where there is a high volume of violations, and one of the most effective ways of enforcing traffic and pedestrian violations is
via citations."
Schneider will contest her ticket in February, not only because of the cost, but because the violation will go on her driving record.
"A lot of people were really surprised when I told them I was going to court next month for a bike ticket," Schneider said. "I'm more than willing to pay the ticket if going to court doesn't end up working out, but I think that it going on my driving record, particularly at a school where so many kids are from out of state, is a little ridiculous."
Sgt. John Wilson, head of the traffic complaint unit of the South Traffic Unit of LAPD, said students from outside California should take on the responsibility of learning area traffic laws.
"If you go to another state or another country, you need to read up on those rules," he said. "You need to learn them or take it upon yourself to figure out the rules.
"If one or two students are ticketed, the word should get out that you can't do certain things a certain way. We don't necessarily not ticket people for their lack of understanding of the law, because we can't tell if they really know it or not."
A lack of understanding about pedestrian rules seems to be a problem for many of the students who cross Jefferson Boulevard at both Hoover Street and McClintock Avenue daily.
"Lots of kids are coming from The Row and off-campus housing, so they're easily targeted," said Victor Bagnato, a sophomore majoring in biology. "It doesn't make sense to go all the way to the sidewalk when you could cross diagonally."
Because of the high volume of traffic at these intersections, many students feel as though it is the responsibility of the university to provide information about pedestrian rules.
"If no cars are coming, I don't see why you can't cross diagonally," said Elizabeth Isenberg, a junior majoring in business administration. "USC or DPS should be telling students about these rules and give them fair warning before ticketing them. It seems pretty silly, and a pretty high fine for doing something that's not really a problem."
Thomas stressed DPS' emphasis on educating students about traffic laws and working with LAPD to monitor violations in problem intersections such as Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue.
"In general, we try to educate students first about what the law is and what is permissible at not only that intersection, but in other locations," Thomas said. "We work very closely with LAPD to enforce that intersection … They're very well aware of that as a problem location, and [citations] are one of the means they use to get it under control."
Wilson also said LAPD is willing to meet with student representatives to discuss traffic rules and violations at intersections frequented by USC pedestrians.
"They can get a representative of the student body, and we'll sit down with them and talk to them about it," he said. "We do that all the time - we go to all the meetings, we do radio and television, we put a lot of information out and wouldn't mind at all sending a couple of officers [to USC] to discuss it. We don't mind education at all."
Despite students' frustrations, law enforcement officials stand by the citations.
"If people feel they can cross outside of the crosswalk, it becomes a quality of life issue," Thomas said. "Unless corrective measures are taken and people adapt behaviors and change how they cross, it becomes a public hazard condition and people can die."
While some students might complain about pedestrian rules and tickets they have received, they also recognize the importance of safety at these intersections.
"Rules are in place to protect us and I understand that," Schneider said. "If people are crossing the street diagonally and if it's going to hurt somebody, then by all means they should be enforced."
