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MichaelBluejay

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From: Austin, TX

Registered: 2008-05-26

Posts: 1,466

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APD: Pedestrians are "PESTS" and drivers treated with "TACT"?

This is a little old (from November), but I just ran across it.

The Austin Police Department's effort to reduce walking deaths is the Pedestrian Enforcement Safety Team, or PEST.

Meanwhile, the effort for Ticketing Aggressive Cars and Trucks, has the acronym TACT.

I couldn't make this stuff up.

The Chronicle says, "APD is essentially punishing the victim here, or at best addressing only one side of the problem: focusing entirely on pedestrian violations instead of, for instance, ways to improve pedestrian visibility and driver awareness. In at least two cases, ticketed jaywalkers ($190!) complain that their extra-legal street crossings were actually common ped routes used because of logistical problems with the nearby legal alternatives."

http://www.austinchronicle.com/news/201 … destrians/