One of the laws of the road is that when you see somebody walking in a crosswalk, you need to stop for them. Of course. Everybody knows this, but not everyone does it. And that’s why the Carson City Sheriff sees it necessary to occasionally put on a crosswalk sting operation. In fact, there’s one in effect on South Carson street as I write this.

How a crosswalk sting works is simple. They send somebody out to walk back and forth across the street for an hour or two. This person uses an official crosswalk, and they don’t jump out in front of traffic or anything, they just walk like they’re a normal pedestrian. But positioned all around the crosswalk are police cars and motorcycle cops. If a driver fails to stop for the pedestrian, they get pulled over immediately. And the guy keeps walking, and the cops keep watching, until the appointed time for the sting is up.

Today’s sting is in front of the Carson Mall. This is an ideal place for an operation like this, because there is a crosswalk in the street there, going from Carl’s Jr to Burger King, that is not located at an intersection. People are more attentive at intersections, and if they see someone standing on the corner they’re more likely to stop. But this crosswalk is in the middle of the block, so people are paying less attention and are more likely to overlook someone in the street. This is a problem, of course, so the police like to give not-so-gentle reminders, in the form of a ticket.

So if you’re driving by the Carson Mall today, watch out for a guy in a blue shirt and white shorts by the Burger King. But it’s a good idea to always keep an eye out at that crosswalk, because even if there isn’t a sting going on it can still be tricky to realize that people are going to be crossing the street there.

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