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By Scott Seroka, KARE 11 News

Hundreds hit by cars crossing city streets in St. Paul

It's been on the books for 9 years, but St. Paul police say motorists continue to refuse to give pedestrians the right of way at roadway intersections. St. Paul City Councilman Russ Stark says the result has been 454 accidents in the past 2 years.

"Most people believe cars have the right of way. Pedestrians have the right of way when they're crossing at intersections," St. Paul Police Commander Gregory Pye said. He went on to explain that pedestrians have the right of way at intersections with or without crosswalks.

"Too many accidents lately, a lot of folks are worried about it," Stark said, standing on the corner of Snelling and Sherburne in the Hamline Midway neighborhood. "We're trying to get folks to pay attention to the law, get motorists to slow down a little bit, and stop for pedestrians at the corners," Stark added.

The Ward 4 Representative is putting up posters at local businesses, hoping to remind motorists and pedestrians to look out for one another. Stark's neighbor, Margaret Prowse, was killed in February as she tried to cross University Avenue.

Council member Stark, Commander Pye, and a number of walkers we talked to estimated only 10% of the drivers give cross-walkers the right of way.

"There are some good people that do actually stop, one car stops and then the other ones behind it also stop," Dena Hunter said. Hunter would know, she dodges traffic on Snelling 4 times a day, as she walks her granddaughters to and from school.

"It's really hard crossing here," Hunter admits.

We watched the intersection of Englewood and Snelling near the Hamline University campus. We found cars turning in front of walkers in the crosswalk, we watched as some students raced across the roadway, and we observed several people waiting for 2 or 3 minutes at a time to cross the street.

"It's like people just speed up and it's like, good God, don't you see me there," Betty Shorts of St. Paul said.

We watched one Hamline student wait 45 seconds in the center median as 23 cars whizzed by, before two cars stopped and allowed the man to finish crossing.

St. Paul police say they'll be running extra enforcement in that area this month, and they say they'll be ticketing drivers who do not give pedestrians the right of way.