Failure to yield: Des Moines police will target jaywalkers next

Zoom in: Since 2023, 12 pedestrians have been killed by vehicles in Des Moines, police said.

• Others have been injured — many while simply trying to cross the street.

State of play: This week marks the first time in at least three years that a DSM enforcement team has focused on crosswalk violators, Sgt. Paul Parizek tells Axios.

By the numbers: Des Moines police issued 28 citations to drivers in just two hours during a targeted crosswalk safety enforcement project along University and Ingersoll avenues, including 22 for failing to yield to pedestrians.

• The tickets are $135, and after court costs and other fees, they generally cost just over $210, Parizek said.
• The tickets are in response to escalating citizen complaints about scofflaws.

The intrigue: Fine proceeds go to the state, not to the city of DSM.

• A grant from the Iowa Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau is funding much of the extra enforcement.

Threat level: During some instances of the two-hour operation, Parizek says, as many as three cars in a row blew through walkways without yielding to a cop posing as a pedestrian — too many for police to stop at once.

• Far more tickets would have been issued if there had been more police on the project, Parizek says.

• While jaywalkers were not being cited this week, some areas of the road were "like a game of Frogger."

What they're saying: Ride On Des Moines founder Carol Maher tells Axios that drivers' failure to yield to pedestrians has become so routine that it raises deeper questions about local driving culture.

• A lack of consequences and less familiarity in driving in areas with heavy foot traffic likely contribute, she says.

What's next: More enforcement projects will pop up in the coming months, Parizek says.

• Areas near Roosevelt High School and the DSM Art Center are likely among the next targeted spots, he says.