VCU kicks off pedestrian safety campaign with referees

VCU is ramping up pedestrian safety education and traffic enforcement after a student was killed last month while crossing the street.

Why it matters: Several major commuter roads run through the Monroe Park campus, and drivers make more than a million trips through it a week, per VCU Police.

• Meanwhile, thousands of pedestrians and cyclists share the same roadways, along with city buses and GRTC's rapid transit Pulse line.

What's happening: On Wednesday, VCU Police kicked off a pedestrian awareness campaign with officers dressed as referees using whistles and football flags to call out pedestrian crossing infractions.

VCU is also working with city and state police to crack down on bad driving behaviors, including:

• Speeding.
• Ignoring signals and signs.
• Failing to yield for pedestrians.
• Blocking sight lines or crosswalks.

Police will also be more aggressive about ticketing cyclists who ignore stop signs and lights and pedestrians if they jaywalk and cause an accident.

Catch up quick: 22-year-old senior Mahrokh Khan was hit around 9am on Jan. 27 while crossing Laurel and West Main streets near Altria Theater. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

• The driver remained at the scene and hasn't been charged.

University police said there have been 32 incidents involving pedestrians on both VCU campuses in the past year, per WRIC.