TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - Tucson Police are into a special push for driver safety.
A $75,000 grant from the state is paying for extra hours that put police on the job at eight intersections officers regard as real trouble spots.
You've probably seen what police see: speeders, red light runners, people who make illegal turns.
Now a state grant gives police an extra $75,000 to put more officers on the road.
Maybe you don't even think about it----the delicate dance with chunks of steel roaring by a couple of tons at a time, while fragile people walk just inches away.
Now Tucson Police are using extra money from the state to send out more officers to slow people down and help more of them understand red really does mean stop.
The road is wide and the traffic is fast at Kino and 36th. Shelley and Rik Robles are happy that spot will get extra attention.
She says, “People are speeding through here all the time. It's a crazy intersection. Watch your life”
KGUN9 reporter Craig Smith asked Rik Robles, “What's that like for you to ride through there?”
He says, “You really do have to watch what's going on right here. It's just so busy. I don't know if extra enforcement what they need but they need to do something."
Police plan to enhance enforcement in two phases. They'll start with Kino and 36th, Oracle and Grant, Grant and Alvernon and Broadway and Wilmot.
From May to September they'll put their emphasis on Speedway and Campbell, Golf Links and Swan, Campbell and Valencia and Speedway and Kolb.
Police will be watching traffic like this looking for the dangerous violations that never seem to stop: speeding, red light running, and not using seatbelts or baby seats.
Of the eight intersections Oracle and Grant still seems to be confusing drivers in potentially dangerous ways.
It has been an extra challenge for the drivers. It's one of the first in Tucson to use a new arrangement where in a lot of cases instead of cutting across oncoming traffic you have to go down the road and do a U-Turn.
Joshua Van Winkle lives and works near Grant and Oracle.
He says, “We see people rear-ending each other all the time. They're slamming on their brakes because they don't know if they turn or not. We see people almost get hit all the time. Whenever I'm walking on the street I have to watch out alot with my daughter because you have to almost put yourself in the way instead of anyone else walking with you because the cars are coming through, they're not paying attention."
