The San Francisco police department has devised a new way to catch speeding drivers that will not stop for people trying to cross the road by using the crosswalks – dress up in a walking inflatable chicken costume.
Well, that might not be how they would want to put it.
As part of the city’s plan to achieve Vision Zero and ensure safer roads for both motorists and pedestrians, the police came up with the idea of making its cops seem to be riding a brightly multi-colored inflatable chicken while attempting to use the crosswalks and check if motorists would be able to spot them and stop their cars.
The department reported that many motorists ignored their camouflaged officers and sped away, and that some even came too close to the “pedestrian”.
One of the videos which was recorded by the cops and released to the public showed a man in an inflatable chicken trying to cross the road on the crosswalk. A motorist did not stop, as mandated by law. The speeding car was immediately followed by a police bike and the driver will be issued a ticket of about $400.
Watch below:
Lt. Jonathan Ozol said he chose to use the colored inflatable chicken to ensure that he would be very visible to incoming cars which he gave a distance of at least 200 feet. “But the costume is so bright, it’s like, how can you miss it?” Capt. Amy Hurwitz told SF Gate. “If you don’t see someone in a giant chicken costume, then we really have a problem,”
Other officers at other intersections in the city disguised in different customs such as a unicorn and Sesame Street’s famous Big Bird.
The exercise was conducted over 6 months in about 5 intersections and the department said so many drivers failed the test and that they lost count at some point.
However, over the period, drivers have noticeably become more vigilant and the rate of default has seen a huge decline. Perhaps drivers now know that behind any chicken crossing man or person in a weird costume is a police bike lurking somewhere.