A walk on the wild side

– By Nicole Williams
POLICE were “alarmed” at pedestrians who failed to obey the road rules during Operation Flood last month.
Operation Flood concentrated on pedestrians disobeying traffic controls after more than 80 pedestrians were injured in road accidents in the last year.
Inspector Chris Major said Dandenong had an over-representation of pedestrians involved in serious injury collisions and police had hoped the operation would encourage people to obey the road laws.
“It was alarming the amount of people who failed to obey the pedestrian control signals,” Insp Major said.
“It was quite alarming to us, the number of people who put their lives at risk.”
Police issued 153 pedestrians with penalty notices and 424 penalty notices for general offences, including drivers.
The operation ran on seven occasions in Dandenong, often coinciding with market days, and will likely run again in the future.
“We’re hoping the numbers of pedestrians who have been injured or seriously injured have dropped significantly due to the efforts,” Insp Major said.
“But we will do it again if the pedestrian collision rate hasn’t waned.”