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Police to pursue felony charges against sign thieves
Published 11:00pm Monday, September 3, 2012In the last month, hundreds of dollars worth of traffic signs have been stolen from Troy University’s campus.
As many as eight crosswalk signs that alerted drivers to stop for pedestrian traffic have been taken. It might seem like a prank, but it’s an action with dangerous consequences.
“We’ve had some near misses with students because of the theft of the signs,” said University Police Chief John McCall. “It has caused a problem at the university, especially with our foreign students.”
That’s because students who come from countries, such as China, expect cars to stop when they enter crosswalks.
“In the U.S., we aren’t trained that way. Pedestrians usually wait for cars to stop before stepping into a crosswalk,” McCall said.
McCall said that the smaller, more visually appealing crosswalk signs were placed in six locations around campus last year in an effort to beautify the area. Theft has been a problem ever since.
“We’ve glued them to the ground and we’ve screwed them into the ground and people still snatch them out,” McCall said, adding that he doesn’t know why someone would want to steal a crosswalk sign.
University police will be looking at effective ways to mount new signs in the future, but a new theft deterrent is already in place for signs that haven’t been stolen. Would-be sign thieves should now prepare to have their picture taken if they try to snatch a sign on Troy University’s campus.
“We have put cameras on the remaining signs and we are going to put cameras on the signs we replace,” McCall said.
And while stealing traffic signs might seem like a small thing, the university will be pursuing felony charges against sign thieves, according to McCall.
“If you are doing it as a prank, its a bad idea,” McCall said. “Its not a good prank to pull, it could cost somebody their life.”
The signs cost about $300 each and witnesses are urged to call university police to report where the stolen signs may be located.
If anyone has noticed the signs dumped somewhere, McCall said he would like to recover them. People can call the main police line at 670-3215, or the Secret Witness line at 670-5814.
Rather than trying to re-train the entire driving populace of the area with small signs the university ought to include pedestrian training in its new student orientation programs. In addition to telling pedestrians to look before they cross a street, such a program should include practices such as using sidewalks where they are available and walking (running or jogging) facing traffic when sidewalks are not available. Foreign students need to be taught that the university’s transit buses are not school buses and nobody is required to stop when they are loading or unloading passengers.
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It isn’t just international students who step out without watching traffic. American born and bred students do it more than anyone else and not even in designated crosswalks. They are too busy with a phone up to their face texting to look at traffic. If the university would have left the traffic lights at the most congested areas that would have helped.
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I’m less concerned with international students walking into than I am about the FOBs (fresh off the boat) getting behind the wheel of a car!
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Alabama #1, that is for traffic deaths due to speeding. Alabamans do not take traffic laws even as suggestions.
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Pedestrians should use caution, but some drivers believe they have the right-of-way no matter what. While out running, I’ve had people run red lights and almost hit me in front of the police station, I’ve had drivers make no effort to ease over to the median when I run on streets that have no sidewalk (Franklin Drive is especially bad). It seems like more people in Troy run/bike these days for exercise. Troy really needs to have sidewalks on major streets throughout the city, especially with it being a college town, you would think they would. Also, bicycles are vehicles and have the same right to the roads as cars. Bicyclists should ride on the right side, with traffic, and along the right edge. If you come up on a bicyclist, it is not the cyclist responsibility to get off the road. You wait and pass when it is safe.
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Going to work this morning I came real close clocking a student while he was texting and walking over to Bibb Graves. I yelled at him and he gave me the finger. Hawkins sure can recruit the classy students.
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Do you think yelling at the student had anything to do with it? Or was the bird totally unprovoked?
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You would think by college age, they would know how to look both ways and cross the street. I avoid the campus because I have had students on the sidewalk look straight at me driving and then cut and walk right in front of me. But as I always say the city of Troy belongs to the college NOT to the local citizens.
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From my understanding and driving pedestrians have the right of way at a crosswalk and drivers are supposed to stop when they are at a crosswalk attemtping to cross. Now, i could be wrong, but the signs and customs in other cities I have lived is to yield for pedestrians at a crosswalk. Like people not from here, I would consider this to be the law everywhere, just like DUI, speeding, or anything else traffic related. People should use caution when crossing a street and look both ways, but the a huge number of drivers aren’t too courteous, and are jerks when they get behind the wheel. So I guess we might need to pull all the people not from here together and tell them the crosswalk law doesn’t apply.
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As always people start giving the Univ. and the students h*** and not one word about the people stealing the sighs.
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Not to cling too closely to a stereotype, but whom do you think is stealing traffic signs? I doubt you will find those signs decorating the walls of residents’ room at the nursing home.
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