Being in the crosswalk doesn’t give pedestrians the right of way, and often causes irritations for drivers trying to avoid them.

Students cross the intersection of Annie Glidden Road and Lucinda Avenue many times a day as they travel from the residence halls to their classes and jobs on campus. The city installed another stoplight a block down on Annie Glidden Road to accommodate the students wanting to cross at Stadium Drive.

According to state law, pedestrians cannot cross a street unless the walk sign is illuminated. For intersections without walk/don’t walk signs, pedestrians need to follow the regular traffic lights.

“Pedestrians have the right to cross when it is a full green, not a green arrow, just like when you’re in a car,” said Lt. Matt Kiederlen of the University Police.

The UP sends officers out to the problematic intersections during peak hours to handle the rush of pedestrian traffic.

“What we have is like a standing order that our day shift sergeants get officers out there,” Kiederlen said.

Officers normally are present in the daytime hours between 10 minutes before the hour and five minutes after an hour when the majority of students are en route to and from class. If officers are too busy responding to other calls, the crosswalk duty gets put aside until there is an officer that can be assigned to do that.

“The reason we’re putting the officers out there is to educate the pedestrians as to when it is appropriate and not appropriate to cross,” Kiederlen said.

Seven pedestrian versus vehicle accidents already have occurred this year, including one March 21 at the Annie Glidden Road and Lucinda Avenue intersection when Juliann Bunna, 18, a resident of Lincoln Hall, was sideswiped by a truck as she was heading east across Annie Glidden toward the residence halls. Bunna was taken to Kishwaukee Community Hospital for a head injury, but was not ticketed for disobeying the traffic signal and crossing against the light.

Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department said that the department rarely tickets jaywalkers.

It is also rare for UP to issue tickets for jaywalking, which is a $75 fine just like any other traffic ticket.

“If we can achieve this [safe crossings] without ticketing, we’d prefer to,” Kiederlen said.