(Updated at 7:45 a.m.) 
Police will be out in force in Rosslyn today to promote pedestrian safety. They’ll be issuing citations to cars that don’t yield to pedestrians and warnings to jaywalkers and cyclists who ignore traffic laws.
The enforcement will be taking place in the area of North Lynn Street and Wilson Boulevard between 7:00 and 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 and 1:00 p.m.
Citations for failure to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk carry a hefty fine of between $100 and $500 in Arlington.
Although police will only be issuing warnings to pedestrians, a citation for failure to obey signs and signals wouldn’t take too big of a chunk out of your pay check — the maximum fine is $5.
The enforcement is timed to kick off the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government’s Street Smart fall pedestrian safety campaign. The campaign encourages “proper yielding to pedestrians and drivers alike.”
In 2009, there were 78 pedestrian and cyclist-related deaths in the Washington area, which is more than one quarter of all traffic-related fatalities in the region. Local police departments are trying to decrease that number.
Arlington’s police chief, three Arlington County board members and representatives from other local jurisdictions will hold a press conference about pedestrian safety at 12:30 this afternoon in Rosslyn.