LAPD Ticketing Pedestrians

LOS ANGELES - You may want to think twice before you rush across an intersection. USC student Olivia Cohen received a ticket warning from an LAPD officer on Jefferson and Figeroa a couple of weeks ago. 

"It takes me a bit longer to get across the street," Cohen said. "So, I guess by the time I got across the street, the countdown stopped and it hit zero. And, the stop sign came up and the cop pulled me over."

She says he stopped her because the red hand came up before she started walking across. Recently, more and more traffic officers have be cracking down on the law, which states that you can't cross once the countdown begins. But, students don't think this law is fair.

"I would be upset if I knew I could make it [across] before the countdown ended," Max Lawlor said.

"Students are in a rush to class," Sgt. Ybarra of LAPD's South Traffic Division said. "They have to understand they have to get class and that getting to class early or rushing to class is not worth your safety. And quite frankly, it's not worth your life."

LAPD reports show there have been 29 serious injuries or deaths in the Southwest area this past year.