SAN ANTONIO -- If you like to jet across streets without using a crosswalk, you have exactly one more week to do it without police issuing you a ticket when you're caught.
Starting next Friday, you'll be cited if police see you jaywalking anywhere in the city and will have to pay up to a $200 fine. Records show 31 people have been killed while jaywalking so far this year, four of them were senior citizens.
It's the reason why a special crosswalk is going up on Fredericksburg Road, one of the most dangerous roads in the city, especially for seniors.
About 16,000 cars speed up and down Fredericksburg Road every day. If you're not fast enough to run across like one jaywalker we caught on camera, you're in trouble.
"The cars come very fast," said Caroline Ware, a senior who lives in the area. "Seems like they step on it when they see you going across the street."
On October 9th, 90-year-old Erna Zwicke was crossing Fredericksburg Road in her wheelchair when she was hit and killed. On Monday, 73-year-old Apoliano Guajardo was killed while trying to cross Fredericksburg Road near Loop 410.
"Since I moved here, I always said it will take a death to get something done right here," Caroline told us.
Friday, the city announced plans to build a new kind of crosswalk -- a one-of-a kind in the city -- at the 2,800 block of Fredericksburg Road. It's called a Hawk Beacon, and it uses a configuration of yellow and red lights to warn traffic to stop and allow pedestrians to walk safely.
"This crosswalk goes in mid-block rather than other crosswalks at the top of a busy intersection," explained District 7 Councilman Cris Medina.
It's something that will come in handy in an area surrounded by bus stops, apartment buildings, and plenty of senior citizens.
"It will give me great freedom to cross the streets," Caroline told us. "Cuz, it's my worstest nightmare right now."
The Hawk Beacon is expected to be up by December.
