Drivers in California had an unusual sight waiting for them at a crosswalk. Instead of someone in everyday clothes, a giant orange traffic cone was making its way across the street. Even that wasn’t enough to make every driver stop.
The walking cone was part of a pedestrian safety operation in Stanislaus County in late October 2026. Sheriff’s deputies took to the streets of Riverbank and Patterson, where they watched how drivers handled people crossing the road.
The strange outfit had a serious reason. Several pedestrians had been struck by vehicles in county crosswalks, and some of those crashes had ended in deaths. Deputies hoped to catch dangerous driving before another person got hurt…