Portland's city code section 16.70.220 says: "A pedestrian must cross a street at right angles unless crossing within a crosswalk." I learned from Greg McKelvey on OPB that blacks in Portland are cited for violating this strange provision nine times the rate of others.

Do Portland cops carry protractors on their belts? Is geometry part of police training? What serves as baseline for determining 90deg? If someone begins crossing at 86deg, may he or she adjust when halfway across, to 94deg to make up for initial miscalculation? Does the initial line continue to be baseline for the entire crossing, or do parallel lines follow the walker across, for easier recalibration to perpendicular? On a curved road, is baseline tangential or chordal relative to the curve? Is a crossing violation considered acute, or is the violator considered obtuse?

Such are my snarky thoughts as I question enforcement of such asininity. Especially when enforced selectively! Stop it, Portland!

Den Mark Wichar, Vancouver, Washington