Only three of 10 drivers stop for pedestrians crossing streets at non-signaled crosswalks in St. Paul, according to city researchers.

St. Paul police hope their “Stop for Me” campaign — which started Monday — might change that.

The campaign will involve officers joining volunteers to hold awareness and enforcement events across St. Paul to highlight the importance of drivers stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks.

Multi-threat crashes — which occur when pedestrians cross four-lane roads and a driver pulls around a vehicle that has stopped for a person crossing the street — also are a focus of the campaign. In many cases, the driver pulling around a stopped car is unaware that a pedestrian is crossing the street.

And, this year police will be more likely to mark the “Endangerment” box on citations for drivers who failed to stop and have endangered life or property. That results in the driver having to appear in court rather than just paying a fine.

“This is a very serious violation and that’s why the city’s police officers will be taking the extra step to ‘check the box’ when it is reasonable to do so,” St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell said in a statement. “Every one of these crashes is avoidable. We all need to do our part to drive safely and obey the law.”

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Researchers from St. Paul, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the University of Minnesota will study how to change drivers’ behavior to help ensure they stop for pedestrians routinely.

This summer researchers will monitor several of the city’s busiest intersections. They are:

Snelling and Blair avenues.

Randolph and South Prior avenues.

East Seventh Street and Bates Avenue.

Summit Avenue and South Chatsworth Street.

Dale and Jessamine streets.

East Maryland Avenue and Walsh Street.

White Bear and East Nebraska avenues.

Marion Street and Charles Avenue.