More than 80 drivers on King Street in Mo'ili'ili got early "gifts" from Honolulu police officers yesterday morning in the form of traffic tickets.

A 90-minute traffic enforcement program at Coolidge and King streets produced 45 tickets for failing to yield the right of way to pedestrians, 15 for using a cell phone while driving, 14 for seatbelt violations, 12 for miscellaneous violations and one for jaywalking, which was given to an elderly woman who walked across King Street directly in front of more than half a dozen police officers outside the Down to Earth natural food store.

Five plainclothes police officers from the police Traffic Division took turns strolling across the crosswalk at King and Coolidge streets, relaying information to a nearby spotter on which drivers did, or did not, yield the right of way.

The spotter, in turn, notified motorcycle officers waiting about a block farther down King Street about who to pull over.

The program began about 9:15 a.m. About 15 minutes later, area resident Angel Lopez stepped off the makai curb holding the hand of his daughter, Synthia, 4, and the two began walking through the crosswalk toward a baseball field on the other side of King Street.

A couple of cars in the center lanes stopped but a man driving a green-gray Geo Prism in the lane nearest to Lopez and his daughter barrelled straight through, missing the father and daughter by mere inches.

Lopez let out a shout at the driver and motorcycle officers pulled him over a few seconds later.

"That's not the first time," Lopez said after safely reaching the mauka sidewalk. "The guy was probably speeding or talking on his cell phone or both."

Lopez, who lives with his family on Coolidge Street, said he and his daughter use the crosswalk almost daily.

A 79-year-old woman was fatally injured while venturing through that crosswalk with friends in early November.

During a 20-minute stretch yesterday, the largest of the plainclothes officers, at about 6 feet 4 and 230 pounds, had at least half a dozen close calls with motorists, most of whom appeared oblivious to his efforts to cross the street.

Later, a woman driving a white Cadillac Escalade while talking on her cell phone honked impatiently at an SUV driver who had stopped in front of her to let a plainclothes officer cross safely. The Escalade driver was pulled over and given a ticket.

"The focus today is on failure to yield," said Lt. Evan Ching, of HPD's Traffic Division. "But we are also issuing tickets for any other violations we see including seat belts, cell-phone use, child car seats and what have you."

Ching said the enforcement program travels to various areas on O'ahu about once a month, especially at intersections where there have been a high number of pedestrian incidents.

"Public awareness campaigns, coupled with enforcement programs such as this, seem to be the best way to get drivers to change their behavior," Ching said.

Crosswalks in the middle of busy streets outside of a signalized intersection pose particular problems, Ching said.

"Motorists driving down a wide street like this one are not used to having to stop where there is no stoplight," Ching said. "Pedestrians share a good amount of the blame, too. They just can't step out in front of a car without warning and expect the driver is going to see them."

State Transportation Director Brennon Morioka was on hand to watch the enforcement program.

"First of all, we're doing this because the holiday season is here and drivers — as well as pedestrians — tend to be more distracted," Morioka said.

"Secondly, enforcement programs coupled with public awareness campaigns are the two big ways to change driver behavior," Morioka said.

The dual approach appears to be paying off, with pedestrian fatalities down from a high of 36 in 2005 to 21 last year and 16 so far this year.

"Of course, even one fatality is one too many," Morioka said.

Marijane Carlos, a McCully/Mo'ili'ili Neighborhood Board member, said she uses the crosswalks to get across King Street at intersections that do not have stoplights.

"You have to watch very, very carefully before you decide to cross," Carlos said. "There are just so many main arteries through our district, and people are in such a hurry all the time."

Yesterday's campaign was a joint effort of the Honolulu Police Department, the state Department of Transportation and volunteers from Walk Wise Hawai'i, a federally funded community group that promotes pedestrian safety.