Jaywalking

jcc

The Seattle episode got me to pondering. Scrym and New Yorkers, why do people jaywalk where you live? Is the crosswalk system poorly designed, often broken, and/or rarely updated? Are people just more... pragmatic about laws in general there? Is it because there are so many pedestrians that people feel comfortable guessing that the others will act as a human shield if they do cross paths with a car? Are traffic jams frequent and deep enough that the cars might as well be parked? I'm assuming it's not because there are so few cars... Is it something else?

Other people, is jaywalking common where you live? Why or why not?

Jakd

There is this crossing, here in Albion, that I have to cross every week and people are always ignoring the lights. They are mostly crossing safely, when there is a gap in traffic sufficient enough for them to make it to the other side. The problem is, the rest of the crowd around them are not paying attention to the lights, or the traffic, and I'm constantly seeing drivers needing to stop or slow down when they should have been able to keep going. I'm dreading an accident will happen one of these days.

I don't think they should change the law here though, I'm just annoyed at the sheep...

Rym

Scrym and New Yorkers, why do people jaywalk where you live?

I'm in a hurry. If there isn't a car that will hit me directly on its way to hitting me, I'll walk across the street. Simple as that.

Is it because there are so many pedestrians that people feel comfortable guessing that the others will act as a human shield if they do cross paths with a car?

I never walk in front of traffic.

Are traffic jams frequent and deep enough that the cars might as well be parked?

Nope. There are just few-second gaps in traffic. If there's a gap, I'll walk through it. Why wait for no good reason? It's perfectly safe: if it isn't, I don't cross.

Jakd

1. There are just few-second gaps in traffic. If there's a gap, I'll walk through it. Why wait for no good reason? It's perfectly safe: if it isn't, I don't cross.

As it should be. Has anyone ever seen videos of people crossing in India and such like? Now that's a bit too much.

rhinocero

Jaywalk all the time. Seriously, you should be able to tell if you're going to get hit, and if you're not going to get hit, you might as well walk.

misakyra

I occasionally see people jaywalking, but only if the crosswalk is non-existant or poorly designed. But then, people in the Dallas/Fort Worth area don't really walk anywhere. We either take the bus or have cars, because the city is so spread out that nothing within walking distance is worth walking to.

Apreche

Look both ways and cross the street. Why unnecessarily obey lights? You need to obey lights when driving because it is far more dangerous, and gridlock will result if you do not. Walking doesn't have those problems. Walk when it's safe. Don't walk when it's not safe. Why wait for no reason?

jcc

Why wait for no good reason?

I don't know if they qualify as good, but here are a few potential reasons... Sometimes people are mistaken, and a vehicle takes them by surprise. If you are struck by a car while jay walking, I suspect it would be much harder to get the sympathetic ear of the insurance company or the courts, assuming that the person that hit you wasn't drunk or speeding. I would suppose that jaywalking would make it harder to collect petitions for traffic infrastructure changes, like painting crosswalks in areas where people often need to cross, or lowering speed limits in pedestrian-heavy areas so that a shorter delay can be safely introduced between pressing the crosswalk button and the light turning. It opens a person up to irritating fines (frequently, if the city has decided to turn it into a source of revenue) and gives less honest police a pretext for harassing you. Additionally, jaywalkers can cause accidents and increase traffic by forcing motorists to make frequent, sudden, and unexpected stops.

Sail

I've been hit by a car. I gladly always walk to the crosswalk.

Rym

Sometimes people are mistaken, and a vehicle takes them by surprise

Only if you're incredibly unaware.

If you are struck by a car while jay walking, I suspect it would be much harder to get the sympathetic ear of the insurance company or the courts, assuming that the person that hit you wasn't drunk or speeding.

Again, you have to be really unaware to not be able to tell if it's safe to cross or not.

I would suppose that jaywalking would make it harder to collect petitions for traffic infrastructure changes, like painting crosswalks in areas where people often need to cross...

Not a concern at all: jaywalking doesn't in any way affect traffic patterns unless people do it incorrectly.

It opens a person up to irritating fines

Unless you are incredibly stupid or a jerk, that isn't bloody likely. Actually blocking traffic is really the only way to get a fine.

Additionally, jaywalkers can cause accidents and increase traffic by forcing motorists to make frequent, sudden, and unexpected stops.

Again, only if the person jaywalking is incredibly stupid.

Plus, in a place like Seattle, where there's hardly any traffic, there were never even cars on the road to prevent you from crossing in the first place.

Cramit

I just moved to Concord New Hampshire and am really impressed with Main St. There is a crosswalk every 50 ft to 100 ft. These crosswalks are not light controlled people cross and cars stop. I am surprised how well it works. The major intersections also have diagonal crosswalks to make things easier for pedestrians.

Apreche

The only way you can get hurt jaywalking is if you are either stupid, drunk, or if someone happens to be doing something crazy like driving an F1 car on the road.

Viga

I jaywalk all the time. Just look both ways and you're cool. Besides...

The only way you can get hurt jaywalking is if you are either stupid, drunk, or if someone happens to be doing something crazy like driving an F1 car on the road.

jcc

Only if you're incredibly unaware. Again, you have to be really unaware to not be able to tell if it's safe to cross or not. Not a concern at all: jaywalking doesn't in any way affect traffic patterns unless people do it incorrectly. Unless you are incredibly stupid or a jerk, that isn't bloody likely. Actually blocking traffic is really the only way to get a fine. Again, only if the person jaywalking is incredibly stupid.

Plus, in a place like Seattle, where there's hardly any traffic, there were never even cars on the road to prevent you from crossing in the first place.

Fair enough. Out of curiosity, do you think that jaywalking laws should be repealed?

Luke Burrage

I worked as a tour guide for 6 months in Berlin. At the start of the tour I told the group about the jaywalking laws, that you can get fined, etc. Then, after mentioning some events in Berlin on November 9th 1989, I'd demonstrate just how powerful a large group of people acting on concert can be. I'd say "As long as we stick together in a tight group we are more powerful than any moving vehicle..." and step out backwards into a road. And everyone would step out with me, and traffic would stop, and everyone would cheer, and the group was suddenly more than just a collection of random people, it had cohesion. Of course I'd do this first on a small street and make sure cars weren't too close before doing it, but by the end of the tour we never had to wait for traffic, traffic would always wait for us.

onewild

Everybody jaywalks in Britain, although we don't call it jaywalking over here. It just makes perfect sense to cross the road if there is no traffic that is dangerous to you instead of waiting for a light to tell you that it is safe.
When we were in Germany it was so annoying having to wait for the light when there is no car in sight! Everybody just waits there for the green man for the reasons explained above.

Nuri

The only places I've ever seen where it isn't stupid NOT to jaywalk are big cities. I live in NC, where there are only crosswalks at large intersections. So what if you need to cross the street somewhere else? In a small, sprawling city like we've got down here, we don't always have the luxury of a convenient crosswalk. Yet somehow we manage to cross the roads relatively safely without them. This is because we have eyes and can see when cars are not coming, and thus we jaywalk safely.

Though I've always been curious if it really counts as jaywalking if there is no convenient place to cross.

lackofcheese

The only places I've ever seen where it isn't stupid NOT to jaywalk are big cities.

nice

Nuri

The only places I've ever seen where it isn't stupid NOT to jaywalk are big cities.

nice

Like my clever use of double negatives there?

Dkong

Fair enough. Out of curiosity, do you think that jaywalking laws should be repealed?

Lol, what laws? I've jaywalked in downtown Cleveland and around my small town plenty more times than I can count. I've done it VERY close to cops (at my town's homedays) and they've never even said a word to me about it.

I agree with this:

If there isn't a car that will hit me directly on its way to hitting me, I'll walk across the street. Simple as that.

And really you do need to be incredibly unaware/inebriated if a car takes you by surprise when you're jaywalking. Again, I've jaywalked countless times and I've never even come close to being hit by a car or making a car have to slow down, swerve, or stop.

Alan

I really don't see police enforcing it anyway. They should be worried about more pressing matters like the violence problems around Cleveland and Akron. Its abnormal for people to actually wait to cross if there is no traffic. The only ones that due are usually the elderly since it takes them a good while to cross. My city has 2 major interstates crossing it and they intersect to form the center of the town. Even with this its not uncommon for people to jaywalk because its harder to cross at the intersection.

Omnutia

I have a friend who lives in a ruralish village and people there cross the road at less than 45 degrees whenever they feel like it. This lead me to theorize that there is some link between traffic safety and the angle people cross the street at.