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Jaywalking legalized in New York City

theguardian.com

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Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#91

Post by victorbjorklund »

IshKebab wrote: post #24
vasco wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jaywalking is any crossing in a wrong / illegal way, not about intersections specifically. Mostly it's about not using crosswalks, so I don't see how it collides with what Europe does. In Europe you also have differences with some countries where crosswalk lights are as a mandate from God and nobody will cross even at 2am deserted road. And then you have countries where the crosswalk lights are mere decorations.

Which countries obey crossing lights as strictly as you describe? I've been to lots of European countries and none were like that. Not in the way that the US is.

Poland is pretty strict. They will fine you if you cross the street where there isnt a crosswalk. And generally people wait for green light in Poland even if there are zero cars on the road.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#92

Post by naberhausj »

IshKebab wrote: post #24
vasco wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jaywalking is any crossing in a wrong / illegal way, not about intersections specifically. Mostly it's about not using crosswalks, so I don't see how it collides with what Europe does. In Europe you also have differences with some countries where crosswalk lights are as a mandate from God and nobody will cross even at 2am deserted road. And then you have countries where the crosswalk lights are mere decorations.

Which countries obey crossing lights as strictly as you describe? I've been to lots of European countries and none were like that. Not in the way that the US is.

In addition to the ones people already mentioned: In Copenhagen it was very rare for people to cross on red. I never got and dirty looks when I did it, but it was definitely not the norm.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#93

Post by bragr »

Since they made this change in California last year, I cross where ever when it is safe and convenient. I'm surprised how big of difference it made to the convenience and speed of walking somewhere. No more waiting for 2 different lights just to get to the opposite corner.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#94

Post by mettamage »

Gigachad wrote: post #74
tsimionescu wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Basically it means that pedestrians are allowed to cross the road anywhere, anytime, but they still have to yield to car traffic except at pedestrian crossings without a semaphore or at the Walk signal. It's a very common-sense law.

Basically updating the law to match what everyone already does.

In every part of the world. The whole concept of jaywalking feels backwards.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#95

Post by [deleted] »

tsimionescu wrote: post #52
94b45eb4 wrote: post #25

So if you are waiting at an intersection pedestrian crossings and getting impatient you can just move over a bit and cross anyway?

Basically it means that pedestrians are allowed to cross the road anywhere, anytime, but they still have to yield to car traffic except at pedestrian crossings without a semaphore or at the Walk signal. It's a very common-sense law.

[deleted]

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#96

Post by matheusmoreira »

94b45eb4 wrote: post #25

So if you are waiting at an intersection pedestrian crossings and getting impatient you can just move over a bit and cross anyway?

It means pedestrians are always right even when they are wrong. Especially when they are wrong.

It means they can do whatever they want whenever they want wherever they want and everybody else on the road is obligated to accomodate them.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#97

Post by potato3732842 »

It was de-facto legal to begin with. The only people who were ever hurt by this law were the people who insisted on abiding by the law beyond the point of absurdity.

I appreciate that this is one less crime the average person commits every day that a capricious enforcer can make a big deal of but the flip side is that this reduces the competitive advantage of not being law abiding to the point of absurdity and your own detriment.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#98

Post by timr »

tsimionescu wrote: post #52
94b45eb4 wrote: post #25

So if you are waiting at an intersection pedestrian crossings and getting impatient you can just move over a bit and cross anyway?

Basically it means that pedestrians are allowed to cross the road anywhere, anytime, but they still have to yield to car traffic except at pedestrian crossings without a semaphore or at the Walk signal. It's a very common-sense law.

> they still have to yield to car traffic except at pedestrian crossings without a semaphore or at the Walk signal.

This isn't true. Car traffic must yield to pedestrians. Pedestrians don't always have the right of way, but you (hopefully obviously) can't just arbitrarily mow them down.

The only time this would matter is if you hit someone and it went to court. Thus in practice, you have to yield to pedestrians whenever you can reasonably do so. It's actually written into NY law (section 1146: "Due Care").

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#99

Post by Gud »

bragr wrote: post #93

Since they made this change in California last year, I cross where ever when it is safe and convenient. I'm surprised how big of difference it made to the convenience and speed of walking somewhere. No more waiting for 2 different lights just to get to the opposite corner.

As a veteran jaywalker, let me propose that you avoid crossing at junctions, where crossings are usually located, ideally cross at one leg, especially good if it’s a one way street.

Less traffic, fewer inputs/outputs to keep under observations.

Re: Jaywalking legalized in New York City

#100

Post by throwaway984393 »

nobody9999 wrote: post #89
gxonatano wrote: post #87

Let's not forget that jaywalking was essentially created by the automotive industry and its lobbyists, to make life more convenient for drivers. It started in car-heavy places like California, and eventually became a law virtually everywhere in the US, but was never really enforced in New York City, where most people walk or take public transit, rather than drive. If, like most New Yorkers, you walk several kilometer…

>New Yorkers don't have a concept of "jaywalking"; it's just "walking." As a general rule, I watch the cars and not the traffic lights. Mostly because many motorists (and NYC buses are the worst!) often don't pay attention to pedestrians, intersections or traffic lights. In fact, I'm more careful when walking through an intersection than in the middle of the street.

Yep. The times I've been hit by a car while walking it was the car rolling through stop signs, lights and turns.
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