Jaywalking

[barbarienne]

I am a third-generation (well, 2.5ish) native New Yorker, which means I am also an inveterate jaywalker.

I've been noticing a lot of people not jaywalking lately. In New York we know those are tourists. But here in the city where I now live, I am perpetually starting off the corner into the street while others just stand there waiting for the

Comments

[maribou]

FWIW there are cities where jaywalking is regularly ticketed, sometimes with "jaywalking traps" akin to "speed traps". Perhaps some of these folks come from there? I know our students are also regularly brainwashed with "YOU ARE SO LUCKY FOLLOW THE DAMN TRAFFIC LAWS AND DON'T PISS OFF THE TOWNIES" so if they *are* students, not just about that age, that might be part of it. Or maybe they're just much more used to driving than walking and are instinctively following driving levels of caution rather than walking levels.

Personally I stopped jaywalking after I almost got hit by a bus whipping around a corner, when I was in college lo these many years ago, and it's only in the last 2 or 3 years I've started making decisions to cross against the light when there is no one around. One bad experience can paranoia make.

[green_knight]

I've heard of the ticketing thing, too (including in places where the only way to get to a bus stop is to cross the road illegally) and if it happens often enough in your area, fear might keep you from doing it.

[kefiraahava]

*raises hand* Yup, one such city would be Los Angeles, specifically UCLA environs. I have had to adjust my East Coast native jaywalking habits since I was lectured by a UCPD officer and almost ticketed. In my defense, the light was a teeny little one that governs only the on-ramp entrance to a UCLA parking garage; you can see if someone is turning into the ramp, so it's not exactly the most dangerous intersection for jaywalking. I wouldn't try to jaywalk across Wilshire or Sunset, but this? Easy. Or so I thought

[barbarienne]

I have a whole, "I worked 14 years in midtown Manhattan; I think I can handle this" speech lined up in the back of my head.

Anyplace that enforces jaywalking laws but doesn't have motorcycle helmet laws is a seething pile of hypocrisy. I note there are no helmet laws where I live, nor statewide hands-free phone law.

[lizziebelle]

My sis-in-law nearly went mad in Germany because people just do not jaywalk.

[autopope]

Depends where in Germany; they seem to take great pride in jaywalking in the former East!

[burger_eater]

When I first moved to Seattle, jaywalking was a revenue source for the city, so I stopped doing it.

In case you didn't know: origin of the term "jaywalking."

[frigg]

Or New York has been invaded by Danes. ;)

I don't jaywalk. One it's been instilled in me from an early age that it's something you don't do, and two, there might not be any cars, but if there's a cop around, it's a 120 USD fine.

Now, what one can do is to walk a respectable distance from the lights and then cross, that's technically not jaywalking. ;)

[dorianegray]

How bizarre. Native Dubliners have much the same attitude to getting across the road, so I totally sympathise with your bemusement. The only people here who wait for the green man are tourists and immigrants.