this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2025
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"Jay" is an old English slur. "Jaywalking" refers to walking on a public street illegally. For highways, it makes sense that you're not supposed to walk there. But in America this "jaywalking" can even apply to city streets.
If you're not in America, then it might just sound ridiculous. That's because it is
Americans have created such a large and dense web of highways that it is difficult to cross the street in some areas without walking miles in a given direction to reach a crosswalk.
Houston, in particular, has this bad. You can easily find yourself near a freeway or overpass that sends you on a 20-30 minute hike to cross the street.
I once got yelled at by a cop for walking across a nearly empty road in columbus Ohio.
The closest crosswalk was basically 1/4mile in either direction, because the building I was trying to enter is so large.
I was walking with a cane at the time. And no cars were anywhere close so a snail could have made it across with time to spare. It took some people close by stepping in and arguing for me before the Douchebag dropped it.
Im sure if I had looked my usual level of disheveled or had any other shade of skin I wouldn't be so "lucky"
Contrast that with my country which has law state that if there is no crosswalk closer than 100 meters, you are allowed to cross the road, provided you do so carefully - not disturbing traffic etc. You do however ~~loose~~ lose all protections of the law during this, and you cannot pass if there is a suggestion you shouldn't, for example a rail or some other barrier between sidewalk and road.
Why would anyone want to live in such a place?
A combination of inertia, the cost and difficulty of moving, and being lied to from birth about how amazing this country is and it's the best country in the world and everyone else has it bad and are jealous of us, propaganda reinforced by daily recitations of our pledge of allegiance in school for twelve plus years.
And that's not made up or exaggerated.
If I didn't know the context I'd think you're talking about north korea
Yeah, it's kinda scary when you think about it
The land is (re: was) cheap
Fair fair
It's where my family and friends are.
I'm sorry to hear that
I'm european.
Walking on a highway is just plain dangerous, to not say stupid. On that context, it is justified. Crossing the road outside the zebra crossing can get you fined, as you are endangering yourself and others. We have those laws as well. But walking on city streets? I can't remember one in the entire country which I can't walk up and down.
A lot of America is made up of roads that most people would agree in isolation should only be crossed at designated/signaled areas. However, if your entire municipality is just made up of those roads and you don't prioritize crossing areas, pedestrians will naturally cross illegally.
I lived in an apartment building that had a parking lot across the street. The nearest crosswalk was a few minutes walk in either direction. The owner tried to petition the city to add a crosswalk, but the laws prohibited too many crosswalks regardless of the practical needs. He even offered to pay for it himself. So, you had tons of people who lived there crossing illegally.
How many runovers?
None while I lived there, which was a few years. I had a close call once because people sped a lot, so the perceived distance wasn't always reliable. Cops camped out not far from the area sometimes because it was instant tickets as a result.
Did they fine the speeders or the jaywalkers?
Speeders. The jaywalking fine in that jurisdiction was negligible because it hadn't been updated in like 100 years, so the cops probably didn't think it was worth their time for a $1 ticket.
Yeah European roads are either stuck where they are for historical reasons or built to be safe.
Exactly, weird is it not?
Very.
Has anyone actually been charged with jaywalking in the past 50 years tho? I've never heard of anyone giving a shit in any town or city I've been to in the US
"New York City's jaywalking laws may seem obsolete, but the NYPD still tickets hundreds of people a year for the violation." This JUST ended and jaywalking was made legal in NYC in October 2024. However this is a single city example. Jaywalking is still illegal and ticketed throughout the US. Especially if vagrancy laws were already removed, it's a nice loop hole for cops to be able to harass homeless.
Ah, I must be too not-homeless, cuz that's not my experience in NYC. Just another tool for oppression of undesirables then.
https://nypost.com/2021/02/18/new-video-shows-cops-shot-black-man-after-jaywalking-stop/
Nice bullshit headline that implies the cops are just so racist (gotta be sure they mention the jaywalker's race, right?) that they saw a black guy jaywalking and just decided to gun him down for it. Meanwhile, from a better article:
Gee, not so cut and dry after all, huh?
Yes, it is cut and dry that they were planning on doing something horrible and using the jaywalking as an excuse to start the encounter.
I see you deleted your other bootlicking comment and replaced it with this one. Feel free to keep trying, bootlicker.
Yeah, let's just ignore that he refused to simply go back to the sidewalk when directed to, that he physically resisted being led back to the sidewalk, and that he then went for the cop's gun, and that he wasn't shot until he did that.
Just ignore all that, make your assumptions, and call me a bootlicker if it makes you feel better. Doesn't change the facts.
The cops knew that they were going to escalate the situation from before the encounter ever started.
Yeah, let's just ignore that he refused to simply go back to the sidewalk when directed to, that he physically resisted being led back to the sidewalk, and that he then went for the cop's gun, and that he wasn't shot until he did that.
Just ignore all that, make your assumptions, and call me a bootlicker if it makes you feel better. Doesn't change the facts.
That's someone being shot for being black. Were there no jaywalking law, the cops would have found another excuse
I'm in the Netherlands, I'm not bothered