CrosswalkDon’t Jaywalk
Even when I know I can cross the street safely, I don’t jaywalk when I’m traveling because I’ve been seeing a huge crackdown lately all over the world. When I was in Sydney last month, there were officers just hanging out on the curbs, and as I found out from a friend, they were writing jaywalking tickets.

When I was in downtown Honolulu a week earlier, my friends told me that the area is really strict on jaywalking and that you’ll get a ticket if you start walking after the light starts blinking red. Heck, I even got “pulled over” in my sleepy beach community in Los Angeles for jaywalking. The ticket was $280! Luckily, I was able to sweet-talk my way out of it but a $280 fine made me realize jaywalking really isn’t worth it!

 

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6 Comments On "Travel Tip of the Day: Don't Jaywalk"
  1. TrishCarey|

    I was in Denver last week and it was on the news how they were cracking down. It was hard to remember not to – the walk/don’t walk lights are separate from what the traffic signals say there (i.e. cars stop in all directions when the walk signal is on)

  2. Pat Rooney|

    And here’s something that probably a lot of readers wouldn’t think of. My wife is blind and she relies on audible signals around her to know when it is safe to cross streets. Like the sounds of parallel oncoming traffic on her right or other pedestrians crossing streets. If someone takes a chance and jaywalks they send unsafe signals to those who cannot see that it is safe to cross when it probably isn’t. This can be especially true at intersections that have separate left turn signals. I encourage all drivers out there to please watch out for my blind friends as they can’t watch out for you. (White canes and dogs in harness are the clues) And all you pedestrians please stay safe out there.

  3. alaskadale|

    It is interesting that the police can be so hard on jaywalkers while paying so little attention to the drivers of vehicles and their disregard for pedestrian rights. Tom Vanderbilt in his excellent book “Traffic” points out that far more injuries occur to people in crosswalks than to jaywalkers. This is because jaywalkers usually pay far more attention to vehicular traffic, whereas the person who is doing everything legally right in the crosswalk pays less attention but pays the price because so many drivers are clueless about pedestrian safety and the laws surrounding crosswalks, turning at intersections, etc.

  4. Laura|

    This definitely does NOT apply in New York City. Everyone here jay walks, whether you’re in Manhattan, Brooklyn or Queens. I see it all the time. Heck, I do this myself now that I’ve been here a couple of years. In L.A. it’s a definite no-no. But it really depends on the city. In Spain and in France people also tend to jaywalk.

  5. Chandra|

    My single biggest fear when traveling is getting hit by a car! Many of us are looking around, taking in the foreign sights, & not paying close attention to cars. I was once almost hit by someone backing up, who didn’t see me. It was a one-way street, & I only checked in the direction the cars SHOULD have been approaching from. And don’t even get me started on countries that drive on the left side of the street. While in London last year, I was happy to see most of the intersections having “LOOK RIGHT” lettered at the place where you step off the sidewalk into an intersection.

  6. pilot4profit@sbcglobal.net|

    Here in Louisville, KY they aren’t writing tickets that I’m aware of, but I’m seeing news reports of pedestrians being struck and killed by cars. If the pedestrian was not in a cross walk, the drivers go home scott free.

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