In most civilized countries, the term jaywalking (or any equivalent) is not even part of the dictionary.
safety: check
revenue: check
reminding (ahem) citizens of their place: check
everybody wins!1
Fun fact: When they legislated marijuana to be the lowest level priority for law enforcement in Seattle, the police responded by aggressively enforcing jay-walking laws.
At least here in Canada they donât pretend it isnât to raise funds. It clearly says on the bottom of all by-law tickets that âthe money collected enforcing by-law fines goes directly towards supporting your municipality, thank you for doing your part.â That last part always cracks me up. Thank you for breaking the âlawâ and making us moneyâŚsucker.
Parking meters tickets are a huge money maker in my town as parking is almost non-existent. In my mind all funds raised from those tickets should go towards, i donât know, adding a parking garage or more parking, duh. Jaywalking tickets should go to improving cross walks and pedestrian overpasses, etc. etc. Of course none of it ever does, because it isnât actually about improving those situations.
If any cop is pretending that any of these tickets is for âyour safetyâ they are outright lying. It might be that they are lying to themselves as well though, to make their job of collecting them easier. No one wants to feel like a big ol jerk, and having to write these kinds of tickets often results in hostile reactions from the recipients even if they were in violation. So I can see both sides, kinda. Things would be a lot easier for them if these werenât money grabs and the ticket amount was actually in line with the act. jaywalking, seems like a $5 infraction tops to me.
Christ, what an asshole. <[/NewYorker]>
So, They are using the the olâ âat least weâre not raping anyoneâ defense. Classy.
FWIW, the Austin jogger case is in a pretty busy area with lots of student pedestrians and traffic. She seems to have crossed 24th street in the middle of a block, where the nearest traffick light would have been less than 70 feet away.
For a little perspective about pedestrians in the area, this YouTube classic is from a block around the corner from her arrest (two years ago): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xckis_gWLE4.
I think Falcor deleted my posts and I was attacked broadly for âblaming the victimâ last time Austin jaywalking came up on bb (unfairly I would submit), but yeah, this response is insane. Definitely something he should have stewed on a bit before releasing. Just awful.
Letâs not forget the âcrimeâ of jaywalking is all about infringing your freedom in a public place for the sake of the automobile lobby.
I agree itâs an offence if somebody blindly strays into the way, but IMO a ticket and fine is a pretty piss-poor way to solve such a problem.
+1 Blown away by the sheer class of the âat least not rapingâ defence.
The person was arrested for not following police instructions when she was asked to stop by the police so they could talk to her (not ticket her, not arrest her). She refused to talk to them (instead shouted and waved around her arms wildly) which led to them asking for ID which she also refused. When they went in to arrest her (for refusing to identify, not jaywalking) she went limp. I am not one of those people who blindly support the police but they didnât do anything wrong in this incident. They were issuing warnings in the area after several deaths of pedestrians being hit by vehicles along that stretch in the past weeks.
Art Acevedo has been very communicative with the public since become police chief and apologized for his statement. He is working with the community to find new solutions to the areaâs DWI problem which I applaud. I honestly believe he is one of the good guys.
Las Vegas is terrible about over-zealous jaywalk ticketing. It doesnât help that the crosswalks have massive distances between them (even for a car-centric western state), many non-existant sidewalks, crosswalk buttons/signs that donât work even though they were installed f$#*ng 5 years ago, and not to mention the heat. I may or may not of known some people who found it easier to walk in the drainage canals if they were lucky to have one that was along their route.
Better than Jayhawking, amiright? Go 'cats!
i see what you did there
So was it a request, or an order, that she ignored?
Iâve always thought parking ticket funds should go towards public transit.
Yeah, it looks like you are. She was wearing headphones and they approached from behind. She was jogging, and thus not carrying ID.
Strict jaywalking enforcement allows cops to be âon the beatâ without ever having to answer calls or do police work that might beâŚlike⌠dangerous. Found that out after I got a jay-walking ticket in just south of Downtown Los Angeles (a few blocks from USC) from one of Los Angeles Finest a couple of years after the riots.
Itâs like the PD in every city in america has turned into the Alex Karras character from Porkyâs.
Anyone that wants to really be depressed about the justice system, read Matt Taibbiâs new book. Jesus H Christ, itâs disturbing.
Iâm not against jaywalking tickets IF that person is crossing in an asshole manner. Dart out in front of a bunch of cars and cause people to slam their breaks? Awesome, give them an asshole ticket. Using it as a revenue stream and/or blindly enforcing it when there is no reason to (i.e. no fucking cars are coming) on the other hand is just another example of the American justice system, and cops in particular, brutalizing the citizenry.
There are places in this country that I am loathed to go because the cops gather involuntary bribes, I mean âticketsâ compulsively. I occasionally have to drive through upstate New York with a Massachusetts license. It is a miserable experience. If are driving down a winding road in the middle of nowhere and the speed limit changes from 55 to 30. You slow down, and a cop pulls you over as you are slowing for doing 37 in a 30 in a place with no fucking people. It isnât any different from having a bandit set up a toll and just collect $100 from anyone who didnât see the road block in time to turn around.
It is hilarious that cops sometimes profess confusion as to why people loath cops.
