Again, none of this is legal advice, but what you’re saying is not exactly true. The code says quite specifically that if you are a pedestrian you are not allowed to enter an intersection on a yellow light. If you are a driver there is no such restriction mentioned.
Imagine you were drafting California’s traffic code, and you had drafted a provision that told pedestrians in no uncertain terms that it was against the law to enter an intersection when the light was yellow. Do you think you’d have trouble writing a provision for drivers telling them “if you are at a distance and speed from the intersection when the light turns yellow that would allow you to make a safe, controlled stop, then you are to stop; otherwise you are permitted to travel through rather than make an unsafe stop”?
Now imagine you’re tasked with interpreting the law. What does the pointed lack of any such provision imply, especially when read in concert with the restriction on pedestrians in the same section?
[quote=“swankgd, post:54, topic:56282”]
The countdown is to inform pedestrians already in the croswalk how much time they have to complete their crossing, not to an invitation to go for your 50 yard dash record. [/quote]
I don’t know how wide downtown streets are where you live, but it sounds like a miserable and dangerous place if you regularly have to run across 12 lanes of traffic.
Where I live (and most places I’ve lived) I can get across the two or four lanes of a normal road at a normal intersection at a reasonable walking speed in far less than 20 seconds. That’s because an average lane of traffic is about 12 feet wide, and four of them therefore take a bit less 12 seconds to cross at average walking speed of a bit more than 4 feet per second. (I walk a bit faster than that on average, but I’d have plenty of time on a 20-second timer even if I didn’t.) If there are more lanes or the traffic is heavy, I adjust accordingly. If I can safely make it to the other side of the street in the crosswalk and still have time to be handed a ticket for jaywalking before the light actually changes, I’d consider the ticket unreasonable regardless of whether it was legal.
Umm, “Drivers get frustrated and hit the gas, and that makes it even more dangerous,”.
I always hate driving in L.A. . Some of the most impatient drivers anywhere. I’ve seen more people there jumping red lights than anywhere else and seen more cars smashed into by them.
I would say that what the police there need to be enforcing more are the laws against jumping red lights and other driver behaviors that endanger pedestrians (as well as other motorists). If someone is walking in a crosswalk, you just have to suck it up and wait for them to finish crossing before you start driving through the intersection.
Sgt. Mike Flynn, who’s in charge of the LAPD’s downtown bike units, says 2 million people converge on the downtown area every day. Aggressive enforcement, he says, prevents walkers from getting hit by motorists who are also in a hurry.
"Drivers get frustrated and hit the gas, and that makes it even more dangerous,‘’ he says.
I have had this happen to me in Downtown LA. If you see a cop on the opposite side of the street, don’t cross. Also, if you can, take it to court. It’s highly unlikely the cop will show up.
I am white as the driven snow and this happened to me as well in downtown LA. Not saying that the cops weren’t predatory in this case, but they just stand on the corner and bust everyone. If you see a cop across the street, don’t cross.
Yeah, we need to move more fines to the percentage of daily income model, mainly because the current flat rate makes being a scofflaw an affordable luxury for the well off.
If you think about it, even the speed trap havens (hat tip to Hazzard County) should be for it, as long as they mostly apply to tourists. It would increase revenue, as the local good ol’ boys would still know how to get off the hook.
Ah, so you are saying that there police are enforcing this fairly and equitable in all available jurisdictions, and are not allowing things like judgment to factor into the equation (unlike ever other action the police do)?
Or, as my father so succinctly put it, “If only more people would take advantage of public transportation I wouldn’t have so much trouble finding a parking spot.”
So, is getting a ticket for $197 for crossing the street while the light is flashing ridiculous…yes. Making the fine a flat low cost amount $25 or something will not be heavy enough a punishment to make it worth enforcing.
Additionally, for anyone suggesting make the fine percentage based on hourly wage or some other means of compensation measurement - that would merely lead to some wage reporting loophole wherein some uber rich person claims no wages to avoid all penalties.
I would also add…uber rich people are more than likely NOT even in this demographic of jaywalkers. SERIOUSLY…they are driving a fancy car or being driven in a fancy car. More than likely, they are the driver being inconvenienced by the pedestrians!
The only true deterrent for someone to not cross the walk late is YOU CAN GET HIT BY A CAR! As someone who has been hit by a car (SUV doing 60mph)…I don’t recommend it as a life choice. I won’t cross if the flashing light has already started. But that’s me…I’d rather wait 30-45 sec longer and remain unscathed.
To me the solution here is just more common sense and common courtesy on everyone’s part. So in other words…nothing is getting solved.
Oh look, another reason why I’ll never move back to the US. In the UK I can cross the road wherever I bloody well please AND do it with booze in my hand. I guess the one freedom 'Murica has on us is the ability to strut around with firearms and boy, I reeeaaaly miss that! Did I mention public footpaths? Long live public footpaths!
I have been known to stand in the street and appoint myself crossing guard for elderly or child pedestrians who otherwise could not cross because the traffic won’t stop (despite marked crosswalks) or the light is only long enough for a physically fit young adult to make the trek in time. Apparently doing that in CA would invoke fines for all of us.
They’ve been pulling this crap since at least 1987, when I lived in Hollywood for a brief period. I never got a ticket but I did see a lot of people getting them - mostly young kids but a lot of tourists too. For me it was a culture shock because in NY/NJ nobody stopped for a red light if nothing was coming.
I wrote in the post that I did not even realize that there was a law against crossing the street while the light was flashing. Then I read this LA Times article that cites the actual law. Now I know. But you seem to think that’s not natural behavior on my part. Like I said, I’m an idiot, so I am not going to argue with you.
