Gee, never saw that coming. I know I know, they have a horrendous jaywalking problem, it's a public emergency, right?

I always love the seemingly random values they attribute to tickets. Was $45 not enough, while $50 seemed excessive?

jaywalking in downtown kansas city is so common it's almost funny

It's just tempting fate. Who HASN'T wanted to mow down a bunch of Disney-zombies?

Skail: seemingly

No, it's all mathematic.

[budget shortfall] / [projected # of citations] = fee

JacksBlack: Skail: seemingly

No, it's all mathematic.

[budget shortfall] / [projected # of citations] = fee

You highlighted the one word that makes your point the same as mine. "Seemingly random" means "not random, but seems that way to casual observers." :p

Submitter:people in New York City don't jaywalk

Yes, and the cabbies try very hard to not hit them when they don't.

New Yorkers are well-known for obeying traffic laws.

In Bizarro World.

On further thought, that gives me an idea. Let the police write tickets for violent crimes, too. A robbery might be a $1000 ticket. Rape, $5000. Oh, and you'd better believe you'll get a $10,000 ticket for killing someone. Just think of all the public safety that would come out of that.

I got hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk, with the light. It may have been karma from the four years I spent as a BU student, wandering blithely around Commonwealth Avenue.

I'm jaywalking right now!

Down by the bearded barley....

How 'bout we hire less police rather than make up new crimes to police.

/Just an idea...

FTA: "People don't jaywalk in New York because they know they'll get a fine," said Michael Carter, a Kissimmee police traffic-homicide investigator

Ok, that IS pretty funny, but I have heard of people here in new york getting jaywalking tickets - usually they're acting like dicks, though, and yelling at cars to slow down.

I regularly cross on red with police cars nearby (subway station is near precinct) and they never give a fark.

On the other hand, my most distinct memory of Germany is seeing all the people waiting for the green light on sidewalks, with no cars around for miles. When I crossed I got some weird looks. Kinda explains the 1930s-40s...

Any cop who wants to write me a jaywalking ticket is welcome to Kissimmy ass.

Meh. Almost got run over by a woman who declined to yield the right of way to me. ...in a crosswalk. ...with the crossing guard who almost got hit too. ...in front of a school. ...with a cop car stopped on the other side of the road.

/ City Bacon kept right on sipping their Timmy's.

Make it legal to hit idiots who are jaywalkers with a car.

That'll make em stop, or at least weed out the sqirrelyest ones

When I was in Gainesville, I jaywalked at least once a day for 6 years.

Are we supposed to carry pedestrian insurance now?

We need jaywalking cameras at all intersections. All pedestrians should be fitted with license plates.

HitlerWasConservative: When I was in Gainesville, I jaywalked at least once a day for 6 years.

College campuses should not be subject to the jaywalking rules. At least UF had the bright sense to make humongous crosswalks at high-traffic zones (Turlington) and the tunnel under 13th street.

Please we all jaywalk in manhattan.while on the blackberry writing emails. New Yorkers have a special peripheral vision.

And no the cops really don't care. Can do it w them standing there. Only the police academy grads can't jaywalk (really, they just stand there like fools)

Repeat

January 23 (new window)

I live in Chinatown. It's unusual to see Asian people not jaywalking.

I'm from New York.

I literally jaywalk in front of cop cars- everyone does. I've never even heard of someone receiving a ticket for it.

I came for the ego-based, self-entitled, childish justifications for breaking the implied social contract involving shared use of public roadways by vehicles and pedestrians... and I must say, I wasn't disappointed.

I've never even seen a person talking on a cell phone walking in NYC.
/or chew gum and walk for that matter

As a frequent driver in NYC I curse jaywalkers on a daily basis.


As a pedestrian in NYC I jaywalk with reckless abandon.

In all honesty its not the jaywalkers who are the worst. Its the people who wait for the light to change while standing halfway out into the middle of the street.

Kissimmee isn't that big of a city (50,000), and 220 people hit by cars in one year while jaywalking? That's insane. Even allowing for most of the accidents involving tourists, it's way too high.

The whole Central Florida area is known for pedestrian and bicycle fatalities - worst in the country, per capita.

...and yeah, jaywalking tickets for idiot-level jaywalking sound like a really good idea, along with plain old traffic enforcement in general. If you don't do something blatantly stupid right in front of a police car, you generally get away with it.

Can someone explain the point of jaywalking laws to a curious Brit? Is it a public safety thing? Plenty of countries seem to do OK without such a law.

Hey Kissimmee, MAYBE if you put more than one crosswalk PER MILE, people would jaywalk less.

cirby: Kissimmee isn't that big of a city (50,000), and 220 people hit by cars in one year while jaywalking? That's insane. Even allowing for most of the accidents involving tourists, it's way too high.

The whole Central Florida area is known for pedestrian and bicycle fatalities - worst in the country, per capita.

That makes me think the people in florida don't know how to drive...hmmm, that's the ticket.

Jay Walkers suck everywhere. Especially in Florida. Because you have people from other countries and states who come there to make a new life(nothing against that) but it is because they are running from an old one. So we get a ton of shady characters.

It never fails to crack me up seeing some family pusing a baby carriage down the street, when there is a perfectly good sidewalk.

Or crossing an intgersection at a diagnol when the shortest way is in a straight line.

Of course it is just Darwin at work.

I'm surprised this doesn't have a SEATTLE tag, at a street in front of my place of employment the police run a "jay walker" sting, they hide behind some trees and ticket every jay walker. they'll net 4 or five every hour. This particular spot has a walk light crosswalk 40 feet to the west, and an implied crosswalk 40 feet to the east (all intersections are crosswalks per federal code). I cannot imagine that ticketting 30 people makes up for the cost of two officers for 8 hours, and court time to get the $32 tickets from broke college students.

Betenoreus: On the other hand, my most distinct memory of Germany is seeing all the people waiting for the green light on sidewalks, with no cars around for miles. When I crossed I got some weird looks.



"There's nobody here. See? We're talking ghost town!"

/We do not cross against the light.

I don't cross streets in NYC unless I'm jaywalking. That's how I roll. That officer of the law just proved that police are as dumb as you think they are.

Betenoreus: FTA: "People don't jaywalk in New York because they know they'll get a fine," said Michael Carter, a Kissimmee police traffic-homicide investigator

Ok, that IS pretty funny, but I have heard of people here in new york getting jaywalking tickets - usually they're acting like dicks, though, and yelling at cars to slow down.

I regularly cross on red with police cars nearby (subway station is near precinct) and they never give a fark.

On the other hand, my most distinct memory of Germany is seeing all the people waiting for the green light on sidewalks, with no cars around for miles. When I crossed I got some weird looks. Kinda explains the 1930s-40s...

Maybe the penalty for jaywalking is 2 nights in jail. I always ask.

People don't jaywalk in New York because they know they'll get a fine killed.

I've never even heard of anyone getting a ticket for jaywalking in NYC. On the other hand, I almost never do it myself, mainly because it's just too dangerous. The streets are too wide, the traffic is too fast, and the drivers don't care.

skail: You highlighted the one word that makes your point the same as mine. "Seemingly random" means "not random, but seems that way to casual observers." :p
=================================

Or... you know... they could charge a nice round number in $50 and make 50 cents more per citation.

Ever think of that? :)

Being in Boston, I never jaywalk because I might get a $1 fine.

I got yelled at by a cop for jaywalking, in a sleepy little maine town.


/Me and the other 40 guys in my boy scout troop all crossing at once, wearing bright red shirts.
//We stood out a bit.

Lamune_Baba

Night of the Comet, good call. mmmmm 1980's girls, and some strange Erika Estrada clone.

Tunney: Can someone explain the point of jaywalking laws to a curious Brit? Is it a public safety thing? Plenty of countries seem to do OK without such a law.

It's mostly a money thing, but 100 pedestrians in New York City didn't look both ways and got Darwinned and something like 10,000 survive but are injured so the politicians can put a veneer of public safety on it.

kryptoknightmare: I'm from New York.

I literally jaywalk in front of cop cars- everyone does. I've never even heard of someone receiving a ticket for it.

I'm from New York too, I shot a man in front of a cop. Nothing happened. But of course he was shooting someone too--he probably just didn't notice me. We both got keys to the city that day.

stevegarbowski: kryptoknightmare: I'm from New York.

I literally jaywalk in front of cop cars- everyone does. I've never even heard of someone receiving a ticket for it.

I'm from New York too, I shot a man in front of a cop. Nothing happened. But of course he was shooting someone too--he probably just didn't notice me. We both got keys to the city that day.

You sure you werent both shooting the same guy?

People walk in Kissimmee? That's their first mistake.

I lived there for three years and still visit on a regular basis now (mom lives there) and I can only think of two actual crosswalks, they're all in the mile long stretch we call downtown, and they are barely two years old.

The ones at lights don't count, nobody pays a whit of attention to them, they might as well not exist. It'd be quicker and easier to outlaw walking outdoors, except in parking lots.

Its becoming more common in Florida. This week UF and Gainesville PD started issuing warnings. There have been a rash of scooter, bike and pedestrian accidents recently and its not always the car driver's fault.
Lotta people just ignore the warnings, talk on their phone and into traffic...

I think that cop meant L.A.
You couldn't get arrested for jaywalking in NYC if you tried.

jake3988: Or... you know... they could charge a nice round number in $50 and make 50 cents more per citation.

Ever think of that? :)

I'm sure they did, and that's exactly why they chose $49.50.

Basic marketing. Humans tend to grasp rounded, even numbers more easily than fractional ones. Given two objects, one at $24.99 and another at $25.00 you're going to get a staggering amount of people shifted towards that one-cent difference. Nobody gives a shiat about that penny... it's just going to get thrown at a hobo anyway... but that .99 clicks in the mind as being the better deal.

At $50, people would have a solid grasp of the price. And they'd probably be pissed about it. $49.50, and a good number of those same folks will have their brains process it as "hey, it's under fifty... not that big of a deal." That extra 50 cents is exchanged for a shiatton fewer people arguing and fighting about another fine.