Talk:Jaywalking

Partially sighted/blind and distance to a crossing

In several sections (e.g. France, Switzerland, Australia) there is a statement saying that people have to use a pedestrian crossing if within a certain distance of it (50m or 20m). What is the rule for people who are visually impaired and may not be aware of their distance from a crossing?

As a visually impaired person I can confirm to sometimes having an extremely frustrating time finding pedestrian crossings in the UK, but at least if you decide there isn't one nearby and cross the road without, you can't be arrested for not finding the crossing!

In general it would be useful to have a bit more on how people with different needs are accomodated (or not) in the context of road crossing regulations, as different juristictions vary very widely in their approach.FloweringOctopus (talk) 12:20, 26 February 2023 (UTC)

UK Professor arrested for jaywalking

I think the mention of Brit confusion over jaywalking needs to be expanded/reworded a bit. There’s a bit more to it than what’s mentioned. The 2007 incident that was in the UK news genuinely concerned, even frightened, Brits who frequently travel to the US. I know that the main point of much of this page is that jaywalking laws are confusing & differ from place to place. But, I think the nature of the incident with the Brit professor warrants a few more sentences. Because in Britain, the issue about US jaywalking laws isn’t mere confusion. It's fear.

I just learned of this incident because I just finished watching a 2021 video from the YT channel “Lost in the Pond” by Lawrence Brown, a Brit who moved here in 2008. This vid, called “US Living: 4 Things I Honestly Thought Would Be A BIGGER DEAL” is about, as the title suggests, four of the things he was worried about but which haven’t affected him & now makes him feel silly. One was jaywalking. He specifically mentions that a year before he moved to the US, there was a news story about “a British historian who was wrestled to the ground by several police officers who had warned him against jaywalking.” He puts this on a list that includes tornadoes - he was planning a move to the Midwest - so that speaks to the British reaction to this incident.

I looked up this incident to learn more. Professor of History Felipe Fernández-Armesto was walking in Atlanta, Georgia, where he was attending a conference. He crossed the street & Officer Kevin Leonpacher attempted to stop him for jaywalking verbally (and possibly using a whistle). The officer is described differently in different articles: a plainclothes officer, an off-duty officer, or an off-duty officer working at his 2nd job as a security guard. All seem to agree that whether he was wearing his uniform or not, he was wearing a bomber jacket (the articles that say he was wearing a uniform indicate the jacket was worn over the uniform & thus covered his badge.)

Professor Fernández-Armesto initially didn't react to the officer calling for him to stop because he didn't realize the man was an officer. When Officer Leonpacher caught up to him & could physically stop him, the professor was still confused because no badge was visible so he didn't understand why this stranger was demanding he stop and produce ID. The professor said things really escalated when he questioned the officer’s identity/authority & asked the man for proof he was a police officer. At that point, according to the professor, other officers joined to assist Officer Leonpacher & Professor Fernández-Armesto had his leg kicked out from under him & was wrestled to the ground by 3 or 5 officers (again, some details of the account vary).

The professor was arrested for disorderly conduct and spent 8 hours in jail until being brought before a judge who dismissed the charges.

In interviews after this, the professor spoke of the violence the officers subjected him too (saying it was worse than the time he was mugged back in the UK), of the fact that he realized during the incident he had left his green card back in his hotel & didn’t know what that would mean for him & that any mark on his record could jeopardize his career (he was in Atlanta for a conference but worked at Tufts University).

This incident frightened Brits because of the violence of the encounter & the damage that could have been done to the professor’s career. The fear was they would inadvertently jaywalk & end up arrested, possibly beaten (as some articles described it); they worried about officers who didn't look like officers. Thus, at the time of the incident, articles were written educating Brits on US jaywalking laws.

The officers involved were cleared of any wrongdoing which didn’t go over well in the UK.

In articles that say the officer was off-duty, there’s no explanation why he decided jaywalking was serious enough to warrant him deciding to work during his time off. In articles that say he was working his security job, there’s no explanation as to why he left his post to hassle a jaywalker & escalate it when the man expressed confusion about his status as a police officer (no article indicates the officer ever identified himself as such, so the cop not seeming to realize he didn't appear to be a police officer is strange).

The YT video referenced: the jaywalking part is at about the 5:57 mark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgBUYpCDj9E

A British news article about the incident that focuses on the use of force in the incident https://amp.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jan/11/highereducation.education SiobhanElizabeth (talk) 22:19, 14 April 2023 (UTC)

Scandinavia

"In Sweden, it is illegal, but not punishable, for a pedestrian to cross at a red light" This info is outdated. It used to be like that, but since like 20 years ago, that law was ditched and it's now fully legal to cross at red. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.187.177.253 (talk) 08:14, 5 July 2023 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Legal Research

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 21 August 2023 and 17 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Borchersg1 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Nealeworm, YastaBalista.

— Assignment last updated by User78632 (talk) 15:33, 10 November 2023 (UTC)

U.S. Decriminalization

As it currently stands, the decriminalization effort sits as a minor footnote in the United States section of the page, I would change it to combine already existing paragraphs into one comprehensive Decriminalization section and include new sources on the overall page to support the information added.

Decriminalization

In recent years in the United States more and more jurisdictions have begun to consider the possibility of decriminalizing jaywalking.^[3][5] Organizations across the United States have sprung up with the aim of decriminalizing the offense. Unfounded safety concerns, racial bias, and impacts to efficient policing are frequently cited by these groups as valid reasons for the crimes removal. Legislators have slowly begun to recognize the momentum behind these movements and in numerous states and cities statutes to repeal or alter traffic code pertaining to jaywalking have been proposed and passed.^[7]

In California, after initially striking down decriminalization legislation in 2021^[2], Governor Gavin Newson signed into law California AB-2147 what has been termed the “Freedom to Walk Act” on September 30, 2022.^[1] This is an assembly bill that bars law enforcement from stopping and citing a pedestrian for “safe mid-block crossings” except in the circumstances where “a reasonably careful person would realize there is an immediate danger of a collision”.

Virginia and Nevada legislatures also put forward and passed decriminalization statutes. Although less extensive than California’s Assembly Bill 2147, the Virginia and Nevada statutes both make efforts to lessen the criminal severity of jaywalking. On March 1, 2021 Virginia amended its traffic code to partly decriminalize jaywalking.^[4] The offense is still considered illegal in Virginia however the amendments made it so that no law enforcement officer is allowed to stop an offender for only jaywalking. On May 25, 2021 Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak signed into law Nevada AB-403, which alters the criminality of jaywalking.^[6] Previously a misdemeanor, in Nevada jaywalking is now considered an infraction, punishable by nothing but a fine of no more than $100. Other smaller legislations such as Kansas City, Missouri have also decriminalized the offense.^[7]

Sources:

1) An act to amend Sections 21451, 21452, 21453, 21456, 21461.5, 21462, 21950, 21953, 21954, 21955, ..., 2021 Bill Text CA A.B. 2147 (September 30, 2022). advance-lexis-com.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=statutes-legislation&id=urn:contentItem:66HC-MW01-DY89-M4SK-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed October 18, 2023.

2) An act to amend, repeal, and add Sections 21452, 21462, 21950, and 21954 of, to repeal and add ..., 2021 Bill Text CA A.B. 1238 (September 14, 2021). advance-lexis-com.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=statutes-legislation&id=urn:contentItem:63M4-RY71-F7ND-G0PS-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed October 24, 2023.

3) “Decriminalization.” LII/Legal Information Institute, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/decriminalization. Accessed October 18, 2023.

4) § 46.2-923. How and where pedestrians to cross highways., Va. Code Ann. § 46.2-923 (Current through the 2023 Special Session). advance-lexis-com.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=statutes-legislation&id=urn:contentItem:63TX-H841-DYB7-W20B-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed October 18, 2023.

5) “Jaywalking.”LII/ Legal Information Institute, https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/jaywalking. Accessed October 20, 2023.

6) 2021 Nev. ALS 91, 2021 Nev. Stat. 91, 2021 Nev. Ch. 91, 2021 Nev. AB 403 (May 25, 2021). advance-lexis-com.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=statutes-legislation&id=urn:contentItem:62SP-CPG1-JW09-M1W5-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed October 18, 2023.

7) Wyatt Parker Hough. "COMMENT: STREET RIVALRY REIGNITED? REPEALING THE JAYWALKING PARADIGM." UMKC Law Review, 91, 455 Winter, 2022. advance-lexis-com.northernkentuckyuniversity.idm.oclc.org/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn:contentItem:67WB-WYX1-JC8V-4555-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed October 18, 2023. Borchersg1 (talk) 14:20, 27 October 2023 (UTC)