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Jaywalking as a negative concept was pushed in newspapers by the auto industry and it worked.

nkrisc 5y ago
I don’t think it was universally successful on the cultural front (in the US). There are many places where no one will give a shit if you jaywalk or think any less of you, though maybe the effect has waned over the years. Legislatively, yes it was pretty universally successful.
- tbihl 5y ago
  Jaywalking is a bizarre example. The criminalization of normal human movement through automotive lobbies and a derogatory slur is hardly a thing we should aspire to. A more worthwhile thing to discuss is the prevalence of people ducking their heads or rushing across streets when cars approach, with a level of embarrassment that would better accompany being caught defecating in the street (well, maybe not in SF.) Our culture has so utterly failed around mobility that people are ashamed to be caught walking.
  - jimmaswell 5y ago
    There's nothing unreasonable in the concept that people should stay out of high traffic roads where it's not safe.
    - danielheath 5y ago
      Their disagreement is presumably with the assumption that "high traffic roads where it's not safe" are a net good that should have been created.
    - tbihl 5y ago
      If you have high-traffic, high-speed roads where people are crossing by foot, your design has failed. The two places where you encounter unwanted crossings in volume in the US are 1. Streets (for commerce, not travel) that were built too wide, either to accommodate too much vehicle traffic or to accommodate a despotic authority that forces wide streets(probably your local fire department or your state DOT); or 2. Stroads that do nothing well, at great expense. If it has a 45mph speed limit and stop lights, it's probably this.
    - nkrisc 5y ago
      If it's that unsafe it should not be possible for a pedestrian to step out of a shop and into that road. Or the road should be modified until it is safe: speed limit reduced, priority given to pedestrians, or perhaps the road closed to vehicular traffic entirely. What's absurd is that roads where people live and shop and walk are allowed to be unsafe for people walking.
bmy78 5y ago
I live in the NYC area and I can tell you no one cares about jaywalking.

I don’t think it was universally successful on the cultural front (in the US). There are many places where no one will give a shit if you jaywalk or think any less of you, though maybe the effect has waned over the years. Legislatively, yes it was pretty universally successful.

tbihl 5y ago
Jaywalking is a bizarre example. The criminalization of normal human movement through automotive lobbies and a derogatory slur is hardly a thing we should aspire to. A more worthwhile thing to discuss is the prevalence of people ducking their heads or rushing across streets when cars approach, with a level of embarrassment that would better accompany being caught defecating in the street (well, maybe not in SF.) Our culture has so utterly failed around mobility that people are ashamed to be caught walking.
- jimmaswell 5y ago
  There's nothing unreasonable in the concept that people should stay out of high traffic roads where it's not safe.
  - danielheath 5y ago
    Their disagreement is presumably with the assumption that "high traffic roads where it's not safe" are a net good that should have been created.
  - tbihl 5y ago
    If you have high-traffic, high-speed roads where people are crossing by foot, your design has failed. The two places where you encounter unwanted crossings in volume in the US are 1. Streets (for commerce, not travel) that were built too wide, either to accommodate too much vehicle traffic or to accommodate a despotic authority that forces wide streets(probably your local fire department or your state DOT); or 2. Stroads that do nothing well, at great expense. If it has a 45mph speed limit and stop lights, it's probably this.
  - nkrisc 5y ago
    If it's that unsafe it should not be possible for a pedestrian to step out of a shop and into that road. Or the road should be modified until it is safe: speed limit reduced, priority given to pedestrians, or perhaps the road closed to vehicular traffic entirely. What's absurd is that roads where people live and shop and walk are allowed to be unsafe for people walking.

bmy78 5y ago

I live in the NYC area and I can tell you no one cares about jaywalking.