4 ms·

Pedestrians have right-of-way everywhere in the United States.

b3morales 4y ago
As a matter of law, yes. In practice, very much not. Often including when they are standing in a striped and signed crossing.
- hallway_monitor 4y ago
  I try to make a point of crossing regardless of what traffic is coming. I don't jump out in front of a car and I keep an eye on them but I like to remind people yes you do need to slow down or even stop for pedestrians crossing in a crosswalk without a light, and sometimes without signs or stripes because they must yield at any crosswalk.
  - b3morales 4y ago
    I had a great one a few months ago where I was standing a step or two into the (striped and signed) crosswalk, and traffic on the opposite lane was kindly stopped for me, and five or six near-lane oncoming cars swerved out into the other lane as they passed rather than stopping. I even had eye contact with several of the drivers as they did it. Blew my mind.
mc32 4y ago
Streets yes, but not all kinds of roads. Controlled access highways and freeways are exceptions. From time to time you will see signage stating so. Also train tracks, except for clearly marked crossings.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
SamReidHughes 4y ago
This is not true at all. It's not true here in California, for example. Pedestrians have right-of-way in crosswalks or at intersections. Not when jaywalking.
- bradknowles 4y ago
  You do know that jaywalking is a crime that was invented by the car industry, right?
  - SamReidHughes 4y ago
    Do you have a point?
  - rocket_surgeron 4y ago
    "Jaywalking" as a term was a PR effort to reduce pedestrian fatalities. The control of pedestrian traffic to clear roads was not a crime invented by the car industry. It was illegal in ancient Rome to walk in the roads. In Pompeii you can still see the separate pedestrian routes. In NYC, prior to the invention of the automobile, more people were struck and killed by horses than have ever been struck and killed by automobiles. >Horses killed in other, more direct ways as well. As difficult as it may be to believe given their low speeds, horse-drawn vehicles were far deadlier than their modern counterparts. In New York in 1900, 200 persons were killed by horses and horse-drawn vehicles. This contrasts with 344 auto-related fatalities in New York in 2003; given the modern city’s greater population, this means the fatality rate per capita in the horse era was roughly 75 percent higher than today. Data from Chicago show that in 1916 there were 16.9 horse-related fatalities for each 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles; this is nearly seven times the city’s fatality rate per auto in 1997. https://legallysociable.com/2012/09/07/figures-more-deaths-per-capita-in-horse-accidents-in-nyc-in-1900-than-in-auto-accidents-today/ https://legallysociable.com/2012/09/07/figures-more-deaths-p... If you were struck by a horse and carriage in any city street anywhere in the world, it was automatically assumed you were at fault. Because pedestrians have been separated from faster, heavier traffic everywhere in the world since shortly after the invention of the working animal. There are many cities all over the world that have pedestrian-exclusive zones, but until very VERY recently in areas where mixed-traffic was allowed the heavier "thing" always had right-of-way. Please stop repeating the myth that cars (or horses, or oxen) "stole" the road from pedestrians. The automobile was invented in 1886. On or before 1886 every single city in every single industrialized nation had wide sidewalks for the use of pedestrians-- to keep them off the roads. And yes, even in the "walkable" maze-like European utopian cities if a horse and cart was coming down the 2 meter wide road, you got out of the way, and on larger thoroughfares you kept out of the traffic lanes. Note the sidewalks and bollards on Fenchurch Street IN 1750: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O873469/ironmongers-hall-with-a-view-print-thomas-bowles/ https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O873469/ironmongers-hall-... Fenchurch Street is more walkable today than it was in 1750. Because of pedestrian safety measures and, yeah, jaywalking laws.

As a matter of law, yes. In practice, very much not. Often including when they are standing in a striped and signed crossing.

hallway_monitor 4y ago
I try to make a point of crossing regardless of what traffic is coming. I don't jump out in front of a car and I keep an eye on them but I like to remind people yes you do need to slow down or even stop for pedestrians crossing in a crosswalk without a light, and sometimes without signs or stripes because they must yield at any crosswalk.
- b3morales 4y ago
  I had a great one a few months ago where I was standing a step or two into the (striped and signed) crosswalk, and traffic on the opposite lane was kindly stopped for me, and five or six near-lane oncoming cars swerved out into the other lane as they passed rather than stopping. I even had eye contact with several of the drivers as they did it. Blew my mind.

mc32 4y ago

Streets yes, but not all kinds of roads. Controlled access highways and freeways are exceptions. From time to time you will see signage stating so. Also train tracks, except for clearly marked crossings.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

SamReidHughes 4y ago

This is not true at all. It's not true here in California, for example. Pedestrians have right-of-way in crosswalks or at intersections. Not when jaywalking.

bradknowles 4y ago
You do know that jaywalking is a crime that was invented by the car industry, right?
- SamReidHughes 4y ago
  Do you have a point?
- rocket_surgeron 4y ago
  "Jaywalking" as a term was a PR effort to reduce pedestrian fatalities. The control of pedestrian traffic to clear roads was not a crime invented by the car industry. It was illegal in ancient Rome to walk in the roads. In Pompeii you can still see the separate pedestrian routes. In NYC, prior to the invention of the automobile, more people were struck and killed by horses than have ever been struck and killed by automobiles. >Horses killed in other, more direct ways as well. As difficult as it may be to believe given their low speeds, horse-drawn vehicles were far deadlier than their modern counterparts. In New York in 1900, 200 persons were killed by horses and horse-drawn vehicles. This contrasts with 344 auto-related fatalities in New York in 2003; given the modern city’s greater population, this means the fatality rate per capita in the horse era was roughly 75 percent higher than today. Data from Chicago show that in 1916 there were 16.9 horse-related fatalities for each 10,000 horse-drawn vehicles; this is nearly seven times the city’s fatality rate per auto in 1997. https://legallysociable.com/2012/09/07/figures-more-deaths-per-capita-in-horse-accidents-in-nyc-in-1900-than-in-auto-accidents-today/ https://legallysociable.com/2012/09/07/figures-more-deaths-p... If you were struck by a horse and carriage in any city street anywhere in the world, it was automatically assumed you were at fault. Because pedestrians have been separated from faster, heavier traffic everywhere in the world since shortly after the invention of the working animal. There are many cities all over the world that have pedestrian-exclusive zones, but until very VERY recently in areas where mixed-traffic was allowed the heavier "thing" always had right-of-way. Please stop repeating the myth that cars (or horses, or oxen) "stole" the road from pedestrians. The automobile was invented in 1886. On or before 1886 every single city in every single industrialized nation had wide sidewalks for the use of pedestrians-- to keep them off the roads. And yes, even in the "walkable" maze-like European utopian cities if a horse and cart was coming down the 2 meter wide road, you got out of the way, and on larger thoroughfares you kept out of the traffic lanes. Note the sidewalks and bollards on Fenchurch Street IN 1750: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O873469/ironmongers-hall-with-a-view-print-thomas-bowles/ https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O873469/ironmongers-hall-... Fenchurch Street is more walkable today than it was in 1750. Because of pedestrian safety measures and, yeah, jaywalking laws.