> “The pedestrian,” explained a Brooklyn man, “as an American citizen, naturally resents any intrusion upon his prior constitutional rights.” Custom and the An

> “The pedestrian,” explained a Brooklyn man, “as an American citizen, naturally resents any intrusion upon his prior constitutional rights.” Custom and the Anglo-American legal tradition confirmed pedestrians’ inalienable right to the street. > In 1913 the New York Court of Appeals observed that it was “common knowledge” that the “great size and weight” of automobiles could make them “a most serious danger,” and so the responsibility for preserving the safety of the streets lay overwhelmingly with motorists. Any legal researchers or history buffs out there know of any other precedents at appeal (or higher) siding with the rights of pedestrians over motorists? Did the issue ever make the US Supreme Court? Its always intrigued me that arbitrary rules (like driving on the right) have such enforceable weight of law behind them (thank goodness), while other rules are more lax. For example, is the customary tradition for the US (along with Liberia and Myanmar) to use imperial (rather than metric) measurements set in legal stone somewhere? I know that NASA and their contractors all use metric [0]. What requires a custom or tradition to be legally defined? [0] https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/08jan_metricmoon https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2007/0...