Jaywalking: Not Worth the Risk

Jaywalking occurs when a pedestrian crosses the street outside of an intersection or a marked crosswalk. It is also considered jaywalking if you were to start walking while the walk signal is flashing. Either case is illegal. 

We have all been tempted to jaywalk at times, but an expert with the University of Alabama at Birmingham says that we need to avoid this at all costs, and the evidence suggests the same. The National Highway Transit Safety Association stated that 4,280 pedestrians were killed while jaywalking in 2010; there were also 70,000 people injured in these crashes. In 79% of these cases, the pedestrians weren’t walking at the intersections [source]. 

The fact is that walking near roads has many of the same risks of driving. Everyone needs to obey the rules of the road to stay safe. Psychologist David Schwebel stated that motorists do not routinely run red lights into oncoming traffic, so he wonders why pedestrians feel that it is something that they are allowed to do. Jaywalking is breaking the law. 

Studies of Pedestrian Behavior

Professor Schwebel studies pedestrian behavior, and he has learned that crossing the street is not really as simple as we think it is [source]. Before you cross a street, you have to know several things, including the following: 

• Distance between yourself and the vehicles
• Speed at which vehicles are moving
• What you expect motorists to do

The brain needs a significant amount of information to determine whether or not it is safe to cross a street. Now, more people are on their phones talking or texting, and this adds an extra element of danger to the situation. When a pedestrian waits at the intersection for the walk signal to inform him that it is safe to begin walking, he doesn’t need to process as much information. 

Crosswalks have rules, and we are all familiar with them. When someone is crossing outside of a crosswalk, we cannot expect to know what the motorists will do. At a marked crosswalk, you can expect motorists to slow down and stop, but this may not necessarily be what they will do when they see a jaywalker. 

Jaywalking Is Not Worth It

Some people say that they only jaywalk because they are in a hurry, but the danger that you put yourself in isn’t worth the time you would save. Besides that, walking to the intersection forces you to take a longer walk, and this is good for your health. It is also good for your health if you aren’t getting hit by a car after jaywalking. 

The only time anyone should be jaywalking is if there is an emergency. Jaywalking when there isn’t anyone else on the street is still discouraged because you wouldn’t drive after consuming alcohol even if there isn’t anyone else on the road. 

Possible Damages You Could Receive

Even though you may have been jaywalking, you may be able to obtain recoverable damages in a pedestrian accident. These damages will compensate you for the medical bills you have had to pay in the past as well as future medical expenses you incur because of the accident. In addition to that, if you haven’t been able to work, you could receive lost wages. If you cannot work in the future, you may also receive lost wages for this amount of time. 

A judge or a jury may even award you past and future monetary compensation for pain and suffering. In some cases, the motorist acted in an especially egregious manner. To punish the motorist, the judge may also award you punitive damages. You can ask your lawyer for more details. 

Kerry L. Tucker

Early in his journalism career, Kerry L. Tucker had a revelation: there were not enough experts reporting on law issues. Legal matters are part of daily life. Yet, there seems to be a general aversion towards them. One of the main reasons for this is that the convoluted legal language is difficult for many people to follow. Therefore, he decided to change how the law is perceived by the public. Throughout his career, he met with many people who shared their personal stories with him. Some of these hit him harder. One of the cases that stayed with him and influenced his future career development was a car accident case involving a child. From then on, he decided to zero in on car accident lawsuits.