https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-10-16/jaywalking-laws-don-t-make-streets-safer
I don’t think the racial inequity of enforcement discussed in the article is as much of an issue here because jaywalking law in its strictest sense isn’t enforced much in Newton. But we do see inequity of enforcement between motor vehicle operators and pedestrians, and we design roads in a motor vehicle centric way.
From the article:
[Jaywalking laws] have rarely protected pedestrians, and their enforcement is racially biased. Two street safety experts say there are better ways to curb traffic violence.
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As two of the top experts on pedestrian safety in the country, we think it is time for cities to consider decriminalizing jaywalking or eliminating the infraction altogether.
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The U.K. has about half as many pedestrian deaths per capita as the U.S. (and a much higher walking rate). But the U.K. allows pedestrians legally to cross where they please. Meanwhile, in Norway, the world leader in eliminating traffic deaths, pedestrians are encouraged to cross at certain locations, but there is no rule against jaywalking, and it is certainly not a crime that police go around assaulting people for violating. If the U.S. could match Norway’s traffic safety record, about 30,000 lives a year would be saved, according to the 2018 global status report on road safety by the World Health Organization
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