Often, when not in New York, I reach an impasse with cars when attempting to cross a street. My intention, as a New Yorker trained to jaywalk, is to cross the street without making any cars stop for me, and just time it correctly to not get hit by anyone. I will wait for a car to pass in front of me and cross behind it.
The issue is that when not in NYC, cars actually stop and wait for me to go if I stand by the side of the road and look like I’m about to cross. Thus, the impasse. I’m unwilling to cross in front of a car unless I know that it’s stopped at a red light or crosswalk; cars outside of NYC seem to believe that pedestrians have the right of way and won’t drive on until I’ve crossed.
More than once I’ve stepped out of the street and just let the cars go until there’s a clearing.

Massachusetts residents seem well aware that it is a state law to yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk. This is especially true when state residents (and non-residents) are in the crosswalk. However, this polite (and legally protected) gesture seems void if one is behind the wheel. Just because one is behind reflective glass, doesn’t mean those on foot cannot see you in your vehicle. If a person is standing at the edge of a crosswalk, they are not admiring your driving skills, they are testing your civility. It signals “halt please, I have the right of way,” and not, “oh, by all means, do continue on your way.” So get a grip (on your brakes) and maybe then pedestrians will stop jaywalking if you honor those stripes on the pavement.

—T2

I cannot imagine what our ancestors of long ago would have thought of our casual disregard for motor vehicles. Tons of metal hurtle towards us and we will blithely walk in front of them with presumptions of our safety. And we, as drivers, hold these leviathans at our fingertips, feeling invincible as we do so.

But the truth is that hundreds of people are injured and killed everyday, the world over, because of cars, trucks, buses. Here in Vancouver, and most of Canada, pedestrians have the right of way. That’s most to protect the flesh and bone as they’re more vulnerable that people in cars. However, should a person run into traffic or jaywalk I believe they still have the right of way, even if they are breaking the law. But it’s great way to get yourself made into road pizza.

In Vancouver, the areas that have a lot of shops tend to be the ones that will bring out the jaywalking. I will never ever jaywalk if a car is coming because I don’t believe in inconveniencing people who truly have the right of way, just because I want to skip an extra minute by walking to the corner. I have watched people and been in my car having people step out into the middle of traffic or saunter across, or end up stopping the flow because in laziness they can’t wait.

This gets back to my pet peeve of the me-me-me world where everyone only thinks of themselves. The selfish pedestrians inconvenience the drivers and other folks because they pretend they own the world. Conversely, the selfishness of drivers can be even more deadly than the accidents that law-disregarding pedestrians cause.

Too many people pay no attention but to the road in front of them. A good driver and a law-abiding one is supposed to be reading signs and watching what goes on around. Without reading you won’t know if you’re in a construction zone, if the speed limit changes, or if there is a merge lane. And without observing what’s going on around you (in a non-rubbernecking way) you won’t know that traffic flow will change, that a person is crossing a street or someone has signalled and is backing up to parallel park.

It is every driver’s responsibility to pay attention and observe. That doesn’t mean pulling out into oncoming traffic just because your signal is on (if it’s on) but do so when it’s safe. The same goes for changing lanes. And should you see someone standing at a crosswalk, you are supposed to stop and let them cross, not zoom through because they can cross after. I have almost been smeared because I was more than halfway through the crosswalk when someone decided to just keep going. People get clipped when cars turn corners.

Of course car manufacturers can be blamed for some of this. My Saturn has a huge blind spot and when I’m turning a corner I have to look behind and in front of this blind spot. However, I almost hit someone when turning one night, not because I wasn’t looking but because it was dark and raining and this guy decided to run across the street. I only saw legs flashing by as I hit the brake. It behooves every person to keep a healthy ounce of self-preservation and realize that it is sometimes hard for drivers to see in rain, fog, snow and dark.

And yesterday I almost hit a bicyclist. I signalled, stopped and looked both ways, then pulled out to turn from an alley. But this guy sailed in front of me at a fast speed and there had been a parked van to my left. Every person on the street, whether driver, bicyclist, pedestrian (and god forbid, skateboarders) needs to consider what their actions will cause, and think about if a driver/pedestrian can see them. Crossing the street that has no lighting and wearing all black at night makes you hard to see. Consider that and make sure the driver has seen you before you step in front of them.

Pedestrians, use the corners and crosswalks and don’t dash in front of cars. Drivers, consider the road, the signs and the people along the walks. Follow the rules and laws of the road and consider that you’re not the only one on it. If more people just did this; pay more attention, be aware and conduct themselves safely, we could probably cut down on accidents by 30%.

Have you ever tried to cross the road in the more rural areas of Malaysia? I have. It feels like that game where you have to guide your character (who’s riding a bike/scooter/something) down a road filled with many obstacles and you have to avoid everything, only that you’re on the “INSANELY HARD” level and you die the second you touch something else, even if it’s a hairline crack in the road. And there’s no “play again” or “restart” button. Makes one really appreciate of those pedestrian lights they have. And it dissuades one from jaywalking.

If you travel a lot, you start to notice some pretty cool things, such as each country’s own design for the “stop” and “walk” signal and the different colours they use. For example, in Hong Kong, the “stop” light is a red man who’s just standing, and the “walk” signal is similar to the American’s signal’s, but it’s green instead and is “walking” in the other direction, i.e. facing left. In Tokyo, they use two different lights like a traffic light instead of using one light to display two different signals, and their human figure has clothes on and is wearing a hat (I kid you not). I guess they wanted everything to be as proper as it can be. As for the US, there are actually several variations of the pedestrian light. The most common I see here is the Portland orange outline of a hand held in the “stop” pose, while the “walk” signal is a lunar-coloured outline of a figure walking towards the right. Sometimes the signals are solid in shape, so not outlined. Sometimes they’re even accompanied by a timer; how very thoughtful. Just to let you know whether you can make it to the other side without getting squished. Sometimes the signals are simply “WALK” and “DON’T WALK”. I never really understood the design of that one; what if a poor non-English speaking tourist wants to cross the road and gets run over by a car instead? Well, I guess if there are cars zooming by, he/she can safely assume that the sign that’s up is “DON’T WALK”. But still. Signs are supposed to be as universal as possible for a reason!

At least someone invented these signals, or we’d all become very agile and good at dodging projectiles travelling at 50km/hr (31mi/hr). And we’d all be pancakes waiting to be scraped off the road … or maybe we’d adapt and develop elastic bones and amazing reflexes. Darwin, please don’t prove yourself wrong if these wonderful signs are inexplicably removed!

Species Name:  Humorlessius Crappyhosticus

Would someone please cut the brake lines in all of Jay Leno’s 700 cars so that he will fly into the Pacific Ocean after losing control on a hairpin turn going down PCH?  I’m looking out for all of us people.  No Jay Leno means no Jay Leno cracking painfully unfunny jokes on your televisions five days a week.  Now, I’m not going to lie, as an aspiring TV writer, I have a bit of a bias here.  Jay Leno’s new show, which is remarkably just like the Tonight Show except it’s now on at 10pm instead of 11:30, has knocked five hours of scripted programming off of NBC’s slate.

Okay, sure, Jay Leno does have writers on his show (not that they’re doing a very good job mind you), but he still doesn’t have the amount of writers that five separate shows would be employing.  And referring back to bias, the writers on Jay Leno’s show are variety show writers, most likely stand up comedians, and a very different breed from narrative writers.

Jay Leno sucks.  Always has, and always will.  The fact that he kills in the ratings is utterly mindboggling to me.  I was so happy when I heard that he would be leaving “The Tonight Show,” but was equally crushed when they announced that he would be getting his new show, “The Tonight Show Redux.”  I hate this show so much, that when the intro to Jay Leno’s show manages to sneak it’s way onto the end of the episode of 30 Rock I recorded on my DVR, I want to punch a hole in my wall!  Motherfucker!  This guy is like a fucking cockroach, and all I want is to never see him ever again…is that so much to ask?  Alas, I have a sneaking suspicion that by 2012, the real end of humanity will not be the Earth’s core crumbling and swallowing us into the center of the Earth, but rather, NBC will be renamed the Jay Leno network, and will air nothing but Jay Leno, 24 hours a fucking day!  Kill me now.

But one has to have dreams right?

Seriously...is Balloon Boy in there?

So much for making it through life without seeing Jay Leno straddle anything in a Canadian tuxedo.

Friggin jaywalking turkey Tammy has been running back and forth across the New Jersey Turnpike for over a year. It’s thanks giving everyday for this turkey!

What we read while forgetting to vote:

• We would enjoy Jane Austen if she had written more about “foot-ball” or if Doonesbury were more appropriately referred to as the “Fiefdom of Metonymy.” And we also wonder what issues arise for a male author with the unfortunate last name of Paglia these days.

• We’ve made a little habit of writing defenses of things that were pretty popular to begin with (the designated hitter, grammar, Brüno, and of course, Barenaked Ladies, just to name a few). That’s why we’re a little upset two things we would defend on our site were covered by other ones. First, Slate explains why jaywalking gets a bad rap; second, Dissent Magazine gives its defense (from last summer) of the more or less irreproachable television series, The Wire. No dissent from us on that one.

• Our alternate video of the week is one sure to please both Yankee fans and haters alike.

• Now that Halloween’s over, it’s high time you start thinking about Christmas. Especially since these E-meters don’t last long.

• We’ve already linked to The Onion’s absurdist lampooning of the Jaguars from Week 1 last year, but the Jags (and their fans) are the focus of another scathing analysis from The Onion this week. But don’t worry: Those boos could have (should have?) been louder.

• Sign you’ve lost credibility as a network: Sesame Street mocks you, and doesn’t even try to be subtle about it.

Click the following link (and scroll to the bottom of the page) for two segments, one from 1997 and another from 2007, of former Tonight Show host Jay Leno doing his famous “Jaywalking” segment, asking various people simple biblically-related questions.  The results, as you may expect, are less than stellar.

(unfortunately I cannot figure out how to post the videos directly in this thread; if anyone knows how, please do let me know).

Lauren Conrad filmed a skit for Jay Leno’s Jaywalking, where she made fun of herself.

The focus is on her “Best Selling Author” title.  Jay tries to help a lady who is writing a book by sending her to Lauren.  Lauren sits at a computer and types in all text language: “OMG, my BFF is here.  WTF!” It’s pretty cute.

Wolfgang Puck also goes Jaywalking and makes some food for Jay Leno.  Jay Leno passes Wolfgang’s food off as his own to impress some people.

The Boston Metro reported this morning that things may be changing for Boston pedestrians — namely a proposed $20 fine for the first offense (compared to the current $1), then $50 after three. The article is sparse in information, and the Boston Globe isn’t reporting anything, so I don’t know if there was a hearing, or if accident statistics were released and the Metro cooked up a story.

Regardless, it got me thinking, and honestly made me a bit angry. Jaywalking is a way of life in Boston. I was surprised to be told upon arrival for my freshman year of college that “pedestrians have the right of way,” and I saw my various companions darting in front of traffic. Every year at BU, they say, an unwitting freshman gets hit by a car (or, God forbid, a T train). Sadly, two years ago, one such freshman actually died. My junior year, indeed, a girl got hit by a T train (she was fine). But at BU, at least, jaywalking, and an inherent pride in playing chicken with rushing traffic, are the norm.

The thing is, you can’t survive in Boston without jaywalking. Traffic is abysmal, the T train/bus system does NOT run efficiently in most parts of the city, and if you didn’t walk, briskly, darting across crosswalks, red flashing hand be damned, you won’t get around quickly or efficiently. My school was located along two miles of a busy four lane road (plus the two way T track down the middle). Jaywalking or not jaywalking was literally the difference between being five minutes early to class, or five minutes late. For the droves of young professionals who mill around Boston proper, it’s the same: it’s a pedestrian city, and you do what you have to to get where you’re going.

The article seems to blame pedestrians for walking on red, and getting into more accidents. And I find it ironic the image they used — pedestrians crossing Harvard Ave. & Commonwealth Ave. without a blinking white little man to guide their way. But let me tell you as someone who has crossed that damned intersection many times: it is impossible to make it all the way across the four lanes + T track while the light is signaling “pedestrians go.” The light cycle for the cars is simply too short, and if you DON’T jaywalk, you cannot get across the intersection, period. Many crosswalks in Boston are like this — too short, complicated and across massive stretches of road and T, with angry, impatient drivers ready to gun their engines as soon as the light turns green, and unless you are the briskest of speed walkers (and have impeccable timing, reaching the crosswalk at the EXACT moment that it changes), you can’t make it.

The Metro reports: “Pedestrians were involved in 776 accidents  last year, a 21 percent increase from just 2006. Fatalities jumped from eight in 2005 to 20 in 2008.”

Sorry to play “blame the driver,” but perhaps the drivers who hit those 21 percent additional pedestrians, and killed an unfortunate twelve additional people, were at fault. Drivers, after all, in Boston are absolutely ruthless. I’ve been on the other side, too, and jaywalkers in Boston can be damn annoying when you’re trying to get somewhere, but can you really lay the blame on those who are told, by law, they have the right of way? And will a $20 fine deter them? Nope. It’s a pedestrian city. And we need to get around.

That said, I’m not exonerating all pedestrians from stupid accidents. There’s smart jaywalking and stupid jaywalking, and stupid jaywalking can get you injured or killed. I’ve been That Guy in a car (or taxi), yelling  at the moron who blatantly ignored traffic signals and ran across an intersection with poor timing. There’s a difference between just missing a light and dashing across as the car’s light turns green, and stepping into the street just because you damn well feel like it, even though the light has been green for ages, and there are cars rushing at you. Pedestrians can be as stupid as drivers in these situations. But I’d argue that a good majority of Bostonians know what they’re doing. There’s a reason most of us find the idea of a fine laughable, and have never seen, let alone heard of, anyone in the Boston police enforcing such a fine.

It isn’t like this in other cities. There might be some mad dashing in New York or London, but nothing on the scale of jaywalking in Boston. In Germany, it’s illegal, and I shocked a few people when I dashed across a road without a signal. Whoops.

But monkey-see, monkey-do, and in Boston, the monkeys jaywalk.

(Season 1, Episode 12)

I’ll give Leno credit for getting creative in the ways he’s starting to incorporate celebrities into bits and segments. It fills time for him and gives them their plug opportunities. Tonight, he trotted out three of The Real Housewives of Orange County for a “Battle of the Jaywalk All-Stars Challenge.” And … wow.

I don’t watch The Real Houswives of anywhere, but if this is the intellectual capacity of their “stars,” then I’m glad I don’t. I couldn’t tell if they were putting on an act or if they were being themselves. Either way, it was obnoxious and I wanted to reach through the screen and strangle each of them. The blondes were enforcing stereotypes left and right!

–>to continue reading, follow the link over to the full article on TV Squad

(Season 1, Episode 5)

Yesterday, Leno mocked “Cash for Clunkers” by mocking up a “Cash for Flunkers” video. Tonight he tapped the same well with a “Cash for Chunkers” joke. I guess that’s common in the late night arena, but I’ve never been a fan of using the same exact set-up on different nights to get a different joke. Unless you acknowledge how weak it is when you do it.

Tonight’s correspondent was The Hangover’s Rachael Harris, who came on to show us the lost art of bartering in this tough economic times. Like most of the other correspondent segments, it had some funny moments, but it just seemed to go on forever.

–>to continue reading, follow the link over to the full article on TV Squad

It seems that Victoria Police are clamping down on jaywalking in the CBD during peak ped hours: early morning, lunch hours and going-home time.

Before I start pointing out what I see as serious flaws in this system of policing, I think a wee story is in order. I was wandering back from a lunch-time stroll on Bourke street and spied a policeman at the Elizabeth/Bourke street tram stop watching for jaywalkers. The position was slightly odd but clearly strategic. Anyhow, he finished his jaywalker-busting shift at the very moment I was waiting at the end of the crossing for the green man, and what does this copper do? He jaywalks.

Furthermore he jaywalked in front of 2 other coppers who had come to greet him and presumably go eat, and they didn’t bat an eyelid.

So I got thinking and that is always dangerous. What does this copper’s action imply?

The list I compiled follows:

1. He is empathetic to the average CBD ped’s plight: there should be no cars and all roads should be people roads
2. He thinks jaywalking duty is quite-frankly-a-waste-of-time
3. He thinks jaywalkingis perfectly Australian
4. He is a cop. Cops don’t have to follow the laws they can spot-fine citizens for breaking
5. All of the above
6. None of the above – he clearly didn’t think

So that got me thinking about how futile spot jaywalking fines are. They are even less effective than public transport infringements.

For starters, just like the animals who evolved with poison that didn’t kill their predator but left them with a bad experience they lived to learn from, and taught their offspring to avoid; spot fines are not likely (in my humble opinion) to teach anyone apart from the offender a lesson. The offender is more likely to not repeat the story out of embarrassment at being caught, or repeat the story to many many sympathetic listeners who tut-tut at their bad luck instead of remembering to stop jaywalking because they might get fined.

Why? Because short of having policemen at every crossing in every direction simultaneously for a sustained period of time, the lesson will not be learned. In fact what happens now is unfair. The fined offender is the scapegoat for all those who jaywalked and didn’t get caught. And the latter FAR outweigh the former in the current system of policing adopted by Victoria Police. I know this because I have read reports on pedestrian counts in the CBD, and seen the number and frequency of policeman watching for jaywalkers in the city in the last 2.5 years.

The arguement that the mere prescnece of policeman will stop people from jaywalking. True. But only temporarily. Again my arguement from before applies: not enough, for too little time, too sporadically.

The fact that Vic Pol are attempting to stem the tide of growing jaywalkers points not to errant and risky behaviour on the part of Melburnians but a far great underlying problem. The current relationship shared by people, trams ad vehicles in the CBD is overstretched and frayed. There are too many people for not enough crossing. There are not enough trams for people. Too many cars enter the CBD. What is worse, the current state government have approved another multi-level car park on Little Bourke. This logically creates incentive for MORE cars to enter the city. How do such proposals gain approval?

The cynic in me returns to economics: some rich businessman somewhere pulled a string or three. Politics, money and big business are so intertwined that it is a finely honed dance, leaving your avergae Joe with not much say really.

The less cynical me might see the silver lining. The state government still puts the citizen first, and erroneously believes it is in the people’s best interest to build a new car park. More people are driving into the city, let’s provide them with a place to park. We will still vociferously promote public transport, but let’s also build the car park. Why not? We will still promote sustainability and bicycles, but let’s also build the car park. Why not?

In the mean time let s engage, at the cost of taxpayer’s money, consultants to tell us why not. And then disregard their advice.

Jaywalking. You and I are like that couple crossing the middle of a four-lane hi-traffic street cause the crosswalk is a block away. Nobody’s going to hit us, but it wouldn’t be anyone’s fault if they tried.

Everyone knows Jaywalking is a serious crime and we should not be surprised if we actually get caught.  That said, as reader Dan points out, it’s Capp St.:

Just wanted to share a recent experience that I thought would never ever happen in the mission. On Sunday I got a ticket for jaywalking across Capp street at 18th!

Forget the fact that Capp street is barely wide enough to be a street (no offense) and that it’s between the much busier Mission and South Van Ness. Being Capp, there was probably a shooting, burning mattress, drug deal, other felony, or crime against humanity happening on every other single block of Capp. But the cops decided that the best use of their time was to fine me for crossing at the intersection on a red light. Never mind that there were no cars anywhere in sight. When I got halfway towards Mission a cop car stopped to my left, the cop got out and asked if he could talk to me. It took me a few minutes just to realize I had done something, and that he wasn’t asking if I had witnessed some murder. I don’t know if this was to meet a quota or what, but you could tell even the cop couldn’t take what he was doing seriously. I’m all for pedestrian safety and following the law, and i consider myself somewhat of a cycling safety advocate, but a citation for crossing Capp is just not saving anyone. There’s no reason for a light to be at Capp and 18th except for city fundraising efforts.

Again with the damn jaywalking.

Monday, some idiot was jaywalking between the King Fahd Mosque and the 7-11 on Washington Blvd and got struck by a car. The fool lived and his injuries were probably commensurate with being knocked down, but it will never fail. Combine rampant jaywalking in groups of 20 people or so, have them cross the street at different angles at dusk or just after and have them do it over a busy boulevard. I’m surprised more people don’t get killed.

(Audrey) In so many ways, Japan is like America. But just when I begin to ponder the similarities, some catch always seems to arise, some aspect that is so wildly different…

Take this morning—it began like so many mornings. I got up, made myself some tea, and went off to work (conference in this case), stopping along the way to get breakfast. I swung by a pastry shop only the pastry I got had octopus in the middle, surrounded by what I think was a mashed root of some kind. Delicious!

Then I was at a conference all day, something I often do in the US as well. Only this time the standard array of American/European presenters was also dotted with Japanese scholars that can’t speak English. I really appreciated one guy who looked to be a graduate student, like my good self, but couldn’t speak English worth a damn. He could read English, but only with a very heavy accent and so he handed out copies of his entire paper so that we could all follow along. He’d clearly put a lot of work into it because aside from a few minor typos, the English of his paper was not only good, but academically appropriate. He got a bunch of questions, none of which he could answer because he couldn’t understand them. But it takes guts to put yourself out there like that.

And then I’m walking home (i.e. to the hotel), jaywalking from time to time of course. Except that instead of being joined in my illegal endeavor by hundreds of other not-so-friendly pedestrians, I’m apparently the only person in this country at the moment who jaywalks. Anybody know what’s up with that? The streets are empty, no cars or anything, and there will be half a dozen people waiting patiently for the little green man to light-up so they can cross a one-lane residential road. It’s like the zen rock garden—I’m missing something.

By the way–happy anniversary Thane! Today we celebrate 3 years of marriage. We may be apart, but hey, we’re on the same continent at least!

Perrysburg native Chris Bender is making leaps and bounds within the FreshJam lineup, playing roles in two of the label’s musical outfits.  The Columbus based production company hosts such bands as The Top Heavies, di Federale and The Jesus Project.  Contracts are still in the negotiation process with Wisconsin based lyrical mastermind Professor Freedom.

He is here to get up in your beef.

With di Federale on a brief holding pattern, Bender has agreed to sit in as lead percussionist with The Top Heavies due to Jeff Carr’s recent departure from the band. Bender’s experience behind the kit will pick up where Carr left off adding familiar and new sounds.  The GPS mapper and avid Batman comic book collector also played with Perrysburg’s own Jaywalking for close to a decade. President of FreshJam Productions, Chris Karnes, is very excited about Bender’s efforts within the label and his hard work ethic behind the kit.  He says to look out for The Top Heavies 3.0 this fall.