Is it illegal to cross the road in the U.S?

2006-06-15 00:16:10

#1

=OBS= EstebanRey: Member; +256|6779|Oxford, England, UK, EU, Earth

I'd heard the term "jaywalking" before and naively assumed it was just someone who didn't look left and right when they crossed the road. However, a friend of mine, who has just come back from the States, told me that they were nearly arrested because they simply crossed the road and ended up having to get a taxi to drive them to the other side!

Someone please tell me this is a joke! Do you actually have laws preventing you from crossing the road and if so, how fucked up is that? You can go and buy a gun but if the gun shop's on the other side of the road, you could get arrested? Surely there's some weird thinking behind that.

Why can't you just teach people to look both ways before crossing?

2006-06-15 00:17:54

#2

DaReJa: BF2s US Server Admin; +257|6856|Los Angeles, California, US.

Yeah its BS, They get angry at you, But everyone still does it.

Last edited by DaReJa (2006-06-15 00:18:20)

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2006-06-15 00:19:07

#3

DonFck: Hibernator; +3,227|6860|Finland

I guess this is the primary reason for the immense popularity of "Why did the chicken cross the road"-jokes in the US?

Last edited by DonFck (2006-06-15 00:19:18)

I need around tree fiddy.

2006-06-15 00:19:41

#4

SiMSaM16: Member; +48|6922|United States of America

Thats what crosswalks are for.

2006-06-15 00:21:06

#5

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|6945

SiMSaM16 wrote:
Thats what crosswalks are for.

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2006-06-15 00:21:18

#6

DaReJa: BF2s US Server Admin; +257|6856|Los Angeles, California, US.

DonFck wrote:
I guess this is the primary reason for the immense popularity of "Why did the chicken cross the road"-jokes in the US?

Exactly. .

Battlelog: DaReJa
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2006-06-15 00:21:19

#7

BMF-Nichman: Member; +6|6766

well the rule was made for the retarded people who dont look both ways

2006-06-15 00:22:41

#8

Smitty5613: Member; +46|6755|Middle of nowhere, California

No! Its True, U Can't Ever Ever Cross A Road In The Us!

2006-06-15 00:23:43

#9

=OBS= EstebanRey: Member; +256|6779|Oxford, England, UK, EU, Earth

It's a good job, we don't have it because I have to cross 4 lanes of dual carriageway (70mph highway type thingy to you). I would get my ass kicked for that then!

2006-06-15 00:25:04

#10

duk0r: Administrator; +306|6896|Austin, TX

The law is setup like this.
You have to cross at a crosswalk. Now of course that law really doesn't apply everywhere. Most cops don't really enforce it. Unless they are some jerk New York cop.

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2006-06-15 00:53:48

#11

Spearhead: Gulf coast redneck hippy; +731|6919|Tampa Bay Florida

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:
I'd heard the term "jaywalking" before and naively assumed it was just someone who didn't look left and right when they crossed the road. However, a friend of mine, who has just come back from the States, told me that they were nearly arrested because they simply crossed the road and ended up having to get a taxi to drive them to the other side!

Someone please tell me this is a joke! Do you actually have laws preventing you from crossing the road and if so, how fucked up is that? You can go and buy a gun but if the gun shop's on the other side of the road, you could get arrested? Surely there's some weird thinking behind that.

Why can't you just teach people to look both ways before crossing?

Yeah, crossing straight through the middle of the road can get you fined, I'm pretty sure.

He didn't cross at the crosswalk. Imagine in a place like NYC 200 people crossing the road at random intervels.... not a very safe place for anyone really.

2006-06-15 00:57:41

#12

Smitty5613: Member; +46|6755|Middle of nowhere, California

its illegal to cross a street, its better just to walk down the middle

2006-06-15 01:03:00

#13

Ender2309: has joined the GOP; +470|6800|USA

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:
I'd heard the term "jaywalking" before and naively assumed it was just someone who didn't look left and right when they crossed the road. However, a friend of mine, who has just come back from the States, told me that they were nearly arrested because they simply crossed the road and ended up having to get a taxi to drive them to the other side!

Someone please tell me this is a joke! Do you actually have laws preventing you from crossing the road and if so, how fucked up is that? You can go and buy a gun but if the gun shop's on the other side of the road, you could get arrested? Surely there's some weird thinking behind that.

Why can't you just teach people to look both ways before crossing?

its called a fucking crosswalk. christ. its not hard to see. its by the big lights, you know, the ones that tell you to stop and go? the parallel fucking lines on the ground? cross in those. fuck.

/rant.

sorry, i had a friend get hit by a truck last night crossing the street (legally), so thats what the xwalks are for.

2006-06-15 01:13:36

#14

DeadJim: Member; +19|6977|Valencia, California

Ender2309 wrote:
sorry, i had a friend get hit by a truck last night crossing the street (legally), so thats what the xwalks are for.

First and foremost, my condolences for your friend - hope it wasn't too serious...

..but, uh... if he was in a crosswalk when he was hit, it kinda seems to me had he crossed illegally a minute sooner he might have been fine.

As for the legality of Jaywalking - we turn, once again, to the great Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking#Legality

It figures the obsessively beuracratic nature of us Americans would take a concept like the UK's 'Green Cross Code' and make it manditory...

2006-06-15 01:36:13

#15

=OBS= EstebanRey: Member; +256|6779|Oxford, England, UK, EU, Earth

I suppose it's swings and roundabouts. You can sometimes feel like under pressure as a car driver as in the UK almost all the traffic laws are weighted in favour of pedestrians and cyclists. If there is an accident, the driver would have the finger pointed at them first and they would need to prove it wasn't their fault and the Police regulary ignore all non-car related violations but seem to put a lot of effort into catching speeding cars.

2006-06-15 01:39:08

#16

WilhelmSissener: Banned; +557|6962|Oslo, Norway

Ender2309 wrote:
its by the big lights, you know, the ones that tell you to stop and go.

you need a sign to tell you when to stop and go

2006-06-15 01:41:27

#17

xGBlitzkrieg: The Lazy Genius; +14|6765|USA, CA

Lol, i have had a few friends who have actually recieved tickets for jay walking! It gives cops a reason to stop people who are walking, so that they can possibly piss them off and then arrest them.

2006-06-15 01:42:11

#18

Sydney: 2λчиэλ; +783|7072|Reykjavík, Iceland.

Really? Here you can cross every road you please (not really, but nobody cares), if you get hit by a car it's your's and the driver's problem.

2006-06-15 01:42:36

#19

=OBS= EstebanRey: Member; +256|6779|Oxford, England, UK, EU, Earth

Ender2309 wrote:
its called a fucking crosswalk. christ. its not hard to see. its by the big lights, you know, the ones that tell you to stop and go? the parallel fucking lines on the ground? cross in those. fuck.

They're called cars, they're not hard to see. They're big, have lights (usually catches rabbits out that one) and usually have 4 wheels....just cross when one of those isn't coming in either direction. fuck

P.S. Sorry about your friend and the above isn't directed at that, I was just pointing out how your argument could easily be used the other way around. Hoping for a speedy recovery for him....

2006-06-15 01:57:29

#20

LaidBackNinja: Pony Slaystation; +343|6938|Charlie One Alpha

SiMSaM16 wrote:
Thats what crosswalks are for.

Over here in the Netherlands, it's very simple. If there's a crosswalk in sight, you have to cross there, if there isn't one in sight, you can cross anywhere you like.

"If you want a vision of the future, imagine SecuROM slapping your face with its dick -- forever." -George Orwell

2006-06-15 02:06:44

#21

Rosse_modest: Member; +76|7005|Antwerp, Flanders

LaidBackNinja wrote:
SiMSaM16 wrote:
Thats what crosswalks are for.
Over here in the Netherlands, it's very simple. If there's a crosswalk in sight, you have to cross there, if there isn't one in sight, you can cross anywhere you like.

So if you're near sighted and you can't make out a crosswalk in the distance while other people can, you're free to cross?

Here in Belgium you are by law obliged to use the crosswalk if it is within 30 m.

2006-06-15 02:16:08

#22

Ender2309: has joined the GOP; +470|6800|USA

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:
Ender2309 wrote:
its called a fucking crosswalk. christ. its not hard to see. its by the big lights, you know, the ones that tell you to stop and go? the parallel fucking lines on the ground? cross in those. fuck.
They're called cars, they're not hard to see. They're big, have lights (usually catches rabbits out that one) and usually have 4 wheels....just cross when one of those isn't coming in either direction. fuck

P.S. Sorry about your friend and the above isn't directed at that, I was just pointing out how your argument could easily be used the other way around. Hoping for a speedy recovery for him....

yah, thanks. and yah it could be easily turned around. my point wasn't that cars were hard to miss (you deserve to die if you're that dumb [to miss a car])

concerning my friend, here's the story: so, he was crossing at a four-way, and a car was going parallel to him. well, the car goes faster than him and quickly clears the intersection, and some 19-y/o shithead started turning without even bothering to check for pedestrians. so, he hits my friend.

2006-06-15 02:18:22

#23

Bubbalo: The Lizzard; +541|6790

You Americans are crazy. "Crosswalks". What fanciful term. Smart people call them pedestrian crossings. Smart people also ride kangaroos to work, and don't drink and drive lest they should spill their beer .

In Aus, it's illegal to cross within 50m of a pedestrian crossing (except, of course, if you are on the crossing), and it's illegal to cross diagonally (i.e. you should be at right angles to the flow of traffic)

2006-06-15 02:20:42

#24

JahManRed: wank; +646|6857|IRELAND

City's and towns in the US have far more crossings than the UK. Every intersection has a pedestrian crossing. I think it works well........ you are only usually 40-50m away from a crossing so its safer to use it than dodge the traffic. Also if someone goes to cross, a car can break and slows the traffic behind up. It keeps the traffic flowing between intersections.

2006-06-15 02:35:54

#25

j5f5ff: Member; +11|6979

I actually have been ticketed (not arrested) for jaywalking when i was around 15. The cop pulled right up to 2 friends of mine and I after we crossed the highway on the way to the beach. I'd crossed there maybe hundreds of times before and had no idea why the cop was calling us over ... so I went.

BF2S Forums Is it illegal to cross the road in the U.S?

SiMSaM16 wrote:

DonFck wrote:

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

SiMSaM16 wrote:

LaidBackNinja wrote:

SiMSaM16 wrote:

=OBS= EstebanRey wrote:

Ender2309 wrote:

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