Jay Walking (time for U.S laws ?)

[Sara_H]

The vast majority of Londoners, and people outside London commuting into town don't use their cars for their daily commute.

Good.

 

[raleighnut]

Yes, and transport secretary!

Can I apply for that, I'd let cars and vans do whatever they want on the motorways leave A roads and country lanes alone. Bring in 20mph limits in built up areas and ban em from towns (or bring in a strictly enforced 5 mph limit)
I'd also let helmet-cam fans act as mobile cctv's and pay 10% of any fines arising from their footage to the person who films it.
As well as bringing in the (oft discussed) law that if a motorised vehicle (including e-bikes) hits a pedestrian/cyclist it is assumed to be the drivers/riders fault.

 

[benb]

The US jaywalking law is barbaric; we absolutely do not want it in the UK
Also barbaric are those horrible "safety" railings used to corral pedestrians into pens before having to wait for ages for the pedestrian light to come and hurry across in the few seconds you have the green man for. If you have mobility issues, tough.

The whole road system is geared up massively in favour of motor vehicles, to the detriment of everyone else. We need to reverse that situation, not continue it.

The hierarchy of priority should follow the hierarchy of vulnerability in reverse:
Pedestrians
Cyclists
Motorcyclists
Other motor vehicles

 

[Fubar]

Not necessarily. In places such as Copenhagen and the Netherlands, people tend to have shorter commutes, and use leisure facilities available to then locally.
If the infrastructure is in place to allow it people will live and work locally.

I would like to see a trial run where on one day of the week (NOT a Sunday!) a city was to ban lorries and cars from entering the city centre (say within a 3 mile radius) and see the effect on public transport, walking, cycling, etc., if only to make people think how they would get to work without their cars - would also like to assess how those affected felt about their alternative arrangements, effects on pollution, etc

In recent years I notice the difference compressed working hours have made to travel in and out of Edinburgh - it's a lot quieter on a Monday and Friday morning, and when the schools are on holiday it's dead - do all school kids need to be transported in luxury door to door? I can count on one hand the number of times I was driven to school!

 

[John the Monkey]

In recent years I notice the difference compressed working hours have made to travel in and out of Edinburgh - it's a lot quieter on a Monday and Friday morning, and when the schools are on holiday it's dead - do all school kids need to be transported in luxury door to door? I can count on one hand the number of times I was driven to school!

It's not all "school run" traffic. The holidays also mean that commuters who are also parents aren't on the road going to work (or at least, not all of them are). And not all teachers and ancillary staff would be travelling either.

A comparable example is university towns in Summer - not many students are running cars, but the decline in traffic during the long vacation is very noticeable.

 

[Fubar]

It's not all "school run" traffic. The holidays also mean that commuters who are also parents aren't on the road going to work (or at least, not all of them are). And not all teachers and ancillary staff would be travelling either.

A comparable example is university towns in Summer - not many students are running cars, but the decline in traffic during the long vacation is very noticeable.

Fair comment, though I never said it was all school run traffic and there are still a sizeable number of children who are dropped off right outside the school gates.

 

[Markymark]

It's not all "school run" traffic. The holidays also mean that commuters who are also parents aren't on the road going to work (or at least, not all of them are). And not all teachers and ancillary staff would be travelling either.

A comparable example is university towns in Summer - not many students are running cars, but the decline in traffic during the long vacation is very noticeable.

This. The tubes are quieter during school holidays and there's never any kids on the tubes during rush hour. We don;t take our kids to school by car but take most of our holidays around school holidays.

It's rather a commonly mistaken idea that the drop in traffic is down to all the kids being driven to school.

 

[John the Monkey]

Fair comment, though I never said it was all school run traffic and there are still a sizeable number of children who are dropped off right outside the school gates.

True; there's a bunch of people taking their cars out for journeys that are almost laughably cycleable for all sorts of reasons.

If we had to "protect" one of those groups in our hypothetical, I'd have less problem with it being small, vulnerable people still learning road sense than those taking single occupant vehicles a few miles (who are neither carrying heavy tools &c, or physically infirm).

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Nooooo to another silly law!
Better more folks cross the road randomly, traffic will have to slow down, some of the pedestrians will notice, then take up cycling because the roads are not dangerous anymore
Suits me fine riding strictly at 5mph
The lycra cladded commuter racers? Tough

 

[Ian H]

Certainly within any residential or built-up area I'd give pedestrians absolute priority.

 

[brand]

My brother informed me that the jay walking laws only rarely apply and are rarely inforced. He lives in Sacramento not New York so may be different there.

 

[Profpointy]

True; there's a bunch of people taking their cars out for journeys that are almost laughably cycleable for all sorts of reasons.

If we had to "protect" one of those groups in our hypothetical, I'd have less problem with it being small, vulnerable people still learning road sense than those taking single occupant vehicles a few miles (who are neither carrying heavy tools &c, or physically infirm).

I'd go even further than your first point. I've known people drive distance so short that I'd not even bother to get the bike out

 

[rich p]

Brighton is jaywalking paradise . The council are removing more than 70 metres of unnecessary 'safety' railings this very week:

View attachment 78278

View attachment 78279

Edit: And before anyone asks, they're installing extra bike parking to compensate .

Oooh, I can go from the Hare and Hounds to The Joker much quicker now!

 

[brand]

I'd go even further than your first point. I've known people drive distance so short that I'd not even bother to get the bike out

The village where I drink there are people who drive to the pub 400 yards. One parks up after driving a quarter of mile but can't be bothered turning the car round so drives 3/4 mile home. I must admit the latter amuse me!