Killed A Lot Of Americans. (4)
Crosswords2 mins ago
A friend is visiting me in London (we're both from the States) and he is staying just off Trafalgar Square. At about 07.00 on a Sunday, with not one car in sight, he crossed the street jaywalking. A nearby police officer told him he shouldn't be doing that.
I've lived in London for two years and have seen thousands of people jaywalk everywhere. So it makes me wonder, is jaywalking illegal in London?
No best answer has yet been selected by kelbillug. Once a best answer has been selected, it will be shown here.
For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Well in Belfast about 10 years ago I received a �20 fixed penalty notice for jay-walking one Saturday night. I was hammered, but I was at a set of traffic lights which just hadn't turned from the red to the green man, and there were not really any cars about.
So, I suppose that if I was given a fine, then I must have been breaking the law, so jay-walking certainly must have been illegal in 1995!
May I add, that this one incident is my only ever brush with the law!
I believe it is illegal yes. I do it all the time, but as a motorist also, think it should be illegal. I was driving yesterday, a car was coming the other way, after it passed, I noticed two people walking at my car. It takes over my attention completely at that moment and must cause plenty of accidents.
Would be very shocked to be ticketed for it though.
I have never heard of a jaywalking offence in the UK, and neither has the Highway Code, although there is an offence of loitering on a crossing. Of course London does have bylaws that do not apply to the rest of the country. It is more likely at 0700 on a Sunday that the officer was bored.
For an update on the US position, see here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4591869.stm
Going off subject for a second:
When I was 13 I went to an American based school in Sri Lanka - and my English teacher was American. One question I got wrong (which still bugs me 19 years on) was "is Jay Walking a serious offense". I (being English) said no (after getting an explanation as to what jaywalking was) - it was marked as incorrect
Hopefully, I can now put this incident behind me :-)
Personally I have been on the receiving end of many many stupid people who believe that once they step foot on the road that they have right of way. They saunter across, not even picking up the pace at all. They have seen me but continue jabbering on on their mobile or whatever. Basically they are taking the ****. Personally I think it should be legal to mow these people down. It is an offence to "loiter" on a zebra crossing, and it is a criminal offence if you do not cross with "reasonable despatch". I think this law should be widened to the whole carriageway andmaybe then the stupid people among us will be educated that in a battle between car and body, the car will win every time. And that if they want to preserve there life, they should cross when it is sensible to do so like the vast majority. Sorry no, I forgot that the vast majority in this country ARE the stupid people to whom I refer, I mean the "reasonable minority". Rant mode over
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