Brits, don't go jaywalking abroad

Thursday 25th January 2007 07:20:32 PM

I was reading daggle when I discovered a new phrase - "jaywalking" and the meaning behind it. Now the rest of the world may well be aware of it (and probably think nothing extraordinary of it), but it's unknown to us Brits. For my fellow British readers I'll give you a brief introduction on it ...

Jaywalking is a term used to describe when a pedestrian crosses the street without regard to traffic regulations. In common use, the term generally refers to someone crossing a busy street outside of a designated crosswalk. (source: wikipedia)

That's not all though, jaywalking is illegal in the USA aswell as Canada (probably other places too) and can lead to a fine or time in jail. Yup, that's right, if you don't cross the road from a pedestrian crossing expect the police on your ass. I can't believe such a law exists, is this what has become of western countries?

If you didn't know about this you're not alone, recently a British professor got himself arrested all due to some stupid law.

"I come from a country where you can cross the road where you like," said the visiting professor of global environmental history at Queen Mary College, University of London. "It hadn't occurred to me that I wasn't allowed to cross the road between the two main conference venues." (source: bbc)

Ridiculous. Things like this make up for the cold, chilly, and rainy British weather!

Posted by Piniyini

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5 comments Ctrl + Enter to comment

Fri 26th Jan 07 07:41:16 PM 1 Amira: I'm from Canada and I can't even count the # of times that I have seen some idiot trying to cross a 4 lane highway where there is no crosswalk or light. Drivers have to swerve or slam on their brakes either causing accidents or near misses. I have seen this happen directly in front of cops and never once have I seen a ticket issued. I wish they would issue more tickets!

This can also have tragic results. just this past fall a 17 year old girl tried to cross the main highway in our town and was killed. She was half a block away from an intersection with a crosswalk. so sad!
Fri 26th Jan 07 10:35:50 PM 2 Piniyini: Amira, you're right - that guy must have been an idiot and it's sad what happened to that girl. When I wrote this post I meant to say normal roads, only an idiot would try to cross a motorway!
Sat 27th Jan 07 04:24:25 AM 3 Sobia: Yep, it's illegal here and a well known phrase. The fines aren't generally hefty though...but still it isn't safe to cross without waiting for the light.
Sat 27th Jan 07 07:30:35 AM 4 Beeamma: goddamn are you serious?! hahaha thats why i keep getting beeped at when i cross the road willy nilly over here. what a stupid law, and goddammit what a stupid country as well. im sick as hell of here and cant wait to get back to england!!!!!

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