Quote:
Originally Posted by Addick
It’s not just about crossing the street but the fact that we’ve separated pedestrians and vehicles into different domains because the two modes “cannot” exist in a single, shared domain. Further, it is not even about drivers having to stop for jaywalkers. Due to the common/learned rules in cities where pedestrians and vehicles successfully share the streets (e.g. London, Paris and NYC) drivers don’t have to stop for jaywalkers because jaywalkers know to not put themselves and drivers in that position.
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It's a bit disingenuous to state it like that though, isn't it?
You live in London (or are from there) right? We both know that Europe isn't a haven for shared streets in the same sense you're suggesting. There is less of a taboo about being on the road, but in Stockholm (and from what I've seen in my time spent in both Paris and London) you do NOT enter traffic nor put yourself in a situation where you might be even slightly endangered, because it isn't the job of the driver to avoid you, and that is understood.
The philosophy here is different, and that's why laws against it make sense. Pedestrians have a mentality of right and implied safety, where if they enter the road they should be protected. In London, Paris, and Stockholm, you don't enter the road.
As ken0042 was saying, there is a disconnect here. Both drivers and pedestrians don't understand sharing the road, so you need to enforce certain idiotic actions.
There is nothing I find more frustrating than a driver stopping or slowing down because they see me crossing. I'm timing my walk specifically for the rate of speed and flow of traffic, so PLEASE just GO.
The problem with this whole situation is not that jaywalking is bad or not bad, which I think is what your point is getting at, it's that these people were doing it like idiots and Calgary needs laws against it to protect these idiots from themselves. You can't possibly have come in here to promote the safety of shared domain and jaywalking in general in a thread about people walking down a lane of traffic.
Poor timing for that argument, I'd think.