January 17, 2003, #5

Let's Walk & Roll

Why Did the Jay Cross the Road?

As you are driving down Central Ave, you notice ahead of you a person has parked their car on the North side of the street and is crossing the street mid-block to get to the main library. Isn’t that jaywalking? They shouldn’t be doing that right?

As you make your way down Webster Street someone is crossing from one corner to another on the side of the intersection with no crosswalk markings. Shouldn’t they be ticketed for disrupting traffic and jaywalking?

In both of the above cases, the person seen walking is well within the law. Neither is jaywalking.

It is often overheard that Alameda has a lot of Jaywalkers. But what exactly does that mean? What is a jaywalker? Pedestrians, Cyclists and Drivers all seem to be confused, and we thought it would be helpful to clear things up a bit.

To start with, Jaywalking is not “crossing the street outside of a marked crosswalk.”
Jaywalking is defined as crossing the street in an illegal manner. Pedestrians may legally cross the street at any point with the following exceptions:

1) “Between adjacent intersections controlled by traffic control signal devices or by police officers.” In plain English, if there is a light (or police officer directing traffic at BOTH ends of the block, you must cross in the crosswalk (marked or unmarked). For example, one may not cross in the middle of the block on Grand, between Santa Clara and Central.

2) Within a business district, pedestrians must use a crosswalk (marked or unmarked).

Jaywalking is also crossing against the red-light at a controlled intersection.

As discussed a couple of months ago in this column, just because there is no painted crosswalk on the street, does not mean there is no crosswalk. Pedestrians may cross the road at any intersection unless posted otherwise.

If you want to quickly dash across the street to visit your neighbor for a cup of coffee and there are signaled intersections on either side of you, you are jaywalking and should cross at the corners. If there are not signals on either side, then you need to make sure that there are no cars coming and cross at your own risk. Don’t push your luck, not only might you be run down, you might spill your coffee!

Remember:
Pedestrians always have the right of way in a crosswalk, whether it is marked or not. But, they must yield the right of way when crossing the street outside of a crosswalk. And as always, pedestrians should use their heads when walking across the street, right of way or not. It hurts to get run over. And drivers should stop for anyone trying to cross the street at a corner if it is feasible to come to a controlled stop.
Motorists as well as pedestrians must take due care when driving and walking. Common courtesy goes a long way in making for a safe community.

Jeff Swatman is the Alameda Police Department Traffic Sergeant. If you have questions regarding pedestrian/bicycle safety, please call him at 748-4508 extension 3342. John Knox White and Audrey Lord-Hausman work with Pedestrian Friendly Alameda (www.pedfriendly.org) and BikeAlameda (www.bikealameda.org).

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