Beware ! Cops Now Jaywalking and Ticketing for " Not Yielding to a Pedestrians"

originally posted by: CharlieSpeirs
a reply to: Anyafaj

Not at all, it's always good/fascinating/important to learn about other Cultures and Nations...

Builds an understanding.

Thanks again!

I quite agree. I'm so glad I'm not the only one! Right now fascination is England (Grandfather was British), Ireland (both grandparents on mother's side), and Hungary (My grandmother came from Budapest, she always pronounced it, Budapesht).

a reply to: IntastellaBurst

After reading the link I'm going to say that they weren't breaking laws. It states that vehicles need to stop, even for unmarked crosswalks like corners at intersections (which I wouldn't have known was a thing).

Fairly sure this is in the drivers handbook in my state too. I recently took a drivers license practice test online and failed the crap out of it.

originally posted by: Domo1
a reply to: IntastellaBurst

After reading the link I'm going to say that they weren't breaking laws. It states that vehicles need to stop, even for unmarked crosswalks like corners at intersections (which I wouldn't have known was a thing).

Fairly sure this is in the drivers handbook in my state too. I recently took a drivers license practice test online and failed the crap out of it.

I think it depends on where they are. If there in the middle of the road, no where near the intersection, I believe it is jaywalking. But if they are near the intersection, then they could be in the right.

a reply to: IntastellaBurst

Well, I don't think the "pedestrians have the right of way at all times" is a good law at all. There are walk lights, stop signs and crosswalks for a reason and pedestrians should have to cross only during the walk light or at a stop sign where there's a crosswalk, else they should not be in the right. I am not saying pedestrians should be mowed over if they do such things but they should not be in the right at all times. People around here wade right out into traffic with no warning and stare you down as they are doing so...because they can. And cyclists, don't get me started...but they more often than not blow through stops and pass on the left frequently.

This is a US thing really. When I was in London you didn't dare put that foot off off into the street whilst the don't walk sign was on or it would be taken off. Consequently, you have more people actually doing as they're supposed to do.
Also a problem with our clogged city is that our "Walk" lights for peds are also the green light for motorists that are turning - this causes huge tie ups with the nonstop stream of peds during the very short green lights. London was better in that there were times when everyone could cross and then no one could. No confusion.

This is new to you?

When I first got my license, they taught that this was common practice- and I see it all the time.

OUT of uniform cops will step into traffic (sometimes on crosswalks, sometimes not- doesn't matter IMO, you don't step infront of traffic, you wait for it to stop...) and then radio to the squad car up the road for anyone who doesn't do exactly what they want.
Pulled over, ticketed.

That particular one hasn't gotten me yet, since I tend to stop when I see people trying to cross (law or not, it's the right thing to do)... but sometimes crosswalks are at places where if you stop, you'll cause an accident.
Pedestrians around here know this, and wait for a break in traffic or a red light. Officers, of course, are above the law and do what they want.

a reply to: lordcomac

What I hate the most are people who are crossing the road...at an angle. People get hit by cars because they're not paying attention. I'm fairly certain if you are using your eyeballs to judge traffic you will see a car coming...My ex almost got hit crossing on a crosswalk...because she was texting. How many people just cross thinking they have every right to walk freely and with a lax sense of fear? My head turns left and right so much when crossing a street even when there aren't any cars around at all. Hell we grew up in the middle of nowhere and still looked both ways just in case, you never know.

Yeah, you don't want to jaywalk or not stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk here in Atlanta. They will get you. No tolerance for this. My nephew was in the county lockup with people who were in there for weeks because they couldn't pay the jaywalking fine...like $200.

a reply to: Domo1

i always thought the rule was the auto driver yields to a pedestrian already crossing.
what's to keep a pedestrian from just darting out without notice?

i thought it was not required to stop for a pedestrian at a marked intersection that is not light controlled. the purpose of driving laws is to keep the traffic flow going. am i wrong in thinking this?

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
Yeah, you don't want to jaywalk or not stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk here in Atlanta. They will get you. No tolerance for this. My nephew was in the county lockup with people who were in there for weeks because they couldn't pay the jaywalking fine...like $200.

NYC they won't stop, period. Whether you have the right of way or not. I remember on a field trip once, my French teacher and I went to cross after touring St. Patrick's Cathedral. We had the right of way, the limo had the red. Nope, he just sped up and kept going. If it wasn't for an English teacher, who taught down the hall, grabbing the hoods of our coats and pulling us back, we would have gotten hit by the limo, and with the speed he was going, he might have caused serious damage to at least one of us. (The one would have acted as a cushion for the other.) I think she was on the outside, but it's been while, so I truly don't remember. My dad is an escort driver in NYC, he said they still drive like that there.

Ya it's common. In my state they do hits on drivers by staging it. A fox pedestrian is planted and if the drivers don't stop they're ticketed. I'm not lying about this, it's the real deal. I also know in the cities they're experimenting with automatic camaras which will snap a shot of your license plate if you're speeding or cross a red light. It's not far away, believe you me. They already have sensors on the bridges which can detect how fast cars are going. They're used to figure out how much traffic passes through, but it won't be long before you get a ticket in the mail for going 10mph above the limit. If they can convince enough people, it'll happen.

originally posted by: jonnywhite
Ya it's common. In my state they do hits on drivers by staging it. A fox pedestrian is planted and if the drivers don't stop they're ticketed. I'm not lying about this, it's the real deal. I also know in the cities they're experimenting with automatic camaras which will snap a shot of your license plate if you're speeding or cross a red light. It's not far away, believe you me. They already have sensors on the bridges which can detect how fast cars are going. They're used to figure out how much traffic passes through, but it won't be long before you get a ticket in the mail for going 10mph above the limit. If they can convince enough people, it'll happen.

They have those cameras here and in the last 4 towns I lived in. I'm so used to it, I either do the posted limit, or 5 over. Nothing more. Some people act as if you're driving 20 below and get ticked off and speed right past you flipping off as they go. For me, Karma is watching them getting a ticket, as I pass later. So I don't worry about it. LOL

originally posted by: ~Lucidity
Yeah, you don't want to jaywalk or not stop for a pedestrian in a crosswalk here in Atlanta. They will get you. No tolerance for this. My nephew was in the county lockup with people who were in there for weeks because they couldn't pay the jaywalking fine...like $200.

This is what I was talking about here. Funny to find an article about it today.

It's not yet signed and sealed, but human-rights advocates are feeling hopeful that Georgia will rein in its detested, Jim Crow-esque probation system, which routinely jails people who can't afford to pay court fines and probation fees for offenses as minor as a speeding ticket. [Source]

The for-profit legal system, from lawyers to bailbondsmen to the people who make money off the jails...is thriving here. Has been forever.

edit on 2/26/2015 by ~Lucidity because: (no reason given)

a reply to: IntastellaBurst

Pedestrians have the right of way. The rules state that if someone is in the street, regardless of how close to your car, you have to stop and let them go by and wait until they have exited the street before proceeding. If you get ticketed for not doing this, then it's your own fault. I see this as no different than slow rolling through a stop sign. Yeah, we all do it, but you better suck it up and pay the price when you get caught.